2. Wednesday, June. 23, 2021: Hotel Mars – Dr. Haym Benaroya of Rutgers University will talk with John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston about the lunar colony plans of China and Russia, their timeline and technology.
3. Thursday, June. 24, 2021; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): No program today
4. Friday, June.25, 2021; 9:30-11 am PDT (11:30 am-1 pm CDT, 12:30-2 pm EDT): We welcome Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire to the program to discuss their recent warp drive physics paper. See the blog for links to the story and the paper.
5. Sunday, June.27, 2021; 12-1:30 pm PDT (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): We welcome back Dr. Scott Pace to the program on space policy, traffic mgmt and what’s next.
On Wednesday, June 16, NASA flight engineer Shane Kimbrough and ESA Astronaut (European Space Agency) Thomas Pesquet will exit the space station to install the first two of six ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) to ultimately upgrade six of the station’s eight power channels. They will install the first array on the far end of the left (port) side of the station’s backbone truss structure (P6) to upgrade the 2B power channel. On Sunday, June 20, the duo will install the second solar array to upgrade the 4B power channel on the P6 truss. The solar arrays arrived at the station in the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft as part of the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission to the station. This spacewalk will be the seventh for Kimbrough, and the third for Pesquet. This will also be the third spacewalk Kimbrough and Pesquet will conduct together, following two Expedition 50 spacewalks in January and March 2017. This will be the 239th spacewalk in support of station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
** Expedition 65 Spacewalk 74 and 75 Briefing – June 14, 2021 – NASA Video
On Monday, June 14, NASA hosted a news conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss upcoming spacewalks to install new solar arrays to help power the International Space Station. The news conference participants were; Dana Weigel, deputy manager, International Space Station Program, Pooja Jesrani, spacewalk flight director, Kieth Johnson, spacewalk officer, and Dan Hartman, manager, Gateway Program
** Expedition 65 Shane Kimbrough Discusses IROSAs Spacewalk – June 14, 2021 – NASA Johnson
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA discussed a pair of spacewalks he and crewmate Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to make June 16 and 20 to begin the installation of new ISS roll-up solar arrays (IROSAs) that will augment the power supply of the orbital outpost for the remainder of its lifetime. The first array of this initial pair of power generators, launched on the SpaceX Cargo Dragon flight two weeks ago, will be installed on the first of two spacewalks by Kimbrough and Pesquet on the far port truss of the station (P6 truss) to upgrade the power output for the station’s 2B power channel. A second spacewalk by Kimbrough and Pesquet will install the second roll-up array on the P6 truss for the 4B power channel. Four more arrays will be installed next year to complete the upgrades
** Spacewalk to Install New International Space Station Solar Arrays – NASA
After more than 20 years, the International Space Station is getting new solar arrays, and you have the chance to watch it LIVE during a spacewalk! On June 16, Shane Kimbrough of NASA Astronauts and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will venture into the vacuum of space for ~6.5 hours to install and deploy two roll-out solar arrays on the space station.
** Watch China’s Shenzhou-12 crew dock with new space station – VideoFromSpace
Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo docked with the space station core module Tianhe aboard their Shenzhou-12 spacecraft on June 17, 2021. They launched about 6.5 hours prior to docking from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gobi Desert.
** Chinese astronauts enter new space station after 6.5 hour flight – VideoFromSpace
Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo entered the space station core module Tianhe on June 17, 2021. Full Story: https://www.space.com/shenzhou-12-doc…
They launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gobi Desert and docked with the orbital outpost about 6.5 hours later.
1. Tuesday, June. 15, 2021; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT): We welcome Dr. Kevin Cannon from the Colorado School of Mines to discuss lunar geology and more.
2. Wednesday, June. 16, 2021: Hotel Mars TBA pre-recorded. See upcoming show menu on the home page for program details.
5. Sunday, June.20, 2021; 12-1:30 pm PDT (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): Welcome back to noted space attorney Michael Listner to discuss space news, policy and more. Visit Michael’s website at www.spacelawsolutions.com.
Some recent shows:
** Sunday, June.13.2021– Open lines program covered a wide range of space news topics and policy issues.
** Friday, June.11.2021 – Dr. Akhil Rao discussed “economically controlling orbits to maximize economic potential and assure economic and industry growth“. See the show page for links to papers by Rao et al.
** Tuesday, June.8.2021 – Dr. Martin Ross talked about “the effects of climate change on the space industry, how rockets and reentry vehicles or debris impact the middle atmosphere creating dangerous “dust” plus we took a look at the current research and talked about possible mitigation strategies.”
A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):
International Space Development Conference 2021 – virtual event – June 24-27, 2021. “The four-day virtual conference will focus on key areas of space development: space settlement, space policy, space solar power, Moon, and international space programs.”
** iSpace to Develop “Falcon 9”-like Rocket, New Images of Mars from China’s Zhurong Rover – Ep 37 – Dongfang Hour – YouTube
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup! Without further ado, the news update from the week of 7 – 13 June:
1) iSpace unveils details on the Hyperbola-3, which is officially validated and moved to the R&D phase 2) Emergence Dongfang Space (“Ospace”), yet another launch company 3) Additional Pictures from Tianwen-1 (orbiter shot of the lander) 4) Shenzhen Publishes Support for Satellite Manufacturing & Long March 2D Launch 5) CAS Xi’an to Launch Xiamen-1 Satellite 6) China Announces a MEO Broadband Constellation
Do remember to check out also our weekly newsletter which does a broader coverage, going over pieces of news that we don’t have time to discuss in the weekly podcast (https://www.dongfanghour.com/).
** The Space Show – Friday, June.11.2021 – Dr. Akhil Rao discussed “economically controlling orbits to maximize economic potential and assure economic and industry growth“. See the show page for links to papers by Rao et al.
** The Space Show – Tuesday, June.8.2021 – Dr. Martin Ross talked about “the effects of climate change on the space industry, how rockets and reentry vehicles or debris impact the middle atmosphere creating dangerous “dust” plus we took a look at the current research and talked about possible mitigation strategies.”
From the truck, to the rocket, to orbit, and beyond, we’ll tackle how we move things to space and how they get around there. What are different types of propulsion for long- and short-haul transport? How do we refuel? Is traffic getting bad up there? How do space-bound items even get to the launch pad? And no conversation about space logistics would be complete without the glory and passion of launch. Join us for two days of discussion with expert guests.
TOPICS WILL INCLUDE: Pre-Launch Logistics Launch Propulsion and Transport Space Traffic Management
International Destination Station went virtual in 2021! This exciting event showcases the International Space Station as a one-of-a-kind, state-of-the art orbiting laboratory allowing groundbreaking research not possible on Earth. This year’s event featured experts from NASA and the ISS National Lab detailing how the ISS is enabling space research and development
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** SpaceX Cargo Ship Arrives at the Space Station – NASA
An unpiloted SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft automatically docked to the space-facing port of the Harmony module at the International Space Station June 5, delivering some three-and-a-half tons of supplies, scientific experiments and a pair of new station solar arrays to the outpost. The new arrays – called ISS Roll Up Solar Arrays, or IROSAs – are the first of three pairs of solar wings that will be attached to the port and starboard trusses of the lab to augment the station’s power output. Two spacewalks are scheduled in June to attach the first pair of arrays that were flown to the station on the Dragon vehicle.
** NASA Science Live: Engineering Human Tissue – NASA
Teams across the country have been competing for years to be the first to engineer functional human tissue in a lab. Now, scientists have accomplished this medical feat by creating thick vascularized human organ tissue, which could have profound implications both on Earth and off. Join us LIVE on Wednesday, June 9 at 3:00 p.m. ET, as we announce the official winner of NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge.
** NASA’s SpaceX CRS-22 What’s On Board Science Briefing – NASA Video
Beginning at 11 a.m. EDT on June 2, 2021, NASA held a “What’s On Board?” briefing for NASA’s SpaceX CRS-22 commercial cargo launch to the International Space Station. The briefing featured: Jamie Foster, ADSEP-UMAMI, discussing an experiment studying symbiotic squid and microbes in microgravity; Thomas Boothby, Cell Science-04 (virtual), discussing an experiment studying tardigrade (water bears) survival under extreme environment conditions in space; Joe Blair and Jonathon Bonamarte, RamSat, discussing a cubesat built by Oak Ridge, Tennessee students from Robertsville Middle School. SpaceX’s 22nd contracted cargo resupply mission (CRS) to the International Space Station for NASA will deliver more than 7,300 pounds of science, research, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware, including new solar arrays, to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Launch is targeted for 1:29 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 3, 2021. Launch activities will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
