Today’s Tidbits: January 21, 2020
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for January 21, 2020: Andrucyk to take Goddard post permanently, NRO smallsat to launch from New Zealand, vote to name the Mars 2020 rover by January 27. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Andrucyk to Take Goddard Post Permanently
NASA announced today that Dennis Andrucyk will permanently take the job as Director of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. He has been Acting Director since the first of the year.
NASA does not appear to have issued a press release, but Jeff Foust (@Jeff_Foust) of Space News tweeted that it was announced at today’s Maryland Space Business Roundtable luncheon. A NASA official later confirmed it to SpacePolicyOnline.com.
Andrucyk was Deputy Associate Administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters before taking the Acting Director job on January 1. It is a homecoming. A 31-year NASA veteran, Andrucyk spent many years at Goddard in a number of capacities primarily in the engineering organization. He was Director of Engineering there from 2010-2015. He also has served as acting Chief Technologist and Deputy Associate Administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at Headquarters.
Before joining NASA in 1988, he worked at DOD as both a contractor and a civil servant, as well as at the National Security Agency, the Naval Research Laboratory, Westinghouse Electric, General Electric, and Northrop Grumman.
He succeeds Chris Scolese, who was Goddard Director from March 2012 – July 2019. George Morrow served as Acting Director from August-December 2019 before retiring on December 31.
NRO Smallsat To Launch From New Zealand
Speaking of Chris Scolese, he left NASA to become Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), one of the 17 agencies that comprise the U.S. Intelligence Community. NRO develops, acquires, launches and operates the nation’s spy satellites.
Like many others in the space business, NRO is looking at the pros and cons of using disaggregated systems of multiple small satellites (smallsats) instead of individual large spacecraft that, in the national security environment, could be sitting ducks waiting to be targeted by adversaries.
NRO is looking for innovation not only in satellites, but the rockets to put them in orbit. As early as January 30 Eastern Standard Time (EST), an NRO smallsat will be launched from outside the United States, another novelty. NRO competitively selected Rocket Lab, a U.S. company that launches from New Zealand, through the Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract. Rocket Lab is building a launch site at Wallops Island, VA, but its complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula is its primary site. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket can place a maximum of 225 kilograms of payload into a 500 kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
In a series of tweets, NRO pointed out that New Zealand is a member of the “Five Eyes” alliance: Australia, Canada, Unites States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
The spacecraft, officially NROL-151, carries the intriguing name “Birds of a Feather” and the NRO logo is … unique.
The 14-day launch window opens on January 31 between 13:00-17:00 New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT). NZDT is 18 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST), so that would be January 30, 7:00-11:00 pm EST.
Looking forward to our 1st launch of 2020! #NROL151 https://t.co/noTMXu5Y3F
— NRO (@NatReconOfc) January 20, 2020
We’re also looking forward to the agency’s new partnership with @RocketLab and our continued collaboration with New Zealand, a Five Eyes partner, on the #NROL151 mission. 2/
— NRO (@NatReconOfc) January 20, 2020
Additionally, #NROL151 is the 1st launch under the NRO’s new Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket contract, which enables our exploration of new launch opportunities by providing a streamlined, commercial approach for launching #smallsats. 3/
— NRO (@NatReconOfc) January 20, 2020
Under this approach, RASR helps us pursue the use of both large & small satellites to create an integrated architecture that provides global coverage to answer a wide range of intelligence questions. 4/
— NRO (@NatReconOfc) January 20, 2020
Make sure to follow us and our partners at @RocketLab on Twitter and Instagram for the latest #NROL151 news and coverage. /end ?https://t.co/oiYaYkJ3FL
— NRO (@NatReconOfc) January 20, 2020
Cast Your Vote to Name the Mars 2020 Rover
After soliciting ideas from schoolkids around the country, NASA has picked nine potential names for its next Mars rover and wants the public to vote on which will be the winner. From the more than 28,000 entries, these are the nine:
- Ingenuity
- Endurance
- Vision
- Tenacity
- Perseverance
- Fortitude
- Courage
- Promise
- Clarity
Cast your vote here by 9:00 pm Pacific Time (midnight Eastern) on Monday, January 27. Apparently NASA is not committing to using whatever name gets the most votes, though. It says the “results of the poll will be a consideration in the final naming selection.”
NASA used similar naming contests for previous Mars landers and rovers, including the Curiosity rover that landed in 2012. Mars 2020 has the same design as Curiosity, but different scientific instruments. One of its tasks is to collect and store (“cache”) samples of Martian soil and rocks for eventual return to Earth by other spacecraft. It also will carry a tiny 1.8 kilogram Mars Helicopter. Launch is scheduled for July 2020.
Recently Published on SpacePolicyOnline.com
- What’s Happening in Space Policy January 19-25, 2020
- Successful In-Flight Abort Test Moves NASA Closer to Sending Astronauts to ISS From American Soil
- NASA’s New NEO Mission Will Substantially Reduce Times to Find Hazardous Asteroids
- SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test Still On for Tomorrow, But Weather a Particular Challenge – Update
- Dynetics Confirms HLS Proposal for NASA’s Artemis Program
- SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test Confirmed for January 18
- What’s Happening in Space Policy January 12-18, 2020
- Dream Chaser on Track for 2021 Cargo Mission, Crew Within 5 Years
- House Committee Approves Space Weather Legislation
- NASA/Boeing Team to Look for Root Cause of Starliner’s Mission Elapsed Timer Issue
- What’s Happening in Space Policy January 5-11, 2020 — Update
- NOAA Gets Boost for Space Weather Follow-On
- Indian Astronauts to Begin Training in Russia, Chandrayaan-3 Approved
- What’s Happening in Space Policy December 29, 2019 – January 11, 2020
- China’s Long March 5 Rocket Returns to Flight
- Andrucyk To Take Over as Acting Goddard Space Flight Center Director
- NASA, Boeing Upbeat About Truncated Starliner Test Flight
- What’s Happening in Space Policy December 22-31, 2019
- Boeing’s Starliner Uncrewed Test Flight Lands Safely
- Boeing’s Starliner Set to Land in New Mexico Tomorrow After Software Anomaly Truncates Test Flight
- Trump Signs FY2020 Appropriations Into Law
- U.S. Space Force is Now A Reality
- Timer Glitch Means No Space Station Docking for Boeing’s Starliner
- Boeing’s Starliner Uncrewed Flight Test Encounters a Glitch
- Boeing Starliner Orbital Flight Test Still On for Friday Morning
- FY2020 Appropriations Bills Clear Last Legislative Hurdle
- Jacobs is New NOAA Administrator Nominee
- With Creation of Space Force Just a Signature Away, What Happens Next?
- NASA Wins Extensions for Buying Soyuz Seats, Enhanced Use Leasing in THUD Appropriations Bill
- FAA Commercial Space Activities Get Mixed News in Final FY2020 Appropriations
- Final FY2020 Appropriations Keep Office of Space Commerce in Limbo
- Appropriations Fund Space Force, But Modestly
- Artemis Wins Only Lukewarm Support in Final NASA FY2020 Appropriation
- What’s Happening in Space Policy December 15-31, 2019
- Boeing Starliner OFT “Go” For December 20
- Horn: “Getting Close” on NASA Authorization Bill, Commercial Space Legislation Must Wait
- Bridenstine and Loverro: Artemis I Launch Date Important, But Not the Whole Story
- Space Force Within Inches of the Finish Line
- Bridenstine Proclaims SLS Core Complete – “Go SLS”
- What’s Happening in Space Policy December 8-14, 2019
- Starliner Passes Another Test, But Launch Slips One More Day
- Bridenstine Implores Congress to Finalize FY2020 Appropriations for Desperately Needed HLS
- Loverro Takes Helm at HEOMD, Bridenstine Pushes Back on $2 Billion SLS Cost Estimate
- Today’s Tidbits: December 3, 2019
- Inhofe urges party leaders to break impasse on FY2020 NDAA, SpaceX pauses Starship work in Florida, India’s Vikram crash site on Moon located.9
This article has been updated.
User Comments
SpacePolicyOnline.com has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate. We do not post comments that include links to other websites since we have no control over that content nor can we verify the security of such links.