December 16, 2017

Space Tourism to Launch in 2018 at Spaceport America? (Source: El Defensor Chieftain)
The first commercial space tourism flight is still on the schedule to go up from Spaceport America at some point next year. Virgin Galactic Director of Operational Services Nick Kaczmarek told the Middle Rio Grande Economic Development Association board last week in Truth or Consequences that the first flight is expected in 2018. The flight would include Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson.

“We’re very quickly getting ready for commercial operations,” Kaczmarek said. He said test flights of the vehicles taking the tourists to space are also expected to be conducted at the site before the commercial tourism flights take place. He said Virgin Galactic has developed a new ship called Unity that was built after the fatal SpaceShipTwo test in 2014. Kaczmarek said testing is now moving from glide flights to powered-flight testing.

“I think that’s where you’re going to see a lot more of an increase in media activity,” Kaczmarek said. “As of today, there have been 560 people who have flown into space,” Kaczmarek added. “We have more than 600 future astronauts who have paid for tickets. As of right now we have more people waiting than who have actually gone up.” The passengers have paid $250,000 each for the flights. They come from all over the globe, Kaczmarek said. (12/16)

Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program (Source: New York Times)
In the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets, the $22 million spent on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was almost impossible to find. Which was how the Pentagon wanted it.

For years, the program investigated reports of unidentified flying objects, according to Defense Department officials, interviews with program participants and records obtained by The New York Times. It was run by a military intelligence official, Luis Elizondo, on the fifth floor of the Pentagon’s C Ring, deep within the building’s maze.

The Defense Department has never before acknowledged the existence of the program, which it says it shut down in 2012. But its backers say that, while the Pentagon ended funding for the effort at that time, the program remains in existence. Click here. (12/16)

Rocket Lab Postpones Electron Launch to Early 2018 (Source: Space News)
Stymied by poor weather and technical glitches, including one that aborted a launch just two seconds before liftoff, Rocket Lab said Dec. 16 it will delay its next Electron launch attempt until early 2018. In a statement, the company said it had corrected the latest problem to postpone the launch, a power fault that scrubbed a launch attempt Dec. 14 (U.S. time) from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.

However, it said, “with only one day remaining in the launch window Rocket Lab has made the decision to delay an attempt until the new year.” The company’s original 10-day launch window was scheduled to end Dec. 16, U.S. time, although the company said earlier in the week it had considered working with local authorities to extending that window by several days. (12/16)

Apple Orders Space Drama Series (Source: Deadline Hollywood)
Apple has given a straight-to-series order to a space drama from the Battlestar Galactica developer. The untitled project hails from Sony Pictures Television and Moore’s studio-based Tall Ship Productions. The untitled series  explores what would have happened if the global space race had never ended. This is is the third original scripted series ordered by Apple via its recently formed worldwide video programming division. (12/15)

CBS Developing Space Travel Comedy (Source: Variety)
Titled “Spaced Out,” the series is described as a multi-camera workplace ensemble set in the world of commercial space travel. Lawrence will write and executive produce with Jeff Ingold also executive producing. The project was previously developed as a single cam at NBC. The NBC version was written by Adam Sztykiel and executive produced by Lawrence and Ingold. It went to pilot at the network but was ultimately not picked up. (12/15)

Space Photos of the Week: Where Stars Go to Live and Die (Source: WIRED)
We’ll start with a bang at Cassiopeia A, a remnant of a supernova. Next up, we’ll travel to a star-forming region called Sharpless 29. This nebula contains a very young star, only a budding 2 million years old. Finally, we will zoom back to our own solar system. Click here. (12/16)

Spaceport America Welcomes Back Visitors Through Public Tour (Source: Spaceport America)
 Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport located in southern New Mexico in the USA, announced today the relaunch of the Spaceport America Experience Tour. In partnership with Final Frontier Tours, space enthusiasts and visitors can now have a hands-on, fun experience inside a real commercial space launch facility.

After arriving at the secure Spaceport America site and ascending the gentle rise of the Astronaut Walk, visitors enter the Gateway Gallery where their journey through commercial space continues with numerous interactive exhibits and kiosks. Some visitors choose to experience the G-Shock simulator, which subjects the would-be astronaut to rapid acceleration comparable to what an actual astronaut might feel in flight.

Later, visitors venture into the Spaceport Operations Center (SOC) and interact with Spaceport America crewmembers and the state-of-the-art fire station before stopping in front of the iconic URS/ Foster + Partners structure, Gateway to Space terminal/hangar for a photo opportunity. The Spaceport America Experience journey lasts approximately 4 hours. (12/15)

Investing in Space Exploration, Canada Supports More Than 175 Jobs (Source: CSA)
The federal government is advancing Canada's future space exploration and supporting more than 175 well-paying jobs for Canadians by investing in domestically developed space technology. The Honorable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced investments of $54 million as part of the Government of Canada's long-term commitment to the International Space Station (ISS) and to prepare for the next steps in deep-space exploration. (12/15)

UK Hopes New $132 Million Satellite Testing Plant Will Assuage Brexit Concerns for Space Industry (Source: Space News)
A 99 million pound ($132 million) satellite test facility to be built at the U.K.’s Harwell Campus should bring more business to the space hub here and ensure Britain’s satellite manufacturers can carry on without disruption post-Brexit, according to Chris Mutlow, director of RAL Space, the space division of the U.K. state-run Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The RAL Space-operated National Satellite Test Facility, once it opens three years from now, will be able to test satellites as large as 7 metric tons, and aims to attract commercial clients, Mutlow said. The facility will provide a package of services including vibration and acoustic testing, electromagnetic compatibility and center of gravity testing, pyroshock simulations and an antenna test range. (12/15)

Living on the Moon: A Chinese Conceptual Lunar Base (Source: GB Times)
Researchers at a major Chinese space technology institute are working on a conceptual design for a habitable lunar base ahead of expected human missions to the Moon in the 2030s. The idea of a Chinese human exploration mission to the Moon has long appeared in the media and is to a large extent expected to take place in the future by the global space community. Such a venture is unlikely, however, to be a repeat of the Apollo ‘flags and footprints’ approach to lunar exploration and will take a long-term approach. Click here.

Editor's Note: Will China build a lunar surface base while the U.S. focuses on a cislunar orbiting space station 'gateway' or tries to put boots on Mars in an unsustainable Apollo-style push? (12/15)

Beijing to Launch Constant Satellite Surveillance Over Disputed South China Sea (Source: Sputnik)
The strategic South China Sea is becoming so important to the Chinese government that Beijing plans to launch as many as 10 satellites into space over the next three years to maintain non-stop surveillance on the waterway. The satellites, to be launched from the island of Hainan, will provide Beijing with the capability to analyze every object in the South China Sea around the clock, according to the Hainan Daily, citing Li Xiaoming of the Sanya Institute of Remote Sensing. (12/15)

Why Don't We Have a 'Star Wars' Hyperdrive Yet? (Source: Space.com)
With "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" you're going to see at least one ship using hyperspace drive to travel faster than the speed of light. It's a staple of the "Star Wars" universe. But is this hyperspace drive really a thing? Can you go faster than the speed of light? Like anything else in physics, the answer is complicated. The bottom line is maybe – but only if we can figure out how to get around some technological obstacles.

The first problem with a hyperspace drive is anything with mass – a starship, people, Wookiees – cannot go faster than the speed of light without fancy physics. That's a rule from Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. Simply put, the problem is your Millennium Falcon would acquire an infinite mass when it approaches lightspeed. That would mean you'd need an infinite amount of energy to move it. (12/15)

NAS Urges Stronger Focus On Long-Term Space Health Risks (Source: Aviation Week)
Faced with the currently projected end of International Space Station operations in 2024, NASA must do better at focusing its research assets and funding on the health risks astronauts will face if they are to live, work and explore beyond low Earth orbit for months to years at a time, according to an assessment from the National Academies of Sciences. (12/15)

Photographing Powerful Rocket Launches (Source: WMFE)
When you see a rocket streaking through the central Florida sky, you can bet Michael Seely was at the launch pad, hours before liftoff, wading through clouds of mosquitoes and early morning dew to capture the few seconds of a rocket launching into the sky. By day, Seeley is a healthcare executive, but his passion for space gets him up early mornings to set up launch shots that have graced the pages of National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine. Click here. (12/15) http://www.wmfe.org/intersection-photographing-powerful-rocket-launches/81376

NASA Robotic Mining Competition Returning to KSC on May 14-18 (Source: NASA)
This competition is for university-level students to design and build a mining robot that can traverse the challenging simulated chaotic off-world terrain. The mining robot must then excavate the ice simulant (gravel) and return the excavated mass for deposit into the collector bin to simulate an off-world, in situ resource mining mission. The complexities of the challenge include the abrasive characteristics of the regolith simulant, the weight and size limitations of the mining robot and the ability to tele-operate it from a remote Mission Control Center. Click here. (12/16)

Boeing Tapped to Sustain Space-Based Space Surveillance System (Source: Space Daily)
Boeing has been awarded a modified contract from the U.S. Air Force for sustainment of the space-based space surveillance Block 10 satellite. The deal is worth more than $21.9 million. The Space Based Space Surveillance, or SBSS, Block 10 satellite operates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week with a clear and unobstructed view of objects orbiting Earth. (12/15)

No Alien 'Signals' From Cigar-Shaped Asteroid (Source: Space Daily)
No alien signals have been detected from an interstellar, cigar-shaped space rock discovered travelling through our Solar System in October, researchers listening for evidence of extraterrestrial technology said Thursday. The object, dubbed Oumuamua, was spotted by several Earthly telescopes two months ago.

Given its weird trajectory, surprised researchers immediately concluded it was from beyond our planetary system -- the first interstellar object ever identified in our midst. The rock is thought to be about 400 metres (1,300 feet) long, and thin -- only about 40 m wide, a never-before-seen shape for an asteroid. (12/14)

RS-25 Engine Test is Giant Step for 3-D Printing (Source: Space Daily)
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., and NASA completed hot-fire testing of an RS-25 rocket engine containing its largest additively manufactured component to date. Additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3-D printing, will help lower the cost of future missions of NASA's powerful Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket.

"This test demonstrates the viability of using additive manufacturing to produce even the most complex components in one of the world's most reliable rocket engines," said Eileen Drake, CEO and president of Aerojet Rocketdyne. "We expect this technology to dramatically lower the cost of access to space." (12/15)

NASA Funds Flight for Space Medical Technology on Blue Origin (Source: Space Daily)
Blue Origin successfully launched its New Shepard reusable space vehicle on Dec. 12 carrying a medical technology that could potentially treat chest trauma in a space environment.

The New Shepard reusable vertical takeoff and vertical landing space vehicle was launched with the experimental technology from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site. In addition to NASA funding non-government researchers to fly payloads, Blue Origin is a Flight Opportunities program launch provider for government payloads. The Flight Opportunities program, is managed under NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). (12/15)