Aviation Week reports that as his U.S. record-setting mission “aboard the International Space Station (ISS) draws to a close, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio says he knows his body will take months to fully readapt to gravity and its impacts on his bones, muscles and vestibular system.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: September 2023
FAA Approves BVLOS Flights for Zipline Cargo Drones
Aviation Week reports that the FAA “has authorized Zipline International to perform beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights of its cargo drones.” The company, which “is a Part 135 operator, is now authorized by the regulator to deliver commercial packages using its UAV and a parachute.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Flies Through Coronal Mass Ejection
Forbes reports that NASA’s Parker Solar Probe “has become the first spacecraft ever to fly through a coronal mass ejection from the sun—a powerful eruption of billions of tons of plasma.” The closest spacecraft to the sun, “launched in Aug. 2018, spent two days within a CME while just 5.7 million miles (9.2 million kilometers) from the solar surface.” For context, Mercury “is 23 million miles (37 million kilometers) from the sun and Earth is a whopping 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) distant.” As revealed in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, Parker “passed right through the CME on Sept. 22, 2022, crossing the wake of its leading edge—its shock wave.” The moments were “captured by the probe’s Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument and are published on YouTube.” Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Nour Raouafu said, “This is the closest to the sun we’ve ever observed a CME. We’ve never seen an event of this magnitude at this distance.”
Full Story (Forbes)
FAA Reinstates Mexico’s Aviation Safety Rating to Highest Level
The AP reports that on Thursday, the FAA “returned Mexico’s aviation safety rating to the highest level two years after downgrading it.” The change will “allow Mexican airlines to add new routes to the United States, and U.S. airlines will once again be able to sell tickets on Mexican airline-operated flights.” In May 2021, the FAA “lowered Mexico’s rating because the country did not meet standards set by a United Nations aviation group.” The FAA “found that Mexico’s ability to oversee its airlines fell short of standards set by a U.N. group called the International Civil Aviation Organization.” Those standards “cover a broad range of issues, including the regulator’s technical expertise, inspection procedures and record-keeping.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Returning Crew-6 Astronauts Express Satisfaction with Scientific Opportunities Aboard ISS
Aviation Week reports that just over a week “after returning to Earth after a 186-day mission to the International Space Station, three of NASA’s four Crew-6 astronauts expressed satisfaction with their contributions to a work agenda that included 280 science investigations and technology demonstrations.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA Leadership to Call Frank Rubio after Record-Breaking Mission
The AP reports that on Wednesday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy “will speak with agency astronaut Frank Rubio about his record-breaking mission aboard the International Space Station.” Rubio, who is “serving on a year-long mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, today surpassed NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s U.S. record of 355 days in space as the longest single spaceflight by an American.” When he “lands on Earth at the end of the month, Rubio will have 371 days in space.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Terran Orbital Announces Satellite Production Increase
Space News reports that on Thursday, satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital “plans to accelerate production at its factory in California, promising deliveries in 30 to 60 days” beginning next year. Terran Orbital Cofounder, Chairman, and CEO Marc Bell said the company is marketing this effort as a “responsive space initiative” to shorten production timelines. Bell said the 30-60 day service “will be available in late 2024.” The company will “rely on increased automation and robotics systems to speed up production, said Bell.”
Full Story (Space News)
Firefly Ready to Test Launch USSF On-Demand Service
Aviation Week reports that sometime in the next six months, Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems and startup Firefly Aerospace “will receive a call from the U.S. Space Force to integrate and launch a satellite in 24 hr.” Until then, the companies “will stand at the ready for the military’s Victus Nox mission.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
USAF Aims to Finish C-130H Repairs by September
Aviation Week reports that the US Air Force “will complete repairs on all of the aircraft in its C-130H fleet by the end of September after cracks in propeller blades forced a grounding of the fleet beginning in September 2022.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)