In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Bahrain signs the Artemis Accords. Ingenuity still flying after a year on Mars. NASA holds teleconferences on upcoming spacewalks and Artemis I Wet Dress Rehearsal.
Human Space Flight
Boeing Starliner test flight next on ULA’s launch schedule
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance
Spaceflightnow.com (3/11): The launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on a redo of a December 2019 test flight has moved to the front of the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) lineup of upcoming missions. Starliner’s move to the front of the ULA Atlas V launch line came as the U.S. Space Force postponed an Atlas V launch of two payloads to geosynchronous orbit previously planned for April. The uncrewed Starliner launch to the International Space Station (ISS) now planned for May is to set the stage for a crewed test flight, followed by NASA’s certification of Starliner to begin the regularly scheduled transportation of astronauts to and from the ISS.
Bahrain joins Artemis Accords
SpaceNews.com (3/12): Bahrain became the latest country to join the Artemis Accords, a set of principles regarding cooperation in human deep space exploration. Mohamed Al Aseeri, head of the National Space Science Agency of Bahrain, signed the Accords March 2 during the U.S.-Bahrain Strategic Dialogue. While the signing was briefly mentioned as part of that event, it was not formally announced by NASA and the State Department until later in March. Bahrain is a newcomer to space, having established its space agency only in 2014.
Space Science
Ingenuity still “as good as new” after nearly a year on Mars
SpaceNews.com (3/12): NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars logged its 21st flight on Friday at the Jezero Crater landing site of the Perseverance rover, which delivered the small solar powered flying machine to the Red Planet a little over a year ago. Now serving as a reconnaissance scout for the rover, Ingenuity was only expected to fly five test flights. However, it has flown more than 4.6 kilometers, or about 2.9 miles, since taking off for the first time in April 2021. The mission team expects Ingenuity to keep on flying as Perseverance moves from the crater floor, which is believed to be an ancient lakebed, to a new destination, an ancient stream delta that may hold evidence for previous biological activity on the Red Planet.
Scientists hail ‘the decade of Venus’ with 3 new missions on the way
Space.com (3/11): Upcoming planetary science missions to Venus planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) were a focus of discussion during last week’s annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. It was in 2021 that NASA announced two Venus missions, VERITAS and DAVINCI+, and ESA introduced EnVision. Working from orbit, VERITAS will image the planet’s surface, and study rock composition and geological activity. A 2027 launch is planned. Similarly equipped, EnVision is to launch in the early 2030s. DAVINCI+, planned for launch in 2030, will include an atmospheric probe designed to slowly descend through the planet’s atmosphere and land.
Study of Pluto’s subsurface ocean drives potential return mission
Spaceflightinsider.com (3/2): Launched in January 2006, NASA’s New Horizon mission carried out the first close flyby of Pluto and its moon Charon in July 2015. The flyby offered evidence that Pluto is geologically active and may harbor a subsurface ocean, offering a habitable environment. Scientists are proposing that a $3 billion follow-up mission, Persephone, could place an orbiter around Pluto to explore further. With a possible 2031 launch, Persephone could reach Pluto in 2058.
Opinion
NASA’s new budget means it won’t be going back to the Moon anytime soon
Time.com (3/11): In a new piece, Time editor Jeff Kluger questions the nation’s commitment to returning human explorers to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis initiative based on current funding. He questions the validity of recent estimates of an initial landing in 2024, 2025, even 2026. Kluger states that the Apollo generous annual funding is worth contemplating as Congress completed work on an omnibus spending bill that allocates the space agency just over $24 billion dollars, much less than what the space agency was getting back when it sent astronauts to the Moon.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of March 13-19, 2022
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/13): On Thursday, NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule are scheduled to roll out from the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to begin a four-mile trek to Launch Pad 39B for an April Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR). Today at 5:30 p.m. EDT, NASA will host a news conference about the WDR. Also today, at 2 p.m. EDT, NASA will hold another telecon to preview a pair of upcoming spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS). The first of the 6 1/2-hour spacewalks will begin on Tuesday at 8:05 a.m. EDT, with NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari preparing the ISS solar power truss for the future installation of another Roll Out Solar Array (iROSA) to sustain and boost electricity generation over the coming years. NASA plans to televise the Artemis I and spacewalk activities on NASA TV and stream them over www.nasa.gov/nasalive. On Friday, Russia’s Soyuz MS-21 is set to launch with three cosmonauts from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a three-hour journey to the ISS. In Washington, the National Space Club 65th Goddard Memorial Dinner will happen on Friday.