Shanghai rocket maker considering developing huge methane-fueled rockets
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-18 12:21
China is looking at developing a series of partially and fully-reusable launch vehicles. A paper published in the journal Aerospace Technology outlines plans under consideration. The first generation of three launch vehicles with reusable first stages would have diameters of 3.35, 4.0 and 7.0 meters. The proposed launch vehicles would provide a different path to developing new launch capabilities in China.
NASA requests proposal for second Artemis crewed lunar lander
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-18 11:03
NASA has released a request for proposals for a second human lunar lander. The lander would join the Starship lander under development by SpaceX. The winning company would carry out an uncrewed landing followed by a crewed landing. The agency set a deadline of Nov. 15 for receiving proposals.
New tri-agency office to coordinate U.S. missile-defense space programs
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-16 22:25
The Space Systems Command announced the realignment Sept. 15. Deconflicting missile-defense projects has been a congressional priority. Representatives from the three agencies will coordinate what is envisioned as a multilayer architecture. Congress has criticized DoD’s effort for lack of coordination and cooperation.
NASASpaceFlight.com
The SSLV or Small Satellite Launch Vehicle conducted its launch debut from Sriharikota, India on Sunday, August 7. An issue with the fourth stage resulted in the satellites being deployed in an unusable orbit. The SSLV program’s genesis was a December 2015 National Institute of Advanced Studies proposal to create a “Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-1”
Commercial Archives
Crew-5 will be SpaceX’s fifth long-duration crew mission, eighth overall crewed mission, and the first mission with a Russian Cosmonaut. The mission will launch from the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) on Oct. 3, 2022.
International Archives
Crew-5 will be SpaceX’s fifth long-duration crew mission, eighth overall crewed mission, and the first mission with a Russian Cosmonaut. The mission will launch from the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) on Oct. 3, 2022.
Chinese Long March 3B Launches APStar-6C Communications Satellite – Spaceflight101
China conducted a rare commercial launch of a Long March 3B rocket with the APStar-6C communications satellite. Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:06 UTC on a mission of under half an hour to lift the spacecraft into an elliptical Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Confirmation of launch success was provided by APT Satellite around 40 minutes after liftoff when the satellite had been separated into its target orbit.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard Reaches new Heights in latest Test Flight – Spaceflight101
Blue Origin returned to its West Texas testing grounds on Sunday for the eighth flight of its reusable New Shepard launch system. Sunday’s flight marked the second for this particular set of hardware, following up on the successful December 2017 mission that debuted “Crew Capsule 2.0” The mission was designed to expand the vehicle’s operational envelope by sending it to a peak altitude of 107 Kilometers.
News – Spaceflight101
Europe's Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday. A Russian Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite.
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. First of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year. Dragon spacecraft will deliver science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the orbiting laboratory.
Re-Entry: Long March 11 Rocket Body – Spaceflight101
The CZ-11 fourth stage of a Long March 11 rocket re-entered the atmosphere on April 29, 2018 after only three days in orbit. The rocket used leftover propellant for a partial de-orbit maneuver, lowering its perigee to 120 Kilometers to significantly accelerate its orbital decay. Exact details on the fourth stage of China’s new Long March 11 launcher are not available.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Investigates Geologically Rich Mars Terrain
The rover has collected four samples from an ancient river delta in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater since July 7. Jezero Crater hosts a delta – an ancient fan-shaped feature that formed about 3.5 billion years ago at the convergence of a Martian river and a lake. Perseverance is currently investigating the delta’s sedimentary rocks.
NASA to Host Briefing on Perseverance Mars Rover Mission Operations
The briefing will livestream on NASA Television, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as the agency’s app. Questions can be asked on social media during the briefing using #AskNASA. Perseverance marks the first step in the Mars Sample Return campaign, which would return scientifically promising samples to Earth for further study.
A Cosmic Tarantula, Caught by NASA’s Webb
The Tarantula Nebula has a similar type of chemical composition as the gigantic star-forming regions observed at the universe’s “cosmic noon,” when the cosmos was only a few billion years old. Webb will provide astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in the Tarantula Nebula with the telescope’s deep observations of distant galaxies from the actual era of cosmic noon.
Explore the Solar System With NASA’s New-and-Improved 3D ‘Eyes’
Learn the basics about dwarf planets or the finer points of gas giants. Ride alongside no fewer than 126 space missions past and present. Scroll through rich interactive journeys, including Voyager’s Grand Tour of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. While you're at it, you can rotate objects, compare them side by side, and even modulate the perspective as well as the lighting.
NASA’s Webb Takes Its First-Ever Direct Image of Distant World
Astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and is not habitable. The finding is detailed in NASA’s latest JWST blog entry.
Engineers Solve Data Glitch on NASA’s Voyager 1
Engineers have repaired an issue affecting data from Voyager 1 spacecraft. The probe’s attitude articulation and control system (AACS) began sending garbled information about its health and activities. The team has since located the source of the garbled information: The AACS had started sending the telemetry data through an onboard computer known to have stopped working years ago.
NASA Helps Minority-Serving Institutions Refine Tech Proposals
The MSI Space Accelerator is a partnership between NASA and minority-serving colleges. The teams got in-person feedback to hone their projects. The teams received awards of $50,000 as prizes for their initial concepts. The program’s goal of promoting entrepreneurship took a leap forward when each team established themselves as limited liability corporations.