Europe's Last Cargo Freighter Blasts
Off From Kourou (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
The last of Europe's automated cargo freighters blasted off from a
South American spaceport Tuesday, soaring into orbit in pursuit of the
International Space Station with 7.3 tons of fuel, food and supplies.
Part refueling tanker and part cargo hauler, Europe's fifth Automated
Transfer Vehicle launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on Tuesday from the
Guiana Space Center. (7/29)
Russia Close to Sending Sustainable
Mission to Mars (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russia has come closer than other countries to launching sustainable
long-term manned space missions, an expert said on Wednesday. “We
expect positive results from experiments. Then we will be able to say
whether or not we know how to provide for the vital life sustenance of
cosmonauts during a long mission,” said Vladimir Uiba, head of the
Federal Medical and Biological Agency.
He said man would fly to Mars and beyond in the future, but “without
experiments like those we are doing on Foton [satellite] no one can say
how to provide sufficient supply of oxygen, food and so on for such a
long flight”. Uiba said no one in the world had such information,
“neither the United States no China”. “We have come closer to the
answer as our Fotons allow us to model life-support systems for
people,” he said. (7/31)
Apollo Engineer Restores Moon Rover
Trainer (Source: NBC)
That's one giant moon buggy for a retired Apollo veteran: Rutledge
Alexander "Putty" Mills worked as chief of vehicles for Manned Lunar
Expedition Studies in the Apollo program during the 1960s and 70s, and
now he's restoring a lunar rover test vehicle at his home in Santa
Ynez, California.
NASA paid $41 million for four moon rovers, three of which made it to
the moon. Designed for lunar gravity, they'd be crushed if driven on
Earth. Still, astronauts had to practice, so Mills made two training
versions of the rovers for less than $2,000 each, using off-the-shelf
parts. Using copies of the rover’s drawings, Mills hand-built his
models to precisely the same dimensions, though they weighed twice as
much as the flight-ready versions. (7/31)
Mercury's Magnetic Field Tells
Scientists How its Interior is Different From Earth's (Source:
UCLA)
Earth and Mercury are both rocky planets with iron cores, but Mercury's
interior differs from Earth's in a way that explains why the planet has
such a bizarre magnetic field, UCLA planetary physicists and colleagues
report. Measurements from NASA's Messenger spacecraft have revealed
that Mercury's magnetic field is approximately three times stronger at
its northern hemisphere than its southern one. (7/30)
Jupiter’s Huge, Crazy Magnetic Field
(Source: WIRED)
Jupiter’s magnetic field, whose intricate complexities make it
extremely difficult to accurately mode, may look like the gas giant is
vomiting up some enormous space worms. The visualization is actually
capturing details of the gas giant’s magnetism with greater precision
than ever before. Click here.
(7/30)
When NASA Space Crews Play Make Believe
(Source: New Scientist)
Even astronauts sometimes pretend they are in space. Over the past
week, two simulated trips came to a close. One took place on a Hawaiian
volcano, while another dove deep to an underwater habitat off Florida's
coast. In both cases, the crew was tasked with a vital mission: to
learn more about themselves. But there's more to it than that. Mock
flights allow us to explore what an extended trip to Mars or beyond
might look like. The duration of the flight and the crushing isolation
will challenge astronauts in many ways.
Studies of missions on the International Space Station suggest that
depression and anxiety are most likely to hit during the "third
quarter" of a six-month mission, but it is unclear what this phenomenon
might mean for longer trips. A trip to Mars would take about 18 months.
In addition, living in such a small space with other crew members could
cause and aggravate conflicts. (7/31)
Our Galaxy is Way Smaller Than
Previous Estimates (Source: Space Daily)
The Milky Way is smaller than astronomers previously thought, according
to new research. For the first time, scientists have been able to
precisely measure the mass of the galaxy that contains our solar system.
Researchers have found that the Milky Way is approximately half the
weight of a neighbouring galaxy - known as Andromeda - which has a
similar structure to our own. The Milky Way and Andromeda are the two
largest in a region of galaxies which astronomers call the Local Group.
(7/31)
“America's First Space Taxi"
(Source: Citizens in Space)
Boeing released this video to promote its CST-100 capsule, which the
company is offering to support NASA's commercial crew program. Boeing
plans to assemble and process the capsule (pre- and post-mission) at
one of the former Space Shuttle processing facilities at the Cape
Canaveral Spaceport. Click here.
(7/31)
Exelis Wins Range Contract Extension
(Source: DOD)
Exelis has been awarded a $21,536,294 cost-plus-award-fee contract
modification to provide the Launch and Test Range System support
functions to the Eastern Range and Western Range: range sustainment;
external user support, projects and engineering services (Missile
Defense Agency, Navy, NASA, etc.; systems engineering; and interim
supply support spares for the sustainment period). The total cumulative
face value of the contract is $1,772,689,908.
This modification extends the basic contract by a maximum period of
performance of three months. Work will be performed at Patrick Air
Force Base, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and the
work for this effort will be completed by Oct. 31, 2014. Fiscal 2014
operations and maintenance, other procurement, and research and
development funds in the amount of $18,203,081 are being obligated at
time of award. (7/31)
IndieGalactic Likely to Become an
Annual Event (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The first IndieGalactic Space Jam, held at the Orlando Science Center
over the weekend, drew more than 100 game developers and engineers from
NASA, SpaceX and Titusville-based Rocket Crafters. Designed to connect
the space industry with Orlando’s video game tech community,
IndieGalactic accomplished that goal with flying colors. Kunal Patel,
founder of the new event, said he’s already talking to space industry
executives about coming again next year. (7/31)
NASA Selects 7 Instruments for Mars
2020 Rover (Source: Space News)
NASA has budgeted about $130 million for a seven-instrument science
payload announced July 31 for the sample-caching Mars rover the agency
plans to launch in 2020. The price tag does not include the cost of
three of the selected instruments that will be provided, in full or in
part, by France, Norway and Spain.
The Mars 2020 rover — which NASA Associate Administrator for Science
John Grunsfeld said will cost about $1.9 billion to build and launch —
will have three fewer science instruments than the Curiosity rover on
which it is based. The science payload on Curiosity, which has been
exploring Mars since its Aug. 6, 2012, landing, cost NASA just over
$180 million. (7/31)
Test Flight is Giant Leap for
Jacksonville Spaceport (Source: Jacksonville Times-Union)
The spaceport’s first tenant, Atlanta-based Generation Orbit Launch
Services Inc., ran a test flight Wednesday in preparation for its first
commercial launch near the end of 2016. For the Jacksonville Aviation
Authority, the test was the result of many years of small steps that
helped land the spaceport at its west Jacksonville airfield, a former
Navy base with one of the longest runways on the East Coast.
JAA officials, hoping to tap into largely untested space tourism and
cargo industries, worked for years to designate Cecil as a spaceport,
which is now one of eight around the nation. Generation Orbit
specializes in launching “micro” and “nano” satellites — small enough
to hold in your hand — from a rocket attached to an airplane that takes
off and lands on runways like passenger jets, a method called
“horizontal launching.”
Nothing was sent into space Wednesday. A Learjet outfitted with a
rocket held equipment that will help Generation Orbit collect data to
prepare for its first commercial flights. NASA has bought the company’s
first flight to launch three research satellites, a contract worth $2.1
million. (7/30)
First Space-Tweeting Astronaut Leaves
NASA (Source: Federal Times)
stronaut Mike Massimino has left NASA for a position at Columbia
University. Massimino, or @Astro_Mike to his more than 1.2 million
Twitter followers, was the first astronaut to tweet from space. On May
19, 2009, while on a space-shuttle mission, he tweeted, “From orbit: We
see 16 sunrises and sunsets in 24 hrs, each one spectacular as the sun
lights up the atmosphere in a spectrum of colors.” (7/31)
Air Force Courts 14 Companies to
Provide Military Satellite Space (Source: National Defense)
Fourteen private companies will compete for U.S. Air Force contracts to
allow military payloads to be installed on commercial satellites. The
move will allow the military to more quickly deploy its modules without
having to build satellites. "The commercial partner only charges for
the integration of the payload with the spacecraft and the marginal use
of power, launch services and other resources," the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration said. (7/30)
Air Force Unveils 30-year Strategic
Plan (Source: Defense News)
The Air Force has unveiled its 30-year plan in a 22-page document
entitled "America's Air Force: A Call to the Future." Included in the
strategy is a move to establish closer ties with industry and Congress,
as well as more flexibility for airmen and acquisitions. "This call to
the future is a road map to help guide our long-term planning efforts,
and help us make smart money and policy choices," said Air Force
Secretary Deborah Lee James. (7/30)
Future of NASA Human Spaceflight
Dominates NAC Meeting (Source: Space Policy Online)
The NASA Advisory Council (NAC) met this afternoon (July 30) for the
first part of a two-day meeting. The members have not yet
finalized any findings or recommendations, but it is clear there is a
broad range of issues on their minds. A clear consensus on what,
if any, actionable recommendations to make to NASA Administrator
Charlie Bolden had not emerged by the end of the day. That’s
tomorrow’s task.
The following is a quick roundup of what happened today. We’ll
have more on this meeting and on a separate meeting today of NASA’s
Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) in coming days. A common
topic in the two groups was NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM),
which generated controversy in both venues.
This list highlights only the issues at NAC, which is meeting at NASA’s
Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. Several of the NAC
committees met earlier in the week and the discussion tomorrow will
include findings and recommendations from those interactions as well as
the debate today among the full NAC, which consists of the committee
chairs, six at-large members, and chairman Steve Squyres. NASA
Administrator Bolden was at the meeting for most of the afternoon.
(7/30)
NASA Validates 'Impossible' Space Drive
(Source: WIRED)
NASA is a major player in space science, so when a team from the agency
this week presents evidence that "impossible" microwave thrusters seem
to work, something strange is definitely going on. Either the results
are completely wrong, or NASA has confirmed a major breakthrough in
space propulsion. British scientist Roger Shawyer has been trying to
interest people in his EmDrive for some years through his company SPR,
claiming it converts electric power into thrust, without the need for
any propellant by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container.
According to good scientific practice, an independent third party
needed to replicate Shawyer's results. This happened last year when a
Chinese team built its own EmDrive and confirmed that it produced 720
mN (about 72 grams) of thrust, enough for a practical satellite
thruster. Such a thruster could be powered by solar electricity. The
Chinese work attracted little attention; it seems that nobody in the
West believed in it.
However, a US scientist, Guido Fetta, has built his own propellant-less
microwave thruster, and managed to persuade NASA to test it out. The
test results were presented on July 30 at the 50th Joint Propulsion
Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Astonishingly enough, they are positive.
The NASA team gave its paper the title "Anomalous Thrust Production
from an RF [radio frequency] Test Device Measured on a Low-Thrust
Torsion Pendulum". Click here.
(7/31)
ULA Prepares Second Launch Within One
Week ... For Third Time in 2014 (Source: AmericaSpace)
With eight successful launches under its belt so far in 2014, ULA is
set to attempt a ninth on Friday, 1 August, with the flight of an Atlas
V booster from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Liftoff of the vehicle,
which is flying in its “401” configuration—numerically designated to
describe a 13-foot-diameter (4-meter) payload fairing, no strap-on
rockets, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage—is scheduled to occur
at 11:23 p.m. EDT, at the opening of an 18-minute “window.”
The Atlas will transport the seventh Global Positioning System (GPS)
Block IIF satellite into a medium orbit, some 11,047 nautical miles
(20,460 km) above Earth. Coming just four days after Monday’s
successful launch of the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)-4 mission, a
successful flight on Friday will mark the third occasion that ULA has
accomplished two missions within the span of a single week in 2014.
(7/31)
ATK Reports First Quarter FY15
Operating Results (Source: ATK)
ATK reported operating results for the first quarter of its Fiscal Year
2015 (FY15), which ended on June 29, 2014. ATK reported first quarter
sales of $1.3 billion, up 18 percent from the prior-year quarter, due
to higher sales in the Sporting Group (including acquisitions) and the
Aerospace Group, partially offset by a decrease in the Defense Group.
(7/31)
See Alien Worlds, Spaceship in New
'Interstellar' Movie Trailer (Source: Space.com)
A new trailer for the movie "Interstellar" hit the Internet today,
revealing more about the film's largely unknown plot. Earth appears to
be in bad shape in the new movie from "Inception" director Christopher
Nolan. "We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the
stars, now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt,"
Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) says in voiceover at the
beginning of the new "Interstellar" trailer. Click here.
(7/31)
NASA Urged to Accelerate 3D Printing
on Space Station (Source: Space.com)
NASA must move quickly to research 3D printing aboard the International
Space Station, which likely has just six to 10 years of operational
life left, a new report urges.
While praising NASA's efforts and focus on in-space manufacturing — a
3D printeris scheduled to launch to the station next month, for example
— the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) report stressed that the
agency should organize its various centers to identify priority
projects for use on the station. (7/30)
How the Moon Got Its Shape
(Source: Science)
From here on Earth, the moon looks like a perfect orb. But new data
gathered by spacecraft zipping around our celestial companion reveal
that it’s actually squished and slightly elongated, with the thickest
portions of its crust on the areas nearest and farthest from Earth. The
reason for this less-than-perfect shape? For 200 million years after
the moon formed, its crust was weak and the underlying rocks were
molten, which made it easy for tides caused by the gravitational pull
of Earth to distort it. (7/31)
NASA Selects Instruments to Track
Climate Impact on Vegetation (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected proposals for two new instruments that will observe
changes in global vegetation from the International Space Station. The
sensors will give scientists new ways to see how forests and ecosystems
are affected by changes in climate or land use change.
A laser-based system from the University of Maryland, College Park,
will observe the structure of forest canopy. This instrument will be
completed in 2019 and will not cost more than $94 million. A
high-resolution multiple wavelength imaging spectrometer from NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, will study the
effectiveness of water use by vegetation. This instrument will be
completed in 2018 and not cost more than $30 million. (7/30)
Weirdly Wonky Binary Star System
Discovered (Source: Discovery)
There’s some weird things floating around in our galaxy, but this has
to be one of the weirdest. A double star system with misaligned
protoplanetary disks around 450 light-years from Earth has been
discovered, potentially explaining why some exoplanet orbits can be
wildly eccentric. Using data from the Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, astronomers have gotten
a detailed look into the binary star system HK Tauri.
The majority of stars form with a stellar buddy in tow, creating binary
star systems, so that’s not the weird thing. On viewing the
protoplanetary disks surrounding each star of the HK Tauri system,
astronomers found, counter-intuitively, that their disks are out of
alignment by 60 degrees. That’s the weird thing. Normally, when you
have two stars evolved from the same proto-stellar nebula, any planet
forming material that settles gravitationally into a protoplanetary
disk around each star should fall into alignment. HK Tauri completely
bucks this expectation. (7/31)
Inventions at NASA Glenn Named Among
R&D 100 Awards (Source: SpaceRef)
Teams of researchers and scientists at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in
Cleveland were recently named as contributing to two of the top 100
technologically significant new products in 2013. The R&D 100
Awards have long been a benchmark of excellence for industry sectors as
diverse as telecommunications, high-energy physics, manufacturing and
biotechnology. The awards can be vital for gauging government agency's
efforts at commercializing emerging technologies. (7/31)
Air Force Courts 14 Companies to
Provide Military Satellite Space (Source: National Defense)
Fourteen private companies will compete for U.S. Air Force contracts to
allow military payloads to be installed on commercial satellites. The
move will allow the military to more quickly deploy its modules without
having to build satellites. "The commercial partner only charges for
the integration of the payload with the spacecraft and the marginal use
of power, launch services and other resources," the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration said. (7/30)
Spaceflight Inc. To Offer Satellite
Operations Service (Source: Space News)
Spaceflight Inc., which arranges and supports launches of
microsatellites aboard various rockets, is getting into the
small-satellite operations business, the company announced July 30. The
Seattle-based firm, founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Jason Andrews, is
setting up a new division called Spaceflight Networks, a provider of
communications and data services for operators of small satellites.
Spaceflight appears to be targeting any number of startups seeking to
leverage increasingly capable small-satellite constellations for a
variety of commercial applications. Spaceflight Networks aims to create
a global network of ground stations to provide fast and frequent
satellite uplink and downlink services at what the company said are
below market rates. “We have sighted each of our stations to minimize
communications latency thereby maximizing constellation throughput,”
Blake said. (7/30)
Launch Site Rises Up From the New
Mexico Desert (Source: Air & Space)
In 2009, the state of New Mexico held the official ground-breaking
ceremony for the world's first commercial space launch site, Spaceport
America. Located about 20 miles from the city of Truth or Consequences,
the spaceport is largely complete. Virgin Galactic will set up its
headquarters there, eventually launching customers into suborbital
flights aboard SpaceShipTwo. Other commercial space companies may
follow. Click here.
(7/30)
No Mars For Muslims? Mars One Asks
Imams To Rescind Fatwa (Source: Popular Science)
Martian colonization is a risky proposition. So risky, in fact, that a
group of Islamic leaders in the United Arab Emirates issued a religious
ruling saying Muslims should not go to the Red Planet. The General
Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) ruling compares a
Mars mission to suicide, and says that those who attempt it can expect
the same consequences in the afterlife.
In fact, GAIAE went so far as to claim that those seeking to escape
God's judgment on Mars would be unable to do so, saying: "This is an
absolutely baseless and unacceptable belief because not even an atom
falls outside the purview of Allah, the Creator of everything." Private
Mars colonization organization Mars One still thinks the journey is
worth it. Today, they issued a response to GAIAE, citing the Quran and
the specific example of Ibn Battuta, a 14th century explorer.
"And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and
the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are
Signs for those who know" (Quran 30: 22). The Muslim world has a rich
tradition of exploration. The verse from the Quran above encourages
Muslims to go out and see the signs of God’s creation in the ‘heavens
and the earth’. The most influential example of this was the Moroccan
Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta, who from 1325 to 1355 traveled 73,000
miles, visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries. (7/30)
Uwingu Welcomes IAU in Exoplanet
Naming By Public (Source: Uwingu)
Uwingu, a company helping people personally connect with space
exploration and astronomy in new ways, applauds the International
Astronomical Union (IAU)’s recent move to open the naming of exoplanets
(i.e., planets around other stars) as Uwingu did last year. “It’s been
18 months since Uwingu has been letting people nominate names for
exoplanets. We’re glad the IAU is finally coming aboard too,” said
Uwingu astronomer Dr. Henry Throop.
But Uwingu believes the IAU’s exoplanet naming process doesn’t goes far
enough. “Thiir year-long process will name about 1% of the confirmed
exoplanets,” continued Throop, “but there are thousands more exoplanets
that remain nameless.” (7/30)
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