In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne work on new engine production techniques for future deep space missions. China’s Chang’e 5 nears attempt to land on the Moon to gather samples.
Human Space Exploration
SLS continuing engine upgrades, tech development to support launcher evolution
Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance
NASAspaceflight.com (11/25): NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the prime contractor for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s RS-25 and RL10 engines, are investing in upgrades and technology to make the engines more cost effective for future deep space missions. New production techniques include applying additive manufacturing to build new engines.
Proposed new Russian space station will be able to monitor the entire world
Sputniknews.com (11/28): Energia, the company that manages the International Space Station’s (ISS) Russian segment, has raised a discussion point with the Russian Academy of Sciences: a new Russian space station after 2025. A theoretical new Russian space station would include three to seven modules and potentially support a crew of two to four people. Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, intends to begin talks with the ISS partnership led by NASA about the International Space Station’s future next year, according to Energia. Editor’s note: Sputnik is a Russian state-owned news agency.
Space Science
Canada developing lunar rover and science payloads
SpaceNews.com (11/28): The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced six initial phase contract awards to five companies and universities for the development of science payloads that could launch to the Moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. In addition, the agency is working on a “micro” lunar rover capable of supporting two payloads, one Canadian and one from NASA. Earlier, Canada agreed to develop a next-generation space robotic arm as part of the NASA-led Gateway.
China’s Chang’e-5 probe prepares to land on Moon
Xinhuanet of China (11/30): China’s Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission spacecraft entered orbit around the Moon on Saturday and lowered the altitude of the orbit on Sunday. Early Monday, the lander/ascent vehicle combination separated from the spacecraft’s orbiter/Earth return elements to prepare for its descent to the surface. Launched on November 23, the Chang’e 5 is set to land at the Moon’s Ocean of Storms in the western hemisphere, collect samples, and return to Earth in mid-December. If successful, China will join the U.S. and former Soviet Union as the only nations that have managed to land at the Moon and return with samples, NASA with the Apollo program and Russia with Luna robotic missions.
Hope, the UAE’s first interplanetary mission, has its eye on bonus science on way to Mars
Space.com (11/25): Launched in July, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Hope orbiter will be reaching Mars in February 2021 to study its atmosphere and climate. In the meantime, the Hope science team has decided to team up with the European Space Agency (ESA)/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) joint BepiColombo mission bound for Mercury. The two spacecraft will point at each other to assess the hydrogen lurking in the space between them, which will help the Hope team better differentiate interplanetary hydrogen from Martian hydrogen once the spacecraft is closer to Mars.
Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa may spout water plumes from its icy crust
Space.com (11/27): Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal plumes of water vapor rising from the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The source may be Manannán Crater, an 18-mile-wide feature created by an impact millions of years ago. These rising vapors could be cousins of more geyser-like jets of water rising from Europa and detected earlier, raising speculation Europa may host environments favorable for biological activity. NASA is working on a mission to investigate further, Europa Clipper.
Opinion
Human space launches bring welcome distraction to otherwise wild year
WMFE Radio of Orlando (11/25): Successful space missions have a history of giving people a reason to celebrate, even in times of uncertainty, according to Amy Foster, a space historian at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
Other News
December looks to build on Space Coast’s rapid rocket launch cadence
Coalition Member in the News – United Launch Alliance
Florida Today (11/25): So far, Florida’s space coast has 27 rocket launches for the year, with a few more to come. “Florida appears to be on track to host the most launches since at least the 1990s, when more than 20 annually was common,” according to the report. United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 have carried the load.
India’s Cartosat-2F, Russia’s Kanopus-V satellites barely miss collision
Business Standard (11/28): Russian and Indian remote sensing satellites passed 224 meters from each other in a near collision on Friday. An explanation for the close encounter is unclear.
Japan launches JDRS-1 optical data relay satellite for military, civilian use
SpaceNews.com (11/29): Japan on Sunday launched JDRS-1, a primarily military data relay satellite that will operate in geosynchronous orbit. It was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on an H-IIA rocket.
NASA offering $25,000 prize for inventive ways to unload cargo from lunar rovers, other spacecraft
Washington Post (11/28): NASA has joined with HeroX to sponsor a contest, NASA’s Lunar Delivery Challenge, to seek out competing ideas for a strategy for unloading cargo from landers once they reach the surface of the Moon. The proposal deadline is January 19.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of November 29 to December 5, 2020
Coalition Member in the News – Nanoracks
Spacepolicyonline.com (11/29): Highlights this week include the planned return Saturday of samples acquired from asteroid Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return mission. China’s Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission continues to unfold. The latest version of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule is planned for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Saturday at 11:39 a.m. EST with payloads including Nanoracks’ Bishop Airlock. In Washington, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly is to be sworn in as a U.S. Senator from Arizona. The House and Senate must deal with the approaching December 11 deadline of the current budget Continuing Resolution (CR) in the absence of a 2021 budget. The American Geophysical Union’s virtual Fall meeting starts Tuesday and continues through December 17.