Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: June 3-9, 2024
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, June 3-9, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
What’s Happening in Space Policy June 9-15, 2024
June 9, 2024. Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of June 9-15, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Virgin Galactic Says Farewell to VSS Unity
June 9, 2024. Virgin Galactic flew the last commercial flight of Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Unity yesterday. Future suborbital trips will have to wait until the new Delta-class spaceships are ready in 2026. They can carry six passengers instead of four, increasing revenue. This flight, Galactic 07, took a Turkish researcher and three private individuals across the imaginary line that separates air and space for a few minutes of weightlessness.
Apollo Astronaut Bill Anders Dies
June 9, 2024. Former NASA astronaut Bill Anders, who won renown by taking the iconic Earthrise photo in 1968 on Apollo 8, died yesterday in the crash of a private plane he was piloting. He was 90. In interviews over the years and as recently as last December, he described the photo’s enduring impact by showing that Earth is “very fragile and very delicate.”
Boeing’s Starliner CFT Docks With ISS Despite Thruster Issues
June 6, 2024. Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew spacecraft docked at the International Space Station this afternoon, but not without drama. First, more helium leaks emerged once Starliner was in orbit, and then docking was delayed when some of Starliner’s thrusters went offline. Boeing and NASA officials concede they do not have all the answers, but are confident Starliner is perfectly capable of safely returning NASA’s two astronauts to Earth.
SpaceX Cheers Successful Starship IFT-4
June 6, 2024. The fourth test flight of SpaceX’s enormous Starship/Super Heavy rocket appears to be a complete success. The Super Heavy booster made its first soft landing in the water and the Starship second stage flew three-quarters of the way around Earth, survived reentry, and made its own successful water landing. These are incremental steps towards full reusability of the system.
June 5, 2024. It took three tries, but Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test is now in orbit on its way to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will put the spacecraft through its paces over the next day before docking at the ISS tomorrow at 12:15 pm ET. They’ll undock about eight days later and return to Earth, landing in New Mexico.
Hubble Good For Another Decade Despite Gyro Woes
June 4, 2024. NASA said today the beloved Hubble Space Telescope will continue making discoveries into the mid-2030s despite failing gyroscopes. Of the six gyros that enable the telescope to point at specific regions of the universe, only two remain reliable. They have decided to use just one and keep the second as a backup, which will slow observations, but keep it viable for another decade.
Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: May 27-June 2, 2024
June 3, 2024. Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, May 27-June 2, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
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