SpaceX CRS-17 was released from the ISS today at 1601 UT. As we wait for it to land, here’s a roundup of the week’s space news:
Orbital missions
Plesetek Soyuz-2 GLONASS launch, 0600 UT 27 May 2019
ISS EVA217, 1615 UT 29 May 2019
Baikonur Proton-M Yamal-601 launch, 1742 UT 30 May 2019
The Washington Post interviewed Christina Koch and Nick Hague about life in space.
David Saint-Jacques is also keeping up a high pace of media appearances before he returns to Earth at the end of the month:
Montréal C2, 24 May 2019 (CSA, NASA)
Umiujaq Q&A, 31 May 2019
ARISS Yellowknife, 27 May 2019
Saint-Jacques also had an ARISS contact in Saskatoon on the 27th.
Space Policy and Announcements
NASA announced the first three awards for Commercial Lunar Payload Services, where private companies will promise to build and send landers to the moon. Each of three teams has a separate set of science partners working on payloads that will be mounted on the landers, which are each about 2 to 3.5 meters around, a bit smaller than a compact car.
OrbitBeyond (Edison, New Jersey) is slated to reach the moon first, in September 2020, after launch on a Falcon 9. Astrobotic (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and Intuitive Machines (Houston, Texas) will land in June or July 2021. Astrobotic’s lander is being designed in India and is sponsored in part by German logistics provider DHL.
FAA COMSTAC Committee, 30 May 2019
The FAA has extended the comment period for its new streamlined space launch rules. [SpaceNews]
EU-ESA Space Council met in Brussels, 28 May 2019
As the EU is wont to do, they’ve sliced the entire meeting into Euronews-sized chunks. You can view the full press conference: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (Plus B-roll, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
NASA Advisory Committee, 30 May 2019
