October 2, 2021

Blue Origin’s First Astronaut Spaceflight Breaks Four Guinness World Records (Source: Guiness)
Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, has broken four Guinness World Records titles with their successful first human flight to space that took place on 20 July 2021. The mission took off from the company’s Launch Site One, near Van Horn, Texas, USA with four astronauts on board New Shepard, Blue Origin’s fully reusable suborbital spacecraft. The rocket is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

The astronauts on board were Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Blue Origin’s first customer, then 18-year-old Oliver Daemen. The 11-minute journey took them past the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. The records broken on this landmark spaceflight were: 1) Oldest person in space; 2) First siblings in space at the same time; 3) Youngest person to go to space; and 4) First suborbital spacecraft to carry paying customers. (10/1)

NASA Completes RS-25 Engine Test Series (Source: NASA)
NASA marked the completion of an RS-25 single-engine Retrofit-2 test series at Stennis Space Center. A full-duration hot fire of RS-25 developmental engine No. 0528 completed a seven-test series to support development and production of new engines for the SLS rocket on future missions. Operators fired the engine for more than eight minutes (500 seconds), the same time required during an actual launch. The test series provided valuable information to Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for the SLS engines. Operators collected hot fire data to demonstrate and verify various engine capabilities, and to evaluate new engine components manufactured with cutting-edge and cost-saving technologies and reduce operational risk. (10/1)

Vibration Tests for Moon Rocket Help Ensure Safe Travels on Road to Space (Source: NASA)
Driving down a bumpy gravel road, even an off-road vehicle experiences bumps and vibrations, partly because of the car’s natural frequency. An object's natural frequency is the frequency or rate that it vibrates naturally when struck. When forces like speed and the smoothness of the road are just right, the car will vibrate in tune with that same frequency.

Rockets flying through the atmosphere to space, including NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), are no different. They have natural frequencies and experience dynamic forces during launch and ascent. Understanding those frequencies and what they look like is critical to steering SLS and the Orion spacecraft safely through the atmospheric “road” to space. (10/1)

And Orions Make Three! (Source: NASA)
Not one, not two, but three Orion spacecraft are currently in production for NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. The Artemis I vehicle nears completion at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as all four ogive fairings were installed on the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system in preparation for the Artemis I mission. The spacecraft will soon be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building to be stacked and integrated atop the Space Launch System rocket. Additional photos can be viewed here.

The Artemis II Orion spacecraft is also well underway with final assembly and integration work on the crew module now in progress at KSC as the service module is nearing completion to be shipped to KSC for integration and mating operations in preparation for the first crewed mission around the Moon.

The welding team recently completed the final welds on the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel. Orion’s newly completed pressure vessel for the Artemis III mission is lifted out of the welding tool at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. This primary structure of the spacecraft’s crew module is the first major piece of hardware in Orion’s production phase with prime contractor Lockheed Martin and is scheduled to ship to the Operations and Checkout Building at KSC in October for further assembly work. (10/1)

Space Force Uniforms Meant to Capture the Vastness of Space (Source: New York Times)
After previous unveilings of the name for service members (“guardians”), its logo (which centers on a delta symbol) and rank insignia (deltas, globes and orbit rings), last week the Space Force showed prototypes of its new service dress. Guardians modeled a dark navy coat with gray pants. The deep blue of the coat is meant to represent the vastness of space. Silver thread on the sleeve braiding is a nod to 21st-century futurism, silver being a precious metal more spacey than gold.

The uniforms’ most prominent feature was the asymmetrical cut of the coat, which buttons on the right rather than in the middle. Six silver buttons run diagonally down the front, to represent the sixth branch of the military. The deep blue represents the vastness of outer space. The buttons have the globe, delta, orbit and stars that are part of both the U.S. Space Force flag and seal.

Although the new uniforms were not as obviously ridiculous as those on the Netflix show — battle fatigues in moon-crater-pattern camouflage — they still drew criticism and mockery in some circles. The general tone was that the visual identity of Space Force is drawing from Hollywood science fiction. That it’s more costume than uniform. But any similarities to Hollywood’s version of space soldiers is “a coincidence,” said Tracy Roan, chief of the Air Force uniform office, which is responsible for Air Force and Space Force uniforms. (10/1)

NASA Partners with Tampa-Area Authorities for Vertiport Study (Source: Catalyst)
St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman’s announcement that he has engaged in talks with air taxi company Lilium was not the only news concerning this new method of transportation to come out of Friday’s Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA) meeting. Brian Pessaro, principal planner and project manager for TBARTA, closed the meeting with a presentation from NASA on its innovative model built to collect information and determine the feasibility of vertiports around Hillsborough County. Several factors and data points went into the regional suitability simulation to determine the best locations for launch and landing pads. (9/27)