S03E53: Boeing's Persistent Pauses & Blue Origin's Octogenarian Odyssey: The Space Race's New Peaks

Hi, it's Steve with you for another episode of Astronomy Daily. It's the

twentieth of May twenty four. Poda with your whole Steve, don't clue that's

right on this show today, we're back again with a couple of quick ones

for you. The first one is Boeing Starliner as delayed again. They seem

to be pretty good at that delays at the airport, at the launch pad,

nothing ever changes. I imagine traveling off Earth one day and they lost

your luggage. That would be a nightmare. I'm sorry, sir, your

undies are headed for uranus. Stop it. I couldn't resist. What else?

Okay? Blue Origin seemed to be having fun with the oldies. They've

said another record with the oldest astronaut in space. So it's not you,

Van, Steve. Very funny. I'm not even close to that record,

Hally, and you are even further away. What you're on a year and

a half old. Now A lady doesn't tell her age? Oh really,

I just did have you sigh. Just goes with the job, no privacy

being a huge celebrity. AI is there? Yes, that's true, Hallie.

Now tell me is that story posted on the Astronomy Daily X page at

Astro Daily Pod. Yes it is excellent now listeners, I have posted a

story about the Artemis Moon or rehearsals on our Astronomy Daily X page so you

can see the interesting mock up space suits and hardware they've been practicing with out

in the Arizona Desert. It looks like fun. Oh do you think you'd

like to get into one of those crazy suits too, Hallie? They look

like casual summer where for the moon to me, yes, but not very

practical or safe? Is it too true? So I posted that story and

the photos on Astro Daily Pod on X. So go and check that out

and let's get into it, hallie. Ohkies, here we go. The

first crude launch of Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station has been delayed again

due to a technical issue, NASA said Friday. The launch in Florida was

scheduled for Tuesday, but NASA said it is now planned for May twenty fifth

to allow teams to further assess a helium leak linked to the service module,

which sits on top of the rocket. Earlier this month, a Starliner launch

was postponed just hours before liftoff with the astronauts already strapped in due to a

separate technical issue. The additional time allows teams to further assess the helium leak,

NASA said on its website. The two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunny

Williams, are in the meantime staying in Houston, Texas, until the mission

is ready. It is another delay in the highly anticipated mission, which has

faced years of delays and comes at a challenging time for Boeing as safety questions

surround the century old aerospace Titans commercial aviation arm NASA is banking on Starliner's success

in its goal offe certifying a second commercial vehicle to carry crews to the International

Space Station elon Musk. SpaceX already achieved this in twenty twenty with its Dragon

capsule, ending a nearly decade long dependence on Russian rockets following the end of

the Space Shuttle program. After a nearly two year hiatus, Blue Origin flew

adventurers to space on Sunday, including a former Air Force pilot who was denied

the chance to be the United States first black astronaut decades ago. It was

the first crude launch for the Enterprise owned and founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos,

since a rocket mishap in twenty twenty two left rival Virgin Galactic as the

sole operator in the fledgling suborbital tourism market. Six people, including the sculptor

Ed Dwight, who was on track to become NASA's first ever astronaut of color

in the nineteen sixties before being controversially spurned, launched around nine thirty six am

Local time fourteen thirty six GMT from the launch site one Base in West Texas.

A live feed showed Dwight, at ninety years, eight months and ten

days, became the oldest person to ever go to space. He said right

after the flight it was a life changing experience and that everybody needs to do

this mission. NS twenty five is the seventh human flight for Blue Origin,

which seized short jaunts on the New Shepherd's suborbital vehicle as a stepping stone to

greater ambitions, including the development of a full fledged heavy rocket and lunar lander.

Including Sunday's crew, the company has flown thirty seven people aboard New Shepherd,

a small, fully reusable rocket system named after Alan Shepard, the first

American in space. The program encountered a setback when a new Shepherd rocket caught

fire shortly after launch on September twelfth, twenty twenty two. Even though the

UNCRUD capsule ejected safely, a federal investigation revealed an overheating engine nozzle was at

fault. Blue Origin took corrective steps and carried out a successful UNCRUD launch in

December twenty t tw three, paving the way for Sunday's mission. After liftoff,

the sleek and roomy capsule separated from the booster, which produces zero carbon

emissions. The rocket performed a precision vertical landing as the space ship's sword beyond

the Carmen Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, sixty two miles or

one hundred kilometers above sea level. Passengers had the chance to marvel at the

Earth's curvature and unbuckle their seat belts to float or somersault during a few minutes

of weightlessness. The capsule then re entered the atmosphere, deploying its parachutes for

a desert landing in a puff of sand. However, one of the three

parachutes failed to fully inflate, possibly resulting in a harder landing than expected.

Asked for comment, a Blue Origin spokesperson stressed its system was designed with multiple

fail safes. The capsule is designed to safely land with one parachute. The

overall mission was a success and all of our astronauts are excited to be back

in all, the mission lasted around eleven minutes round trip. Bezos himself was

on the program's first ever crude flight in twenty twenty one. A few months

later, Star Trek's William Shatner blurred the lines between science fiction and reality when

he became the world's oldest ever astronaut at age ninety decades after he first played

a space traveler. Dwight, who was almost two months older than Shatner at

the time of his flight, became only the second nonagenarian to venture beyond Earth

and finally into space. You listen to a spa in the podcast, Oh

and there's always thank you so much, Hally for those stories, and thank

you for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily, where we often

just a few stories from the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which he can

receive in your email every day, just like Hallie and I do, and

to do that, visit our url Astronomy Daily dot io and place your email

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it's happening. And not only that, you can interact with us by visiting

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Space Nuts Podcast Group, and we hope to see you there as the podcast

now. NASA is conducting a week long field test in Arizona's San Francisco Volcanic

Field to prepare for future moonwalks. During the Artemis missions, astronauts, engineers,

and scientists are simulating lunar operations, including technology demonstrations and geologic practices to

refine the procedures and technology needed for lunar exploration. Lessons from these simulations will

guide future missions in the Artemis program and technologies for exploring the Moon and Mars.

During NASA's Artemis campaign, astronauts will explore the Moon. To prepare for

this, the Space Agency is conducting a week long field test in the lunar

like landscape of San Francisco's Volcanic field near Flagstaff, Arizona, to practice moonwalk

scenarios. Wonder how the people of flag Stuff feel about their description there.

NASA astronauts Kate Rubens and Andre Douglas are serving as the crew members, wearing

mock up space suit systems as they traverse through the desert. They will be

complete with variety of technology demonstrations, hardware checkouts, and ARTEMIS science related operations.

During the test, two integrated teams will work together as they practice end

to end lunar operations. The field team consists of astronauts, NASA engineers,

and field experts in the Arizona Desert conducting these simulated moonwalks, while a team

of flight controllers and scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston monitor and guide

their activities. Field tests play a critical role in helping us test all the

systems, hardware and technology will need to conduct successful lunar operations during Artemis missions,

said Barbara Jenoco, director for Field Tests at Johnson. Our engineering and

science teams have worked together seamlessly to ensure we are prepared every step of the

wave when astronauts step foot on the moon again. She said. The test

consists of four simulated moonwalks that follow operations planned for Artemis three and beyond,

as well as six technology runs. During the advanced runs, teams will demonstrate

technology that may be used for future Artemis missions, such as display and navigation

data stream capabilities in the form of a head up display using augmented reality,

or lighting beacons that could help guide CRUs back to the lander. Ahead of

the field tests, the science team at Johnson, which was competitively selected and

tasked with developing the science objectives for the field tests, followed a planning process

designed for Artemis missions. Their preparation included generating geological maps, a list of

science questions, and prioritizing moonwalk locations for both the primary and backup landing sites

for the test. During Artemis three, the astronauts will be our science operators

on the lunar surface, with an entire science team supporting them here on Earth,

said Sharie Achilles, science officer for the tests at NASA's Godard Space Flight

Center in Creedbeltberryland. This simulation gives us an opportunity to practice conducting geology from

afar in real time. The test will evaluate gaps and challenges associated with lunar

South Pole operations, including data collection and communitys between the flight control team and

science team in Houston for rapid decision making protocols. At the conclusion of each

simulated moonwalk, the science team, flight control team, crew members, and

field experts will come together to discuss and record lessons learned. NASA will take

these lessons and apply them to operations for NASA's Artemis missions, commercial vendor deployment,

and other technology development. This field test is the fifth in the series

conducted by Joint Extravehcular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Test Team led out of Johnson.

This test expands on previous field tests so the team has performed and is

the highest fidelity Artemis Moonwalk mission simulation to date. And listeners, if you

would like to head over to X to the Astronomy Daily page. On X

which is at astro Daily Pod, you will see this article plus the photographs

of the amazing equipment that they are carrying around in the mock up spacesuits that

they are wearing. It's quite remarkable. NASA uses field tests like this to

simulate missions to prepare for deep space destinations. The Arizona Desert has been a

training ground for lunar exploration since the Apollo era because of the many similarities to

the lunar terrain, including craters, faults, and volcanic features. Through the

Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, the first person of color,

and the first international partner astronaut on the Moon, paving the way for

long term lunar exploration and serving as a stepping stone for astronaut missions to Mars.

So thanks for sticking with us for another episode of Astronomy Daily. It's

been great having you and I hope you've really enjoyed today's show. Oh I

did, and I still want to try out one of those summer style spased

suits. Oh well, Hallie, I'm sure you look fabulous in the NASA

beach where one summer at Malapert massif on the Moon, if ever they build

a resort up there, sounds dreamy. It sure does. Very Jetsons.

Don't forget Hallie's cousins Anna and Charlie will be looking after you for the rest

of the week and we will see you next Monday. Bye for now,

see you next time. Podcast your whole Steve, don't que

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