Just before noon EDT this morning, mission Soyuz MS-21 launched from the Russian spaceflight facility in Kazakhstan – the first manned spaceflight of 2022. The flight carries three Roscosmos cosmonauts bound for the International Space Station, the Russian spacecraft closing in on the ISS as I write these words. There is no need to revisit the strained US-Russia relations when it comes to space programs resulting from the needless invasion of Ukraine.
Bouncing back from a February mission failure, Astra
successfully launched this flight from Kodiak Island in Alaska on March 15. Photo:
Astra
Instead, let’s shed some light on another spaceflight venture
this week that likely didn’t attract public attention. This launch took place
in the relatively exotic setting of the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak
Island in Alaska. Astra, the new spacecraft venture which suffered a mission
failure earlier this year when a fairing failed to open properly after liftoff,
this time enjoyed a successful flight to orbit with deployment of its small
satellite payload a complete success. This venture opens the door for three
planned Astra launches from Kennedy Space Center in months to come. More information
on Astra and its planned ventures can be found here:
Some questioned when – if ever – the fully-stacked Artemis
vehicle would appear ready for flight at Kennedy Space Center. The Artemis I vehicle
began the final stage of its journey to the launch pad on March 17, as its eventual
destination appeared in the skies overhead. Photo: Ben Cooper/ULA
Speaking of KSC in Florida, an hours-long process got
underway late yesterday afternoon as the massive doors of the historic Vehicle Assembly
Building slowly opened to reveal the fully-stacked Artemis I spacecraft system,
ready to journey to Launch Complex 39B for final pre-flight testing. If all
goes well, the massive vehicle – standing well over 300 feet tall – will climb
into the skies later this year on an unmanned lunar test flight. Successful
conclusion of this phase will put NASA’s space program within reach of a manned
return to the moon – 50 years after the last Apollo mission, Apollo 17,
completed on December 19, 1972.
Much more information on Artemis can be found here:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemisprogram
A gallery of Artemis travels from the VAB to LC39B on March
17 into the early morning of March 18 is here:
