NASA CONFIRMS U.S. ASTRONAUT WILL RETURN WITH COSMONAUTS ON RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT LATER THIS MONTH - While Russian forces invade Ukraine and the West responds with unprecedented sanctions, an American astronaut is preparing to hitch a ride with two cosmonauts on a Russian spacecraft back to Earth from the International Space Station later this month. Mark Vande Hei, a retired Army colonel, is set to break the record on Tuesday for the longest continuous stay in space by a U.S. astronaut before he departs the ISS on March 30. More (Source: Fox News - Mar 15)
RUSSIA'S UKRAINE INVASION AND SPACE IMPACTS: LIVE UPDATES - On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a war whose impact has stretched into space, with satellites providing internet and intel and longstanding international relations in outer space shifting rapidly. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has received harsh criticism internationally from world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden. With this invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin "has put himself on the wrong side of history," leaders of a G7 meeting said in a joint statement on the day of the invasion, according to CNN. More (Source: Space.com - Mar 13)
RUSSIA WARNS SANCTIONS COULD CAUSE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO CRASH - According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. As a result, the Russian segment of the station -- which helps correct its orbit -- could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to "fall down into the sea or onto land", the Roscosmos chief wrote on Telegram. More (Source: France24 - Mar 13)
CHINA TO OPEN SPACE STATION TO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY - China is planning to open its space station to commercial missions and activities, according to a senior human spaceflight program official. “When our space station is completed and running, we will actively encourage the private sector to engage in space through various ways,” Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s human spaceflight program, told China Central Television March 9. “There are many possibilities. We hope there will be competitive, cost-efficient commercial space players to participate in areas including space applications and space resource development. The prospects are good,” Zhou said. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 12)
CAPTURING THE HERITAGE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION BEFORE IT CRASHES INTO THE OCEAN - The International Space Station will intentionally fall to Earth and come to rest within the depths of Point Nemo, a watery graveyard 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) north of Antarctica, in January 2031. The space station will join the fragments of Russia's Mir and NASA's Skylab in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, home to more than 263 pieces of intentionally sunk space debris. Since November 2000, the space station has functioned as an orbiting laboratory 227 nautical miles (420 kilometers) above our planet, as well as a home to continuously rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts. More (Source: CNN - Mar 12)
ACME PLANS 250-SATELLITE WEATHER DATA CONSTELLATION - Acme AtronOmatic, vendor of the MyRadar weather app, won FCC approval to launch satellites to demonstrate technology for a constellation that ultimately could include 250 satellites or more. The satellites, scheduled to launch in April on a Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand, are designed to test and validate hardware for Orlando, Florida-based Acme’s Hyperspectral Orbital Remote Imaging Spectrometer (HORIS) constellation. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 12)
CANADIAN RADAR SATELLITES TO HELP UKRAINE FIGHT OFF RUSSIAN INVASION - A Canadian aerospace company is doing its part to help Ukraine fight off the Russian invasion. The Canadian government has granted MDA permission to collect satellite imagery of restricted areas of Ukraine using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the Ontario-based company announced on Tuesday (March 8). More (Source: Space.com - Mar 12)
OMNIBUS BILL CUTS FUNDING FOR FUTURE WEATHER SATELLITES - Appropriators cut funding for a new generation of weather satellites while increasing funding for the Office of Space Commerce for fiscal year 2022. The omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2022, passed by the House late March 9 and scheduled to be taken up by the Senate in the next few days, trimmed spending for development of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellites, from the requested level of $1.68 billion to $1.29 billion. More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 11)
NASA TO AIR BRIEFING, SPACEWALKS TO UPGRADE SPACE STATION - Crew members from International Space Station Expedition 66 will conduct two spacewalks Tuesday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 23, to continue upgrades to the orbiting laboratory. NASA will discuss the upcoming spacewalks during a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT Monday, March 14. Live coverage of the news conference and spacewalks will air on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. More (Source: NASA - Mar 11)
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