January 21, 2021

Bridenstine Calls for Unity in Space, Science as Jurczyk Assumes Temporary NASA Leadership (Source: UPI)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stepped down as planned Wednesday and posted a message on Twitter to thank employees and all who supported his tenure at the space agency. Bridenstine, who left on the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration, made a public plea for continued support of NASA and planned missions to the moon and Mars.

He referenced historic disagreements at the agency and in Washington over whether to support another moon mission or a Mars mission, or simply to focus on Earth sciences. "It's not about the moon or Mars, which put us in conflict in the House of Representatives between Republicans and Democrats. It's about both," Bridenstine said. "It's about going to the moon to get the science and discovery that we need to learn how to live and work in another world for long periods of time."

NASA associate administrator Steve Jurczyk has become acting administrator. Ellen Stofan, a former NASA chief scientist, has overseen President Joe Biden's transition team for NASA and space policy. (1/20)

Bigelow Seeks Secrets to Life After Death (Source: New York Times)
What’s across the River Styx? Robert Thomas Bigelow would like to know. Wouldn’t anyone, especially now? But Mr. Bigelow is not just anyone, or any 75-year-old mourning a wife and confronting his own mortality. He’s a maverick Las Vegas real estate and aerospace mogul with billionaire allure and the resources to fund his restless curiosity embracing outer and inner space, U.F.O.s and the spirit realm.

Now he’s offering nearly $1 million in prizes for the best evidence for “the survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death.” In other words, was Hamlet right to call death an inescapable boundary, “the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns?” Or does consciousness in some form survive bodily death — what the Dalai Lama called how we merely “change our clothes”? Is Raymond Chandler’s Big Sleep only a nap?

Mr. Bigelow believes so. “I am personally totally convinced of it,” he said. A daunting quest, perhaps fringe to some, but the shaggy-maned and mustached entrepreneur, the sole owner of Bigelow Aerospace and Budget Suites of America, is not easily put off. He amassed a fortune to pursue his interests, including the designing and building of inflatable astronaut habitats for NASA, like his soft-sided expandable activity module called BEAM attached to the International Space Station. (1/21)

Airbus and Thales Alenia to Build Next-Generation Galileo Satellites (Source: Space News)
Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space won EU contracts to build the first set of next-generation Galileo satellites. The European Commission announced Wednesday that each company will build six satellites under contracts to be signed later this month with a combined value of 1.47 billion euros ($1.78 billion). The satellites, to be delivered for launch starting in 2024, feature several upgrades to the spacecraft bus and its navigation payload. OHB, which is the prime contractor for the current generation of Galileo satellites, also bid on the next-generation satellites but was not selected. (1/21)

Biden Selects Officials for DoD Space and Missile Defense Posts (Source: Space News)
The Biden administration has selected policy experts for space and missile defense at the Pentagon. David Zikusoka, aerospace research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, will serve as special assistant at the office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy. That position, which provides civilian oversight of the space enterprise at the Defense Department, will require Senate confirmation. Leonor Tomero, a senior staff member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, will be deputy assistant director for nuclear and missile defense programs, a post that does not require Senate conformation. (1/21)

Satellogic to Launch on Multiple SpaceX Rideshare Missions (Source: Space News)
Earth imaging company Satellogic has signed a multi-launch contract with SpaceX. The agreement cover four launches of Satellite satellites as part of dedicated rideshare missions, starting in June, with the option of flying additional satellites as rideshares on Starlink launches. SpaceX will be Satellogic's preferred launch provider after Satellogic previously used Chinese, European and Russian vehicles. Satellogic has 13 operational satellites today and plans to have a constellation of about 60 in service by the end of next year providing high-resolution imagery. (1/21)

ESA Picks Two Payloads for External ISS Placement (Source: Airbus)
ESA will fly two payloads on an Airbus commercial platform on the International Space Station. The payloads will be installed on the Bartolomeo platform, mounted on the exterior of the Columbus module, in 2022 and 2024. One payload will study the effects of the space environment on organic materials and organisms, while the other will examine how the space environment degrades materials. The contract, valued at 6.5 million euros, is based on an agreement previously signed by ESA and Airbus to allow the agency to use Bartolomeo. (1/21)

SpaceX Launches Batch of Starlink Satellites on Record-Breaking Mission (Source: Florida Today)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared off its Kennedy Space Center pad early Wednesday, delivering a batch of Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit and comfortably breaking another reuse record for the company. Shortly after the 8:02 a.m. liftoff from pad 39A, the 162-foot booster separated from the second stage and landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship, completing its eighth flight to date. This new fleet leader, numbered Booster 1051, has now launched several Starlink missions as well as the first Crew Dragon demonstration in March 2019.

The drone ship and first stage should arrive at Port Canaveral before the end of the week. Just over an hour after liftoff, meanwhile, SpaceX confirmed 60 Starlink satellites separated from the upper stage and began their trek to a final orbit roughly 350 miles above Earth's surface. Using built-in thrusters, the satellites will spend the next several weeks refining their positions and ultimately join about 900 other functioning Starlink spacecraft.

Another Falcon 9 is slated to fly before week's end, this time from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 9:24 a.m. Friday liftoff will take dozens of small payloads to orbit for a variety of organizations, also known as a "rideshare" mission. Because this Transporter-1 mission requires a nearly polar sun-synchronous orbit, Falcon 9 will fly on a rarely seen southern trajectory and hug the coast of Florida. The Of Course I Still Love You drone ship will be waiting to catch the first stage booster about halfway between the Bahamas and Cuba. (1/20)

Biden Faces Multiple Challenges in Space (Source: Space News)
The new Biden administration is facing several challenges as it takes office. In civil space, the administration will have to decide how it wants to change the schedule or other aspects of the Artemis lunar exploration program, as well as how to implement a transition of space traffic management responsibilities to the Commerce Department. In national security space, the administration will have to address the growth of the Space Force and modernization of launch vehicles and spacecraft systems. (1/21)

Biden Features Moon Rock in Oval Office (Source: Washington Post)
The White House's first small step in space involves a moon rock. The Oval Office now has a moon rock on a bookshelf, intended to represent "the ambition and accomplishments of earlier generations" and Biden's interest in science. The moon rock is believed to be one that NASA gave to the White House in 1999 to mark the 30th anniversary of Apollo 11. NASA astronauts currently on the ISS also provided a video message for a celebration of the inauguration Wednesday evening. (1/21)

NASA May Be Scaling Back Presence in Russia (Source: Sputnik)
NASA may be scaling back its presence in Russia. Russian sources said that NASA is considering reducing the number of employees at the Star City cosmonaut training center and an office in Moscow, and end its permanent presence at a biomedical facility. The moves are reportedly because NASA no longer plans to purchase seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, although the agency has stated its desire to barter seats on its commercial crew spacecraft for Soyuz seats. That's intended to ensure there will always be Americans and Russians on the ISS in the event one spacecraft is grounded. (1/21)

China Plans to Launch Solar Research Mission in 2022 (Source: Xinhua)
China's first mission to study the sun will launch next year. The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory, scheduled for launch in the first half of 2022, will study the sun from low Earth orbit. The spacecraft will carry three instruments to monitor solar activity at a range of wavelengths. (1/21)

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Gets Vaccine Ahead of 91st Birthday (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Apollo 11 astronaut and second man on the moon Buzz Aldrin turned 91 years on Wednesday just days after getting his first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. He posted to Twitter earlier in the week images of him rolling up his sleeves while receiving his first shot of the vaccine.

“I want to thank all the scientists, healthcare workers, and government officials who worked tirelessly to develop and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in record time and safely, to the world,” reads the post. “I urge everyone to sign up for a vaccination as soon as possible when eligible to do, so that life can return to normal soon.” (1/21)