Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of August 19, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

• After months of mulling, NASA will decide on Starliner return this weekend
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• SLS contract extension hints at additional Artemis delays;
• NASA wants clarity on Orion heat shield issue before stacking Artemis II rocket;
• How SpaceX modified a Dragon crew capsule for Polaris Dawn’s historic private spacewalk;
• NASA moves Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter: Preparing for next mission around the Moon;
• Axiom Space and Nokia partner to develop high-speed wireless communications for spacesuits
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Collins Aerospace;
• Mental health in space: ISS experiments help keep astronauts happy off Earth;
• Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission ready for launch;
• ISRO aims to hold Gaganyaan 1st test flight in December;
• NASA crew looks back on life in yearlong Mars simulation: Goal is to reach planet by the ‘end of next decade’;
• Para-astronaut John McFall hopes to see an ISS astronaut with a disability fly by 2030 (exclusive, video)
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• Robotic Russian Progress 89 cargo ship docks at ISS with tons of fresh supplies (video)
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;

Space Science

• Comparing two proposed NASA missions to Jupiter’s moon Io;
• Astronomers think they’ve found a plausible explanation of the Wow! signal;
• Some rocky exoplanets could have huge amounts of water in their molten cores;
• Against all odds, an asteroid mining company appears to be making headway;
• Chinese spacecraft appear to reach lunar orbit despite launch setback;
• Europe’s JUICE Jupiter probe zooms by the Moon in historic flyby (photos);
• With space agencies racing to the Moon, scientists are making a lunar ‘time zone’;
• Rocket Lab entered “hero mode” to finish Mars probes now it’s up to Blue Origin;
• Mars rock samples show signs of water in Jezero Crater – could life have once existed there?
• Rocket Lab’s Mars-bound twin satellites  Blue and Gold hit the road ahead of Blue Origin launch;
• How a quantum sensor on the ISS could revolutionize space exploration;
• Webb relieves the Hubble tension;

Opinion

• The new Moon race: Assessing Chinese and U.S. strategies
  The Space Review (8/19): China has essentially embraced a Cold War style approach to establish a human International Lunar Research Station on the Moon in the 2030s, while the U.S. has embraced a commercial and internationally partnered strategy with the Artemis program. Artemis faces risks, including insufficient congressional funding, commercial failures and gaps in communications and situational awareness technologies, according to an assessment from James Clay Moltz, a Naval Postgraduate School professor and author of Crowded Orbits: Conflict and Cooperation in Space. “Fortunately, the evidence so far is that the United States is building a more powerful and enduring coalition for sharing costs and pooling capabilities, which should serve it better than China’s largely self-contained and self-funded program,” he notes.

Other News;

• NASA adds three companies to launch services contract for smallsat missions;
• Astroscale finalizes contract for Japanese debris removal mission;
• New startup seeks to tackle space weather challenges;
• When and where to see August’s rare supermoon blue Moon;
• Planet signs deal with NATO to supply satellite imagery;
• Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus on making Moon landing history and the future of private space travel;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

• Upcoming by the end of this week or early next week is a decision by NASA on how to best conclude the Boeing CST-100 Starliner CFT mission. The astronauts will either descend to Earth aboard the Starliner or remain aboard the ISS until February for a return to Earth with two SpaceX NASA Crew-9 mission astronauts.
• Billionaire Jared Isaacman’s second four-person private astronaut mission is looking to an August 26 launch for an up to five-day orbital mission that is to feature the first private astronaut mission spacewalk.
• On August 28, the Mitchell Institute will celebrate the 5th anniversary of the re-establishment of the U.S. Space Command.
• Also on August 28, NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Committee will host a virtually accessible NASA Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate discussion on the agency’s evolving Moon to Mars Strategy and Architecture.

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