In Today’s Deep Space Extra… James Webb Space Telescope scheduled to launch on Friday. Ingenuity helicopter had a successful 18th flight on Mars. Former NASA deputy administrator Hans Mark dies.
Human Space Exploration
Engine computer problem delays first SLS launch
SpaceNews.com (12/20): NASA is now looking to March and April, for an opportunity to launch Artemis I, the first joint test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew capsule on an uncrewed flight around the Moon. Managers have decided to replace a problematic engine controller in one of the four SLS first stage RS-25 rocket engines after a checkout in the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) that now houses the large rocket. Prior to the actual launch, the Artemis I SLS/Orion will move to its coastal launch pad for a Wet Dress Rehearsal, in which the SLS will be fueled as part of a countdown practice and then moved back to the VAB.
Japanese space tourists safely return to Earth
Associated Press via ABC News (12/20): Russia’s Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft with Japan’s first non-professional astronauts, billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and film producer Yozo Hirano, in the company of veteran cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin landed in Kazakhstan on Sunday at 10:13 p.m. EST. They were greeted by Russian recovery personnel as their 12-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS), arranged by Space Adventures through the Russian space agency, came to an end.
Space Science
Webb telescope encapsulated inside Ariane 5 rocket’s nose cone
Coalition Member in the News – RUAG Space
Spaceflightnow.com (12/18): Early Saturday, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) formally targeted Friday at 7:20 a.m. EST for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The announcement followed the resolution of a communications problem between the observatory and the Ariane 5 rocket that surfaced early last week. A formal Launch Readiness Review is planned for Tuesday, followed by rollout of the Ariane 5 to its launch pad with the JWST on Wednesday.
Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 18th Red Planet flight (video)
Space.com (12/17): On Friday, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) confirmed a successful 18th flight of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. The small helicopter covered 754 feet over a 124.3 second flight. Ingenuity has now spent nearly 33 minutes aloft in the Martian air, and visited 10 different Red Planet airfields.
Other News
Space Force celebrates second anniversary as arms race in space heats up
SpaceNews.com (12/18): The U.S. Space Force on Monday marks its second anniversary as an independent military service under the Department of the Air Force. In a short time, its national security mission has stepped up as an anti-satellite threat posed by Russia and China increases. The branch now counts 6,500 members known as Guardians.
Ellen Ochoa’s extraordinary NASA career
NPR (12/16): The third time was a charm for Ellen Ochoa as she applied to become a NASA astronaut. After four space shuttle missions, Ochoa would go on to become the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC).
‘God of aerospace engineering’: Hans Mark, former UT chancellor who fled Nazis, dies at 92
Yahoo.com (12/19): A native of Germany, Hans Mark served as a longtime aerospace engineering professor at UT, as well as secretary of the Air Force and deputy administrator of NASA. He worked in Mission Control during the first Moon landing and worked to persuade the government to establish the space station program. Mark died at 92 in Texas.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for December 19, 2021 – January 1, 2022
Spacepolicyonline.com (12/19): Front and center on the space stage this week is the planned launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on a European Space Agency (ESA) furnished Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on Friday at 7:20 a.m. EST. On Tuesday, the 24th NASA contracted Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is planned for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 5:06 a.m. EST, weather permitting. Except for proforma business, the U.S. House and Senate are in recess until January 10 and January 3 respectively. They adjourned with the Senate unable to come to agreement on the House approved Build Back Better act that includes $1.115 billion for NASA.
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