In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA offers update on the Space Launch System’s (SLS) core stage Green Run test series. There’s still time to enter NASA’s Artemis Moon Pod Essay contest.
Human Space Exploration
SLS Green Run tests slip, but November 2021 remains Artemis I target
Spacepolicyonline.com (12/10): The seventh of eight Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage Green Run tests, the wet dress rehearsal, was paused earlier this week as a result of the liquid oxygen (LOX) to be loaded into the stage not being as cold as required. NASA SLS Program Manager John Honeycutt said in a news briefing yesterday that the issue is operational in how the LOX was being loaded and not a problem with the core stage itself. NASA plans to conduct the full wet dress rehearsal next week.
Meet the 9 astronauts on NASA’s Artemis team who have a chance to be the first woman to walk on the Moon
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin
CBS News (12/10): NASA on Wednesday presented the names of 18 astronauts, spaceflight veterans and newcomers, selected to train for upcoming missions to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis initiative. Here’s a look at the nine women named to help establish a permanent human lunar presence during the 2020s.
Space Science
The Solar Orbiter is watching a new sun weather cycle begin. Scientists are thrilled
Space.com (12/11): The solar orbiter, a partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in February on a seven-year mission to photograph the sun up close with views of the star’s poles. The spacecraft launched just around the time when the sun began to enter a new cycle of activity, dubbed Solar Cycle 25. Scientists say the timing is great for new discoveries.
China launches gamma ray-hunting satellites to trace sources of gravitational waves
Science (12/10): The National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) today launched its Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) from the Xichang Satellite Launch center. The mission will watch for the gamma ray bursts that emanate from the merger of ultradense objects, which generate gravitational waves, ripples in space-time.
European-U.S. sea level tracking satellite sends 1st readings
Associated Press via ABC News (12/10): A NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) collaboration, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched November 21 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Earth sciences spacecraft has transmitted its first data on global sea level measurements to continue decades of satellite monitoring. Josh Willis, project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement that “the data look fantastic.”
Other News
ULA Delta IV Heavy successfully launches NROL-44
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance
NASAspaceflight.com (12/10): A Delta IV Heavy rocket with a classified National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, previously named Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday at 8:09 p.m. EST.
Take remote learning to space, take a trip to the moon with NASA’s Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest
Osceola Schools (11/25): NASA, in partnership with Future Engineers, launched the Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest. The contest, open to U.S. students in grades K-12, will run through December 17, 2020, challenging students to imagine leading a one-week expedition to the Moon’s South Pole.
Geminid meteor shower 2020: When, where & how to see it
Space.com (12/10): The Geminids are an annual meteor shower. The shower peaks Sunday/Monday night. This year’s shower display coincides with a new Moon, which means a darker than usual night sky. Look early, about 2 a.m. local time, in the northern hemisphere.