In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The White House proposes an increase to NASA’s budget. Ingenuity helicopter flight delayed until Wednesday.
Human Space Exploration
Biden administration proposes $24.7 billion budget for NASA in 2022
SpaceNews.com (4/9): The Biden administration presented Congress with a top line budget proposal for 2022, one that includes $24.7 billion for NASA, a 6.3 percent increase over 2021’s 23.27 billion. The spending plan includes support for Earth Science and Space Technology development as well as STEM education. However, many of the specifics await release. It’s unclear when the new administration plans to return to the Moon with humans, but the president has vowed to return with the first person of color as well as the first woman.
Aerojet Rocketdyne refurbishing RS-25 engines for Artemis 1 launch and production restart testing
Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Jacobs
NASAspaceflight.com (4/9): With the completion of another single-engine RS-25 development test, Aerojet Rocketdyne is now refurbishing five engines at the Stennis Space Center for their next use. Engines 2045, 2056, 2058, and 2060 fired up during the last test in the SLS rocket’s core stage Green Run series and are now being refurbished ahead of shipment to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to prepare for the Artemis I mission. Engine 0528 underwent a single-engine test at Stennis in support of certifying the modernization of RS-25 production.
On this day in space! April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes 1st human in space.
Space.com (4/12): On this day in 1961, Yuri Gagarin lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and reached an altitude of about 200 miles. He orbited the Earth one time before his reentry module separated and fell to Earth. Gagarin ejected himself from the spacecraft and safely parachuted down to Earth.
UAE announces the Arab world’s first woman astronaut
TheNationalNews.com (4/10): The United Arab Emirates on April 10 announced the selection of two new astronauts to be part of its corps, including the first female, Nora Al Matrooshi, 27. The astronauts, who were chosen from 4,305 Emiratis that applied, will train at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC).
Cosmonauts still troubleshooting slight air leak aboard ISS
Spaceflightinsider.com (4/8): Russian cosmonauts are still working to plug a slight air leak aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which has been traced to the Russian segment Zvezda module. First noticed in September 2019 and located in 2020, the leak is small enough as to not pose a risk to the cosmonauts and astronauts. The pressure drop due to the leak is far below emergency values.
Space Science
NASA delays Mars helicopter flight after a crucial rotor-blade-spinning test ended abruptly
Businessinsider.com (4/10): Plans for the first flight of Ingenuity, the helicopter delivered to Mars by NASA’s Perseverance rover, shifted from no earlier than Sunday to Wednesday. The change was announced on Saturday after the team had difficulty spinning the rotor blades to full power.
Democrats and Republicans find common ground on Mars
POLITICO (4/10): The approaching test flight of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars appears to be generating bipartisan optimism in Washington. With budget deficits on the rise due to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economy, events such as Ingenuity’s planned series of flights on Mars could help to win support for future NASA budget increases, including for a future Mars sample return mission and sending people to the Moon and to the Red Planet.
Other News
General Atomics wins DARPA contract to develop nuclear reactor to power missions to the Moon
SpaceNews.com (4/10): San Diego-based General Atomics received a $22 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on Friday to develop a nuclear reactor for space nuclear thermal propulsion. The contract was awarded under a program known as DRACO, short for demonstration rocket for agile cislunar operations. The goal is to test the system in orbit by 2025. The ability to monitor cislunar space will require a “leap-ahead in propulsion technology,” said DARPA.
OneWeb, SpaceX satellites dodged a potential collision in orbit
The Verge (4/9): Small internet connectivity satellites from the growing OneWeb and SpaceX Starlink constellations nearly collided on March 30. The U.S. Space Force issued alerts and after coordinating a response with SpaceX, OneWeb steered clear.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of April 11-17, 2021
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/11): On Thursday, Lockheed Martin and NASA will hold a webinar from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. EDT about the role of sample return in space exploration. Also on Thursday, a House Appropriations CJS subcommittee hearing at 10:00 a.m. EDT on NOAA’s role in providing climate services, and a House Appropriations THUD subcommittee hearing at 2:00 p.m. EDT on the DOT’s budget request. Russia’s Soyuz MS-17 with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergei Rhyzikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov is scheduled to depart the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday at 9:34 p.m. EDT and descend onto Kazakhstan on Saturday at 12:56 a.m. EDT.