In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The United States issued a new space policy on Wednesday. NASA selects 18 astronauts to prepare for future missions to the Moon.  

 

Human Space Exploration

Trump Administration issues new National Space Policy
Spacepolicyonline.com (12/9): The Trump White House on Wednesday released a new space policy superseding the Obama administration version issued in 2010. The policy update is focused on civil and commercial as well as national security and military operations and plans. The president also issued a statement saying that the new policy represents a whole-of-government approach that recognizes space as a national imperative.

NASA names 18 astronauts to train for Artemis Moon landings
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
CBS News (12/9): As Vice President Mike Pence concluded the eighth meeting of the National Space Council on Wednesday, he was joined by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to announce the first cadre of Artemis astronauts selected to prepare for the return of humans to the surface of the Moon. The diverse group of 18 females and males includes astronauts who’ve flown previously and members of the agency’s most recent class of astronauts.

Blue Origin’s space industry all-star team submits proposal for landing system to carry humans back to the Moon
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
Techcrunch.com (12/9): The Blue Origin-led human landing system (HLS) team, which includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, has submitted their Option A proposal this week to land humans on the Moon as part of the Artemis program. An Option A proposal is set to provide the right timing for the current 2024 target for the first human landing to take place under Artemis.

NASA, Boeing targeting March 2021 for next Starliner test flight
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
Space.com (12/10): Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule is targeted to launch to the International Space Station in March 2021, the company and NASA announced yesterday. The flight would be the spacecraft’s uncrewed Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2).

 

Space Science

Can Israelis put two landers on the Moon at once?
Findings.org (12/9): Israel’s effort to join the small circle of nations that have managed to soft-land spacecraft on the Moon with the Beresheet 1 mission in April 2019 ended in failure. As promised then, the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL plans to try again, this time with a two-lander mission, plus a long-term orbiter. The Beresheet 2 mission is planned to lift off in the first half of 2024.

 

Other News

Cape Canaveral, Patrick Air Force Base renamed as Space Force bases
SpaceNews.com (12/19): As part of the eighth meeting of the National Space Council, Vice President Mike Pence announced that Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and nearby Patrick Air Force Base in Florida have been renamed Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The change is currently in name only. The two installations have yet to be made Space Force installations.

SpaceX’s Starship SN8 prototype soars on epic test launch, with explosive landing
Space.com (12/9): SpaceX’s latest Starship version launched from south Texas late Wednesday on a test flight. After soaring high and performing some maneuvers, however, the prototype exploded as it landed after nearly seven minutes aloft. Company CEO Elon Musk called out a low fuel tank pressure during the landing phase as an issue.

Former NASA scientist predicts “gold rush” in space
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin
Futurism (12/9): In an interview with Futurism, Sailesh Ramakrishnan, a former NASA computer scientist involved in Mars rover development and now co-founder of venture capital firm Rocketship, shared thoughts on the future of space activities. In the interview, Ramakrishnan states that the current level of innovation in the space industry and lower barriers to enter space will permit more discoveries and allow space to impact life on Earth much more than it did before.