Jeff Foust Profile picture
Jan 18, 2022 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
NASA’s Jim Free shows projected launches and other milestones for NASA exploration and space operations. The March 31 date for the Ax-1 mission is new to me; it was Feb. 28. ImageImage
Free says the reorg of HEOMD into separate exploration and space ops mission directorates still going through approval processes (OMB, Congress, unions), hope “in the near term” all stakeholders approve.
Current manifest of Artemis missions. Artemis 2 is mid-2024 but will depend how well Artemis 1 goes (crew selection is later this year, which is what you’d expect for a 2024 launch.) Artemis 4 is currently planned only for Gateway; after Artemis 3 next landing is Artemis 5. Image
NASA ISS Director Robyn Gatens says NASA-Roscosmos crew barter agreement has passed Roscosmos review and is with the Russian foreign ministry. Expect to have astronauts back on Soyuz, in exchange for Russian cosmonauts on Crew Dragon, this fall.
Some updates on other ISS issues (air leak in Zvezda, Nauka thruster firing, ASAT debris). ImageImage
Gatens says CASIS is doing well managing the ISS national lab altering implementing recommendations of independent review. Starting to see more demand from ISS national lab users than resources available.
A chart by Gatens on how NASA foresees transferring current ISS activities to commercial space stations (which NASA calls Commercial LEO Destinations, or CLD). Image
Patricia Sanders, chair of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, mentions in committee discussion that both she and Jim Free are testifying before the House Science Committee Thursday. Good to know, since the committee hasn’t disclosed a witness list yet. science.house.gov/hearings/keepi…
Now the Science Committee releases the witness list for the hearing: William Russell (GAO), Paul Martin (NASA Inspector General) and Dan Dumbacher (AIAA) join Free and Sanders. Image

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More from @jeff_foust

Feb 8, 2023
At the FAA CST conference, Rich DalBello, director of the Office of Space Commerce, says the office recently completed a space traffic management pilot program in GEO using exclusively commercial data. Analyzing that pilot program now but "highly confident" it worked well.
Dan Ceperley of LeoLabs says that while much of the Cosmos 1408 ASAT test debris has deorbited, risk to satellites has not declined as quickly since debris is slowly descending through heavily trafficked orbits.
DalBello: moving from a world where Space Track and the 18th SDS are the only sources of SSA data. Need to coordinate internationally as more sources of data come online. But, right now Chinese are not sharing data. Need all responsible operators at the table.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 8, 2023
Shotwell: tension between pace of innovation by us and regulators. Need to figure out how to work with regulators to make process faster.
Shotwell on Starlink: really pleased to provide connectivity for Ukraine in their fight for freedom. But never intended it to be weaponized. They leveraged it in ways that were unintentional.
Shotwell on Starship and HLS: we need to get orbital pretty quickly. We don't want fly people on the 15th flight. Want it to be the 100th or 200th flight.
Read 5 tweets
Feb 8, 2023
At the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference today, Kelvin Coleman, associate administrator for comm'l space transportation, said his office licensed a record 84 operations (launches and reentries) last year; five years ago, only 26 operations.
Coleman: we're preparing for the potential end of the "learning period" that restricts safety regs for commercial human spaceflight participants. That includes updating best practices and standing up an aerospace rulemaking committee on the issue.
Coleman on his office's dual mandate for safety and to encourage, facilitate and promote the industry: safety is job one for us. We don't do marketing, but we do encourage, facilitate and promote our spaceflight safety framework internationally.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 8, 2023
Firefly Aerospace's Bill Weber says in a small launch vehicle panel at #smallsatsymposium they're preparing for an Alpha launch for a responsive space mission in May; after that, perform launches every two months.
Virgin Orbit's Dan Hart: investigation into LauncherOne failure last month still in progress, but everything points to a filter in the second stage that got dislodged and "caused mischief downstream." It was "a $100 part that took us out." Working on return to flight from Mojave.
Lots of discussion on the panel about affordability and launch costs. Arianespace's Marino Fragnito suggests an unnamed company (which sounds a lot like SpaceX) is setting smallsat launch costs so low on rideshare missions other companies can't make money.
Read 7 tweets
Nov 15, 2022
NASA is go to begin SLS tanking operations. Third time’s the charm? blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2022/1…
NASA says they’re expecting about 15,000 guests on-site for tonight’s Artemis 1 launch attempt. They estimated 25,000 guests for the first launch attempt in late August. (Big difference between a Monday morning in late summer and after midnight on a Wednesday in November…)
Among the high-profile guests, NASA says, are recently retired Space Force Gen. Jay Raymond, former Rep. John Culberson and Mark Armstrong, son of Neil Armstrong. Sorry, no Jack Black, Chris Evans or Yo-Yo Ma this time.
Read 28 tweets
Nov 14, 2022
Call underway. Still proceeding for a Nov. 16 launch.
Mike Sarafin, Artemis 1 mission manager, said analysis on the Orion RTV delimitation showed risk was bounded by current hazards. No dissenting opinions at the mission management team meeting.
Sarafin adds that they’re “comfortable flying as-is” with both the RTV issue and the electrical connector on the tail service mast umbilical where they’re still “seeing some funnies” but have redundancy.
Read 4 tweets

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