Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of July 22, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• Nelson: Apollo 11 united the country in 1969, Artemis will too
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• NASA SLS Core Stage headed to KSC for Artemis II
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Jacobs;
• NASA delays ISS spacewalks indefinitely to investigate spacesuit coolant leak
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Collins Aerospace;
• China wants 50 countries involved in its ILRS Moon base;
• We’re building nuclear spaceships again this time for real;
• Russia unveils timeline for building its new space station, starting in 2027;
• Pegasus barge brings Artemis II core stage to Kennedy Space Center
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Chinese astronauts simulate a debris-strike emergency on the Tiangong space station (video);
• “We’re pushing the limits:” Artemis II backup astronaut on 2025 round-the-Moon mission (exclusive)
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Sierra Space conducts second full-scale burst test of inflatable module;
• SpaceX finds cause of Falcon 9 failure, eyes return to flight as soon as July 27;
• Make-or-break tests on tap for Boeing’s Starliner capsule
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;

Space Science

• Gaia hit by a micrometeoroid and caught in a solar storm;
• Before plunging to its death, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft saw secrets in the seas of Saturn’s moon Titan;
• The entrance of a lunar lava tube mapped from space;
• Review concludes proposed NASA budget cuts would end Chandra;
• VIPER clears acoustic tests as scientists question proposed cancellation;
• A pair of cubesats using ground penetrating radar could map the interior of near Earth asteroids;
• NASA releases eye-popping, never-before-seen images of nebulae, galaxies in space;
• Mercury has a layer of diamond 10 miles thick, NASA spacecraft finds;
• No, NASA hasn’t found life on Mars yet, but the latest discovery is intriguing;
• ISS scientists make headway in cancer research: We’re NASA, we do ‘Moonshots’;
• Major farside solar flare;

Opinion

• Streamlining commercial space: A national imperativeIn an op-ed, Congressman Rick Crawford, who serves on the House Aviation Subcommittee, urges Federal Aviation Administration reforms enabling regulations to accommodate a growing commercial space industry. “As commercial space operators continue demonstrating an ability to safely and adequately operate in a manner consistent with FAA regulations and laws, the government needs to streamline permitting processes so that they aren’t repetitive or creating needless delays,” according to the Arkansas lawmaker.

Other News;

• Senate Appropriators approve slightly more than House for NASA in 2025;
• U.S. military urged to embrace smallsat revolution;
• Kent-based Blue Origin reveals six-member crew for next flight to space;
• Tim Peake joins first manned all-U.K. space team
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• European Space Agency to expand U.K. presence;
• Raytheon partners with Italy’s Avio to boost solid rocket motor production;
• ABL loses rocket after static-fire test
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• Europe sees Ariane 6 launch as an end to its “launcher crisis”;
• Astroscale unlocks remaining space agency funds to de-orbit OneWeb satellite;
• South Korea’s new space agency outlines plans;
• China launches new Gaofen-11 high resolution spy satellite;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

• The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled the markup for its 2025 Commerce, Justice and Science spending measure on Thursday that includes NASA and NOAA for the 2025 fiscal year that begins on October 1.
• Also on Thursday, NASA’s Lunar Exploration Analysis Group has scheduled a Town Hall session on the decision by NASA last week to cancel VIPER, a Commercial Lander Payload Services mission to the lunar south pole to further assess the presence of subsurface water ice, a significant resource for future human exploration. That will follow a discussion Tuesday on the cancellation before the NASA Science Exploration Forum in St. Louis.
• Monday marks the start of a four-day International Conference on Mars hosted by Caltech with the status of NASA’s cost and technology-challenged Mars Sample Return mission on the agenda.
• On Friday, NASA has scheduled news briefings on its Crew-9 Dragon mission for the launch of a four-person NASA and Russian crew to the ISS. Starting at 12 p.m. EDT, the briefings will be televised on NASA TV and streamed over www.nasa.gov/nasalive.

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.