NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean today after a 1.4 million mile journey to, around, and back from the Moon. No people were aboard this flight, but next time there will be. This was a full-up test of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew capsule as the Artemis program gears up to return astronauts to the lunar surface three years from now.
Three small spacecraft are headed to the Moon today — a U.S. orbiter, a Japanese lander, and a UAE rover. They are more examples of what companies and countries are trying to accomplish with lower cost but higher risk small satellites travelling far from Earth. The track record so far is mixed, but they open opportunities for more participants in space exploration.
NASA is getting ready for the return of the Orion spacecraft from its trip around the Moon. Splashdown in the Pacific will take place at 12:39 pm ET tomorrow, December 11. The mission has been going almost perfectly since launch early on November 16, but the “priority one objective” is testing the spacecraft’s heatshield and that won’t happen until the last minutes of the flight.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who bought all the seats on SpaceX’s first crewed Starship flight around the Moon, announced who his companions will be today. Not included was any indication of when they will set off on their 7-day lunar voyage. Maezawa decided to try flying to Earth orbit before making the trip to the Moon and today’s big reveal comes on the one-year anniversary of his launch to the International Space Station.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted today in favor of a resolution for countries not to conduct direct-ascent antisatellite tests that create space debris. Four countries have conducted such ASAT tests and the United States was the only one voting in favor. China and Russia voted no. India abstained.
The two teams that lost out to SpaceX in NASA’s first Human Landing System competition are trying again. Blue Origin and Dynetics are bidding for NASA’s Sustaining Lunar Development contract as the agency continues to seek a second supplier to provide redundancy and competition.
A NASA infrared space telescope specifically designed to locate Earth-threatening asteroids and comets cleared a critical review last week and is now an official NASA program. NASA announced today that the Near Earth Object Surveyor is approved to move into Phase C of development, but with a two-year delay from 2026 to 2028 and associated cost increase. Instead of $500-600 million, it is now $1.2 billion not including launch.
NASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft successfully fired its main engine today for the second of two burns to depart lunar orbit and come back home. In the process, it took ever more glorious views of the Moon to add to its growing catalogue of stunning images that stir memories of the Apollo program. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the last Apollo mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, and Orion offers hope that humans will soon return.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of December 4-11, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
China’s Shenzhou-14 crew landed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region today completing a 183-day mission. It is the first Chinese crew to hand over operations of a space station, Tiangong-3, to their replacements on Shenzhou-15. China declared the mission a complete success and Shenzhou-14 “the busiest crew.”