NASA is shutting down production and testing of its future deep-space rocket and crew capsule in response to the worsening coronavirus pandemic. The two vehicles are critical pieces of NASA’s ambitious plan to return humans to the Moon by 2024, but with development temporarily suspended, meeting that deadline will become even more unlikely.
The shutdown comes amid NASA’s decision to heighten restrictions at two of the agency’s centers. The Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are both moving to Stage 4 within NASA’s “Response Framework” for dealing with the pandemic, which is the strictest stage. That means telework is absolutely mandatory and all travel is suspended. The change was made after an employee at Stennis tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a blog post by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. No one at Michoud has tested positive for the virus yet, but there is a rising number of cases near the center.
Both centers play critical roles in the development of NASA’s next big rocket, the Space Launch System, or SLS. Cores of the rocket are primarily built at Michoud by NASA personnel and employees of Boeing, the vehicle’s main contractor. Meanwhile, the first completed core of the SLS is currently at Stennis, where it’s scheduled to undergo a significant ground test later this year. Called the Green Run Test, the exercise will ignite all of the engines on the rocket while it’s held down, simulating a launch without actually going to space. The test is meant to pave the way for the inaugural launch of the SLS, which is currently slated for 2021.
Now, with both centers restricting access, the production of new SLS cores and the work needed to prepare for the Green Run Test is coming to a halt. “The NASA and contractors teams will complete an orderly shutdown that puts all hardware in a safe condition until work can resume,” Bridenstine wrote in his update. “Once this is complete, personnel allowed onsite will be limited to those needed to protect life and critical infrastructure.” NASA is reassessing which personnel will be considered “mission critical” and allowed on site at each facility.
The shutdown is another blow for the SLS program, which suffered from delays and cost overruns long before the pandemic began. Originally slated for launch in 2017, the rocket’s first flight won’t happen until late next year at the earliest, and its first flight with crew on board is currently planned for either 2022 or 2023. The program’s budget has ballooned over the last decade as well, with the total development cost expected to reach $18.3 billion by the time rocket flies, according to a recent report from NASA’s Inspector General.
Despite all this trouble, the SLS is a key part of NASA’s Artemis program to land the first woman on the Moon. The vehicle’s third flight is meant to carry astronauts on that historic mission to the lunar surface. Given the 2024 deadline set by the Trump administration, there was already very little wiggle room with the current SLS schedule to meet that timeframe. A shutdown like this puts that goal in jeopardy — something NASA acknowledges.
“We realize there will be impacts to NASA missions, but as our teams work to analyze the full picture and reduce risks we understand that our top priority is the health and safety of the NASA workforce,” Bridenstine wrote.
The other critical piece of hardware needed for the Artemis program is the Orion crew capsule, which the astronauts will ride inside when launching on top of the SLS. The Orion capsule that will fly on the debut flight of the SLS just underwent testing in Ohio and is about to travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of the launch next year. It now seems that once Orion makes it to Florida, work on that vehicle will shut down temporarily. Meanwhile, work on future Orion crew capsules will stop at Michoud.
With this latest move, three of NASA’s centers are at Stage 4, along with Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The rest are at Stage 3, which allows mission-essential personnel to access NASA centers and travel. As the novel coronavirus situation worsens, it likely won’t be long until all of the centers move to Stage 4. It’s unclear how that will impact the rest of NASA’s activities, such as launches out of Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston maintains that its flight controllers can continue to operate the International Space Station even at Stage 4.
“I will continue to say, so none of us forget – there is no team better prepared for doing hard things,” Bridenstine wrote in his post. “Take care of yourself, your family, and your NASA team.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
