In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA announced the selection of two new missions for further development to explore solar activity and interactions with the Earth. The agency today will discuss early imagery that shows how the James Webb Space Telescope team has identified starlight through the telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirror segments.
Human Space Exploration
Could astronauts hibernate on long space voyages?
Universetoday.com (2/10): Human deep space missions, initially to the Moon, then Mars, present physical and mental challenges for the human explorers selected to lead the way. In recognition of the challenges, the European Space Agency (ESA) is assessing a hibernation strategy that would enable astronauts to sleep for much of the voyage, while arriving at Mars reach to explore. Research led by two European scientists has been published in the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. The underlying goal of such a strategy is to optimize the available mass and volume of the spacecraft, while maintaining the physical and mental health of the crew.
Space Science
NASA selects two heliophysics missions
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
SpaceNews.com (2/10): NASA announced Thursday that its next heliophysics missions will feature a spacecraft to study the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, called the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE), and a collection of small satellites to monitor solar wind turbulence, the HelioSwarm mission. Selected from five proposals, MUSE will be equipped to assess the solar corona properties at a higher resolution and faster pace than previously possible. HelioSwarm will consist of a “hub” spacecraft and eight smaller companion spacecraft that will work in unison to measure fluctuations in the magnetic field and fluctuations in the solar wind. MUSE, budgeted at $192 million, will be led by a principal investigator from the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center. HelioSwarm, budgeted at $250 million, will be led by NASA’s Ames Research Center. Prior to Thursday’s mission selection announcement, NASA asked the competing missions to be prepared to launch by February 2026.
NASA to unveil 1st images from James Webb Space Telescope today. Here’s where to find them
Space.com (2/11): NASA will unveil the first-ever images from the James Webb Space Telescope today (JWST) (February 11) and the public will be able to see them as they debut online. However, don’t expect a dazzling view, since the images will be blurry and repetitive observations from the 18 segments of Webb’s primary mirror. The images will be revealed via NASA’s JWST blog. NASA will also hold a press teleconference at 11 a.m. EST to discuss the images and JWST’s latest progress since its December 25 launch.
Asteroid Ryugu samples, now on Earth, reveal inner workings of the space rock
Space.com (2/10): Samples of the asteroid Ryugu returned to Earth in December 2020 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission have been initially characterized. The base material is flat and elongated and potentially made of broken pieces from larger boulders, according to the research led by an agency researcher and published in the journal Science. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft is now on its way to another asteroid destination.
Other News
Astra launch of NASA-sponsored cubesats fails
SpaceNews.com (2/10): Due to an upper stage failure, the first operational launch of Astra’s Rocket 3.3 appeared to tumble out of control after lifting off on Thursday at 3 p.m. EST from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It was the fifth orbital launch attempt by the vehicle since September 2020. Four NASA sponsored small satellites were lost, three from universities and a fourth from NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC). Astra was awarded a $3.9 million contract by NASA for the mission in December 2020. The failure may be linked to a fairing separation issue, according to imagery of the launch.
Elon Musk gives hotly anticipated Starship update, but it’s light on new details
CNN (2/11): SpaceX founder Elon Musk offered an update Thursday on development and flight plans for the Super Heavy/Starship launch vehicle. The first orbital launch of the vehicle could unfold this year, pending completion of an FAA environmental assessment and approval. Unanswered questions remain. NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to use Starship as a human landing system to land astronauts on the Moon after they launch on the Orion capsule atop Space Launch System (SLS), but Musk did not delineate what testing SpaceX will have to do before it can carry out crewed operations.
Arianespace begins its year with a OneWeb launch
Coalition Member in the News – RUAG Space
NASAspaceflight.com (2/10): Arianespace placed 34 OneWeb small communications satellites for an internet broadband constellation into Earth orbit with the launch of a Soyuz ST-B rocket from Kourou in French Guiana on Thursday at 1:09 p.m. EST.