In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The Orion spacecraft moves into production phase. An emergence of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies is fueling a transition of small space startups to publicly held enterprises.
Human Space Exploration
Orion spacecraft production progresses for Artemis mission; Program Manager Cathy Koerner quoted
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
ExecutiveGov.com (9/13): NASA recently completed welding on the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel, the main structure for the spacecraft’s crew module, which will now ship to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for integration of the spacecraft’s systems and subsystems. The structure is the first major piece of hardware in Orion’s production phase with contractor Lockheed Martin. “NASA is shifting its focus from the development phase to the production phase for the Orion spacecraft to enable a long-term presence on and around the Moon,” said Cathy Koerner, NASA’s Orion program manager.
Space Science
Distant ‘Requiem’ supernova will be visible again in 2037, astronomers predict
Space.com (9/14): A distant supernova previously imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope will be visible again from Earth in 2037, astronomers predict. The supernova, dubbed Requiem, is a result of a stellar explosion some 10 billion light-years away. It was visible to the legendary space observatory three times in 2016, thanks to a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing occurs in the vicinity of super-massive celestial bodies that have the ability to bend and split light, magnifying and distorting the images of objects behind them. In the case of supernova Requiem, a giant galaxy cluster called MACS J0138.0-2155 served as the magnifying glass and revealed the stellar explosion in three different snapshots based on three different paths the supernova’s light took through the cluster.
Other News
The great space company sale
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
The Space Review (9/13): An emergence of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, is fueling a transition of small space startups to publicly held enterprises. “In the past 12 months companies ranging from launch startups to operators of satellite constellations have announced SPAC mergers, many of which have been completed,” according to the report which cites Astra, Redwire, BlackSky and Rocket Lab as examples.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak creating new space company ‘Privateer’
SpaceExplored (9/13): Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak tweeted on Sunday about a private space company he is launching that’s “unlike the others,” according to Wozniak. The company is called Privateer Space and its mission is to keep space safe and accessible to all humankind, according to a YouTube video Wozniak linked. Ripcord founder Alex Fielding is also a co-founder.
On This Day in Space! September 14, 1966: Gemini 11 sets all-time altitude record
Space.com (9/14): On September 14, 1966, NASA’s Gemini 11 mission set an all-time spaceflight altitude record when two astronauts reached an orbit of 850 miles above the Earth. This remains the highest altitude ever achieved by a crewed, non-lunar mission.
Gentlemen’s hours: Remembering STS-48, thirty years on
America Space (9/12): Late in September 2011, the skies above the Pacific Ocean were illuminated by an astonishing fire show. NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)—launched 30 years ago on September 12, 1991—returned to Earth in a blaze of glowing debris. Originally planned to survive for just two years, UARS spent more than a decade examining gas concentrations and pressures, the effects of solar irradiance and ozone levels in the Earth’s atmosphere. From its vantage point high above the planet, UARS observed 80 degrees in latitude and furnished scientists with near-global coverage of the stratosphere and mesosphere regions.