Space Explored

On Wednesday the FAA announced it has closed the mishap investigation it oversaw of Blue Origin’s failed NS-23 mission that took place one year ago. With the investigation now finished, Blue Origin plans to return to flight “soon.”

NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle is receiving some wind tunnel treatment as the agency and its partners continue to development a rocket capable of launching from Mars. However, doubts as to its feasibility politically are still up in the air.

With the Sun now in view at their landing site, ISRO has yet to hear back from Chandrayaan-3’s lunar lander and rover. While ISRO will continues to ping the spacecraft, time is running out before another lunar night arrives.

Jeff Bezos announced to his space company Monday that Bob Smith, the six year CEO of Blue Origin, will be replaced by former Amazon executive Dave Limp. Limp’s first day at Blue will be December 4 while Smith will stay on to help with the transition until January 2.

Over the weekend NASA recovered its first asteroid samples from a desert in Utah. The OSIRIS-REx sample container is now in Houston, Texas where scientists will catalog everything and begin distribution to institutions world wide.

Multinational technology company GMV has wrapped up ground validation tests for a cutting-edge space robot. Designed as part of the European Space Agency’s MIRROR project (Multi-arm Installation Robot for Readying ORUs and Reflectors), this innovative robot promises to transform the way structures are assembled in Earth’s orbit. 

We are still awaiting word from the FAA on when SpaceX will be allowed to launch its next Starship rocket. While excitement from earlier this month might have seemed it was just around the corner but according to the FAA, we could be another month or more away.

The Moon’s south pole is a realm of perpetual shadow, a place shrouded in mystery and intrigue for scientists and space enthusiasts alike. As NASA prepares for the historic Artemis 3 mission scheduled for late 2025, where humans will set foot in this region for the first time, the agency is embarking on a quest to gather as much information as possible about this lunar frontier. 

This week turned out rather more exciting than originally expected when I discussed the week’s launches on Monday. Tuesday morning, Rocket Lab’s eighth Electron launch of the year suffered a failure on the second stage and SpaceX yet again broke its reuse record on a single booster.

Early Tuesday morning Rocket Lab attempted its eighth launch of 2023 out of New Zealand. Sadly this mission would not make it to orbit after suffering a failure during flight.

Last Friday morning a fresh crew of two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut lifted off from Kazakhstan and arrived at the International Space Station. While relieving three crew members on the station, it also marks the start of another year long stint in space for Russia.

Dare I say this week is rather… boring? Both SpaceX and Rocket Lab are launching this week for a total of three missions which like a year ago would be cause for celebration. However, both companies are continuing their deployment of constellation satellites, leaving much to be desired on the excitement level, but should we really be complaining?

According to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, We might finally see a Blue Origin rocket launch after a year of down time. The flight would be the company’s first since suffering a failure of the New Shepard booster which led to the loss of the booster.

NASA has taken a significant step in acknowledging the enigma of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) with the appointment of its first-ever Director of UAP Research. The decision comes after a yearlong independent study into reported sightings of these mysterious flying objects, more popularly known as UFOs.

In a journey marked by innovation and determination, Kent, Washington-based Stoke Space has been making strides in the field of space technology and exploration since 2019. The company recently transported its reusable second-stage prototype, known as the Hopper Test Vehicle, to its testing facility in Moses Lake, Washington. 

If you’ve taken a cruise in the past, I don’t know, ever? You’ll know that internet connection is spotty at best. I mean you are floating out in the ocean. However, thanks to advancements in internet services via satellites, your next cruise might get much better internet and this partnership between SpaceX and SES might make it happen.

Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 03 mission was different from its previous missions in a number of ways. One of those additions was the carrying on of fossilized bones of ancient human ancestors by one of the participants. This act has raised some questions by scientist in the field.

Today Axiom Space announced who will be flying to the ISS early next year on the third private astronaut mission. This mission will feature a return Axiom astronaut as well as an all European crew.

Friday Virgin Galactic launched its latest commercial missions out of New Mexico. However this time there was no fanfare, livestream, or post launch interviews with the customers. They simply went up, had fun, and came back down.

Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems have come together to showcase a demonstration mission called Victus Nox with the aim of setting a new industry standard for rapid satellite deployment. Last year, the two companies were chosen to conduct this mission, designed to demonstrate a 24-hour rapid-response capability for launching satellites into low Earth orbit for the U.S. Space Force.

With ULA sneaking in its first Atlas V launch between issues in this series, the only exciting launch I have to discuss this week is Russia’s crew rotation to the ISS. While it might seem like the only topic, it is indeed a significant event. MS-24, a crewed Soyuz mission, will replace the crew of MS-22, who have been in space for approximately a year.

Back on April 20, SpaceX launched their Starship rocket from Boca Chica, Texas. The test was a major milestone for the program which had previously spent 4 years in development, starting in 2019. The launch used Starship vehicle ‘Ship 24’ and Booster 7 (also known as B7). Together the two vehicles launched into the Texan skies, where issues rapidly started developing. The issues eventually resulted in the vehicle entering an uncontrolled spin, whereafter the vehicle was remotely destroyed over the Gulf of Mexico.