April 9, 2022

4 Civilians Blast Off From Kennedy Space Center in Historic Flight (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A new era in commercial space travel launched from Kennedy Space Center on Friday. The Axiom Space mission to send the first-ever all-civilian crew for a stay on the ISS lifted off from Launch Pad 39-A on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour. On board the AX-1 mission is Axiom employee and former astronaut, Commander Michael López-Alegría, who has plenty of space experience having flown three shuttle missions and lived on board the ISS for 215 days. He’s guiding three rookies — Larry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe — who each paid Axiom Space $55 million for the 10-day mission.

The quartet have about a 20.5-hour ride before a docking with the ISS on Saturday. That will begin eight days of work on board before returning to Earth. The Dragon space capsule is making its third flight, having previously taken NASA astronauts to the ISS on the Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions. The Falcon-9 booster made its fifth trip to space, having previously been used on the orbital civilian flight Inspiration4 last fall, nailed the landing on SpaceX’s droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. (4/8)

Airbus to Acquire DSI Datensicherheit, a European Provider of Cryptography Systems for Space Applications (Source: Airbus)
Airbus Defence and Space has announced the acquisition of DSI Datensicherheit GmbH (DSI DS), a German-based company that provides cryptography and communication systems for Space, Airborne and Naval & Ground that is certified by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The acquisition follows a longstanding partnership between the two companies. DSI DS will be fully owned by the Airbus Defence and Space GmbH and operate under a new name, Aerospace Data Security GmbH. This will further strengthen Airbus’ cryptography capabilities and enhance the development of end-to-end secured systems. (4/8)

'Moon Landing' Performed with DLR Robotic Motion Simulator (Source: Space Daily)
How will astronauts land safely on the Moon in the future? A seamless interaction between pilot and spacecraft is crucial to ensuring a successful Moon landing. Together with partners from industry and research, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has conducted a special experiment. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and test pilot Roberto Vittori has tested various lunar landing maneuvers for the first time during a fully mobile simulation in the flight deck of the 'DLR Robotic Motion Simulator'. (4/8)

Why Falcon 9 is Better than Even SpaceX Thought (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Falcon 9 has seemingly overachieved on its promises of rapid reuse with little to no refurbishment between flights. Ian breaks down data from SpaceX's workhorse showing how Falcon 9 Block 5 surpassed even SpaceX's expectations. Click here. (4/8)