April 19, 2021

Gateway Instruments to Improve Radiation Detection for Artemis Astronauts (Source: NASA)
NASA’s Gateway lunar outpost will address one of the biggest concerns for space travel beyond Earth’s orbit by measuring radiation levels within the spacecraft with a sophisticated collection of radiation detectors.

The radiation-detecting suite of research instruments is planned to launch inside the first module of the multipurpose international outpost, which will be in a highly elliptical seven-day orbit around the Moon. The Gateway will provide vital support for a sustainable, long-term human return to the lunar surface under the Artemis program and serve as a staging point for deep-space exploration, in addition to hosting science and technology demonstrations.

Space radiation is one of the primary concerns for crew health, safety, and mission success during deep space exploration missions, as it poses a considerable health risk to astronauts in space. Scientists hope to develop additional ways of predicting changes in space weather and combatting these potentially detrimental effects to ensure astronauts remain healthy and productive over the long haul with the benefit of more precise measurements about the radiation environment in deep space. (4/15)

Amazon Secures United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rockets for Project Kuiper (Source: Amazon)
There are billions of people on Earth without reliable internet, and we started Project Kuiper to help bridge the digital divide in these unserved and underserved communities around the world. The initiative is built around a constellation of 3,236 advanced satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and will provide fast, affordable broadband in places where access is unreliable or expensive, or where it doesn’t exist at all.

Launching a constellation on this scale is no small feat, and we will need multiple launch vehicles and launch partners to support our deployment schedule. Today, we’re excited to announce an agreement with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to secure nine Atlas V launch vehicles to support Project Kuiper. ULA Atlas V is the first of many launch vehicles to deploy our full satellite constellation, helping bring affordable, reliable internet to far corners of the world.

New Horizons Spacecraft Searches for Another Target on Path Beyond Solar System (Source: JHUAPL)
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft passed a milestone in its journey out of the solar system Saturday. New Horizons reached a distance of 50 astronomical units, or 7.5 billion kilometers, from the sun. New Horizons launched in 2006 and flew by Pluto in 2015 and a small Kuiper Belt object, Arrokoth, at the beginning of 2019. The spacecraft is continuing an extended mission as astronomers search for another Kuiper Belt object that the spacecraft could fly past before it runs low on power in the 2030s. (4/19)

NASA, Boeing Push Starliner Uncrewed Test to Late Summer (Source: Space News)
NASA and Boeing have pushed back the next uncrewed test flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle to late summer. Boeing said Saturday that the Orbital Flight Test 2 mission is now scheduled for August or September, although the spacecraft will be ready for launch in May if an earlier launch window opens up. The schedule is constrained by the manifest of Atlas 5 missions, including a military satellite launch scheduled for May, as well as a cargo Dragon mission launching in early June. NASA officials said last week that, despite the delay in this test flight, they still hope to launch Starliner on a crewed flight test, with three NASA astronauts on board, before the end of the year. (4/19)

Ingenuity Makes Historic First Flight on Mars (Source: Space News)
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter successfully performed its first flight on Mars early Monday. The 1.8-kilogram helicopter took off at 3:34 a.m. Eastern on a flight lasting about 40 seconds, climbing to an altitude of three meters and hovering before landing. Data from the flight arrived at Earth a little more than three hours later, and project officials declared success. An issue with a command timer delayed the flight from earlier this month, but on Saturday NASA announced it would proceed with the flight by adopting a workaround, adjusting the timing of commands, rather than a more time-consuming process of modifying flight software. (4/19)

Capital Flowing Into Late-Stage Space Ventures (Source: Space News)
Large late-stage rounds are dominating the space investment landscape. Venture firm Space Capital said investors put $1.9 billion into space infrastructure companies in the first quarter of 2021, a figure that includes $850 million invested in SpaceX and $400 million in OneWeb. About $1.1 billion was invested in launch companies overall in the first quarter of 2021, according to Space Capital, bringing the total to $19.9 billion over the past decade. Space Capital said that 2021 is off to "a frenzied start" as investors look to sell their equity in space companies for a profit, amid a surging appetite for deals in the market. (4/19)

China's Growing Space Capability Isn't as Threatening as Reported (Source: Space News)
China's space activities are a concern, analysts say, but not all of them are nefarious. Some space experts and analysts criticized a recent report by the U.S. intelligence community for painting China's space program with a broad brush and failing to draw distinctions between civilian and military space pursuits. That report lumped activities like development of a space station together with anti-satellite weapons. Those analysts said the U.S. government needs to be clearer about which activities pose security threats and which are simply efforts by China to catch up to the U.S. in civil space activities. Others, though, argued that the line between civil and military space activities in China is blurred and that many technologies can have dual-use applications. (4/19)

Chinese Spacecraft Aim to Span Fore and Aft Reaches of the Solar System (Source: Space News)
China is developing a pair of spacecraft to probe the far reaches of the solar system. The proposed mission, slated for launch in 2024, would send two spacecraft in opposite directions towards the front and back of the heliosphere, the bubble created by the solar wind in interstellar space. One spacecraft would fly by Jupiter in 2029, while the other would fly by Jupiter in 2033 and Neptune in 2038. Both have the goal of reaching a distance of 100 astronomical units, or 15 billion kilometers, by 2049, the centennial of the People's Republic of China. (4/19)
 
Soyuz Capsue Returns ISS Crew Members to Earth (Source: CBS)
A Soyuz spacecraft returned three International Space Station crew members to Earth Friday night. The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft undocked from the station at 9:34 p.m. Eastern and landed in Kazakhstan a little more than three hours later. The spacecraft returned to Earth NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov after six months on the station. (4/19)