Short Takes – 9-30-24 – Space Geek Edition

China’s astronauts are aiming to land on the moon by 2030. They now have a new spacesuit to do it. CNN.com article. Pull quote: “The moon-landing suit is equipped with a built-in long and short-range camera, an operations console, and a glare-proof helmet visor, according to a video shared by state broadcaster CCTV, which featured well-known Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping demonstrating how astronauts wearing the suit can bend and climb a ladder.”

NASA Inspector Issues Warning About Growing Cracks Leaking Air From Space Station. Futurism.com article. Pull quote: “If the leaks continue, NASA and Roscosmos may be forced to permanently close the hatch to the affected tunnel, which would cut astronauts off from using one of the station's four docking ports.” NASA IG report here.

SpaceX pausing launches to study Falcon 9 issue on Crew-9 astronaut mission. Space.com article. Pull quote: “"After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9's second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause," SpaceX wrote in a post on X.”