The Space Roundup - Mar 13th, 2022
Hello, hello, my dear space lovers!
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Now, are you ready for yet another week of space awesomeness? 3, 2, 1, zero! Lift-off!
Martian updates
The Mars Helicopter flew for the 21st time! This time it was a two-minute flight and it covered a total distance of 370 meters. It’s amazing how this little machine keeps working just fine… unbelievable!
Commercial crew
Boeing’s Starliner flight test, which was delayed to October, is now possible to be executed in May thanks to a canceled flight. This is a very important test mission for the crew-rated spacecraft to move forward and start carrying NASA astronauts to the ISS. I wish them luck
China’s going commercial!
Talking about commercial updates… China has announced that when their space station is fully assembled this year, they will open it to the private sector, moving away from a purely scientific mission. They will be following the lead that NASA started with the ISS. If this makes it more sustainable, it’ll be very interesting to watch.
New Moon rover
Venturi Astrolab has developed and tested a lunar rover that could be used on future missions.
FLEX can accommodate up to 1,500 kilograms of cargo and can be driven remotely or by two astronauts on board. Take a look at this video of the tests!
Psyche got wings!
Psyche, the mission that is going to visit a metal-rich asteroid departing next august is making great progress. This week it got the massive solar arrays that will power it to its destination. 11.3m long! Watch those power wings! Go, Psyche, go!
Pic of the week
Got no words for the pic of the week. NGC6888 Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, by Rancho Hidalgo observatory, New Mexico.
Launches of the week
This week it seems we only have a launch.
Monday, Mar 14th - Astra Rocket 3 | S4 CROSSOVER
Friday, Mar 18th - Soyuz 2.1a | Soyuz MS-21
Saturday, Mar 19th - SpaceX Starlink Group 4-12 | Falcon 9
And that’s it for this week!
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Cheers from sunny Spain!
Juan, the Curious Astronaut