NASA Ready to Launch Rockets Through
Alaska's Northern Lights (Source: Popular Science)
The lights of the aurora borealis are often described as “dancing,”
since they fluctuate in shape and brightness. Inside, the charged
particles that generate the aurora dance too, and scientists are still
trying to figure out exactly how that movement is structured.
"Is the light dancing around in a pattern that’s different from the
electrical currents?” asks Charles Swenson, a space weather researcher
at Utah State University. "The visible aurora is very dynamic, and
beautiful—you can see changes that happen in fractions of seconds, and
in a few minutes it can explode across the sky or disappear. We think
the underlying voltages and currents, the 'invisible aurora,' are
equally dynamic, but we do not know."
Swenson is the lead scientist on the Auroral Spatial Structures Probe
(ASSP)—one of five suborbital rockets that are being launched into an
active aurora over the next few weeks. The researchers behind ASSP hope
the project will help them gain a clearer understanding of how solar
radiation, weather, and the Earth’s magnetosphere mix together to
influence climate and global communications. (1/16)
Musk Wants to Build and Launch
Satellites to Fund Mars Colony (Source: Popular Science)
A colony on Mars. It’s the fantasy of pretty much all space
entrepreneurs these days. Bas Lansdorp famously dreams of establishing
a permanent human settlement on the red planet by 2025, and NASA is
working hard on the Orion capsule and Space Launch System, both of
which are meant to take astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.
Now Elon Musk is throwing his hat in the ring, telling Bloomberg News
that he also intends to establish a Mars base someday. And he’s going
to pay for it by launching satellites. The goal is to set up a Seattle
office in the near future, strictly for developing and launching
satellites. And in true SpaceX fashion, Musk says they’ll run cheap.
(1/15)
SpaceX Photos Show Unsuccessful Hard
Landing on Barge (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
SpaceX shared photos of the Falcon 9 first stage landing attempt with
fans on Twitter. The company tried to video the attempt, but conditions
were too dark and foggy to discern anything from the footage — with the
exception of four images. Elon Musk released the following photos on
Twitter, saying “Turns out we recovered some impact video footage from
the drone ship. It’s kinda begging to be released.” Click here.
(1/16)
New Horizons Lined Up for Final
Approach to Pluto (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Pluto is in the sights of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which started
collecting around-the-clock science data Thursday as it speeds toward
the first close encounter with the distant world in July. The mission’s
encounter phase formally started Thursday with the activation of the
probe’s dust and plasma instruments to collect information on the
environment at the outer frontier of the solar system. (1/15)
Air Force Chief Scolds Elon Musk Over
Rocket Comments (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The head of the U.S. Air Force on Thursday chided Elon Musk over his
allegations that the Defense Department was dragging its feet in
certifying his rockets for military use. The SpaceX founder’s uneasy
relationship with the Pentagon has already led him to sue the
department in federal court in an effort to unlock a $11 billion deal
with its main rocket providers, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. (1/16)
ViaSat Taps SpaceX for Satellite Launch
(Source: UT San Diego)
ViaSat has hired Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch its new high capacity
ViaSat-2 Internet satellite in the late summer of 2016. SpaceX, a
privately held builder of rockets that supply the International Space
Station under a contract with NASA, will use its biggest rocket, the
Falcon Heavy, to put ViaSat-2 into orbit.
The Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next
closest launch vehicle — the Falcon 9 — at one-third the cost,
according to ViaSat. The launch will take place from the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, with a launch window running from August through
October next year, said Bruce Rowe, a ViaSat spokesman. (1/15)
Spaceflight Could Be as Normal as Air
Travel Within 100 Years (Source: Herald Scotland)
Tom Williams, who became the first ever Brit to hold the top tier
position of Chief Operating Officer at Airbus earlier this month, said
turning commercial spaceflight into a reality would require pioneers
who were "off-the-wall and visionary." He added that if air travel had
been pioneered under the same restrictions facing the aviation industry
today it might never have happened. (1/16)
Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Hosts
Apollo 13 Anniversary Celebration (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Experience the breathtaking story of Apollo 13 as you’ve never before –
join Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and their fellow astronauts as the
Astronaut Scholarship Foundation honors and celebrates the 45th
anniversary of one of the U.S. space program’s most famous missions.
The evening, to be held April 11, 2015 at Kennedy Space Center, FL,
will be one you won’t forget.
Ticketholders will be treated to an intimate dining experience at the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s award-winning Apollo/Saturn V
Center (ASVC). The night will begin with a champagne reception,
followed by a professional photo opportunity in the ASVC’s Firing Room
Theater. Tickets, available for $1,000 each, are limited to 100 and
sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Proceeds benefit the
Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. (1/16)
Russia, US Sign $1 Billion Contract on
RD-181 Rocket Engines (Source: Sputnik)
Russian rocket producer Energiya has signed a $1 billion contract with
US Orbital Sciences Corporation for the delivery of 60 RD-181 engines.
"Energia President Vladimir Solntsev and Orbital Sciences Corporation
General Director David Thompson signed a direct contract worth around
$1 billion on the delivery to the United States of engines produced by
Energomash [a subsidiary of Energia]," the statement says.
The contract also includes a provision on a range of services including
flight training, installation of the engine on the rocket and engine
tests. The contract, that took Energia three years to prepare,
envisages cooperation to last 15 to 25 years, according to Solntsev.
The first two engines, which are used on carrier rockets to deliver
cargoes to the International Space Station, will be delivered in June
2015. (1/16)
ILS Plans 5 Proton-M Commercial
Launches in 2015 (Source: Itar-Tass)
The International Launch Services’ (ILS) order portfolio for commercial
launches of foreign spacecraft by Russia’s Proton carrier rocket has
been completed for two years ahead, Russian United Rocket and Space
Corporation (URSC) sources said. ILS said that five commercial launches
are planned for 2015. The first of them is scheduled for the first
quarter of the year. Previous reports said it would be the Inmarsat-5
F2 satellite to be orbited. (1/16)
NASA Hopes to Replace Cargo Lost on
Antares Failure This Year (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
NASA officials say the International Space Station’s logistics chain
was designed to absorb a launch failure like the mishap that destroyed
an Orbital Sciences Corp. cargo craft in October, but pressure is on
SpaceX to deliver supplies on time this year.
“It’s just critical,” said Mike Suffredini, NASA’s space station
program manager. “We can’t operate without the logistics partners. With
the Orbital standdown, we basically lost about 2.3 metric tons of cargo
that we had planned for, so now we’re adjusting for that.”
Without regular cargo deliveries, officials may have to reduce the size
of the space station’s crew from six to three. In a worst case
scenario, the space station could be temporarily abandoned. All the
items destroyed in the Oct. 28 failure of Orbital’s Antares cargo
rocket can be replaced, officials said, and none of the equipment was
critical in the sense that the space station needed the supplies
immediately. (1/15)
Lost Beagle-2 Probe Found 'Intact' on
Mars (Source: BBC)
The missing Mars robot Beagle2 has been found on the surface of the Red
Planet, apparently intact. High-resolution images taken from orbit have
identified its landing location, and it looks to be in one piece. The
UK-led probe tried to make a soft touchdown on the dusty world on
Christmas Day, 2003, using parachutes and airbags - but no radio
contact was ever made with the probe. Many scientists assumed it had
been destroyed in a high-velocity impact. (1/16)
Virgin, Qualcomm Invest in OneWeb
Satellite Internet Venture (Source: Space News)
WorldVu Satellites Ltd., which has a license to operate a global
network of low-orbiting Ku-band satellites to provide Internet access
to fixed and mobile terminals, on Jan. 15 said it has secured chipmaker
Qualcomm Inc. and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group as investors.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who had been in discussions with WorldVu
founder Greg Wyler, is absent from the investor list, at least for now,
Wyler said. But with Musk set to announce Jan. 16 that he is building a
satellite production facility in Seattle, Musk may be in a position to
win at least part of the business of WorldVu, now called OneWeb Ltd.
(1/15)
Sniffles Delay Singer Sarah
Brightman's Space Training (Source: NBC)
"Bood' zdorova, Sarah Brightman!" The Russian words for "get well" just
might be one of the phrases that the world-famous soprano hears the
most as she prepares for spaceflight training at Russia's Star City
complex. Brightman arrived in Moscow this week to prepare for her
10-day, $52 million trip to the International Space Station in October.
However, Thursday's scheduled start of training had to be delayed until
next week because she caught a cold, the Itar-Tass news agency
reported. For now, Brightman's trainers will have to keep themselves in
the mood by listening to her rendition of "I Will Be With You." (1/15)
Russian Cargo Spacecraft to Supply ISS
With Black Caviar (Source: Sputnik)
The Russian unmanned cargo spacecraft, Progress M-26M will deliver
black caviar to the International Space Station (ISS) crew, in addition
to the cosmonauts' daily food rations, the chief of the ISS nutrition
service said. "In the list of orders – black, sturgeon’s roe [caviar].
Besides freeze-dried products, we will deliver apples, lemons, oranges,
tomatoes, condensed milk as usual. One of the cosmonauts asked for tea
without sugar, which will also be delivered," Agureyev said. (1/15)
US Foods for ISS Stalled at Russian
Customs to Get Clearance Soon (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russia has confirmed that a cargo of US-manufactured foods for the
International Space Station (ISS), stalled at the Russian Customs, is
not critically important and the delayed clearance will by no means
affect the normal operation of the ISS. A NASA official in Russia said,
for his part, that the US foods had been ordered by Russian cosmonauts,
and not their US or European counterparts.
“It is true that the cargo of US foods, to be sent to the ISS, has not
been through the Customs yet,” the spokesperson for the space rocket
corporation Energia, Irina Romanova, told TASS. “But this will create
no problems for the crew. Firstly, the food reserve available on the
ISS is large enough. Secondly, we are certain that the issue will be
settled in the routine mode in the near future.” (1/15)
Soyuz Glitches Shake European
Commission’s Confidence in Vehicle (Source: Space News)
A telemetry failure during the otherwise successful Dec. 18 launch of a
Europeanized Soyuz rocket — the second consecutive malfunction of the
rocket’s upper stage during launch — raises questions about whether
European governments will trust the vehicle to launch Europe’s Galileo
positioning, navigation and timing constellation, European government
and industry officials said. (1/15)
Rocky Planets Around Cool Stars May
Have Earthlike Climates (Source: Science News)
There may be more Earthlike environments in the universe than
previously thought. Warm, rocky planets that orbit close to their stars
might not end up with one side in perpetual daylight as suspected,
allowing such planets to sustain an environment hospitable to life.
For the first time, researchers have shown that the gentle tug of a
star’s gravity on a relatively thin atmosphere can keep a planet
spinning even when other forces threaten to slow it down. While
planetary scientists have long suspected that this process keeps Venus
slowly turning, the mechanism could also work on a planet without
Venus’ massive atmosphere, Jérémy Leconte says. (1/15)
Bitterman Abruptly Leaves ULA after
Three Years as Head of Government Affairs (Source: Space News)
Veteran space lobbyist Mark Bitterman abruptly left United Launch
Alliance Jan. 14 after just more than three years as vice president of
government affairs for the Denver-based launch company.
“Today was my last day at ULA,” Bitterman wrote in a short email to
colleagues titled “Moving on,” a copy of which was obtained by
SpaceNews. “It has been a pleasure working with you over the past
several years. I look forward to reconnecting in the not-too-distant
future.” (1/15)
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