Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of August 12, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• Astronauts on ISS practice Moon base cement-mixing tech in microgravity;
• China could develop dual relay satellite system for Earth-Moon communications to reduce geopolitical risks;
• NASA pushes Starliner return decision to late August
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Lessons learned from Challenger and Columbia guide Starliner decisions
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA visits Simsbury aerospace company to say thank you for help on Artemis missions;
• NASA is about to make its most important safety decision in nearly a generation
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Roller coaster tech could help NASA’s Artemis Moon astronauts in case of a launch emergency;
• Starliner’s uncertain future
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Northrop Grumman;
• Axiom Space’s next astronaut mission to the ISS with SpaceX delayed to spring 2025
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• ‘It’s going to be hair-raising’: high-risk slingshot move will send robot craft to Jupiter;
• NASA requests details on potential VIPER partnerships;
• An ancient Martian lake was larger than any lake on Earth;

Space Science

• Is asteroid Psyche actually a planetary core? James Webb Space Telescope results cast doubt;
• An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, not a comet, new study finds;
• NASA may use lasers to livestream from the Moon one day;
• Senate bill would create center to study satellite interference with astronomy;
• July 2024 sets new records for global heat and climate disasters;
• A hopper could explore over 150 km of Triton’s surface in two years;
• Gaia detects more than 350 possible asteroid moons;
• Cybertrucks on Mars? Space advocates and NASA consider ideas for sample return;
• Underground reservoir on Mars could fill oceans on the planet’s surface, study finds;
• The next solar cycle has started… but the current one hasn’t finished yet;
• Geomagnetic storm watch is still In effect;

Opinion

• What space policy could look like after the 2024 election
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing

  The nation’s space program is likely to have the support of either of the presidential candidates, Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, who currently chairs the White House National Space Council, or former president Donald Trump, who initiated the Artemis program, according to an op-ed. Either candidate, though, must continue to evolve NASA’s Commercial Crew program and deal with the cost and schedule delays facing efforts by Artemis to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and to prepare for human expeditions to Mars.

Other News;

• Lockheed Martin to acquire Terran Orbital
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• NASA evaluating plan to restructure OSAM-1 satellite servicing mission;
• Facing “financial crisis,” Russia on pace for lowest launch total in 6 decades;
• Moog unveils new, radiation-hardened space computer to support the next generation of high-speed computing on-orbit
  Coalition Member in the News – Moog;
• Russia launches 89th Progress cargo spacecraft to ISS
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Northrop Grumman;
• Lockheed Martin taps General Dynamics for solid rocket motor manufacturing
  Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• NASA chief to scientists on budget cuts: “I feel your pain”;
• SpaceX denies violating environmental regulations at Starbase;
• NASA payload to fly on first Blue Origin lunar lander mission;
• Chinese rocket stage breaks up into cloud of more than 700 pieces of space debris;
• Rocket Lab launches sharp-eyed private radar satellite to orbit;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

• Russian space agency plans launch of the Progress MS-28 resupply mission to the ISS on Wednesday at 11:20 p.m. EDT with docking planned for Saturday at 1:56 a.m. EDT.
• On Friday at 10 a.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Don Pettit will speak with the news media about his upcoming launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS on September 11 with two Russian cosmonauts for a planned six-month mission.
• The FAA is holding public hearings on Tuesday and Thursday of this week and Tuesday of next week near SpaceX’s Starbase launch complex in South Texas regarding the company’s plans for SuperHeavy/Starship launches and their environmental impact.
• On August 20, a Lunar Surface Science Workshop will host a virtual presentation, “Science Drivers and Capabilities for Lunar Surface Habitat Research Facilities,” from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.
• .The U.S. House and Senate are in recess until September 9.

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