November 17, 2017

What Is the Computational Power of the Universe? (Source: NIST)
National Institute of Standards and Technology physicist Stephen Jordan asks, “What if we consider the cosmos to be the output of a 13.7-billion-year computation?” After all, computers crunch numbers to simulate complex change and the universe has undergone billions of years of change in accordance with the laws of nature. Jordan isn’t looking to convert the entire cosmos into a vast computing device, but he is examining whether or not we can use what we see through our telescopes to gain insights into difficult computational problems. Click here. (11/15)

Air Mobility Command Looks to Space to Better Perform its Mission (Source: Defense News)
Air Mobility Command airmen are used to navigating through airspace around the globe, but their commander wants to aim a little bit higher. Gen. Carlton Everhart said he’s exploring how the command could move some of its mobility mission into outer space.

“I truly believe we can use mobility to take personnel and supplies through this medium,” he told Air Force Times on Thursday. Everhart said he’ll be brainstorming with representatives from industry and NASA, to see what’s possible in terms of the quickest, most efficient way to transport materiel to various places around the world.

Mobility forces and a company like SpaceX, United Launch Alliance or Orbital ATK could potentially work together is using a rocket-propelled vehicle to transport cargo from one side of the globe to another. “If you use space as a medium, you can literally go into orbit and come out on the other side of the world in, say, 12 minutes, where it would normally take hours,” Everhart said. (11/14)

Tiny Satellites, Big Universe (Source: Popular Mechanics)
After a summer of wildfires, hurricanes, and nuclear threats, it isn’t hard to see the value in being able to surveil the Earth with daily—or even more frequent—updates. But traditional satellites, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars, have orbits that mean they may not see the same target for a week or more. So an Earth-imaging company called Planet, in San Francisco, is doing something different. In the past year, it has sent nearly 150 satellites into space, including a record 88 at once from India on Valentine’s Day.

That should be unthinkable, but Planet is using CubeSats, an emerging type of small satellite made possible by the miniaturization of electronics and sensors, like those in smartphones, that are creating new possibilities to use space technology for social and economic purposes.

CubeSats are based on a one-unit (1U) standard cube the size of a grapefruit—10 centimeters in all dimensions, and weighing up to 1.33 kilograms. (Planet’s Dove satellites are called 3U CubeSats because they have one longer side of 30 cm.) They can fly as extra payload on an existing mission, taking up the space left over on a rocket after, say, SpaceX’s resupply for the International Space Station has been loaded up. And organizations with less funding than SpaceX can use them: Universities are able to develop, build, and launch 1U CubeSats for less than $100,000. (11/16)

Asgardia, the World's First 'Space Nation', Takes Flight (Source: CNN)
The world's first "space nation" has taken flight. On November 12, Asgardia cemented its presence in outer space by launching the Asgardia-1 satellite. The "nanosat" -- it is roughly the size of a loaf of bread -- undertook a two-day journey from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to the International Space Station (ISS).

It contains 0.5 TB of data belonging to 18,000 of Asgardia's citizens, such as family photographs, as well as digital representations of the space nation's flag, coat of arms and constitution. Russian scientist Dr Igor Ashurbeyli founded the world's first independent nation to operate in outer space in October 2016.

Named after a Norse mythological city of the skies, Asgardia is free to join and so far, about 114,000 people have signed up. Ashurbeyli says the project's mission is to provide a "peaceful society", offer easier access to space technologies, and protect Earth from space threats, such as asteroids and man-made debris in space. While Asgardia's citizens will -- for the time being -- remain based on earth, the satellite launch brings the nation one step closer to space. (11/15)

Companies Agree FAA Best Agency to Regulate Non-Traditional Space Activities (Source: Space Policy Online)
Representatives of four major companies agreed yesterday that the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST) is the best federal agency to be placed in charge of regulating non-traditional space activities to ensure compliance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.  They also agreed that regulatory certainty is key to the success of their ventures, so although they want a “light hand” of regulation, they do want some.

Lockheed Martin, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Orbital ATK, and Astrobotics were represented on a panel organized by the Space Transportation Association (STA) that also included George Nield, the head of FAA/AST, and was chaired by Mike Gold of MAXAR Technologies.  MAXAR Technologies is the new name of MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates (MDA), which already owned Space Systems Loral and recently purchased DigitalGlobe.  Radiant Solutions is a fourth component of the newly branded company. Click here. (11/15)

UK's Unst Identified as Suitable for Satellite Launches (Source: Shetland Times)
Unst could play a part in the space programme after being identified as suitable for satellite launches. A new company has been formed to drive forward the development in what is being hailed as a potentially major new sector. The Shetland Space Center has already had expressions of interest from commercial firms and the military.

The company was created after it emerged that a report commissioned by the UK Space Agency had singled out Saxa Vord as the preferred site for satellite launches. The SCEPTRE report, part-funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, states: “The site offering the maximum payload mass to orbit is Saxavord in the Shetlands [sic], from where direct launch is possible to both SSO [Sun-Synchronous] and Polar orbits.” (11/14)

How a Wild Rocket Misfire Created Cape Canaveral (Source: Popular Mechanics)
In May 1947, the Pentagon attempted to launch a V-2 ballistic rocket, like the ones the Nazis used to bombard London in World War II, outside White Sands, New Mexico. The weapon rose from the pad in a roar of flame and smoke and leapt into the sky. Within moments, however, the testers knew something was wrong. The missile was heading south instead of north.

A V-2 is a pretty simple rocket: a tank containing an alcohol-water mixture, another tank full of liquid oxygen, a small chamber with hydrogen peroxide, and some pipes to mix, ignite, and route it all through the engine. They are not known for their sophisticated guidance systems. (Just a couple of vanes on the fins.) The range of the V-2 can stretch hundreds of miles, and the Air Force was about to learn that the room they allotted to test them needed to increase.

The errant missile flew over El Paso, Texas and continued south, ultimately running out of fuel over Mexico. It careened into a cemetery in Juarez, leaving a deep, fifty-foot-wide crater. The crash in a populated area indirectly cemented the future of Cape Canaveral as a spaceport. The Pentagon fast-tracked a project to create missile ranges that fired experimental weapons over water. They wanted one on the east coast, and another on the west. (11/16)

Embry-Riddle's SUIT Lab Gives Students ‘Gloves-On’ Spaceflight Experience (Source: ERAU)
As companies develop space vehicles to send private individuals into outer space, a new lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach Campus may become the industry’s testbed for spacesuit design. Schwartz, a junior from Washington state, is one of seven students working in Embry-Riddle’s new SUIT Lab, which became fully operational this past spring. Located in the College of Aviation building, the lab supports research on spacesuits and, soon, new space gloves.

Schwartz is gathering various range-of-motion benchmark data with and without a spacesuit that can be used by the industry and is looking at other studies conducted by NASA, among others. Mobility analysis includes upper-body motions such as flexion, extension, abduction and adduction of the arms in addition to intravehicular and extravehicular activities. Click here. (11/14)

Agreement With NASA Hints Stratolaunch May Develop Its Own Rocket Engine (Source: Popular Mechanics)
The first launch test from Stratolaunch is planned in 2019, but exactly what type of rocket the megaplane will carry is still unclear. Currently, Stratolaunch plans to use Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rockets for the first launch tests, with the aircraft carrying as many as three at a time. The Pegasus XL is an old and expensive launch vehicle, however. First launched in 1996, the rocket has only flown five times in the last 10 years.

Hints are starting to trickle in that Stratolaunch may be considering building its own rocket to launch from the carrier aircraft. As reported by Jeff Foust from Space News, Stratolaunch has entered into an agreement with NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi "for the purpose of providing reimbursable testing and related support services to Stratolaunch to support propulsion, vehicle, and ground support system development and testing activities." (11/16)

China Wants a Nuclear Space Shuttle by 2040 (Source: Popular Mechanics)
China has already launched two space stations into orbit, and according to a recently released roadmap, the country is looking to build a reusable rocket, a massive cargo rocket, and a nuclear-powered space shuttle over the next few decades. The roadmap was released by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the company that builds China’s successful Long March family of rockets. The roadmap sets the company's goals from the end of this year all the way out to 2045.

The first goal is to have the next-gen Long March 8 rocket ready by 2020. This rocket is currently in development and designed to be a low-cost, light payload rocket that can carry small satellites to orbit. Then, in 2025, CASC plans to have developed a reusable space plane that can take off and land horizontally. This space plane would be a two-stage-to-orbit spacecraft primarily used for space tourism. The company hopes to improve on this design and complete a single-stage-to-orbit plane by 2030. (11/16)

Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow (Source: Rolling Stone)
It is easy to confuse who someone is with what they do, and thus turn them into a caricature who fits neatly into a storybook view of the world. Our culture always needs villains and heroes, fools and geniuses, scapegoats and role models. However, despite opinions to the contrary, Elon Musk is not a robot sent from the future to save humanity.

Nor is he a Silicon Valley savant whose emotional affect has been replaced with supercomputer-like intelligence. Over the course of nine months of reporting, watching Musk do everything from strategize Mars landings with his rocket-engineering team to plan the next breakthroughs with his artificial-intelligence experts, I learned he is someone far, far different from what his myth and reputation suggest. Click here. (11/16)

Jeff Bezos links Blue Origin to saving Earth (Source: GeekWire)
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ vision for his Blue Origin rocket venture is to have millions of people living and working in space — but why? During this month’s Summit Series invitation-only event in Los Angeles, Bezos explained that it’s not just because he’s a Star Trek fan — although he is that indeed. He sees going beyond Earth as a critical step toward preserving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on our home planet.

That’s not even considering fellow billionaire Elon Musk’s view that Mars and other planets would serve as a Plan B for humanity in the event of an Earth-killing catastrophe. “I hate the ‘Plan B’ argument,” Bezos said during a fireside chat that featured his brother Mark as emcee. Click here. (11/16)

NASA's Road Back To The Moon May Be Via Bezos' Blue Origin (Source: Forbes)
Nearly a year into the Trump Presidency, NASA is arguably no closer to a crewed return to the lunar surface than a decade ago. SpaceX is still focused on Mars. Maybe Congress and NASA could get serious about public/private partnerships of the sort proposed by Blue Origin and the company’s Blue Moon program. Blue Moon is a potentially low-cost, repeatable lunar-lander system designed to provide NASA and others with a commercial lunar cargo delivery solution.

The Blue Moon lander could easily fly on the SLS. And Blue Origin envisions working with NASA on missions to the lunar surface in the mid to late 2020s. But it says, if necessary, it could also use its own New Glenn launcher. Bretton Alexander, Blue Origin’s Director of Business Development and Strategy, recently told the House Subcommittee on Space that the Bezos-backed company is prepared to bring private capital to partner with NASA for a return to the lunar surface.

Yet without what Blue Origin terms clear guidance from Congress, Blue Origin fears that existing U.S. regulatory agencies may try to impede lunar utilization and commercialization efforts. It’s also a long shot that NASA will have a budget and the political appetite for such partnerships. But Blue Origin remains optimistic. (11/16)

SpaceX Expects Some Government Participation in New Big Rocket (Source: Space News)
SpaceX expects to get at least some government support for its planned BFR reusable launch system. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, speaking Thursday morning at the NewSpace Europe conference in Luxembourg, said she expected the BFR system would provide capability the government will be interested in using, and thus provide some funding to support its development. That funding could come through the Air Force's Launch Services Agreements program, proposals for which are due next week. She added that SpaceX remained on schedule for completing key test flights of its Crew Dragon vehicle to the International Space Station next year. (11/16)

Luxembourg Supports Spire in Exchange for HQ Site (Source: Space News)
A Luxembourg fund will invest in Spire in exchange for the company establishing a European headquarters in the country. In an agreement announced Wednesday, Spire announced the Luxembourg Future Fund will participate in the company's $70 million Series C round, expected to close this month. Spire plans to use the funds to help expand its business, hiring more personnel to produce data analytics services from its constellation of ship-tracking and weather cubesats. The deal is another step by the government of Luxembourg to attract entrepreneurial space companies to the country. (11/16)

DARPA Chief: Commercial Sector Should Disrupt Military Space (Source: Space News)
The head of a DARPA office says the Defense Department should not miss this opportunity to work with the growing commercial space sector. Fred Kennedy, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, said that the commercial sector could be the "savior" of the military, whose methods of procuring satellites, he believes, need a shakeup. He cited as an example an ongoing satellite servicing project that he believes will elevate DARPA's profile as a disruptor if successful. (11/16)

Construction in Spring for Canadian Spaceport (Source: Guysborough Journal)
Construction is scheduled to begin next spring on a Canadian launch site for a Ukrainian rocket. The president of Maritime Launch Services says an environmental review of the proposed launch site in Nova Scotia is on schedule that, if approved, would allow groundbreaking of the facility in May. The site would host launches of the Cyclone-4 rocket. That effort is aided by a new agreement between the governments of Canada and Ukraine for space cooperation. (11/16)

'Nearby' Exoplanet Could Harbor Life (Source: BBC)
A relatively nearby exoplanet could be one of the more promising places to look for life. The newly discovered planet, Ross 128 b, orbits a red dwarf star 11 light-years away. The planet is about 35 percent more massive than the Earth with a surface temperature similar to the Earth. The planet is similar to one spotted around another red dwarf, Proxima Centauri, but astronomers think Ross 128 b could be more hospitable to life since its star produces far fewer flares. (11/16)

MIT's Prize-Winning Mars City Concept Topped by Domed Tree Habitats (Source: New Atlas)
Most plans for Mars bases make becoming a colonist about as desirable as setting up house in an oil drum, but an MIT team has come up with a plan for a Mars city based on the architecture of a tree. Taking out first place in the Architecture section of the Mars City Design 2017 competition, the Redwood Forest concept is intended to provide settlers with not only protection against the harsh Martian environment, but open public spaces filled with plants and abundant water. Click here. (11/2)

Apollo Astronaut Watch, Stolen in Ecuador, Recovered 30 Years Later (Source: CollectSpace)
Donn Eisele's NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster was on loan from the Smithsonian to the Instituto Geográfico Militar in Quito, Ecuador, when in 1989 it was stolen from its display. The local police investigated the theft, but a culprit was never identified. The watch remained missing for 28 years. It briefly surfaced earlier this year at a watch show in Florida, but traces of it were quickly lost. Then, a person claiming to have been offered the watch for sale began reaching out for more details about its history.

NASA engraved each Speedmaster with part and serial numbers, to help track its mission equipment. Eisele's NASA-issued chronograph was inscribed with the part number common to other NASA Speedmaster watches, SEB12100039-002, and a unique serial number, "34." (Eisele also wore a personal Omega Speedmaster on Apollo 7, engraved with the serial number 38. That chronograph was sold by Sotheby's in 2007 for $204,000.)

Five months ago, after hearing nothing about the Eisele watch for almost 30 years, the Smithsonian was alerted the chronograph was seen at a watch show. But prior to investigators being able to take action, it disappeared again. Then in September, a space history and watch enthusiast signed onto eBay. Garron DuPree came across a watch seller from Texas who, after discussing various timepieces, shared the story of a friend who had bought a "vintage Omega Speedmaster with some very interesting engravings" for $5,000 while on a trip to Ecuador. The dealer said the watch was not for sale, but volunteered to share photos of it with DuPree. (11/16)

NASA Expert: We'll Find Alien Life Within 20 Years (Source: Daily Mail)
Alien life could be found within the next few decades, according to NASA scientists leading the exhaustive search. In recent years, capabilities have snowballed; the discovery of Pluto in 1930 was once thought a once-in-a-lifetime feat, yet not even 100 years later, over 3,500 exoplanets from thousands of star systems have since been located. (11/15)

Can MENA Do NewSpace? (Source: Via Satellite)
On the United Arab Emirates Space Agency’s homepage, there are three very significant words that sum up the country’s ambitions in space: Imagine the Impossible. It appears that this mentality is being duplicated across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as nations begin to believe that they can be a part of space as well. With NewSpace comes the notion of the democratization of space — a feeling that space is for all and that if there is a desire to become part of it, then this can become reality.

The rise of private companies (and private money) in space has meant that developments are being pushed on quickly. Take SpaceX’s and Blue Origin’s reusable rockets. This kind of development was laughed off 10 years ago, yet today, these rockets are actually in use. There is a new attitude toward space and how it may be used, and nations across the MENA region are eager to become involved. (11/16)