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Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of February 19, 2023:
Human Space Exploration:
- Russia reschedules Soyuz launch after Progress undocks
- Russia’s space cargo ship likely damaged by external impact
- Meet the SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts launching to the International Space Station on February 26
- ESA’s David Parker updates status of Orion service modules and European astronauts for Artemis
- China to send 2 astronaut crews, 1 cargo ship to Tiangong space station this year
- Crew-6 launch slips as Progress leak investigation continues
- SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts arrive at NASA spaceport for February 26 launch
- Progress MS-21 leak due to external impact
- NASA warns of budget challenges in year ahead
- Delving deeper: Super Heavy thrust and counting down to flight
- Replacement Soyuz enroute to ISS
- Landing of Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft with cosmonauts on board due September 27
- Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission preparing for summer launch
Space Science
- ESA, China conduct spacecraft-rocket integration tests but joint science mission delayed to 2025
- Instrument on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe switches off unexpectedly
- China silent on fate of Zhurong Mars rover on 2nd anniversary of Tianwen 1 mission
- Signs of Mars life may be too elusive for rovers to detect
- NASA rover snaps photos of ancient ‘waves’ carved into Mars mountainside
- Mars helicopter Ingenuity’s historic 1st flights shed light on Martian dust dynamics
- Astronomers find a group of water-rich asteroids
- Universe’s first galaxies unexpectedly large
- Supermassive black holes on a collision course
Other News
- Space Force considers public-private partnerships to respond to crises
- Space debris apocalypse: 6 objects that could wreak havoc in Earth’s orbit
- FAA forecasts surging commercial launch activity
- Texas is planning to make a huge public investment in space
- New Mexico Spaceport Authority plans new building at Spaceport America
- China’s LEO push looms over Western expansion efforts
- China launches high-capacity communications satellite after 39-day pause
- The coming Chinese megaconstellation revolution
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
- The seven-person International Space Station (ISS) is expected to be a focus of major activity this week, following the departure of Russia’s Progress MS-21 cargo vessel late Friday that followed a coolant leak on February 11. Russia plans to launch the Soyuz MS-23 crew capsule to the ISS on Thursday at 7:34 p.m. EST. Uncrewed, the Soyuz MS-23 is to dock at the ISS Russian segment to provide crew transportation back to Earth for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin. Their Soyuz MS-22 also experienced a coolant leak while docked to the ISS’s U.S. segment late on December 14, and was later deemed unsafe to return to Earth with three crew, though able to serve as a lifeboat for the two cosmonauts in the event of an emergency.
- On Tuesday, NASA’s Crew-6 astronauts, NASA’s Steve Bowen, Warren Woody” Hoburg, Russia’s Andrey Fedyaev, and the UAE’s Sultan Al Neyadi arrive at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) ahead of their planned launch to the ISS on Sunday at 2:07 a.m. EST. NASA looks to televise and stream Tuesday’s arrival from KSC at 12:30 p.m. over NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/nasalive./li>
- Meanwhile, Orlando, Florida, is serving as host to Commercial Space Week, which includes several events that got underway Monday and last through Thursday. Tuesday’s Space Mobility event was organized in coordination with the U.S. Space Force. Spacecom, the global commercial space conference and exhibition meets Wednesday and Thursday.
- The U.S. House and Senate are in recess this week.