What You Missed Last Week

Nov 26, 2023

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Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of Thanksgiving, November 19, and the week of 26, 2023:

Human Space Exploration:

  • NASA Artemis moon landing in 2025 “unlikely” as challenges mount, GAO report says
  • Russian Progress cargo spacecraft launch to the ISS on December 1
  • For the first time, we’re seeing views of China’s entire space station
  • Mary Cleave, the first woman to fly on NASA’s space shuttle after Challenger disaster, dies at 76
  • Artemis 2 moon astronauts autograph their own rocket 1 year before launch
  • U.S. ready to send Indian to space in 2024; both countries to launch NISAR sat by first quarter of next year: NASA chief
  • Ex-NASA astronaut shares his 3 best tips for dealing with failure including the real ‘golden rule’ to follow
  • Scientists suspect there’s ice hiding on the moon, and a host of missions from the U.S. and beyond are searching for it
  • As the ISS turns 25, a look back at the space laboratory’s legacy
  • China eyes additional modules for Tiangong space station
  • Moon’s scientifically important sites could be ‘lost forever’ in mining rush
  • Medical emergencies will happen in deep space. Here’s how Canada is getting ready
  • Canadian Space Agency announces two astronaut flight assignments
  • Starliner “on track” for April crewed test flight
  • Eat up! Here’s what’s on the Thanksgiving menu for International Space Station crew
  • Sorry, doubters: Starship actually had a remarkably successful flight
  • SpaceX’s epic Starship liftoff didn’t damage launch pad, Elon Musk says
  • SpaceX’s Starship should be ready to fly again before Christmas, Elon Musk says
  • NASA still studying Orion heat shield erosion from Artemis I
  • NASA chief congratulates SpaceX on Starship’s explosive 2nd launch test
  • Starship lunar lander missions to require nearly 20 launches, NASA says
  • Starship brought the thunder as it climbed into space for the first time
  • Starship gets Further on second test, but still short of goal

 

Space Science

  • The new asteroid moon discovered by Lucy just got its own name
  • Powerful ‘Cannibal’ solar burst will hit Earth tonight. Widespread auroras predicted
  • Hubble Space Telescope is in safe mode – but scientists aren’t too worried
  • ispace to make second lunar attempt in winter 2024
  • Astronomers stunned by six-planet system frozen in time
  • Why don’t we see robotic civilizations rapidly expanding across the universe?
  • Mars horizon captured in new image: “No Mars spacecraft has ever had this kind of view before”
  • Geomagnetic storm watch
  • NASA postpones Dragonfly review, launch date
  • Data from Kepler reveals reason behind shrinking exoplanets
  • VERITAS science case develops as budget forecast improves
  • NASA tests its next-generation Mars helicopter blades
  • California lawmakers urge NASA not to cut Mars Sample Return funding
  • NASA Mars small sat mission to be on first New Glenn launch
  • Simulating how moon landings will kick up dust
  • NASA tests a prototype Europa Lander
  • Russia’s long-duration space journey on Earth put 6 people in isolation for a year
  • Landing SLIM and smartly on the moon
  • We’re entering a new age when spacecraft communicate with lasers

 

Opinion

    Thespacereview.com (11/27): If it were necessary for life on Earth to move out, Mars at the moment seems to offer the best prospect for a destination. But such a transition would require more than enclosed habitats. Potentially that could be something akin to the outdoors of Earth, or terraformation where plants and animals can thrive on a large scale, writes John Strickland, a member of the National Space Society board of directors, expressing his own opinions. An abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars would be a key to such a transition.

 

Other News

  • China is working on a design for a reusable air-launched orbital rocket
  • ESA sets mid-2024 date for first Ariane 6 launch
  • With another record broken, the world’s spaceports are busier than ever
  • NASA warns of “very problematic” space technology budget cuts
  • Satellite imagery reveals explosion at China’s Jiuquan spaceport
  • House committee clears commercial space bill on partisan, but friendly, vote
  • Reuters.com (11/28): The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) disclosed Tuesday the
  • Industry group opposes White House mission authorization proposal
  • Millennium Space to build a missile-sensor layer in medium Earth orbit
  • Additional vendors selected for DoD’s low Earth orbit satellite services contract
  • Former NASA acting administrator Jurczyk passes away
  • 1st Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly DNA samples of CEO, ‘Star Trek’ crew
  • North Korea rocket explodes during spy satellite launch, and meteor hunters caught it on camera: report
  • Ariane 6 completes long-duration static-fire test
  • North Korea claims success with military satellite launch
  • Astrolab announces first customers for commercial lunar rover mission
  • Tom Hanks visits Artemis 2 moon astronauts and NASA Mission Control
  • World View ends plans to go public through a SPAC merger
  • North Korea will try again to launch a military spy satellite in the coming days
  • Emirati university signs up to China’s moon base project
  • Rocket Lab opens warehouse to build space rocket components in Maryland

 

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

  • NASA and Astrobotic plan a media telecon for Wednesday at 2 p.m. EDT, to discuss the science activities aboard the Astrobotic Peregrin lunar lander mission planned for launch on December 24 at 1:49 a.m. EST, as part of the first launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket. Astrobotic is among a group of commercial companies selected by NASA under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to deliver science and technology payloads to the surface of the moon as part of the Artemis program. The Wednesday 2 p.m. Astrobotic science briefing will be broadcast on NASA TV and streamed via www.nasa.gov/nasalive.
  • The National Space Council’s Users’ Advisory Group (UAG) plans to meet virtually on Friday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. EST, with an agenda that awaits details.
  • The National Academies’ Committee on NASA Mission Critical Workforce, Infrastructure and Technology meets Tuesday and Wednesday, with a focus on the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Open sessions will be livestreamed.
  • The European Space Agency (ESA) will discuss the results of last week’s Ariane 6 first stage hot fire and next steps leading to an inaugural launch on Wednesday at 3 a.m. EST, with a livestream link of the news media briefing provided by ESA TV2.
  • the NASA Advisory Council Human Exploration and Operations Committee will hold a virtual session from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., EST, for discussions on International Space Station (ISS) operations; Commercial Crew activities; efforts to develop private sector successors to the ISS; and space communications and navigation.
  • The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a 3 p.m., EST, webinar on environmental monitoring entitled, “Winds of Change: Environmental Monitoring for an Era of Peer Competition.”
  • The U.S. House and Senate are in recess. Their latest budget Continuing Resolution was signed into law by President Biden on November 16 to prevent a government shutdown until January 19 for some agencies and February 2 for others.
  • Spending continues at 2023 appropriations levels, though the 2024 federal fiscal year began October 1. NASA and NOAA are among those agencies that are funded through February 2 under the second of two CRs enacted so far.