February 15, 2019

Moon Rush: NASA Wants Commercial Lunar Delivery Services to Start This Year (Source: Space.com)
NASA is eager to get back to the surface of the moon. In November, the agency tagged nine American companies as eligible to bid on delivering robotic NASA payloads to the moon, via Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts. Thursday (Feb. 14), NASA officials announced that the first "task order" for such a delivery will likely come out in a month or so — and that flight is expected to follow in relatively short order.

"For us, if we had any wish, I would like to fly this calendar year," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said during a webcast "media roundtable" at agency headquarters in Washington. "We care about speed. We want to start taking shots on goal," Zurbuchen said, noting that NASA will provide the eligible companies with financial incentives to get off the ground faster.

NASA is willing to take some risks in these early days to help spur the development of the CLPS program and the commercial lunar-delivery business as a whole, he said, adding: "We do not expect that every one of those launches, or every one of those landings, will be successful." The nine companies NASA selected in November are Astrobotic, Deep Space Systems, Draper, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin Space, Masten Space Systems, Moon Express and Orbit Beyond. (2/14)

Hundreds of Florida Companies Support NASA Deep Space Exploration (Source: NASA)
Men and women in all 50 states are hard at work building NASA’s Deep Space Exploration Systems to support missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA Prime Contractors Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Jacobs, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman currently have over 3,800 suppliers contributing to the building of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the Exploration Ground Systems program that will modernize the spaceport at NASA Kennedy Space Center.

While the Deep Space Exploration Systems Supplier Map highlights the United States, this endeavor reaches internationally, extending to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) collaboration with NASA in human spaceflight. With the support of many European suppliers, ESA is continuing to outfit the Orion spacecraft’s service module for Exploration Mission-1 and subsequent flights. These missions are critical to the space economy, fueling new industries and technologies, supporting job growth, and furthering the demand for a highly skilled workforce.

214 Florida companies support NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (EGS); 154 Florida companies support NASA's Orion program; 41 Florida companies are on NASA's SLS program. Florida is second overall only to California. Click here. (2/15)

SpaceX Could Disrupt NASA Plan to Return Humans to the Moon (Source: The Hill)
NASA has issued to private industry what it calls a “Phase A Offering” for ideas for a lunar landing system that will return humans to the moon’s surface in or about 2028. NASA’s lunar lander concept is a three-stage vehicle that would depart from and return to the Lunar Gateway. The stages would include a transfer vehicle to take astronauts to low lunar orbit, a descent stage that would take them to the lunar surface, and an ascent stage that would return the astronauts to lunar orbit. The ascent stage would dock with the transfer vehicle that would then return to the Gateway.

SpaceX is building a prototype of a rocket ship designed to fly humans and cargo to deep space, called “Starhopper.” Starhopper will fly to increasingly higher altitudes and then land in order to test both launch and landing systems. The gleaming, stainless steel rocket is supposed to lead to a two-stage spaceship, formally known as the Big Falcon Rocket, which will consist of a first stage called “Super Heavy” and a second stage called “Starship.” Starship, after topping off fuel in low Earth orbit, will fly to the moon and Mars.

Surprisingly, Starship is not a three-stage vehicle, but a single-stage one. Moreover, it doesn’t need the Lunar Gateway to reach the moon, though the cis-lunar facility might prove useful to operate as a staging area for a reusable lunar lander. (2/14)

Orlando: a World Leader in Simulation Technology (Source: Orlando EDC)
Simulation-based technology has been a key ingredient to Orlando’s economy since it was developed to take man to the moon. Now, the technology spans many of Orlando’s core industries from aviation, aerospace and defense to education, healthcare and even gaming. Companies benefit from the region’s growing STEM workforce, the fastest growing metro for STEM jobs in the U.S., and a concentrated talent pipeline.

In fact, Orlando universities offer specialized programs and certifications, including University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Institute for Simulation and Training, Full Sail University’s Bachelor’s Degree in Simulation & Visualization and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s Simulation Science, Games and Animation program.

Defense contractors for simulation technologies especially have a distinct advantage in Orlando. The simulation and training command for all Department of Defense branches is located at UCF Research Park, the 6th largest research park in the U.S. Orlando-based companies including AVT Simulation, Engineering & Computer Simulations, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have fulfilled billions in defense contracts for simulation technologies – just in the past year alone. Click here . (2/14)

Back Pay for Contractors Left Out of Shutdown Deal, Affecting Hundreds of NASA Workers (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A provision that would have restored back pay following the government shutdown for federal contractors, including hundreds who work for NASA on the Space Coast, was left out of a funding deal that Congress reached this week. The 35-day government shutdown, from Dec. 22 to Jan. 25, left an estimated 1,400 workers at Kennedy Space Center without work.

Most of those employees were federal contractors, who work in tandem with civil servants as electricians, engineers, safety specialists and in other positions that involve spacecraft and rockets at the Cape. After the end of the shutdown, President Donald Trump passed an agreement ensuring civil servants — whether they worked during the shutdown or not — would get back pay for the five weeks of lost paychecks. Government contractors, whose back pay is dependent on their individual contracts with government agencies, were not included in that agreement.

Across the nation, it’s estimated that about 800,000 civil servants and 1.2 million government contractors were impacted by the shutdown. During the government closure, many were forced to cut expenses, dip into their savings, use vacation time and visit food pantries to scrape by. Edward Grabowski, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2061, which represents about 600 NASA contractors on the Space Coast, said the funding deal at least diminishes the worry of a second potential shutdown this year — but without the back pay, his members are suffering. (2/15)

Harpoon Successfully Captures Space Debris (Source: University of Surrey)
The Airbus Stevenage designed harpoon featured a 1.5 metre boom deployed from the main RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft with a piece of satellite panel on the end. The harpoon was fired at 20 metres/sec to penetrate the target and demonstrate the ability of a harpoon to capture debris. This marks the third successful experiment for the RemoveDEBRIS project. It previously used its on-board net to capture a simulated piece of debris, and then trialled its state-of-the-art LiDAR and camera based vision navigation system to identify space junk.

The team is now preparing for the final experiment, which is set to take place in March and will see RemoveDEBRIS inflate a sail that will drag the satellite into Earth’s atmosphere where it will be destroyed. “This mission is a powerful example of the UK's expertise in space technology and that by working together our world-class universities and innovative companies can hugely contribute to the government’s aims for a highly skilled economy through our modern Industrial Strategy." (2/15)

Trump's OSTP Chief Defends Reduced US Government Investment in Research (Source: Science)
The new head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy says a declining federal share of research funding is not necessarily a bad thing. In his first interview since becoming the president's science adviser, Kelvin Droegemeier said that the rise of investment from companies and foundations, as well as the massive federal debt, meant it was not "terrible at all" that the federal government now supports less than half of all basic science research in the country. Six years ago, though, Droegemeier said in congressional testimony that the government had an "essential" role in support of such research. (2/15)

Mars Polar Water Could be Sign of Volcanic Activity (Source: Space.com)
If there's liquid water under the south polar cap of Mars, there also has to be volcanic activity, according to a new study. ESA's Mars Express mission spotted evidence last summer of a lake of liquid water, or perhaps a water ice slurry, under the polar ice. A new study says that if that lake does indeed exist, there must also have been volcanic activity, in the form of a magma chamber under the surface, some time in the last few hundred thousand years. Earlier studies suggested that the water could remain liquid if it was salty enough, but the new research says that salt alone can't keep it from freezing. The existence of the lake itself is speculative, though, since other spacecraft orbiting the planet haven't detected evidence for it. (2/15)

DOD Space Restructuring Could Cause Confusion of Roles (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's restructuring of military space could blur, rather than clarify, lines of authority. Currently, Gen. Jay Raymond, head of Air Force Space Command, is the nation's top space commander, who also oversees the equipping, training and organizing of space forces under the Air Force. But creation of both a U.S. Space Command and a Space Force, though, will shift those responsibilities around, making some concerned it will be difficult to determine who is responsible for what. (2/15)

Australia's Fleet Raises Seeks More Investment for IoT Constellation (Source: Space News)
Australian satellite operator Fleet is seeking to raise a Series A round for its next satellites. That round would cover 10 smallsats that the company wants to launch as soon as possible, and hopefully by 2020, to provide Internet of Things services. Fleet has raised $3.8 million in seed money since forming in 2015 and launched its first four satellites late last year. Fleet didn't disclose how much money it wants to raise in its Series A round other than being "way more" than its seed round. (2/15)

Relativity Hires Former SpaceX Execs (Source: Space News)
Launch vehicle developer Relativity has hired three former SpaceX executives for its leadership team. The company said Thursday it hired Josh Brost as its vice president of government business development and David Giger as its vice president of launch vehicle development, while Tim Buzza, who has been serving as a part-time adviser to Relativity since last summer, will come on full time as a distinguished engineer. The three, who all held senior positions at SpaceX, said they were attracted to Relativity because of the market niche it was targeting — the high end of the small launch vehicle sector — as well as its use of advanced technology, notably additive manufacturing, to produce its rockets. (2/15)

Shutdown Deal Includes Language to Protect a Butterfly Sanctuary and Other Landmarks from Border Barrier (Source: Texas Tribune)
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said Thursday that he's added language to a compromise bill aimed at avoiding another government shutdown that would prohibit border fencing at five major landmarks in the Rio Grande Valley. Among them is a tract of land that will soon be home to the commercial spaceport for SpaceX. Cuellar is the only border-area member of the congressional committee that has been working for weeks to draft a proposed border security compromise. (2/15)

Georgia Spaceport Documents Reveal Casualty Potential Exceeding FAA Limits for Certain Rockets (Source: Protect Cumberland Island)
A document proving that the Cumberland Island National Seashore’s expected casualty rates from launches at Spaceport Camden exceed FAA limitations has been legally obtained from Camden County under the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA). The document, by Spaceport Camden consultant Andrew Nelson, contains a graphic which clearly indicates that Spaceport Camden was never realistically going to be permitted to launch a medium-large rocket over the Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Prepared for the law firm engaged to address the deficiencies in the Spaceport Camden draft Environmental Impact Statement, the document confirms that Nelson established the controversial designation "authorized persons" as a "term of convenience to describe Cumberland Island campers, National Park Service employees, and residents of Little Cumberland and Cumberland Islands to sidestep an obvious conflict between launching rockets and private property rights and the safety of those downrange. Neither the FAA or Camden County have control over the downrange population as they cannot evacuate or limit the number of owners or their visitors present on their private property.

In accordance with 14 CFR 417.107, a launch operator may initiate flight only if the risk to any individual member of the public does not exceed a casualty expectation of one in one million per launch for each hazard, including for those who remain on the islands. A launch operator who intends to conduct launches from Camden may need to identify closure areas to meet this requirement. Despite this FAA requirement, Mr. Nelson continues to tell county officials that campers, NPS staff, and private property owners and their visitors are not “members of the public,” but are instead “authorized persons.” Given the situation, it seems possible that the spaceport may be approved only for a notional smaller rocket on a single keyhole trajectory that might not be economically viable. (2/14)

U.S. Program Aimed at Curbing Iran's Rocket Program (Source: New York Times)
The Trump White House has accelerated a secret American program to sabotage Iran’s missiles and rockets, according to current and former administration officials, who described it as part of an expanding campaign by the U.S. to undercut Tehran’s military and isolate its economy. Officials said it was impossible to measure precisely the success of the classified program, which has never been publicly acknowledged. But in the past month alone, two Iranian attempts to launch satellites have failed within minutes.

Those two rocket failures — one that Iran announced on Jan. 15 and the other, an unacknowledged attempt, on Feb. 5 — were part of a pattern over the past 11 years. In that time, 67 percent of Iranian orbital launches have failed, an astonishingly high number compared to a 5 percent failure rate worldwide for similar space launches. The setbacks have not deterred Iran. This week, President Hassan Rouhani singled out Tehran’s missile fleets as he vowed to “continue our path and our military power.”

The Trump administration maintains that Iran’s space program is merely a cover for its attempts to develop a ballistic missile powerful enough to send nuclear warheads flying between continents. Hours after the Jan. 15 attempt, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that Iran’s satellite launchers have technologies “virtually identical and interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles.” (2/13)

NASA’s Mars Rover Opportunity Concludes a 15-Year Mission (Source: New York Times)
Opportunity, the longest-lived roving robot ever sent to another planet, explored the red plains of Mars for more than 14 years, snapping photos and revealing astonishing glimpses into its distant past. But on Wednesday, NASA announced that the rover is dead. “It is therefore that I am standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude that I declare the Opportunity mission as complete,” Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, said at a news conference.

The golf cart-size rover was designed to last only three months, but proved itself to be an unexpected endurance athlete. It traveled more than the distance of a marathon when less than half a mile would have counted as success. The steady stream of photographs and data from Opportunity — and from its twin, Spirit, which persisted until 2010 — brought Mars closer to people on Earth. Because the rovers operated for so much longer than expected, NASA has now had a continuous robotic presence on Mars for most of the century. (2/13)

GPS Timestamp 'Rollover' Coming in April (Source: The Regisgter)
Older satnavs and such devices won't be able to use America's Global Positioning System properly after April 6 unless they've been suitably updated or designed to handle a looming epoch rollover. GPS signals from satellites include a timestamp, needed in part to calculate one's location, that stores the week number using ten binary bits. That means the week number can have 210 or 1,024 integer values, counting from zero to 1,023 in this case. Every 1,024 weeks, or roughly every 20 years, the counter rolls over from 1,023 to zero.

The first Saturday in April will mark the end of the 1,024th week, after which the counter will spill over from 1,023 to zero. The last time the week number overflowed like this was in 1999, nearly two decades on from the first epoch in January 1980. You can see where this is going. If devices in use today are not designed or patched to handle this latest rollover, they will revert to an earlier year after that 1,024th week in April, causing attempts to calculate position to potentially fail. System and navigation data could even be corrupted, we're warned. (2/12)