August 14, 2022

Teams Work Final Preparations for Roll Out of Artemis I Moon Rocket (Source: NASA)
Engineers are conducting the last integrated test before the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft roll out to Launch Pad 39B next week for the launch of the Artemis I flight test. This week, teams began the second part of the flight termination system (FTS) test. The first part of the test was conducted earlier this year prior to the wet dress rehearsal.

For safety purposes, all rockets are required to have a system that the Space Launch Delta 45 can use to terminate the flight if necessary. Following completion of the FTS testing, the Eastern Range requires SLS to launch within a certain timeframe. In order to meet the Aug. 29 launch attempt and backup attempts on Sept. 2 and 5, NASA has received an extension from the Space Launch Delta 45 on the validation of the FTS from 20 to 25 days before the system would need to be retested. The waiver will be valid throughout the Artemis I launch attempts. (8/12)

Rocket Lab Plans Another Helicopter Catch Later This Year (Source: Space.com)
Keep your eyes out for another rocket-grabbing helicopter snatch. Rocket Lab officials plan to snag another falling Electron booster out of the air by the end of 2022, they announced Thursday (Aug. 11) during a quarterly results call. CEO Peter Beck told analysts that the data from the epic helicopter catch in May indicates that everything mostly went to plan. This is despite the fact that the helicopter pilots released Rocket Lab's booster into the water due to concerns about how their rotorcraft was flying. (8/12)

NASA's Perseverance Cores 12th Sample, Team Assessing Rover's Coring Bit (Source: Space Daily)
Images and data downlinked Thursday from Perseverance show that we've successfully cored, sealed, and stored our 12th sample of the mission. As the team always does, images of several sample collection system components were taken after completion of the coring activity. In those images, two small pieces of debris were visible - a small object on the coring bit (stored in the bit carousel) and a small hairline object on the drill chuck.

The team is now looking into the origin of the debris, and whether it originated from the rover or external debris from the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) system that was jettisoned at the start of the mission. It is early in the investigation. Commands will be uplinked tomorrow for additional imaging. Perseverance's forward Hazcam and Navcams will obtain images of the workspace (the surface directly in front of the rover) to see if there is any foreign object debris visible. (8/8)

AI Helps Discover New Space Anomalies (Source: Space Daily)
The SNAD team, an international network of researchers including Matvey Kornilov, Associate Professor of the HSE University Faculty of Physics, has discovered 11 previously undetected space anomalies, seven of which are supernova candidates. The researchers analysed digital images of the Northern sky taken in 2018 using a k-D tree to detect anomalies through the 'nearest neighbour' method. Machine learning algorithms helped automate the search.

Most astronomical discoveries have been based on observations with subsequent computations. While the total number of observations in the 20th century was still relatively small, the volumes of data drastically increased with the arrival of large-scale astronomical surveys. For example, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), which uses a wide-field view camera to survey the Northern sky, generates ~1.4 TB of data per night of observation and its catalogue contains billions of objects. Manually processing such enormous amounts of data is both expensive and time consuming, so the SNAD team of researchers from Russia, France and the US came together to develop an automated solution. (8/8)

Wentian's Small Mechanical Arm Completes In-Orbit Tests (Source: Space Daily)
The small mechanical arm mounted with Wentian, the first lab module of China's space station, has successfully completed in-orbit tests, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). With the support of the ground team, the small mechanical arm has completed a series of in-orbit function and performance tests. All indexes performed well, achieving expected results, said the CMSA.

The weight and length of the small mechanical arm are about half that of the 10-meter-long large mechanical arm on the core module Tianhe. It is quite flexible and can perform operations with greater precision. (8/8)

Blue Origin Continues New Glenn Puzzle Progress for Cape Canaveral Launches (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
While Blue Origin has been knocking off successful flights of its suborbital tourist rocket New Shepard in Texas, work continues to get its massive New Glenn orbital rocket ready for flight from Florida. Its first launch won’t be until 2023 at the earliest, but construction on the rockets continues at their factory on the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, while testing continues at Launch Complex 36. Blue Origin took over the lease for LC-36 in 2015, investing about $1 billion in the pad site alone. That’s out of more than $2.5 billion in overall cost to develop the New Glenn program.

“It’s rapid pace,” said Allison Caron, the Director of Program Management for the Launch Facility Development team in Florida. “2022 is the year for subsystem commissioning and integrated testing. We recently completed our upending system and checking that out. That’s going to take our horizontal transporter and vehicle to a vertical launch position.” She said integration testing will be completed before the end of the year including simulators testing out the ground systems at LC-36. This week, the teams filled the site’s water tower to begin deluge testing, which is when launch providers spray hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to help dampen the extremely loud and potentially damaging acoustics created by a launch.

The launch site also includes an integration facility with room up to three New Glenn rocket boosters where all its parts will be put together to form the 313-foot-tall completed rocket with a fairing that’s 23 feet in diameter. “We take those stages, we put them together in the integration facility, we put them on our transport erector, we go up the ramp, we mate to the pad, and then to the 20 ground systems that we have to support the rocket,” Caron said. Click here. (8/14)

U.S. Army Hands Over Satellite Operations to Space Force, but Keeps a Foothold in Space (Source: Space News)
Satellite ground stations that for decades have been operated by the U.S. Army will be officially handed over to the Space Force on Aug. 15. The Space Force will take over control of the Wideband Global Satcom and Defense Satellite Communications System constellations of military satellites. The satellites were built and launched by the U.S. Air Force but the Army controlled the payloads.

The Pentagon approved the transfer last year in an effort to consolidate space programs under the new military branch, which is responsible for providing satellite-based services to DoD and allies. The Army shifted about $78 million to the Space Force’s 2022 budget to cover the cost of operating five satellite operations centers and four regional support centers. About 500 military and civilian personnel will transition from the Army to the Space Force’s Delta 8 unit based at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. (8/14)

NASA, Space Force Resolve SLS Flight Termination System Issue (Source: Space News)
NASA and the U.S. Space Force have resolved an issue with the flight termination system on the Space Launch System that could have cut short the vehicle’s inaugural launch campaign. In an update late Aug. 12, NASA said it worked with Space Launch Delta 45, the Space Force unit that operates the Eastern Range, to extend the certification of the flight termination system (FTS) on the rocket from 20 to 25 days. That extension will be valid for all attempts for the upcoming Artemis 1 mission.

NASA officials previously said the 20-day limit on the FTS, after which the unit would need to be retested, restricted the launch opportunities for the mission. The clock starts during processing in the VAB. The Eastern Range requires the FTS to be tested 15 days before launch, starting a 20-day clock to conduct the launch. That would have allowed launches to take place on Aug. 29 and Sep. 2, but not a third opportunity Sep. 5. (8/13)