In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover have started another spacewalk outside the International Space Station. NASA plans to conduct a second Green Run hot fire test of the SLS rocket’s core stage in late February. Lunar Human Landing System contract awards to be delayed.
Human Space Exploration
Watch live: NASA plans spacewalk to finish power system upgrades
UPI (2/1): NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover initiated their second planned 6 1/2 hour spacewalk in five days outside the International Space Station (ISS) early Monday. The plan is to complete a years-long project to replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries. Next, they will prepare the station for a future upgrade of the orbiting laboratory’s solar panels. With link to www.nasa.gov/nasalive for streaming.
NASA decides to redo SLS Green Run Static Fire
Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing
NASAspaceflight.com (1/30): NASA is looking to late February for a second attempt at the Space Launch System’s (SLS) Green Run “Hot Fire.” The first attempt at the test ended 67 seconds into a planned full duration, eight-minute ground static firing of the SLS core stage’s four RS-25 engines. The short duration was blamed on an overly conservative sensor.
NASA delays Moon lander awards as Biden team mulls Moonshot program
Coalition Members in the News – Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
The Verge.com (1/31): NASA is delaying a decision of which commercial proposals for a Human Landing System (HLS) it will select for further development from February until April. The 2021 NASA appropriation measure approved by Congress and signed by the White House last year included $850 million for HLS maturity, much less than the $3.2 billion requested. Also, the new Biden administration has yet to address its space policy outlook, which could deviate from the directive issued to NASA in 2019 that the agency returns humans to the lunar surface by 2024.
Roscosmos selects four new candidates to begin cosmonaut training
Collectspace.com (1/29): An extended 1 1/2 year cosmonaut selection process by Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, has led to the selection of four candidates. Soon, Sergey Irtuganov, Alexander Kolyabin, Sergey Teteryatnikov, and Harutyun Kiviryan, will begin two years of training. More than 2,200 applicants sought the cosmonaut training opportunity.
Space Science
NASA seeks input on Europa Clipper launch options
Coalition Member in the News – United Launch Alliance
SpaceNews.com (1/29): As a result of some leeway provided by Congress in December, NASA is seeking proposals for a commercial launch of the Europa Clipper. Clipper is a mission to conduct multiple flybys of Jupiter’s ice and ocean moon Europa, which may potentially host habitable environments. Earlier, Congress had stipulated a launch with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) in order to minimize the time it would take the spacecraft to reach its destination.
Earth is about to lose its second moon, forever
Space.com (1/30): 2020 SO, a “mini moon,” dropped into orbit around the Earth in September 2020. Actually part of NASA’s failed Surveyor 2 Moon mission, 2020 SO is a Centaur upper stage launched in 1966. After drifting close to the Earth on Tuesday, February 2, it is predicted to drift away forever.
Other News
Maine company successfully launches prototype rocket
Associated Press via ABC News (1/31): BluShift Aerospace, of Maine, on Sunday successfully launched its suborbital rocket, Stardust 1.0, the state’s first commercial rocket launch, but also the first global launch of a rocket using a nontoxic, proprietary fuel derived from farm produce. The payload canister and rocket stage were recovered with a parachute after reaching an altitude of less than a mile. Maine is working to develop small satellite suborbital and orbital launch capabilities using existing infrastructure like the Loring Conference Center, a former U.S. Air Force Base that hosted Sunday’s launch activities.
FAA-SpaceX Dustup over starship test flight
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/30): SpaceX was ready to conduct its next test of a Starship prototype in Boca Chica, Texas last week, but the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which regulates commercial launches, did not give it permission. Later reports revealed one of the reasons for the denial was that SpaceX had violated its license for a previous test, triggering closer scrutiny by the FAA.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of January 31 to February 6, 2021
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/31): The week is webinar rich on space policy, including Thursday’s Space Court Foundation session on the status of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty; the National Space Society webinar, Space Settlement 2021; and NASA’s Mercury Exploration Assessment Group (MExAG), which holds its first meeting Wednesday. In Washington, the House and Senate are in session this week.