Author: Robert Zimmerman
April 23, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Firefly wins Air Force contract to develop ceramic-based nozzles for upper stages
The concept is expected to lower the weight and speed production of nozzles.
- China touts what it calls a “Lunar Soil Brick Machine” for using lunar materials to make bricks
Jay notes that “Astroport Space Technologies out of Belgium has been doing this for over a year. Looks like another Chinese theft.”
- Trump administration urges other nations to stop doing business with China’s pseudo-satellite companies
Not surprisingly, the government is worried that China uses these deals to steal sensitive technology.
- Bloomberg reports (behind a paywall) that Amazon is having production problems producing Kuiper satellites
It seems that “faulty components and a complex design” are making assembly line production difficult. If this story has any truth, than Amazon’s ability to meet its FCC license requirement of having 1,600 satellites in orbit by mid-2026 is increasingly unlikely. It also might explain why ULA has not seemed to be in a hurry to get these satellites off the ground.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Firefly wins Air Force contract to develop ceramic-based nozzles for upper stages
The concept is expected to lower the weight and speed production of nozzles.
- China touts what it calls a “Lunar Soil Brick Machine” for using lunar materials to make bricks
Jay notes that “Astroport Space Technologies out of Belgium has been doing this for over a year. Looks like another Chinese theft.”
- Trump administration urges other nations to stop doing business with China’s pseudo-satellite companies
Not surprisingly, the government is worried that China uses these deals to steal sensitive technology.
- Bloomberg reports (behind a paywall) that Amazon is having production problems producing Kuiper satellites
It seems that “faulty components and a complex design” are making assembly line production difficult. If this story has any truth, than Amazon’s ability to meet its FCC license requirement of having 1,600 satellites in orbit by mid-2026 is increasingly unlikely. It also might explain why ULA has not seemed to be in a hurry to get these satellites off the ground.
Eroding lava layers in Mars’ volcano country
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 28, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists label this picture “enigmatic terrain.” And there are certainly mysteries here. For example, why are there scattered tiny knobs across the surface in the low areas, but not on the higher areas? Also, what caused that top layer to get stripped in places? Was it erosion from wind? Or did some other process cause that layer to vanish in these spots?
Note too that this landscape has few craters. Whatever happened here occurred recently enough that it was able to cover over the impact history from the early solar system that peppered the planets with craters as the planets formed. Though impacts continue even to this day, the impact rate is far less, which allows younger terrain like this to remain largely crater free.
The location provides us some answers, but it still leaves much of this geology a puzzlement.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 28, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists label this picture “enigmatic terrain.” And there are certainly mysteries here. For example, why are there scattered tiny knobs across the surface in the low areas, but not on the higher areas? Also, what caused that top layer to get stripped in places? Was it erosion from wind? Or did some other process cause that layer to vanish in these spots?
Note too that this landscape has few craters. Whatever happened here occurred recently enough that it was able to cover over the impact history from the early solar system that peppered the planets with craters as the planets formed. Though impacts continue even to this day, the impact rate is far less, which allows younger terrain like this to remain largely crater free.
The location provides us some answers, but it still leaves much of this geology a puzzlement.
» Read more
More wheel damage detected on Curiosity
Click for the Sol 4518 original image.
In a set of new pictures taken of Curiosity’s wheels yesterday it appears that the damage to those wheels has increased significantly in the past year, with the most damaged wheel (which based on contradictory science team reports is either the middle left or middle right wheel), having more had more sections broken to the point where this wheel might even fail in the near future.
The pictures to the right show these changes. The treads, called grousers, have been numbered to make the comparisons easier. The bottom two pictures were taken in September 2024, and look at this wheel with the damage on the side to show how a whole section of the wheel had at that time collapsed to form a depression.
The top two pictures show the increase in the damage in this section between February 2024 and yesterday. Note especially the changes in growlers 4, 5, and 6. Not only have large sections broken off in the wheel’s central section, it appears that the wheel’s outside section is beginning to separate from that central section.
The increased damage in the past year illustrated starkly the roughness of the terrain that the rover is traversing. Moreover, there is no sign that roughness is going to ease anytime in the near future. This increased damage thus explains partly why the science team changed the rover’s route to get to the nearby boxwork geology as fast as possible. That unique geology is likely to provide some important scientific information unobtainable elsewhere, and it seems worthwhile to get to it before this particular wheel fails.
There is one silver lining to this cloud. This particular wheel is a middle wheel, which means it is less critical to maintaining the rover’s stability as it travels as well as sits. The photographs of the other wheels taken today do not show as much change. Even if this wheel fails, the rover will still have five working wheels, including the most essential four corner wheels.
Click for the Sol 4518 original image.
In a set of new pictures taken of Curiosity’s wheels yesterday it appears that the damage to those wheels has increased significantly in the past year, with the most damaged wheel (which based on contradictory science team reports is either the middle left or middle right wheel), having more had more sections broken to the point where this wheel might even fail in the near future.
The pictures to the right show these changes. The treads, called grousers, have been numbered to make the comparisons easier. The bottom two pictures were taken in September 2024, and look at this wheel with the damage on the side to show how a whole section of the wheel had at that time collapsed to form a depression.
The top two pictures show the increase in the damage in this section between February 2024 and yesterday. Note especially the changes in growlers 4, 5, and 6. Not only have large sections broken off in the wheel’s central section, it appears that the wheel’s outside section is beginning to separate from that central section.
The increased damage in the past year illustrated starkly the roughness of the terrain that the rover is traversing. Moreover, there is no sign that roughness is going to ease anytime in the near future. This increased damage thus explains partly why the science team changed the rover’s route to get to the nearby boxwork geology as fast as possible. That unique geology is likely to provide some important scientific information unobtainable elsewhere, and it seems worthwhile to get to it before this particular wheel fails.
There is one silver lining to this cloud. This particular wheel is a middle wheel, which means it is less critical to maintaining the rover’s stability as it travels as well as sits. The photographs of the other wheels taken today do not show as much change. Even if this wheel fails, the rover will still have five working wheels, including the most essential four corner wheels.
Rocket startup Astra wins $44 million development contract to build its Rocket-4
Having shut down its smaller Rocket-3 rocket operations and then almost going bankrupt, the startup Astra is apparently coming back from the dead, having won a $44 million military development contract to build its larger Rocket-4 rocket.
Chris Kemp, Astra’s chief executive, said in an interview the company intends to leverage its contract with the Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate point-to-point delivery of about 1,300 pounds of cargo using Rocket 4. The military for years has expressed interest in using rockets for rapid deployment of critical supplies to remote locations, complementing traditional transportation methods.
The company now claims it will do the first test launch of Rocket-4 in 2026.
When the company’s stock valuation dropped so much in 2022 and was on the verge of shutting down, Kemp and a team of investors purchased that stock and took the company private. Since then it has mostly focused on building attitude thrusters for satellites. Whether this new contract is enough to get this new rocket off the ground remains a big unknown.
Having shut down its smaller Rocket-3 rocket operations and then almost going bankrupt, the startup Astra is apparently coming back from the dead, having won a $44 million military development contract to build its larger Rocket-4 rocket.
Chris Kemp, Astra’s chief executive, said in an interview the company intends to leverage its contract with the Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate point-to-point delivery of about 1,300 pounds of cargo using Rocket 4. The military for years has expressed interest in using rockets for rapid deployment of critical supplies to remote locations, complementing traditional transportation methods.
The company now claims it will do the first test launch of Rocket-4 in 2026.
When the company’s stock valuation dropped so much in 2022 and was on the verge of shutting down, Kemp and a team of investors purchased that stock and took the company private. Since then it has mostly focused on building attitude thrusters for satellites. Whether this new contract is enough to get this new rocket off the ground remains a big unknown.
Transiting exoplanet appears to be losing matter with each transit
Astronomers using the TESS space telescope have discovered an exoplanet about 140 light years away that appears to have a tail of trailing material that is gaining mass with each transit as the planet slowly disintegrates.
The typical signal of an orbiting exoplanet looks like a brief dip in a light curve, which repeats regularly, indicating that a compact body such as a planet is briefly passing in front of, and temporarily blocking, the light from its host star.
This typical pattern was unlike what Hon and his colleagues detected from the host star BD+05 4868 A, located in the constellation of Pegasus. Though a transit appeared every 30.5 hours, the brightness took much longer to return to normal, suggesting a long trailing structure still blocking starlight. Even more intriguing, the depth of the dip changed with each orbit, suggesting that whatever was passing in front of the star wasn’t always the same shape or blocking the same amount of light.
You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf]. Their calculations estimate the planet will disintegrate entirely in about two million years.
Because of the nature of these transits, the relative nearness of the star system, and the existence of this tail of material, this exoplanet is an excellent candidate for studying the planet’s structure and make-up. The scientists advocate further studies using a range of telescopes, including Webb and Hubble.
Astronomers using the TESS space telescope have discovered an exoplanet about 140 light years away that appears to have a tail of trailing material that is gaining mass with each transit as the planet slowly disintegrates.
The typical signal of an orbiting exoplanet looks like a brief dip in a light curve, which repeats regularly, indicating that a compact body such as a planet is briefly passing in front of, and temporarily blocking, the light from its host star.
This typical pattern was unlike what Hon and his colleagues detected from the host star BD+05 4868 A, located in the constellation of Pegasus. Though a transit appeared every 30.5 hours, the brightness took much longer to return to normal, suggesting a long trailing structure still blocking starlight. Even more intriguing, the depth of the dip changed with each orbit, suggesting that whatever was passing in front of the star wasn’t always the same shape or blocking the same amount of light.
You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf]. Their calculations estimate the planet will disintegrate entirely in about two million years.
Because of the nature of these transits, the relative nearness of the star system, and the existence of this tail of material, this exoplanet is an excellent candidate for studying the planet’s structure and make-up. The scientists advocate further studies using a range of telescopes, including Webb and Hubble.
Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara – 2024 World Figure Skating Pairs
April 22, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- China touts its twin vehicle assembly buildings for its Long March 10 rocket, used for manned missions
The second VAB is for a back up rocket. Seems to me to be a very wasteful way to do things, but then that’s how governments operate.
Both Jay and I have found it to be a relatively slow news day in space.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- China touts its twin vehicle assembly buildings for its Long March 10 rocket, used for manned missions
The second VAB is for a back up rocket. Seems to me to be a very wasteful way to do things, but then that’s how governments operate.
Both Jay and I have found it to be a relatively slow news day in space.
Trump cuts to NOAA include major shake-up on how it gathers weather data
According to the budget data that was leaked anonymous last week, the Trump administration is proposing a major restructuring of NOAA’s satellite operations, shifting from building geosynchronous weather/climate satellites in partnership with NASA to focusing on buying weather data from commercial smallsats.
The plan would initially reduce NOAA’s program by two-thirds.
The document suggests NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) “immediately cancel all major instrument and spacecraft contracts on the GeoXO program,” saying the projected costs are “unstainable, lack support of Congress, and are out of step with international peers.”
GeoXO is a $19.6 billion program that includes six satellites and ground infrastructure to significantly enhance NOAA’s ability to monitor weather, map lightning, and track ocean and atmospheric conditions over decades. To maintain observations from geostationary orbit at the conclusion of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R Series, the White House memo calls on NOAA to “immediately institute a major overhaul to lower lifecycle costs by 50 percent” with annual costs below $500 million, while remaining on schedule to launch the first satellite in 2032.
Rather than expanding the geostationary constellation to include satellites over the East, West and Central United States, the proposal includes only East and West satellites like the GOES-R Series. OMB also recommends an immediate end to NOAA relying on NASA to help it acquire weather satellites.
Maybe the most controversial recommendation calls for NOAA to focus on gathering daily weather data while ending its monitoring of long term ocean and atmospheric climate trends.
The shift from NOAA-built satellites to purchasing weather data from commercially launched and built satellites makes great sense, and is the most likely part of this plan to get implemented. Similarly, ending NOAA’s reliance on NASA will help streamline the fat from both agencies.
Whether the Trump administration can force an end to NOAA’s climate gathering operations is less clear. The politics suggest this will be difficult. The realities however suggest that a major house-cleaning in this area is in order, as there is ample evidence that the scientists running this work have been playing games with the data, manipulating it in order to support their theories of human-caused global warming.
According to the budget data that was leaked anonymous last week, the Trump administration is proposing a major restructuring of NOAA’s satellite operations, shifting from building geosynchronous weather/climate satellites in partnership with NASA to focusing on buying weather data from commercial smallsats.
The plan would initially reduce NOAA’s program by two-thirds.
The document suggests NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) “immediately cancel all major instrument and spacecraft contracts on the GeoXO program,” saying the projected costs are “unstainable, lack support of Congress, and are out of step with international peers.”
GeoXO is a $19.6 billion program that includes six satellites and ground infrastructure to significantly enhance NOAA’s ability to monitor weather, map lightning, and track ocean and atmospheric conditions over decades. To maintain observations from geostationary orbit at the conclusion of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R Series, the White House memo calls on NOAA to “immediately institute a major overhaul to lower lifecycle costs by 50 percent” with annual costs below $500 million, while remaining on schedule to launch the first satellite in 2032.
Rather than expanding the geostationary constellation to include satellites over the East, West and Central United States, the proposal includes only East and West satellites like the GOES-R Series. OMB also recommends an immediate end to NOAA relying on NASA to help it acquire weather satellites.
Maybe the most controversial recommendation calls for NOAA to focus on gathering daily weather data while ending its monitoring of long term ocean and atmospheric climate trends.
The shift from NOAA-built satellites to purchasing weather data from commercially launched and built satellites makes great sense, and is the most likely part of this plan to get implemented. Similarly, ending NOAA’s reliance on NASA will help streamline the fat from both agencies.
Whether the Trump administration can force an end to NOAA’s climate gathering operations is less clear. The politics suggest this will be difficult. The realities however suggest that a major house-cleaning in this area is in order, as there is ample evidence that the scientists running this work have been playing games with the data, manipulating it in order to support their theories of human-caused global warming.
Africa opens the office building in Egypt of its African Space Agency
Going where no bureaucrat has gone before! Ceremonies on April 20, 2025 in Cairo inaugurated the opening of the headquarters in Egypt of the African Space Agency.
Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, participated in the official inauguration. The ceremony was attended by several high-ranking officials and dignitaries, including Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Dr. Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency; Moses Vilakati, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Environmental Sustainability; and Dr. Tidiane Ouattara, Chair of the African Space Agency Council. Also in attendance were heads and representatives of African and international space agencies, along with ambassadors from African nations and partner countries of the African Union.
…Minister Abdelatty underlined that the African Space Agency will act as a platform to deepen cooperation among African nations in the peaceful uses of space, promote knowledge exchange, and build technical capacities. Additionally, it will work to unify African positions in international forums, especially within the United Nations system. He also stressed the importance of collaboration with academic institutions, research centers, and global space agencies, which will help establish a robust African presence in space science and technology.
While these officials also claimed the agency will foster cooperation across Africa’s space industries and governments, the quote reveals its main focus, acting as a jobs program for the political hacks who have done favors for the various leaders of African countries. This is not to say it won’t help encourage some space development (it will), but we must recognize that this agency has little to do with fostering private enterprise.
Going where no bureaucrat has gone before! Ceremonies on April 20, 2025 in Cairo inaugurated the opening of the headquarters in Egypt of the African Space Agency.
Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, participated in the official inauguration. The ceremony was attended by several high-ranking officials and dignitaries, including Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Dr. Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency; Moses Vilakati, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Environmental Sustainability; and Dr. Tidiane Ouattara, Chair of the African Space Agency Council. Also in attendance were heads and representatives of African and international space agencies, along with ambassadors from African nations and partner countries of the African Union.
…Minister Abdelatty underlined that the African Space Agency will act as a platform to deepen cooperation among African nations in the peaceful uses of space, promote knowledge exchange, and build technical capacities. Additionally, it will work to unify African positions in international forums, especially within the United Nations system. He also stressed the importance of collaboration with academic institutions, research centers, and global space agencies, which will help establish a robust African presence in space science and technology.
While these officials also claimed the agency will foster cooperation across Africa’s space industries and governments, the quote reveals its main focus, acting as a jobs program for the political hacks who have done favors for the various leaders of African countries. This is not to say it won’t help encourage some space development (it will), but we must recognize that this agency has little to do with fostering private enterprise.
First images from Lucy’s fly-by of asteroid Donaldjohanson
Closest view of asteroid DonaldJohanson.
Click for movie.
The science team for the asteroid probe Lucy today released the pictures taken by the spacecraft as it approached the asteroid Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025, compiled into a short movie.
The asteroid was previously observed to have large brightness variations over a 10-day period, so some of Lucy team members’ expectations were confirmed when the first images showed what appeared to be an elongated contact binary (an object formed when two smaller bodies collide). However, the team was surprised by the odd shape of the narrow neck connecting the two lobes, which looks like two nested ice cream cones.
…From a preliminary analysis of the first available images collected by the spacecraft’s L’LORRI imager, the asteroid appears to be larger than originally estimated, about 5 miles (8 km) long and 2 miles (3.5 km) wide at the widest point. In this first set of high-resolution images returned from the spacecraft, the full asteroid is not visible as the asteroid is larger than the imager’s field of view. It will take up to a week for the team to downlink the remainder of the encounter data from the spacecraft; this dataset will give a more complete picture of the asteroid’s overall shape.
Lucy is now on its way to the orbit of Jupiter, where it will get close-up views of five different Trojan asteroids in 2027, followed by a later visit to another group of Trojans in 2033.
Closest view of asteroid DonaldJohanson.
Click for movie.
The science team for the asteroid probe Lucy today released the pictures taken by the spacecraft as it approached the asteroid Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025, compiled into a short movie.
The asteroid was previously observed to have large brightness variations over a 10-day period, so some of Lucy team members’ expectations were confirmed when the first images showed what appeared to be an elongated contact binary (an object formed when two smaller bodies collide). However, the team was surprised by the odd shape of the narrow neck connecting the two lobes, which looks like two nested ice cream cones.
…From a preliminary analysis of the first available images collected by the spacecraft’s L’LORRI imager, the asteroid appears to be larger than originally estimated, about 5 miles (8 km) long and 2 miles (3.5 km) wide at the widest point. In this first set of high-resolution images returned from the spacecraft, the full asteroid is not visible as the asteroid is larger than the imager’s field of view. It will take up to a week for the team to downlink the remainder of the encounter data from the spacecraft; this dataset will give a more complete picture of the asteroid’s overall shape.
Lucy is now on its way to the orbit of Jupiter, where it will get close-up views of five different Trojan asteroids in 2027, followed by a later visit to another group of Trojans in 2033.
SpaceX launches three payloads
SpaceX yesterday successfully launched three different payloads on its third “Bandwagon” launch, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its third flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The fairings completed their second and fifteenth flights respectively.
The rocket’s primary payload was a commercial satellite for a South Korean company. Next was a commercial weather smallsat from the startup Tomorrow.
The third payload was from the European company Atmos, and was intended to test its deployable heat shield designed to protect payloads returning from orbit. According to the company, preliminary data says the deployment and return went as planned.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
46 SpaceX
20 China (with a launch scheduled for this morning)
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 46 to 35.
SpaceX yesterday successfully launched three different payloads on its third “Bandwagon” launch, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its third flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The fairings completed their second and fifteenth flights respectively.
The rocket’s primary payload was a commercial satellite for a South Korean company. Next was a commercial weather smallsat from the startup Tomorrow.
The third payload was from the European company Atmos, and was intended to test its deployable heat shield designed to protect payloads returning from orbit. According to the company, preliminary data says the deployment and return went as planned.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
46 SpaceX
20 China (with a launch scheduled for this morning)
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 46 to 35.
Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn
April 21, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Lucy successfully completes fly-by of asteroid Donaldjohanson
The spacecraft is healthy. Next engineers will download the data over the next few days.
- NASA touts the launch of Lunar Gateway’s first two modules sometime in 2027
The two modules will be launched by a Falcon Heavy and take a year-long circuitous route to get to their lunar polar orbit. The fourth Artemis mission (following the lunar landing) will bring a manned crew to the station with the habitation module.
Sounds good? Right now it is all fantasy.
- ULA schedules a new launch date of April 28th for placing the first set of Kuiper satellites into orbit
The first launch was scrubbed due to bad weather.
- On April 19, 2021 engineers confirmed Ingenuity’s first powered flight on Mars, the first such achievement in history
Intended to only fly a handful of times over 30 days, Ingenuity ended up completing 72 flights over almost three years.
- On this day in 1961 a man completed the first flight of the Bell Rocket Belt
One of several jetpacks tested in the 1960s, all of which proved very dangerous and unpractical.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Lucy successfully completes fly-by of asteroid Donaldjohanson
The spacecraft is healthy. Next engineers will download the data over the next few days.
- NASA touts the launch of Lunar Gateway’s first two modules sometime in 2027
The two modules will be launched by a Falcon Heavy and take a year-long circuitous route to get to their lunar polar orbit. The fourth Artemis mission (following the lunar landing) will bring a manned crew to the station with the habitation module.Sounds good? Right now it is all fantasy.
- ULA schedules a new launch date of April 28th for placing the first set of Kuiper satellites into orbit
The first launch was scrubbed due to bad weather.
- On April 19, 2021 engineers confirmed Ingenuity’s first powered flight on Mars, the first such achievement in history
Intended to only fly a handful of times over 30 days, Ingenuity ended up completing 72 flights over almost three years.
- On this day in 1961 a man completed the first flight of the Bell Rocket Belt
One of several jetpacks tested in the 1960s, all of which proved very dangerous and unpractical.
Martian ridges that imitate rivers
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 26, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists describe these features as “dendritic relief features,” an apt description of the thousands of miles of river-like meandering ridges that orbital images have discovered in the past decade scattered across Mars, as noted in 2016:
The inverted channels are similar to those found elsewhere on Mars and Earth. They are made of sand and gravel deposited by a river and when the river becomes dry, the channels are left upstanding as the surrounding material erodes. On Earth, inverted channels often occur in dry, desert environments like Oman, Egypt, or Utah, where erosion rates are low – in most other environments, the channels are worn away before they can become inverted.
The most dramatic example of these Martian ridge rivers are the fernlike ridges in Antoniadi Crater. The ridges to the right however are almost as striking.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 26, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists describe these features as “dendritic relief features,” an apt description of the thousands of miles of river-like meandering ridges that orbital images have discovered in the past decade scattered across Mars, as noted in 2016:
The inverted channels are similar to those found elsewhere on Mars and Earth. They are made of sand and gravel deposited by a river and when the river becomes dry, the channels are left upstanding as the surrounding material erodes. On Earth, inverted channels often occur in dry, desert environments like Oman, Egypt, or Utah, where erosion rates are low – in most other environments, the channels are worn away before they can become inverted.
The most dramatic example of these Martian ridge rivers are the fernlike ridges in Antoniadi Crater. The ridges to the right however are almost as striking.
» Read more
Rocket Lab gets two big military contracts, from the Space Force and the UK
Due to its success in quickly redesigning the first stage of its Electron rocket into a hypersonic test vehicle dubbed HASTE, Rocket Lab has now won two very large hypersonic test program contracts from both the American Space Force as well as the United Kingdom.
Rocket Lab has been selected by the U.S. Air Force to participate within its Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC), a $46 billion indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract designed for the rapid acquisition of innovative technologies, engineering services, and technical solutions that develops the Air Force’s new capabilities. The program has a contracting period through to 2031 and is designed to be broad in scope, flexible in funding, and agile for maximum use to enable the Air Force to quickly procure services and technologies across various domains.
Further, Rocket Lab has also been selected by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (UK MOD) for its Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF), a ~$1.3 billion (£1 billion) framework to rapidly develop advanced hypersonic capabilities for the United Kingdom. As a newly-selected supplier to the HTCDF, Rocket Lab is now eligible to bid to provide services, technologies, and testing capabilities that support the UK’s development of sovereign hypersonic technology.
In both cases Rocket Lab will bid for test contracts using HASTE.
These deals indicate that Rocket Lab has essentially grabbed the business that Stratolaunch had been vying for with its giant Roc airplane and Talon test drop vehicles. Stratolaunch might get some contracts, but it appears the bulk of the work will instead go to Rocket Lab. It also appears that Stratolaunch has also been beaten to this business by the startup Varda, which has also won an Air Force contract for hypersonic testing using its orbital capsules during their return to Earth.
Due to its success in quickly redesigning the first stage of its Electron rocket into a hypersonic test vehicle dubbed HASTE, Rocket Lab has now won two very large hypersonic test program contracts from both the American Space Force as well as the United Kingdom.
Rocket Lab has been selected by the U.S. Air Force to participate within its Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC), a $46 billion indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract designed for the rapid acquisition of innovative technologies, engineering services, and technical solutions that develops the Air Force’s new capabilities. The program has a contracting period through to 2031 and is designed to be broad in scope, flexible in funding, and agile for maximum use to enable the Air Force to quickly procure services and technologies across various domains.
Further, Rocket Lab has also been selected by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (UK MOD) for its Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF), a ~$1.3 billion (£1 billion) framework to rapidly develop advanced hypersonic capabilities for the United Kingdom. As a newly-selected supplier to the HTCDF, Rocket Lab is now eligible to bid to provide services, technologies, and testing capabilities that support the UK’s development of sovereign hypersonic technology.
In both cases Rocket Lab will bid for test contracts using HASTE.
These deals indicate that Rocket Lab has essentially grabbed the business that Stratolaunch had been vying for with its giant Roc airplane and Talon test drop vehicles. Stratolaunch might get some contracts, but it appears the bulk of the work will instead go to Rocket Lab. It also appears that Stratolaunch has also been beaten to this business by the startup Varda, which has also won an Air Force contract for hypersonic testing using its orbital capsules during their return to Earth.
India’s Spadex mission completes second autonomous docking
According to one government official, India’s space agency ISRO has now successfully completed a second autonomous docking in orbit using the target and chase spacecraft of its Spadex mission, launched in December 2024.
Between the undocking on March 13 and the second docking operation, Isro had carried out a “rolling” or “rotating” experiment — in late March. … At the time, Narayanan [ISRO chairman], while confirming the success of the operation, had said that more experiments were in store. … “…The satellites have a lot of propellant… I have only told [the teams] one thing, please do everything [on] simulation on ground [first]. Let us be very careful. Let us not make any mistakes as a wealth of data can be generated [through various experiments].”
The rolling experiment, which was likened to the Chandrayaan-3 “hop” experiment the space agency conducted on Moon in terms of learning it provides for future missions, helped Isro validate multiple softwares, ground station control and more.
This second docking further confirms the technology and the ability of ISRO’s engineers to perform it. Originally the plan had been to do only one docking. The two spacecraft were to then undock and go their separate ways, doing other orbital research. Narayanan changed that plan, since this technology is essential for India’s planned space station. The focus is now on multiple test dockings, in a variety of configurations, with more to come.
According to one government official, India’s space agency ISRO has now successfully completed a second autonomous docking in orbit using the target and chase spacecraft of its Spadex mission, launched in December 2024.
Between the undocking on March 13 and the second docking operation, Isro had carried out a “rolling” or “rotating” experiment — in late March. … At the time, Narayanan [ISRO chairman], while confirming the success of the operation, had said that more experiments were in store. … “…The satellites have a lot of propellant… I have only told [the teams] one thing, please do everything [on] simulation on ground [first]. Let us be very careful. Let us not make any mistakes as a wealth of data can be generated [through various experiments].”
The rolling experiment, which was likened to the Chandrayaan-3 “hop” experiment the space agency conducted on Moon in terms of learning it provides for future missions, helped Isro validate multiple softwares, ground station control and more.
This second docking further confirms the technology and the ability of ISRO’s engineers to perform it. Originally the plan had been to do only one docking. The two spacecraft were to then undock and go their separate ways, doing other orbital research. Narayanan changed that plan, since this technology is essential for India’s planned space station. The focus is now on multiple test dockings, in a variety of configurations, with more to come.
SpaceX launches cargo Dragon to ISS; Problems with Tenacity?
Early this morning SpaceX successfully launched a cargo Dragon to ISS, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The first stage completed its fifth flight, landing back at Kennedy. The capsule is on its fifth flight, and is carrying significantly more cargo than previous SpaceX cargo missions because it has had to replace much of the cargo that would have been launched on a Cygnus capsule whose launch was cancelled because it had been damaged during transport.
Furthermore, as part of their updates on this mission NASA officials revealed that Sierra Space’s cargo mini-shuttle, Tenacity, is facing more delays, and is now not expected to launch until late this year. This Dream Chaser spacecraft had begun ground testing early in 2024, with a first launch planned for shortly thereafter. For reasons that have not been explained, that ground testing has now been going on for more than a year, and will apparently continue for most of 2025. My guess is that the spacecraft has experienced engineering problems during that testing, and has required fixes that neither Sierra Space nor NASA wishes to reveal.
The result has been that NASA has had a shortage of cargo vehicles to keep ISS supplied. A significant number of science experiments had to be removed from today’s Dragon to make room for consumerables. NASA officials also stated publicly during this update that it is now definitely considering using Starliner as a cargo vehicle on its next flight, a plan that previously had only been hinted at.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
45 SpaceX (with another launch scheduled for later today)
20 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 45 to 35.
Early this morning SpaceX successfully launched a cargo Dragon to ISS, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The first stage completed its fifth flight, landing back at Kennedy. The capsule is on its fifth flight, and is carrying significantly more cargo than previous SpaceX cargo missions because it has had to replace much of the cargo that would have been launched on a Cygnus capsule whose launch was cancelled because it had been damaged during transport.
Furthermore, as part of their updates on this mission NASA officials revealed that Sierra Space’s cargo mini-shuttle, Tenacity, is facing more delays, and is now not expected to launch until late this year. This Dream Chaser spacecraft had begun ground testing early in 2024, with a first launch planned for shortly thereafter. For reasons that have not been explained, that ground testing has now been going on for more than a year, and will apparently continue for most of 2025. My guess is that the spacecraft has experienced engineering problems during that testing, and has required fixes that neither Sierra Space nor NASA wishes to reveal.
The result has been that NASA has had a shortage of cargo vehicles to keep ISS supplied. A significant number of science experiments had to be removed from today’s Dragon to make room for consumerables. NASA officials also stated publicly during this update that it is now definitely considering using Starliner as a cargo vehicle on its next flight, a plan that previously had only been hinted at.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
45 SpaceX (with another launch scheduled for later today)
20 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 45 to 35.
Northrop Grumman’s first Mission Extension Vehicle completes first commercial undocking in space
On April 9, 2025 Northrop Grumman’s first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) successfully undocked from an Intelsat communications satellite five years after attaching itself to it and extending its operational life for that time period.
This was the first autonomous undocking by two commercial spacecraft ever.
MEV-1 has provided five years of life-extension services to IS-901, allowing Intelsat to operate this space-based asset beyond its design life. In 2020, MEV-1 successfully proved docking with IS-901 was possible in the GEO graveyard orbit and brought IS-901 back into operation in GEO. Now that life-extension services are complete, MEV-1 released the IS-901 satellite back into the GEO graveyard and is relocating to the next servicing mission.
The company did not name the satellite for MEV-1’s next servicing mission. Meanwhile the company’s second MEV remains docked to another Intelsat communications satellite, its contract extended to double the amount of time it will provide service to the satellite.
On April 9, 2025 Northrop Grumman’s first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) successfully undocked from an Intelsat communications satellite five years after attaching itself to it and extending its operational life for that time period.
This was the first autonomous undocking by two commercial spacecraft ever.
MEV-1 has provided five years of life-extension services to IS-901, allowing Intelsat to operate this space-based asset beyond its design life. In 2020, MEV-1 successfully proved docking with IS-901 was possible in the GEO graveyard orbit and brought IS-901 back into operation in GEO. Now that life-extension services are complete, MEV-1 released the IS-901 satellite back into the GEO graveyard and is relocating to the next servicing mission.
The company did not name the satellite for MEV-1’s next servicing mission. Meanwhile the company’s second MEV remains docked to another Intelsat communications satellite, its contract extended to double the amount of time it will provide service to the satellite.
Soyuz safely returns three astronauts from ISS
A Russian Soyuz capsule successfully landed in Kazakhstan this morning, bring two Russians and one American back to Earth after a seven month mission to ISS.
The American on board, Don Petit, also celebrated his 70th birthday today, completing his fourth mission in space. According to the article at the link, he did not do well upon landing, requiring significant aid to exit the capsule. The picture released by NASA of him being carried to the medical tent shows him smiling with a thumbs up, but he is clearly unable to walk at this point on his own. That fact by itself is not significant, because many astronauts after missions lasting longer than six months need aid upon return. It does indicate however that this flight is almost certainly Petit’s last one. As that NASA release it notes he “is doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth.”
A Russian Soyuz capsule successfully landed in Kazakhstan this morning, bring two Russians and one American back to Earth after a seven month mission to ISS.
The American on board, Don Petit, also celebrated his 70th birthday today, completing his fourth mission in space. According to the article at the link, he did not do well upon landing, requiring significant aid to exit the capsule. The picture released by NASA of him being carried to the medical tent shows him smiling with a thumbs up, but he is clearly unable to walk at this point on his own. That fact by itself is not significant, because many astronauts after missions lasting longer than six months need aid upon return. It does indicate however that this flight is almost certainly Petit’s last one. As that NASA release it notes he “is doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth.”
SpaceX launches another classified satellite for National Reconnaissance Office
SpaceX early this morning successfully launched a classified reconnaissance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.
The first stage completed its twelfth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
44 SpaceX
20 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 44 to 35.
SpaceX early this morning successfully launched a classified reconnaissance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.
The first stage completed its twelfth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
44 SpaceX
20 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 44 to 35.
China launches six technology test satellites
China today successfully placed a set of six technology test satellites into orbit, its Long March 6 rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.
No word on where the rocket’s lower stages and four strap-on boosters crashed inside China. Furthermore, the upper stage of the Long March 6 rocket, which reaches orbit, has a history of breaking up and creating clouds of space junk. We have no assurance from China whether they have fixed this issue.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
43 SpaceX
20 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 43 to 35. (Note: this last number is corrected from the previous update, which was one number short.)
China today successfully placed a set of six technology test satellites into orbit, its Long March 6 rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.
No word on where the rocket’s lower stages and four strap-on boosters crashed inside China. Furthermore, the upper stage of the Long March 6 rocket, which reaches orbit, has a history of breaking up and creating clouds of space junk. We have no assurance from China whether they have fixed this issue.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
43 SpaceX
20 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 43 to 35. (Note: this last number is corrected from the previous update, which was one number short.)
April 18, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Griggs Farms – How A Cotton Picker Works
An evening pause: Technology that makes it possible for humans to live better lives.
Hat tip Judd Clark, who adds “Ten acres/hour, doing the work of 250 or more hand pickers.”
Enjoy your weekend!
April 18, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- The military has a reason for delaying the next Atlas-5 launch but it won’t tell us why
Essentially there appears to be some military-relating scheduling conflict at Cape Canaveral that has caused ULA to hold up the first Atlas-5 launch of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites.
- An exoplanet has been discovered circling binary star system with an orbit tilted 90 degrees to their orbit
As Jay notes, “Nice visualization of the orbits of this system.” Jay also adds that the system is “…120 light years away in the constellation Libra, and it is not just a binary system, it is a triple system with 2M1510C and possible sighting of a fourth brown dwarf to make it a quadruple system.”
- Cute artwork on the elevator doors in a building at the Johnson Space Center
This graphic of Starliner routinely docks more reliably than the real thing.
- Zhuque-2 and Zhuque-3 rockets of the Chinese pseudo-company Landspace on the factory floor.
Zhuque-2 was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit. Zhuque-3 is a Falcon-9 copycat that the company hopes to launch for the first time this year. Later upgrades will have a reusable first stage.
- Video of China’s next manned rocket launch rolling to the launchpad
Launch is scheduled for April 24, 2025.
- Rumors abound concerning China’s program to send humans to the Moon
Nothing concrete, except the rumors imply both delays along with attempts to accelerate the schedule.
- Indian rocket startup Skyroot touts the successfully 200 second static fire test of the engine for use on its Vikram-1 rocket’s fourth stage
The company has completed engine tests for most of this rocket’s engines, but there is no word when it will attempt a first launch.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- The military has a reason for delaying the next Atlas-5 launch but it won’t tell us why
Essentially there appears to be some military-relating scheduling conflict at Cape Canaveral that has caused ULA to hold up the first Atlas-5 launch of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites.
- An exoplanet has been discovered circling binary star system with an orbit tilted 90 degrees to their orbit
As Jay notes, “Nice visualization of the orbits of this system.” Jay also adds that the system is “…120 light years away in the constellation Libra, and it is not just a binary system, it is a triple system with 2M1510C and possible sighting of a fourth brown dwarf to make it a quadruple system.”
- Cute artwork on the elevator doors in a building at the Johnson Space Center
This graphic of Starliner routinely docks more reliably than the real thing.
- Zhuque-2 and Zhuque-3 rockets of the Chinese pseudo-company Landspace on the factory floor.
Zhuque-2 was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit. Zhuque-3 is a Falcon-9 copycat that the company hopes to launch for the first time this year. Later upgrades will have a reusable first stage.
- Video of China’s next manned rocket launch rolling to the launchpad
Launch is scheduled for April 24, 2025.
- Rumors abound concerning China’s program to send humans to the Moon
Nothing concrete, except the rumors imply both delays along with attempts to accelerate the schedule.
- Indian rocket startup Skyroot touts the successfully 200 second static fire test of the engine for use on its Vikram-1 rocket’s fourth stage
The company has completed engine tests for most of this rocket’s engines, but there is no word when it will attempt a first launch.
Curiosity drill cores suggest there are more carbon-based minerals on Mars than previously believed
The uncertainty of science: Scientists studying four different core samples drilled by the Mars rover Curiosity have detected abundant amounts of the iron carbonate mineral siderite, suggesting that there is more carbon within Mars’ crust than previously believed.
If that quantity of carbon is confirmed, there might also have been a carbon cycle between Mars’s atmosphere and the liquid water theorized to have once been on the surface. This cycle could also have made the atmosphere both thicker and warmer, conditions necessary for that liquid water to exist on the surface. From the research paper:
[D]ecomposition of siderite occurred in multiple locations and released CO2 into the atmosphere, recycling CO2 that was originally sequestered during siderite formation. Diagenetic carbonate destruction observed elsewhere on Mars, in martian meteorites, and in sandstones on Earth yields nearly identical reaction products to those we found in Gale crater and are observed globally in orbital data. We therefore conclude that in situ, orbital, and terrestrial analog evidence all indicate that postdepositional alteration of siderite closed the loop in Mars’ carbon cycle, by returning CO2 to the atmosphere.
The uncertainties here are gigantic. For these conclusions to be right, the scientists extrapolate without evidence the same amount of CO2 found in these four cores as existing across the entire surface of Mars. That is a very big extrapolation that no one should take very seriously.
Furthermore, this research assumes the geological features we see on Mars were formed from liquid water. More recent orbital data suggests glacial and ice processes might have played a part instead, with one study concluding that Gale Crater was never warm enough for long-standing liquid water, and that ice and glacial processes must have played the larger part in forming what we find there.
The data from these core samples however is intriguing for sure, though it mostly raises more questions about Mars’ past geological history than it answers.
The uncertainty of science: Scientists studying four different core samples drilled by the Mars rover Curiosity have detected abundant amounts of the iron carbonate mineral siderite, suggesting that there is more carbon within Mars’ crust than previously believed.
If that quantity of carbon is confirmed, there might also have been a carbon cycle between Mars’s atmosphere and the liquid water theorized to have once been on the surface. This cycle could also have made the atmosphere both thicker and warmer, conditions necessary for that liquid water to exist on the surface. From the research paper:
[D]ecomposition of siderite occurred in multiple locations and released CO2 into the atmosphere, recycling CO2 that was originally sequestered during siderite formation. Diagenetic carbonate destruction observed elsewhere on Mars, in martian meteorites, and in sandstones on Earth yields nearly identical reaction products to those we found in Gale crater and are observed globally in orbital data. We therefore conclude that in situ, orbital, and terrestrial analog evidence all indicate that postdepositional alteration of siderite closed the loop in Mars’ carbon cycle, by returning CO2 to the atmosphere.
The uncertainties here are gigantic. For these conclusions to be right, the scientists extrapolate without evidence the same amount of CO2 found in these four cores as existing across the entire surface of Mars. That is a very big extrapolation that no one should take very seriously.
Furthermore, this research assumes the geological features we see on Mars were formed from liquid water. More recent orbital data suggests glacial and ice processes might have played a part instead, with one study concluding that Gale Crater was never warm enough for long-standing liquid water, and that ice and glacial processes must have played the larger part in forming what we find there.
The data from these core samples however is intriguing for sure, though it mostly raises more questions about Mars’ past geological history than it answers.
Two different states in India announce space policies
Capitalism in space: In another indication that India’s governments are going full bore for private enterprise in space, two different Indian states this week announced new space policies designed to attract private investment and space startups.
Those two states, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, are shown on the map to the right. Tamil Nadu announced its new space industrial policy hopes to attract more than a billion dollars in space companies to the state. Gujaret in turn announced its own space policy aimed at attracting $5 billion in investment and 25,000 jobs over the next five years.
It is not surprising that Tamil Nadu has issued this policy, considering that it is the state where India’s new second spaceport, Kulasekarapattinam, is located, and is being built as a launch site for commerical operations. Gujaret is at first glance less obvious, but it houses a major facility of India’s space agency ISRO. It is also one of India’s most industrialized states.
Both however illustrate the impact of the Modi government because of its policy to encourage private enterprise and de-emphasize government control. Not only is the federal government pushing capitalism, the country’s individual states are joining in.
Capitalism in space: In another indication that India’s governments are going full bore for private enterprise in space, two different Indian states this week announced new space policies designed to attract private investment and space startups.
Those two states, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, are shown on the map to the right. Tamil Nadu announced its new space industrial policy hopes to attract more than a billion dollars in space companies to the state. Gujaret in turn announced its own space policy aimed at attracting $5 billion in investment and 25,000 jobs over the next five years.
It is not surprising that Tamil Nadu has issued this policy, considering that it is the state where India’s new second spaceport, Kulasekarapattinam, is located, and is being built as a launch site for commerical operations. Gujaret is at first glance less obvious, but it houses a major facility of India’s space agency ISRO. It is also one of India’s most industrialized states.
Both however illustrate the impact of the Modi government because of its policy to encourage private enterprise and de-emphasize government control. Not only is the federal government pushing capitalism, the country’s individual states are joining in.
NASA’s useless safety panel suddenly notices that there are leaks on ISS
My regular readers will know that I consider NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to be less than useless, repeatedly showing strong biases that allow it to miss major safety issues while causing headaches where no safety problems exist. Those biases consistently favor NASA and the older big space companies while attacking the new space companies like SpaceX.
This week the panel held its quarterly public meeting, and illustrated their uselessness and bias once again. Suddenly they have noticed that ISS has a serious chronic air leak problem due to the stress fractures in the Russian Zvezda module. They also came to the brilliant discovery that ISS is big, and that its de-orbit will have to be done carefully.
Oh my! Will wonders never cease!? These facts have only been documented at length and frequently by numerous inspector general reports and NASA updates over the past half decade. NASA has in fact contracted SpaceX to build a specialized de-orbit spacecraft, larger than a Dragon capsule, to dock with the station and conduct the de-orbit.
NASA didn’t need this safety panel to tell it the obvious.
Meanwhile, the panel suddenly decided it must chime in on budget issues and the possibility of there being major cuts at NASA, something that is entirely outside its area of responsibility. And to no one’s surprise it announced that budget cuts are bad!
Nor did the panelists see any safety issues with putting astronauts in an Orion capsule and flying them around the Moon on the next Artemis launch, even though NASA and its inspector general have both determined that the capsule’s heat shield is unreliable. The panel also had no problem with flying humans in this capsule the very first time its environmental system is tested.
To these political hacks, they see “we see no showstoppers at this time” for this SLS/Orion manned mission.
Instead, as always, the panel focused its criticism and concerns on SpaceX and Starship, labeling its development “the biggest risk” in NASA’s program to get Americans back to the Moon.
The most hilarious aspect of the panelists’ public comments is that they had nothing to say about Boeing’s Starliner, a pattern the panel has followed since Boeing and SpaceX got contracts a decade ago to transport astronauts to and from ISS. Consistently the panel has seen phantom safety risks with SpaceX — where none existed — while ignoring or completely missing Boeing myriad failures. That pattern continues.
NASA does face budget cuts. It would certainly help the agency if every dime wasted on this panel could be funneled into more useful purposes.
My regular readers will know that I consider NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to be less than useless, repeatedly showing strong biases that allow it to miss major safety issues while causing headaches where no safety problems exist. Those biases consistently favor NASA and the older big space companies while attacking the new space companies like SpaceX.
This week the panel held its quarterly public meeting, and illustrated their uselessness and bias once again. Suddenly they have noticed that ISS has a serious chronic air leak problem due to the stress fractures in the Russian Zvezda module. They also came to the brilliant discovery that ISS is big, and that its de-orbit will have to be done carefully.
Oh my! Will wonders never cease!? These facts have only been documented at length and frequently by numerous inspector general reports and NASA updates over the past half decade. NASA has in fact contracted SpaceX to build a specialized de-orbit spacecraft, larger than a Dragon capsule, to dock with the station and conduct the de-orbit.
NASA didn’t need this safety panel to tell it the obvious.
Meanwhile, the panel suddenly decided it must chime in on budget issues and the possibility of there being major cuts at NASA, something that is entirely outside its area of responsibility. And to no one’s surprise it announced that budget cuts are bad!
Nor did the panelists see any safety issues with putting astronauts in an Orion capsule and flying them around the Moon on the next Artemis launch, even though NASA and its inspector general have both determined that the capsule’s heat shield is unreliable. The panel also had no problem with flying humans in this capsule the very first time its environmental system is tested.
To these political hacks, they see “we see no showstoppers at this time” for this SLS/Orion manned mission.
Instead, as always, the panel focused its criticism and concerns on SpaceX and Starship, labeling its development “the biggest risk” in NASA’s program to get Americans back to the Moon.
The most hilarious aspect of the panelists’ public comments is that they had nothing to say about Boeing’s Starliner, a pattern the panel has followed since Boeing and SpaceX got contracts a decade ago to transport astronauts to and from ISS. Consistently the panel has seen phantom safety risks with SpaceX — where none existed — while ignoring or completely missing Boeing myriad failures. That pattern continues.
NASA does face budget cuts. It would certainly help the agency if every dime wasted on this panel could be funneled into more useful purposes.
Laszlo Buring – If Mark Knopfler & David Gilmour had a little jam
An evening pause: Hat tip Rex Ridenoure, who notes, “This musician emulates the style of Knopfler (lead guitarist of the Dire Straits) and Gilmour (lead guitarist for Pink Floyd). Knopfler uses only his fingers; Gilmour uses a pick.”
April 17, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- View a NASA documentary describing its effort to identify potentially dangerous asteroids
It’s an hour and fifteen minutes long, so I admit I haven’t watched it. It is also touted by NASA as “gripping”, with the researchers involved “dedicated,” “tireless,” and “unsung heroes,” the kind of propaganda words that always turn me off. Nothing against these scientists, but it is absurd to describe them in this manner.
- Texas Space Commission awards another $26 million in grants to five companies
All five are small companies doing a variety of background work that makes the industry function.
- On this day in 1970 the Apollo 13 capsule returned to Earth, safely bringing its three astronauts home after a near disaster
The blackout period during descent lasted about 90 seconds longer than expected, which added one last teeth-gritting moment to this nerve-racking rescue flight.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- View a NASA documentary describing its effort to identify potentially dangerous asteroids
It’s an hour and fifteen minutes long, so I admit I haven’t watched it. It is also touted by NASA as “gripping”, with the researchers involved “dedicated,” “tireless,” and “unsung heroes,” the kind of propaganda words that always turn me off. Nothing against these scientists, but it is absurd to describe them in this manner.
- Texas Space Commission awards another $26 million in grants to five companies
All five are small companies doing a variety of background work that makes the industry function.
- On this day in 1970 the Apollo 13 capsule returned to Earth, safely bringing its three astronauts home after a near disaster
The blackout period during descent lasted about 90 seconds longer than expected, which added one last teeth-gritting moment to this nerve-racking rescue flight.