Exploration program experts looking for ways to restructure NASA’s downsized Mars program will have about 400 concepts and abstracts to review, following a call for ideas in connection with an upcoming workshop in Houston.

Solar-electric propulsion (SEP) is high on NASA’s priority list of technologies required for long-term human space exploration. And within that arena, figuring out how to deploy large, lightweight solar arrays in space is a key enabler. Results are starting to come in under the relatively open-ended technology development effort launched at the beginning of the Obama administration. While Congress hasn’t approved the billion-dollar funding levels for the work the White House wanted, it has sprung enough money to make a start.

NEXT UP: With SpaceX’s first cargo demonstration mission to the International Space Station (ISS) a success so far, NASA is looking ahead to the first flights of its other Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contractor, Orbital Sciences Corp. Orbital’s first demonstration launch of its Antares/Cygnus vehicle — which will not visit the ISS — could occur as early as August, according to NASA ISS Program Manager Mike Suffredini.

HOUSTON — The SpaceX Dragon, working flawlessly, sailed 1.5 mi. below the International Space Station (ISS) early May 24, clearing the way for the first U.S. commercial delivery of cargo to the orbiting laboratory.

MOTOR RUNNING: Alliant Techsystems plans to test a GEM-60 solid rocket motor on May 31 at its test facility in Promontory, Utah. The 60-in.-dia. graphite epoxy motor (GEM) is designed to provide additional thrust to United Launch Alliance Delta IV medium rockets. The 90-sec. “cold motor” test, designed to evaluate performance at low temperatures, will see the motor produce a maximum thrust of 270,000 lb. Test objectives include verification of the motor’s new vectorable nozzle and its insulation.

SPACE SPENDING: As SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft makes its way toward its first rendezvous with the International Space Station, the Sunlight Reporting Group has tallied up the money the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company has spread around on Capitol Hill. SpaceX has spent $4 million lobbying Congress and given more than $800,000 in political contributions since its founding a decade go, the group says. Founder Elon Musk has donated $35,800 to President Barack Obama’s re-election committee, $15,000 to the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee and $5,000 to Sen.

NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute will distribute $26 million among 29 teams selected to investigate the range of health and performance issues confronting humans during long-duration spaceflight.

HOUSTON — The unpiloted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft sped toward its first encounter with the International Space Station May 23, on the eve of a crucial set of maneuvers and communication exchanges intended to bring the first U.S. commercial resupply ship within a mile and a half of the six-person orbiting science lab.