Space Explored

The new variant of Arianespace’s Vega rocket called the Vega C that has an updated first and second stage just received another payload contract. Vega C is planning on its launch debut in mid-2021, but Arianespace is unsure if we’ll see this pushed back after another failed launch attempt last month.

The second season of For All Mankind on Apple TV+ doesn’t even launch until February 19, 2021, and Apple has already renewed the alternative history science fiction series for a third season.

NASA hopes to conduct a critical hot fire test of the core stage of its Space Launch System rocket at Stennis Space Center later this month. The test is the last major step in developing NASA’s new powerful rocket to the Moon. If all goes well this month, NASA will be on track to conduct its first lunar flyby mission called Artemis I with SLS and the Orion spacecraft as early as November 2021.

It’s too early to know if NASA will have to kick back the hot fire test into next year, but a scheduled wet dress rehearsal that started over the weekend was paused on Monday after initial propellant loading to the rocket. NASA says the team at Stennis Space Center will now study data collected during initial propellant loading and adjust the fueling process before completing the wet dress rehearsal.

Newly elected Arizona senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly has a message for Americans: Take pride in the accomplishments of SpaceX. “In the last three weeks, SpaceX has launched both crewed and cargo missions to the International Space Station. This is an impressive achievement which Americans should be proud of,” Senator Kelly tweeted this week. The congratulatory message follows a year of milestone achievements for the private space company.

Chuck Yaeger secured his place in history when the pilot became the first person to fly at the speed of sound before breaking his own record and flying at Mach 2.44. Yaeger died at the age of 97 on Monday night. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine released a statement honoring the test pilot who left his mark on aeronautic science:

The annual Geminid meteor shower is expected to put on quite a show this weekend, peaking on the morning of Monday, December 14. It should be one of the best meteor showers to watch in 2020.

Late last month, one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was unexpectedly killed while driving on a highway with his wife. Immediately after the incident occurred, Iran wasn’t sure how he had been killed. But now, Iran believes it knows what happened, and it’s a bit of an eyebrow-raiser.

Recently it was revealed that Starlink user terminals were costing SpaceX much more to manufacture than what they were selling for. So naturally, people have been curious about what the expensive internals of the device consists of. That’s precisely what an engineer by the name of Ken Keiter set out to discover.

Virgin Orbit has added Jim Simpson to its executive team to serve as the launch company’s first Chief Strategy Officer. Simpson filling the CSO role is the latest sign that Virgin Orbit is maturing and preparing for commercial service. VO is scheduled to launch its second demonstration flight in less than two weeks.

On February 7, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). This fund would allow broadband companies to win bids, ultimately funding the United States’ expansion of coverage. Today, SpaceX won some of those bids to expand its Starlink coverage.

Astronauts are going back to the Moon for the first time since the end of NASA’s Apollo program in 1972. Under the Artemis program, NASA will send the first woman and next man to the Moon in this decade. NASA is releasing new details about the planned Artemis III mission today in a report outlining science priorities.

Last week we saw China land its Chang’e 5 lander on the surface from the Moon with the goal to gather lunar samples and launch to the return vehicles in orbit above the lander. This had to happen within just one lunar day (2 earth weeks). We saw them complete the mission in just a couple days based on state-run media coverage. Now NASA has captured a photo of the lander using cameras on its own orbiter around the Moon.

After the launch of SpaceX’s 21st Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station, SpaceX published a unique point-of-view of the rocket launch being tracked on video from mid-air in a helicopter.

SpaceX is on the cusp of conducting a milestone test of its next-generation Starship rocket currently in development in South Texas. Starship Serial Number 8 (SN8), an early prototype version of the reusable rocket and spacecraft design, is now expected to launch as early as December 8. SpaceX will livestream the hop attempt.

After a weather delay on Saturday, SpaceX launched the CRS-21 mission to the International Space Station.

Six years ago, on December 3, 2014, Japan launched Hayabusa 2 into space to begin its three-year-long journey to an asteroid named “Ryugu.” Once the asteroid was reached, samples were taken and sent back towards Earth. Now, finally, those samples have successfully arrived.

Zac Hall and Seth Kurkowski talk about planned SpaceX Starship flight tests, SpaceX’s CRS-21 launch for NASA, what’s happening with the first Space Launch System core stage at Stennis Space Center, and more.

Subscribe

• YouTube
• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Overcast

SpaceX will soon conduct its 21st mission for NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program. While it’s hardly SpaceX’s first cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station, CRS-21 is notable for being the first flight of SpaceX’s redesigned Dragon 2 spacecraft.