April 26, 2024

ISS Laboratory Looking to Spark More In-Space Production with Grant Opportunity (Source: FNN)
Beginning today with the ISS National Lab. It’s the government funded organization which manages all non-NASA research and investigations. It recently announced a new funding opportunity for in-space production applications, which can leverage the unique space environment to develop, test, or mature new products and processes. Click here. (4/25)

New Vivid Images Show Why This is Dubbed Mars' 'Inca City' (Source: Mashable)
A European spacecraft orbiting Mars has acquired some of the most detailed images yet of a region at the Red Planet's south pole known as "Inca City." How this mysterious place earned its nickname is pretty obvious: From space, the natural grid-like pattern of pin-straight ridges, right angles, and polygons looks like the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Click here. (4/25)

Chasing Martian Mysteries: Perseverance Pays Off When Studying the Red Planet's Atmosphere (Source: SciTech Daily)
Studying the atmosphere with NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover can be challenging! Imagine spotting an interesting cloud in a photo taken yesterday; unlike something interesting on the surface, more observations just aren’t possible, as it’s long gone by now. Or imagine trying to take a movie of a dust devil zooming across Jezero crater, when the rover’s daily activities are all planned out before the rover even wakes up. Click here. (4/22)

True Anomaly Lays Off ~30 Workers (Source: Space News)
True Anomaly, a startup that recently won a Space Force contract for a tactically responsive space mission, is laying off about a quarter of its workforce. About 30 people were laid off from the company this week, which the company said came after an assessment found "duplication of roles and functions across the company." True Anomaly raised $100 million in December and won a Space Force contract for the Victus Haze mission earlier this month. True Anomaly said the layoffs will not affect its ability to carry out that project or other work. The company is working on spacecraft intended for various military applications requiring in-orbit maneuvering and object interaction. (4/26)

Gravitics Wins Space Force Contract for Tactically Responsive Project (Source: Space News)
Gravitics, a company developing modules for commercial space stations, has won a Space Force contract. The company announced Thursday it won a $1.7 million SBIR from SpaceWERX, the Space Force's innovation arm, and the Space Systems Command's Space Safari Program Office. The contract will cover work to use the company's technologies for tactically responsive space applications. The announcement provided few details about that work, but a Space Force official said the company's module technology "offers an unconventional and potentially game-changing solution" for tactically responsive space. (4/26)

China Launches New Crew to TSS (Source: Space News)
A new crew launched to China's Tiangong space station Thursday. A Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 8:59 a.m. Eastern and placed the three-person Shenzhou-18 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft docked with the Tiangong station six and a half hours later. The Shenzhou-18 crew of Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will relieve the Shenzhou-17 crew of Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, who have been on Tiangong since late October. Shenzhou-17 is scheduled to return to Earth April 30. (4/26)

China’s Tiangong Space Station Damaged by Debris Strike (Source: Space.com)
China will beef up its space debris procedures for astronauts after a partial loss of power on its Tiangong space station, according to state media. Astronauts on the Shenzhou 17 mission conducted two spacewalks outside the TSS, most recently on March 1. At the time, Chinese media said there had been a partial (but minor) loss of power supply after the outpost's solar panels suffered a debris strike.

"The space station's core module Tianhe had suffered a partial loss of power supply due to the impact of the space debris on the solar wing's power cables," Xinhua reported. Xinhua did not specify if the debris was from micrometeoroids or from human activity in space. Both debris types pose threats to Tiangong as well as the International Space Station (ISS). (4/24)

Cosmonauts Complete ISS Spacewalk (Source: Space.com)
Two cosmonauts wrapped up an ISS spacewalk ahead of schedule Thursday. Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub were scheduled to spend up to seven hours outside the station installing equipment, but finished their tasks in about four and a half hours. The two completed the deployment of a radar antenna on the Nauka module that was started in a spacewalk last year, installed and adjusted other hardware, and fetched a biological exposure experiment. (4/26)

NASA Graduates New Astronauts for Orion Capsule Mission (Source: Today.com)
The newest graduates of NASA’s very exclusive club of astronauts share how they are preparing for a mission to the moon and are fulfilling their dream of leading the country into a new era of space exploration. NBC’s Tom Costello reports in this week’s Sunday Spotlight with a look inside their upcoming mission. Click here. (4/21)

NASA Sets Distance Record for Optical Comms (Source: NASA)
NASA has set a new distance record for an optical communications demonstration. The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment on the Psyche spacecraft transmitted data to Earth using a laser earlier this month from a distance of 226 million kilometers. The test was also the first time that the experiment, which had only been transmitting test data, sent telemetry from Psyche. DSOC is designed to demonstrate the ability of laser systems to provide high-bandwidth communications at interplanetary distances. (4/26)

TESS Enters Safe Mode (Source: NASA)
NASA's TESS mission is back in safe mode. The spacecraft went into safe mode Tuesday during a "routine activity," halting science operations. Engineers are investigating the problem to see if it is related to one that triggered a safe mode earlier in the month. TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, was launched six years ago to map the sky and discover exoplanets. (4/26)

NASA Shares Updated Render of the Cargo Starship Variant (Source: Teslarati)
NASA shared updated renders of the SpaceX and Blue Origin cargo landers that will bring rovers and other equipment to the Moon. In addition to landing humans, SpaceX and Blue Origin are providing cargo landers to carry next-generation Moon rovers and other equipment to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis program. These cargo landers will be capable of delivering between 26,000 to 33,000 pounds to the Moon to support future astronauts and are planned to be ready in time for the Artemis VII mission, which is currently planned for no earlier than 2031. Click here. (4/25)

If Starship is Real, We're Going to Need Big Cargo Movers on the Moon and Mars (Source: Ars Technica)
As a SpaceX engineer working on the Starship program about five years ago, Jaret Matthews could see the future of spaceflight quite clearly and began to imagine the possibilities.

For decades everything that went to space had to be carefully measured, optimized for mass, and serve an extremely specialized purpose. But Starship, Matthews believed, held the potential to change all that. With full reusability, a barn-size payload fairing, and capability to loft 100 or more metric tons to orbit in a single throw, Starship offered the tantalizing prospect of a world in which flying into space was not crazy expensive. He envisioned Starships delivering truckloads of cargo to the Moon or Mars. Click here. (4/25)

Northrop Ready to Ramp Up Solid Rocket Production (Source: Politico)
Northrop Grumman executives anticipate that the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, recently signed by President Joe Biden, will boost domestic solid rocket motor production. "We are bullish on the opportunity to fulfill that demand through the investments we've made and the additional capacity that we can lay in for these coming months and years," said CEO Kathy Warden. (4/25)

NASA Prepares for CST-100 Starliner Launch on May 6 (Source: Space News)
The first crewed flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner is a step closer to launch. NASA completed a flight test readiness review Thursday for the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission, giving approval to proceed with a launch scheduled for May 6. NASA said they are only dealing with a few minor issues with the spacecraft and launch pad, but the launch will also depend on the schedule of the departure of a cargo Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station and relocation of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to free up a docking port for Starliner. The CFT mission, flown by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, is a final test of the spacecraft before certified by NASA for crew rotation missions to the station. (4/26)

Japan Targets June for H3 Launch (Source: AP)
Japan is targeting the end of June for the next flight of its H3 rocket. The Japanese space agency JAXA said the next launch is scheduled for no earlier than June 30 and will carry ALOS-4, an Earth observation satellite. This will be the third flight of the H3 after a failed inaugural launch last year and a successful second launch in February. (4/26)

Rocket Lab Successfully Launches the ‘Beginning of the Swarm’ Mission (Source: Teslarati)
Rocket Lab successfully launched the “Beginning of the Swarm” mission, its 47th overall yesterday. Electron took the skies at 10:32 am NZT from Launch Complex 1B on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand, sending two small payloads to vastly different orbits. The primary payload was NEONSAT-1 for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Satellite Technology Research Center. This is the first of an eventual 11-satellite constellation. The secondary payload was NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3). This satellite is meant to test new materials for the boom that deploys the sail itself. Once deployed, it is about the size of a small apartment. (4/24)

Lego Reveals NASA Artemis Rocket, Milky Way Galaxy Sets Coming in May (Source: Space.com)
Get ready space fans, Lego is about to launch two new sets that can take you from the moon to edge of the Milky Way. The toy company on Thursday (April 25) revealed its upcoming Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System and Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy sets. Both will go on sale beginning May 15. (4/25)

Artemis 1 Tree Seeds Taking Root (Source: CollectSpace)
Tree seeds flown on the Artemis 1 mission are starting to take root. The Orion spacecraft flew more than 1,000 tree seeds on that late 2022 mission, and a sapling from one of those seeds was delivered to the North Carolina governor's mansion this week by Artemis 2 astronaut Christina Koch, a native of the state. NASA is offering the seeds to educational and community organizations in a program modeled on Apollo "moon trees" grown from seeds flown on the Apollo 14 mission. (4/26)

Russian Space Junk Came Alarmingly Close to Smashing Into NASA Satellite (Source: Gizmodo)
Further analysis of a near-miss collision between two satellites in space revealed that they came even closer to one another than initially believed, raising more alarm over the growing danger of space debris. In late February, NASA’s TIMED spacecraft and the defunct Russian Cosmos 2221 nearly avoided crashing into one another, which would have added thousands of space junk fragments in low Earth orbit.

At the time, the incident was declared as “too close for comfort,” as ground observations estimated that the two satellites came within 20 meters of one another, but a NASA official recently revealed that it was a much closer encounter. “We recently learned through analysis that the pass ended up being less than 10 meters [33 feet] apart–within the hard-body parameters of both satellites,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said. (4/22)

AFRL Innovates with New Lightweight Additive Manufacturing for Rocket Engines (Source: Space Daily)
The Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Rocket Propulsion Division has achieved a significant milestone by designing, printing, building, and testing a unique single-block rocket-engine thrust chamber using an innovative additive manufacturing technique known as laser powder directed energy deposition (DED). "AFRL's investments in early advanced manufacturing techniques allow us to explore new areas of the design space for rocket engines and enable quicker design to testing cycles, from concept on a whiteboard to field evaluation," remarked Dr. Javier Urzay, Chief of the Combustion Devices Branch. (4/24)

Chang'e 7 Mission Set for Lunar South Pole Survey in 2026 (Source: Space Daily)
The Chang'e 7 robotic mission, under the China National Space Administration, plans to deploy six international science payloads to the moon's south pole by 2026. This initiative marks a significant phase in China's ongoing lunar exploration efforts. Announced in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, the mission aims to conduct comprehensive surveys and analyses of the lunar south pole's surface environment, including assessments of water ice and volatile elements in the lunar soil. Additionally, it will perform high-precision evaluations of the moon's terrains, compositions, and structures. (4/25)

China Expands Space Station Program to Include International Astronauts (Source: Space Daily)
China has announced its intention to expand the participation of foreign astronauts and space tourists in missions to its space station, emphasizing inclusivity and cooperation in its space endeavors. According to Lin Xiqiang, spokesman for the Shenzhou XVIII mission, this initiative aims to diversify the backgrounds of those participating in upcoming space station flights.

Three groups of astronauts have already been trained under this program, with the selection of a fourth group nearing completion. These astronauts will contribute to ongoing missions and are expected to participate in China's future lunar landing efforts. "Our astronaut team exhibits a wide range of ages and professional skills, maintaining a focus on their spaceflight objectives while excelling in mental, physical, and professional capacities," Lin stated during a press briefing at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. (4/25)

Large Cargo Landers to Boost Moon Missions for Artemis (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has commenced the development of large cargo landers under its Artemis program, with the aim of enhancing the scientific exploration capabilities of the Moon. The initiative involves collaboration between NASA and its human landing system providers, SpaceX and Blue Origin, to create landers capable of delivering substantial equipment payloads to the lunar surface.

These landers, which are based on the designs of current human lunar landers, will enable the delivery of up to 33,000 pounds (15 metric tons) of cargo, supporting extended scientific activities and the establishment of a sustainable presence on the Moon. The development of these cargo landers is slated to begin operations as part of the Artemis VII mission and beyond. (4/22)