The crew of the first Apollo mission, who perished more than 55 years ago, finally have their own memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and others dedicated the Apollo 1 monument on June 2.
The Government Accountabilty Office released its full report today assessing whether the Air Force followed proper procedures in choosing the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL as the preferred location for U.S. Space Command headquarters. Colorado politicians and many in the national security space community want it to remain in Colorado Springs and believe the selection of Alabama was a political gift by former President Trump in the closing days of his presidency. GAO does not resolve that question because details on what transpired in the White House are classified, but it adds more to the public record on what did happen.
Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace are the two winners of NASA Public-Private Partnership contracts to build spacesuits to replace those used today on the International Space Station and for Artemis astronauts on the lunar surface. NASA declined to say how much each company would get of the $3.5 billion total through 2034. NASA will purchase services from the companies rather than owning the suits itself so that answer will depend in part on how much they charge and how much NASA buys.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of May 29-June 5, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess this week (except for pro forma sessions).
NASA announced today that the Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis I misson will roll back to the launch pad on June 6 in preparation for resuming the Wet Dress Rehearsal test. After three attempts to complete the test in April, the rocket was taken back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for several fixes while a contractor upgraded a system that supplies gas to purge propellant lines. Loading the rocket with propellant, a key step in the test, is scheduled for June 19. NASA will not set a date for launching Artemis I until the tests are done.
Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner commercial crew flight test landed at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico this evening, bringing Orbital Flight Test-2 to a close. Overall, the mission appears to have been a success despite a few glitches getting to orbit. Boeing and NASA will review all the data and decide how quickly the next step, a test flight with a crew, can take place and ultimately lead to the agency having two independent means of getting astronauts to and from low Earth orbit.
President Biden is using space, especially the Artemis program, as part of his outreach to South Korea and Japan as he travels in Asia to buttress trade relationships. Both are signatories to the Artemis Accords. Japan, already a partner in the International Space Station, is planning to build part of the lunar Gateway space station and today Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister agreed that a Japanese astronaut will visit Gateway and perhaps the lunar surface.
Boeing and NASA confirmed today that the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft will complete the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission on Wednesday. Launched last week, Starliner encountered a few glitches on the way to docking with the International Space Station, but everything appears to have gone well since. Undocking, deorbit burn, and landing in New Mexico are the next big steps to demonstrate Starliner is ready to carry people. The Crew Flight Test could launch by the end of this year. NASA is eager to have this second commercial crew system available to ferry crews to and from the ISS.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of May 22-29, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. The House meets only in pro forma sessions, but committees will meet virtually for part of the week.
Boeing and NASA are ready for the third attempt to launch the Starliner commercial crew spacecraft to the International Space Station on an uncrewed test flight. NASA is eager to get Starliner certified so it can have two redundant, dissimilar systems for taking crews to and from the ISS, but Starliner’s debut has been delayed by a series of setbacks. Hopes are high tomorrow’s Orbital Flight Test-2 launch will turn the tide.