August 12, 2016

Asteroid Mining Mission Ushers in 'New Era of Unlimited Economic Expansion' (Source: Newsweek)
A private space mining company has announced plans to send an asteroid prospector into space by 2020, making it the first commercial mining mission beyond Earth’s orbit. Californian startup Deep Space Industries (DSI) aims to eventually harvest and supply resources for the burgeoning space economy.

“Deep Space Industries has worked diligently to get to this point, and now we can say with confidence that we have the right technology, the right team and the right plan to execute this historic mission,” said Rick Tumlinson, co-founder of DSI. “Prospector-1 is not only the first commercial interplanetary mission, it is also an important milestone in our quest to open the frontier. By learning to ‘live off the land’ in space, Deep Space Industries is ushering in a new era of unlimited economic expansion,” he continued. (8/10)

More Than 1,000 Jobs Coming to Titusville Area (Source: Florida Today)
Times are changing in Titusville, the Brevard city once pegged as a “ghost town” on national news. Home values are rising, the quality of life is improving as new shops and entertainment options pop up and maybe most telling — it’s becoming a more viable place to work.

More than 1,000 jobs are en route to north Brevard as industry takes interest in the recovering area. Companies like OneWeb, Embraer, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are making business decisions that directly benefit Titusville and its surrounding communities.

“Everybody can feel there’s something different in the air in north Brevard, and everybody’s very excited for what’s coming in the next few years,” said William Chivers, president of RUSH Construction and a board member for CareerSource Brevard. And the jobs are good ones, added CareerSource Brevard Chairman Robert Jordan. (8/11)

NASA Charges Toward Greener Aviation With Novel Concepts (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has selected five green technology concepts that have the potential to transform the aviation industry in the next decade by reducing aircraft fuel use and emissions. The concepts were selected under NASA's Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program for a two-year study. Click here. (8/10)

New Space Burial Service Seeking $1 Million on Indiegogo (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Burial spaces for our loved ones are running out all over the world. Risen Space are committed to solving this problem by bring space burials to the world. Our burials are for the full remains (less a small amount given in a memorial capsule to the family) launched into space. Our two competitors charge between $1,995 and $4,995 respectively to launch just 1 gram. If we charged those prices it would cost millions for one person alone.

We are approaching the Crowfunding community to help us bring low cost, permanent burials to everyone, whether they are private burials or those being carried out by our local authorities. Currently available in Australia and the United States with other countries coming online over the next 12 months. Remains can be shipped from anywhere in the world to our two launch sites. Click here. (8/10)

Astronauts Say Private Firms Help U.S. Space Industry Compete (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It  has been five years since the U.S. space shuttle program shut down and, ever since, astronaut Bob Behnken has had to answer questions about whether the U.S. would ever send humans into space again. “That was a rough time, I think, from an astronaut’s perspective,” the 46-year-old said Thursday. “That’s when we traveled around and got asked questions like, ‘Hey, now that they have retired the shuttle is there still a NASA?’ We got that message that we had to try to dispel.”

As two companies working toward human spaceflight from Florida's Space Coast, it could signal a return to the heady days of the shuttle program, when the U.S. actively competed for launch contracts. Behnken is one of four astronauts training to head into space from the U.S. when launches return. (8/11)

Hurricane Hunter Satellites to Launch at Florida Spaceport in November (Source: San Antonio Express-News
A constellation of satellites scheduled for launch later this year will help improve tropical weather forecasting. The eight Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) satellites are currently being tested at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, and will be launched on an Orbital ATK Pegasus in November. The satellites will use GPS signals, reflected off the ocean surface, to measure wind conditions 32 times a second. "It’s like having 32 hurricane hunter airplanes somewhere out in the tropics," said Chris Ruf, principal investigator for the mission. (8/12)

Aerojet Developing Green-Propellant Thruster for Cubesats (Source: Aerojet Rocketdyne)
Aerojet Rocketdyne has won a NASA contract to develop a thruster system for cubesats. The award will mature the development of the MPS-130 thruster, which uses a non-toxic green propellant to give propulsion capabilities to cubesats. Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide NASA with a complete thruster system for use on a spacecraft and also conduct various tests of the system. (8/11)

Titan's Canyons Filled with Liquid Methane (Source: Washington Post)
Saturn's moon Titan has canyons filled with liquid methane. A new analysis of data from NASA's Cassini mission, including radar observations of its surface, led scientists to conclude that the moon has canyons hundreds of meters deep, in many cases filled with, and created by, liquid methane. The canyons look similar to ones on Earth created by liquid water. "It's remarkable that we find such similar features on both worlds," said Alex Hayes, a Cornell University scientist who led the study. (8/11)

ViaSat Claims Better Capability Than Gogo for Aircraft Broadband (Source: Space News)
ViaSat urges airlines to "do the math" when it comes to making choices on satellite broadband services. ViaSat argues that its service through the new ViaSat-2 satellite will be able to provide hundreds of megabits per second of Internet connectivity per aircraft, even when there are large numbers of planes using the service in the same region, something ViaSat argues competitors like Gogo can't do. ViaSat also said this week that it has finalized a contract with Boeing to build two ViaSat-3 spacecraft, with options for two more, for nearly $370 million. (8/11)

Clinton Mentions NASA's SLS Rocket at Michigan Event (Source: Fox 2 Detroit)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mentioned NASA's Space Launch System in passing during a campaign speech Thursday. Clinton, speaking at Michigan company Futuramic, said, "I got to see what's happening here to help build the SLS rocket that is going to go from Macomb to Mars." Futuramic provided tooling to help build the SLS core stage. Clinton has rarely talked about NASA or space policy during the campaign to date. (8/11)