Legal Questions About
Blue Origin Financial Incentive From County (Source:
Florida Today)
Brevard County's previously approved $8 million incentive to rocket
maker Blue Origin will be coming due in April. But there now is a
dispute among Brevard officials over whether the county can legally
borrow the money so it can make its payment to Blue Origin.
The company has pledged to create 330 jobs by the end of 2026 at its
nearly completed facility and at its related operations. The Blue
Origin facility is at Space Florida's Exploration Park complex at
Kennedy Space Center. An orbital launch complex that includes
development and construction of a launch pad and associated facilities
also is part of Blue Origin's overall project.
Brevard County Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis — who would among those to
have to sign the paperwork for the deal — said he questions the
legality of the county borrowing money to pay the incentive to Blue
Origin. Ellis plans to challenge the plan in court. "It is unlawful for
a government in Florida to issue bonds for operational expenses," Ellis
said. "The 'grant' is clearly not a capital expense. The county has no
property interest in the Blue Origin facility." (12/14)
A-P-T Wins NASA Contract
for Safety, Mission Assurance Support (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded the Safety and Mission Assurance Support Services III
(SMASS III) contract to A-P-T Research, Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama,
for a broad range of services at the agency’s Headquarters in
Washington, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and various sites
supported by Kennedy’s programs and projects.
SMASS III is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a two-year base period
and three one-year options. The total potential value of the contract
is approximately $52 million. The services to be performed include
safety and mission assurance risk assessments, inspections,
investigations, engineering analyses, and evaluations of work performed
by other government contractors and NASA organizations. SMASS III
customers include NASA’s Commercial Crew, Launch Services and
International Space Station programs. (12/13)
SpaceX Double Re-Use With
Falcon/Dragon Combo (Source: SFGate)
SpaceX doubles down on the concept of recycling spacecraft that the
company has flown and landed back on Earth. In the year's final mission
for NASA, SpaceX reuses both a rocket and a capsule that it’s fired off
before. Making space missions work more like commercial airline flights
dramatically reduces costs — less money gets wasted discarding rockets
and spacecraft after single launches. SpaceX’s success in this pursuit
has made it one of the world’s most richly valued private companies.
It’s also won over customers including NASA. (12/13)
ISS Crewmembers Return to
Earth (Source: CBS)
A Soyuz spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan early this morning with three
space station crewmembers on board. The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft landed
at 3:37 a.m. Eastern, nearly three and a half hours after undocking
from the station. The Soyuz returned to Earth the American astronaut
Randy Bresnik, Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli and Russian cosmonaut
Sergey Ryazanskiy. Three new ISS crewmembers will launch on another
Soyuz spacecraft early Sunday. (12/14)
NOAA Administrator Nominee Advances Despite Democrats' Concerns
(Source: Space News)
A Senate committee advanced the nomination of Barry Myers to be NOAA
administrator on a party-line vote. The Senate Commerce Committee voted
14-13 Wednesday to send Myers' nomination to the full Senate. Democrats
on the committee, led by ranking member Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida,
said they were still concerned about conflicts of interest Myers might
have from running AccuWeather, a private weather-forecasting company
owned by family members. Nelson, though, acknowledged that it is likely
that Myers will be confirmed by the full Senate. (12/14)
Spending Bill Funds
Full-Year DOD Funds, Partial-Year for Other Agencies
(Source: House Approps)
House appropriators released late Wednesday a new spending bill that
includes full-year funding for the Defense Department. The bill would
serve as a continuing resolution (CR) for most of the federal
government through Jan. 19, but fund national defense programs for the
rest of 2018 fiscal year to address concerns about the effects an
extended CR would have on defense programs. The government is currently
operating on a CR that expires Dec. 22. (12/14)
Brooks Reveals Cancer
Diagnosis, May Miss Votes (Source: Roll Call)
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), a key House member on space issues, said he will
undergo surgery for prostate cancer. Brooks said Wednesday he was
diagnosed with "high-risk" prostate cancer in October and scheduled the
surgery for Friday, the day after the House originally planned to
adjourn for the year. Brooks said he made the announcement to explain
why he will miss votes scheduled for next week when the House schedule
was later changed. Brooks, whose district includes the Marshall Space
Flight Center, is the vice chair of the House space subcommittee.
(12/14)
Lockheed Martin and
Japan's NEC to Bring AI Capabilities to Space Data (Source:
Space News)
Lockheed Martin has signed an agreement with Japanese company NEC for
artificial intelligence software to analyze space data. The software,
called system invariant analysis technology, collects data to learn the
behavior of systems and identify inconsistencies. Lockheed said it sees
a number of uses of of the software, including monitoring satellite
performance and changes in the environment. (12/14)
Another Rocket Engine
Test For 3-D Print Component (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
An RS-25 test Wednesday demonstrated a 3D-printed engine component. The
test of the engine at the Stennis Space Center was declared a success
even though the engine shut down 70 seconds early because of a
"facility issue" and not a problem with the engine itself. The test
demonstrated a 3D-printed vibration dampening device, known as a pogo
accumulator assembly. The use of 3D printing sharply reduces the number
of welds needed to manufacture the component, reducing its overall
fabrication time. (12/14)
Dawn's Final Ceres Flybys
(Source: Space News)
NASA's Dawn spacecraft will wrap up its mission next year by flying
closer than ever to the dwarf planet Ceres. The spacecraft will move
into an elliptical orbit around Ceres in the spring, taking it to
altitudes as low as 30 kilometers above the surface. Scientists will
use those close passes to collect high-resolution images of selected
areas of the surface as well as collect more accurate chemical
composition data. In that orbit, the spacecraft will likely exhaust its
remaining supply of hydrazine propellant, used for attitude control, in
three or four months. (12/14)
Scientists: Be Careful
Labeling Exoplanets as "Earth-Like" (Source: Space.com)
Scientists should be more careful about talking about "Earth-like"
planets, one researcher warns. At a conference last month, Elizabeth
Tasker said use of terms like "Earth-like" and "most habitable planet"
could actually undermine future searches by suggesting scientists know
more about the actual habitability of those exoplanets than they
actually do. Many other factors, such as radiation levels, magnetic
fields and chemical composition, are critical to habitability but can't
yet be measured for exoplanets. (12/14)
Post Office Releasing
Sally Ride Stamp (Source: CollectSpace)
The U.S. Postal Service will release a Sally Ride stamp next year. A
preliminary design of the stamp unveiled Wednesday features a painting
of Ride, the first American woman in space, with a shuttle launching in
the background. The post office will also issue a four-stamp set next
year for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
education, with engineering representing by a diagram of an Apollo
spacecraft. (12/14)
Blue Origin Begins Moving
into Massive Rocket Factory at KSC (Source: Florida Today)
Blue Origin has begun the process of moving into its massive rocket
factory at Kennedy Space Center's Exploration Park, according to a NASA
official's comments during a conference at Port Canaveral this week.
The private rocketry company bankrolled by Amazon founder and
billionaire Jeff Bezos was granted a temporary certificate of occupancy
for a portion of its massive facility on Space Commerce Way Monday
morning and began moving in by Tuesday.
"If you haven’t been on Space Commerce Way to see their beautiful,
ginormous – that’s the only way to describe it – facility where they’re
going to be manufacturing a rocket ... incredible facility, and they
are moving in there today," said Nancy Bray, director of spaceport
integration and services at Kennedy Space Center, during a Tuesday
transportation conference at Port Canaveral.
Full occupancy of the 750,000-square-foot factory just south of the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be granted by Space Florida,
which manages KSC's Exploration Park, at a later date. "This is an
important step in what continues to be a long journey for the full
development of Exploration Park and all that it means to the area and
state," said Dale Ketcham, chief of strategic alliances at Space
Florida. (12/12)
Why Boeing Can Make a
Brash Prediction About Beating Elon Musk to Mars (Source:
Chicago Tribune)
Chicago-based Boeing has reason to be brash. Aside from being an
important supplier to NASA, the Chicago-based company’s current run of
upbeat financial and business fortunes makes it a favorite to win the
space race to Mars. More than bragging rights, a successful Mars
initiative will boost the company’s stature and business prospects and
create more jobs.
Boeing is building NASA’s Space Launch System, a design that Muilenburg
touted in an October speech as the “largest and most powerful rocket
ever built.” A test flight is expected in 2019, according to Boeing.
The rocket project’s ultimate mission is to propel a capsule, designed
for deep space and carrying American astronauts, farther than ever
before. One scenario has astronauts rocketing to a lunar space docking
system and then going to Mars before returning to Earth. (12/12)
Designing Future Human
Space Exploration on Hawaii's Lava Fields (Source: Space
Daily)
On the lava fields of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, a team of NASA
researchers and partners have been busy doing science in a most unusual
way. They were studying the biology and geology of this remarkable
terrain while simulating a realistic mission to the surface of Mars.
The conditions were so real that many of the expected challenges of
otherworldly exploration were recreated, including a communications
delay of several minutes, and limited bandwidth for transmitting data.
"Our project is a unique integration of science, operations and
technology research in service of future human spaceflight," said
Darlene Lim, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's
Silicon Valley, and principal investigator of the Biologic Analog
Science Associated with Lava Terrains project, called BASALT. "Our goal
is to design the exploration of the future, and when you add science to
the mix, that changes everything!" (12/13)
Trump Policy Promises
Moon, Mars, and Beyond - Will This Time be Different?
(Source: Space Policy Online)
President Trump signed his Space Policy Directive 1. Surrounded by
administration officials, commercial space industry representatives,
and current and former astronauts, Trump promised to return astronauts
to the Moon and go on to Mars and beyond. The words echo those of his
two Republican predecessors, who did not achieve those goals.
The question is whether the third time will be the charm.
During a brief White House ceremony this afternoon, Trump said the
directive “will refocus America’s space program on human exploration
and discovery. It marks an important step in returning American
astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 for long-term
exploration and use. This time we will not only plant our flag and
leave our footprint, we will establish a foundation for an eventual
mission to Mars. And perhaps, someday, to many worlds beyond.”
Trump did not set a timeline for returning to the Moon or reaching Mars
or mention cost. Completing those programs and building new
capabilities needed for human trips to the lunar surface will cost a
lot of money. That has been the downfall of previous efforts.
Time will tell if the Trump Administration requests the requisite
funding and if Congress appropriates it. The President’s FY2019 budget
request, due to Congress the first Monday in February, will hold
important clues. (12/13)
Long-Range Space
Exploration Possible Only Via International Cooperation
(Source: Belta)
Long-range flights to explore outer space will be possible only thanks
to international cooperation, says Vladimir Aksenov, a USSR pilot
cosmonaut, President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Sergei
Korolev Union, during the second congress of Belarusian scientists in
Minsk on 12 December. Cooperation of several countries is needed.
Long-range flights represent the next stage in space exploration. They
are impossible without joint efforts and the implementation of joint
programs.” (12/12)
Trump's Proposed Budget
Cuts NASA Funding Close to an All-Time Low (Source:
Business Insider)
The idea of putting people on the moon is a bit of a shift for the
space agency. In 2010, President Obama said he wanted NASA to be
orbiting Mars by the 2030s, and to send humans to an asteroid by 2025,
with crews charting destinations "beyond the moon." Simply getting back
to the moon presents less of a logistical challenge for NASA, as they
already sent 12 men to the lunar surface in the late 60s and early 70s.
But where the agency will get the cash to return remains an open
question. The roughly $18-19 billion federal dollars the agency gets
every year is less than half of one percent of all federal money.
Trump's proposed 2018 budget calls for that total to decrease by
roughly $200 million, while Congress has agreed to give the space
agency $19.5 billion next year.
Despite being banned from inclusion on the International Space Station,
China has an ambitious plan to send people to the moon by 2036. The
Indian space program is also planning its own unmanned mission to the
moon in the first quarter of 2018, on a very skinny budget. Trump said
landing on the moon again will inch Americans closer to the ultimate
goal of Martian exploration. He added that such a mission would be good
for jobs and military research, too. But another country could easily
beat the US space agency at its own game. (12/13)
Galileo Navigation
Network Nears Completion (Source: ESA)
Europe has four more Galileo navigation satellites in the sky following
their launch on an Ariane 5 rocket. After today’s success, only one
more launch remains before the Galileo constellation is complete and
delivering global coverage. This week's mission brings the Galileo
system to 22 satellites. Next year’s launch of another quartet will
bring the 24‑satellite Galileo constellation to the point of
completion, plus two orbital spares. (12/13)
Arctic Warmth is the New
Normal (Source: NOAA)
The Arctic shows no sign of returning to the reliably frozen region of
recent past decades. Despite relatively cool summer temperatures,
observations in 2017 continue to indicate that the Arctic environmental
system has reached a 'new normal', characterized by long-term losses in
the extent and thickness of the sea ice cover, the extent and duration
of the winter snow cover and the mass of ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet
and Arctic glaciers, and warming sea surface and permafrost
temperatures. (12/13)
Bright Areas on Ceres
Suggest Geologic Activity (Source: HobbySpace)
“The mysterious bright spots on Ceres, which have captivated both the
Dawn science team and the public, reveal evidence of Ceres’ past
subsurface ocean, and indicate that, far from being a dead world, Ceres
is surprisingly active. Geological processes created these bright areas
and may still be changing the face of Ceres today,” (12/12)
Return to the Moon
(Source: NeuroLogica)
We should only set our sights on Mars after we have a stable moon base.
There are several reasons for this. First, colonizing the moon is much
easier than Mars. The moon is three days away from Earth, while Mars is
9 or more months. We don’t even have the technology at this point to
protect martian astronauts from the radiation they would be exposed to
on the trip. Going to Mars is a logistical and technological problem
perhaps an order of magnitude more difficult than going to the Moon.
Being close to Earth also means that resupply and rescue missions would
be much more feasible. If something goes awry on Mars, good luck to
you. Don’t expect help anytime soon. For a moon base, however, we could
theoretically have a rocket on standby, something that could launch
within a week, and be on the moon in another three days.
All of the main issues we would confront on a Mars colony would also
exist on a moon colony, and so once we developed the knowledge and
technology to have a self-sustaining base on the moon, we could use
that knowledge to then build bases and colonies on Mars. A moon base
would need proper shielding, an energy source, and sources of food,
water, and oxygen. (12/12)
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