November 14, 2018

First Angara A5V Heavy-Class Rocket Launch to Take Place in 2026 (Source: Space Daily)
The first heavy-lift Angara A5V carrier rocket equipped with a hydrogen space tug will be launched from the Vostochny space center in Russia's Far East in 2026, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday. The rocket's launch was initially set to take place in 2027, according to the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. (11/13)

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars – and Never Knowing For Sure if it Had its Own Native Life (Source: The Conversation)
The closest place in the universe where extraterrestrial life might exist is Mars, and human beings are poised to attempt to colonize this planetary neighbor within the next decade. Before that happens, we need to recognize that a very real possibility exists that the first human steps on the Martian surface will lead to a collision between terrestrial life and biota native to Mars.

If the red planet is sterile, a human presence there would create no moral or ethical dilemmas on this front. But if life does exist on Mars, human explorers could easily lead to the extinction of Martian life. As an astronomer who explores these questions in my book “Life on Mars: What to Know Before We Go,” I contend that we Earthlings need to understand this scenario and debate the possible outcomes of colonizing our neighboring planet in advance. Maybe missions that would carry humans to Mars need a timeout. (11/13)

How Massive Solar Eruptions ‘Probably’ Detonated Dozens of US Sea Mines (Source: The Conversation)
An extraordinary account of the impact space weather had on military operations in Vietnam in 1972 was found buried in the US Navy archives, according to a newly published article in Space Weather. On August 4, 1972, the crew of a US Task Force 77 aircraft flying near a naval minefield in the waters off Hon La observed 20 to 25 explosions over about 30 seconds. They also witnessed an additional 25 to 30 mud spots in the waters nearby.

Destructor sea mines had been deployed here during Operation Pocket Money, a mining campaign launched in 1972 against principal North Vietnamese ports. There was no obvious reason why the mines should have detonated. But it has now emerged the US Navy soon turned its attention to extreme solar activity at the time as a probable cause. The more we can understand the impact of such space weather on technology then the better we can be prepared for any future extreme solar activity.

As detailed in a now declassified US Navy report, the event sparked an immediate investigation about the potential cause(s) of the random detonations of so many sea mines. The sea mines deployed had a self-destruct feature. But the minimum self-destruct time on these mines was not for another 30 days, so something else was to blame. On August 15, 1972, the Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Bernard Clarey, asked about a hypothesis that solar activity could have caused the mine detonations. (11/13)

Florida Poly Students Identify New Way to Create Oxygen in Space (Source: Florida Politics)
Florida Polytechnic University researchers are working on a breakthrough technology that could simplify the way oxygen is created for such travel. Student researchers and faculty are exploring ways to use algae to capture carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. The technology would simplify the current process and make it less costly. The NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium-funded research uses diatoms — a form of algae invisible to the naked eye — to increase efficiency in solar cells to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide.

Currently astronauts use separate systems: One to capture the carbon and the other to produce oxygen. “This research not only could lead to more energy efficient space missions through solar cell and capacitor enhancements, but it could also play a critical role in revolutionizing the way the very air astronauts breathe is rendered carbon dioxide-free,” said professor of biology Melba Horton, who received the FSGC grant. Diatoms’ silica walls give the algae unique photosynthetic properties that make them useful in numerous high-tech applications. (11/11)

Russian Space Leader Suggests Engineers Test Spacecraft Stalin’s Way (Source: Ars Technica)
During a meeting this weekend at RSC Energia, the prime contractor for Russia's crewed spaceflight program, the discussion turned toward development of the Federation spacecraft. This is the oft-delayed program to develop a new generation of crewed spacecraft for the Russian space industry. Dmitry Rogozin, the leader of Russia's space program, Roscosmos, was apparently not pleased with ongoing delays to the program. First initiated more than a decade ago, the Federation spacecraft now is unlikely to fly humans before 2023.

Rogozin made the following comments after one of the Federation engineers suggested that, perhaps, time could be saved in the spacecraft's development by reducing the number of tests of its emergency escape system. In response to this suggestion, Rogozin reminded the two rows of men sitting at a long conference table how Joseph Stalin would ensure the reliability of a new armored vehicle—with a PPSh-41 submachine gun in his hand. "He would put a constructor inside and shoot at the vehicle with the automatic weapon," Rogozin said. "If the constructor survived, it was a good machine. I suggest writing an order to put constructors on the ship during tests." (11/13)

Space Camp Grows Up (Source: Mashable)
Back when I was merely one of two astronauts fixing anomalies and doing experiments aboard the International Space Station — was that really just yesterday? — our whole team was intensely serious. Lives seemed at stake. But then the Space Shuttle crew landed with their cargo bay doors still accidentally open. "All the buttons lit up at once," said one of our instructors after the Shuttle debacle. "You guys were dying, and I was loving it." Since no one chastised us for dying, our seriousness levels have gone downhill since then. I fear this moon mission may give our overlords more of what they love. Click here. (11/13)

Brother of Hamas Commander Killed by IDF Worked for NASA (Source: Jerusalem Post)
Sheikh Nur Baraka, the Hamas commander who was killed in Sunday night’s clash with an elite IDF unit in the southern Gaza Strip, was unknown to many Palestinians. They first heard his name when Hamas announced that he had been “martyred” during a clash with IDF soldiers. Baraka, 37, joined Hamas at the age of 18, according to sources in the Gaza Strip. While he worked for Hamas, his older brother, Suleiman, became a famous astrophysicist, who worked as scientist with the NASA space agency.

Prof. Suleiman Baraka, who was born in the Gaza Strip in 1965, returned from the US to the Gaza Strip two years ago to teach at local universities and colleges. His 12-year-old son, Ibrahim, was reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip in 2008. Suleiman had been arrested at least twice by the IDF during the 70’s and 80’s for security-related offenses. He is the only Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who has worked for NASA - an achievement that has been recognized by UNESCO, who nominated him as the first Middle East chairman, among other awards, according to a report by the London-based Middle East Eye news site. (11/13)

Peter Beck on How Rocket Lab Will Make Money (Source: New Zealand Herald)
Rocket Lab's maiden commercial launch on Sunday was a moment of pride for all New Zealanders, and pure Thunderbirds Are Go delight for geekier Kiwis as "It's Business Time" successfully launched a fleet of cube sats into low Earth orbit. But heavyweight backers from Lockheed Martin to Sir Stephen Tindall - who have put US$148 million into the company - will now be looking for a return on their investment. Founder Peter Beck doesn't shirk from that fact.

"We've not funded by any billionaires," the Aucklander says, in a nod to Space X's founder, the eccentric Elon Musk, whom Forbes values at US$22.5 billion, and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos (aka the planet's richest person), whose early-stage space venture Blue Origin is bankrolled by the US$141b personal fortune he has amassed through Amazon.

"We actually need to make money - and that has been a key focus from day one. It's Business Time is 'business time' in more meanings that you can imagine." And the news on this front is good. Beck won't give a line-by-line account of the privately-held company's financials, but "we'll come out of the end of this year cash-flow positive". (11/12)

Comment: Is Rocket Lab Even a New Zealand Company? (Source: New Zealand Herald)
"It's a bit sad it's been discussed in the press so negatively when, for instance, Rocket Lab - which we all think is the most wonderful thing - and it is - is actually significantly owned by Lockheed Martin, which does produce weapons that kill people. But no one really cares about that." When I asked Peter Beck whether his company was Kiwi or American, he didn't shirk from waving the Stars and Stripes. "Look, we've been an American company and proud of it for many years," he said.

"The New Zealand element is very important and very special to us but we never tried to hide the fact we're a US company and this is where New Zealand companies go wrong in the fact that if you want to be a large, successful global company, it's very difficult to be that out of New Zealand." He added, "Instead of lamenting the fact we've lost a company from New Zealand, we should be celebrating the fact that a company has got so large that it needs to go global." (11/13)