Hello, dear space lovers!
This has been a week full of interesting tests, but before I get started, let me publicly thank María and Gio, my new Patrons on Patreon. Your generosity and support to the project blow my mind: thanks so much! :)
Now, let's get started with the updates of the week!
International Space Station
This week we witnessed the successful return of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule with more than 2 tons of scientific experiments back from the ISS, including a dozen bottles of french wine (what?).
Boeing announced they’re going to send new solar panels to the ISS, which will mean 20-30% more energy to the station.
And, although it was done last month, we’ve got to know that the ISS’s robotic arm performed a fully autonomous robotic operation for the first time in the history of space. Due to the risk and cost of the arm, all operations are usually done by human remote control, so this is a very relevant step forward to applying advanced autonomous robotics in space.
Crucial Tests!
Several vital tests this week: SpaceX performed three successful static fire tests (in a single day!) which resulted in two damaged Raptor engines that need to be swapped before they perform a 10km hop test possibly by next week. Looking forward to it!
Blue Origin successfully launched its New Shepard rocket to an altitude of 100km. After some small final improvements, they are planning to test one more time in 6 weeks and then launch the first crew six weeks after. Although this is an engineering feat, I am not very excited about this project, as it is, as far as I know, just a way to entertain millionaires that want to experience a rocket launch and zero gravity for ten minutes, nothing more. We’ll see if this at least helps Blue Origin make progress towards landing on the Moon.
Yesterday SLS, the NASA megarocket, performed a hot fire test that ended prematurely. After ten years in the making, the most powerful rocket ever built in the US had to shut down the engines after one of the four RS-25 thrusters experienced an issue yet to be analyzed. But anyway, this is what tests are for: I hope they quickly find and fix the issue without causing a delay for the Artemis program.
Finally Exotrail, a European startup that is working on miniaturized thrusters, successfully tested their new electric propulsion system which is the size of your hand and can move small satellites for trajectory correction and changes of the orbit in a very agile and> inexpensive way.
Extended mission!
This week NASA announced that they are going to extend the JUNO mission to 2025. This mission, which has been studying Jupiter since 2016, will continue gathering data from Jupiter, its rings, and more importantly its intriguing moons: Ganymede, Europa, and Io. Looking forward to the majestic pictures and data the mission will bring back home.
Picture of the week
Talking about Jupiter, here’s a picture that was taken by the JUNO mission. You can see the strange patterns in the jovian atmosphere below:
Upcoming launches & events
A very well-packed week ahead!
Jan 17th - LauncherOne | Launch Demo 2 - VIRGIN ORBIT
Jan 18th - Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink 16 - SpaceX
Jan 18th - Electron | Another One Leaves The Crust - ROCKET LAB
Jan 19th - Long March 3B/E | Tiantong-1-03 - CHINA CASC
Jan 20th? - Starship SN9 | 10 km Flight - SpaceX
Jan 21st - Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 1 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) - SpaceX
Space jobs
Do you want to play an active role in space exploration? Here are some open positions in the aerospace industry:
And that’s it for this week! :)
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Cheers from sunny Spain!
Juan, the Curious Astronaut
Thanks, Juan, for featuring ISS’s first robotic arm fully autonomous robotic operation and Exotrail's advancement. Great articles!
Best regards from Portugal.