In Today’s Deep Space Extra… A NASA astronaut launching to the International Space Station next month may spend a year aboard the orbiting lab. Russian leadership comments on plans to cooperate with China for a lunar research base.

 

Human Space Exploration

Jurczyk: Artemis I schedule to firm up in a few weeks
Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Northrop Grumman
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/15): On Thursday afternoon NASA plans a second attempt at the Green Run hot fire test of the Space Launch System’s (SLS) core stage at Stennis Space Center. In an interview, NASA’s acting administrator Steve Jurczyk said the test will be followed by an assessment of when the hardware can be ready to launch Artemis I, an unpiloted flight of the rocket and Orion capsule around the Moon and back to Earth. NASA has been aiming for November of this year. Jurczyk remains optimistic that Artemis II, a similar flight with astronauts, can launch in 2023, but is less confident NASA can return humans to the lunar surface with Artemis III in 2024. 

Russian-Chinese cooperation on lunar station is not aimed against the West – space chief
TASS of Russia (3/15): Plans by Russia and China to cooperate in establishing a lunar research base are not intended as competition against western nations, according to Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos. Both China and Russia are open to cooperating with other nations in the venture. Rogozin’s response was a reaction to a recent article in the Washington Post asserting the Russia/China lunar base plan represents an alliance against the West. (Editor’s note: TASS is a Russian government-owned news source).

NASA astronaut may have extended stay on ISS
Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space
SpaceNews.com (3/15): In a news briefing Monday, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei discussed his selection last week for a Soyuz-launched mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 9 that could extend beyond six months, perhaps to a year. Working with Axiom Space, NASA announced March 9 that Vande Hei would be launching with two cosmonauts as part of a strategy to ensure a continuous U.S. presence aboard the orbiting lab. Vande Hei’s anticipated return to Earth in October could be delayed so that a Russian film producer and actress may arrive with another cosmonaut on a Soyuz for a short stay and return to Earth in a seat that would otherwise be Vande Hei’s.

 

Space Science

There should be about 7 interstellar objects passing through the inner solar system every year
Universe Today (3/14): According to a new analysis from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies, about seven extrasolar objects can be expected to pass through the solar system each year. The concept was stirred up about two and a half years ago when Oumuamua was spotted moving through, a first. In 2019, a second visiting object, 21 Borisov, was spotted moving through the solar system, prompting a more in-depth study of the phenomena.

 

Opinion

Mobility and surface access lessons for the Artemis lunar lander
Coalition Members in the News – Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance
The Space Review (3/15): As NASA weighs its options for commercial human lunar landing systems, it should emphasize a low-profile architecture with visibility both forward and panoramic so its crew of astronauts can avoid subtle surface hazards as they land. The concept can provide explorers with an ease of crew access for spacewalks as well as the unloading and loading of cargo, writes Philip Horzempa, a space exploration historian.

 

Other News

Russia’s Soyuz-2 sports new look inspired by Yuri Gagarin’s rocket
Collectspace.com (3/15): Russia is giving its Soyuz-2 launch vehicle a new look, a blue and white exterior finish rather than gray and orange, for a planned launch on Saturday with 38 satellites from 18 countries. The new look is a tribute to the Soviet Vostok rocket that launched the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin, nearly 60 years ago on April 12, 1961.