Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of January 1, 2024:

Human Space Exploration:

  • Wearable solar-powered gadget automatically regulates body temperature;
  • A commander’s lament on the loss of a historic SpaceX rocket;
  • NASA’s most high-risk endeavor in decades and other boundary-pushing space missions planned for 2024;
  • 12 space medicine findings from 2023 that could help astronauts reach Mars one day;
  • Will Artemis II launch to the moon in 2024? NASA has a lot of work ahead;
  • Japan astronaut likely to land on moon in U.S.-led program; Tokyo aiming for late 2020s;
  • ISRO plans to launch India’s first international space station by 2028, says S. Somanath;

 

Space Science

  • For Astrobotic, big risk (and bigger reward) ride on private Peregrine moon lander’s January 8 launch
  • Japan delays MMX Mars moon sample-return mission to 2026
  • NASA awards funds to study deep-space interferometer and other far-out ideas
  • One of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way is hiding a second galaxy behind it, new research reveals
  • ULA ready for inaugural Vulcan flight
  • Near-Earth asteroids: Hunting and tracking upcoming encounters
  • Watch a full Martian day, from dawn to dusk
  • NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter sets new distance record on the Red Planet
  • Ingenuity lessons being incorporated into Mars Sample Return
  • Juno makes its first ultra-close flyby of the volcano-covered moon Io
  • A spacecraft at Mars watched a dust storm lift tons of grains in a short time
  • In 2024 the Hera mission will revisit the asteroid punched by NASA
  • NASA pushes ahead with Earth System Observatory despite uncertain budgets
  • Two U.S. firms to launch spacecraft to the moon within weeks of each other
  • Japan spacecraft enters lunar orbit for moon landing on January 20
  • 6 exciting space missions set to launch in 2024
  • India launches X-ray astronomy satellite
  • After 2 years in space, the James Webb Space Telescope has broken cosmology. Can it be fixed?
  • Top astronomy events for 2024
  • Quadrantid meteor shower 2024: The year’s 1st meteor shower blazes over North America on January 3

 

Other News

  • Biden administration to consult with Navajo about human remains on the moon
  • Space Force seeking a digital overhaul of its aging launch infrastructure
  • Bumpy road ahead for the remainder of the 118th Congress
  • Where will the most crowded places be for the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024?
  • DoD’s X-37B spaceplane flies again
  • Spaceports need social scientists. Here’s why.

 

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

  • Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine 1 is planned for launch early next Monday as the potential first private sector initiative to successfully carry out a commercial moon landing as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The 2:18 a.m. EST, launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, atop the inaugural launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket will be televised and streamed by NASA beginning at 1:30 a.m. EST.
  • NASA is also hosting live pre-launch science and launch readiness briefings regarding the Peregrine/Vulcan Centaur mission on Thursday at 11 a.m. EST, and Friday at 3 p.m. EST.
  • The American Astronomical Society’s (AAS) winter meeting convenes in New Orleans next Sunday through Wednesday.
  • The U.S. Senate and House remain in recess until January 8 and 9 respectively.