Category: Space

The new LE-9 engine for Japan’s H3 rocket continues to have problems and requires another redesign. As such the first flight of the H3 will be delayed a year, as late as Q1 2022, and its second flight will follow about a year after that.

The additional delay means Japan may have problems meeting its logistical commitments to the International Space Station. The next JAXA cargo mission to the ISS on HTV-X1 had been slated for the third H3 launch, and scheduled for February 2022, a date that was already delayed due to earlier problems with development of the H3 rocket. As JAXA is now redesigning both its flagship rocket and signature human spaceflight support module at the same time, further delays are likely to pile up due to any issues with one or the other.

Though JAXA could theoretically pair the HTV-X with another rocket available commercially, or even, perhaps, replace the missed February 2022 cargo run with one or more commercial ISS resupply routes from the various space companies now offering such services, it would be a distinct shift in its space policy goals and also will cost more money than originally budgeted.

18 August 2020 is the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Here is a list of women who have previously celebrated the 18th of August in orbit:

Since their vessel docked with the ISS at 1416 UT 31 May 2020, Crew Dragon DM-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have spoken with dignitaries and well-wishers of all kinds. The latest residents of the world’s longest-serving space station rounded out the press blitz today with an on-orbit news conference with space journalists, followed by a Q&A session from SpaceX engineers.

Doug Hurley provided clear details of the astronauts’ experience of inflight vibration and acceleration, especially during the flight of the second stage, while Bob Behnken dipped into Dragonship Endeavour to show off its zero-g indicating dinosaur alongside DM-1’s plush globe, as they hoped to pass on a hopeful message to the next generation of dreamers and explorers.

The DM-2 now gets to tackle the work ahead of them. Among the many items to do? Stow the ISS cargo that was moved out of the way before their arrival, set up the Crew Dragon to be used as a lifeboat, and unload JAXA’s HTV-9, whose shipment includes new batteries for the space station.

After a scrubbed Wednesday launch attempt, Crew Dragon Demonstration Mission Two (DM-2) lanced skyward Saturday, 30 May 2020. The mission marked the return of crewed spaceflight to Florida’s Space Coast, which hasn’t sent astronauts up since STS-135 in July 2011.

Despite a convective SIGMET issued for a few nearby thunderstorms threatening to derail plans yet again, the pad and abort location weather remained stable at the T minus 7 minute mark, allowing the engines to enter cryochill. Conditions managed to stay steady at Cape Canaveral, and shortly after 1922 UT, the Merlin 1D engines ignited, sending the Falcon 9 into the air above Launch Complex 39A, and past the abort sites in the Atlantic.

Smooth sailing continued as the Falcon first stage was recovered on droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” deep in the Atlantic; once the second stage had delivered Crew Dragon to its parking orbit, it was on its own to for the next 19 hours to the ISS. The mission has only just begun!