In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage built by ULA and Boeing was added to the SLS this week.
Human Space Exploration
Space Launch System State Adapter and ICPS Upper State Stacked
Coalition Members in the news: Boeing, United Launch Alliance
Spaceflightinsider.com (7/9): The Space Launch System rocket for NASA’s Artemis I mission continues to come together with the mating of the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA) and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) at Kennedy Space Center. The RL 10 engine that will power the ICPS to send the Orion spacecraft on a precise trajectory to the Moon is housed inside the LVSA, which will protect the engine during launch. The ICPS was built by United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Boeing.
Ten years on, Northrop Grumman reflects on changes to Solid Rocket Motors from Shuttle to SLS era
Coalition Members in the News: Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Northrop Grumman
NASAspaceflight.com (7/8): The twin four-segment solid rocket boosters that once helped launch NASA’s space shuttles, have been upgraded to support the Space Launch System to open a new era of human deep space exploration. The changes are more complex than they appear, according to Matt Mecham, Manager of SLS Project Engineering for Northrop Grumman. “If you think of the Shuttle program, hundreds, thousands, of different drawings on paper [were needed] to take those concepts through manufacturing and into a vehicle. What we went through, all the old data, all the old drawings… [we] put those into a digital realm for us in our modeling and simulations room,” said Matt in an interview with NASASpaceflight.
Former NASA astronaut’s return to space on private Axiom flight will be ‘a dream come true’ (exclusive)
Coalition Member in the News: Axiom
Space.com (7/9): Almost ten years after retiring from NASA, Michael López-Alegría is once again getting ready to launch to space. López-Alegría, who was born in Spain and grew up in California, was a U.S. Navy engineer, then a pilot and then a NASA astronaut, achieving three space shuttle missions, one long-term stint on board the International Space Station and a total of 10 spacewalks. Now, López-Alegría is returning to space aboard Axiom’s Ax-1 mission, a private orbital space mission set to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as soon as January 2022.
‘Atlantis, Go’: Remembering the Shuttle’s final launch, ten years on
Coalition Members in the News: Boeing, Lockheed Martin
Americaspace.com (7/8): Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the final NASA space shuttle mission, the 33rd spaceflight for the orbital Atlantis. It was a day to remember for the STS-135’s four astronauts and ground support personnel. Now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Atlantis was a major contributor to the overall assembly of the International Space Station.
Space Science
China’s Chang’e 6 mission will collect lunar samples from the far side of the moon by 2024
Space News (7/8): Located on the far side of the Moon, the South Pole Aitken Basin is a high priority for future human exploration. China plans to send the Chang’e 6 sample return mission to the region believed to be the oldest impact site on the Moon and a source for clues about the Moon’s history and the early solar system in 2024.
New measurement may resolve cosmological crisis
Space.com (7/8): New research from University of Chicago cosmologist Wendy Freedman may help solve a growing uncertainty over the expansion rate of the universe, the Hubble constant. The differences originated with measurements of the cosmic microwave background, or first light after the Big Bang, and the brightness of nearby stars. Freedman’s technique relies on the light from red giant stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy. Her findings support an expansion rate that lies between those calculated using the cosmic microwave background and nearby stars.
Other news
FAA introduces new system to clear airspace more quickly around launches and re-entries
Spacepolicyonline.com (7/9): The Federal Aviation Administration’s new Space Data Integrator promises to reduce the time airspace must be closed to accommodate space launches and re-entries. The voluntary initiative, the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation believes, could reduce air space closures from four to two hours, decreasing flight delays for commercial aircraft and their passengers.
Repurposed communications satellites could help save humanity from an asteroid impact
Space.com (7/8): Large satellites used for TV broadcasting could be quickly and easily repurposed as asteroid deflectors if a threatening Near Earth Object was to pose an impact threat to the planet’s population, according to a study from Airbus commissioned by the European Space Agency.