Minnesota – Page 3 – Fargo Orbit

Progress cargo launched to ISS this week

A Soyuz-2.1a rocket sends Progress MS-14 to the International Space Station from Baikonur, 25 Apr 2020. (Roscosmos)

Soyuz launched the uncrewed Progress cargo module to the ISS early Saturday, and NASA announced three winning bidders for commercial crew lunar landers Thursday.

COVID-19 science
27 Apr 2020 – CDC officially adds 6 more symptoms of COVID
30 Apr 2020 – Experts welcome news on Remdesivir with caution
30 Apr 2020 – High hopes for antigen tests

Orbital News
25 Apr 2020 0151 UT – Baikonur Soyuz Progress MS-14 ISS Cargo
29 Apr 2020 – ISS Kibo deploys Quetzal-1, Guatemalan cubesat

Regional News
25 Apr 2020 – Kit plane C-GTET survives emergency landing
28 Apr 2020 – JetBlue alters MSP service due to COVID
28 Apr 2020 – Layoffs at U Sask could start 4 May
28 Apr 2020 – VP visits Mayo without mask

Further News
24 Apr 2020 – ViaSat gets FCC approval for 20 MEO netsats
26 Apr 2020 – Al Amal, Emirati Mars orbiter, at Tanegashima for July launch
26 Apr 2020 – SN4 survives cryo test, first Starship to pass
28 Apr 2020 – SpaceX sunshield shadows shiny Starlink sats
29 Apr 2020 – An-225, world’s largest plane, will fly PPE to Québec
29 Apr 2020 – CZ-5B rolled to pad at Wenchang for ~5 May launch
29 Apr 2020 – Electron rocket goes vertical at Virginia spaceport, for tests
30 Apr 2020 – Blue Moon, Starship, and Alpaca selected for lunar lander awards
30 Apr 2020 – FDA approves NASA ventilator

COVID-19 response
24 Apr 2020 – Two SK meat plants close
25 Apr 2020 – Winnipeg seamstress donates facemasks
27 Apr 2020 – MB researcher studies difference in COVID outcomes in men and women
27 Apr 2020 – Sask experts caution against herd immunity strategies
28 Apr 2020 – Alberta pilots fly masks north
28 Apr 2020 – MN, SD meat plants ordered reopened
28 Apr 2020 – Winnipeg fair, Red River Ex, cancelled due to COVID
29 Apr 2020 – Alberta workers call for meat plant closures
29 Apr 2020 – Outbreak prevents Lloydminster from joining SK reopen plan
29 Apr 2020 – U Regina students sell facemasks
30 Apr 2020 – Duluth firms make PPE
30 Apr 2020 – North Dakota SU trains contract tracers
30 Apr 2020 – U North Dakota makes Viral Transport Media reagent

JetBlue adapts to COVID as airlines change Midwest flights

JetBlue at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, 10 July 2018 (*The Fargo Orbit*)

As the airline industry suffers under the weight of a global pandemic, flight cancellations are giving way to route thinning. Boston-based JetBlue, once celebrated for its nonstop Boston-Minneapolis service, now serves MSP with the same plane that goes to Chicago. Today, JetBlue also became the first US carrier to require that passengers wear a facemask. Canadian airlines have required passengers to wear masks since 20 April 2020.

Spirit Airlines wants to cut its service to Minneapolis entirely, and Delta Airlines is seeking to cut service to smaller airports like Lansing and Kalamazoo. These cuts may not happen, because cutting a route entirely requires special approval. Similar requests by United and Frontier were recently denied.

Starlink ends surprising week

The International Space Station is down to three crew with the arrival of Soyuz MS-15 in Kazakhstan, Iran orbited a military satellite, and SpaceX launched another 60 Starlink commsats.

Starlink satellites float away from the Falcon 9 upper stage, 23 Apr 2020. (SpaceX)

Orbital News
17 Apr 2020 0516 – Soyuz MS-15 lands with Meir, Morgan, Skripochka
21 Apr 2020 – JAXA releases Bepi magnetometer data from Earth flyby
23 Apr 2020 1930 – Canveral Falcon 9 Starlink Commsats
23 Apr 2020 0359 – Shahrud Qased Noor Iran MilSat

Regional news
17 Apr 2020 – U Minnesota student Nibir Sarma wins on Jeopardy!
22 Apr 2020 – WestJet lays off 3000 employees

Further News
17 Apr 2020 0022 – 5.4 earthquake hits Kodiak, spaceport
17 Apr 2020 – Crew Dragon planned to fly Behnken, Hurley to ISS on 27 May 2020
17 Apr 2020 – PS752 families still want investigation
19 Apr 2020 – FAA AST space office reorganized
21 Apr 2020 – All initial Starlink satellites will move to 550km orbits
23 Apr 2020 – SpaceX will beta test Starlink at high latitudes
23 Apr 2020 – SN4 Starship prototype installed at Boca Chica test stand

COVID response
17 Apr 2020 – Winnipeg Mint makes hand sanitizer
17 Apr 2020 – Calgary grocers insist households send one person once a week
17 Apr 2020 – SafeCare Canada of Winnipeg sells COVID tests, pending approval
17 Apr 2020 – Cirrus Aircraft of Grand Forks and Duluth building powered respirators
17 Apr 2020 ~ Manitoba works on solutions to connect students to the Internet
18 Apr 2020 – Bioriginal in Saskatoon makes hand sanitizer
22 Apr 2020 – Pantyhose enhances homemade masks
23 Apr 2020 – Calgary Stampede cancelled due to COVID
23 Apr 2020 – Sudbury Theatre Company makes masks

Hopeful end to week of mixed news

Orbital News
21 Mar 2020 1706 UT – Baikonur Soyuz OneWeb x34
24 Mar 2020 0343 UT – Xichang CZ-2C Yaogan-30 x3
24 Mar 2020 ~ Venezuelan commsat’s less than perfect end of life
26 Mar 2020 2018 UT – Canaveral Atlas V AEHF-6

Biomedical research of COVID-19
23 Mar 2020 – Chloroquine risks too great for 85% of cases
26 Mar 2020 – VIDO-Intervac tests COVID jab on animals

Regional News
18 Mar 2020 – Al Worden, Apollo 15 astronaut, Michigander, dead at 88
20 Mar 2020 – WiSGC guide to meeting grant requirements in adversity
22 Mar 2020 – Aviation scholarship offered by Connell Aviation Group
23 Mar 2020 – WiSGC links to STEM education resources
23 Mar 2020 – Canadian space stuff for times at home
23 Mar 2020 – Minnesota Science Museum closes due to COVID
24 Mar 2020 – DiaSorin Molecular (Stillwater MN) makes COVID testkits
24 Mar 2020 – U North Dakota Aerospace grounded, online only
24 Mar 2020 – Massive layoffs at Calgary-based WestJet
24 Mar 2020 – Kenora firms making hand sanitizer
25 Mar 2020 ~ Minnesota drone competition for schools
25 Mar 2020 – Winnipeg firms building ventilators, PPE

Further News
19 Mar 2020 – Cyberattacks, the second epidemic of COVID
19 Mar 2020 – ANDESITE cubesat team sprints to deliver payload
19 Mar 2020 – SLS and Orion work halted
20 Mar 2020 – JWST work halted
20 Mar 2020 – Map of Bennu now available
20 Mar 2020 – NASA prioritizes Artemis landing over Lunar Gateway
20 Mar 2020 – Sinclair Interplanetary to stay in Toronto after buyout
21 Mar 2020 – Virgin Orbit gets California quarantine exemption
23 Mar 2020 – FCC approves SpaceX Starlink modems
23 Mar 2020 – Bigelow Aerospace lays off everyone
23 Mar 2020 – Astra Rocket 3 damaged on pad during prelaunch tests
23 Mar 2020 – OneWeb announces layoffs, almost bankrupt
24 Mar 2020 – OSIRIS-REX will add self-driving tech to get rock sample
24 Mar 2020 – Discussion of possibility of life on Mercury
24 Mar 2020 – NASA to scrutinize F9 engine flub for DM-2 safety
24 Mar 2020 – Helicopter abort in key test may delay Crew Dragon DM-2
25 Mar 2020 – Starliner to blame for comm problem, not TDRS
25 Mar 2020 – SpaceX, Argentina delay SAOCOM 1B launch
25 Mar 2020 – Rocket Lab changes plan, cancels 30 Mar 2020 launch
25 Mar 2020 – NASA may help with tech for COVID
25 Mar 2020 – SpaceX takes welder hiring spree public
26 Mar 2020 – ESA #SpaceConnectsUs event cheers up webstreamers

Nebulous plans
20 Mar 2020 – Ceres-1 rocket due in June, launches 4 M$ each
23 Mar 2020 – Aerojet recommends hydrazine, EOR for Artemis
24 Mar 2020 – Firefly Alpha due Summer 2020
25 Mar 2020 – China readies HX-1 Mars lander for July launch
26 Mar 2020 – H3 still may fly this year, Kounotori 9 will be last HTV

Late News
13 Feb 2020 – Mary Ann Tuchscherer (Fox Valley TC) featured by WiSGC
24 Feb 2020 – D’Amoure Washburn (Milwaukee SOE) featured by WiSGC
02 Mar 2020 – Megan Kocher (U Wisconsin-Milwaukee) featured by WiSGC
09 Mar 2020 – Rene Chavez (U Wisconsin-Milwaukee) featured by WiSGC

Ariane 5 ends the week

Orbital news
15 Jan 2020 0253 UT – Taiyuan CZ-2D ÑuSat x2 Jilin-1 Tianqi-5
15 Jan 2020 – ISS EVA225 (Koch, Meir) fixes battery system
16 Jan 2020 0302 UT – Jiuquan KZ-1A Yinhe-1
16 Jan 2020 2105 UT – Kourou Ariane 5 KONNECT GSAT-30

Regional news
10 Jan 2020 – Lucas Bauer (U Wisconsin-Madison) featured by Wisconsin Space Grant
10 Jan 2020 – Space Force commander visits U North Dakota, Cavalier AFS
12 Jan 2020 – Cessna TR182 N736YU crashes near Dunn Mountain, MT, 4 dead
13 Jan 2020 – USGS EROS “Eyes on Earth” Podcast 14 released
13 Jan 2020 – Safe emergency landing in Calmar, AB
14 Jan 2020 – Bismarck Career Academy to buy its own plane
14 Jan 2020 – Allegiant announces seasonal flights
14 Jan 2020 – Iran crash casualites revised, investigators now cooperating
16 Jan 2020 – Joseph B. Habeck (U Minnesota-Twin Cities) featured by Minnesota Space Grant

Further news
10 Jan 2020 – Graduation of NASA Astronaut Group 22, “The Turtles”
12 Jan 2020 – Maesawa puts gameshow in critical path for moon flight
12 Jan 2020 – SLS test article reaches Stennis Space Center

Late news
06 Jan 2020 – 44th Air Race Classic will fly between Grand Forks and Terre Haute June 2020

Starlink’s third launch tops the week

Orbital News
06 Jan 2020 – SOLAR (ISS) instruments removed, will deorbit with Cygnus NG-12
07 Jan 2020 0219 UT – Canaveral F9 Starlink-3
07 Jan 2020 1540 UT – SpaceX Dragon CRS-19 splashdown
07 Jan 2020 1513 UT – Xichang CZ-3B TJSW-5

Regional News
03 Jan 2020 – Delta employees take toxic uniforms case to Wisconsin court
04 Jan 2020 – Cedar Rapids pilots plan circumnavigation to fight polio
06 Jan 2020 ~ Saskatoon museum adds Avro Arrow design documents to exhibit
07 Jan 2020 – Jordan Bartlett (U Minnesota-Twin Cities) featured by MN Space Grant
07 Jan 2020 – Lethbridge races to preserve Fokker F28 used by Time Air
08 Jan 2020 – PS752 crashes after takeoff, 63 Canadians killed
08 Jan 2020 – Pilots in Casper say VOR shutdowns are risky
09 Jan 2020 – Wisconsin-designed DarkAero 1 kitplane featured by Flying

Further News
04 Jan 2020 – AAS: Cubesats proven useful in astrophysics
05 Jan 2020 – AAS: Astronomers must ask to use JWST before 1 May 2020
07 Jan 2020 – NASA and Boeing will study Starliner failure, no extra test planned
08 Jan 2020 – ESA, KTH announce improved 30 GHz waveguide antenna
08 Jan 2020 – SLS rocket rolls out of Michoud, will move to Stennis for tests
08 Jan 2020 – SpaceX wants to help astronomers, but low-vis coating still in tests
08 Jan 2020 – Virgin Galactic second hull can now stand on its own wheels

Long March 5 success highlights the week

A Long March 5 rocket carried the SJ-20 saellite from Wenchang to orbit, 27 Dec 2019 1245 UT (Weibo)

Orbital News
27 Dec 2019 1245 UT – Wenchang CZ-5 SJ-20 commsat
29 Dec 2019 – Christina Koch sets an orbital endurance record

Regional News
27 Dec 2019 – 12 injured in LN₂ breach at Beechcraft plant in Wichita
28 Dec 2019 –

Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg of Winnipeg named to the Order of Canada, for work on genetic disorders.
Also named, three from Ontario and B.C. for aviation matters, and
James Cameron of Saskatoon, for achievements in film.

29 Dec 2019 – Kauaʻi tourist flight crash killed two from Wisconsin
29 Dec 2019 – Starlink satellites spotted over Manitoba
30 Dec 2019 – Bismarck offers $4000 scholarships for new pilots
30 Dec 2019 – MDA splits off from Maxar in 1 G$ CAD deal
30 Dec 2019 – Sun Country Airlines may add Sioux Falls to express bus network
30 Dec 2019 – Honeywell cuts 90 aerospace jobs in Minnesota
31 Dec 2019 –

Colin O’Brady of Jackson Hole,
Andrew Towne of Grand Forks,
and 4 international adventurers,
reached Antarctica after rowing from South America

31 Dec 2019 – Billings adds flights to Dallas, Portland on American, Alaska
31 Dec 2019 – Colorado-based planes to track GHG emissions
02 Jan 2020 – United flight slides off runway at Bismarck Airport
02 Jan 2020 – Unidentified drones fly after sunset in Colorado and Nebraska

Further News
29 Dec 2019 – Boeing updates public on Starliner recovery and checkout
30 Dec 2019 – Iridium wonders aloud about how to deorbit 30 dead commsats
30 Dec 2019 – SLS test slips to perhaps April or later
02 Jan 2020 – Japanese Momo rocket test postponed

Late News
19 Dec 2019 – New (?) spaceport licence sought for the local airport near Cape Canaveral
22 Dec 2019 – Myrtle Cagle, pilot of Mercury 13 fame, dead at 94
23 Dec 2019 – Alaska Airlines upgrades Bozeman to mainline 21 May 2020
23 Dec 2019 – FAA ends untrained ATC quota, U of North Dakota pleased
25 Dec 2019 – Sioux Falls crash revisited one year later

CHEOPS exoplanet probe lifts off this week

Orbital News
16 Dec 2019 0722 UT – Xichang CZ-3B 2x Beidou
17 Dec 2019 0010 UT – Canaveral Falcon 9 JCSAT-18 Kacific-1
17 Dec 2019 0354 UT – Kourou Soyuz-ST-A Cosmo-SkyMed CHEOPS

Regional News
13 Dec 2019 – Chance Beaty (Carthage College) WiSGC feature
16 Dec 2019 – FCC gives ViaSat 18.4 M$ for MT, WI, WY rural broadband
16 Dec 2019 – Ethan Och (U of Minnesota – Twin Cities) MnSGC feature
17 Dec 2019 – Sioux City IA airport fined $150k for safety violations
17 Dec 2019 – Minnesota discussion on the science of Star Wars
18 Dec 2019 – Canadian tech company buys European satcom firm
19 Dec 2019 – FCC licence issued for 15 EOS sats, to be built in Toronto

Further news
17 Dec 2019 ~ US Congress delays civilian control of space traffic
19 Dec 2019 ~ Vector bankruptcy, safety issues delay Georgia spaceport

Late news
02 Dec 2019 – Sophie Gelhar (U of Wisconsin – Stout) WiSGC feature
05 Dec 2019 – 3 die in St. Cloud, MN helicopter crash
06 Dec 2019 – Taylor Peterson (Carthage College) WiSGC feature
07 Dec 2019 – Omaha rotorcraft destroyed in non-fatal crash

North Dakota microbes ride on New Shepard this week

UND’s “Dinonauts” payload readied for the NS-12 suborbital flight. (University of North Dakota)

Regional News

11 Dec 2019 1753 UT – University of North Dakota payload flown on Blue Origin NS-12 suborbital mission
12 Dec 2019 – University of Minnesota Rocket Team wins Bayer Alka-Seltzer rocketry challenge

Orbital News
06 Dec 2019 0818 UT – Māhia Electron ALE-2
07 Dec 2019 0255 UT – Taiyuan KZ-1A Gaofen-2B
07 Dec 2019 0852 UT – Taiyuan KZ-1A HEAD-2A, HEAD-2B
09 Dec 2019 0934 UT – Baikonur Soyuz-2.1a Progress MS-13
11 Dec 2019 0854 UT – Plesetsk Soyuz-2.1b GLONASS
11 Dec 2019 0955 UT – Sriharikota PSLV RISAT-2BR1

Further News
09 Dec 2019 – Updated US space debris standards draw mixed reaction from industry
11 Dec 2019 – Canadian Space Agency tests commercial spacesuit
12 Dec 2019 – Ribbon cutting at Electron launchpad in Virginia