SPACE reports, “It appears that China has moved up its agenda for bringing Mars samples to Earth, and aims to do so before the U.S. achieves this same goal. NASA’s Mars sample return plan, a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA), continues to be scrutinized. A newly launched strategy review team will advise agency leadership about what to do now and offer recommendations by year’s end, or early next year.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Tag: October 2024
US Army Purchases Long-Endurance Solar Drones to Monitor Pacific Operations
Defense News reports, “The Army’s 1st Multi-Domain Task Force has used a small number of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace K1000 Ultra Long-Endurance, solar-powered unmanned aircraft system across the Pacific theater in places like the Philippines and Guam in recent years. Now the Pentagon has ordered $20 million worth of the systems for the unit as well as special operators.”
Full Story (Defense News)
Riyadh Air Places Order for 60 Airbus Narrowbody Jets
Reuters reports, “Saudi Arabia’s newest airline Riyadh Air said on Wednesday it had placed an order for 60 Airbus narrowbody A321-family jets as it prepares to start operations in 2025. The deal, signed at the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, brings to 132 the total number of jets ordered by the Saudi startup, which last year ordered 39 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with options for 33 more.”
Full Story (Reuters)
China’s Three-Person Crew Arrives at Tiangong Space Station
AP News reports, “A Chinese space ship carrying a three-person crew docked with its orbiting space station as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space in competition with the United States, even as it looks for cooperation from other nations. The team of two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who have lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months, conducting a variety of experiments and maintaining the structure.”
Full Story (AP News)
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Captures Stunning View of Big Mars Crater
SPACE reports, “NASA’s Perseverance rover took a break from its Mars mountaineering expedition recently to survey its old stomping grounds. The car-sized Perseverance landed on the floor of the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer-wide) Jezero Crater in February 2021 to hunt for signs of past Mars life and collect dozens of samples for future return to Earth.
Full Story (SPACE)
NASA Determines Cause for Orion Heat Shield Charring
Aviation Week reports, “NASA says it has determined why its Orion spacecraft returned from its 25-day Artemis I flight test around the Moon with unexpected charring in its heat shield. Agency officials, however, declined to release its findings, pending ongoing internal discussions about next steps.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA’s Europa Clipper Has Some Stops on its Long Road to Jupiter and its Moons
SPACE reports that the NASA Europa Clipper mission is on its way to Europa, but it has some stops to make before it investigates “the potential habitability of Jupiter’s icy ocean moon Europa.”
Full Story (SPACE)
NASA Still Working to Resolve Boeing Starliner Issues After 1st Crewed Test Flight
SPACE reports that Boeing’s Starliner had propulsion issues after launching on its first test mission with astronauts. Six weeks after the mission concluded, “NASA is still working on the issues that complicated the spacecraft’s first crewed test flight, agency officials said on Friday (Oct. 25).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Lilium Set to File for Insolvency Protection to Salvage eVTOL Aircraft Plan
Aviation International News reports, “Lilium is about to file self-administration proceedings in a German court, implementing a form of insolvency protection as it scrambles to line up further investment to complete the development of its eVTOL aircraft. The company announced the move on October 24, a week after the German parliament’s budgetary committee rejected its application for a €50 million ($54 million) loan guarantee, which blocked a matching €50 million loan from the state of Bavaria.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Northrop Anticipates Next B-21 Production Award by End of the Year
Defense One reports, “Northrop Grumman anticipates getting a second contract to continue producing the Pentagon’s new B-21 Raider by the end of the year, executives announced today. ‘With B-21, we are on track for meeting the milestones associated with an award’ for Low-Rate Initial Production Contract 2, or LRIP 2 ‘and so we are expecting that to happen in the fourth quarter,’ CEO Kathy Warden told investors during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday.”
Full Story (Defense One)