Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of April 17-24, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess, except for pro forma sessions.
NASA has decided to take the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew spacecraft for the Artemis I mission back to the Vehicle Assembly Building before making a fourth try at the Wet Dress Rehearsal test. The agency characterized the decision as taking advantage of a requirement by a supplier of gaseous nitrogen needed for the test to make upgrades to its system. The schedule for resuming the test is to be determined.
The Shenzhou-13 crew returned home today (UTC) after 182 days in space, a record duration for China. During the mission, Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to make a spacewalk. The Chinese human spaceflight program proceeded at a measured pace over the past two decades, but with the launch of its first space station module last year and two more expected this year, that pace is accelerating.
NASA’s third attempt to conduct a test countdown for the Artemis I launch was scrubbed today. The Space Launch System rocket, derived from the space shuttle, is getting ready for flight later this year. In preparation, NASA wants to fuel the rocket and practice countdowns. The so-called Wet Dress Rehearsal test began over a week ago, but has been bedeviled by one problem or another. Today was no exception.
The European Space Agency took another step today towards ending cooperation with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. In addition to terminating its role in the ExoMars mission, ESA now is withdrawing from three Russian robotic missions to the Moon and turning to NASA and commercial partners to get the ESA hardware to the lunar surface.
As Russia celebrated Cosmonautics Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed that sanctions imposed by other countries because of his invasion of Ukraine will not deter progress with the country’s space program. Speaking at Russia’s newest launch site, Vostochny, he singled out the Luna-25 mission and development of a new crewed spacecraft and space nuclear technologies as examples of future activities.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of April 10-16, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess for the next two weeks, except for pro forma sessions.
The first crew to visit the International Space Station composed entirely of private citizens is on its way. Axiom-1 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center this morning on a 10-day mission. The four men will spend eight of those days on the ISS conducting experiments and seeing the sights, joining an international crew of seven professional astronauts already there. All together, the 11 astronauts and cosmonauts represent the United States, Russia, Germany, Israel, Canada and Spain.
NASA’s Inspector General released two reports in the past two days. The first addresses management of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) Mission, a robotic rover that will search for water ice on the Moon. The second looks more broadly at how the agency manages programs that have more than one deliverable, particularly the Artemis program that will put astronauts back on the Moon.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has withdrawn SpaceX’s application to expand its Boca Chica, TX test site because the company failed to provide required information requested last year. The environmental evaluation by the Corps is in addition to a separate ongoing environmental review by the Federal Aviation Administration.