A Piece of the Action
The world vies for a slice of China’s new sample from the Moon’s far side, a new scrap of spacecraft crops up in the woods of North Carolina, and other ways the space world went to pieces this week.
Hello Celestial Citizens and Continuum readers,
And happy fourth of July to those reading this from the United States! I'm still recovering from the over stimulating displays of patriotism and of course the chaotic neon battleground that is Los Angeles on this much anticipated summer holiday. For that reason, you’ll have to excuse the late Friday newsletter — hopefully at least some of you will enjoy this over an end-of-the-week cocktail or adaptogenic beverage (looking at you, longevity friends) if that’s your vibe.
And without further ado, the space beat you came here for…
This edition of Continuum is brought to you by the Space Resources program at the Colorado School of Mines.
Top Headlines
Chang'e 6 Returns – Guess who’s back, back again – and with the world’s hottest lunar sample? Of course, it is China, having now completed its second lunar sample return mission. The approximately four-pound sample, which plummeted to Earth at 25,000 miles per hour on June 25th, also makes China the first nation to retrieve material from the Moon’s elusive far side. While the former Chang’e 5 sample – retrieved in 2020 – provided valuable intel on the soil of the Moon’s near side, the Chang’e 6 sample offers international scientists an unprecedented look at the geologically diverse far side, characterized by its deep impact craters. Sadly left out of this science sandbox is the United States. Per a 2011 ban on US-China bilateral cooperation known as the Wolf Amendment, U.S. federally-funded programs like those of NASA cannot apply for a piece of the pie space dust. Perhaps, U.S. researchers will fight for the same exemption as they did for Chang’e 5; however, a brand new defense bill might make that difficult. But for China, these sample returns are not only promising from a planetary science perspective, but also for China’s in-space operations, as they establish techniques essential for future human lunar travel.
GOES-U – As one space asset comes down, another goes up. On the same day as the Change’ 6 sample delivery, NASA’s newest weather satellite – an NOAA satellite known as GOES-U – began its journey to geostationary orbit with the help of a Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch caught the eyes of weather experts and SpaceX stans alike, with the NASA contractor’s visually compelling simultaneous landing of two boosters gracing social media feeds everywhere. The satellite will be the fourth and final installation to NOAA’s GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) constellation, which strives to improve Earth and space weather forecasting in the US. The latest installment also contains a powerful coronagraph, offering scientists a closer look at the Sun’s corona, hence the power to better predict CMEs.
Through The Roof – The suit we all expected is here. And no, it didn’t come out of Paris Fashion Week. This suit hails from Sunshine State, where a shard of the International Space Station ripped through a family’s rooftop a few months ago. Now, the Florida family has filed a lawsuit against NASA, the agency responsible for the space debris. And Florida isn’t the only state reaping gifts from the sky lately, as a North Carolina “glampground” recently stumbled upon a nifty piece of a SpaceX Dragon vehicle on its grounds. In this case, the space souvenir did not spark legal action nor emotional damages, but instead inspired potential financial gains, with the property putting it on display as a tourism draw. Perhaps if the metallic rocket part had torn through a canvas tent, it would have been a different story – but we digress. Space debris continued to saturate the news last week when a retired Russian spacecraft spontaneously combusted in LEO, splitting itself into one hundred little puzzle pieces that have the potential to collide with other space objects in orbit. So this summer, may we all prepare ourselves for sunny skies and occasional showers of space junk.
Destroyer of Worlds – Speaking of destruction, NASA has hired a hitman for the International Space Station, and he goes by the name of Elon Musk. Last week, SpaceX won an $843 million NASA contract to safely kill – er, deorbit the 24-year old space station once it reaches its expiration date in 2030, a task once intended for Russia. NASA’s sovereign alternative, which is being referred to as the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, will be developed and built by SpaceX and then absorbed by the space agency to drive the operation. What exactly will take the place of the ISS remains to be seen, but commercial stations from Airbus and Blue Origin are currently in the running.
Don’t Stand Too Co-Planar To Me – The U.S. is concerned about a Russian satellite launched back in May, which is now hanging out on the same geometric plane as a U.S. national security satellite. This co-planar positioning “doesn’t seem to be accidental,” according to Gen. Stephen Whiting. The U.S. Space Command has been tracking Russian spacecraft that fall into this “class of counter-space weapon” for decades, but only now does there appear to be one with “operational capacity.” Should Cosmos 2576 carry out any funny business – such as blocking GPS signals or disrupting military communications – the U.S. Space Command believes they’ll be ready to defend U.S. space assets, given their recent prioritization of this type of conflict.
Honorable Mentions
Our final notable nuggets.
Definitely Not Stranded Starliner – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams took the stage – or at least, a NASA live stream – on Wednesday July 10th to answer media questions about Starliner and what it’s like to be
strandedabsolutely loving it on the ISS, as NASA needs the media to know. Really, they’re NOT stranded, okay? We mean it.Leaky Blinders – The International Space Station is nothing if not consistent, rounding out its eventful June with another leak – this one from a spacesuit – postponing yet another planned spacewalk for NASA. Perhaps, the station is feeling a bit of senioritis as it rounds the corner into its final years.
Word to the NEOWISE – An astronomy satellite turned asteroid hunter is finally losing steam – er, coolant. The NEOWISE spacecraft will begin its hibernation at the end of this month, with a reentry planned as early as late this year. The new NEO Surveyor will take its place in 2027.
Fa-HERA-well – NASA’s Texas-based HERA analogue just wrapped up a faux-month on Mars.
Asteroid Day – June 30th was international Asteroid Day, an awareness “holiday” that falls on the anniversary of Earth’s largest observed asteroid strike, which occurred over Russia in 1908.
The JWST Download
Just in time for the 4th of July, the JWST captured flashy “fireworks” of outflows radiating out from a protostar.
Harnessing the combined efforts of the Hubble and JWST telescopes, NASA reveals one of the most iconic space images in a new three-dimensional visualization. So, get out your popcorn and screen the latest NASA flick, portraying the ethereal Pillars of Creation, or Eagle Nebula.
First detected by the JWST in 2022, three “Tiny Red Dots” continue to perplex astronomers. New research suggests these dots – or young galaxies – contain a dense amount of curiously old stars, challenging our “standard models of cosmology and galaxy formation,” according to study author Bingjie Wang.
Another youthful galaxy was recently captured through the eye of the Webb, with the added magnification of gravitational lensing. A recent study of the Cosmic Gems arc galaxy led to the discovery of five massive star clusters, which astronomers hope will continue to clarify the functionality of the earliest galaxies.
A Global Space
Japan – Despite recently revealing that its space agency, JAXA, was the target of multiple cyber-attacks in recent months, Japan provided assurances that all was well with the launch of their H3 rocket, which successfully delivered a valuable Earth-observation satellite to orbit on July 1st. The Mitsubishi-built satellite, known as ALOS-4, is equipped with superpowered vision – thanks to its advanced synthetic aperture radar – even in dark and cloudy conditions. It’s a nice comeback for the H3 rocket, which failed on its initial launch attempt in March of 2023, destroying ALOS-3 – predecessor to ALOS-4 – in the process.
China – Much like many roadside-bought fireworks this week, a Chinese rocket went off without warning during a recent ground test, begetting a fiery – yet arresting – explosion in the nearby mountains of China’s Henan Province. The private Space Pioneer-owned Tianlong-3 rocket was thought to be secured to the ground when teams attempted to test its propulsion system, but apparently a “structural failure” compromised the rocket’s platform connection. It’s certainly not a great start for the Tianlong-3 – which has potential to rival the illustrious Falcon rocket from SpaceX – but we would guess that Space Pioneer will be quick to get the rocket back on track, with intentions of using the rocket to deliver China’s sovereign satellite network.
Ukraine – A Kickstarter campaign may be annoying when it’s for your nephew’s newest Wes Anderson-inspired short film, but crowdfunding efforts put in the right place can actually deliver significant impact (no offense to your nephew). A new Ukranian satellite, purchased from Finnish company ICEYE through crowdfunding, has allowed the country to spy on Russian troops amidst the Russo-Ukrainian war. Earning it the reputation and nickname of the “people’s satellite,” the ICEYE spacecraft utilizes SAR technology to provide high-resolution observations of Russian military positioning, even when they are “carefully camouflaged,” according to the Ukrainian Military Intelligence. The acquisition tactic highlights the power of private space funding, which apparently has a place even in matters of war.
Russia – While on the ground, the nation may be getting beat by a micro-satellite, Russia plans to build up its presence in the celestial sphere. Conveniently ignoring its recent destructive behavior in LEO, Roscosmos touts its schemes to add more in space – namely, the core of its space station, which the agency anticipates to establish by 2030. To support its sovereign station, Russia also aims to design complementary spacecraft and ground systems. Russia’s efforts seem to be in service of establishing autonomy in the space sector, where the country can be free of the “limitations” of its current “international agreements,” according to the space agency.
India – Maintaining momentum from an early June announcement, the U.S. and India cement their plans to collaborate on human spaceflight with a new partnership between India, U.S.-based SERA (Space Exploration and Research Agency), and private company Blue Origin. The program will select and send six “citizen astronauts” from India and other underrepresented countries to suborbital heights in Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. According to SERA’s website, candidates must be over 18 and meet certain physical requirements, and can earn votes to secure their seat. Who votes, you ask? The public. Applicants are encouraged to secure votes from their country through social media, or in SERA’s words, through “themed content prompts to reach a broader audience.” And if all this sounds like it belongs on a televised popularity contest akin to Love Island – or perhaps more aptly, Stars On Mars – well, you’re not far off, because SERA’s website also claims its finalists will “have their journeys documented as they push through the final phase of the selection process.” Cue our collective sigh.
And that’s a wrap on this week in space news! A big thank you to Tess Ryan for writing this edition with me and for keeping up with the cosmos! We hope you enjoyed reading Continuum this week. And if you really, really like us, then consider making it official and becoming a paid subscriber or spreading the space gospel and gifting a subscription.
Keep it celestial people,
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum
To date there’s been no corroboration of Chang’e’s successful landing, let alone the authenticity of the return flight and lunar surface samples. As is probably the case for most of us in space operations, we’re looking at China space agency claims that this mission was completed. In any event, China’s entire space program is based and founded entirely on spacecraft and launch technology and IP stolen from NASA and western space agencies. Maybe this was a successful landing and maybe it wasn’t but the only certainty about any Chinese claims about superiority in space systems are pure propaganda bs.