Hazards don’t stop at the Kármán line - SpaceNews
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-26 09:59
The U.S. Lacks continuous oversight throughout commercial human spaceflight. The FAA regulates commercial aviation through all phases of flight. The U.S. Could adopt a policy of “Selective On-orbit Authority,” assigning the FAA the role of overseeing the safety of commercial spaceflight for the duration of flight.
Congress adds $1.7 billion for U.S. Space Force in 2023 spending bill
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-24 20:17
The 2023 omnibus spending package includes $26.3 billion for the U.S. Space Force. The bulk of the $1.7 billion added to the Space Force budget is for new satellites. More than $500 million of the increase is for the Space Development Agency.
NASASpaceFlight.com
India launches a new ocean monitoring satellite on Saturday morning. The EOS-06 spacecraft was delivered into a low Earth orbit. The mission, PSLV C54, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11:56 local time (06:26 UTC)
Commercial Archives
Two NASA astronauts conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, Dec. 22. The Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) follows a previous one on Dec. 2 that installed the third iROSA. The second EVA of the pair was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 21, but was postponed at the last minute when controllers determined a piece of Russian rocket debris would pass dangerously close to the ISS.
International Archives
2022 has marked another busy chapter for the International Space Station. The Station saw the first docking of Starliner, the all-private Axiom-1 mission, and new hardware installed to increase the lifespan of humanity’s collaborative space laboratory. Along with its constant plethora of scientific and engineering experiments, the Station also saw the all-privateAxiom-1 mission.
ISS Updates – Spaceflight101 – International Space Station
A veteran NASA spacewalker and an EVA rookie from Japan ended their week with nearly six hours of work outside the International Space Station. The restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System started last year and continued in January to provide Canadarm2 with a new pair of grappling hands.
Featured – Spaceflight101
SpaceX Falcon 9 takes to the skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. Falcon 9 is lifting a flight-proven Dragon spacecraft into orbit for a critical delivery of science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the International Space Station. This is the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
News – Spaceflight101
Europe's Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday. A Russian Rockot booster is set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite.
Re-Entry: Long March 11 Rocket Body – Spaceflight101
The CZ-11 fourth stage used leftover propellant for a partial de-orbit maneuver, lowering its perigee to 120 Kilometers to significantly accelerate its orbital decay. It is reportedly built around a YF-50 main engine and in a nominal mission conducts the orbital circularization after the three CZ-11 stages.
Construction Begins on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor recently passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review. Now the mission is transitioning into the final design-and-fabrication phase. The mission supports the objectives of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)
Moon Water Imager Integrated With NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer
Lunar Trailblazer, NASA’s mission to understand lunar water and the Moon’s water cycle, is one step closer to launching next year. Earlier this month, the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California delivered a key science instrument to Lockheed Martin Space in Colorado. The instrument, called the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper, is one of two on Lunar Trailblazer.
NASA Explores a Winter Wonderland on Mars
Winter on Mars is very different from that on Earth. No region of Mars gets more than a few feet of snow. The Red Planet's elliptical orbit means it takes many more months for winter to come around. A single Mars year is around two Earth years, so winter is a long time coming.
Juno Spacecraft Recovering Memory After 47th Flyby of Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft completed its 47th close pass of Jupiter on Dec. 14. Afterward, as the solar-powered orbiter was sending its science data to mission controllers from its onboard computer, the downlink was disrupted. The issue was most likely caused by a radiation spike as Juno flew through a radiation-intensive portion of Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science
NASA's InSight mission has ended after more than four years of collecting unique science on Mars. Mission controllers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California were unable to contact the lander after two consecutive attempts. The agency will continue to listen for a signal from the lander, just in case.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
A titanium tube containing a rock sample is resting on the Red Planet’s surface. It was placed there on Dec. 21 by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Over the next two months, the rover will deposit a total of 10 tubes at the location.
Assembly Begins on NASA’s Next Tool to Study Exoplanets
The Coronagraph Instrument is being tested on NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The instrument will block the light from each distant star it observes so that scientists can better see the planets around the star. It will demonstrate technologies needed to eventually study potentially habitable planets with future missions.