In Today’s Deep Space Extra… International Space Station air leak still unresolved. Major core stage elements of the Space Launch System for Artemis II will be joined together soon.
Human Space Exploration
Trump’s Moon program survived a transfer of power, so what’s next?
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, United Launch Alliance
The Verge (3/12): Bhavya Lal, NASA’s acting chief of staff and currently the agency’s most senior Biden appointee, speaks about an ongoing review of the Artemis program inherited from the Trump administration, which calls for the return of humans to the Moon. So far, the initiative has Biden’s support, but with a likely relaxing of the 2024 goal for Artemis III, the program’s second crewed mission and the first one to send astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA aims to continue its investment in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, while keeping an eye on private sector rockets for help if needed. “SLS and Orion will be providing initial transportation to and from lunar orbit beyond Artemis, and any proven commercial transportation can make up gaps if there are any,” Lal told the Verge.
NASA, Boeing approaching first major join of second SLS Core Stage
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
NASAspaceflight.com (3/12): Major elements of the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage assigned to NASA’s Artemis II mission will begin to be joined later in March at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Artemis II will be the first launch of the SLS and Orion crew capsule with astronauts aboard and will journey around the Moon and back to Earth.
Spacewalkers vent coolant lines and mate cables outside Space Station
Spaceflightnow.com (3/13): NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover made progress in powering up the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Bartolomeo external science platform during a nearly seven-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday. The duo also vented ammonia coolant lines and installed external communications antennas and connection cables.
Air leak in Russia’s ISS Zvezda module still unresolved despite two cracks being sealed off
Sputniknews.com (3/13): Efforts by two cosmonauts aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station last week appear not to have resolved a small loss of air pressure attributed to a pair of small cracks in the Zvezda service module. The leak, which Russia says poses no threat to the ISS’s crew, dates to September 2019. Pressure checks followed efforts by the cosmonauts to seal two cracks. (Editor’s note: Sputnik News is a Russian owned news source).
Space Science
Mysterious moons Phobos and Deimos formed at the same time as Mars, say researchers
Physics.org (3/12): The two Martian moons Phobos and Deimos likely formed from a single planetary body alongside Mars that broke apart, according to a study and modeling led by experts from ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the U.S. Naval Observatory. The effort sets the stage for a sample return mission to the moon Phobos led by Japan and planned for a 2024 launch.
Other News
Garbage pallet jettisoned from Space Station will stay in orbit two-to-four years
Spaceflightnow.com (3/12): As last week was coming to a close, NASA commanded the jettison of a 2.9-ton cargo pallet from the International Space Station loaded with nickel hydrogen solar power batteries that are no longer needed. The pallet is the most massive object ever jettisoned from the ISS and is expected to orbit for two to four years before burning upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Exclusive: Myanmar’s first satellite held by Japan on Space Station after coup
Reuters (3/12): Japanese officials are assessing the fate of a Myanmar small satellite that awaits a launch from the International Space Station (ISS). The delay is grounded in concerns that cameras on the satellite could be used for military purposes by the junta that seized power in Myanmar earlier this year.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of March 14-20, 2021
Coalition Members in the News – Maxar, Nanoracks
Spacepolicyonlince.com (3/14): Opening Monday is the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. The Washington Space Business Roundtable will hold a webinar on Thursday at 12:00p.m. EDT featuring Dylan Taylor, CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, and Jeff Manber, CEO of Nanoracks. NASA is planning on Thursday to make a second attempt at a 485-second, full-duration “hot fire” of the four Space Launch System (SLS) core stage RS-25 rocket engines. While the U.S. House and Senate are in session this week, the schedule of hearings does not include civil space topics.