Short Takes – 9-7-24

Boeing's Starliner capsule just landed with no crew aboard. What's next for this astronaut taxi? Space.com article. Pull quote: “"What we need to do now is go take a thruster at White Sands [Test Facility in New Mexico] and make sure we understand the exact pulse sequences that cause the heating," Stich said. "And then, at the same time, in parallel, look at software changes to reduce the number of demands on the thrusters."”

After another Boeing letdown, NASA isn’t ready to buy more Starliner missions. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “No one knows how long that will take, and NASA hasn't decided if it will require Boeing to launch another test flight before formally certifying Starliner for operational missions. If Starliner performs flawlessly after undocking and successfully lands this weekend, perhaps NASA engineers can convince themselves Starliner is good to go for crew rotation flights once Boeing resolves the thruster problems and helium leaks.”

Person in Missouri caught H5 bird flu without animal contact. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “"I am encouraged that this case was detected through existing surveillance systems, which bodes well for our ability to identify any additional cases in the future," she added. "Federal, state, and local health officials maintained flu surveillance through the summer months in response to the H5 situation, and that was definitely the right move."”

Gateway’s Propulsion System Testing Throttles Up. NASA.gov article. Pull quote: “The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), being manufactured by Maxar Technologies, provides Gateway with power, high-rate communications, and propulsion for maneuvers around the Moon and to transit between different orbits. The PPE will be combined with the Habitation and Logistic Outpost (HALO) before the integrated spacecraft’s launch. Together, these elements will serve as the hub for early Gateway crewed operations and various science and technology demonstrations as the full Gateway station is assembled around it in the coming years.”

Super-fast setting sticky polymers can suture tricky internal wounds. ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “The researchers tested this material as a tissue adhesive. The current medical adhesive of choice is usually cyanoacrylate, better known as superglue, but this is unsuitable for closing internal surgical cuts as it is slightly cytotoxic, brittle and slow to decompose. The researchers tested their material for preventing rupture of the amniotic sac of mice when punctured, as is sometimes required for repairing foetal abnormalities. The researchers found that, when they punctured amniotic sacs through patches in their polymer, the patches self-healed around the puncture site and all the foetuses survived to term. Foetuses whose sacs were simply punctured all died. ‘We are actively pursuing other uses for this polymer as a surgical adhesive in my academic lab and in a startup company we have formed to move this towards commercial use,’ says Messersmith.”