Trump Campaign Cashing In
on Space Force Hype (Source: Newsweek)
Plans by the Trump campaign to cash in on the creation of the Space
Force as a new branch of the U.S. military by selling merchandise about
it were called “wrong” and a violation of the norm by a former White
House ethics czar. On the day Vice President Mike Pence unveiled the
Space Force plans at the Pentagon, the Trump campaign emailed
supporters encouraging them vote on their favorite logo for the new
branch with a view to creating merchandise using whichever wins.
"President Trump wants a SPACE FORCE—a groundbreaking endeavour for the
future of America and the final frontier," read the email from Trump
2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale. "As a way to celebrate President
Trump's huge announcement, our campaign will be selling a new line of
gear." But Norman Eisen, President Obama’s ethics czar and now chair of
the board at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
campaign, told Newsweek it gives the appearance Trump is making
government decisions “influenced by merchandising opportunities.” (8/10)
Four Satellites a Week to
be Launched From New Scottish Spaceport (Source: The
Herald)
Around four satellites a week will be launched into orbit from
Scotland’s new spaceport within the next 12 years under ambitious plans
announced by industry leaders. New figures revealed the UK could launch
an estimated 2,000 satellites from the A'Mhoine spaceport in Sutherland
between 2021 and 2030. Business Secretary Greg Clark visited the remote
site yesterday and said the site would create more than 400 jobs and be
worth a potential £3.8billion to the UK economy. (8/9)
NASA Package That Fell
From Sky with Note Mentioning Trump Sparks Alarm in New Jersey
(Source: CBS News)
A suspicious package that fell from the sky over New Jersey caused some
alarm because it contained a note that mentioned President Donald
Trump. South Brunswick police say the package, attached to a parachute,
was making a hissing sound and included a note that said: "NASA
Atmospheric Research Instrument NOT A BOMB!" If this lands near the
President, we at NASA wish him a great round of golf."
Mr. Trump has been staying at his golf club in Bedminster, which is 29
miles away. "The weather researchers were apologetic for any concerns
they had raised by the hand written note on the device," police said in
a statement. NASA told WNBC-TV the package, which fell on Tuesday, is
part of six balloons that were launched to measure ozone. It says a
summer student employee wrote the note in a "misguided attempt to be
lighthearted," and that the student has been removed from the project.
(8/10)
It’s Easier to Leave the
Solar System Than to Reach the Sun (Source: The Atlantic)
The Parker Solar Probe, a nasa mission, will blast off from the Florida
coast in the early-morning hours of Saturday. Next month, the
spacecraft will reach Venus, its sidekick on a long journey. Parker
will swing past the planet seven times, slowing down with each pass.
Eventually the probe will end its rendezvous with Venus and move into a
closer orbit around the sun, coming within 3.9 million miles of the
sun’s surface to graze its edge. It will be more than seven times
closer than any probe has flown before.
As strange as it may sound, it’s much more difficult to reach the sun
than it is to leave the solar system altogether. “To get to Mars, you
only need to increase slightly your orbital speed. If you need to get
to the sun, you basically have to completely slow down your current
momentum,” says Yanping Guo, the mission-design and navigation manager
for the Parker Solar Probe. Based at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory, Guo has been working on the probe for about 17 years.
The Parker Solar Probe will experience seven gravity assists from Venus
in order to draw closer to the center of the solar system. With each
pass, the spacecraft will shed some of Earth’s motion. “Any available
launch vehicle—even near-future, the most powerful—it won’t be able to
shoot a spacecraft to get to the sun. You must use gravity, and not
just a general gravity assist—you have to use the most powerful gravity
assist.” (8/10)
World View Balloon
Explosion Caused Nearly Half a Million Dollars in Damage
(Source: Arizona Daily Star)
The explosion of a stratospheric balloon during ground testing by World
View Enterprises at Spaceport Tucson last December caused more than
$475,000 in damages to the company’s county-owned building, more than
double the initial estimates, according to a new report to the Pima
County Board of Supervisors.
World View’s insurance carrier paid the full cost of the repairs, which
were initially pegged at about $200,000, according to a memo to the
board prepared by County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry in response to
queries from Supervisor Ally Miller. World View’s own independent
investigation found that the explosion was caused by static electricity
and that the company’s preflight safety review “incorrectly assessed
both the probability and possible consequences of an explosive event
during deflation.” (8/5)
Boeing Crew Sees
Starliner on Space Coast as Company Prepares for 2019 Launch
(Source: Orlando Sentinel)
“The first thing I noticed is that they are looking kind of like our
trainers,” NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann said. In the former processing
facility for NASA’s space shuttle, workers put some touches onto three
capsules, in varying stages of construction and completion, that will
carry astronauts into space.
Mann is one of two first-timers in a crew of five who will be among the
first people to fly into space from U.S. soil since 2011. The crew has
spent part of this week on Florida’s Space Coast, meeting personnel who
have helped build and test the hardware that will carry them into space.
Mann will ride alongside Ferguson and Boe to the International Space
Station aboard the Starliner’s first crewed space flight in mid-2019.
The trio will take off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station on the Space Coast. The crew has gone through several
launch simulations this week, looking to perfect the sequence that will
ready the spacecraft for flight. (8/9)
Stratolaunch Rolls Out
for Taxi Test #3 at Mojave Spaceport (Source: Parabolic
Arc)
From the Stratolaunch team on Friday at Mojave, California: "We are
rolling out this morning for Taxi Test #3. We plan to conduct 5 Taxi
Tests prior to First Flight." (8/10)
NASA Official: 'No Threat
to Wallops' Closing (Source: DelMarVa Now)
Jay Pittman stood up at the conclusion of the quarterly luncheon
meeting of the Wallops Island Regional Alliance on Wednesday and
quietly spoke these three words to a packed room: "There's no threat."
The assistant director for strategy and integration at Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt repeated those words several times during
the next few minutes.
Rumors spreading the previous Friday had sparked news media inquiries
that led NASA to release an official statement about a study designed
to explore ways to improve the relationship and increase efficiencies
between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's sister facilities in
Greenbelt, Maryland and Wallops Island, Virginia. Wallops Flight
Facility spokesman Keith Koehler said Friday the 90-day study will wrap
up by late October, and is not expected to have any impact on the
Wallops facility before then.
Still, the official statement only served to increase concerns that
"efficiencies" was code for "closing Wallops Island Flight Facility."
Peter Bale said he would like to see the Wallops Flight Facility
separated from Greenbelt and Goddard to become an independent facility.
Around 1,200 people currently work at Wallops, including 280 civil
service workers and more than 900 independent contractors, Koehler
said, adding that the NASA Wallops annual budget is around $250
million. An economic study prepared by BEACON at Salisbury University
in 2011 lists the total economic impact at that time as more than $395
million. (8/10)
What Astronauts Really
Think About Having Tourists in Space (Source: Travel +
Leisure)
Officially, seven private citizens have already been there, each paying
from $20 million to $40 million between 2001 and 2009 (before the trips
were put on hold) for a ride on a Russian spacecraft and a stay at the
International Space Station. Now numerous private companies — including
Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX and others — are developing a
variety of space tourism programs and out-of-this-world experiences.
Some promise earthlings the opportunity to experience weightlessness,
while others are selling rocket ship rides and week-long stays at
luxury hotels to be built in space.
And while these journeys won’t ever be cheap, carefree, or 100-percent
safe, most are already bookable — although details such as departure
dates are still to be determined. Another detail not yet determined:
what “regular” people who travel into space should be called.
Merriam-Webster defines an astronaut as “a person who travels beyond
the Earth’s atmosphere.” And while some professional astronauts are
fine sharing that title, others suggest a better term for someone who
purchases a rocket ride might be “spaceflight participant” or simply
“space tourist.”
After all, notes retired NASA astronaut Anna Lee Fisher, “Every
passenger on an airplane is not called a pilot.” Whatever citizen
astronauts are called, Fisher, one of the “original six” women accepted
into NASA’s Astronaut Training Program, and many of her peers don’t
seem to have an “I got mine, let’s pull up the ladder now,” attitude
when it comes to novices visiting space. Click here.
(8/10)
UK Spaceport Landowners
to Benefit with at Least 1% of All Launch Fees (Source:
Press & Journal)
Plans for the UK’s first spaceport in Sutherland – creating hundreds of
jobs – are taking off as proposals for other potential sites in the
Highlands and Islands were not ruled out of contention as other bases.
It was revealed yesterday that landowners would benefit from at least
one per cent of all launch fees, with a further one percent going to
the community. Public consultations are to begin this month on the
project at Melness, as it was also revealed a final planning
application for the site to become the first launchpad for satellites
was expected to be lodged next year.
The spaceport is expected to cost in the region of £17million and is to
be developed by HIE, with public consultations to take place later this
month. Roy Kirk, of HIE, confirmed discussions and consultations were
taking place in preparation for submitting a planning application,
expected in late 2019. He added: “There are plenty opportunities here
for the local supply chain and we hope to host a supplier day in
September/October time. We are keen to hear from local organisations
and explore how they can get involved in the project.
“Our plan, which is not yet finalised, has been positive in hearing the
help and consideration of the Melness crofters. The plan would be we
would take a lease with the Crofters Estate and we would then be the
landlord and we would build this facility. “The crofters will certainly
get a reasonable rental. One percent of all launch fees will be donated
to the landowners, with a further one percent being donated to the
community.” (8/10)
In Space 'There Won't be
Many Prizes for Second Place' (Source: Politico)
Rapid technological progress makes space more of an opportunity for
exploration and discovery than ever before. The commercial
opportunities are simply staggering. Visionary investors see new
markets across a variety of industries, to include space tourism,
space-based wireless internet across the globe, space-based solar
power, asteroid mining, and space-based manufacturing. Imagine a world
where materials harvested from asteroids are stored in space, used to
3D-print new satellites or space vehicles, without any need for a
gravity-defeating launch vehicle to put them into space.
Imagine the impact on humanity if space-based solar power and internet
access could fuel and connect the whole world for free. This vision is
not a 100-year pipe dream. The components and vision are already here.
We only require the national vision, will, and commitment.
As human development of space increases rapidly in the coming years,
the U.S. military certainly understands and appreciates its expanded
role. As a first step, the military recognizes that our reliance on
space creates vulnerabilities that must be actively defended. So as a
nation and as a military, we now approach space as an active
warfighting domain-an arena of competition and conflict as we pursue
sustained advantage. Similarly, the U.S. military will continue to
ensure that the security of our homeland and planet-enabled in and
through space-endures in perpetuity. (8/10)
What Happens When an
Astronaut Gets Sick in Space? (Source: Mental Floss)
Astronauts are among the fittest and healthiest people in the world.
They're rigorously trained, vetted, and quarantined before they’re
allowed up in space—and yet, despite all those precautions, they do
sometimes get sick. Apollo 13's Fred Haise, for example, had to deal
with a painful kidney infection during the dangerous mission that gave
us the phrase "Houston, we have a problem," and one-time astronaut Jake
Garn, a Utah senator, got so motion-sick during a 1985 Discovery
mission that astronauts now rate their nausea levels on the Garn Scale.
Because space missions are on a strict schedule planned far in advance,
sick astronauts on a space mission can't just pop down to Earth to see
a doctor. But when astronauts fall ill, they don't have to worry—NASA
and other space agencies that have missions aboard the ISS are
prepared. Click here.
(8/9)
Russia Looks to Hurt U.S.
in Space After New Sanctions (Source: Daily Beast)
Russia’s retaliation to new U.S. sanctions is likely going to place
American access to space at risk. To get heavy payloads into orbit,
American rockets like the Atlas V use Russia’s powerful RD-180
engine—an engine that previous rounds of U.S. sanctions have studiously
exempted. But now, following the Trump administration’s decision to
retaliate for the Kremlin poisoning a former spy and his daughter,
Russian officials are threatening to block sales of the RD-180 to the
Americans.
Russian lawmaker Sergei Ryabukhin, who heads the budget committee in
the upper house of the Russian parliament, responded to the new
sanctions by vowing: “The United States needs to finally understand
that it’s useless to fight with Russia, including with the help of
sanctions.” According to the Russian news agency RIA, Ryabukhin found a
place to hit Washington where it’s soft: the rocket engine. Losing
access to the RD-180 would make American access to space—something
Donald Trump desires enough to create a separate military service
branch devoted to it—much more complicated. The engine helps get
everything from satellites to astronauts into orbit. (8/9)
Utah Could Play Key Role
in Space Force (Source: Deseret News)
Rep. Rob Bishop says Utah and especially Hill Air Force Base could play
a key role in President Donald Trump's newly announced plans for a
Space Force. "The fact that Utah has been a prime player in space and
the aerospace industry and space exploration for so long simply means
we have a lot of expertise here in the state that I'm pretty sure will
probably be exploited and used," the Utah Republican said. Bishop,
whose district includes Hill, said he has yet to be sold on the need to
create a new branch of the military by 2020 to defend the United States
in space, currently the responsibility of the Air Force. (8/9)
Americans Think NASA
Should Focus on Climate Change. Trump Doesn’t (Source:
Bloomberg)
NASA’s focus should not be on the cosmos but on Earth, according to a
wide-ranging Bloomberg poll of Americans’ views on space. Observing the
climate should be NASA’s “top priority,” according to 43 percent of
those surveyed, who chose from six possible options. One-quarter said
the agency should monitor asteroids and other space objects. Only 3
percent said NASA’s top focus should be sending astronauts to the moon,
while a mere 8 percent said a human trip to Mars or other planets
should be the agency’s main goal.
The findings point to a stark contrast with NASA’s current focus on
human spaceflight and deep-space exploration, as the agency works on a
lunar orbital platform for the early 2020s and a mission to Mars in the
2030s. The poll was conducted for Bloomberg Businessweek by research
firm Morning Consult, which surveyed 2,202 U.S. adults in July. Under
the Obama administration, NASA’s Earth Science program saw the fastest
growth of any science division at the agency, according to the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. (8/1)
The Evolution of the Big
Falcon Rocket (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
On September 29th, 2017, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled detailed plans
of the Big Falcon Rocket at the 68th International Astronautical
Congress in Adelaide, Australia. It was a follow-up speech to the prior
year’s presentation when he first discussed the architecture of what
was then called the Interplanetary Transport System. In his
highly anticipated speech, Musk laid out the detailed plans for a two
stage rocket to enable the colonization of Mars, a moon base, and
hypersonic long-distance travel on Earth.
The design featured an enormous Booster that would be powered by 31
Raptor engines, planned to be the world’s most advanced and highest
pressure chemical rocket engine. Following stage separation, the
booster would return to Earth and land near or on the launch pad.
There were three variants of the rocket’s second stage planned: a
Spaceship, Tanker and Cargo Lifter. The primary of which, the BFR
Spaceship, was also the colonization vehicle and that could carry up to
100 passengers and a hundred tonnes of cargo. One possible use of the
Spaceship was as the world’s first hypersonic passenger transport
vehicle, which would enable travel between any two points on Earth in
under an hour. Its primary envisioned mission, however, was to be a
colonization vehicle for the Moon, Mars and beyond. Click here.
(8/9)
Dark Matter Might Be
Harder to Detect Because it’s Not From Our Galaxy (Source:
New Scientist)
Astronomers recently revealed that our galaxy, the Milky Way, devoured
a so-called “sausage” galaxy about 10 billion years ago. Now it seems
this sausage might make finding dark matter ever harder. We can’t track
dark matter directly because it is invisible and can pass straight
through normal matter. But the location of dark matter appears to
coincide with regular matter, so we can track its movements by looking
to the stars. Click here.
(8/2)
NASA Awards Six Companies
$44 Million to Develop New Space Exploration Technologies
(Source: Houston Chronicle)
In an effort to expand NASA's space exploration goals, the agency is
funding 10 commercial projects such as new technologies for lunar
lander propulsion and deep space rocket engines. NASA will disperse up
to $44 million across the 10 projects, chosen because they "have the
potential to significantly benefit the commercial space economy and
future NASA missions," according to a space agency statement.
These are projects, Jim Reuter said, that may not have been developed
without the agency's help. Six companies, including Blue Origin, were
awarded funds. Three of the 10 projects -- being developed by
Washington-based Blue Origin, Colorado-based United Launch Alliance and
Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic Technology -- received $10 million each,
while the rest received smaller quantities. Click here.
(8/8)
Griffin: Space-Based
Missile Defense Can Be Done (Source: Breaking Defense)
Some 35 years after Ronald Reagan’s famous Star Wars speech, the
Pentagon’s R&D chief said that space-based missile defenses are
technically feasible and reasonably affordable. Since Reagan’s day,
technology has advanced enough that putting both sensors and shooters
in space is not only possible but “relatively easy,” Undersecretary for
Research & Engineering Mike Griffin said. What’s more, past
estimates of the cost of space-based interceptors have been
“unrealistically,” even “naively” high.
Specifically, Griffin said the US “absolutely” needs space-based
sensors to detect low-flying hypersonic cruise missiles, a new threat
that’s much harder to spot from orbit than ICBMs. And he said we
probably need space-based interceptors to shoot down high-flying
ballistic missiles during the boost phase, the period before the
warheads separate from the rocket.
Note these are two different functions with two different types of
targets. Space-based interceptors would not work against hypersonic
cruise missiles, Griffin said. They fly too low, deep in the
atmosphere, so any munition you shoot at them from space would have to
be hardened against the heat of atmospheric reentry, which he called
prohibitively difficult. “It may not be a bridge too far, but it’s a
pretty far away bridge.” (8/8)
NASA Announces New Deputy
Director of Johnson Space Center (Source: NASA)
NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Director Mark Geyer announced Wednesday
the selection of Vanessa Wyche as the next deputy director of JSC in
Houston. Wyche will assist Geyer in leading one of NASA's largest
installations, which has nearly 10,000 civil service and contractor
employees – including those at White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces,
New Mexico – and a broad range of human spaceflight activities. (8/8)
Here’s What SpaceX Must
Do to Win the Commercial Crew Race (Source: Ars Technica)
On Friday, when NASA announced the nine astronauts who would fly aboard
the first commercial crew missions, Kathy Lueders sat among the
audience clapping. Certainly for the manager of the space agency's
commercial crew program, this was a happy day. But much hard work
remains before the flights actually take place, and Lueders knows this
more than anyone. Ultimately, she bears responsibility for ensuring
that these men and women would have the safest possible flights.
“We’ve got to keep going,” she said later Friday, in an interview
following the astronaut announcement ceremony. “I kind of feel like
we’re having the party before the flight.” First up for SpaceX is the
uncrewed mission, Demo-1, presently targeted for November. SpaceX’s
president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, has expressed
confidence in the company’s ability to make this deadline. However, she
admitted last Friday that, “Predicting launch dates can make a liar out
of anyone.” Click here.
(8/8)
Vega’s Long-Awaited
(Small) Successes (Source: Space News)
Although the mostly Italian Vega rocket was added to the Arianespace
family in 2012, it’s only recently achieved tangible success in wooing
the smallest spacecraft operators. The reasons are twofold. First, Vega
is about to get an adapter that can fit cubesats and microsats up to
400 kilograms inside the rocket’s payload fairing. The second is lower
prices.
This year, Arianespace signed four customers for the first flight the
new adapter, the Small Spacecraft Mission System, or SMSS. The
customers — U.S. smallsat launch aggregator Spaceflight Inc., Dutch
satellite builder Innovative Solutions in Space, Italian satellite
builder Sitael and Italian startup D-Orbit — are due to launch on
SSMS’s maiden flight in the first half of 2019.
SSMS is a modular system, and doesn’t have to fill the entire payload
fairing, according to Avio. Vega can launch with a smaller SSMS along
with a primary payload, allowing flexibility on launch timing.
Arianespace has not publicly disclosed how much it charges for Vega
missions, but Spaceflight President Curt Blake told SpaceNews in April
that newfound attractive pricing convinced the company to contract with
Arianespace for the first time ever. (8/8)
Efforts to Develop
Small-Scale Rockets are Soaring, but Only a Few Get Off the Ground
(Source: GeekWire)
The latest “State of the Industry” report for small orbital-class
launch vehicles tracks 101 reported efforts to create such rockets,
compared with a mere 31 in 2015. But many of those efforts are defunct
or in limbo, Northrop Grumman’s Carlos Niederstrasser said.
“We’re definitely starting to see attrition” in the industry, he said.
Niederstrasser said only four small launch vehicles have entered
service since 2015: three Chinese rockets and Rocket Lab’s Electron. He
also noted that the per-kilogram price for putting a payload in orbit
can go as high as $50,000. “These small launch vehicles are not going
to be the cheapest way to get into the orbit,” Niederstrasser said.
“Their main selling point is convenience. … If you really want the
cheapest access to space, you’re still pretty much left with the
rideshare domain.” Click here.
(8/8)
France's ThrustMe Gets
$2.8M in European Grant Funds for Electric Thrusters
(Source: Space News)
French propulsion startup ThrustMe has received $2.8 million from the
European Commission. The funding, provided earlier this month through
the EC's Horizon 2020 program, will go towards towards development of a
pilot production line for its electric thrusters. The first of those
thrusters will fly on an undisclosed satellite next year. (8/8)
Stellar Exploration
Develops Bi-Propellannt Thruster for Cubesats (Source:
Space News)
A new thruster could enable cubesats to carry out deep space missions
more effectively. Stellar Exploration developed a miniaturized
bi-propellant thruster system that would provide a 12U cubesat with
about 2 kilometers per second of delta-V. NASA funded development of
the thruster, and Stellar Exploration is proposing using it on a
cubesat mission that would fly as a secondary payload on NASA's Psyche
mission. That cubesat would use the thruster to enter Mars orbit when
Psyche performs a flyby of the planet en route to its asteroid
destination. (8/8)
Putin Pushes Again for
Improvements to Russian Space Competitiveness (Source:
TASS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the Russian space industry to
improve its quality and pricing. Speaking at a meeting of Russian space
industry executives Wednesday, Putin said Russian industry "must
achieve sustainable growth of quality" while being competitive in price
on the global market. He also called for greater financial stability
among companies in the field as well as more efforts to hire more young
professionals. (8/8)
Cybersecurity a Growing
Threat for Smallsats (Source: Space News)
Smallsat operators are facing new demands regarding cybersecurity. The
author of a report published earlier this year on cybersecurity threats
for space systems said that smallst companies would make "a gigantic
mistake" if they thought they didn't need to pay attention to those
concerns and take measure such as encrypting transmissions and
safeguarding ground stations. Smallsat developers, though, say that
full-scale cybersecurity measures, like those used for large
satellites, could significantly increase the costs of their satellites
and make then uneconomical.
NOAA, meanwhile, is taking a measured approach to data protection plans
for remote sensing satellites licensed by the agency. The agency is
creating a three-tier system for data protection plans, with less
stringent requirements for satellites that pose no significant national
security or foreign policy risks. (8/8)
Made In Space Proposes
Printing Large Solar Arrays for Small Satellites (Source:
Space News)
Made In Space, the Silicon Valley startup focused on additive
manufacturing in orbit, plans to boost the power available to small
satellites with Archinaut, the company’s in-space manufacturing and
assembling technology. “Small satellites have solar panels that produce
a kilowatt to a kilowatt and a half,” said Andrew Rush, Made In Space
chief executive. “We can give you four to five kilowatts of power.”
Made In Space proposes launching a 150- to 300-kilogram satellite with
a tightly-packed solar cell blanket and raw material needed to feed an
onboard 3D printer. On orbit, the satellite would manufacture solar
arrays optimized for microgravity. Solar arrays built on the ground are
reinforced to withstand launch forces, stowed to fit in launch fairings
and equipped with mechanisms to deploy in orbit. Instead, the Archinaut
solar arrays would be designed for microgravity with a core lattice
structure and a robotic arm to integrate the solar array blanket. (8/8)
Astroethics and
Cosmocentrism (Source: Scientific American)
In recent months both Breakthrough Listen and the SETI Institute have
sponsored both real and virtual meetings to examine the societal impact
should their programs prove successful. Anthropologists, historians,
ethicists, philosophers and others are joining the interdisciplinary
conversation in a serious way, impelled by the increasing possibility
of discovery.
All of this activity gives new urgency to a whole series of ethical
questions. Does Mars belong to the Martians, even if the Martians are
only microbes? What do we say in response to an alien message, and who
speaks for Earth? How do we treat aliens, either remotely or in a
“close encounter of the third kind”? In short, whether we discover
alien microbes or advanced alien life, we will immediately be faced
with the problem of how to interact.
Welcome to the world of astroethics—the contemplation and development
of ethical standards for a variety of outer space issues, including
terraforming the planets, resource utilization, near-Earth asteroid
threats, space exploration, planetary protection—and the discovery of
extraterrestrial life. The problems involving E.T. life are
particularly fraught, especially if it talks back to us. Before we can
act in any situation that involves life, it is first important to
assess the moral status of the organisms involved. Click here.
(8/8)
UAE Regulations to Focus
on Space Economy (Source: Khaleej Times)
The UAE Space Agency is keen on developing appropriate laws and
regulations to attract private sector investors in the country's space
industry. The chief of the UAE Space Agency, Dr Mohamed Nasser Al
Ahbabi, said they have recently completed a Space Investment Strategy,
which aims to encourage local companies to invest in space. He said
that investors often consider space as "high risk" and want the proper
laws and regulations that will protect them legally.
"We are working on space regulations as well. You have to think about
the space economy. Investors want to make sure if they invest, they
have the right environment. So we need space regulations and laws to
protect the local operator and to encourage foreign investors," Dr Al
Ahbabi said. (8/8)
VP Pence Announces First
Steps Toward Space Force (Source: Space News)
The debate is over. The United States will have a Space Force as a
separate branch of the military. In a joint appearance at the Pentagon
with Defense Secretary James Mattis, Vice President Mike Pence laid out
the Trump administration’s plan to create a U.S. Space Force. It was
only seven weeks ago that President Trump directed DoD to begin the
process. The president has made it a priority to “restore America’s
proud history of leadership in space,” Pence said.
The report lays out four steps that it will take to start the
reorganization the military with a goal of creating a fully independent
Space Force within a few years, depending on how quickly Congress moves
to pass legislation. Things could get contentious on Capitol Hill as
the Space Force issue has taken a more partisan tone. Although
Democrats have supported the idea in the past, some may withdraw
support depending on the outcome of the mid-term election in November.
Without any new legislation and using existing authorities, DoD will
establish several of the component parts of the Space Force. The second
phase requires Congress to combine these components into the sixth
branch of the armed forces. Click here.
(8/8)
What Are We Cutting for
the $8 Billion Space Force? (Source: NowThis)
Trump and Pence want $8 billion for the space force. Meanwhile, Trump
proposed $3.7 billion in cuts to education, $17 billion in cuts to food
stamps, and $6.6 billion in cuts to housing. (8/9)
NASA Signs Off on
SpaceX’s “Load-and-Go” Procedure for Crew Launches
(Source: SpaceFlight Now)
The NASA manager overseeing development of Boeing and SpaceX’s
commercial crew ferry ships says the space agency has approved SpaceX’s
proposal to strap in astronauts atop Falcon 9 rockets, then fuel the
launchers in the final hour of the countdown as the company does for
its uncrewed missions.
The “load-and-go” procedure has become standard for SpaceX’s satellite
launches, in which an automatic countdown sequencer commands chilled
kerosene and cryogenic liquid oxygen to flow into the Falcon 9 rocket
in the final minutes before liftoff.
“From a program standpoint, we went throgh a pretty extensive process
where we laid out the different options for loading the crew, and
assessing how the vehicles have been designed, and what the trades
were,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, in
an interview Friday. “That came to the program in June, and after
looking at it, we felt like the current baseline plan for how SpaceX
plans to load the crews meets our requirements.” (8/9)
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