When SpaceX rolls Starship to the launchpad this year for its third trial, the company will begin testing the spacecraft’s ability to transfer super-chilled rocket fuel in space.
NASA is depending on billionaire Elon Musk‘s rocket company to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface for the Artemis III and IV moon missions under a $4.2 billion contract. To do that, SpaceX first has to master how to refuel a Starship in low-Earth orbit, after it has already blasted off the planet. The tricky concept is known as “cryogenic propellant transfer” — something never done before in microgravity.
NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon for the first time in a half-century involves its own Orion spacecraft, but also SpaceX’s Starship. In a sort of space relay, Orion would fly the crew to lunar orbit, and Starship would complete the final leg of the journey by meeting up with the astronauts in space and landing them on the surface. The “baton” could be passed at a yet-to-be-built moon-orbiting space station, or directly from one spacecraft to another.
The U.S. space agency has promised Artemis III will put a woman and person of color on the moon for the first time. But given that Starship has attempted spaceflight twice so far, each time ending minutes after liftoff with an explosion, it’s perhaps unsurprising NASA just announced the moon-landing mission will be delayed at least a year to 2026.
“They’re making tremendous progress in Boca Chica with their test flights,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s Moon to Mars deputy associate administrator, referring to SpaceX’s private spaceport in South Texas. “But it’s extremely challenging to some of the propellant transfer and other goals that they have in order to make that Earth departure sequence work for us.”
Why does NASA want a propellant depot in space?
NASA and commercial partners are interested in space fuel stations because they could allow spacecraft to travel longer and farther into the solar system. Future missions could use ice on the moon to make propellant by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. If engineers can figure out how to store super-cold liquids in space, whether they are launched from Earth or produced somewhere else, it could make a long-term stay on the moon possible and even support distant missions to Mars.
The U.S. space agency has chosen to use private vendors for moon landers to buy down the technical risks and costs of the Artemis program, which seeks to use the moon as a springboard for eventual missions to Mars. SpaceX was the first selected, and Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ rival space company, was awarded the contract for Artemis V, a crewed mission slated for no earlier than 2029.
In a sort of space relay, Orion would fly the crew to lunar orbit, and Starship would complete the final leg of the journey by meeting up with the astronauts in space and landing them on the surface. Credit: NASA
SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall rocket and spacecraft, known collectively as Starship, are designed to carry immense cargo and numerous people into deep space. Starship runs on 10 million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen, but the rocket consumes much of that fuel just to escape the firm grasp of Earth’s gravity.
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To make the rest of the quarter-million-mile journey to the moon, Starship would need to top off its tank. The plan is for SpaceX to send up tanker versions of Starship into low-Earth orbit, establishing a fueling depot in space. A passenger version of Starship would dock at a tanker, fill up, and then complete the rest of the moonbound flight.
Blue Origin will also rely on orbital refueling.
“Propellant transfer in orbit sounds complex and scary — it seems like this big, nebulous thing — but when you really break it down into the various pieces, we’ve actually achieved almost all of the complex parts already on our operational programs now,” said Jessica Jensen, SpaceX’s vice president of customer operations and integration.
NASA astronauts test a docking hatch on an Orion spaceship prototype. Credit: NASA / Radislav Sinyak
Starship’s third orbital test flight
NASA, on the other hand, seems more daunted by the obstacles that lie ahead. Getting the choreography down for a dual launch campaign of Orion and Starship will be a “significant coordination challenge,” Kshatriya said.
SpaceX plans to conduct a preliminary test in orbit this February, attempting to transfer 11 tons, or 10 metric tons, of liquid oxygen between tanks contained within Starship. It’s a first step toward the eventual goal of transferring propellant between two separate ships in space.
But part of what has made orbital refueling seem hazy to outsiders is the mystery surrounding just how many launches will be needed to transport the propellant to a space tanker. Competitor Blue Origin suggested SpaceX’s proposal would require 16 consecutive launches. Musk told a Washington Post reporter on X, then known as Twitter, that figure was “extremely unlikely,” and it would probably fall somewhere between four and eight launches.
During an Artemis teleconference with reporters this week, Jensen estimated “10-ish,” after NASA administrator Bill Nelson pressed her to provide a number.
SpaceX confidence in rapid refueling
Regardless of how many successive launches are necessary for the operation, SpaceX officials feel confident based on their track record. Though rapid refueling may “seem very intimidating,” SpaceX has already proven it can handle several launches within hours of each other for its Falcon 9, the workhorse rocket that regularly lifts satellites to orbit.
The company has even proven it can turn around and launch from the same launchpad within a matter of days.
The Orion spaceship flies away from the moon and back toward Earth during the Artemis I maiden voyage. Credit: NASA
Furthermore, Jensen assured that SpaceX has experience with many of the steps involved in propellant transfer, such as rendezvous and docking maneuvers. Its Dragon spacecraft has docked more than 30 times at the International Space Station, flying 250 miles above Earth.
“Everything we’ve learned, from the sensors we use, the algorithm we use for the rendezvous, from pulling back — we’re going to leverage all of that in having two Starships dock together,” she said.
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.
