Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of September 30, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• Companies seek more opportunities to send private astronaut missions to ISS
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• First Guardian launches into space aboard NASA mission
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA cites progress in reducing ISS air leak
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• What to know about the leak at the International Space Station: ‘A top safety risk’;
• NASA IG worries about lack of redundancy for ISS operations, longer term issues
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Northrop Grumman;
• SpaceX pauses Falcon 9 launches after upper stage deorbit anomaly;
• SpaceX Crew Dragon brings 2-man crew to space station amid probe of upper stage anomaly
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;;

Space Science

• Curiosity Mars rover’s wheels are more battered than ever – but they still work;
• Meet SpaceHopper, a three-legged hopping asteroid explorer;
• The strongest flare yet;
• How did dark matter shape the universe? This physicist has ideas;
• NASA removes technical details from Janus RFI;
• Significant X-class solar flare;
• James Webb Space Telescope deciphers the origins of Pluto’s icy moon Charon;
• Perseverance finds a strange black-and-white-striped rock on Mars;
• ESA’s Hera mission progresses towards launch pending Falcon 9 readiness;
• Chandrayaan-4 mission will be assembled in space before it goes to Moon;
• NASA turns off one of Voyager 2’s science instruments;
• Unloading cargo on the Moon;
• Heart tissues beat half as strongly on the ISS as they do on Earth;
• Hubble Space Telescope suggests our ancient universe was surprisingly crowded with supermassive black holes;
• Astronomers prepare for once-in-a-lifetime event: A ‘new star’ in the night sky;

Opinion

• No borders in the final frontier
  In an op-ed, aerospace entrepreneur Sam Hutchison calls for an expanded participation in the exploration of space, an enterprise so far led by the U.S., Russia and China and focused primarily on national security interests that drive industrial growth. “By democratizing access to space, we could accelerate scientific progress and move closer to unlocking the solar system’s vast resources for the benefit of all humanity,” he suggests.

Other News;

• The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was not alone;
• ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket aces 2^nd test launch;
• ULA set for second Vulcan launch;
  
• Why we need the Space Force now more than ever;
• U.S. faces stiff competition from China in satellite remote sensing;
• FAA requires investigation of anomaly on SpaceX’s Crew-9 astronaut launch;
• Launch Roundup: Vulcan ready for second flight; Hera mission set to study asteroid;
• China unveils Moon-landing spacesuit for the first time;
• Meet the astronauts preparing to travel farther from Earth than any human before
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

• In addition to the semi-annual crew exchange activities underway aboard the ISS with the weekend launch and docking of NASA’s Crew-9 mission, there is the second launch of the new ULA Vulcan Centaur planned for Friday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The three-hour window opens at 6:00 a.m. EDT. Success should lead to certification of the Vulcan Center for scheduled launches of national security missions.
• The NASA Advisory Council meets Tuesday and Wednesday at the Marshall Space Flight Center with virtual public access.
• NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce’s (OSC’s) new Advisory Committee on Excellence in Space (ACES), which replaces the Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing, meets for the first time on Thursday.
• Friday marks the start of the U.N.’s World Space Week, which commemorates the anniversary of the former Soviet Union’s October 4, 1957 Sputnik launch.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. House and Senate are in recess until after the November 5 election.
  .

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter:
Don’t miss the latest developments in space policy, science, and exploration with Deep Space Extra, delivered directly to your inbox from Monday to Friday.