November 26, 2017

"Solar Minimum Surprisingly Constant" More than Half a Century of Observation yields New Discovery (Source: NAOJ NRO)
Using more than half a century of observations, Japanese astronomers have discovered that the microwaves coming from the Sun at the minimums of the past five solar cycles have been the same each time, despite large differences in the maximums of the cycles.

In Japan, continuous four-frequency solar microwave observations (1, 2, 3.75 and 9.4 GHz) began in 1957 at the Toyokawa Branch of the Research Institute of Atmospherics, Nagoya University. In 1994 the telescopes were relocated to NAOJ Nobeyama Campus, where they have continued observations up to the present. (11/26)

With CEO Facing Charges, Romanian Aerospace Firm May Be Hot Air (Source: Santa Fe New Mexican)
Two years ago, Dumitru Popescu stood on a stage in Las Cruces, taking in a standing ovation from the governor and the city’s mayor. The founder of ARCA Space Corp., Popescu said he was moving his company from Romania to the Southern New Mexico city. He touted plans to develop rockets and drones as well as a sort of hoverboard that had received international publicity.

Popescu’s business plan seemed to be exactly what the state needed as it tried to position itself as a center for the space industry and diversify an economy dependent on oil and gas extraction. Then-Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela said Popescu, 40, would do great things for New Mexico. ARCA even received funding from the city government. Now all the cheering has stopped.

State prosecutors this month charged Popescu with securities fraud and embezzlement. It was a hard fall for Popescu. But it is not the first controversy for an entrepreneur dogged by criticism in the space industry and depicted alternately as an amateur and an unconventional innovator too easily dismissed. State prosecutors have said little about their case against Popescu. But the nature of the charges leaves shareholders and others in New Mexico to grapple with an unsettling question: Were they conned? (11/26)

Roscosmos & S7 Airlines to Create Orbital Spaceport (Source: Russia Today)
Russia’s state space agency Roscosmos and Russia’s S7 airline have agreed to construct an orbital cosmodrome, according to a source in the aerospace industry. The new complex is expected to be used to assemble and fuel space vehicles and launch them into near-earth orbits as well as for Moon and Mars flights. The port is also planned as a refueling and supply point, and other functions related to space projects. (11/26)

Japan Eyes Crewed Lunar Surface Missions (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
The government plans to launch a project to send astronauts to the moon’s surface on an exploration mission in cooperation with a similar U.S. space project, sources close to the government said. Japan hopes to join the U.S. project to construct a spaceport in lunar orbit in the latter half of the 2020s, in an effort to realize a lunar surface exploration mission by a Japanese astronaut. The government plans to submit a draft report on the project to a meeting of a governmental panel of space policy experts.

By joining an international space probe, the nation is expected to obtain scientific results, and also boost its competitiveness in the space industry and assert Japan’s leadership in the field of space utilization, the sources said. Tokyo has decided it is a realistic goal to send astronauts for the first time to the lunar surface for exploration activities, by joining the U.S. Deep Space Gateway and contributing its expertise in such areas as the docking of the space station and supply ship. (11/26)

Maritime Launch Service Making Progress on Nova Scotia Spaceport (Source: Digital Journal)
Maritime Launch Services Ltd. (MLS) has come a long way since March of this year when it chose a small rural community near Canso, on Nova Scotia's eastern coast, to be the site of a commercial spaceport. Groundbreaking is expected in early 2018. When construction is complete, the complex will include a launch pad and a processing facility, which would be about two kilometers apart from each other, connected by a transportation hub.

MLS will employ between 30 to 50 people between launches and hundreds more prior to and during launches. The Guysborough Journal reported on Friday that MLS had released an update on the spaceport project in the Little Dover area. There are still regulatory hurdles to overcome before construction can begin, but company president Steve Matier said he's already heard "a lot" from residents.

Besides working on launch vehicle development and securing clients, MLS has also undertaken environmental assessments, seasonal data collection, finalization of the layout for the launch site to meet safety criteria, and topographical mapping and surveying. Lindsay Construction in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, has been chosen as the construction management partner and will focus on the overall launch site construction effort. (11/26)

Defense Measure Calls for Arlington Memorial to Apollo 1 Crew (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The National Defense Authorization Act passed by both houses of Congress calls for the construction of a memorial marker to the crew of Apollo 1 at Arlington National Cemetery. The measure awaits President Donald Trump’s signature. The United States Army will lead the effort to create the memorial in consultation with NASA, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the Advisory Committee on Arlington National Cemetery. (11/25)

NASA, Department of Energy Testing ‘Kilopower’ Space Nuclear Reactor (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
In preparing for possible missions to the Red Planet in the near future, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) has been given the go-ahead to test a small nuclear reactor that could one day run equipment on the Martian surface.

The Kilopower project is working to advance a design for a compact, low-cost, and scalable nuclear fission power system for missions that require lots of power, such as a human mission to Mars. The technology uses a fission reactor with a uranium-235 reactor core to generate heat, which is then transferred via passive sodium heat pipes to Stirling engines. Those engines use that heat to create pressure, which moves a piston – much as old coal-powered ships used steam pressure to run their pistons. When coupled to an alternator, the Stirling engine produces electricity. (11/26)

If No One Owns the Moon, Can Anyone Make Money Up There? (Source: New York Times)
From Launch Complex 17 here at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, many of NASA’s robotic planetary missions blasted off. Soon, the two massive towers that once cradled Delta 2 rockets will be torn down. A new tenant — Moon Express, a tiny company with far-out ambitions — is moving in. Next year, the company, with just 30 employees, aims to be the first private entity to put a small robotic lander on the moon and perhaps win $20 million in the Google Lunar X Prize competition.

It is investing at least $1.85 million to renovate decades-old buildings here. The company is transforming a parking lot into a miniature moonscape, and will also set up an engineering laboratory, a mission operations room and a test stand for spacecraft engine firings. Moon Express would not need all of these facilities if its only goal were to win the Lunar X Prize. Its second spacecraft aims to land in 2019 near the moon’s south pole. A third, larger spacecraft in 2020 is to gather samples and then bring them back to Earth, the first haul of moon rocks since the end of the Apollo missions 45 years ago. Click here. (11/26)

Iran Warns Europe of Ballistic Increased Missile Range (Source: Newsweek)
The deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned Europe that if it threatens Tehran, the Guards will increase the range of missiles to above 2,000 kilometers (1243 miles), the Fars news agency reported on Saturday. France has called for an “uncompromising” dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and for possible negotiations over the issue separate from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

U.N. Resolution 2231 calls for Iran not to develop its capacity to make missiles capable of carrying nuclear bombs—and is enshrined in the nuclear deal. Iran has repeatedly said its missile program is defensive and not negotiable. "If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers, it’s not due to lack of technology. ... We are following a strategic doctrine,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, according to Fars. (11/26)