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| Concept art of a future European space station. Image credit: ESA. |
International Space Station Activities
The crew of the SpaceX Crew-12 mission (Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev) spent today packing the Dragon spacecraft for their return to Earth. They are expected to leave a few days after the arrival of Crew-13. Anil Menon assisted with preparations for their departure. Meanwhile, Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina installed a new gas analyzer in the Zvezda module for monitoring the station's air quality, then Dubrov unloaded water from Progress MS-35 and Kikina set up Earth observation equipment. [Source: NASA]
Feasibility Study for Potential European Space Station
The European Space Agency announced they have contracted two groups to conduct a feasibility study into the concept of a European orbital space station following the conclusion of the International Space Station project in the early 2030s. This does not mean Europe will actually build a space station, as it is much more likely they will instead participate in the commercial space stations being planned in the United States, but it does show ESA are interested in the concept. Europe have station-building experience, having constructed the Columbus module and various other components for the ISS. Russia also have plans for a post-ISS orbital outpost. China already have their own space station, Tiangong. [Source: ESA]
New Glenn 9x4 Joins NASA Launch Services II
NASA have announced that Blue Origin's New Glenn 9x4 rocket, the super-heavy lift variant of the New Glenn which has yet to fly, has been awarded a NASA Launch Services II contract. This means it will be part of the pool of launch vehicles that NASA can launch their missions on. [Source: NASA]
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