A space exploration update for November 2021. In Earth orbit news, one crew returned from the International Space Station, while a new crew rode a SpaceX flight to board the ISS. The ISS altered its orbit by a mile to avoid incoming debris from an old Chinese launch. Members of the Shenzhou 13 team aboard China’s Tiangong space station conducted a spacewalk to build out the station; colonel Wang Yaping became China’s first female spacewalker.
In space tourism developments, one hundred people have bought Virgin Galactic flight tickets so far.
Glen de Vries, who flew alongside William Shatner (previously), died in a plane crash.
Getting machines into orbit: SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites into orbit, then recovered the rocket. China launched three more Yaogan reconnaissance satellites into Earth orbit. Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched nine satellites into orbit. Scientists used data from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite to generate a clearer picture of how human carbon emissions declined during spring 2020. An international group signed a Net Zero Space charter, calling for making Earth orbit safer from junk as it gets more crowded; China launched a military satellite to explore that issue. Spaceflight (a company of that name, not the concept) announced it would ferry satellites to orbit next year on its space tug, which would itself reach orbit via a SpaceX launch.
Towards and on the moon: NASA announced it planned for ten lunar landing missions in its Artemis program. The first new human landing is now scheduled for 2025 and will likely use newly designed spacesuits. NASA also announced the south polar destination for lunar mining probe Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), to launch next year, in collaboration with the Intuitive Machines company. Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced plans to collaborate on a second attempt to land a probe on the moon, Bereshet 2.
Also in the Earth-moon system, two researchers believe near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa contains lunar materials, perhaps because it was torn off of the moon.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe, a test of how to attack dangerous asteroids, aimed at near-Earth asteroid 65803 Didymos, will be able to launch starting November 21.
Near the Sun: the Parker Solar Probe is getting blasted not only by radiation, but high velocity dust.
Venus: NASA published a video illustrating how it hopes its forthcoming (in 2029) Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission will fare.
Mars: China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft adjusted its orbit to conduct more surface mapping. NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter took another flight, its 15th, for nearly 13 seconds. Perseverance scraped at interesting rocks.
Jupiter: astronomers spotted more rocks crashing into the solar system’s biggest planet. NASA’s Lucy probe hurtled away from Earth, towards Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. (Last month Juno glimpsed Europa’s northern terrain.)