In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror has captured its first images as the 18 individual segments are being carefully aligned. Russia is preparing to resume its exploration of the Moon with the July launch of Luna 25. The NG-17 Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station February 19.
Human Space Exploration
Watch NASA’s huge SLS rocket for the Artemis I Moon mission come together in this epic time-lapse video
Coalition Member in the News – United Launch Alliance
Space.com (2/12): Earlier this month, NASA provided a video of the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule coming together in the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). NASA is currently gearing up for the Artemis I “wet dress rehearsal,” which will take place at KSC’s Launch Complex 39B. The SLS-Orion stack will be fueled on the pad and taken through the normal prelaunch sequence during the test, which will stop short of engine ignition. The wet dress rehearsal is expected to take place in March.
Space Science
James Webb Space Telescope sees first light, takes ‘selfie’
Spaceflightinsider.com (2/12): As per the pre-launch plan, the 18 segments of the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) primary mirror are carefully aligning. Progress was evident as each of the segments of the 21-foot in diameter mirror captured their first image of an isolated star, HD 84406, in the constellation Ursa Major with the JWST’s NIRCam imager, one of four major instruments. “Technicians will need to focus and align the blurry starlight until the images become a single star, a task that is expected to be completed over the next few months,” Spaceflightinsider.com reports. In addition, the telescope’s Near Infrared Camera instrument used a specialized pupil imaging lens to take a “selfie” of the primary mirror.
Russia aims to rekindle Moon program with lunar lander launch this July
Space.com (2/12): After a decades-long retreat, Russia is prepared to resume its lunar exploration program with the July launch of Luna 25, the first in a series of missions that will involve Europe and China. Luna 25 will head for the lunar South Pole as a pathfinder probe for testing soft-touchdown technologies. Pre-Launch testing revealed difficulties that prompted a rescheduling of the mission launch from October 2021 to May 2022 and now July 23. Luna 25 will assess the Moon’s South Pole for water ice resources as well as the pole’s cosmic ray and electromagnetic radiation environments.
Largest comet ever observed bumps Hale-Bopp from pedestal
Space.com (2/12): Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, discovered a year ago, is 85 miles wide and on a course from the outer solar system’s Oort Cloud toward the Sun. It’s larger than Hale-Bopp, about 46 miles across, which was discovered in 1995, a year before it became visible to the naked eye. Bernardinelli-Bernstein will not be visible to the naked eye from Earth. Astronomers, though, will turn their observatories its way to learn more about its chemical composition.
Other News
Lockheed Martin terminates agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne
Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Lockheed Martin
SpaceNews.com (2/3): Lockheed Martin announced Sunday the termination of efforts to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne, an acquisition plan announced in December 2020. In January, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 4-0 to block the acquisition, stating it could prevent Lockheed’s competitors from acquiring propulsion hardware needed to develop missiles. “We determined that in light of the FTC’s actions, terminating the transaction is in the best interest of our stakeholders,” Lockheed Martin’s president and CEO James Taiclet said in a statement.
NOAA plans ‘initial’ civil alternate to DoD space tracking system by 2024: senior official
BreakingDefense.com (2/11): NOAA looks to having a fully operational space situational awareness capability by 2025, with an initial capability a year earlier. That is according to Steve Volz, NOAA’s assistant administrator for satellite and information services, who announced NOAA’s intent on Friday. The move is intended to remove the responsibility for civil satellite tracking and management from the U.S. military. Volz said that NOAA will issue requests for information asking industry to identify capabilities that can help determine requirements for a new, improved Open Architecture Data Repository (OADR), whose goal is to enable an international and industry-supported space-tracking operation.
U.S. intelligence wants to track currently undetectable orbital space debris
SpaceNews.com (2/12): The Office of the Director of National Intelligence oversees the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), which last week issued a request for information seeking “innovative approaches” for the detection and tracking of small pieces of orbital debris that currently cannot be detected and tracked, though they pose a threat to military and national security Earth observation and communications satellites. IARPA estimates there are more than 500,000 pieces of space debris between one and ten centimeters in diameter, and over 100 million particles smaller than one centimeter orbiting the Earth. Even the smallest pieces of debris traveling at high velocities can cause serious damage to a spacecraft with an impact. Proposals are due March 11.
India orbits three satellites in first space launch since failure
Spaceflightnow.com (2/14): An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle placed a radar satellite and two rideshare payloads into orbit on Sunday at 7:29 p.m. EST. The primary satellite payload is to provide day/night imagery for agriculture, soil moisture detection, disaster management, disaster assessment, carbon inventory, and forestry and plantation management. The liftoff marked the first orbital mission launch from India since experiencing a third stage issue with the launch of an Earth observation satellite last August.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of February 13-19, 2022
Coalition Members in the News – Axiom, Boeing, Maxar, Northrop Grumman
Spacepolicyonline.com (2/13): The FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference happens in person Wednesday and Thursday in Washington with speakers from the Commerce Department, including NOAA, as well as NASA, the National Space Council, space industry and Congress. Russia is scheduled to launch the Progress MS-19 resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from Kazakhstan on Monday at 11:25 p.m. EST, with a docking planned for Thursday at 2:06 a.m. EST. Northrop Grumman’s 17th Cygnus resupply mission is being prepared for launch on Saturday at 12:40 p.m. EST from NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility. NASA and Northrop Grumman will host a pre-launch teleconference on Friday at 1 p.m. EST. The launch will be televised on NASA TV and streamed on www.nasa.gov/nasalive beginning on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. EST.