Short Takes – 4-5-24 – Space Geek Edition

NASA Picks 3 Companies to Help Astronauts Drive Around the Moon. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “The plan is for the L.T.V. to be on the lunar surface ahead of Artemis V, the third astronaut landing that is expected in 2030, said Lara Kearney, manager of the extravehicular activity and human surface mobility program at the NASA Johnson Space Center.”

China appears to be trying to save stricken spacecraft from lunar limbo. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: ““We don’t know much, but I think we can say from the tracking data that the payload(s) separated from the YZ stage, and has made at least one orbit raising burn which indicates an attempt to save the mission,” space activity tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told SpaceNews.”

Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut launch delayed again, to May 6. Space.com article. Pull quote: “"Following a review of the International Space Station operations, NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test now is targeting no earlier than Monday, May 6, for Starliner's first launch with astronauts to the orbital complex," NASA officials wrote in an update on Tuesday afternoon (April 2).”

Aerojet rocketdyne completes RS-25 certification testing for Artemis V and beyond. L3Harris editorial. Pull quote: ““At the end of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA had 16 engines remaining in its inventory, which is enough for four SLS flights,” said Mike Lauer, RS-25 program director at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “To power the flights that follow, our team was challenged to design and build a modernized version of the RS-25 that is more affordable without sacrificing its outstanding reliability, and, if we could increase its performance, even better.””