Space Stories: Firefly Wins Another NASA Contract, Commercial Space Station Progress, and Another Starliner Delay

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander and a rover on the lunar surface. (Firefly Aerospace)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Firefly Aerospace: “Firefly Awarded $179 Million NASA Contract for Moon Delivery to Gruithuisen Domes“

Firefly Aerospace, Inc., the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, was awarded an approximately $179.6 million NASA contract to deliver and operate six NASA instruments in the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in 2028. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload (CLPS) initiative, the mission will utilize Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, and a rover from an industry provider to investigate the unique composition of the Gruithuisen Domes – a part of the Moon that has never been explored.

—NASA: “NASA Sees Progress on Starlab Commercial Space Station Development“

A NASA-funded commercial space station, Starlab, recently completed four key developmental milestones, marking substantial progress in the station’s design and operational readiness. The four milestones are part of a NASA Space Act Agreement awarded in 2021 and focused on reviews of the habitat structural test article preliminary design, systems integration, integrated operations, and a habitat structural test plan. “These milestone achievements are great indicators to reflect Starlab’s commitment to the continued efforts and advancements of their commercial destination,” said Angela Hart, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program. “As we look forward to the future of low Earth orbit, every successful milestone is one step closer to creating a dynamic and robust commercialized low Earth orbit.”

—Associated Press: “NASA’s 2 stuck Astronauts Face More Time in Space with Return Delayed Until at Least Late March“

NASA’s two stuck astronauts just got their space mission extended again. That means they won’t be back on Earth until spring, 10 months after rocketing into orbit on Boeing’s Starliner capsule. NASA announced the latest delay in Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ homecoming on Tuesday. The two test pilots planned on being away just a week or so when they blasted off June 5 on Boeing’s first astronaut flight to the International Space Station. Their mission grew from eight days to eight months after NASA decided to send the company’s problem-plagued Starliner capsule back empty in September.

Space Quote: Drone Flights Over Military Locations Said to be Common

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA’s Alta-8 small Unmanned Aircraft System testbed vehicle. (NASA/Bowman)

“…there have been a limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted air space. Such sightings near or over Department of Defense installations are not new. The Department of Defense takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate.”

-Joint statement by the FBI, Federal Aviation Authority, and Departments of Homeland Security and Defense regarding the recent sighting of UFOs long the East Coast. It is an interesting admission by the government that this is more common than thought. It reminds one of the Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. Air Force in 2023. At that time, we learned that Chinese air balloons had been flying over the United States for years.

Note: The same press release played down the drone issue in general, stating:

Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.

Posted in UFO

A Day in Astronomy: The Birth of Philip K. Dick

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Gollancz

On this day in 1928, American science fiction writer Philip Kindred Dick was born in Chicago, IL. He would go on to write some of the best known books on science fiction, including:

  • The Man in the High Castle (1963), which won the Hugo Award;
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), later made into the film Blade Runner; and
  • Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974), which won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and was nominated for both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award.

Mr. Dick had a troubled life with multiple wives, yet he created some of the most memorable characters and fiction. You may recall some of his other books and stories that became films in recent years, including Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Minority Report with Tom Cruise, and A Scanner Darkly with Keanu Reeves.

In his last interview of his life, Mr. Dick discussed how he left behind his writing in the late 1950s:

Many writers had left the field. We could not make a living. I had gone to work making jewelry with my wife. I wasn’t happy. I didn’t enjoy making jewelry. I had no talent whatsoever. She had the talent. She is still a jeweler and a very fine one, making gorgeous stuff which she sells to places like Neiman-Marcus. It’s great art. But I couldn’t do anything except polish what she made.

Fortunately, he returned to writing, thereby provided all of us with amazing stories that live on today.

More Gift Ideas from The Mars Society

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Perseverance and Ingenuity Metal Model. (Mars Society)

If you are still fishing around for holiday gifts, you might want to check out The Mars Society’s gift store.

For example, you may want a model of the Mars Perseverance rover and its accompanying Ingenuity helicopter (shown above) or may a signed copy of Robert Zubrin’s book The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must (shown below).

As with The Planetary Society’s store, the purchases also support the mission of these organizations.

Maybe a gift membership to one or both organizations is what you want instead.

Or just ask Santa for what you want from these organizations.

As for the stars and you may just get them.

Credit: Mars Society

Additional Comments by the NASA Nominee

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Hanna-Barbera Productions

According to a story in Chron, a few years back the current nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, made the following statement:

I truly want us to live in a world 50 or 100 years from now where people are jumping in their rockets like the Jetsons and there are families bouncing around on the moon with their kid in a spacesuit.

Given the difficulty was are having getting back to the moon 50 years after we dropped such travel, his time frame and expectations may be a little ambitious. I would be happy to have a few astronauts on the surface and the beginning of some type of rudimentary lunar station within 10 years, but something like The Jetsons in the near future or even 50 years out does not seem to be likely.

We heard stories about The Jetsons and flying cars long ago. Though some of the ideas in the television series were workable, if we cannot get to everyday flying cars just yet, I think everyday rockets to the Moon with the whole family are even further away.

Somehow he watched The Jetsons in his youth but seemed to miss Space: 1999 and even the original Lost in Space.

I expect his discussions with NASA will be pretty eye-opening and may temper his expectations.

We need to nail down the basics again before we issue travel posters to the Moon.