NASA’s Office of Inspector General is again expressing deep concern about NASA’s management of Mobile Launcher-2, an enormous structure needed to haul Space Launch System rockets to the launch pad for the Artemis program. A report two years ago blamed both the prime contractor, Bechtel, and NASA for poor management. NASA itself now estimates the cost will be more than three times what was planned with delivery over four years late, but the OIG thinks it will be a lot more money and even later.

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An independent review of the January failure of Astrobotic’s Peregrine-1 lunar lander has confirmed that a single bad valve doomed the mission. While designated a risk before launch because of problems with its twin, the company concluded it would be even more risky to tear the lander apart and replace it. The outside reviewers agreed and simply chalked the failure up to a hardware failure, not to the lander’s design or lapse in company decision-making. Changes are being made so the valves are more robust.

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Japan’s space agency has ended attempts to reestablish communications with the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon or SLIM. Despite landing upside down in January, SLIM operated much longer than expected on the lunar surface. The final contact was on April 28.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from August 12-25, 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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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of August 25-31, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until September 9 except for pro forma sessions.

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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today that the agency has decided to return Boeing’s Starliner capsule to Earth empty. The two NASA astronauts who flew it up to the International Space Station will remain there until February and return on the next scheduled flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. After talking with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Nelson remains confident Boeing will fix the problems and Starliner will fly again with a crew.

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In accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris vowed that the United States will lead the world into the future, including in space. Harris currently chairs the White House National Space Council that develops U.S. space policy across the civil, commercial, and national security sectors.

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Jared Isaacman’s Polaris Dawn private astronaut crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center today a week before their scheduled launch. Isaacman and three crewmates will spend about five days aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the goals of setting a new altitude record for an Earth-orbiting human space flight and conducting the first non-governmental spacewalk. They also will conduct science experiments and raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the two weeks of August 18-31, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until September 9 except for pro forma sessions.

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NASA continues to analyze data about Starliner’s propulsion system before deciding if the Boeing spacecraft is safe enough to bring two NASA astronauts back to Earth from the International Space Station. Last week the agency said they would make a decision in mid-August, but today acknowledged it would slip to later in the month while stressing there is no fixed timeline. Safety is paramount and they’ll take whatever time is needed to make the best decision based on input from many sources, a lesson learned from past tragedies.

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