In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Lockheed Martin brings in new CEO. The Orion crew capsule assigned to NASA’s first test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), an uncrewed test flight around the Moon, has completed critical thermal vacuum testing. NASA is re-accessing the role of a lunar orbiting Gateway in its quest to return human explorers to the surface of the Moon in 2024, though Gateway remains part of plans to establish a sustained human presence. Coronavirus concerns prompt the Marshall Space Flight Center to shift to telework status. Workers at other NASA centers are encouraged to work from home by teleworking as much as possible.
Human Space Exploration
Orion has aced all its tests at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
Cleveland Plain Dealer (3/14): The Orion crew capsule, developed for NASA by Lockheed Martin for the Artemis 1 test flight, has completed four months of thermal vacuum testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station. The testing exposed the spacecraft to the temperature extremes and other environmental factors it will experience during a multi-week test flight around the Moon without astronauts aboard. The capsule will be flown back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to undergo prelaunch preparations atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The launch date is under review.
Gateway no longer mandatory for 2024 Moon landing
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/14): During a briefing Friday before the NASA Advisory Council’s science committee, Doug Loverro, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the agency no longer considers the Gateway necessary to achieve an accelerated return to the surface of the Moon with human explorers in 2024. In November, NASA solicited commercial proposals for landing systems using the Gateway as a means of shuttling landers with astronauts delivered by the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew capsule to and from the lunar surface. However, it did not make the Gateway a mandatory requirement, and at least one company, Boeing, has questioned the need for the Gateway to achieve the 2024 goal. In his remarks, Loverro said the Gateway would remain a part of the ultimate lunar architecture with contributions from international partners.
Plans for lunar bases in limbo as NASA mulls schedule slip and program changes
Wall Street Journal (3/14): NASA is redefining the role and timing of a lunar orbiting Gateway in efforts to return to the surface of the Moon with human explorers in 2024 and then establish a sustained human presence to prepare for the human exploration of Mars in the 2030’s. The report cites public comments from and interviews with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Doug Loverro, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations.
With coronavirus spreading, NASA may tweak astronaut prelaunch quarantine plans
Space.com (3/13): A three person, U.S. and Russian crew is preparing for an April 9 launch to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan for a six month stay, amid growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. NASA is taking measures to prevent the virus from finding a home on the orbiting science lab. Under evaluation are new prevention measures, including a possible extension of the usual two week crew quarantine.
How do you keep a space station clean?
BBC (3/12): Decommissioned in 1998, Russia’s 12-year-old Mir space station offered a glimpse at how microbes, many of them brought to space by cosmonauts and astronauts, fare in the absence of gravity. Many quite well, it turns out, which is the reason International Space Station (ISS) crews rigorously clean their habitat and laboratory modules, especially the metal surfaces. In fact, the space station is home to a stable population of 55 different microrganisms. Lessons learned will be applied to NASA’s planned lunar orbiting, human tended Gateway.
Space Science
NASA’s stuck Mars ‘mole’ gets helpful push from the InSight lander
CNET (3/14): NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is expressing some optimism over efforts to resume subsurface activities with the Mars InSight lander’s Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe, informally known as “the mole.” InSight landed successfully in late November 2018, tasked with assessing subsurface seismic and thermal activities on Mars, a first. Efforts by ‘Mole” to tap itself about 16 feet into the Martian soil stalled early. In order to continue, the mission team devised a strategy to place external pressure on the instrument as it taps into the soil with InSight’s robot arm.
New atmosphere radiation measurements
Spaceweather.com (3/13): Airborne measurements from sensors on high altitude balloons launched by student investigator point to rising levels of cosmic radiation in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, increases attributed to reduced solar activity as the sun nears the solar minimum phase of its 11 year activity cycle. The dip is exposing some air passenger travel to higher levels of cosmic radiation.
Other News
Lockheed Martin elects James D. Taiclet as President and CEO
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin (3/16): The Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has elected James D. Taiclet, 59, as president and CEO, effective June 15. Taiclet will continue to serve as a member of the corporation’s board, which he joined in 2018. He has served as chairman, president and CEO of American Tower Corporation since 2004 and CEO since 2003. During that time, American Tower grew significantly and increased its market capitalization from approximately $2 billion to approximately $100 billion. Taiclet guided the company’s transformation from a primarily U.S. business to a global player in its industry, with significant assets and operations in 19 countries.
COVID-19: WH relocates Space Council meet; Space Symposium postponed
Breaking Defense (3/14): Vice President Mike Pence will chair the next scheduled public session of the National Space Council from Washington D.C., rather than the Glenn Research Center in Ohio. The session is set for March 24 and is to be live streamed rather than open to a large on site audience. Meanwhile, the annual Space Symposium hosted by Colorado Springs will be postponed due to the coronavirus.
The $400 billion space industry is bracing for coronavirus, as two NASA employees test positive
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin
CNBC (3/15): While schedule delays are nothing new in the business of space, companies in the estimated $400 billion industry are largely bracing for widespread work from home policies that could grind production and development to a halt. NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin are just a few of the organizations that have begun to limit business travel, reschedule events and move some workers to remote set-ups. But building complex spacecraft, developing software with high-powered computers and working in research teams will likely be out of the question if the conronavirus pandemic continues to worsen. Johns Hopkins University reported the U.S. has at least 3,244 confirmed cases and the CDC on Sunday urged organizers to cancel in-person events with 50 people or more in attendance throughout the country.
NASA Marshall shifts to telework after coronavirus case
SpaceNews.com (3/14): In response to a finding Friday that a NASA Marshall Space Flight Center worker has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the workforce there has been instructed to telework from home until further notice. Only mission essential personnel will be permitted on the center. Employees have been instructed to hold virtual meetings, and only mission-essential travel is permitted. Marshall joins NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley under the restriction. However, Ames is to lift the March 8 mandatory telework order on Wednesday. Those who need to be physically present at Ames will be permitted to return.
NASA visitor centers, museums close as coronavirus precaution
Collectspace.com (3/16): The list of visitor centers closing in response to coronavirus concerns grew as last week come to a close. The list includes the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center (KSCVC), Johnson’s Space Center (JSC) Houston, Marshall’s Space and Rocket Center, and similar operations at NASA Goddard, Glenn and the Wallops Flight Facility. Public tours of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been suspended. In Washington D.C., the Smithsonian Institution closed its museums on Saturday, including the National Air and Space Museum.
Canadian Space Agency President Sylvain Laporte is leaving after serving one term
Spaceq of Canada (3/13): Sylvain Laporte was appointed president of the Canadian Space Agency on February 27, 2015 and is completing his first term, which expires this month. He is to remain at the head under an extension that will permit a search for a new director, according to the agency.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of March 15-27, 2020
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/15): Concerns over coronavirus virus infection have prompted cancellations and format changes for a variety of space science and policy activities in the coming weeks. The next public meeting of the White House National Space Council chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, however, remains set for March 24, though it’s been moved from the Glenn Research Center in Ohio to Washington. NASA Ames and Marshall are now on mandatory employee telework status. Personnel at other field centers and facilities are encouraged to telework and travel only when its mission critical. The U.S. Senate remains in session for at least part of this week; the House is in recess.