ISS Update: The U.S. Vice President Celebrates Black History Month by Chatting with the SpaceX Crew-1 Pilot Aboard the Orbital Outpost...

NASA

Vice President Kamala Harris Calls NASA Astronaut Victor Glover (Press Release)

In celebration of Black History Month, NASA astronaut Victor Glover welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to the International Space Station for a virtual chat.

In the video recorded Feb. 24 and shared Saturday, the conversation ranged from the legacy of human spaceflight to observing Earth from the vantage of the space station, Glover’s history-making stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, and preparing for missions from the Moon to Mars.

Victor Glover is a long-duration crew member on the International Space Station. He served as the Crew Dragon pilot and second-in-command for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission. Glover is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance.

Selected as an astronaut in 2013, the California native holds a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University, a Master of Science degree in flight test engineering and a master’s degree military operational art and science from Air University, and a Master of Science degree in systems engineering from Naval Postgraduate School. Glover is a naval aviator and was a test pilot in the F/A‐18 Hornet, Super Hornet, and EA‐18G Growler aircraft. Follow Glover on Twitter and Instagram.

For more than 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 242 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas. The space station remains the springboard to America's Moon to Mars exploration approach, including Artemis missions to the Moon to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

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I spoke with @NASA Astronaut and @USNavy Commander Victor J. Glover aboard the International Space Station. @AstroVicGlover is making history as the first African American on a long-duration space mission. He is a reminder of what's possible when we dream big and think big. pic.twitter.com/DV9OXyivbD

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) February 27, 2021

Photos of the Day: What a Difference a Decade Makes for Space Exploration...

NASA

On this day in 2011, the orbiter Discovery launched on her final flight, STS-133, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as this was the first of the last three missions before the space shuttle program came to an end that year. And tonight, one of three Raptor engines on SpaceX's Starship SN10 vehicle is being replaced at the company's launch facility in Boca Chica Beach, Texas...in preparation for a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) hop that can happen by the end of this week. From a venerable spacecraft that flew in low-Earth orbit for 30 years, to the prototype of a rocket that can legitimately send people to Mars by the end of this decade, a lot has obviously changed for human spaceflight over the past 10 years.


Elon Musk

SpaceX Update: Another Inspiring Individual Will Join the Crew of the Inspiration4 Mission Later This Year...

Jared Isaacman - Inspiration4

World’s First All-Civilian Mission to Space, Inspiration4, Names Second Crew Member (Press Release - February 22)

Hayley Arceneaux, physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and pediatric cancer survivor, to represent Hope on historic flight

Two remaining seats on mission still available to the general public until February 28

MEMPHIS, Tenn.-- Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian mission to space, has announced its second crew member, Hayley Arceneaux of Memphis, TN, a 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® who was treated as a child for bone cancer at St. Jude. Arceneaux joins Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman. She will occupy the mission seat representing Hope.

“It’s an incredible honor to join the Inspiration4 crew. This seat represents the hope that St. Jude gave me—and continues to give families from around the world, who, like me, find hope when they walk through the doors of St. Jude,” said Arceneaux. “When I was just 10 years old, St. Jude gave me the opportunity to grow up. Now I am fulfilling my dreams of working at the research hospital and traveling around the world. It’s incredible to be a part of this mission that is not only raising crucial funds for the lifesaving work of St. Jude but also introducing new supporters to the mission and showing cancer survivors that anything is possible.”

Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments [NYSE: FOUR] and an accomplished pilot, donated two of the four seats on Inspiration4 to St. Jude, including the seat filled by Arceneaux. The mission name Inspiration4 recognizes the four-person crew’s purpose – to send a humanitarian message of possibility and inspire support for St. Jude – and represents the pillars of Leadership, Hope, Generosity and Prosperity.

“Assembling a unique and diverse crew whose personal stories and values will inspire people everywhere is at the heart of the Inspiration4 mission,” said Isaacman. “As I’ve spent time with Hayley in the earliest days of mission prep, she’s everything we want our team to represent – she’s interested in the world around her, devoted to caring for others and hopeful for a better future for all of us. She already inspires me, and I’m certain she’ll inspire many others as they get to know her in the course of our mission.”

Isaacman has committed to give $100 million to St. Jude and is inviting everyone to join him in support of St. Jude’s multi-billion-dollar expansion designed to accelerate research advancements and save more children worldwide. The fundraising effort will continue through the mission launch later this year.

“It has been a personal honor to watch Hayley grow up and fulfill her dreams. As a patient, an intern at ALSAC, and then in the Pediatric Oncology Education program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, she was always a rising star,” said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. “From the beginning, St. Jude has been at the forefront of innovation and inclusion, leading in cancer research, and treatment for some of the world’s sickest children regardless of race, ethnicity, or a family's ability to pay, so that children like Hayley can live full, healthy and awe-inspiring lives. She will be an incredible ambassador through this mission and inspiration to children fighting cancer and survivors worldwide.”

The mission is being targeted for the fourth quarter of this year. Arceneaux, Isaacman and the Inspiration4 crew will undergo commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, including a specific focus on orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing. They will receive emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial- and full-mission simulations. The mission will launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX mission control as the spacecraft orbits the planet every 90 minutes along a customized flight path. Upon conclusion of the multi-day journey, Dragon will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for a soft water landing off the coast of Florida.

The remaining two seats representing Generosity and Prosperity are available to the general public through February 28, with details available at the mission website, Inspiration4.com. The Generosity crew seat can be secured by a member of the public who enters for an opportunity to join the flight to space. The Prosperity seat is available to any deserving entrepreneur who utilizes the new Shift4Shop eCommerce platform to submit their idea and be selected by a panel of distinguished judges. The Shift4Shop platform is designed to empower entrepreneurs to build and grow successful eCommerce businesses.

To learn more about Inspiration4, how to support and potentially join this historic journey to space and the specific conditions of the promotions, visit Inspiration4.com and follow the mission on social media on Twitter (@inspiration4x), Facebook (@inspiration4mission), Instagram (@inspiration4) and YouTube (@Inspiration4) to receive the latest news on mission training and preparation. Individuals who are interested in learning how to enter for an opportunity to secure one of the two seats still available should visit Inspiration4.com and review the Official Rules for the applicable promotion.

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SLS Update #2: The Second Green Run Hot Fire Test Will NOT Take Place on February 25...

NASA / SSC

Earlier today, it was reported that the second Green Run hot fire test for the Space Launch System's Artemis 1 core stage booster will not take place this Thursday, February 25. This is due to a valve issue that engineers discovered during checkout preparations carried out atop the B-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center over the past weekend. Click here for more details. It is widely believed that Artemis 1 will now launch no sooner than early 2022 (next February, presumably) due to any hot fire that is conducted after this week. We'll see.

SLS Update: The Second Green Run Hot Fire Test Is Scheduled to Take Place on February 25...

NASA TV

NASA announced today that it is aiming for Thursday, February 25, to conduct the second and hopefully final Green Run hot fire test of the Space Launch System's core stage booster that will fly on the Artemis 1 mission no earlier than the end of this year. The space agency will host a teleconference this Friday, February 19, to discuss next week's crucial engine demonstration. Stay tuned.


NASA

SpaceX Update: Two Crew Members Have Been Chosen for a 2022 Crew Dragon Rotation Flight to the ISS...

NASA

NASA Assigns Astronauts to Agency’s SpaceX Crew-4 Mission to Space Station (Press Release - February 12)

NASA has assigned two crew members to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission – the fourth crew rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, for the Crew-4 mission. Additional crew members will be assigned as mission specialists in the future by the agency’s international partners.

The mission is expected to launch in 2022 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Lindgren, Hines, and the international crew members will join an expedition crew aboard the space station for a long-duration stay.

This will be Lindgren’s second trip into space, following a 141-day stay at the space station in 2015 for Expeditions 44 and 45. Part of an Air Force family, he was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and spent a good part of his childhood living in England before finishing high school at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a master’s degree in cardiovascular physiology from Colorado State University, and a medical degree from the University of Colorado. Before being selected as an astronaut in 2009, he was a flight surgeon supporting space shuttle and space station missions. In December 2020, NASA named him as one of the Artemis Team of astronauts helping to pave the way for NASA’s upcoming lunar missions.

Hines, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was selected as an astronaut in 2017 and will be making his first trip into space. He was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but considers Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to be his hometown. He graduated from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and went on to earn a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He is also a graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot school. Before becoming an astronaut, he supported multiple military deployments in the Middle East, Africa and Europe; served as a flight test pilot for the Federal Aviation Administration; and flew as a research pilot at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry as companies develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems capable of carrying crews to low-Earth orbit and the space station. Commercial transportation to and from the station is providing expanded utility, additional research time, and broader opportunities for discovery on the orbital outpost.

For more than 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 242 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries.

The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low-Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and developing a robust low-Earth orbit economy, NASA is free to focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.

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Artemis 2 Update: The First Crewed Orion Capsule Continues to Take Shape at NASA KSC in Florida...

Cabin Checks Underway to Keep Crew Breathing Easy on Artemis II (News Release)

Assembly continues on Orion’s Artemis II crew module, the capsule that will house astronauts during their mission around the Moon. Technicians at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently moved the crew module from its clean room environment to an external work stand, where they are assembling the environmental control and life support system and propulsion system components before installing them on the crew module. These components manage oxygen flow and cabin pressure for the crew module to sustain the astronauts during their mission.

While in space, these assemblies will use a chemical compound to absorb the water vapor and carbon dioxide inside the crew cabin. The chemical compound will then be exposed to space, through a part of the assembly called the vacuum vent manifold, to dry out for reuse. Technicians will also install an assembly that supplies fuel to the thrusters and serves as a backup in the event of an issue with the thrusters’ fuel tank.

The crew module will soon return to the clean room where teams will complete the remaining welds on the systems and install the helium, ammonia and hydrazine tanks that hold fuel for the spacecraft.

Artemis II will be the first mission to carry crew aboard Orion. Orion will launch on the Space Launch System rocket and carry astronauts farther into space than ever before to pave the way for sustainable exploration at the Moon and future missions to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket Will Launch the First Two Components of NASA's Gateway to the Moon...

NASA

NASA Awards Contract to Launch Initial Elements for Lunar Outpost (Press Release)

NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the agency’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), the foundational elements of the Gateway. As the first long-term orbiting outpost around the Moon, the Gateway is critical to supporting sustainable astronaut missions under the agency’s Artemis program.

After integration on Earth, the PPE and HALO are targeted to launch together no earlier than May 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The total cost to NASA is approximately $331.8 million, including the launch service and other mission-related costs.

The PPE is a 60-kilowatt class solar electric propulsion spacecraft that also will provide power, high-speed communications, attitude control, and the capability to move the Gateway to different lunar orbits, providing more access to the Moon’s surface than ever before.

The HALO is the pressurized living quarters where astronauts who visit the Gateway, often on their way to the Moon, will work. It will provide command and control and serve as the docking hub for the outpost. HALO will support science investigations, distribute power, provide communications for visiting vehicles and lunar surface expeditions, and supplement the life support systems aboard Orion, NASA’s spacecraft that will deliver Artemis astronauts to the Gateway.

About one-sixth the size of the International Space Station, the Gateway will function as a way station, located tens of thousands of miles at its farthest distance from the lunar surface, in a near-rectilinear halo orbit. It will serve as a rendezvous point for Artemis astronauts traveling to lunar orbit aboard Orion prior to transit to low-lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon. From this vantage, NASA and its international and commercial partners will conduct unprecedented deep space science and technology investigations.

NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy will manage the SpaceX launch service. The HALO is being designed and built by Northrop Grumman Space Systems of Dulles, Virginia, and the PPE is being built by Maxar Technologies of Westminster, Colorado. NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston manages the Gateway program for the agency. NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is responsible for management of the PPE.

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SpaceX

Photo of the Day: The Space Launch System's Solid Rocket Boosters Continue to Undergo Stacking at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Artemis I LH Center Center Segment Stacking (News Release - January 21)

A close-up view in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the left-hand center center booster segment for Artemis I is lowered onto the center aft booster segment on the mobile launcher for the Space Launch System (SLS) on Jan. 21, 2021. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft.

Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

Source: NASA.Gov

Starship Update: You're Up Next, SN10!

SpaceX

Several hours ago, SpaceX was finally able to launch Starship Serial No. 9 (SN9) from Pad B of its launch facility at Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. Unfortunately, while the experimental vehicle was able to reach its intended altitude of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) during the hop, a failure with one of SN9's two Raptor engines needed for its landing burn—plus other undisclosed anomalies—caused SN9 to lose control and explosively hit the ground only a few meters away from the SN10 vehicle...which is currently sitting at Pad A.


SpaceX

Clean-up activities will obviously begin in earnest to remove SN9's wreckage from the area so SN10 can be prepped for launch, though we'll see if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be much quickler in granting SpaceX a license for the next test. I reckon the FAA should come to expect that RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) will be on Starship's testing regimen for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned.

SpaceX Is Set to Make Private Spaceflight History Later This Year...

SpaceX

World’s First All-Civilian Mission to Space Will Usher in New Era of Commercial Space Exploration (Press Release)

Plans for the world’s first all-civilian mission to space were announced today from SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. The mission is being targeted for the fourth quarter of this year and will be commanded by Jared Isaacman, the 37-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments [NYSE:FOUR] and an accomplished pilot. Named Inspiration4 in recognition of the four-person crew’s mission to inspire support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® and send a humanitarian message of possibility, the journey represents a new era for human spaceflight and exploration. Isaacman is donating the three mission seats alongside him to crew members who will be selected to represent the mission pillars of leadership, hope, generosity and prosperity.

Said Isaacman, “Inspiration4 is the realization of a lifelong dream and a step towards a future in which anyone can venture out and explore the stars. I appreciate the tremendous responsibility that comes with commanding this mission and I want to use this historic moment to inspire humanity while helping to tackle childhood cancer here on Earth.”

Isaacman and the Inspiration4 crew will undergo commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, including a specific focus on orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing. They will receive emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial- and full-mission simulations. The mission will launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX mission control as the spacecraft orbits the planet every 90 minutes along a customized flight path. Upon conclusion of the multi-day journey, Dragon will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for a soft water landing off the coast of Florida.

Isaacman has given St. Jude two seats on the Inspiration4 mission. The first seat is reserved for a St. Jude ambassador with direct ties to the mission who exemplifies the pillar of Hope as well as the courageous vision upon which St. Jude was founded - compassion, unity, equality and inclusion. The second seat will represent the mission pillar of Generosity. During the month of February, members of the public can enter for a chance to join the flight to space and support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude.

Isaacman has committed to give $100 million to St. Jude and is inviting everyone to join him in attempting to raise upwards of $200 million or more in support of St. Jude’s multi-billion dollar expansion aimed to accelerate research advancements and save more children worldwide. He will also offer additional support to the St. Jude fundraising effort in the form of other prizes, including flights in a military jet and flight gear. An accomplished pilot rated to fly commercial and military aircraft, Isaacman holds several world records including a Speed-Around-The-World flight to raise money and awareness for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He has flown in over 100 airshows as part of the Black Diamond Jet Team, dedicating every performance to charitable causes. In 2011, Isaacman co-founded what would become the world’s largest private air force, Draken International, to train pilots for the United States Armed Forces.

“The same year St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital broke boundaries by opening its doors, the first American orbited the Earth in 1962,” said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. “From the beginning, St. Jude has been at the forefront of innovation and inclusion, leading in cancer research, care and treatment for some of the world’s sickest children regardless of race, ethnicity, beliefs or a family's ability to pay. This partnership brings two missions together to create one incredible moment in time that will make an impact for years to come on the global effort to cure childhood cancer.”

Isaacman will collaborate with Shift4 Payments to offer the fourth and final crew seat representing the prosperity mission pillar to a deserving entrepreneur who utilizes the new Shift4Shop eCommerce platform, which empowers entrepreneurs to build and grow successful eCommerce businesses online. Current and new Shift4Shop customers will have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to enter an online competition showcasing them and their business. The competition will be conducted from February 1-28, 2021 and the winner will be selected by a panel of independent judges.

Shift4 Payments is providing marketing support for the mission and will leverage one of the biggest popular culture events of the year, Super Bowl LV this Sunday, to dramatically introduce the mission and its purpose to the public. A 30-second spot will air during the first quarter of the Big Game and invite all viewers to support and be part of this historic journey through the St. Jude and Shift4Shop programs.

Isaacman concluded: “Today’s announcement is the first step of a very exciting journey. In the lead-up to launch, we’ll share new ways to support and follow our mission preparation and execution with a focus on inspiring and helping others.”

To learn more about Inspiration4, how to support and potentially join this historic journey to space and the specific conditions of the promotions, visit www.Inspiration4.com and follow the mission on social media on Twitter (@inspiration4x), Facebook (@inspiration4mission), Instagram (@inspiration4) and YouTube (@Inspiration4) to receive the latest news on mission training and preparation. Individuals who are interested in learning how to enter for an opportunity to win one of the two seats being offered should visit inspiration4.com and review the Official Rules for the applicable promotion.

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