Blue Origin is Going to Mars, Hopefully

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Surface of Mars. (NASA)

Okay, the plan is for Blue Origin to launch NASA satellites towards Mars, so don’t worry about Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk fighting it out on the Martian surface.

NASA has tapped Blue Origin to take two satellites worth about $79 into space, which will be the first use of the company’s New Glenn rocket. The launch is planned for next year, giving Blue Origin time to test the rocket and prepare for the mission.

The NASA mission, called the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), involves two identical probes that were originally scheduled to fly with the Psyche mission.

The goals of the EscaPADE mission are to:

  • understand the processes controlling the structure of Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and how it guides ion flows;
  • understand how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars’ magnetosphere; and
  • understand the processes controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the collisional atmosphere.

Can Blue Origin be ready by next year when the window to Mars opens up? That is the big question given the continued delays with the New Glenn rocket.

It is good to see NASA spreading its launches into more hands. Now we just need the industry to meet the challenge.

Space Stories: Space Station Gap, Martian Job Losses, and Canadian Astronauts Announced for Upcoming Missions

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): ISS view of Cuba back in December 2013. What you see here is a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is docked to the station. (NASA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—SpaceNews.com: “NASA Acknowledges Possibility of Short-term Post-ISS Gap“

While NASA seeks to maintain an uninterrupted human presence in low Earth orbit, an agency official said a short-term gap between the International Space Station and commercial successors would not be “the end of the world.” NASA’s current approach to its future in LEO counts on supporting development of commercial space stations with the goal of having at least one such station ready to support NASA astronauts and research by 2030, when the ISS is scheduled for retirement. A key question, though, will be whether any of the several companies working on such concepts will be ready by the end of the decade.

—KRON4 News: “Hundreds of California Jobs at Stake if NASA Mars Mission Axed“

Hundreds of tech and science jobs will be lost in California if NASA moves forward with a plan to cut funding from the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, according to state lawmakers. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.-30), sent a letter on Wednesday to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to reverse a decision to slash the mission’s funding. The funding cut would “result in the loss of hundreds of California jobs, prevent the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from making its 2030 launch window, and lead to the cancellation of billions of dollars in contracts supporting American businesses,” the lawmakers wrote.

—Space.com: “Canada Assigns Astronauts to Launch on Boeing’s Starliner, Back up Artemis 2 Moon Mission“

The Canadian Space Agency announced two astronauts will fly to space in the coming years on Wednesday (Nov. 22) as the country continues a historic ramp-up of its human space program in 2023. François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, announced the assignments in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered in the lobby of Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec.

Is Elon Musk Experiencing a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): 2015 explosion of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (ABC News)

SpaceX may have suffered a rocket loss yesterday, but everyone agrees that this is part of the process when trying something big.

What can we then say about Mr. Musk creating a second loss last week, but in this case it was a loss of confidence in his leadership at Twitter (yes, the site is also oddly called “x” even though the web address is still twitter.com)? Is that also part of the process when trying something big, or is he simply becoming a loss leader that is getting in his own way. And, more importantly to this site, is he squandering his other assets, including SpaceX?

The latest incident involves his support of an earlier post on Twitter that defamed the American Jewish community. It is unclear why Mr. Musk cannot act like an adult and focus on his businesses, but his actions have led to multiple firms pulling their advertising dollars from Twitter.

I agree his irresponsible behavior is nothing new, but it is starting to raise even more eyebrows as his businesses become more entangled with US Government missions. He is not just pushing a declining social app and electric cars, but rather he is also launching critical military satellites, bringing astronauts to the International Space Station, and planning to heavily support our return to the Moon.

Exhibit A – Kelsey D. Atherton, Chief Editor at the Center for International Policy, had this to say recently about Mr. Musk and SpaceX:

In the immediate term, Congress needs to investigate whether Musk’s public comments present a breach of contract on ethical or reliability grounds. Congress could require that any company that receives launch contracts must go public, ensuring at least some mechanism for shareholders to oust a CEO should they become a public or security liability.

I recommend reading the entire article. It is one voice at the moment, but the evidence is growing that Mr. Musk may be the wrong person to rely on in these times when he clearly cannot control himself. His “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” is painful to watch and something we need to guard against.

Starship Self-Destructs on Second Launch Attempt

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Starship hot-staging separation earlier today. (SpaceX)

Earlier today, SpaceX lost contact with its Starship rocket about 10 minutes into the launch. This happened after the second-stage separation, so while a successful landing of the rocket did not occur, the rocket had more success than the launch earlier this year.

After what appeared to be a self-detonation of the Starship rocket, the Federal Aviation Administration stated, “The anomaly resulted in a loss of the vehicle. No injuries or public property damage have been reported.” That includes the launchpad, which was basically destroyed during the last launch.

Baby steps.

It is not clear if this latest incident will lead to another long delay before another attempt is possible. And such tests are increasingly expensive when your reusable parts continue to blow up rather than land.

A lot is riding on these launches, as well as the reusable feature, given that NASA is estimating that as many as 20 Starship launches will be necessary under the Artemis III moon mission. Of course, if someone asked NASA to schedule 20 Space Launch System launches in this way, I doubt we would even be talking about an Artemis program.

Mr. Musk has promised a lot to the US space program. We need his full attention on this project.

Starship May Launch on Saturday

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: SpaceX

The Federal Aviation Administration has given SpaceX a green light to move forward with its next test of the Starship rocket. SpaceX may attempt the launch as soon as Saturday.

Let’s hope SpaceX can get back on track with its rocket. NASA is counting on the Starship as part of its Artemis III mission returning humans to the Moon, though recent delays have concerned all parties and may push off the Moon mission.