November 6, 2018

Turkey Will Develop Smallsat Launcher Capability (Sources: Aviation Week, SpaceWatch)
The Turkish government has formally launched a program to develop an indigenous smallsat launch vehicle. Earlier this year, Roketsan, one of Turkey’s leading company’s in the aerospace industry, announced their plans going forward with the Turkish Satellite Launch System (SLS) project they signed with the Turkish government in 2013. Even though the SLV development is a fully private venture by Rocketsan, it will be Turkey’s own vehicle to use for government missions. (11/6)

Dynetics To Provide Smallsats For U.S. Army’s Gunsmoke Demo (Sources: Aviation Week, Dynetics)
Dynetics has been selected to develop small satellites for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) Technical Center program named Gunsmoke-L. Through the Design, Development, Demonstration and Integration (D3I), Domain 1 task order, the Gunsmoke-L contract is for two years, plus one option year valued at $8.3 million to develop, test, integrate and demonstrate two tactical space support vehicles (TSSVs) which will be used to enhance all phases of joint force operations.

The small satellite-based platforms will host the next generation of tactical space support payloads designed to operate in low earth orbit (LEO) for a minimum of two years. Dynetics will conduct hardware-in-the-loop testing and simulation in conjunction with the command's Payload Development Laboratory (PDL) facility in Huntsville to optimize TSSV performance and reliability. The TSSV will be developed and integrated at Dynetics' facilities in Huntsville, which include payload development labs, clean rooms and environmental test capabilities. At completion of the two-year base period, the two TSSVs will be qualified and ready for launch. (11/6)

No to a Cheap Lunar Gateway (Source: Space Review)
NASA is current planning development of the Gateway orbiting the Moon to support lunar exploration in the 2020s. Taylor Dinerman discusses why, if the Gateway is going to be built, it should be designed to last for decades. Click here. (11/6) 
 
Turning Space Policy Into Space Regulation (Source: Space Review)
A space policy directive earlier this year instructed various departments to engage in commercial space regulatory reform efforts. Jeff Foust reports that, as those policies become proposed rules, industry is keenly interested in their progress and concerned in some cases about the lack of details. Click here. (11/6)
 
Racing China to the High Frontier (Source: Space Review)
A half-century ago, the United States and the Soviet Union raced to the Moon. Mark Whittington argues that a new Moon race is shaping up between the United States and China, with stakes no less significant than in the 1960s. Click here. (11/6)

Giant Laser 'Porch Light' in Space Could Make it Easier for Aliens to Find Us (Source: Daily Mail)
A pair of MIT researchers has proposed a radical method for making our presence known in the universe. In a new feasibility study, the team says it could be possible to use laser technology as a beacon to attract the attention of alien astronomers, much like a planetary-scale porch light. Using a laser focused through a huge telescope, the researchers say this ‘porch light’ could be seen from as far as 20,000 light-years away.

Once picked up by extraterrestrials in a nearby system, we could also use this to transmit brief messages, the researchers say. ‘If we were to successfully close a handshake and start to communicate, we could flash a message, at a data rate of about a few hundred bits per second, which would get there in just a few years,’ says author James Clark. (11/5)

DARPA Efforts Aligned with Space Force Goals (Source: Space News)
The creation of a Space Force could raise the profile of space activities at DARPA. Speaking at a conference Monday, Fred Kennedy, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, didn't directly address Space Force issues, but he suggested that DARPA's efforts to shake up the "space architecture" and invest in nontraditional technology are in line with the message that the military space business cannot be done the same old way. Among DARPA's space efforts is Blackjack, a prototype smallsat constellation to demonstrate the utility of such satellites for various military missions. A follow-on program, called Casino, will develop full-fledged constellations for specific military applications. (11/6)

DARPA Hopes for Active Debris Removal Soon (Source: Space News)
DARPA and others, meanwhile, are frustrated by the slow pace of efforts to deal with orbital debris. Fred Kennedy of DARPA said Monday that his agency has studied the problem for years and concluded that some active removal of debris is needed but the long-term answer is self-policing. Innovative technologies are being tested to clean up debris, such as the RemoveDebris satellite that is testing the use of nets and harpoons to capture objects. But, Kennedy said, "If I have to bring out a harpoon for every piece of debris, I'm not sure I've helped. I may be contributing to the problem." (11/6)

Lunar X Prize Teams Still in Pursuit (Source: Space News)
Two former Google Lunar X Prize teams are pressing ahead with lunar landers that could launch as soon as late next year. PTScientists says its first lander could launch in late 2019 or 2020 to visit the Apollo 17 landing site. The company has grown considerably since the beginning of the year and has signed up several corporate partners, including Audi, Vodaphone and Red Bull. Team Indus says it's working on a much larger version of its original lander, which could place up to 500 kilograms of payload on the lunar surface. The company is also partnering with an unidentified organization so it can compete for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. (11/6)

SpaceX Seeks Loan (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX is working with a different bank for a larger loan. The company is now partnered with Bank of America to secure a $750 million leveraged loan as soon as this week. SpaceX was reported last month to be working with Goldman Sachs for a $500 million loan. SpaceX has not disclosed what the loan would be used for, but the company does have projects, like its BFR rocket and Starlink constellation, that will require large amounts of capital. (11/6)

Taiwanese Startup Lured to Luxembourg (Source: Delano)
A Taiwanese startup is the latest company to set up operations in Luxembourg after winning a prize. Odysseus Space won the 500,000-euro Spaceresources challenge prize at an ESA conference last week. The company, established in 2016, works on innovative technologies and solutions for future deep space and swarm small satellite missions. (11/6)

Armstrong Artifacts Fetch $5.2M at Auction (Source: Collect Space)
An auction of Neil Armstrong artifacts brought in $5.2 million over the weekend. The auction sold items ranging from a bumper sticker at $250 to a lunar module spacecraft ID plate from Apollo 11 that fetched $468,500. The auction of the artifacts, arranged by Armstrong's sons Mark and Rick, was part of a larger three-day auction of space memorabilia by Heritage Auctions that brought in $7.4 million. Two more auctions of Armstrong memorabilia will take place next year. (11/6)

Mars InSight Landing Site Is Just Plain Perfect (Source: NASA JPL)
No doubt about it, NASA explores some of the most awe-inspiring locations in our solar system and beyond. Once seen, who can forget the majesty of astronaut Jim Irwin standing before the stark beauty of the Moon's Hadley Apennine mountain range, of the Hubble Space Telescope's gorgeous "Pillars of Creation" or Cassini's magnificent mosaic of Saturn?

Mars also plays a part in this visually compelling equation, with the high-definition imagery from the Curiosity rover of the ridges and rounded buttes at the base of Mount Sharp bringing to mind the majesty of the American Southwest. That said, Elysium Planitia - the site chosen for the Nov. 26 landing of NASA's InSight mission to Mars - will more than likely never be mentioned with those above because it is, well, plain. Yes, the landing site of NASA's next Mars mission may very well look like a stadium parking lot, but that is the way the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) project likes it. (11/5)

NASA Renovates, Dedicates Bermuda Tracking Station (Source: NASA)
Showcasing NASA's long-standing partnership with Bermuda in support of human spaceflight and space exploration, NASA formally dedicated its upgraded Bermuda Tracking Station Monday, Nov. 5, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the station's site on Cooper's Island Nature Reserve. "Bermuda has long been a vital strategic partner to NASA going back to the earliest days of human spaceflight," said United States Consul General Constance Dierman.

"Today's dedication ceremony further strengthens that partnership in support of NASA's goals to take the next giant leap in exploration and discovery." The site, refurbished as part of a $5.3 million renovation and outfitting project, supports tracking, telemetry, command and control of launches from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Most notably, the tracking station, operated by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, supports International Space Station cargo resupply missions and will support upcoming commercial crew launches to the orbital laboratory and NASA's upcoming integrated launches of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft on missions to the Moon. Editor's Note: Funding to operate and maintain the Bermuda station has always been troublesome. It is rarely used, but occasionally supports NASA, military and commercial missions. No single agency has wanted responsibility for covering its costs. (11/6)

Spacecraft are About to Sample Two Asteroids Worth Over $83 Billion Combined (Source: Forbes)
Two different spacecraft from NASA and JAXA (the national space agency of Japan) are currently preparing to swipe a hunk of two different asteroids that they've been journeying toward for the past few years. The asteroids, named Bennu and Ryugu respectively, could also be among the most profitable to mine for resources at some point in the future.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has spent the past two years traveling to Bennu, which is considered a potentially hazardous asteroid with a tiny chance of hitting earth late in the 22nd century. Meanwhile, JAXA's Hayabusa-2 mission has already arrived at Ryugu, where it has deployed a few mini robot probes to the surface for an initial look around.

A central objective of both missions is to take a small sample of each space rock that will then be returned to Earth for analysis in the 2020s.  Scientists hope that taking a close look at the composition of the asteroids could provide insights into the origins of the solar system, but they also contain plenty of valuable water, organics and precious metals. (11/6)

Google Has Enlisted NASA to Help Prove Quantum Supremacy Within Months (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Google wants NASA to help it prove quantum supremacy within a matter of months, according to a Space Act Agreement. Quantum supremacy is the idea, so far undemonstrated, that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer will be able to complete certain mathematical calculations that classical supercomputers cannot.

Proving it would be a big deal because it could kick-start a market for devices that might one day crack previously unbreakable codes, boost AI, improve weather forecasts, or model molecular interactions and financial systems in exquisite detail. The agreement, signed in July, calls on NASA to “analyze results from quantum circuits run on Google quantum processors, and ... provide comparisons with classical simulation to both support Google in validating its hardware and establish a baseline for quantum supremacy.”

The agreement covers Google's latest 72-qubit quantum chip, called Bristlecone. Where classical computers store information in binary bits that definitely represent either 1 or 0, quantum computers use qubits that exist in an undefined state between 1 and 0. For some problems, using qubits should quickly provide solutions that could take classical computers much longer to compute. (11/5)

The Apollo Astronaut who Became Sick from Inhaling Moondust (Source: Vintage News)
Astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, who also has a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University, landed on the Moon along with Eugene A. Cernan on December 11, 1972, and began collecting rock samples. While other missions had collected rocks, no one had been familiar enough with geology to know what types were important. With an expert picking the specimens, more stories could be told of the Moon’s history.

During the mission, Schmitt unintentionally breathed in some lunar dust and for the rest of the day exhibited signs similar to hay fever or an allergy — sneezing and watery eyes. In 1972, the NASA doctors thought he was allergic to the Moon. The ground crew at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center were highly amused and, according to Mental Floss a member of mission control, Joseph Allen, remarked, “It’s funny they don’t check for that. Maybe that’s the trouble with the cheap noses, Jack.”

Moondust is composed of the remnants of micrometeorite impacts that remain sharp due to the lack of erosion because of no air or water movement on the Moon. Small bits of iron are also in the dust, giving it properties similar to a blanket with static cling; the dust is attracted to everything. (11/4)

Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 Spacecraft ID Plate Sells for $468K in Auction (Source: Fox News)
Neil Armstrong’s personal collection of memorabilia has taken flight. Collectibles that belonged to the first man to set foot on the moon were sold in a recent auction held by the Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions. The company held its “Space Collection Signature Auction” from Thursday to Saturday, which included items from the Armstrong Family Collection. Heritage Auctions says his spacecraft ID plate from Apollo 11’s lunar module Eagle went for $468,500 -- making it the highest-selling item. (11/4)

Mystery Interstellar Asteroid Oumuamua 'Could be Gigantic Alien Solar Sail Sent to Look for Signs of Life' (Source: Evening Standard)
The first known interstellar object to travel through our solar system could be a gigantic alien solar sail sent to look for signs of life, according to a new study. The mysterious asteroid Oumuamua has been analysed by astronomers from the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA) after it was found to be unexpectedly speeding up.

NASA​ said earlier this year observations from their Hubble Space Telescope confirmed the object had an “unexpected boost in speed and shift in trajectory as it passes through the inner solar system”. Scientists have now concluded that the asteroid “might be a lightsail of artificial origin” using solar radiation to propel itself forward.

The study said: “Considering an artificial origin, one possibility is that Oumuamua is a lightsail, floating in interstellar space as a debris from an advanced technological equipment. “Alternatively, a more exotic scenario is that Oumuamua may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilisation.” (11/4)

Microlauch Services Workshop in Paris This Week (Source: ESA)
New concepts from European industry on microlaunch services offer inspiring technical innovations and flexible services to meet the needs of the small satellites market. Five feasibility studies on launch services using microlaunchers in Europe, contracted within ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory Program, have proposed solutions for economically viable and commercially self-sustaining microlaunch services.

In parallel to the five consortia process of raising funds to achieve the first commercial flight, their solutions are expected to benefit the whole European space transportation sector. ESA aims to accompany these industry-led microlaunch service initiatives through support in technology maturation to achieve the shortest time-to-market and highest competitiveness. (11/5)