March 17, 2018

NASA's Mission Control Team Shifts to Younger Recruits (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Ask Chris Kochling what inspired him to be a NASA flight controller and he'll point to the heroic ingenuity and quick thinking of the men on the Mission Control room floor during Apollo 13. If it weren't for those men, the three astronauts on the 1970 mission likely would never have returned home after an oxygen tank explosion forced them to abort their trip to the moon.

But when Kochling describes this scene, he's not talking about listening with rapt attention to the NASA airwaves - he wasn't even alive then. The 23-year-old is talking about watching the 1995 film "Apollo 13" starring Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon.

NASA officials have found that younger flight controllers can better handle the unique demands of operating the space station, said Daryle Kuecker, who recruits and hires future flight controllers, because it requires 24/7 monitoring of both the station and its inhabitants 365 days a year. "It's shift work, so, quite honestly, the shift work is easier for folks that are younger," Kuecker said. "It's difficult when you have young children and you have the midnight shift." (2/18)

Russia Urged to Join Orbital Neighborhood Watch (Source: Space News)
To prevent collisions in space, nations with advanced orbital monitoring abilities need to share data with each other. Russia, being skilled in space situational awareness (SSA), should be part of the global effort to protect the space environment, experts said March 15 at the Satellite 2018 conference here.

“When we tend to talk about international SSA, we tend to focus on ‘friends and family’ type of people,” said Victoria Samson, Washington office director for the Secure World Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit focused on space sustainability. “The Russians have an excellent SSA network, and the question is: is there any way we can access that sort of capability?” (3/16)

Loral Warns of Possible Telesat Legal Battle, Xtar Restructuring (Source: Space News)
Loral Space and Communications wants to move ahead with a “strategic transaction” involving fleet operator Telesat that may spark a legal fight with Telesat’s other major shareholder, a Canadian pension fund. The long-simmering Telesat conundrum is coming to a boil as Xtar — another fleet operator majority-owned by Loral —  falls further behind on lease payments to co-owner Hisdesat of Spain, and owes more than $70 million for capacity it’s struggling to sell. (3/16)

China Outlines Two-Phase Chang'e 4 Moon Lander Mission (Source: Space.com)
Later this year, the moon's far side will welcome its first robotic visitor — China's Chang'e 4 lander. Zhao Xiaojin, a senior official at the China Aerospace Science and Technology (CAST), explained that the nation's two-phase Chang'e 4 mission is being readied for launch this year.

"In the first half of 2018, we will first launch a relay satellite to Lagrange L2 Point, where the satellite can keep communication with both the far side of the moon and the Earth," Zhao said. Launch of the Chang'e 4 lander is slated for the second half of 2018. After performing a soft touchdown on the lunar far side, the craft will "conduct in-situ and patrol exploration at the landing site," Zhao said. (3/16)

China Launches Land Exploration Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert of the country's northwest. The satellite is the fourth of its kind and mainly used for exploration of land resources by remote sensing. A Long March-2D rocket carried the satellite into space. The launch was the 268th mission of the Long March rocket series. (3/17)

Dawn Observations Indicate Ceres is Geologically Active (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting Ceres for three years, has observed changes on the dwarf planet’s surface indicating it is a dynamic, geologically active world. Two separate studies published in the journal Science Advances discuss these changes with one centering on the changing amounts of water ice and the other discussing the formation and distribution of carbonates.

The probe’s Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR) found water ice in 12 sites on Ceres’ surface. According to NASA, a study showed these these concentrations were especially high in the northern wall of the 12-mile wide Juling Crater. Between April and October 2016, the level of water ice on that crater wall noticeably increased. “This is the first direct detection of change on the surface of Ceres,” Raponi said. (3/17)

The Legal Battle to Colonize Mars (Source: The Outline)
Legally speaking, settling space isn’t as easy as Trump and Musk suggest. The foundational piece of space legislation is the Outer Space Treaty, which was ratified by the US, USSR, and dozens of other nations in 1967. Per the treaty, nations aren’t allowed to place “nuclear weapons” or “weapons of mass destruction” in outer space, period. And any celestial body — such as an asteroid, the Moon, or Mars — must be used “exclusively for peaceful purposes.” Depending on what Trump had in mind for the “Space Force,” this may put a damper on his plans.

The treaty spells problems for Musk as well. It states that nothing in space can become national territory, meaning that any base or settlement on Mars would have to be free to use by anyone else who can travel there. A person can’t just set up a colony, claim independence, and create rules that restrict access to it. According to Michael Listner, attorney and founder of the private firm Space Law & Policy Solutions, this aspect of the treaty directly conflicts with Musk’s plans to settle Mars. Click here. (3/17)

Air Force: GPS Satellites Vulnerable to Attack (Source: Washington Free Beacon)
Global Positioning System satellites that guide both precision guided weapons and car navigation systems are vulnerable to attack from Chinese and Russian lasers and missiles, Air Force officials told Congress. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in House testimony on Wednesday that her service is working on developing jam-proof GPS satellites that currently can be disrupted by a variety of weapons.

"With respect to the threat that we face, I think it's everything from jamming from the surface or a cyber attack, to direct-ascent satellite weapons, either from Russia [or] in 2007 the Chinese tested an anti-satellite weapon and spread debris all over orbit," Wilson told a House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing. (3/16)

SpaceX is Making Big Money Moves (Source: Tech Crunch)
Planning a Mars mission, a global telecommunications network for inexpensive internet service and creating an interplanetary hedge against World War Three isn’t cheap, so it’s no wonder that SpaceX is closing on $500 million in new cash through a financing round led by Fidelity, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the round.

Responding to clamoring demand from investors and their own desires to cash out (at least a little bit), existing shareholders in the company are creating several special purpose vehicles to sell shares on the secondary market — with our sources saying those secondary offerings could total an additional $500 million. (3/16)

Why Donald Trump's Space Force and Mars Trip Won't Happen (Source: Time)
This time, even the military isn’t buying what Trump is selling. In July of last year, when Congress actually considered funding a space force, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis shot it down. “At a time when we are trying to integrate the Department’s joint war-fighting functions, I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations,” he wrote.

Still, there’s Mars, right? We’re going there very soon, right? No. No, we’re not. Ever since the first moon landing, in 1969, the rule for Mars has always been that we’re going there, we just never actually get there. First, the target date was 1975, then 2019 — chosen because it will be the fiftieth anniversary of that moon landing. Now it’s 2035 or so. Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX, has claimed he could get there by 2024. (3/16)

How Should the US Engage China in Space? (Source: The Diplomat)
China is striving to become a space power that rivals or surpasses the United States, Russia, and Europe. In September 2006, China tested lasers against U.S. imagery satellites in a manner that could potentially blind or damage them in future conflict. For U.S. officials, this event and China’s subsequent destruction of its own weather satellite in 2007 signaled that space was a “contested domain.”

Subsequently, in 2011, U.S. lawmakers passed legislation that banned cooperation between NASA and the China National Space Administration – largely in response to China’s history of espionage against U.S. technical industries. The 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy categorized China as a revisionist power, and through this lens, it seems strategically sound for the U.S. to shield its precious technical advantages from a potential adversary.

Nevertheless, some NASA officials insist that the United States should still collaborate with China to capitalize on a revolutionary period of high technical exchange between China and other space powers. Other officials warn that if the U.S. and China do not find meaningful ways to cooperate in space, relations could devolve into greater mistrust and lead to conflict. (3/17)

Maryland Senator Aims to Protect NASA Science Programs (Source: Space Policy Online)
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) vowed that he will fight to protect scientific integrity at NASA and to fund NASA’s programs, especially science.  He is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee.  He added that he hopes the issue of finding a new NASA Administrator is resolved as soon as possible. (3/15)

Coming Soon: Experience Live Rocket Launches in Game-Changing Augmented Reality (Source: Florida Today)
A fusion of futuristic technology and traditional rocket launch coverage will make its way to mobile devices next month with an app called 321 Launch. Thanks to augmented reality, or the overlay of digital objects onto the real world, users will be able to explore spaceflight like never before – both as a standalone experience to assemble and launch a rocket, as well as real-time, live coverage of launches from the Space Coast. Live updates by Florida Today and live video will also be incorporated, giving users the full experience of liftoff. (3/16)

SpaceX to Fly Life Support System on Uncrewed Dragon Test Flight (Source: Florida Today)
It sounded risky: NASA had given SpaceX a waiver allowing it not to fly life support on the first, uncrewed test of its Dragon 2 astronaut capsule, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks asserted during a recent budget hearing. As a result, critical systems providing oxygen, carbon dioxide absorbers and heating and cooling would not be shaken out in orbit before astronauts strapped in for the next test flight.

“What is NASA’s reasoning for skipping this stage?” Brooks (R-AL) asked NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “And that’s assuming the information I have is correct. First, is the information I have correct?” Not exactly. SpaceX says it does plan to fly life support on the uncrewed test it calls Demo-1, which schedules currently show lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on a Falcon 9 rocket in August.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program did not require the uncrewed test flights to fly Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, or ECLSS, as the systems are formally known. “NASA assessed the uncrewed test flight vehicle configurations against the test objectives and jointly agreed with the companies that certain hardware was not required to meet the uncrewed test flight objectives,” the agency said. (3/16)

Bezos and National Reconnaissance Office Talk About Space and Innovation (Source: GeekWire)
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos paid a visit to the National Reconnaissance Office this week — which fits right in with his plan to participate in national security space missions through his Blue Origin space venture. Based on the readout from the NRO, the nation’s spy-satellite agency is also interested in what Bezos had to say about technological innovation. (3/16)

Musk: 'SpaceX is in a Different League to People like Richard Branson' (Source: GQ)
"What I'm doing at SpaceX is in a different league to people like Richard Branson and [Amazon founder and Blue Origin pioneer] Jeff Bezos. Our vehicles have around 100 times more energy than Richard Branson's. What he's doing is great - in fact, I've bought a ticket! But there is a pretty big distinction: what he's doing will be a really fun joyride, but there's no path to making life multi-planetary, which is our goal. We want to put life on Mars." (3/16)

Musk: California Was Key (Source: GQ)
"None of this would have been possible if I hadn't been living in California. There's no better place in the world for technology start-ups than Silicon Valley; there's such an incredible well of talent and capital and resources. The whole system is set up to foster the creation of new companies." (3/16)

Elon Musk Isn't Taking Deadly Space Radiation Seriously (Source: Inverse)
SpaceX founder Elon Musk can’t wait to bring people — and probably, regrettably, brands — to Mars. But unless he starts taking space radiation seriously, Musk’s Martian bachelor pad will more closely resemble a barren litter box. A physicist tells Inverse the problem of radiation on Mars is more dire than scientists previously assumed.

According to a new study published in the journal Space Weather, levels of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) are much higher than what scientists typically see at this stage in the solar cycle. GCRs are high-energy protons and heavy ions from outside our solar system, which lose electrons as they beam through space at around the speed of light. (3/16)

How Labs in Space Could Pave the Way for Healthcare Breakthroughs on Earth (Source: Tech Republic)
In 2006, in a small office in Lexington, KY, several scientists and researchers from Morehead University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Murray State University, Western Kentucky University, and a handful of community colleges, began designing and building tiny, cube-shaped orbital satellites to send into space. They were members of the nonprofit Kentucky Space, LLC, and their satellites, which they began launching in 2011, were about the size of a tissue box.

It was the beginning of a venture into a new way to harness the powers of outer space—especially aimed at innovation in medicine. Clements and a team of electrical, mechanical, computer, and biomedical engineers got to work designing TangoLab-1, an automated lab that they launched into space and attached to the ISS in August 2016. "It's a laboratory," said Clements, "just without [normal] gravity. It's a state of pressure, with normal room temperature. You've got the electricity, the cooling loops, and everything else a regular laboratory has."

Then, Space Tango developed TangoLab-2, which has an upgraded cooling system, and installed it on the ISS in August 2017. "It went from this very weird cartoonish-looking mailbox to this sleek machine," Clements said. The lab is simple for astronauts to set up. "They plug in these large cards that look like you're putting RAM into a computer, slide it in, and that's it," said Clements. "They close the door, and they turn it on." From there, Space Tango can control it from the ground. (3/16)

Musk Predicts How the Martian Government Will Operate (Source: Inverse)
“Most likely, the form of government on Mars would be something of a direct democracy […] where people vote directly on issues instead of going through representative government." Last year, Musk revealed his plans to pay for a colony on Mars while speaking at the International Astronautical Congress, so it only makes sense that the next step in planning would focus on governing systems.

Musk compared an early Martian community to a fledgling United States in the late 18th century, one wherein laws would be short and the democratic system would be immediate. “When the United States was formed, representative government was the only thing that was logistically feasible,” he said. “There was no way for people to communicate instantly." (3/15)