CSL News #1 - Current Events

NASA JWST

The JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) has had more delays this week. The new launch date is on December 24th, 2021 due to a communications error when attaching the JWST to the LV.

Blue Origin - Commercial Launching

This week, Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched another commercial flight with GMA Host Michael Strahan, the daughter of famed astronaut Alan Shepard, and four paying customers on the New Shepard. This commercial launch went successful and everyone returned home safe.

NASA x ASI IXPE Mission

NASA and the Italian Space Agency launched their joint mission IXPE on December 9th this month for pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9. IXPE, Otherwise known as Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, or SMEX-14, is a space observatory with three identical telescopes designed to measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays of Explorer program. The planned mission duration is 2 years.

NASA SLS Updates

Its been awhile since we have had any SLS Updates, but we have some!

NASA has completed assembly of the upper, or forward, part of the core stage on the SLS rocket for Artemis. Boeing, as the lead core stage contractor, completed the joining and then lifted it out of the assembly structure at NASA’s Michound Assembly Facility. The first SLS Launch is on track for sometime in February of 2022