The Space Roundup - Aug 22nd, 2021
Hello, my dear space lovers!
I hope you’re all having a great summer. Let’s dive into all the amazing events of the week
SpaceX, NASA, and Blue Origin… fight!
This is something I really dislike: instead of making progress and cooperating, Bezos’ company is now suing NASA for the HSL contract it awarded to SpaceX. This same week NASA had transferred the first payment for the development of the Moon Lander ($300 million!) - while at the same time Blue Origin’s legal suit has forced NASA to stop working with SpaceX on the Lander - what a disgusting mess!!!
This doesn’t mean SpaceX can’t continue working on its Starship, of course. The tests and preparations continue as expected, although another legal problem arises: SpaceX is waiting for FAA approval for its first orbital flight…and it might cause long delays. Bang.
Blue Origin is launching its New Shepard rocket this week. This time it is not a crewed mission, but a purely scientific mission to perform several key experiments that are needed for the Artemis mission. 11 out of 18 experiments are supported by NASA… what a crazy world.
China
The taikonauts at the Space Station performed a second spacewalk to keep working on its new robotic arm last Thursday, while the rocket that will fly the next cargo mission to the station is now almost ready.
The Zhurong rover has now completed its primary 90-sol day mission on Mars and good news! It will continue its work into the future. Next month it’ll enter sleep mode for 50 days until it gets communications restored again. This is due to solar conjunction interfering with communications. Now, after having moved almost 900 meters and entered an area full of dunes, the challenge is to survive this long on the harsh Martian surface… go, Zhurong!
Talking about Mars, this week the Ingenuity Helicopter performed its 12th flight (12th!). It was a 450-meter roundtrip exploring a very uneven terrain and taking color images with the goal of helping the Perseverance science team determine "which of all the boulders, rocky outcrops and other geologic features in South Séítah may be worthy of further scrutiny by the rover.”
Fighting space junk
This week we’ve known that what destroyed a Chinese military satellite several months ago was a piece of an old Russian rocket. This kind of accident is only becoming more and more common. That’s why junk removal tech is so important for the future of the space industry.
The Finnish company Aurora Propulsion Technologies has just announced the launch of its first test mission aboard a Rocket Lab rocket later this year. They are creating water-based mini-thrusters and plasma brakes for satellites which are going to be used in combination to de-orbit satellites in a very affordable way. This way, instead of remaining in orbit for years and years after the end of their missions, the satellites will burn in the atmosphere in a matter of weeks. All our support for this kind of technology!
Space innovation
Talking about innovative technologies, SpaceX’s next resupply mission to the ISS next week will carry a host of very exciting experiments. Ranging from a new Japanese robotic arm for zero-gravity manufacturing, to bone research, a new retinal diagnosis device to control eye issues during long-duration exposures to microgravity, and much more. You find more about these missions and experiments here.
Pic of the week
This picture was taken this week by the Perseverance rover. It is a beautiful sunrise on Mars. What a spectacle!
Launches of the week
Wednesday, Aug 25th - Blue Origin New Shepard | NS-17
Friday, Aug 27th - Astra Rocket 3 | STP-27AD1
Saturday, Aug 28th - SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Dragon CRS-2 SpX-23
And that would be it for this week!
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