In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Boeing and NASA pledge to overcome software issues that prompted an early conclusion to an uncrewed December test flight of the company’s CST-100 Starliner. Mourners pay tribute to the late Hidden Figure Katherine Johnson. SpaceX Cargo mission reaches International Space Station (ISS) early Monday.
Human Space Exploration
The sound and fury over a NASA authorization bill
SpaceNews.com (3/6): The U.S. House Space Subcommittee’s January 24 effort to generate a NASA authorization measure sparked debate over language that would ease an accelerated effort to return human explorers to the surface of the Moon in 2024 as well as plans by NASA to partner with the commercial sector to develop and operate human lunar landers. But all that may not really matter, because in the end it’s the actual appropriations that determine which programs and approaches are funded.
Loverro: No decision yet on repeating Starliner OFT
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/6): NASA and Boeing executives joined Friday to discuss the key findings of an Independent Review Team (IRT) assessment of the company’s truncated December 20-22 orbital flight test of the CST-100 Starliner. Two software issues and a communications problem surfaced during the uncrewed flight which was to feature a Starliner docking with the International Space Station (ISS). The initial error prevented the docking, and NASA has not yet determined whether the test flight must be repeated. The IRT proposed 61 recommendations for changes to the software development and test processes that Boeing and NASA intend to implement, while sharing their lessons learned with the aerospace industry.
SpaceX Dragon bound for Space Station with tons of cargo
Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman
CBS News (3/7): SpaceX’s 20th NASA contracted re-supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) lifted off late Friday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, loaded with just over 4,300 pounds of crew supplies and a wide ranging assortment of science investigations and technology demonstrations. It was the final flight for SpaceX under its initial $3 billion contract awarded in December 2008. SpaceX, Northrop Grumman and Sierra Nevada are to continue the commercial resupply effort through 2024 under a second round of contracts awarded in January 2016.
Gaganyaan gets only 30% of money ISRO asked this year
Times of India (3/8): The India Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) first ever human spaceflight initiative has received less than one third of the estimated allocation required to achieve an initial orbital flight with astronauts before December 2022.
Space Science
Dimming Betelgeuse likely isn’t cold, just dusty, new study shows
University of Washington (3/6): The star Betelgeuse resides in the prominent constellation Orion. Recently, astronomers observed that the red giant star was fading, a sign perhaps it was about to explode. Now scientists at the University of Washington and the Lowell Observatory are suggesting that Betalguese is not fading but possibly just swathed in dust.
Good news: Space lettuce is safe to eat, good for you
Futurism (3/6): Lettuce grown in a small greenhouse aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is not only safe to eat, it’s also a source of nutrition and a treat for the taste buds of astronauts, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
Tenacious bacteria flourish on Space Station, but they’re no more dangerous than Earth bugs
Space.com (3/7): According to findings published in the journal PLOS One, two forms of bacteria found in the drinking water dispenser and water itself on the International Space Station (ISS) are no more harmful to humans that similar strains on Earth. The strains may in fact have come from Earth.
Op Eds
I was the first woman of color in space. Here’s what Katherine Johnson means to me
New York Times (3/2): On September 12, 1992, NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison became the first African American in space as a member of shuttle Endeavour’s seven member crew. In an op-ed, the medical doctor, former Peace Corps volunteer and space exploration visionary pays tribute to Katherine Johnson, a mathematician of color whose contributions to early human space flight were a critical part of reaching the Moon during the Apollo era. Johnson died on February 24 in Newport News, Virginia. She was 101.
Other News
Office of space commerce funding needed “urgently,” says Ross, but Senate Appropriators reticent
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/5): During a hearing last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross urged the Senate Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee to elevate and increase funding for the department’s Office of Space Commerce. The changes would move the Office of Space Commerce as well as the Office of Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs, now under the jurisdiction of NOAA, directly under his management and fund the enterprise at $15 million for the 2021 fiscal year. In the absence of witnesses to provide an explanation for the changes, the subcommittee is seeking an independent study. Efforts to make the changes last year stalled.
Hundreds attend service for NASA pioneer Katherine Johnson
Washington Post (3/7): More than 700 people gathered Saturday to remember Katherine Johnson at the Hampton University Convocation Center in Virginia. Johnson, an African American mathematician whose genius contributed significantly to the success of the nation’s early human spaceflights died February 24 at the age of 101. Among those at the memorial service were NASA African American astronauts Leland Melvin, Yvonne Cagle and Mae Jemison.
NASA Ames employee tests positive for Coronavirus; employees told to work remotely
KPIX-TV of San Francisco (3/8): Workers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley have been instructed to work from home until further notice, after one worker tested positive for the coronavirus.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of March 8-14, 2020
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/8): So far, the Satellite 2020 and IEEE Aerospace conferences in Washington D.C. and Big Sky, Montana respectively remain on schedule this week, though other gatherings on space and science have been postponed to address coronavirus concerns. So also, are congressional hearings on a range of space policy issues and NASA planetary and Earth science advisory committee sessions. On Thursday, the European and Russian space agencies are slated to brief on the status of their joint ExoMars 2020 rover/lander Mars mission. The status of a late July/early August launch to the red planet has been in question due to issues involving the parachutes that are to slow the lander and rover during descent to the Martian surface in early 2021.