Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of February 3rd, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• SpaceX swaps Dragon capsules & targets March 12 for Crew 10 launch, March 19 for Butch and Suni return as station approaches resource limit
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Boeing;
• Vast begins Haven-1 testing and reschedules its launch
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space
• Astronauts on the ISS experience vision changes should Mars travelers be worried?;
• China to launch two new space station cargo spacecraft on commercial rockets in 2025;
• UAE joins forces with European space company to develop airlock for NASA lunar station;
• Trump wants the U.S. to land astronauts on Mars soon. Could it happen by 2029?;
• Former head of Boeing’s Starliner program returns to role
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Safety panel urges NASA to reassess Artemis mission objectives to reduce risk
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;

Space Science

• Alien ocean could hide signs of life from spacecrafts;
• Perseverance Mars rover finds ‘one-of-a-kind treasure’ on Red Planet’s Silver Mountain;
• California coastal community shifts 4 inches closer to the ocean each week: NASA;
• Astronomers find the largest structure in the universe and name it “Quipu”
• Auxilium’s 3-D printer builds medical devices on the International Space Station
• Astrolab to fly its FLIP lunar rover on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander ;
• Near-Earth asteroid Bennu could hit Earth in 157 years and set off a global ‘impact winter,’ study says;
• How far away could we detect ourselves?;
• Bullet-fast Moon rocks carved 2 lunar gorges deeper than the Grand Canyon
• Blue Origin puts a lunar spin on suborbital research flight of New Shepard rocket ship
• China plans to send a flying robot to search for water on the Moon’s far side;
• Strong Earth-directed solar flares;
• The lifecycle of space telescopes;
• NASA pauses work of science groups, citing Trump executive orders
• SETI researchers double-checked 1 million objects for signs of alien signals
• Blue Origin to launch New Shepard Moon-gravity mission on February 4 after glitch;
• VIPER mission update NASA seeks partners for the Moon rover;
• The Moon is not so dead after all;
• NASA’s Juno spacecraft watches most powerful volcanic event ever seen on Jupiter’s moon Io
• Lightsails could reach distant star systems;
• New NASA space telescope SPHEREx to launch in February – it can do what the JWST can’t;

Other News;

• ‘Fork in the Road’ buyout offer reaches space and national security agencies despite exemptions;
• Key Congressional Democrats query DOT, NASA about Musk conflicts of interest;
• Air Force acquisition veteran takes helm of Space Development Agency;
• Atmos Space Cargo secures regulatory approvals for first reentry mission;
• Kremlin replaces Russian space boss after tenure scarred by failed Moonshot;
• Top House Science Committee Democrat asks NASA for information on executive order implementation;
• Falling space debris is a growing worry for aircraft, new research suggests;
• Top Pentagon contractors poised for gains as Trump pushes missile shield expansion
  Coalition Members in the News – L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• A newly discovered asteroid has a slim chance of hitting Earth in 2032;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week of February 3rd:

• NASA will be offering news briefings on two space science missions planned for launch late in February. On Tuesday at 2 p.m. EST, the briefing focus is on PUNCH, a mission planned for launch with SPHEREx on February 27. On Friday at 1 p.m. EST, the briefing will focus on the science aboard Intuitive Machines’ second NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission. The company’s Athena lander includes PRIME-1, a drill and spectrometer that will evaluate the subsurface of the Moon for the presence of water ice and other volatiles.
• Among other activities this week, the Beyond Earth Institute on Wednesday will host a webinar from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST via Zoom on “Exploring the Potential of Mining Helium-3 on the Moon’. He-3 is a potential fission fuel for power generating reactors on Earth.