November 21, 2017

SpaceX Aims to Follow a Banner Year with Even Faster 2018 Launch Cadence (Source: Space News)
SpaceX, now on track to more than double its personal best for launches conducted in a single year, wants to further accelerate its launch pace in 2018 by perhaps 10 or more missions. “We will increase our cadence next year about 50 percent,” Gwynne Shotwell said. “We’ll fly more next year than this year, knock on wood, and I think we will probably level out at about that rate, 30 to 40 per year.”

With 16 launches completed and three to four remaining by year’s end, SpaceX is tracking to perform around 20 launches this year. Remaining 2016 missions include the mystery Zuma payload, NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services-13 mission, a launch of 10 Iridium Next satellites, and potentially Falcon Heavy’s long-awaited debut.

Editor's Note: Lots of talk about reaching an annual 30-40 launch cadence, but not a word about the Boca Chica spaceport under development in Texas. With two launch pads in Florida and one in California, and a twice-monthly capacity on each, SpaceX can easily reach that cadence without a new spaceport. (11/21)

Space Coast Could Help Develop Futuristic, Monorail-Like mMass Transit (Source: Florida Today)
It's like a page from science-fiction: A techno transit company, using Jetsons-like pods and magnetic levitation, will build a test track at Kennedy Space Center and develop a mass transit system capable of whisking commuters around an elevated rail network. A tenant at NASA's Ames Research Park in Silicon Valley, skyTran is negotiating with Space Florida to lease 15 acres near KSC’s former shuttle runway for 30 to 50 years, a deal not yet completed.

The company wants to build a test track and is dangling the possibility of bringing its headquarters there, which Space Florida hinted could include more than 200 jobs. The only catch: skyTran has yet to field an operational system anywhere. SkyTran's website touts a 2015 investment from Innovation Endeavors, a venture capital firm whose backers include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent Alphabet. skyTran also has a $30 million bridge loan last year from Hong Kong-based Verita Merchant Bank.

SkyTran in 2014 said it would build a test track on the campus of Israeli Aerospace Industries. Bill Ferguson, vice president for business development for SkyTran, said "ongoing 'Maglev' flight testing is underway at the IAI campus. It is being used to demonstrate full scale technology operation."
Closer to home, skyTran has at least one passionate supporter. Tom Nocera hopes to become the first U.S. owner and operator of a skyTran system, which would cross a nearly three-mile span between Clearwater with Clearwater Beach. (11/10)

XCOR Files Financials with Bankruptcy Court (Source: Midland Reporter-Telegram)
Beleaguered XCOR Aerospace has filed its financials with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. XCOR filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Nov. 8. Chapter 7 involves liquidation to pay off creditors; however, the Midland-headquartered space company claims it has only $1.1 million in assets — mostly through receivables — while liabilities totaling nearly $27.5 million. The company reported just $1,424.66 in cash.

The promise of the Lynx enticed the Midland Development Corp. in 2012 to offer XCOR an upfront incentive of $10 million to relocate its headquarters from California to Midland. The MDC has $10.03 million in unsecured claims. The largest secured creditor is Space Florida, with a $3.6 million incentive for XCOR to construct the Lynx and fly out of Kennedy Space Center. The MDC is one of dozens of unsecured nonpriority creditors, though on Nov. 8  it took the legal step to become a secured creditor. Secured claims are settled before unsecured claims.

Editor's Note: That full-sized model of the Lynx should go into the unfortunately-named Museum of Failure in Los Angeles, along side other notable space programs like VentureStar, Delta-3, Rotary Rocket, Falcon-1, the X-34, NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter, Russia's Buran space shuttle, etc. Every failure is a learning experience for the entire industry. (11/20)

Zuma Launch Moves Beyond Thanksgiving (Source: Florida Today)
The launch of a classified payload on a Falcon 9 is on hold until at least after Thanksgiving, and maybe until December. The Eastern Range has started a maintenance period scheduled to go until Dec. 1, although it may be possible to interrupt the work after Thanksgiving to accommodate the launch, based on past experience. SpaceX has not provided updates on the status of the payload fairing issue that prompted the delay in the launch of a payload known only as Zuma. (11/21)

China Launches Remote Imaging Satellites (Source: GB Times)
China launched three remote-sensing satellites overnight. The Long March 6 rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:50 p.m. Eastern Monday night and placed three Jilin-1 imaging satellites into orbit. The launch was the second for the Long March 6, which is part of a new family of rockets that includes the Long March 5 and 7, replacing the aging Long March 2, 3 and 4 series. The satellites, named Lingqiao 04, 05 and 06, will provide imagery and video at resolutions of better than one meter. The satellites are developed by Chinese commercial satellite maker Chang Guang Satellite, which expects to have 60 in orbit by 2020. (11/21)

Morocco Remote Imaging Satellite Makes Neighbors Nervous (Source: LeMonde)
The launch of a high-resolution imaging satellite for the government of Morocco has some of its neighbors nervous. A Vega rocket launched the Mohammed-VI A satellite earlier this month, which the country's government said will be used for civil applications. However, the satellite has worried officials in Algeria and Spain, who believe it could be used for military applications as well. A Spanish military expert said that Morocco was a friend to Spain, "but we would not like to anyone, even less a friend, to come and pry into our affairs." (11/21)

Alien Asteroid Shaped Like a Cigar (Source: BBC)
A newly-discovered asteroid not only has a unique trajectory, it also has a unique shape.The asteroid 1I/2017 U1, recently named 'Oumuamua, was discovered last month and found to be on a trajectory that meant the object came from outside our solar system and would soon leave the solar system. Astronomers, using a series of observations of the object in recent weeks, conclude the asteroid is a cigar-shaped object about 400 meters long and rapidly rotating. It has a reddish appearance, likely from exposure to cosmic radiation. The object's origins remain unknown. (11/20)

Mars Streaks are Sand, Not Water (Source: GeekWire)
A new study finds that dark streaks on Mars are most likely caused by sand, not water. The dark streaks known as recurring slope lineae, seen in craters on Mars, had been interpreted by some scientists as evidence of water making its way to the surface and flowing. Others disagreed, and the new study said the slopes are consistent with flows of dry sand. The streaks are only seen on slopes at a high enough angle for sand to flow. Traces of water may be present in the streaks, but it would likely come from the atmosphere and not underground aquifers. (11/20)

Final Frontier Testing Pressure Suit on Canadian Flights, and With Embry-Riddle (Source: Space.com)
An American company developing a pressure suit has tested it on a Canadian microgravity flight. Final Frontier Design tested the suit's life support system on a Canadian plane flying parabolic arcs to provide brief periods of weightlessness. The Brooklyn-based company had tested the suit on previous flights, but the tests last month were the first with the suit's visors down, meaning the people wearing them were relying on its life support systems. The company, which is also testing their suit with support from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, hopes to win business from commercial spaceflight companies for its suit. (11/21)

Space Dust May Transport life Between Worlds (Source: Space Daily)
Life on our planet might have originated from biological particles brought to Earth in streams of space dust, a study suggests. Fast-moving flows of interplanetary dust that continually bombard our planet's atmosphere could deliver tiny organisms from far-off worlds, or send Earth-based organisms to other planets, according to the research.

The dust streams could collide with biological particles in Earth's atmosphere with enough energy to knock them into space, a scientist has suggested. Such an event could enable bacteria and other forms of life to make their way from one planet in the solar system to another and perhaps beyond. The finding suggests that large asteroid impacts may not be the sole mechanism by which life could transfer between planets, as was previously thought. (11/21)

North Korean ICBM Program Hits Major Roadblock at Reentry (Source: Space Daily)
The South Korean foreign intelligence service has reported that North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program has hit a snag, as the communist country has run into difficulty developing reliable atmospheric re-entry technology that would allow their missile to return from Earth's orbit.

The report came from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), who met behind closed doors with the South Korean National Assembly's Intelligence Committee on Thursday. According to an anonymous parliamentary source with Yonhap News, NIS claims that the DPRK will not have a functional ICBM until they can overcome this hurdle.

The Hwasong-14 rocket could potentially hit any part of the continental United States. But to reach that far, the Hwasong-14 would need an effective reentry vehicle. The second tested missile made it into space just fine, but the reentry vehicle broke into pieces when it attempted its return to Earth. (11/20)

Dunford: US Military Superiority Over Russia, China Markedly Decreasing (Source: Space Daily)
The US has been losing its military supremacy over its peer countries like Russia and China over the last 10-15 years and should step up efforts to increase its deterrence potential, Joe Dunford, Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was cited as saying during a lecture at the Tufts University in Massachusetts earlier this week.

Russia and China have heavily invested in their capabilities to struggle against America's traditional dominance in a range of spheres, General Dunford said. The areas that are in the Russian and Chinese spotlight are electronic warfare, cyber technologies, anti-space capabilities, anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles, aimed to prevent the US from spreading its power to Europe and supporting its allies. (11/20)

New Law Gives Air Force Some Wiggle Room in Picking its New Rockets (Source: Ars Technica)
On Monday, US aerospace companies submitted their final bids to capture some of the $1.2 billion on offer from the Air Force over the next five years to develop new launch systems for military purposes. The Air Force wants commercial companies to provide two US-manufactured launch systems that meet national security requirements. Language in the NDAA bill offers the Air Force some flexibility in its procurement but should also raise concerns for some bidders.

Specifically, the language allows the Air Force to spend additional funds for the development of a domestic “rocket propulsion system"; the interface to, or integration of new rocket engines into planned or existing rockets; and capabilities such as vertical integration of payloads that are required by national security missions. Further, the bill defines “rocket propulsion system” as a main booster, first-stage rocket engine, or motor. The term does not include a launch vehicle, an upper stage, a strap-on motor, or related infrastructure.

The bill does not include funding for the development of a whole launch system, which had been sought by ULA’s parent companies, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Nevertheless, according to one Capitol Hill source involved in developing the language, the company is OK with this compromise. “ULA and the Air Force both seem good with the language,” this source said. “Boeing and Lockheed Martin will make significant investments if they know the government will be supplying the bulk.” (11/21)

Blue Origin A Winner in Defense Bill's Rocket Language (Source: Ars Technica)
A provision in the NDAA bill relates to the engines under development for Vulcan. This language states that the Air Force may terminate funding for other rocket propulsion systems when “the Secretary of the Air Force certifies to the congressional defense committees that a successful full-scale test of a domestic rocket engine has occurred.” Three sources interpreted this as a provision that could benefit ULA and Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos.

To power the new Vulcan rocket, ULA has said it prefers to use Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine but will consider Aerojet’s AR1 engine as a fallback option. (Both engines are in development). The new language appears to allow the Air Force to end funding for the AR1 engine after the BE-4 undergoes a successful hot fire test. Blue Origin may have already met this requirement, with a full-scale test at 50-percent power in October. (11/21)

NDAA Might Favor SpaceX Over Orbital ATK and ULA for New Rocket (Source: Ars Technica)
The NDAA language in the compromise bill also appears to favor SpaceX, because it doesn’t give ULA or Orbital ATK (with their proposed Next-Generation Launch System) a blank check to develop a full-scale commercial rocket that would directly compete with the Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket. In addition, this restriction may free up Air Force funding for the Falcon Heavy, a high-energy upper stage, or infrastructure to allow the SpaceX heavy lift rocket to meet all of the government’s desired orbits.

Recently, the president of SpaceX also suggested the company may bid for some Air Force funding to develop its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) and Big Falcon Spaceship (BFS). “I do anticipate that there is residual capability of that system that the government will be interested in,” Gwynne Shotwell said. (11/21)

Poroshenko: Ukraine is a Space Power (Source: Stopru)
The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko considers Ukraine a country that for the past two decades confirms its position of “cosmic powers” and does so “successfully”. The corresponding statement Poroshenko posted on his official account on Facebook.

The Ukrainian leader wrote that twenty years ago was sent into space in Ukrainian cosmonaut Leonid Kadenyuk. He flew on the U.S. space Shuttle “Columbia”. Poroshenko called it a significant event for Independent Ukraine, and added that since Ukraine continues to be a space power and provides convincing evidence that she is worthy of this status.

The Ukrainian head of state added that the launch vehicles made in Ukraine, withdrawn into outer space foreign satellites around the world. In addition, Poroshenko has also represented his country as an active participant in international programs related to space exploration. Earlier, the Ukrainian leader spoke about the country as an aviation power. (11/19)

Earth's Rotation Is Mysteriously Slowing Down: Experts Predict Uptick In 2018 Earthquakes (Source: Forbes)
Scientists have found strong evidence that 2018 will see a big uptick in the number of large earthquakes globally. Earth’s rotation, as with many things, is cyclical, slowing down by a few milliseconds per day then speeding up again. You and I will never notice this very slight variation in the rotational speed of Earth. However, we will certainly notice the result, an increase in the number of severe earthquakes.

Geophysicists are able to measure the rotational speed of Earth extremely precisely, calculating slight variations on the order of milliseconds. Now, scientists believe a slowdown of the Earth’s rotation is the link to an observed cyclical increase in earthquakes.

To start, the research team of geologists analyzed every earthquake to occur since 1900 at a magnitude above 7.0. They were looking for trends in the occurrence of large earthquakes. What they found is that roughly every 32 years there was an uptick in the number of significant earthquakes worldwide. (11/20)

International Cooperation and Competition in Space (Source: Space Review)
When should countries, including the United States, work together with other countries on space projects, and when should they compete against one another? In the first of a two-part examination, Cody Knipfer looks at some of the key factors affecting international cooperation and competition. Click here. (11/20) 
 
A Landing Lifts Dream Chaser’s Prospects (Source: Space Review)
Earlier this month, Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser successfully completed its second glide flight, this time with a safe landing. Jeff Foust reports on how the company is confident it can press ahead with the vehicle’s development after this latest test. Click here. (11/20)
 
A Giant Leap for America (Source: Space Review)
As the US develops plans for a potential human return to the Moon, what’s the best way to get there? Ajay Kothari discusses how reusable vehicles and on-orbit fueling can deliver cargo to the Moon at a fraction of the cost of a conventional heavy-lift rocket. Click here. (11/20)
 
The Future Challenges Related to Space Activities: Towards a New Legal Framework? (Source: Space Review)
The current international legal regime governing spaceflight is struggling to keep up with emerging actors and applications. Anne-Sophie Martin discusses the problem and ways to get those other than countries involved in rulemaking. Click here. (11/20)

Harris Corp. Successfully Completes Testing for James Webb Space Telescope (Source: Harris Corp.)
Harris Corp. has partnered with NASA’s Johnson Space Center to successfully complete thermal vacuum testing for the James Webb Space Telescope – validating its ability to operate in the frigid space environment. The Webb telescope will be the premier space observatory of the next decade, and will study galaxy, star and planet formation in the universe.

Harris’ team helped safeguard the telescope in Houston during Hurricane Harvey and ensured uninterrupted testing – including monitoring more than 1,000 sensors on the telescope around the clock. In addition, Harris designed a multi-wavelength interferometer system that aligned 18 mirror segments into one 6.5-meter phased primary mirror to verify optical quality and placement.

Harris engineers integrated all 18 mirror segments on the Webb telescope, as well as designed and installed the cryogenic test equipment, including a simulator to mimic the temperature of the Sun. Harris also built the structure that held and isolated the telescope during vibration and acoustic testing. (11/20)

NASA Small Satellite Promises Big Discoveries (Source: LinkedIn)
A team of engineers and scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the University of Florida are collaborating on a 12U CubeSat that will be the first to interface with NASA’s Space Network, which provides continuous communications services.

The University of Florida RadSat (UF-RadSat) is a collaborative design effort of NASA interns from several universities across the country, who have filed multiple invention disclosures for its technologies. The satellite will circle Earth in a geosynchronous transfer orbit, communicating with three Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) and NEN ground stations. This methodology provides almost constant data coverage — an innovation that could be useful to many future CubeSat missions. (11/16)

Kids' Rocket Science Book Blasts Past Kickstarter Goal (Source: Space.com)
While rocket science is notoriously tough to understand, a new book by an aerospace engineer shows it can be explained in a simple way. The book, "Rocket Science," discusses orbits and physics for readers as young as 6, and features eye-catching illustrations that people of all ages can appreciate. The project has raised more than $35,000 on Kickstarter to print copies of the book, nearly doubling the $19,183 goal originally set, and there's still over two weeks to go, with contributions closing Dec. 6. (11/20)

Voyager: The Little Spacecraft That Could (Source: CBS)
When you think of legendary voyages of discovery you probably think of Columbus and Magellan, or Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. But what may be the greatest journey of exploration mankind has ever undertaken is happening right now. It began in 1977 when NASA launched two spacecraft named Voyager 1 & 2. The mission was only supposed to last four years, but now, 40 years later, against all odds, the two little spacecraft are still out there, traveling beyond the most distant planets in our solar system, reporting back on what they find.

They're the outer-space equivalents of the Little Engine that Could. Nothing man-made has ever traveled so long and so far, and wherever they go, they carry with them a message from earth for any other lifeforms that may find them. When Voyager 1 & 2 took off in August and September of 1977, they had cameras and sensors and something no other spacecraft ever had -- two golden records, filled with music. Click here. (11/20)

How NASA Will Defend the Earth Against Plagues from Outer Space (Source: Engadget)
In the summer of 1957, the Earth stood witness as a meteorite cratered in rural Pennsylvania, bringing with it a people-eating plague never seen: an alien amoeba with the taste for human flesh. While we had Steve McQueen around for the first invasion, humanity is now defended against microbial marauders from outer space by NASA and its international counterparts.

Biological contamination goes both ways, mind you. Just as important as keeping extraterrestrial organisms from reaching the surface (aka "backward contamination") is ensuring that our planetary probes carry as few microbial hitchhikers from Earth as possible ("forward contamination"). To that end, in 1958, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a decree urging "that scientists plan lunar and planetary studies with great care and deep concern so that initial operations do not compromise and make impossible forever after critical scientific experiments." Click here. (11/19)

As the US Air Force Turns Its Focus to Space, This Small Team Could Lead the Way (Source: Defense One)
Once seen as a threat to traditional acquisition channels, the Operationally Responsive Space office is making it faster and cheaper to put new capabilities into orbit. As the Air Force — and policymakers at the Pentagon and in Congress — rethink how the military should build and retain this space superiority, it’s clear that the service needs faster, cheaper ways to put spacecraft on orbit. This small office at Kirtland just might show the way.

Created in 2007 by order of the deputy defense secretary, the Operationally Responsive Space office is a handful of uniformed officers who build satellites relatively quickly and cheaply using small teams of contractors and a unique on-base factory. After several years in which Air Force leaders tried to kill the shop — it competes, somewhat, with the Space and Missile Systems Center that has long produced many of the service’s most advanced and costly spacecraft — ORS is now getting praise from the chief of staff. (11/20)

Scott Garrett Poses Real Threat to EXIM Bank, Small Businesses (Source: The Hill)
For those who haven't worked in manufacturing, it may seem as though only large corporations sell their products across international borders. Those working at small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses, however, know the real story. In the U.S., small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 workers account for 97.6 percent of all exporters and 96.4 percent of all manufacturing exporters.

At MWI Corporation, a pump manufacturing company located in Deerfield Beach, Florida, I've witnessed the story behind the statistics firsthand. We made our first international sale in 1971, selling water pumps to customers in Jamaica. Since then, accessing international customers and markets has only become more critical to our business. Today, we're proud to have pump systems operating in over 50 countries.

To sell our systems across the globe, MWI relies on the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank. Between 1983 and 2002, MWI obtained EXIM financing commitments to support export sales to Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Venezuela. These sales totaled nearly $221 million, money that went into hiring workers and paying employees back at home in the U.S. Without EXIM, our sales to Zimbabwe and other developing countries would not have happened. That's why our business relies on EXIM, and it's why I oppose former Rep. Scott Garrett's (R-NJ) nomination to lead this critical agency. (11/19)

Self-Taught Rocket Scientist Plans to Launch Over Ghost Town (Source: AP)
The countdown to launch creeps closer and there’s still plenty for self-taught rocket scientist “Mad” Mike Hughes to do: Last-second modifications to his vessel. Pick up his flight suit. Leave enough food for his four cats — just in case anything happens. Hughes is a 61-year-old limo driver who’s spent the last few years building a steam-powered rocket out of salvage parts in his garage. His project has cost him $20,000, which includes Rust-Oleum paint to fancy it up and a motor home he bought on Craig’s List that he converted into a ramp.

His first test of the rocket will also be the launch date — Saturday , when he straps into his homemade contraption and attempts to hurtle over the ghost town of Amboy, California. He will travel about a mile at a speed of roughly 500 mph. “If you’re not scared to death, you’re an idiot,” Hughes said . “It’s scary as hell, but none of us are getting out of this world alive. I like to do extraordinary things that no one else can do, and no one in the history of mankind has designed, built and launched himself in his own rocket." (11/20)

How to Ensure Your Startup Survives the NewSpace Bubble (Source: Via Satellite)
According to some financial experts, the space startup industry is in the midst of a bubble — but that may not necessarily be such a bad thing. The influx of capital coming into the space market is helping support “a lot of talent and resources” driving healthy commercial growth. The big question mark now, said Bessemer Venture Partners’ Tess Hatch, is whether these young companies can sustain their profitability in the long term. “The only real exit we’ve seen in space so far is when Google acquired Skybox. So the question is, what’s next for these companies?” Hatch said.

“Showing that you can generate meaningful value-inflecting milestones I think is very significant,” echoed Lux Capital partner Shahin Farshchi. Farshchi highlighted companies such as Kymeta and Relativity Space as interesting “long-tail businesses” with good potential for revenue-generating opportunities far into the future. Although still young and lightly staffed, Relativity Space has already begun to test its self-built 3D printers with the goal of reducing rocket manufacturing costs. Kymeta has also taken the first steps to prove out its business case with cross-country treks and the introduction of its Kalo connectivity service. (11/20)

Chainmail Tires Re-invent the Wheel to Get Future NASA Rovers Rolling (Source: The Register)
NASA has developed chainmail tires with a memory and thinks they'll do the trick for future rovers. Enter a technology called “spring tires” that use a tubular structure of steel mesh – think tire-shaped chainmail - to cushion rovers as they roll. Spring tires have many fine qualities as the mesh forms a pattern that provides good grip on many surfaces. Mesh is also light by nature and can survive some damage. But spring tires don't deform well: if one rolls over a sharp rock, it can acquire a dent - or “plastic deformation” as NASA boffins put it.

As it happens, some metals can endure plastic deformation and return to their original shape. An accidental meeting between two NASA boffins – one working on wheels, the other a material science – led to a discussion in which the material scientist explained that Nickel Titanium has exceptional “shape memory”. The alloy was quickly pressed into service for test tires. The result, as the video below shows, is a tire that can roll right over razor-sharp rocks without ill-effects. (11/20)

Japan Discovers New 50km Cave in Moon, Raises Hope for Human Colonization (Source: AGN News)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has just discovered a massive underground cave in moon which could be used as potential location for a lunar station in coming months. This has raised hopes for human colonization in moon  and experts say  we will make it in less than 20 years. Japan claims it as a  very significant discovery, due to its value for both science and human expansion into space.They expect the cave rocks could be filled either with water or ice.

Due to lack of atmosphere there could be extremes temperatures on moon ranging from 100 degree Celsius to minus 173 Celsius and during those extreme temperatures humans can use this cave as a protective shield. Jaxa said the cave is  located from a few dozen meters to 200 meters beneath an area of volcanic domes known as the Marius Hills on the moon’s near side, is a lava tube created during volcanic activity about 3.5bn years ago. Jaxa also claimed that they haven’t  seen the inside of cave and and believes exploring it might lead to many discoveries. (11/20)

Wild Conspiracy Theory Claims Photo Proves Moon Landing was Faked (Source: FOX News)
Despite insurmountable evidence to the contrary, conspiracy theorists have claimed for years that man did not walk on the moon, that the landings were fake. That theory has surfaced again, thanks to a new "picture" posted to YouTube that alleges the last moon landing, one from Apollo 17, was staged. The video, which shows a picture that was allegedly taken in December 1972, is named  “Reflection in a Visor." The person who posted it, using the user name Streetcap1, claims that there is a reflection of a stagehand on the helmet of one of the astronauts. (11/20)

Russia Wants Its Gun-Toting Robot to Pilot Ship to the ISS (Source: Newsweek)
Russia wants to send its most high-tech robot into space as a pilot on a voyage to the International Space Station. Fedor—-which stands for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, as well as being a common Russian name-—has been earmarked for greatness by Russian engineers and astrophysicists.

Designed with rescue missions in emergency situations in mind, Fedor’s creators have left his use open-ended as they continue to tweak his movements to appear faster and more humanlike. Now, Fedor is preparing for work that is truly out of this world. Roscosmos has selected Fedor to pilot the agency’s new spacecraft Federatsiya into orbit in 2021-—a flight he may undertake solo. Fedor is supposed to be ready to join preliminary tests for Federatsiya’s first training flight in 2020, with an eye on joining the crew of the International Space Station by 2024.

At the moment, the human-like robot developed by the state-funded Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects is the Russian government’s premium android. Fedor is able to lift weights, crawl and drive in a straight line. Fedor rose to internet fame earlier this year when Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin posted a video of the android firing a gun in each hand, but the minister denied Russia was working on a “terminator” bot. (11/20)