In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Experts suggest the first humans on Mars could have a short stay of 30 days on the planet. Northrop Grumman’s NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft has been named after prominent NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.
Human Space Exploration
Airbus gets order for three Orion service modules
Market Screener (2/2): Airbus said Tuesday that it has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build three more service modules for Orion, the crewed spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis program. The three new modules are intended to be used after the program’s third mission.
A long journey but a short stay on Mars
The Space Review (2/1): NASA’s concept for the initial human mission to Mars could shift. The change would not be in the around two-year roundtrip, but rather in how much time the first crew would spend on the surface of the Red Planet. Thirty days on the ground, rather than 500 days, could now be the plan, according to recent presentations before the National Academies’ Space Studies Board and NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group.
Entrepreneur purchases SpaceX Crew Dragon mission
Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space
SpaceNews.com (2/1): SpaceX announced Monday that Jared Isaacman, the founder of Shift4 Payments, has purchased an orbital SpaceX mission planned for late this year to help raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman’s mission will not be headed to the International Space Station (ISS) like the previously announced private Axiom Space mission to the orbiting science lab also to be launched by SpaceX early next year. Isaacman will be accompanied by a healthcare worker and two others to be chosen through a raffle intended to raise money for St. Jude, and through a video contest.
Other News
Northrop Grumman names NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft in honor of Katherine Johnson
Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman
Herald-Dispatch (2/1): Northrop Grumman has named its next Cygnus spacecraft in honor of Katherine Johnson, a Black mathematician whose orbital calculations were crucial to NASA’s early human spaceflight missions. The Cygnus cargo spacecraft named in Johnson’s honor is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on February 20 from NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia.
NASA names leaders to key agency roles
NASA (2/1): NASA announced appointments to key administrative positions on Monday, among them Bhavya Lal, who will serve as the acting chief of staff. Phillip Thompson will serve as White House liaison; Alicia Brown as the NASA associate administrator for Legislative and Intergovernmental affairs; Marc Etkind as associate administrator for communications; Jackie McGuinness as press secretary; and Reagan Hunter as special assistant in the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Virgin Galactic shares pop as company plans to redo spaceflight test as early as February 13
CNBC (2/1): Virgin Galactic successfully aborted a test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity from Spaceport America in New Mexico on December 12. The company announced Monday that it plans to relaunch the suborbital test flight as soon as February 13 to assess changes that prompted the spacecraft’s computer to halt rocket engine ignition during the December test flight. In the meantime, shares in the company climbed to a record high as the week opened.
Chinese iSpace Hyperbola-1 launch fails
Parabolicarc.com (2/1): iSpace, a private Chinese small satellite launch services provider, failed in its bid to launch a Beijing Interstellar Glory (iSpace) Hyperbola-1 rocket on Monday. The cause is under investigation.