In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Space Council gets not only more members, but expanded authority in new executive order. Hubble Space Telescope returns to full science operations.
Human Space Exploration
Soyuz launches Japanese private astronauts to ISS
SpaceNews.com (12/8): A Soyuz spacecraft has launched two Japanese private astronauts and a Roscosmos cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS) on the first flight in over a decade for space tourism company Space Adventures. Commanded by cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, the spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the Poisk module of the ISS at 8:41 a.m. EST. The two private astronauts on board are Yusaku Maezawa, or “MZ,” the billionaire founder of fashion retailer Zozo, and Yozo Hirano, who is accompanying Maezawa as a production assistant to film videos Maezawa will later post online.
Space Science
NASA to launch new x-ray telescope designed to unravel mysteries of black holes
CNN (12/8): NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is set for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Thursday about 1 a.m. EST for a two year mission to study the powerful X-ray emissions from cosmic black holes and neutron stars. The Italian Space Agency has partnered with NASA to develop the first telescope of its kind. “The launch of IXPE marks a bold and unique step forward for X-ray astronomy,” said Martin Weisskopf, IXPE’s principal investigator in a statement.
NASA returns Hubble Space Telescope back to full science operations
Space.com (12/7): NASA experts have returned the 31-year-old Hubble Space Telescope to full science operations, following a late October disruption tracked to a loss in the synchronization of internal communications. More development and testing of software changes are planned to address a possible recurrence. On Monday, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph became the last of Hubble’s major instruments to resume scientific activity.
Other News
Space Council gets not only more members, but expanded authority in new executive order
Spacepolicyonline.com (12/7): In a recent executive order, President Biden has not only increased the membership of the National Space Council, he’s also increased the council’s authority to make space budget recommendations. The changes empower Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the council, to directly advise the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and federal agencies on their budget submissions.
Final defense bill nixes space guard, directs classification review of space programs
Coalition Member in the News – United Launch Alliance
SpaceNews.com (12/7): Members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees have reached agreement on a Defense Authorization Bill for the 2022 fiscal year that will now go before the full House for consideration, then the Senate. The provisions strike a proposal to create a Space National Guard and authorize $768 billion in spending, $25 billion more than called for by the Biden administration. The measure would also instruct the Pentagon to examine Space Force programs to see if classification restrictions can be lowered or removed.
Mark Geyer, former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, dies
SpaceNews.com (12/7): Mark Geyer, who led NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) from May 2018 to May 2021 passed away Tuesday from pancreatic cancer. He was 63. He joined NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) program in 1994 and moved on to participate in the Constellation initiative and lead the early development of the Orion crew capsule that is to launch and return astronauts assigned to future missions of human deep space exploration.
India, Russia agree to enhance space cooperation
SpaceNews.com (12/7): Agreements reached during a summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week in New Delhi call for greater cooperation between the two countries on human spaceflight, satellite navigation, launch vehicles, planetary exploration and peaceful uses of the space domain.
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