Een week zonder lanceringen. De reden daarvoor is niet ver te zoeken. Ook de ruimtevaart blijft in lockdown. Behalve dan voor de bemanning van Soyuz MS-16. Want – als alles goed gaat – vertrekken deze drie ruimtevaarders donderdag naar het ruimtestation. Waar het trouwens drukke tijden zijn. Deze week vertrekt er nog een Dragon-capsule met vracht terug naar de aarde. En dan maakt de huidige bemanning zich klaar voor de terugkeer. Op Aarde loop trouwens de voorbereidingen op de eerste bemande Crew Dragon gewoon door. Met een lancering eind mei (?). En bij de NASA ontvingen ze meer dan 12.000 inschrijvingen op de vacature van astronaut. Of die weldra naar de Maan mogen . . . Dat en nog veel meer in het Nieuws Uit De Ruimtevaart van deze week.

Bij de foto: De ruimtevaarders (v.l.n.r.) Vagner, Ivanishin en Cassidy zijn op stap langs de “Walk of Cosmonauts” in Baikonur, de lanceerbasis waar ze op 9 april vertrekken. Geen mondmaskers en van social distancing is er ook geen sprake. We veronderstellen dat het ganse gezelschap (en al zeker de drie bemanningsleden en de drie reserve-ruimtevaarders) al een tijdje in quarantaine zit. Foto: Andrey Shelepin/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

SpaceX – Starship – Ook SN3 begeeft het onder druk.
Teslarati: SpaceX Starship destroyed during cryo test but the next ship is already on the way.
Space News: Third Starship prototype destroyed in tanking test.

De beelden: 
Video From Space: SpaceX Starship SN3 collapses during pressure test.
Scott Manley: SpaceX's 4th Starship Prototype Collapses During Test.

Eerdere berichten van deze week:
Teslarati: SpaceX Starship rocket rolls to launch pad to prepare for Starhopper-style hop test.
Teslarati: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's latest Starship photos reveal surprise landing legs.
Teslarati: SpaceX planning docs reveal Starship's April Fools' Day testing plans.
Teslarati: SpaceX Starship outfitted with Tesla battery packs and motors.

Spaceflight Now: SpaceX Preparing Starship SN3 for Ground and Flight Testing.

Inverse: New video shows spider-like legs that will land on Mars.

SpaceX: Starship Users Guide (PDF).
SpaceCom: SpaceX unveils users' guide for giant Starship rocket.

En toen de verwachtingen nog hoog waren (dus voor de gebeurtenis met SN3):
What About It?: SpaceX Starship Updates – Prototype Schedule Update – NASA Orders Dragon XL.
What About It?: SpaceX Starship Updates – Starship User Guide Reveals Major Starship Feature.

Blue Origin – Nieuwe New Shepard vlucht op komst?
The Verge: Jeff Bezos’ space company is pressuring employees to launch a tourist rocket during the pandemic.
CNBC: Blue Origin CEO says Jeff Bezos’ space company is hiring, denying report of possible layoffs.

GeekWire: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture says worker at Kent factory has tested positive for coronavirus.

Stratolaunch stelt voor: Talon-A.
Space News: Stratolaunch announces hypersonic vehicle plans.
Geek Wire: Stratolaunch resurrects its hypersonic rocket vehicle under a new name: Talon-A.
SpaceCom: Stratolaunch to launch hypersonic vehicles from world's biggest airplane.
Universe Today: Stratolaunch Shows Off its New Hypersonic Testing Vehicle.

Een berichtje van begin maart:
Space News: Stratolaunch to resume test flights in September.

En van het begin van dit jaar:
Space News: Stratolaunch confirms interest in launch services and hypersonic vehicles.

ISS – De blogentries, Daily Summary Reports en Science Highlights.
NASA ISS Blog: Space Botany, Biology During Robotics and Spaceship Work.
NASA ISS Blog: Exercise Research, Spaceship Packing During Robotics Work.
NASA ISS Blog: Science Packing, Robotics Work Ahead of Spaceship Traffic.
NASA ISS Blog: Science Expands on Station, Dragon Departs on Monday.

NASA: ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/27/2020.
NASA: ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/30/2020.
NASA: ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/31/2020.
NASA: ISS Daily Summary Report – 4/01/2020
NASA: ISS Daily Summary Report – 4/02/2020

NASA: Space Station Science Highlights: Week of March 30, 2020.

ISS – Bemanning Soyuz MS-16 klaar om te vertrekken naar het ruimtestation.
NasaSpaceFlight: Soyuz MS-16 on track for April launch amid COVID-19 response.

Russian Space News: The “Soyuz MS-16” spaceship is fueled.
Russian Space News: Control inspection of the “Soyuz MS-16” spaceship.

Een filmpje:
NASA: Expedition 63 Space Station Crew Prepares for Launch in Kazakhstan.

ISS – Meer nieuws uit het ruimtestation.
Airbus: Bartolomeo successfully docks with Columbus laboratory.

NASA: NASA TV to Air U.S. Cargo Ship Departure from Space Station.
NASA: News Conference to Feature NASA Astronauts on International Space Station.

Space.Com: 'Going back to a different planet': Astronauts will return to Earth soon amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Spaceflight Now: Pandemic prompts few changes to busy month on space station.

TASS: Russia postpones launch of Nauka research module to orbital outpost to 2021.

Filmpjes:
NASA: Space to Ground: Bartolomeo: 04/03/2020.
NASA: SpaceCast Weekly - April 3, 2020.

ESA: #AskLuca: Colds and flu in space.
NASA: Jessica Meir Speaks with Physiologist Magazine.
PBS Newshour: Astronaut Christina Koch on women in space and 11 months without gravity.
ESA: Luca Parmitano blows out his virtual candle on the Astro Pi.

En tussen twee tassen koffie door, even kennis maken met Mission Control.
NASA Johnson: Everything About Mission Control.

Commercial Crew – Crew Dragon Demo 2.
NASA: NASA, SpaceX Simulate Upcoming Crew Mission with Astronauts.

Teslarati: NASA has good news after SpaceX Crew Dragon parachute test accident.
Teslarati: SpaceX, NASA enter final phase of training for imminent astronaut launch debut.
Teslarati: NASA adorns SpaceX rocket with famous ‘worm’ to celebrate imminent US astronaut launch.
Teslarati: SpaceX reveals first photos of historic Crew Dragon capsule's astronaut cabin.

Collect Space: The 'worm' is back! NASA revives its retro logotype on SpaceX rocket.

Filmpje:
Stephen Clark: NASA astronauts participate in Crew Dragon launch day dress rehearsal.

Commercial Crew – Bemanning eerste operationale Crew Dragon vlucht bekendgemaakt.
NASA: NASA Adds Shannon Walker to First Operational Crewed SpaceX Mission.
Teslarati: SpaceX’s second astronaut launch a step closer after NASA announcement.

Space News: NASA selects astronauts for Crew Dragon mission.
Spaceflight Now: NASA, JAXA assign two more astronauts to second piloted Crew Dragon flight.
Geek Wire: Japanese astronaut joins the crew for SpaceX Dragon mission to space station.

Artemis – Meer dan 12.000 kandidaat-astronauten.
NASA: Thousands Apply to Join NASA’s Artemis Generation, #BeAnAstronaut.
Space Policy Online: More than 12.000 apply to be astronauts as NASA makes Crew Dragon assignments.

Artemis – SLS/Orion.
ESA: Super Guppy leaves Ohio with Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft.
ESA: Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft leaves Ohio.
Spaceflight Now: Back in Florida, Orion capsule nears readiness for Artemis test flight.

NASA: Using Augmented Reality to Prepare Orion Hardware for Artemis II Crewed Mission.
NASA: NASA Ground, Marine Teams Integral to Moving SLS Rocket to Pad.

Artemis – Naar de Maan in 2024(?).
SpaceCom: NASA's next robotic moon landings in 2021 still on track despite coronavirus pandemic.
Spaceflight Now: In parallel with rocket development, Firefly launches lunar lander initiative.

Artemis – NASA’s vertelt hoe op lange termijn de maan willen “veroveren”.
NASA: NASA Outlines Lunar Surface Sustainability Concept.
Het bijbehorende rapport vind je hier (PDF).

Space News: NASA report outlines vision for long-term human lunar exploration.
Space Policy Online: NASA releases plan for sustainable lunar operations.

BepiColombo scheert weldra langs de Aarde op weg naar Mercurius.
ESA: ESA to conduct BepiColombo flyby amid coronavirus crisis.
ESA: Why is BepiColombo back?
Airbus: Say hello – wave goodbye to BepiColombo.

SpaceCom: Europe's Mercury-bound BepiColombo will swing past Earth soon! Here's what you need to know.

Nieuws uit de (inter)planetaire ruimte.

Zon:
NASA: NASA Selects Mission to Study Causes of Giant Solar Particle Storms.
NasaSpaceFlight: SunRISE becomes new NASA mission to study Giant Solar Particle Storms.
Spaceflight Now: Swarm of NASA nanosats to probe source of solar eruptions

Mercurius:
Sky & Telescope: Why have parts of Mercury’s ladscape “deflated”?

Venus:
The Space Review: The decade of Venus: an interview with David Grinspoon.

Aarde:
Space News: Budget constraints to delay start of NASA Earth science Explorer program.
ESA: SMOS tracking changes in ocean salinity (filmpje).
PhysOrg: Satellite data lays scale of methane leaks bare.
NASA: The Complex Chemistry of Earth’s Atmosphere (filmpje).
ESA: Satellites map the global flow of oil.
NASA: New NASA Radar Looks to Monitor Volcanoes and Earthquakes from Space.

Maan:
ECNS: China's lunar rover travels over 424 meters on moon's far side.
CCTV: China's Lunar Rover Enters New Dormant Cycle after Traveling more than 400 Meters (filmpje).

Mars:
NASA: Sols 2717-2719: The Poetry of Drilling on Mars.
NASA: Sols 2720-2721: Extend Those Mosaics!
NASA: The Man Who Wanted to Fly on Mars.
Seeker: NASA’s Gold Box Will Make Oxygen on Mars (filmpje).
SpaceCom: NASA's Mars rover Perseverance rover has a hidden message for the Red Planet.
NasaSpaceFlight: Perseverance Mars rover in critical pre-launch testing at Kennedy.
NASA: NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Gets Its Wheels and Air Brakes.
ESA: Sterilisation for planetary protection. 
RoomEU: Biohybrid can turn CO2 into new products for use on Mars or Earth.
SciShow Space: Does Mars Need "The Cloud"?
Science Alert: Mars Could Have at Least Two Ancient Reservoirs of Water Deep Underground.
SpaceCom: On Mars, deep-water diversity has stood the test of time, meteorites show.
En nog deze voordracht: 
Exploration Mars: Life on Mars: Implications and Impacts  (filmpje.

Jupiter:
NASA Podcasts: Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 32, Europa Clipper.

Uranus:
SciShow Space: Old Voyager Data Has New Secrets About Uranus | SciShow News.

Didymus: 
SciTechDaily: NASA Prepares Powerful Xenon Thruster for Asteroid Redirection Mission.

JWST – Plooitesten spiegel.
NASA: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Full Mirror Deployment a Success.
De beelden vind je hier.

Nog een ouder filmpje:
NASA: Time-Lapse of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Assembly, Sunshield Deployment.

Corona en ruimtevaart.
Roscosmos: Measures to ensure safety of employees under coronavirus pandemic.
Roscosmos: Coronavirus prevention at Russian cosmodromes.
Roscosmos: Satellite imagery shows the development of infection hospital for COVID-19 patients nearby Moscow.
Het rapport (met de foto’s) waarvan sprake vind je hier (PDF).
Roscosmos: Roscosmos conducts daily monitoring of the epidemiological situation.

SpaceCom: India's space agency pauses rocket launches to make coronavirus supplies: report.
SpaceCom: Coronavirus has changed society. See how in this video of before-and-after satellite views.

ESA: Space in response to COVID-19 outbreak.
ESA: COVID-19: how can satellites help?
NASA: NASA Taps Workforce for Innovative Ideas for Coronavirus Response Efforts.
Space News: NASA and ESA to fund coronavirus projects.

ESA: Space missions return to science.
NASA: NASA Science Keeps the Lights On.

Nog een filmpje:
NASA: Anne McClain's Tips for Living in Close Quarters.

Om af te ronden: Aprilgrappen en toch weer niet.
Eerst dacht ik dat het echt om een grap ging:
Space News: Chinese commercial rocket sells for $5.6 million in April Fool’s Day auction.
SpaceCom: Chinese rocket sells for $5.6 million in livestreamed auction: report.

En dit was wel een grap (al zag het er wel mooi uit):
Rocket Lab: Electron Heavy.

Veel lees- en kijkplezier,

Koen