Aviation Week reports that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) “proposed rules for the operation of vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft, including air taxis, emphasize the continuing differences in approach by Europe and the U.S. to regulating the emerging industry.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: August 2023
India’s Moon Landing Sparks New Space Race
The Washington Post reports that India’s successful moon landing reflecting Russia’s failed moon landing has seemed to be the signal flare that has started a race to divide up the moon and the possibilities that that implies. China and the US are also players in going to the moon – with the US set to launch astronauts on a trip circling the moon in next year’s Artemis II mission, and land people on the moon with its future Artemis III trip in 2025. The budget differentials are staggering, with India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission costing $74 million and NASA’s Artemis program projecting to hit $93 billion. For governments, space exploration “was always in large part about the ability to project power and influence on Earth.” India’s mission “marks a soft-power win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as New Delhi prepares to host the Group of 20 Summit next week.”
Full Story (The Washington Post)
Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Prepare for Hurricane Idalia
Florida Today reports that as Hurricane Idalia “churns off the southwest coast of Florida, the impacts on Brevard’s local space economy are already being felt.” On Monday, “United Launch Alliance teams at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 41 began the hours-long process of standing down from a launch attempt of an Atlas V rocket originally set for liftoff Tuesday morning.” SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch “set for Thursday from the Cape’s Launch Complex 40 still appeared to be on the Eastern Range’s schedule, though the company hadn’t yet confirmed the Starlink 6-13 mission. … Meanwhile, in space, four members of NASA’s Crew-6 mission, which launched to the space station in March, wait for an opportunity to come home. Initially slated to depart the station five days after the arrival of Crew-7 on Sunday, the quartet will spend at least one extra day in space.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Chandrayaan-3 Takes Lunar South Pole Temperature
SPACE reports India’s Chandrayaan-3 has been hard at work since its landmark landing on the lunar South Pole last week. On Sunday, ISRO posted an update on social media “regarding one of Chandrayaan-3’s payloads called the ChaSTE experiment, or Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment.” The purpose of this experiment “is to use a temperature probe as well as 10 individual temperature sensors to measure temperature profiles of lunar south pole soil.” ISRO says the goal “is for ChaSTE to help scientists understand what the thermal behavior of the moon’s surface is like.”
Full Story (SPACE)
AIAA Statement on the Indian Space Research Organisation Chandrayaan-3 Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“Congratulations to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its successful landing at the south pole of the moon! We were thrilled watching the Chandrayaan-3 mission unfold in real time. We will be eagerly following the progress of the rover, Pragyan, and the ongoing mission in the coming days.
As the professional technical society for aerospace engineers, our members appreciate and understand the difficulty of this mission’s engineering challenges. Safely landing on the moon is a challenge and to reach the lunar south pole is an even greater accomplishment.
The ISRO team’s resilience is admirable. The Chandrayaan team has persevered over time to continue advancing its lunar exploration program. They have reached an historic milestone making India the fourth spacefaring nation to land on the moon. AIAA is honored to support the four AIAA student branches at universities in India and about 400 AIAA members across India.
We applaud India’s commitment to a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space, especially as it joined the Artemis Accords earlier this year. We believe the Artemis Accords establish important principles to guide cooperation among nations exploring space, including those participating in NASA’s Artemis program. As we expand the human neighborhood in low Earth orbit and beyond to the surface of the moon and cislunar space, we see the vital need for this type of cooperation among countries and industries.
On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we recognize the professionals in the aerospace industry involved in making this mission a success. We salute and applaud the ISRO team for making important contributions to shaping the future of aerospace.”
AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Bristow Conducts First Flight Test in Beta’s Alia
Aviation Week reports that global helicopter operator Bristow “has conducted its first test flight in Beta Technologies’ Alia in support of its orders for both the conventional- and vertical-takeoff-and-landing versions of the electric aircraft.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
China Launches World’s First Geosynchronous Orbit Radar Satellite of its Kind
Space News reports that China “launched what is thought to be the world’s first geosynchronous orbit synthetic aperture radar satellite on Saturday.” A Long March 3B rocket “lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 1:36 p.m. Eastern (1736 UTC) Aug. 12.” The Land Exploration-4 01 (Ludi Tance-4 (01)) satellite successfully “entered geosynchronous transfer orbit, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. … (CASC) announced within an hour of liftoff.” Few details of the satellite “were provided by CASC.” However the group’s “blue book” outlining plans for 2023 released in January noted the launch of a “high-orbit 20-meter [resolution] SAR satellite.” The L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite “will provide all-day, all-weather observation of China and surrounding areas, boosting the country’s disaster prevention, reduction, and relief capabilities.”
Full Story (Space News)
FAA Issues Safety Warning for 737 MAX Anti-Icing Systems
Economic Times (IND) reported that the Federal Aviation Administration is warning airlines to limit the use of an anti-icing system on Boeing’s 737 MAX jets in dry air to avoid overheating engine-housing components which could cause them to break away from the plane, with the finding affecting CFM International LEAP-1B engines used on all versions of the aircraft.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus Capsule Demonstrates Reboost Ability Aboard ISS
Aviation Week reported that one week “after berthing to the International Space Station (ISS), Northrop Grumman’s 19th NASA-contracted Cygnus resupply capsule fired its delta velocity thruster for 22 min., 48 sec. early Aug. 11 to raise the station’s orbit.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Virgin Galactic Flies First Tourists to the Edge of Space
Reuters reports that on Thursday, Virgin Galactic “blasted three tourists to the edge of space aboard its air-launched VSS Unity spaceplane, a live stream showed, the Richard Branson-founded company’s second commercial mission as it starts routine flights.” The rocket-powered VSS Unity craft “dropped from the carrier plane over New Mexico around 9:20 a.m. local time and blasted its four passengers, a company instructor and three tourists, to an altitude of roughly 55 miles (88.51 km).” Aerospace America reports that the tourists onboard “were Anastatia Mayers, 18; her mother, Keisha Schahaff, 46; and Jon Goodwin, 80, of the United Kingdom.” Mayers and Schahaff won their tickets “to board the Virgin Galactic flight in a drawing run by Colorado nonprofit Space for Humanity, which has a goal to send 10,000 people to space in the next 10 years.” Goodwin paid $250,000 “for his ticket in 2005 when Virgin Galactic first began selling them.” The crew members “were mission commander Frederick ‘CJ’ Sturckow, pilot Kelly Latimer and Beth Moses, the company’s chief astronaut instructor.” Previous Virgin Galactic flights “had carried test pilots, company founder Richard Branson, company employees and, most recently, two Italian Air Force officers and an aerospace engineer from the National Research Council of Italy.”
Full Story (Reuters); Full Story (Aerospace America)