Deep Space Extra

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

Human Space Exploration:

• Starliner docks with International Space Station on crewed test flight
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Chinese astronauts just repaired space debris damage outside the station;
• SpaceX cheers successful Starship IFT-44;
• Starliner CFT lifts off
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Boeing’s Starliner gears up for a third launch attempt after weekend scrub
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin;
• SpaceX targeting June 6 for next launch of Starship megarocket
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA’s bid for the Moon and the new age of space exploration;
• SpaceX gets green light for fourth Starship test flight;
• Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko reaches 1,000 cumulative days in space
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Boeing;
• NASA tests Mobile Launcher’s slidewire baskets;
• Russian Progress 88 cargo ship docks at ISS carrying tons of fresh supplies
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Northrop Grumman;
• NASA foregoes Sunday launch, delaying Starliner takeoff to at least Wednesday
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;

Space Science

• Rocky, carbon-rich exoplanets more likely around tiny stars, James Webb Space Telescope reveals;
• Chang’e-6 spacecraft dock in lunar orbit ahead of journey back to Earth;
• NASA exoplanet hunter finds ‘weird’ world surviving a star’s relentless bombardment – it’s named Phoenix;
• Mystery object waits nearly an hour between radio bursts;
• Hubble Space Telescope faces setback, but should keep working for years, NASA says;
• Liftoff for PREFIRE and Ice! Rocket Lab launches second Polar Heat CubeSat;
• Chang’e 6 Moon samples collected and launched into lunar orbit;
• Life probably played no role in Mars’ organic matter;
• Astronomers discover new Earth-size world only 40 light-years away;
• CME strike sparks minor storms;
• Powerful new NOAA weather satellite set for June launch atop SpaceX Falcon Heavy
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• Chang’e-6 lands on far side of the Moon to collect unique lunar samples;

Other News

• Coalition for Deep Space Exploration hosts NASA Artemis II crew reception
  Coalition president and CEO Allen Cutler and Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Jacobs, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• Report: Space Force transitioning to new model for the defense of space;
• ‘Most unique tree here:’ Artemis Moon Tree planted at U.S. Capitol;
• Uncontrolled reentry of space debris poses a real and growing threat;
• Congressional language alters plans for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory
  Coalition Members in the News – Lockheed Martin, Norhtrop Grumman;
• Space-based monitoring of electronic signals is now a commercial battleground;
• China’s space plane releases another mystery object into orbit;
• Chinese firm files plans for 10,000-satellite constellation;
• North Korean military satellite launch fails;
• South Korea launches its own NASA;
• China’s secretive spaceplane releases object into orbit;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

• NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance are now looking to Wednesday at 10:52 a.m. EDT for the launch of the CST-Starliner Crew Flight Test following launch scrubs on June 1 and May 6 that exposed technical issues. Thursday will provide a backup launch opportunity at 10:29 a.m. EDT.
• Meanwhile, SpaceX is looking to Thursday for a potential fourth uncrewed test launch of Super Heavy/Starship, pending FAA approval. A focus of the test flight is a successful descent of the Super Heavy and Starship from high altitude following separation.
• The Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine meets Wednesday through Friday in Washington with open sessions live streamed. The lineup includes some of NASA’s administrative staff for a discussion, “How Can Philosophy Help NASA Explore the Cosmos?” on Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT.

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