In Today’s Deep Space Extra… A major component of NASA’s Psyche mission spacecraft has been delivered to the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The National Space Council is set to continue.
Human Space Exploration
Following troubled childhood, Orion trio preparing for flight
Coalition Members in the News – Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance
NASAspaceflight.com (3/29): Two of NASA’s Orion crew modules, vehicles in development for much of the past two decades, are at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) undergoing preparations for the Artemis I uncrewed and Artemis II crewed test flights around the Moon and back to Earth. The Artemis III Orion is undergoing assembly at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and its European service module is being assembled at Airbus facilities in Germany. They will come together at KSC to return humans to the surface of the Moon. It’s been a long journey for Orion and those who’ve worked to transition the spacecraft from proposed destinations ranging from low Earth orbit to an asteroid as well as the Moon and Mars.
Meet the full crew of the Inspiration4 mission flying with SpaceX in September
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
CNBC (3/30): The Inspiration4 mission, an all-civilian trip to low Earth orbit launching with SpaceX no earlier than September 15, unveiled the final two crew members after a month-long online competition. Joining commander Jared Isaacman and medical officer Hayley Arceneaux are Dr. Sian Proctor and Christopher Sembroski. Proctor, a geoscientist and communications specialist, will serve as the mission’s pilot, and Sembroski, a Lockheed Martin employee and U.S. Air Force veteran, will serve as a mission specialist.
Space Science
NASA exchanged data with China on Mars orbiters
SpaceNews.com (3/30): NASA has exchanged information with China as well as the space agencies of India, the UAE and the European Space Agency (ESA) on the details of the orbits of their spacecraft around Mars in order to avoid collisions. To exchange data with China, NASA sought congressional approval, as the Wolf Amendment, named for former U.S. House member Frank Wolf, imposes restrictions on cooperation between NASA and the Chinese National Space Administration and other Chinese organizations. China’s Tianen-1 Mars orbiter, lander and rover mission spacecraft maneuvered into orbit around the Red Planet in February.
NASA takes delivery of SEP Chassis from Maxar for Psyche mission
Coalition Member in the News – Maxar
Aerospace Technology (3/30): With the delivery to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the main body of the Psyche mission spacecraft, the Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis, NASA will now begin final assembly of the orbiter. Set to launch in 2022, Psyche will travel to a metal-rich asteroid of the same name located between Mars and Jupiter.
Opinion
Sustainable space manufacturing and design will help get us to the Moon, Mars, and beyond
The Space Review (3/29): Dylan Taylor, chair and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, explores the role that 3-D printing, recycling and the re-use of materials, robotic manufacturing and self-repair technologies can play in extending human space exploration to the Moon and Mars. “Sustainable manufacturing and design practices will further enable our presence in space and will also preserve and empower our capability to go further than humanity has gone before,” he concludes.
The growing case for active debris removal
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
The Space Review (3/29): Recent breakups of polar orbiting NOAA weather and Chinese environmental monitoring satellites have helped to sound the alarm over the growing population of orbital debris and spark a discussion over the need for an active debris removal policy and strategy. Efforts to prevent spacecraft collisions and require end of life deorbit disposal, it seems, are not enough, writes Jeff Foust, editor and publisher of The Space Review.
Other News
Biden to keep White House National Space Council
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/29): President Biden intends to maintain the National Space Council to coordinate space policy across the government, though details of membership are unclear. The National Space Council was re-established by the Trump Administration in 2017 after a long absence.
Delta 2 rocket exhibit opens at Kennedy Space Center
Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, United Launch Alliance
Spaceflightnow.com (3/28): The final United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket now graces the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for public display. The rocket is a donation commemorating the Delta II’s long service, 155 missions between 1997 and 2018. Among its accomplishments the Delta II launched Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and NASA Mars missions. The Visitor Complex hosted a grand opening ceremony for the workhorse rocket on March 18.
Virgin Galactic rolls out first SpaceShip III spacecraft, ‘VSS Imagine’7
Collectspace.com (3/30): Virgin Galactic has a released a new model of its suborbital spacecraft, which has the same overall outline as the previous SpaceShipTwo but features structural improvements. The vehicle is the first in what the company calls “Spaceship III” line of vehicles and will be undergoing tests in Mojave, California, where it was built.