December 1, 2017

US Believes it Can Defend Against N. Korea Missiles, For Now (Source: Space Daily)
The US military remains confident it can -- at least for the moment -- protect against any North Korean missile threat, a US official said Wednesday after Pyongyang tested a new rocket type. North Korea earlier launched a previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missile, which it called a Hwasong 15 and claimed was capable of carrying a "super-large heavy warhead" to any target in the continental United States.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the missile flew higher than any other from North Korea, and warned that Pyongyang could soon threaten "everywhere in the world." The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that America has not changed its assessment that its various missile defense systems can stop a North Korean missile attack, though the guarantee cannot be ensured indefinitely.

"I don't think they could successfully nuke the US at this time," the official said. "There is a general sense we can stop whatever North Korea has right now. For the future, I don't know." (11/29)

Georgia’s Aerospace Industry Continues to Fly High (Source: Georgia Trend)
Look, up in the air – it’s a plane. Or a satellite. Or a drone. When you’re talking about Georgia’s aerospace industry, it could be any of those. The state ranks near the top in three main sectors: manufacturing aircraft, aircraft maintenance and, of course, air transportation.

Aircraft and spacecraft are the state’s No. 1 export, and have been since 2004. Aerospace is the third-largest sector of manufacturing in Georgia, and global management consultants PwC named the state as the most attractive for aerospace manufacturing in its 2017 aerospace manufacturing rankings report. Click here. (12/1)

Ball Aerospace Wins Air Force Contract for New Weather Satellite (Source: Via Satellite)
The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has selected Ball Aerospace to deliver the operational environmental satellite system, Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M), for the Department of Defense (DOD). WSF-M is a predominantly fixed-price contract for the system design and risk reduction of a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite with a passive microwave imaging radiometer instrument and hosted furnished Energetic Charged Particle (ECP) sensor.

According to Ball Aerospace, the contract will include options for the development and fabrication of two LEO satellites as well as options for launch vehicle integration, launch and early orbit test, and operational test and evaluation support. This mission will improve weather forecasting over maritime regions by taking global measurements of the atmosphere and ocean surface. (11/30)

Air Force: Budget Uncertainty Threatens Cape Canaveral Rocket Launches (Source: Florida Today)
Before a rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a system drenches the launch pad with water to cool it down from the gas and flames bellowing out of engines firing with a million pounds of thrust or more. If that water supply failed, the rockets couldn’t launch. That’s why Pump Station 7 is a top priority among the 85 projects the 45th Space Wing has tackled during a two-week maintenance period expected to close the Eastern Range through Friday, Dec. 1.

A stopgap federal budget is set to expire Dec. 8. On Nov. 28, Democratic Senate leaders pulled out of a White House meeting aimed at averting a government shutdown, after President Trump sent a tweet mocking them. A likely short-term budget extension, known as a continuing resolution or CR, would buy time to negotiate a new spending package. Without a deal, in a worst-case scenario, the government would shut down, as it did for 16 days in 2013. Then only about 900 uniformed personnel — a quarter of the 45th Space Wing’s workforce — would report to work until the shutdown ended. (NASA's Kennedy Space Center also would be affected.)

Or, if the continuing resolution were extended through the remainder of the budget year, freezing spending at last year’s levels, it would trigger mandatory cuts in defense spending. That, too, would result in furloughs of civilian employees. “I can’t launch rockets with a quarter of my work force,” said Monteith. That applies to national security missions and commercial payloads making up an increasing share of the schedule. With the money currently available, Monteith is committed to the current two weeks of scheduled maintenance known as “Range recap,” or recapitalization, which is planned twice a year. (12/1)

Air Force Seeks Capacity for 48 Launches Per Year at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
The Wing has embarked on what Monteith bills the “Drive to 48” — an ability to support up to 48 launches a year, or one a week on average, assuming a month of maintenance downtime. Those numbers could materialize between 2020 and 2023, as Blue Origin starts flying alongside SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Orbital ATK, NASA and perhaps others. So far this year, 18 missions have launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Kennedy Space Center. The 19th is targeted for no earlier than Dec. 8. (12/1)

Moon Express Will Have Humans Living On The Moon By 2022 (Source: Inquisitr)
While the mining of resources and establishing a colony on the moon is a bold and lofty idea, it is not yet entirely a legal one. That isn’t stopping Naveen Jain, though. How countries regulate international waters should be no different from rules pertaining to the moon, Jain says. He speculates the rules will eventually work themselves out as more and more companies put pressure on governments to implement regulations for private-funded missions. Mining for resources is only part of the Moon Express plan to conquer the moon. According to Jain, the space enterprise is working on setting up a colony on our celestial neighbor within five years. (11/30)

NASA Has Never Gone This Long Without a Formal Administrator (Source: Ars Technica)
Four-time astronaut Charles Bolden resigned as NASA administrator on Jan. 20, 2017, leaving the space agency after more than seven years on the job. Since then, a former director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, Robert Lightfoot, has served as interim director. He has held this post now for 315 days, or nearly 11 months.

According to an analysis of the gaps between administrators at the space agency, NASA has never gone this long without a formal administrator. Beginning with T. Keith Glennan, in 1958 and running through the term of Charles Bolden six decades later, there have been ten transitions between NASA administrators. The average gap between administrators has been 3.7 months. “Think about what decisions could have been made with a leader in place." (12/1)

Deep Space Gateway a Key Part of Updated Exploration Roadmap (Source: Space News)
A new edition of an international space exploration planning document to be released early next year will offer an updated plan for human missions to the moon and Mars, emphasizing the role that NASA’s proposed Deep Space Gateway could play.

In January, NASA and 14 international space agencies plan to publish their common goals for exploration, including an extended presence in low Earth orbit, a cislunar habitat, moon missions and eventual excursions to Mars, in an updated Global Exploration Roadmap being drafted by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG).

Since NASA’s first flight of its heavy-lift Space Launch System with an Orion capsule is scheduled for as soon as late 2019, it’s time to decide “what we are going to do with these vehicles,” Kathy Laurini, NASA senior adviser for exploration and space operations, said during a Global Exploration Roadmap community workshop at the NASA Ames Research Center Nov. 29. “We’ve been engaged with our international partners on how we’ll use these to explore together.” (11/30)

A House Divided, or in This Case, a Rocket (Source: Space News)
Many opponents hope that, like the Constellation project, SLS and Orion will simply die under their own budgetary weight. This misunderstands the political purpose of the SLS, which, except incidentally, is not to achieve goals in space. Constellation’s Ares 5 heavy lifter, and its successor the SLS, have been in development for almost two decades, are nowhere near operational use, and will continue in development for the foreseeable future. The projects’ real purpose is to keep the space shuttle workforce employed in those states where NASA has a disproportionate economic impact.

Presidents answer to the nation, not to local job concerns. Two presidents in a row — Bush and Obama — have tried in varying degrees to redirect NASA away from the Apollo model, only to be blocked by institutions and senators who are answerable to local NASA employees. This time, we cannot repeat Mr. Obama’s mistake of canceling the SLS without finding a future for the people who work on it. The new “constellation” work needs to be planned and distributed in a way that will keep the traditional NASA workforce, and those who represent them, on board. (12/1)

Commander: Vandenberg AFB Spaceport Needs to Court Commercial Space Industry (Source: Lompoc Record)
The future of Vandenberg Air Force Base, particularly as it relates to the commercial space launch industry, is at a “critical crossroads,” according to one of the installation’s top officials, who is hopeful that the federal government and the civilian community will help the base reach what he sees as its full potential.

“There’s a lot of interest coming to Vandenberg Air Force Base right now for commercial launches,” he said. “SpaceX is already here, Orbital ATK is already here and Blue Horizon is looking right now. And there’s a bunch of smaller companies who are very interested. I want to be able to tell them, ‘Hey, here’s what we can provide you … ’ and I can’t do that.”

Hough noted that polar launches can now be conducted from Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral, both located on Florida’s Atlantic coast, and that launch companies are beginning to build their own launch sites. “What I’m afraid of is that if we can’t provide these commercial companies the latest and greatest and really attract them here, then they’re gonna go (elsewhere),” he said, listing increased power, fiber optics and the latest telemetry among the desired upgrades. (12/1)

RemoveDebris: Space Junk Mission Prepares for Launch (Source: BBC)
A mission that will test different methods to clean up space junk is getting ready for launch. The RemoveDebris spacecraft will attempt to snare a small satellite with a net and test whether a harpoon is an effective garbage grabber. The probe has been assembled in Surrey and will soon be packed up ready for blast off early next year. Scientists warn that the growing problem of space debris is putting spacecraft and astronauts at risk. (11/28)

Moon Express Launch Planned in 2018 (Source: CNBC)
The chairman of Moon Express said the company will launch its first mission in 2018. In an interview, Naveen Jain said the company "definitely" will launch a lunar lander in 2018, but did not give a more specific date. Moon Express is a finalist for the Google Lunar X Prize, which requires teams to complete their mission by the end of March 2018, although Jain said winning the prize "isn't necessarily the main priority" for the company. (11/30)

Colorado School of Mines Wants to Launch the First-Ever Space Mining Program (Source: WIRED)
This year, Hunter Williams enrolled in a class called Space Resources Fundamentals at the Colorado School of Mines, the pilot course for the first-ever academic program specializing in space mining. It's a good time for such an education, given that companies like Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources are planning prospecting missions, NASA's OSIRIS-REx is on its way to get a sample of an asteroid and bring it back to Earth, and there's international and commercial talk of long-term living in space.

It was good timing. Because this summer, Mines announced its intention to found the world’s first graduate program in Space Resources—the science, technology, policy, and politics of prospecting, mining, and using those resources. The multidisciplinary program would offer Post-Baccalaureate certificates and Masters of Science degrees. Although it's still pending approval for a 2018 start date, the school is running its pilot course, taught by Dreyer, this semester. (11/30)

ISRO Eyes One Rocket Launch a Month in 2018 (Source: Space Daily)
India plans to have at least one rocket launch every month in 2018 from its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to deploy satellites in orbit, said a top space official on Tuesday. "We are planning to have at least one launch mission a month in 2018 to deploy satellites in the earth's orbit for various applications," said Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar. (11/30)

ESA Pours $107 Million Into Vega E and a Reusable Spaceplane (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency today committed 89.7 million euros ($106.7 million) split between a new advanced iteration of the Vega launcher and the successor to a spaceplane demonstrator that flew in 2015. Italy’s space industry, notably Vega’s manufacturer Avio and Thales Alenia Space Italy, will both lead consortiums for Vega E and Space Rider, respectively.

Avio’s contract for Vega E — short for Vega Evolution — is worth 53 million euros, and jumpstarts development of the new launcher alongside Vega C, which has yet to fly. The company will be working on both rockets concurrently, with Vega C holding to a 2019 maiden launch, and Vega E’s first flight projected in 2024. Building both rockets simultaneously is possible because Vega E is based largely on the same building blocks as Vega C, but with three stages instead of four, and a “Europeanized” upper stage instead of a Ukrainian stage.

ESA awarded 36.7 million split between Avio and Thales Alenia Space Italy for Space Rider, an unmanned spaceplane capable of lifting 800 kilograms to LEO for missions up to two months. A single Space Rider should be capable of six missions with refurbishing, according to Thales Alenia Space. Space Rider leverages technology from ESA’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV), which performed a suborbital mission in  February 2015, landing in the Pacific Ocean. (11/30)

Space Tourism Will Surely Be a Blast, But Can it Also Improve Life on Earth? (Source: Washington Post)
Aboard G-Force One, I’ve lost all sense of up and down, left and right, space and time. Even my spirit feels lighter. I’m 7 years old again, improbably living out a recurring dream about gliding over trees and fields and towns. As I float in a sea of feet and elbows, a 300-pound man slowly sails past, curled in the fetal position. The look on his face mirrors mine: absolute bewilderment.

A flight coach is standing over me, poised with a bottle of water. Orbs float out. My fellow passengers’ mouths pucker, vying for bait. One woman attempting to catch water in her mouth misses, and a mercury-like glob slides across her face. When I reach out to touch a mass of water quivering before me, my finger slices through its center. Where there was one orb, there are now two. They drift away from each other, away from me. It’s a gift of physics, but it feels like magic.

Today, what was once accessible only to scientists and astronauts is an experience open to anyone. Tickets are expensive — $4,950 — yet more than 15,000 people, ages 9 to 93, have flown on G-Force One over the years. The plane regularly airport-hops, to give different regions better access. It’s reminiscent of how, in the 1920s — when airplanes were still oddities — pilots known as “barnstormers” would take their vehicles around the country to give thrill rides. “There’s a misconception that you’ve got to be in great shape or be somehow special to be able to do this,” says Tim Bailey, Zero G’s flight director. “But that’s not true. This is a gateway space tourism experience.” (11/30)

NASA OKs Use of Previously Flown Falcon Rocket for ISS Cargo Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA said Wednesday it's approved SpaceX's plans to fly a previously flown Falcon 9 on the next Dragon cargo launch. Speaking at a meeting of a NASA Advisory Council committee, agency officials said they completed reviews of the booster, which first flew in June on another Dragon mission, and concluded the reused booster would provide the same performance and reliability as a new one. NASA managers previously indicated they were leaning towards using a reused booster on that mission, scheduled for launch Dec. 8, pending final reviews. (11/30)

Astronomers Spot Planet So Hostile They Have a Hard Time Believing It (Source: BGR)
When news of a newly-studied exoplanet with an atmosphere begins to make headlines it’s typically because the far-off world is potentially Earth-like, teasing the possibility of extraterrestrial life or even a potential future home for mankind. WASP-18b is not one of those kinds of exoplanets. In fact, it’s so incredibly hostile to what we know about life that researchers had a difficult time explaining its existence at all.

WASP-18b is an absolutely huge planet, with a mass on the order of 10 times that of Jupiter, and it’s also incredibly hot. The planet orbits its star at a very short distance, which isn’t entirely uncommon for exoplanets, but what makes the alien world so strange is that it has a thick atmosphere that left scientists scratching their heads.

After observing the planet several times, that data revealed that WASP-18b’s atmosphere is packed with poisonous carbon monoxide. That’s not just a rarity among known planets; it’s essentially unheard of. “The composition of WASP-18b defies all expectations,” Kyle Sheppard of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, lead author of the study explains. “We don’t know of any other extrasolar planet where carbon monoxide so completely dominates the upper atmosphere.” (11/30)

Searching for the Cause of Russian Launch Failure (Sources: Tass, Interfax)
A problem with navigation equipment could be to blame for the failure of a Soyuz launch Tuesday. One report claimed that a "technical flaw" with the satellite navigation equipment on the Fregat upper stage could have caused it to malfunction and deorbit its payload of 19 satellites. However, another report claimed that the unit was switched off prior to the launch and did not play a role in the failure. That report blamed "mismatching reference data used in designing the mission" for the failure. (11/30)

Rocket Lab Plans Second Launch on Dec. 8 in New Zealand (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab said Wednesday it will launch its second Electron rocket next month. The company said a 10-day window for the launch, dubbed "Still Testing," will open Dec. 8 local time at the company's New Zealand test site. The rocket will carry one cubesat for Planet and two for Spire, in addition to instrumentation. The Electron's first launch, in May, was cut short by a telemetry problem blamed on misconfigured software rather than a flaw with the rocket itself. (11/29)

UK Investing in Experimental Imaging Satellite (Source: Defense News)
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) is investing in a commercial imaging satellite project. The MoD is spending about $6 million to work on Carbonite-2, an experimental imaging satellite built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for launch around the end of this year. Participating in the program "will play a crucial role in shaping our vision for a future constellation of small satellites," an MoD official said. Carbonite-2, also known EiX2, is the prototype satellite for a commercial imaging constellation under development by Earth-i. (11/29)

Chinese Spacecraft Finds Hint of Dark Matter (Source: Science)
The analysis of the first data from a Chinese spacecraft have offered a "tantalizing hint" of evidence for dark matter. The results, published in the journal Nature this week, show an anomalous break in the distribution of cosmic rays detected by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) spacecraft since its launch nearly two years ago.

That phenomenon, also seen in some other cosmic ray detectors, has been suggested as scientists as a signal of one kind of proposed dark matter particle known as a WIMP. Chinese scientists said that DAMPE, while designed to operate for three years, remains in good condition and they hope the spacecraft can operate for five years, providing additional cosmic ray data. (11/29)

NASA Launched This Record Into Space in 1977. Now, You Can Own Your Own Copy (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A NASA-created phonograph album - the "Voyager Golden Record" - is floating in space in search of a listener. It's a mix tape "intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials," according to NASA's website. Of course, the extraterrestrials have to stumble upon it and figure out how to make it play.

NASA launched two copies of the album - which contains spoken greetings in 55 languages, music by Bach and Chuck Berry, and even songs by humpback whales - into space in 1977 on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecrafts. It did not include a record player. Until recently, the album hasn't been made public except to donors of a Kickstarter campaign by Ozma Records, which raised nearly $1.4 million to issue a limited number of copies on vinyl.

That campaign was so successful that the company decided to release the album to the general public, Ozma Records co-founder David Pescovitz, who co-produced the record, told The Washington Post. At the end of January 2018, the company will begin shipping a box set vinyl edition through the record distributor Light in the Attic. (11/29)

Six Reasons Why the Business of Space is Vital for Scotland (Source: Insider)
The business of space is, by its nature, ordinarily out of this world. But as proponents of the burgeoning sector in Scotland are keen to point out, it generates tangible benefits right here at home. The space sector in Scotland employs about 5,500 people and had an estimated turnover of £134m in 2012/13, according to a study published at the end of 2016 by London Economics and Scottish Enterprise.

That represents 1.1 per cent of the total UK space economy, a figure that is expected to grow as increasing commercialisation drives the development of a new age of space applications. Tipper – whose work on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was recognised as a contribution to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 – concedes it is “doubtful” the space industry in Scotland will ever reach the size of, for example, tourism north of the Border. However, it brings the country kudos at the highest end of the value chain. (11/29)