Hello and welcome back to Tech News Space. Let’s dive into what’s new!
Want to reach out to Aria and give her some advice? Email Aria at [email protected] or send a message via Signal to 512-937-3988. You can also send a note to the entire Tech News team at [email protected]. For more secure communicationsClick here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop instructions and links to encrypted messaging apps.
The Starliner saga has finally come to an end — for now. Shortly after midnight on Saturday, Boeing’s Starliner capsule returned from the International Space Station and landed at the White Sands Spaceport in New Mexico.
The capsule autonomously returned to Earth without its two crew members, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will remain aboard the station until next February. The space agency determined late last month that the pair will make their return trip to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, after Starliner experienced technical problems early in the mission.
At a post-flight news conference Saturday, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich called the flight “nearly flawless.” He added that the successful mission sparked mixed feelings among staff.
“From a human perspective, we are all happy about the successful landing, but there is also a part of us, all of us, that wishes it had gone the way we had planned,” he said. “We had planned for the mission to land with Butch and Suni on board.”
Just a little nonpublic tidbit in this story: By now, you’ve probably heard that the first launch of Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket won’t be for NASA. That rocket was scheduled to launch two spacecraft to Mars for NASA over an eight-day period that opens Oct. 13. But NASA announced Friday that it was postponing the mission, called ESCAPADE, until spring 2025, citing potential technical and cost issues with the two satellites running out of fuel.
What I’ve heard is that there was an ATP (clearance to proceed) meeting to decide whether or not to fuel the spacecraft the day before NASA formally postponed the mission. While this decision certainly depends on the readiness of the launch vehicle, fueling the spacecraft is a critical time. It makes sense that they chose to postpone it rather than run the risks (technical, financial, etc.) of having to defuel the spacecraft.
This week in space history
This week we remember the tragedy of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. Did you know that there was only one American off the planet when the attacks occurred? NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson was aboard the International Space Station at the time and as soon as he heard about the attacks, he immediately went to capture some images of the scene from space.
“The smoke seemed to have a strange formation at the base of the column heading south out of the city. After reading one of the news articles we just received, I think we were looking at New York at the time of the second tower’s collapse or shortly after. How horrible…” – Frank Culbertson
