In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Axiom Space working with Space Entertainment Enterprise to build space film studio. InSight lander awakens from safe mode.
Human Space Exploration
ESA looks to space summit to endorse human spaceflight efforts
SpaceNews.com (1/20): The European Space Agency (ESA) and European Union member states are to convene on February 16 in Toulouse, France for a space summit. Earlier this week, Josef Aschbacher, the agency’s director general, said the gathering will offer political leaders an opportunity to back an effort by Europe to develop its own ability to launch humans into space as well as discuss climate change concerns and other issues.
Tom Cruise movie’s producers aim to add film studio to the space station in 2024
Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space
Universetoday.com (1/20): U.K.-based media company Space Entertainment Enterprise (S.E.E.) yesterday announced it has contracted with Axiom Space to build a module consisting of content and entertainment studios and multi-purpose arena in space. Called SEE-1, the module is planned to launch in late 2024 and dock with Axiom’s commercial space station while it is connected to the International Space Station (ISS). When the commercial station’s initial configuration is completed and ready to separate from the ISS in 2028, the content creation venue will comprise one-fifth of its volume.
Bigelow Aerospace transfers BEAM space station module to NASA
SpaceNews.com (1/21): NASA awarded a $250,000 contract to California-based company ATA Engineering to provide engineering support services for the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which was added to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016. The module was built by Bigelow Aerospace. NASA had announced in December its intent to award a sole-source contract with ATA Engineering as that company, the agency said, was the only one qualified to provide the support given its role as a subcontractor to Bigelow in the development of BEAM and support of operations of the module. In that notice, NASA said Bigelow transferred title and ownership of the BEAM to NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) as its contract expired.
Space Science
NASA’s InSight Mars lander awakens from ‘safe mode’ after Red Planet dust storm
Space.com (1/20): NASA’s Mars InSight lander, the first mission to study the planet’s crust, mantle and core, has emerged from a “safe mode” suspension of activities initiated on January 7 in response to a major Martian dust storm. More normal operations resumed on Wednesday. InSight touched down at Elysium Planitia on Mars in November 2018. Dust from past storms has covered InSight’s solar panels, reducing available electrical power.
Yutu-2 lunar rover finds sticky soil on the far side of the Moon
New Scientist (1/19): China’s Yutu-2 became the first rover to reach the Moon’s unexplored far side with a landing in 2019. So far, the rover has found a stickier soil than the Moon’s near side regolith as well as more small rocks and impact craters.
NASA’s gamma-ray observatory is in safe mode after a possible wheel failure
Space.com (1/20): Launched in 2004 to study powerful gamma ray bursts, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has halted operations so that experts on Earth can assess a possible reaction wheel failure. Six reaction wheels point and stabilize the observatory. Mission scientists are hopeful the space telescope can continue to operate with five of the reaction wheels, if necessary.
Opinion
NASA needs a lead program office for Artemis
SpaceNews.com (1/20): NASA’s Artemis initiative to return humans to the Moon to establish a permanent presence needs a lead program office within the agency to identify and address the risks in the most robust way possible, writes Kevin Chilton, former commander of the U.S. Strategic Command and NASA shuttle astronaut, in an op-ed. Chilton suggests standing up an “Artemis Program Office” modeled after the “Apollo Program Office.” He adds that “without this critical organizational element in place, the odds of ensuring synchronized efforts across the enterprise are small, as tribal instincts across the NASA centers will undermine efficiency and integration — and decentralize unity of effort.”
Other News
Chinese satellite in near miss with Russian ASAT test debris
SpaceNews.com (1/20): Debris from Russia’s mid-November anti-satellite test led to a near-miss on Tuesday with China’s Tsinghua Science satellite. An advance warning from China suggested a much closer conjunction than what may have actually transpired, according to a U.S. expert.
Judge: Camden County can move ahead on land for spaceport
WABE.org (1/20): Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett Thursday ruled against an effort that would have prevented Camden County in Georgia from proceeding with the purchase of land for a spaceport on the Georgia/Florida border until there was a vote. Supporters believe the spaceport would provide an economic boost. Opponents believe it would harm the environment. The FAA on December 20 granted Camden County a license to operate the nation’s 13th commercial spaceport.