Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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January 12th, 2025
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Shenzhou-19 crew — Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze – have been carrying out an array of space station assignments, including an in-orbit test for a pipe inspection robot.
The three-person crew was rocketed to the country’s space station on October 30 for a six-month mission.
As reported by China Central Television (CCTV), the astronauts placed the robot in a simulated pipe, powered it up, and initiated the inspection task. Upon completion, the robot returned to the entrance of the pipe for retrieval by the astronauts.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
CCTV adds that this experiment is designed for automatic pipeline inspection at the space station.
Brainwave music
The Shenzhou-19 trio also employed EEG equipment and software for various tests, including studying the relationship between brainwave music intervention and long-term spaceflight.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
In studying bone and muscle, the crew used different equipment to gather data on plantar pressure, joint kinematics, and motion images from running and resistance exercises under different loads, mapping the relationships between motion parameters and plantar pressure,” CCTV notes.
Additionally, motion trackers and heart rate monitors are in use by the crew, furthering studies focused on the impact of the space environment on human body.
Emergency drill
The crew and ground researchers last week conducted a system-wide pressure emergency drill, simulating the entire response process for an internal pressure loss in the space station. That drill gauged emergency response skills and enhanced space-to-ground coordination, CCTV reports.
For an inside look at China’s station crew and work underway, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BZdxgjga4/
Image credit: CMSA
Posted in 
Artist concept highlighting the novel approach proposed by the 2025 NIAC awarded selection of Lunar Glass Structure (LUNGS): Enabling Construction of Monolithic Habitats in Low-Gravity Environmentlithic Habitats in Low-Gravity Environment. Image credit:
Martin Bermudez/Skyeports LLC/NASA
Want to build glasshouses on the Moon?
Consider this idea: a large-scale, monolithic lunar glass habitat in a low-gravity environment. This approach involves on-the-spot melting of lunar glass compounds to fabricate a large spherical shell structure.
The concept is considered a “significant departure” from current habitat construction methods.
This novel approach is just one of NASA’s just announced selections of 15 visionary ideas for the space agency’s NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
Chosen from companies and institutions across the United States, the 2025 Phase I awardees represent a sweeping range of aerospace concepts.
Image credit: NIAC/NASA
Explains Clayton Turner, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington, D.C.: “From developing small robots that could swim through the oceans of other worlds to growing space habitats from fungi, this program continues to change the possible.”
Visionary ideas
And the awardees are:
1)
Phillip Ansell, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
Hydrogen Hybrid Power for Aviation Sustainable Systems (Hy2PASS)
2)
Ryan Benson, ThinkOrbital Inc., Boulder, Colorado
Construction Assembly Destination
3)
Martin Bermudez, Skyeports LLC, Sacramento, California
Lunar Glass Structure (LUNGS): Enabling Construction of Monolithic Habitats in Low-Gravity Environment
4)
Christine Gregg, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Dynamically Stable Large Space Structures via Architected Metamaterials
5)
Gyulaz Greschik, Tentguild Engineering Company, Boulder, Colorado
The Ribbon: Structure Free Sail for Solar Polar Observation
Artist concept of Exploring Venus with Electrolysis (EVE)
Image credit: Michael Hecht/NASA
6)
Michael Hecht, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Exploring Venus with Electrolysis (EVE)
7)
Robert Hinshaw, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
MitoMars: Targeted Mitochondria Replacement Therapy to Boost Deep Space Endurance
8)
Ben Hockman, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
TOBIAS: Tethered Observatory for Balloon-based Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling
Artist concept highlighting Inflatable Starshade for Earthlike Exoplanets concept. Image credit: John Mather/NASA
9)
John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Inflatable Starshade for Earthlike Exoplanets
10)
Marco Quadrelli, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
PULSAR: Planetary pULSe-tAkeR
11)
Selim Shahriar, Northwestern University, Evanston, Evanston, Illinois
SUPREME-QG: Space-borne Ultra-Precise Measurement of the Equivalence Principle Signature of Quantum Gravity
12)
Saurabh Vilekar, Precision Combustion, North Haven, Connecticut
Thermo-Photo-Catalysis of Water for Crewed Mars Transit Spacecraft Oxygen Supply Precision Combustion
13)
Kimberly Weaver, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Beholding Black Hole Power with the Accretion Explorer Interferometer
14)
Ryan Weed,m Helicity Space LLC, Pasadena, California
Fusion-Enabled Comprehensive Exploration of the Heliosphere
Artist concept of LEAP – Legged Exploration Across the Plume.
Image credit: Justin Yim/NASA
15)
Justin Yim, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
LEAP – Legged Exploration Across the Plume
Bring concepts to life
These Phase 1 grants to the NIAC researchers, known as fellows, “will investigate the fundamental premise of their concepts, identify potential challenges, and look for opportunities to bring these concepts to life,” explains NIAC in a NASA statement.
For more information on these NIAC Phase 1 awards, go to:
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-2025-innovative-technology-concept-studies/
Glad to be on the January 10th episode of This Week In Space podcast: Episode 143 — King Starship – Will 2025 be SpaceX’s Game-Changing Year?
This episode comes fully-equipped with details on the upcoming flight of the SpaceX Starship on its 7th test flight…and what next? I join made-in-space colleagues, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik as we look into the space crystal ball.
Go to:
Image Credit: Sierra Space
This year, the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane is to make its way to the International Space Station.
A multiple-hour simulation on December 5 matched up both Sierra Space and NASA Johnson Space Center controllers to ring out procedures, even simulating a number of flight controller problems.
In addition to thousands of hours of cumulative classroom and self-study training across the team, simulations provide “a unique laboratory” for bringing everything together to demonstrate the Sierra Space team’s knowledge, as well as test flight controller skills.
All hands and eyes on deck! Simulation of Dream Chaser approaching the International Space Station on Dec. 5, 2024. Image credit: Barbara David
Go to my new Space.com story — How NASA and Sierra Space are preparing for Dream Chaser space plane’s 1st flight to ISS – “This is the world’s greatest video game except, in the end, it is very real.”
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Research work on building China’s Chang’e-7 lunar exploration mission includes sending a flag that can flutter in the Moon’s thin and tenuous atmosphere.
“We know that the Moon is vacuum with no air, so it is difficult to make a flag flutter by wind like on Earth,” said Zhang Tianzhu, deputy head of the institute of future technology at the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory.
That lab was co-established by the China National Space Administration and the University of Science and Technology of China and began operations in June 2022. It is headquartered in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui, and has a branch in Beijing.
Zhang Tianzhu.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Fluttering solution
Zhang said the flag fluttering solution is based on arranging closed loop wires on the surface of the flag with access to two-way positive and negative currents, “and make the flag flutter through the interaction of electromagnetic fields.”
China plans to launch its Chang’e-7 lunar lander to find traces of water and ice at the Moon’s south pole around 2026. If successful, the deployed flag will be the first to flutter on the lunar surface.
Image credit: NASA
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Sustainable and scalable
“Now, in order to complete the development of our popular science test payload in February, we are motivated and divided into different groups to advance this task,” Zhang told China Central Television (CCTV).
Work is also proceeding on the following Chang’e-8 lunar lander mission and the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
“Our goal is to establish a sustainable and scalable comprehensive scientific experimental facility on the lunar surface and in lunar orbit, capable of long-term autonomous operation and short-term human participation, and to basically build an International Lunar Research Station by around 2035,” said Zhang.
Artist’s view of International Lunar Research Station . Credit: CNSA
Image credit: Blue Origin
“It’s time to fly,” said Jarrett Jones, SVP, for the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket program.
New Glenn’s first liftoff is now targeted for no earlier than January 10.
The booster’s inaugural mission (NG-1) will lift off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The three-hour launch window opens at 1 a.m. Eastern Time, and is the vehicle’s first National Security Space Launch certification flight.
Image credit: Blue Origin
The payload is the Blue Ring Pathfinder that will evaluate Blue Ring’s core flight, ground systems, and operational capabilities as part of the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Orbital Logistics prototype effort.
“Our key objective is to reach orbit safely,” Blue Origin notes in a company statement. “We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious—but we’re going for it.”
“This is our first flight and we’ve prepared rigorously for it,” said Jones. No amount of ground testing or mission simulations can replace flying this rocket, he said.
Jones added: “No matter what happens, we’ll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch.”
Pre-;liftoff engine test.
Image credit: Blue Origin
Image credit: Boeing/Inside Outer Space screengrab
That U.S. Space Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-7) has silently slipped past one-year of flight time.
The craft is engaged in performing aerobrake maneuvers, a technique to alter its orbit around Earth, as well as safely dispose of its attached service module.
Lofted in December of 2023, the military spaceplane was placed in an orbit higher than any of the earlier space plane missions – into a highly elliptical high Earth orbit.
Artist rendering of the X-37B performing an aerobraking maneuver using the drag of Earth’s atmosphere.
Image credit: Boeing Space
From that orbit, the United States Space Force, supported by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, conducted radiation effect experiments and tested Space Domain Awareness technologies.
X-37B/OTV-7 is also referred to as United States Space Force-52 (USSF-52). This spaceplane was lofted on December 28, 2023.
The OTV-7 flight marks the first time the U.S. Space Force and the X-37B have attempted to carry out a dynamic aerobraking maneuver.
Expending minimal fuel
In a statement released last year by Boeing, builder of the X37B “will perform ground-breaking aerobraking maneuvers to take the dynamic spaceplane from one Earth orbit to another while conserving fuel. Partnered with the United States Space Force, this novel demonstration is the first of its kind.”
X-37B reentry tiles as seen from earlier mission.
Image credit: Boeing
The use of the aerobraking maneuver requires the heat-tiled spacecraft to conduct a series of passes using the drag of Earth’s atmosphere. That technique enables the spacecraft to change orbits while expending minimal fuel.
There are no details as yet on whether the X-37B’s aerobrake maneuvering is complete.
If so, the uncrewed vehicle was slated to resume its test and experimentation objectives until they are accomplished.
At that point, the vehicle is to de-orbit and execute a safe return to Earth, likely at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility Runway.
OTV-6 was the first mission to introduce a service module that expanded the capabilities of the spacecraft.
Image credit: Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks
Flight log
Here’s a listing of previous flights of the spaceplane:
OTV-1: launched on April 22, 2010 and landed on December 3, 2010, spending over 224 days on orbit.
OTV-2: launched on March 5, 2011 and landed on June 16, 2012, spending over 468 days on orbit.
OTV-3: launched on December 11, 2012 and landed on October 17, 2014, spending over 674 days on-orbit.
OTV-4: launched on May 20, 2015 and landed on May 7, 2015, spending nearly 718 days on-orbit.
OTV-5: launched on September 7, 2017 and landed on October 27, 2019, spending nearly 780 days on-orbit.
OTV-6: launched on May 17, 2020 and landed on November 12, 2022, spending 908 days on-orbit.
OTV-7: launched on December 28, 2023 and remains in-flight.
Go to this informative video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WduDiC8VFyY
Image credit: Boeing Space/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: Citizen TV
There is a possible candidate for that large metallic ring that fell from the sky on December 30 in Africa, reportedly crashing “red-hot” into Mukuku village, in Makueni county – in the country’s south.
Investigators with the Kenya Space Agency (KSA) officials in Nairobia reported that the object, which is roughly 8 feet (2.5 meters) in diameter and weighing some 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms), is a piece of rocket debris. But the question remains from where?
Image credit: KSA
KSA officials said the leftovers came crashing down, reportedly within the village at roughly 3 p.m. local time.
Preliminary assessment
The KSA “secured the area and retrieved the debris, which is now under the Agency’s custody for further investigation.”
“Preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle (rocket),” the KSA stated in a January 1st official statement.
There is discussion regarding possible rocket launch hardware associated with the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) launch on December 30.
Image credit: ISRO/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Polar satellite launch vehicle
The SpaDeX payload flew atop ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C60), lifting off at 10:00:15 PM local time from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
The SpaDeX mission deployed two spacecraft—SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) — to carry out a series of complex maneuvers, leading to their docking in Earth orbit.
India’s mastering of autonomous docking technology, reports ISRO, is vital for future human spaceflights, lunar missions, and the construction of India’s proposed space station, Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
Image credit: KSA
Report dismissed
Meanwhile, the Kenya Space Agency has dismissed a media report by Nation Africa that the country had demanded compensation for the debris dumping from India.
In a post on X on Friday, the KSA stressed that “investigations into the object’s origin are still ongoing, and no official statement has been issued linking the debris to the Indian Space Research Organization or any specific space mission.”
KSA advised the public to “await official findings.”
Image credit: SpaceX
The seventh flight test of the SpaceX Starship atop its Super Heavy booster is being readied for launch.
According to SpaceX, the upcoming flight test, reportedly targeted for January 10, will launch a new generation ship “with significant upgrades.”
In addition, there will be an attempt for Starship’s first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster.
Image credit: SpaceX
Major improvements
A block of planned upgrades to the Starship upper stage will debut on this flight test, bringing major improvements to reliability and performance.
The upcoming test flight will debut:
- The vehicle’s forward flaps have been reduced in size and shifted towards the vehicle tip and away from the heat shield
- Redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25 percent increase in propellant volume,
- The vacuum jacketing of feedlines
- A new fuel feedline system for the vehicle’s Raptor vacuum engines
- An improved propulsion avionics module controlling vehicle valves and reading sensors.
These upgrades add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer missions, explains SpaceX. Additionally, the ship’s heat shield will also use the latest generation tiles and includes a backup layer to protect from missing or damaged tiles.
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Increasingly complex missions
According to the SpaceX website, the vehicle’s avionics underwent a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy “for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to launch site.”
Those avionics upgrades include a more powerful flight computer, integrated antennas which combine Starlink, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and backup Radio Frequency communication functions into each unit.
Also, the ship is outfitted with a redesigned inertial navigation and star tracking sensors, integrated smart batteries and power units that distribute data and power across the ship to 24 high-voltage actuators.
There will be an increase to more than 30 vehicle cameras to provide engineers insight into hardware performance across the vehicle during flight.
Actual photo of stage separation via SpaceX tracking camera. Image credit: SpaceX
Synchronize with Starlink
By using the SpaceX Starlink system, the vehicle is capable of streaming more than 120 megabits per second (Mbps) of real-time high-definition video and telemetry in every phase of flight. That capability yields engineering data to rapidly iterate across all systems.
While in space, Starship will deploy 10 “Starlink simulators.” These are similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites. This will be the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.
A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.
Stress-test
Regarding return to launch site and catch, the upcoming flight test will include several experiments to further that capability.
“On Starship’s upper stage, a significant number of tiles will be removed to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry,” SpaceX reports.
Catch via chopsticks. Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“On the sides of the vehicle, non-structural versions of ship catch fittings are installed to test the fittings’ thermal performance, along with a smoothed and tapered edge of the tile line to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test,” the company posting adds.
The ship’s reentry profile on this flight will intentionally stress the structural limits of the flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure.
Tower chopsticks
Several radar sensors will be tested on the tower chopsticks. The goal is to increase the accuracy when measuring distances between the chopsticks and a returning vehicle during catch.
The Super Heavy booster will utilize flight proven hardware for the first time, reusing a Raptor engine from the booster launched and returned on Starship’s fifth flight test.
The new SpaceX posting explains why there was no tower chopstick catch on the sixth test flight.
Image credit: SpaceX
For this soon-to-fly test, there are protections to the sensors on the tower chopsticks “that were damaged at launch and resulted in the booster offshore divert on Starship’s previous flight test.”
Accept no compromises
“Distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, requiring healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director,” SpaceX explains. “If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.”
To ensure the safety of the public and the SpaceX launch team, “we accept no compromises,” the website notes, “and the return will only take place if conditions are right.”
“This new year will be transformational for Starship,” SpaceX concludes, “with the goal of bringing reuse of the entire system online and flying increasingly ambitious missions as we iterate towards being able to send humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars.”
Image credit: SpaceX
Image credit: KSA
About that possible space debris landing in Africa.
Comment from “Ed”: “Check out the Ariane 5 Space Debris (33155) that reentered around the same time. It was equatorial and more likely to be a candidate at the time of reentry.”
Image credit: CORDS/The Aerospace Corporation
However, the reentry messages from space track, Ed adds, would have both the U.S. Atlas and European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane debris in completely different parts of the world.
Meanwhile, my posting on this incident via Space.com is at:
