Tai Rade ( / tie rah-day / ) is our space correspondent and spokesperson.

This is her weekly take on what’s happening in space.

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No. 031 - 7 June  2024

• A Tale Of Two Stars
• Chang'e-6
• Update: The Red Planet
• Other Things

Tai here.

This is the state of space as of June 7th.

Let’s get started.

A Tale Of Two Stars

More specifically, two spacecraft with “Star” in the name that made history this week.

It was a great week for launches.

Starliner, a class of partially reusable spacecraft designed to transport crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations, was the first to go up. Liftoff was Wednesday, sending a crew of two to the ISS, demonstrating flight readiness and introducing another capsule to the mix that can get astronauts into orbit.

This one’s been a while coming, but I count Wednesday’s launch as yet another major milestone on our march into space.

The second to go was Starship, in its fourth integrated flight test (IFT-4), which was a roaring (badump bump) success by all measures.

• Starship hot-stage separation, check
• Booster landing burn startup and shutdown, check
• Booster water landing, check
• Starship entry, check
• Starship landing flip, check
• Starship landing burn, check
• Splashdown, check

Some incredible footage of reentry, made possible through Starlink connections — including views of one of the flaps being chewed up by plasma (one thing to fix for the next IFT) — made for a few spectacular moments. Quite a show; this is footage never before seen or even possible with reentering spacecraft.

Let’s go Starship!

See all the milestones here:

Starship IFT-4 Milestones

Chang’e-6

China has done it again. They’ve put another lander on the moon, now taken it off again — with samples — rendezvousing with a service module in lunar orbit.

The complex, four-spacecraft Chang’e-6 mission launched May 3rd. A lander, topped with an ascent vehicle, separated from the orbiter and landed in Apollo crater on the lunar far side late June 1st.

The lander then collected samples with a scoop and drill. These were loaded into the ascent vehicle, and the ascender lifted off with up to 2,000 grams of unique samples just over 49 hours after the landing, making four orbital adjustments.

It’s now docked and ready to come home …

Chang’e-6 Spacecraft Dock In Lunar Orbit Ahead Of Journey Back To Earth

Update: The Red Planet

Nine U.S. companies have been selected by NASA to perform a total of 12 concept studies of how commercial services can be applied to enable science missions to Mars.

This, to me, is a great sign of how our plans of going to Mars keeps getting more and more real.

I’d say we’re doing this.

Concepts in this round of studies include “space tugs” to carry other spacecraft to Mars, spacecraft to host science instruments and cameras, and telecommunications relays. The purpose being to support a broad strategy of partnerships between government, industry, and international groups to enable frequent, lower-cost missions to Mars.

“We’re in an exciting new era of space exploration, with rapid growth of commercial interest and capabilities,” said Eric Lanson, director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. “Now is the right time for NASA to begin looking at how public-private partnerships could support science at Mars in the coming decades.”

Oorah.

NASA Backs 12 Innovative Studies To Enhance Mars Exploration

Thanks for tuning in.

Never forget: Space is the answer.

- Tai

#FortySuns

#40suns

Dad Joke (of the week):

Sometimes I like to tuck my head and legs into my chest.

That's just how I roll.

Last week’s reader feedback:

I’m sad you won’t be doing your Earth obsessions anymore.

- RBD

Tai’s response:

I know, I’ve been hearing from people. It was a tough decision, but at this point I think I’ve covered most of the main things. You can read them all in the Archives on our News page:

Forty Suns Newsroom

Trust me, I’m still obsessed with everything you guys are doing here. Earth has so many amazing opportunities at this moment in history. I’m glad to be here and do my part.

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No. 032 - 14 June  2024

• AI In Space
• 7 Finalists
• Star Factory
• Stoke Space
• Other Things

Tai here.

This is the state of space as of June 14th.

Let’s get started.

AI In Space

There’s little doubt AI is destined to be a major partner with us humans as we push further into the next frontier. It’s already helping in just about every field of human endeavor, and space will be no different.

In fact Artificial intelligence is already transforming the space industry. One area in particular where its impact is becoming significant is space domain awareness (SDA).

By continuously analyzing the trajectories and behaviors of satellites, AI can rapidly analyze vast amounts of data from space sensors and help identify anomalies or potential threats. Notably, the capabilities of AI are enabling an array of commercial SDA services.

The U.S. Space Force, which is responsible for providing space domain awareness data for military operations, is currently refining its plan to leverage these commercial innovations …

AI powering Commercial Insights Into The Final Frontier

7 Finalists

We’ve talked about NASA’s proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, which has gone through a few alterations — as many programs of this scale and scope do.

Mars Sample Return would be NASA’s most ambitious, multi-mission campaign that would bring carefully selected Martian samples to Earth for the first time. The idea is to learn more about the Red Planet as we prepare to send human explorers.

NASA has now announced a list of 7 finalists with proposals for executing on the MSR mission objective ...

NASA Announces List Of Finalists

Starfactory

Have you heard that term? Starfactory?

Starbase is the name of the current SpaceX launch facility for the Starship project, located in Boca Chica, Texas. Starbase is getting a new upgrade, which will be called …

Starfactory.

The purpose of Starfactory will be to eventually build a Starship a day …

SpaceX Scales Up Starfactory, Aiming To Build A Starship A Day

Stoke Space

“This industry is going toward full reusability. To me, that is the inevitable end state.”

That was Andy Lapsa, chief executive of Stoke Space, a pioneer space company working toward 100% reusable rockets. (All stages.)

Recently they announced the firing of their first-stage rocket engine for the first time. This is a methane-fueled unit intended to have a thrust of 100,000 pounds of force, meant to power the company's Nova rocket.

Nova will be able to launch about 5 metric tons into orbit.

Stoke Space also happens to be the authors of one of my favorite quotes:

“We’ve reached a critical point in our history ... How do we grow as a civilization without destroying our home? We believe a perspective from space will give us the information we need to achieve both.”

These guys are part of the leading wave of Space Age 2.0.

Read the interview with Mister Lapsa ...

Stoke Space Ignites Its Ambitious Main Engine For The First Time

Thanks for tuning in.

Never forget: Space is the answer.

- Tai

#FortySuns

#40suns

Dad Joke (of the week):

Why do you never see hippos hiding in trees?

Because they’re very good at it.

Last week’s reader feedback:

So cool on the launch front last week! Was very glad to see Starliner finally get into orbit. And I heard on the next Starship test they may use the chopsticks?

- EL

Tai’s response:

Indeed. Based on comments from Mister Musk, the fifth flight test is expected no earlier than mid July, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. He also said test number 5 may involve a catch of the Super Heavy booster with the tower. Maybe let’s cross our eyes, legs, arms and toes for that one, too. It may sound corny, but the more spectacular the results, the more “eye candy” Starship produces, you might say, the better for all of us. Many, many people have no idea how much amazing progress is being made in space (a thing Forty Suns and myself are trying to fix), and Big Show events like catching a rocket-powered skyscraper with giant metal chopsticks as it falls from the sky will snag the attention of tons of non-space fans. We need more fans of space.  The audacity, scale, and ridiculous fun SpaceX is having (the chopsticks tower is officially nicknamed Mechazilla) are just the sorts of over-the-top optics we need to begin capturing the overloaded minds and eyeballs of the world. And when the world is finally watching, things will really start moving fast. Let’s keep cheering for these crazy, incredible milestones.

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No. 033 - 21 June  2024

• On The Bubble
• Coming Home
• Gateway To The Moon
• IFT-5 Timeline
• Other Things

Tai here.

This is the state of space as of June 21st.

Let’s get started.

On The Bubble

You know me, I like to imagine the bleeding edge — even when that edge may be so far out there even the blood hasn’t reached it yet.

A few times here in my report I’ve touched on things like curving spacetime in order to cover distances, perhaps even faster than light can travel.

These concepts, once resigned to the realm of science fiction, are finding more and more purchase in our current scientific thinking.

Smart people are posing smart ideas, a few of which might actually one day lead to a novel new method of fast travel.

Beyond the theoretical hurdles, there are numerous technological challenges to realizing a warp drive, and it’s way too early to start banking on them, but if there’s one thing we humans do well, it’s figure out how to solve things.

All we need is that spark for our imagination …

Curvature Propulsion And The Future Of Intergalactic Space Travel

Coming Home

June 26th is the target return date for Starliner. Butch and Suni will be coming home.

They’re the first crew to fly Starliner, which Boeing and NASA are hoping to certify for regular rides to the ISS — a role SpaceX has been fulfilling for the past four years.

“We want to give our teams a little bit more time to look at the data, do some analysis and make sure we’re really ready to come home,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Godspeed, guys. We’ll see you on the ground.

Boeing Starliner Return

Gateway To The Moon

“Gateway” is one of the cool upcoming pieces of hardware that will be part of the Artemis moon program. It’s the lunar space station that will serve as a staging point for Artemis crews on their way to the surface of the Moon.

Fun Fact: Gateway will be utilized differently than the International Space Station (ISS), which is in low-Earth orbit. The ISS is permanently crewed, but Gateway is only meant to be crew-tended and will operate uncrewed for much of its in-space life.

Seeing this piece in place will be such a great milestone.

The two elements that will make up the initial Gateway are getting ready for systems installations this year and next ...

Initial Gateway Elements Beginning Systems Integration

IFT-5 Timeline

Though no exact date has yet been given, it looks like late July will be the next time Starship takes to the skies.

One of the biggest barriers to rapid testing has been regulatory approval. It appears this process will soon speed up, given SpaceX uses the same flight profile and other test characteristics for each launch.

Upcoming: Integrated Flight Test 5 (IFT-5). Among other things, it's sounding like we will indeed see an attempt at a tower catch of the Super Heavy booster. Let’s also watch and see what cool new idea(s) SpaceX comes up for the heat shielding.

As they say, excitement guaranteed ...

SpaceX’s Fifth Starship Test Flight Timeline

Thanks for tuning in.

Never forget: Space is the answer.

- Tai

#FortySuns

#40suns

Dad Joke (of the week):

Singing in the shower is all fun and games till you get shampoo in your mouth.

Then it's a soap opera.

Last week’s reader feedback:

The MSR is pretty ambitious, don’t you think? Is it really necessary?

- NF

Tai’s response:

Yes, to both. Taking on ambitious missions, especially when it comes to space, is vital. Mars Sample Return is ambitious – so ambitious, in fact, NASA has decided to solicit the help of private firms. I’ve spoken before about how awesome I think this is; the more we spread the space love, beyond just state players, the faster this industry will take off. Outside of the value of that, yes, MSR is necessary. In NASA’s own words, “MSR would fulfill one of the highest priority solar system exploration goals from the science community. Returned samples would revolutionize our understanding of Mars, our solar system and prepare for human explorers to the Red Planet.” MSR is just one more important piece in the jigsaw puzzle of our space future.

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No. 034 - 28 June  2024

• Space Bricks!
• Moon Mining
• More Milestones
• The Ultimate Test
• Other Things

Tai here.

This is the state of space as of June 28th.

Let’s get started.

Space Bricks!

A few issues ago I stopped doing my weekly “Earth obsession” bit, as I’d hit over 30 topics and figured the segment had run its course, but this week I stumbled on one I never mentioned:

LEGOs!

Builder’s Paradise: My revelation was driven by something the European Space Agency (ESA) just did. They used the iconic LEGO brick model to fashion moon bricks using 3D printing, creating a (familiar to everyone everywhere) building format that could end up being easy to use to assemble structures on the moon.

That or it’s just a great marketing gimmick.

They made them using the materials that will be available on the moon to future colonists. That material would be regolith — the layer of loose rock and dust that covers the lunar surface.

The Stuff: A limited amount of authentic regolith is on Earth, having been brought back by the six Apollo flights that landed U.S. astronauts on the moon, three robotic Russian Luna missions and China's Chang’e 5 sample return probe — and now Chang’e 6 (see next article).

This is just too cool.

‘ESA Space Bricks’ Could Help Build Real Artemis Moon Base

Moon Mining

The first rocks from the far side of the Moon have just landed safely on Earth.

Touchdown: China’s Chang’e-6 re-entry capsule, containing up to two kilograms of materials scooped and drilled from the Moon’s most ancient basin, touched down in the grasslands of Siziwang Banner in the Chinese northern autonomous region Inner Mongolia at 2.07 p.m. Beijing time on Tuesday, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

“The samples are going to be different from all previous rocks collected by the US, Soviet Union and China,” which all came from the Moon’s near side, says Yang Wei, a geochemist at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing. “We have very high expectations for them,” Yang says.

Three Cheers for … : Yes, we’re in competition, but competition can be good. There may be other ramifications to this success, sure, but the upshot is that it’s an amazing accomplishment and it moves the needle for all of us.

• They flew to the moon.
• They landed.
• They collected samples.
• They took off again.
• They rendezvoused.
• They flew back to Earth.
• They landed again.
• They delivered a payload from the dark side of the moon.

Well done, CNSA.

First Ever Rocks From The Moon’s Far Side Have Landed On Earth

More Milestones

More cause for celebration:

Major player in our race to space, Rocket Lab, recently reached a milestone that few commercial rockets have achieved — and at a pace that outperformed the competition. The company launched its 50th Electron rocket to date just seven years after the vehicle’s debut in May 2017.

Mars In Our Sights: The launch for Rocket Lab comes at a busy time for the business, which is pushing towards becoming an end-to-end space company. That includes multiple upcoming missions for U.S. agencies, like the National Reconnaissance Office and the U.S. Space Force — as well as preparing for a planetary mission to Mars with Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as the ride to space.

Congrats, Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Its 50th Electron Rocket

The Ultimate Test

Could a dangerous enough external threat bring us together?

What about a killer asteroid?

Come Together: Truth is, we need bigger games on this little planet of ours. Ideally we’d create those games ourselves and then play them, but, while we do come up with great things to focus on together — what with science and space and such — we mostly end up squabbling about our special interests and other, petty things.

What if we were forced to cooperate?

Right Now: No one would wish an impending catastrophe on us just to test that point, but the reality is dealing with a big, dangerous asteroid that appears to have our planet in its crosshairs would require a healthy dose of international cooperation.

Experts (and common sense?) say it's best to start thinking about that scenario now, while we have enough time to lay out a potential response framework.

And who knows? Maybe in the thinking we’d come up with solutions to more near-term frictions.

If we would be forced to act together in this scenario, why not get ahead of any and all such future potential catastrophes and work together now? As if our future depended on it?

Just sayin’.

Humanity, Working Together

Thanks for tuning in.

Never forget: Space is the answer.

- Tai

#FortySuns

#40suns

Wonder what’s happening in space?

Now you know.

Dad Joke (of the week):

Dentist: Do you smoke or drink coffee?

Patient: I drink it.

Last week’s reader feedback:

More great coverage of cutting edge stuff last issue!

- QD

Tai’s response:

Thanks for the support. Yes, I’m trying to include more of the ultra forward-looking science where I can and it makes sense. It’s important to keep our eyes on the prize, but it’s good to look up once in a while and see where we’re headed.

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