Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the weeks of January 27th, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• From Earth to space: Testing tech in lava tubes for future space exploration
• NASA confirms crew for private Axiom Mission 4 to ISS
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• Safety panel reports progress in Starliner investigation
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA astronaut Suni Williams sets new record on 5.5-hour spacewalk outside ISS
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Artemis contractors defend current architecture as fastest way to return to the Moon
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin
• Watch NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore perform spacewalk outside the ISS today (video);
• Astronauts are going to check if there are microbes on the outside of the station;
• Trump, Musk imply changes to Butch and Suni’s return
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Boeing;
• Despite DEI demise, NASA still touts goal to land 1st woman, 1st person of color on Moon;
• Everyone who has ever been to space, charted
• Spacewalks resume from U.S. segment of ISS after six-month hiatus;

Space Science

• A warning from the trees;
• Astronomers find hundreds of ‘hidden’ black holes and there may be billions or even trillions more;
• A balloon mission that could explore Venus indefinitely;
• NASA finds key molecules for life in OSIRIS-REx asteroid samples. Here’s what that means
• ESA enlists Thales Alenia Space for mission to Venus
• Blue Origin scrubs landmark New Shepard Moon-gravity launch due to weather, rocket glitch;
• Array Labs, Raytheon, Umbra form partnership focused on 3-D mapping from space;
• Researchers practice searching for life on Enceladus, in the Arctic Ocean;
• JWST facing potential cuts to its operational budget
• Microgravity in space may cause cancer – but on Earth, mimicking weightlessness could help researchers develop treatments;
• New Shepard flight to demonstrate lunar gravity;

Opinion

• China’s lunar agenda a heightened warningCoalition Member in the News – Paragon Space Development Corporation
  Grant Anderson, president & CEO of Paragon Space Development Corp., emphasizes the need for the U.S. to bolster its position in space for national security, especially in response to China’s rise in the space realm and vow to reach the Moon with astronauts within the next five years. The assembly of the Tiangong Space Station and plans to establish an International Lunar Research Station at the Moon’s south pole are evidence of China’s intent to pursue a leadership position in space. Anderson advocates for stronger collaboration between the U.S. military, the civil space sector, and private space and technology companies to maintain a competitive edge.

• Will the U.S. get to Mars quicker if it drops or delays plans to visit the Moon?): According to an op-ed offered by Ian Whittaker, a U.K. physicist, whether Moon missions will delay the U.S. getting to Mars is a space policy question that can be best assessed by experts in the field or space exploration rather than by politicians or their billionaire associates.

Other News;

• Clearer career pathways needed to sustain space industry growth
  Coalition Members in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• FAA optimistic launch companies will switch to new regulations by 2026 deadline;
• Satellite backlog emerges as key constraint at the nation’s busiest spaceport;
• Space Force projects ULA to outpace SpaceX in 2025 national security missions;
• Trump’s Iron Dome for America calls for space-based interceptors;
• A tumultuous start to a new administration at NASA;
• Why Comet G3 (ATLAS) will be ‘remembered as the Great Comet of 2025’ (photos);
• Chinese rocket booster falls to Earth, explodes near home (video);
• U.S. space traffic system upgrade still targeting 2025 amid bid protest;
• Trump team signals defense acquisition overhaul;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week of Jan 6th:

• Coalition Members in the News – Amentum, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman: Three space policy meetings are beginning in Orlando, Florida on Monday with the Global Spaceport Alliance’s Spaceport Summit, the Space Mobility Conference and Expo on Tuesday, and the SpaceCom/Space Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
• On Tuesday at 11 a.m. EST, Blue Origin plans to launch a New Shepard suborbital mission that includes NASA science and technology payloads that will be exposed to a simulated lunar gravitational environment.
• The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST on the nomination of Howard Lutnick to become the Secretary of Commerce.
• On Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST, NASA plans a virtual news briefing on the scientific evaluation of samples from the asteroid Bennu returned to Earth by the OSIRIS-Rex mission.
• On Thursday, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are to embark on a six-to-seven-hour spacewalk outside the ISS to conduct science and maintenance activities. NASA plans to stream coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. EST over plus.nasa.gov.

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