October 11, 2020

NASA, SpaceX Crew-1 Launch Update (Source: NASA)
Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station is now targeted for no sooner than early-to-mid November, providing additional time for SpaceX to complete hardware testing and data reviews as the company evaluates off-nominal behavior of Falcon 9 first stage engine gas generators observed during a recent non-NASA mission launch attempt. Through the agency’s Commercial Crew and Launch Services Programs partnership with SpaceX, NASA has full insight into the company’s launch and testing data. (10/10)

Whatever ‘The Right Stuff’ is, This Disney Plus Adaptation Could Use More Of It (Source: Washington Post)
In a year so clearly defined by the wrong stuff, “The Right Stuff” is back — this time revamped, noticeably tamed and even more fictionalized as an eight-episode streaming series on Disney Plus. I can’t imagine a riskier mission than attempting to improve on the movie, and before we launch, I must warn you that this “Right Stuff” (which premiered Friday with the first two episodes) was originally developed for the National Geographic Channel, which tends to make original dramas that are pumped full of promise and heavily promoted and then turn out to be textbook examples of lukewarm TV.

The same physics apply here: big launch, but a dangerously low orbit. It’s a-sort-of-almost-pretty-good TV show that wants very much to exude the right stuff but doesn’t pass the rigorous physical tests. Open-mindedness is a huge asset here; the more you’re willing to let go of both Wolfe’s book and the movie (and those pesky historical facts), the more you improve your odds of surviving reentry. (10/8)

European Space Agency Finalizes Plans to ‘Explore the Moon Properly’ (Source: Guardian)
European space officials will this week unveil detailed plans for a series of ambitious missions aimed at returning humans to the moon in the next few years. Projects will include construction of crew quarters for an orbiting lunar space station, making the power and propulsion units for America’s Orion spacecraft, and designing and building a sophisticated communication and refuelling unit, known as Esprit, to serve astronauts on the lunar surface. These missions will be carried out jointly with Nasa and the Japanese and Canadian space agencies.

Planning for the program – known as Gateway – has been going on for years, but now final contracts with European aerospace companies are about to be signed and will be announced at this week’s International Astronautical Congress. “The decisions have been made and now the lunar spaceport is go,” said David Parker, head of robotics for the European Space Agency and a key figure in the Gateway program. The aim of the program was to get the first astronauts to the moon by 2024, he added. “That is a challenging deadline, but we are up for it.” (10/10)