Image (Credit): Scene from a Tesla crash. (fox2detroit.com)
While things appear to be going Elon Musk’s way with his ridiculous Tesla pay package, The Wall Street Journal had another story this week that discussed his self-serving management style that should not merit reward. The article, “Elon Musk’s Boundary-Blurring Relationships With Women at SpaceX,” highlights some pretty horrible behavior for a man that then and now believes he is above the law (and all codes of decency).
If you cannot read the Journal article, you can find summaries of the story elsewhere or listen to the Wall Street Journal podcast called The Journal. The podcast is titled “Elon Musk’s Unusual Relationships With Women at SpaceX.”
It is scary that the US space program is so dependent on the behavior of this man, who has already been part of prior Wall Street Journal articles about his drug use.
We need to build greater depth in our space program, be it Blue Origin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, or others. The dream of a stronger space program could die if we tie too much to one man.
Image (Credit): The crew from Sunday’s NS-25 flight (from left to right): Gopi Thotakura (pilot), Mason Angel, Carol Schaller, Ed Dwight, Ken Hess, and Sylvain Chiron. (Blue Origin)
It has been some time, but Blue Origin is once again bringing tourists into space. Yesterday’s launch from Texas included five passengers and the pilot.
One of the passengers on the New Shepard rocket was former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight. Mr. Dwight was one of the nation’s first Black astronaut candidate, though he never had the opportunity to fly until yesterday. He was also the oldest person to go into space, beating Star Trek’s William Shatner’s age by a few months. After the flight, Mr. Dwight stated, “I thought I really didn’t need this in my life, but now I need it in my life.”
If you are interested in taking such a flight, just visit this Blue Origin link for more information. The site points out that you only need two days to prepare for a flight:
Our on-site astronaut training program is meticulously designed to teach everything you’ll need to know for a safe spaceflight. Over two days, you’ll learn about New Shepard’s mission profile, safety systems, zero-g protocols, and execute mission simulations.
While I am sure plenty of people are happy that this part of the commercial space industry is operational again, I am looking forward to more commercial success with the resupply of the International Space Station, particularly the upcoming launch of the Boeing Starliner.
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Flexible Levitation on a Track system on the lunar surface with planet Earth on the horizon. (NASA/Ethan Schaler)
As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) readies to return astronauts to the moon, it has announced its plans to build a levitating robot train on the lunar surface. In a blog post, the American space agency provided details about the project called “Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT)”, which aims to provide a “robotic transport system” to support future lunar activities of astronauts visiting the moon. The transport system will be critical to the daily operation of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s, NASA said in a statement.
A changing of the guard in space stations is on the horizon as private companies work toward providing new opportunities for science, commerce, and tourism in outer space. Blue Origin is one of a number of private-sector actors aiming to harbor commercial activities in low Earth orbit (LEO) as the creaking and leaking International Space Station (ISS) approaches its drawdown. Partners in Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef program, including firms Redwire, Sierra Space, and Boeing, are each reporting progress in their respective components of the program. The collaboration itself may not be on such strong ground. Such endeavors may also end up slowed and controlled by regulation so far absent from many new, commercial areas of space.
Details about joint plans between Moscow and Beijing to put a lunar nuclear reactor within the next decade have been revealed by the head of Russia’s space agency. In March, Roscosmos announced plans to work with China to build an automated nuclear reactor to power a proposed lunar base that the two countries would operate together within the next decade. To construct the site, Roscosmos director general Yury Borisov said two months ago it was looking at using nuclear-powered rockets to transfer cargo to the moon, but had not yet figured out how to build these spacecraft safely. In an article published Wednesday by state news outlet RIA Novosti, Borisov said that development of the plant was underway and the countries were working on creating experimental and research facilities as part of the project.
Image (Credit): Planned flight of the Peregrine lunar lander. (Astrobotic)
We started with high hopes, yet a problem has already threatened the success of Astrobotic’s mission to the Moon. Shortly after a successful lift off earlier this morning, the Peregrine lunar lander started reporting issues with its propulsion system, which impacted its ability to charge its batteries. Fortunately, the charging issue was resolved, yet the propulsion issue is still outstanding.
Astrobotic is already talking about a modified mission. Noting the loss of propellant, the company stated:
The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time.
That sounds pretty ominous at this point when the final goal is the Moon. The US mission is starting to look like two other lunar missions that failed last year – one Japanese and one Russian – yet those happened on the Moon’s surface. If the Peregrine can stay in the Moon’s orbit then maybe it can get a few things accomplished.
If there is any good news, it is that the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket appeared to operate as expected. That means the folks at ULA and Blue Origin can sleep a little better tonight.
I do not expect the Astrobotic people will have a good night’s sleep for some time.
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