What You Missed Last Week

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Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of February 26, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• • Virgin Galactic expects no delay to next suborbital flight;
  • SpaceX Starship docking system readies for Moon missions in tests with NASA
    Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
  • Astronauts celebrate success of 1st surgery robot on ISS: ‘It’s a real game-changer’;
  • Leak in ISS Russian segment increases, but not an immediate concern;
  • ‘It’s white-knuckle time:’ NASA chief stresses safety for Crew-8 astronaut launch;
  • SpaceX delays Crew-8 astronaut launch for NASA to March 2 due to bad weather
    Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
  • India introduces first astronaut group Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
  • NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 forecast: 90% ‘go for launch’ weather for early Friday morning;
  • Meet the “Marvel”-ous four of Crew-8
    Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Boeing;
  • FAA closes Starship OFT-2 mishap investigation;
  • Meet two unsung heroes behind Victor Glover’s history-making NASA mission
    Coalition Member in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne;
  • The companies building Artemis – returning humans to the Moon
    Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Axiom Space, Bechtel, Boeing, Collins Aerospace, Jacobs, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
  • FAA commercial human spaceflight regulatory learning period nears expiration
    Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
  • SpaceX, NASA ‘go’ to launch Crew-8 astronaut mission to the ISS on March 1
    Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;

   

  Space Science

  • ‘Axion stars’ that went boom after the Big Bang could shed light on dark matter;
  • When an object like Oumuamua comes around again, we could be ready with an interstellar object explorer (IOE);
  • First U.S. Moon lander in half a century stops working a week after tipping over at touchdown;
  • Intuitive Machines and NASA call IM-1 lunar lander a success as mission winds down;
  • James Webb Space Telescope finds ‘extremely red’ supermassive black hole growing in the early universe;
  • The phases of lunar lander success, revisited;
  • It turns out that Odysseus landed on the Moon without any altimetry data;
  • NASA’s asteroid-impacting DART mission completely changed the shape of its target;
  • Odysseus Moon lander sends more pictures and we know where it is;
  • Intuitive Machines expects early end to IM-1 lunar lander mission;
  • 3 tiny new moons found around Uranus and Neptune  and one is exceptionally tiny;
  • The sun gets feisty, throwing off three X-class flares within 24 hours;
  • Japan’s SLIM Moon lander stages unexpected revival after lunar night;
  • IM’s Odysseus lunar lander not upright after all;

   

  Other News

  • China launches first high orbit internet satellite;
  • Space Force general warns of ‘window of vulnerability’ in satellite defense;
  • Congress clears new CR, punting shutdown threat further into March;
  • Legislation would make spaceports eligible for tax-exempt bonds;
  • Near miss! NASA satellite, dead Russian spacecraft zoom past each other in orbit;
  • Congressional leadership agrees to push shutdown worries down the road;
  • Richard Truly, shuttle astronaut and NASA administrator, dies at 86;
  • U.S. spacecraft and Russian satellite to pass dangerously near each other, NASA says;
  • Northrop Grumman warns space sector employees of potential layoffs
    Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman ;
  • China’s 2024 space plans include 100 launches and Moon sample return mission;
  • NASA names new ISS manager, space operations deputy;
  • SpaceX tests new emergency escape system to certify pad 40 at Cape Canaveral for astronaut missions
    Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
  • Russia has no plans to quit Outer Space Treaty, says senior diplomat;
  • China launches classified military satellite towards geostationary belt;

   

  Major Space Related Activities for the Week

  • NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission with four astronauts is set to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Friday at 12:04 a.m. EST. With an on time launch aboard their Crew Dragon Endeavour, NASA’s Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick and Jeannette Epps and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday about 7 a.m. EST. NASA will provide live coverage respectively over NASA TV and live streaming over www.nasa.gov/nasalive, beginning on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST, and Saturday at 5 a.m. EST, respectively.
  • NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) meets Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST, with audio available by telephone.
  • On Thursday, Intuitive Machines (IM) expects their Nova-C lunar lander, Odysseus, to end solar powered operations at the lunar south pole as sunlight disappears for two weeks. A soft landing unfolded last Thursday.
  • Meanwhile, the U.S. House and Senate are still faced with possible staggered March 2 and 8 federal government agency shutdowns unless legislators can agree on a third budget continuing resolution (CR) or a full budget appropriation for the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year, which began October 1, without a budget.