Space Stories: Russia Destroys Own Cosmonaut Launch Site, Cosmonaut Removed from ISS Crew, and Martian Drainage Systems (Not Canals)

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Credit: Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—The Independent: “Russia Accidentally Destroys its Only Way of Sending Astronauts to Space“

Russia’s only crewed-mission launch site has suffered major damage following a rocket launch on Thursday. The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan will be unable to host launches until repairs are made, according to the space agency Roscosmos, marking the first time in decades that Russia has lost the ability to send people to space. The launch of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft was otherwise successful, with none of the crew members injured.

—United24 Media: “Russian Cosmonaut Allegedly Photographed Confidential SpaceX Docs, Removed From NASA Crew-12 Mission“

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from the prime crew of SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station and replaced by fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev after sources alleged he photographed confidential SpaceX materials in California in violation of US export control rules, according to The Insider on December 2. The outlet reported that Trishkin also said NASA did not want the controversy around Artemyev to become public, while Artemyev was removed from training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne California, facility last week after allegedly photographing SpaceX engines and other internal materials on his phone and taking them off-site.

—University of Texas “Scientists Map Mars’ Large River Drainage Systems for First Time“

A new study published in PNAS from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin is the first to define large river drainage systems on the red planet. They outlined 16 large-scale river basins where life would have been most likely to thrive on the neighboring planet. “We’ve known for a long time that there were rivers on Mars,” said co-author Timothy A. Goudge, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences. “But we really didn’t know the extent to which the rivers were organized in large drainage systems at the global scale.”

Vote Scheduled for Next Week on NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

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After almost a year of rudderless leadership, NASA may be getting an administrator before the end of the calendar year. Maybe.

On December 8, the Senate plans to vote on Jared Isaacman’s nomination to become NASA’s administrator. But first, Mr. Isaacman needs to attend a December 3rd nomination hearing with the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Yes, this will be a repeat of the April 9th nomination hearing that was part of Mr. Isaacman’s initial White House nomination.

In his April testimony before the Senate, Mr. Isaacman emphasized three main points:

  • First—American astronauts will lead the way in the ultimate ‘high ground’ of space;
  • Second—We will ignite a thriving space economy in low Earth orbit; and
  • Third—NASA will be a force multiplier for science.

As part of the third point, he stated:

We will leverage NASA’s scientific talent and capabilities to enable academic institutions and industry to increase the rate of world-changing discoveries. We will launch more telescopes, more probes, more rovers and endeavor to better understand our planet and the universe beyond.

That task will be all the more difficult with the departure of more than 4,000 talented NASA employees. He and the agency would have been in a better position if he had come on board before all of the efforts to downsize and diminish the “scientific talent and capabilities” at NASA. However, political temper tantrums intervened.

Given that Acting Administrator Sean Duffy’s recommended that NASA should be a sub-component of the Department of Transportation, as if it was another roads or airport project, NASA is now on a better path with outside leadership. We can only hope that Mr. Isaacman is given the budget and tools to stem the losses and start repairing the mess that DOGE and other brought to NASA.

One thing is clear – Mr. Isaacman’s good friend Elon Musk crippled NASA like many other agencies, making the job of NASA administrator that much harder.

Pic of the Week: New Crew Added to ISS on Thanksgiving Day

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Expedition 74 crew members launched towards the space station earlier today aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA/Bill Ingots)

This week’s image shows a Soyuz rocket sending a crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thanksgiving Day. One NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are thankful today that they are safe and sound on the ISS. NASA astronaut Chris Williams joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev aboard a Soyuz rocket launched from Russia earlier today.

The three crew members of Expedition 74 join the Expedition 73 crew members already on the station, increasing the crew count to 10 members for the next few weeks. Expedition 74 is scheduled to begin on Monday, December 8th, once three members depart the ISS.

These crews change like clockwork, regardless of holidays, government shutdowns, or even hot wars back on the surface. This dedication to duty is something we can all be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA Expedition crew members (clockwise from the left) Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Jonny Kim, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui recording their holiday message. (NASA)

The NASA Expedition 73 crew on the International Space Station (ISS) has recorded a Thanksgiving greeting for all of us down here looking up.

So what can the astronauts expect to eat for Thanksgiving? Astronaut Mike Fincke mentioned turkey and cranberry sauce, while astronaut Zena Cardman added mashed potatoes, crab meat, salmon, lobster, and more.

In a Florida Today news story, Steve Siceloff, a NASA public affairs officer, stated:

The crews’ holiday meals, including Thanksgiving, were flown up on NG-23 [on September 14]. On board the spacecraft was a special Holiday Bulk Overwrapped Bag (BOB) filled with festive foods like clams, oysters, crab meat, quail, and smoked salmon, along with shelf-stable treats such as candies, icing, almond butter, and hummus,

Happy Thanksgiving wishes to the ISS crew as well as everyone back here on Earth.

Space Stories: Telescope Moving from US to Spain, Starliner will be Cargo-Only, and Moss in Space

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rending of the Thirty Meter Telescope. (TMT International Observatory)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Sky & Telescope: “Thirty Meter Telescope Considers Move to Spain“

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was conceived more than two decades ago as the largest and most advanced telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the telescope has encountered significant roadblocks, from funding uncertainties — now heightened by President Trump’s proposed budget cuts — to local resistance to building the telescope on Mauna Kea, a volcanic mountain in Hawai‘i that’s sacred to native communities. Now, the telescope might find a new home in La Palma on the Canary Islands of Spain. In July, the Spanish government offered to host the telescope, with an investment of up to €400 million ($460 million) to help cover some of the costs. In a brief statement posted on November 11th, the TMT announced that it is officially considering the move to La Palma.

—Spaceflight Now: “NASA, Boeing Pivot Starliner-1 Mission from 4-Person Astronaut Flight to Cargo-Only“

In its latest shakeup to the Commercial Crew Program, NASA announced on Monday it has reduced the number of missions Boeing is required to fly to the International Space Station and changing the next flight from a crew mission to a cargo mission. The original contract NASA awarded to Boeing and SpaceX called for each to fly an uncrewed demonstration flight to the ISS, followed by a crewed demo mission and then conduct six regular crew rotation missions.

—Vice: “Moss Just Survived a Full Year Outside the International Space Station“

In the airless, radiation-saturated void outside of the International Space Station, researchers tested whether a common moss species known as Physcomitrium patens could survive at all, and if it could, for how long. The answers are yes and probably forever if it wants...Tomomichi Fujita, the study’s lead author, thinks moss could last up to 15 years in space, knowledge that could help build future extraterrestrial farms or entire ecosystems on the Moon or Mars.