August 13, 2019

Scientists Have an Extreme Plan to Intercept Asteroid ‘the Size of a Skyscraper’ (Source: Metro)
Pete Worden, an adviser on space resources to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, recently said that the prevailing theory is that if any asteroids are big enough to threaten the planet ‘we’ll go move them.' NASA is planning to launch a mission in 2021 known as a Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – essentially bumping a small asteroid to monitor how much they can move its trajectory.

Speaking about the DART, Mr Worden said: ‘The thing is, if you move something years in advance, you don’t have to move it very much. ‘This is a rock that’s the size of a skyscraper. ‘You would then hit it with a spacecraft kind of the size of a small car, and by impacting it, it impacts energy and momentum and will move it slightly off its orbit.’

Amazingly though, Worden revealed another possible plan to intercept an asteroid that doesn’t involve striking it. He claimed that spray-painting one side of the asteroid was being discussed by scientists as a way of changing orbit. The patch of rock with the paint on it would be heated differently by the sun, which would impact its movement through space. (8/13)

Volusia Wants to be in Middle of New Growth in Florida’s Space Industry (Source: Daytona Beach News Journal)
Volusia County leaders are bullish on chances to attract share of Florida’s growing space industry with help from Space Florida, Congressman Michael Waltz and others. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s MicaPlex incubator, developer Chad Hagle’s Space Square project in Daytona Beach also leading way. Eager to capitalize on the space race, Edgewater community leaders in the late 1950s/early ’60s put up a billboard touting the Southeast Volusia city as the “Gateway to the Moon,” just a short drive north of Cape Canaveral.

Some 60 years later, the county may finally start living up to that claim. Thanks to a new space race, this time led not by NASA but by private-sector ventures such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, Volusia County is gaining the attention of companies interested in taking part in the growing commercial space industry. Some of those companies are already here, noted Volusia County Councilwoman Deb Denys. (8/10)

USAF X-37b Military Space Plane's Mystery Mission Circling Earth Hits 700 Days (Source: Space Daily)
The robotic X-37B launched its fifth and latest mission, known as Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5), hitting the 700-day mark, and is just a few weeks short of breaking the vehicle's spaceflight-duration record. The reusable spacecraft, which looks like a miniature version of NASA's space shuttle, is on a mission that has been a topic of speculation since its start on September 7, 2017, as the solar-powered spacecraft's missions, and most of its payloads, remain classified.

The US Air Force keeps stressing that the space plane tests technologies for future reusable spacecraft and takes experiments up to space and back. Air Force officials, however, have revealed that its payloads include the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader experiment (ASETS-II), which is measuring how oscillating heat pipes and certain electronics perform in the space environment. (8/8)

A Non-Biological Cause for Martian Methane Dismissed (Source: Space Daily)
Wind erosion has been ruled out as the primary cause of methane gas release on Mars, Newcastle University academics have shown. Methane can be produced over time through both geological and biological routes and since its first detection in the Martian atmosphere in 2003, there has been intense speculation about the source of the gas and the possibility that it could signal life on the planet.

Previous studies have suggested the methane may not be evenly distributed in the atmosphere around Mars, but instead appear in localised and very temporary pockets on the planet's surface. And the previous discovery of methane 'spikes' in the Martian atmosphere has further fuelled the debate. Now research led by Newcastle University, UK, and published in Scientific Reports, has ruled out the possibility that the levels of methane detected could be produced by the wind erosion of rocks, releasing trapped methane from fluid inclusions and fractures on the planets' surface. (8/13)

Dextre Begins RRM3 Tasks to Test Robotic Refueling of Spacecraft (Source: NASA)
Canada’s star space robot Dextre is busy working tasks aimed at finding solutions to enable the robotic refueling of spacecraft. Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) follows on from the previous two test objectives that are evaluating techniques at advancing satellite servicing capabilities and enabling long-duration, deep space exploration.

RRM is an ISS payload developed by the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) – the same team that managed the highly intricate Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Missions via the Space Shuttle. It is designed to test procedures for refueling satellites in space, among other objectives. The RRM1 launched on STS-135 back in July 2011 and Dextre showed off its skills by using an array of tools to conduct objectives that are set to be employed on future missions. (8/13)

Spies, Lies, and Radioactivity: Russia’s Nuke Missile Mishap, Decoded (Source: Daily Beast)
When Vladimir Putin announced a brand new globe-spanning missile powered by a mini reactor last year, it was supposed to be a crown jewel for Moscow’s military. But as President Trump tweeted late Monday, it’s increasingly looking like one of those missiles exploded during testing. So whose bright idea was it to slap a nuclear reactor on the back of a nuclear missile, why is Russia making one, and just how viable is a nuke-powered missile?

Wait, there’s a nuclear reactor-powered missile? Kind of. The missile, dubbed the 9M730 Burevestnik (or “petrel” in English), is designed to carry a warhead—nuclear or conventional—around the globe and dodge American missile defenses. (NATO refers to the missile by a name more befitting its James Bond movie aura: Skyfall.) Putin hailed the weapon as a “a low-flying stealth missile carrying a nuclear warhead, with almost an unlimited range, unpredictable trajectory and ability to bypass interception boundaries.” (8/13)

'Interplanetary Shock' Spotted by NASA Spacecraft (Source: Space.com)
A team of four NASA spacecraft finally caught sight of a phenomenon scientists have been hunting for years: an interplanetary shock. The spacecraft comprise a NASA project called the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, nicknamed MMS, which launched in 2015. The mission is focused on studying the magnetic environment surrounding Earth. To do so, it relies on four identical spacecraft that cooperate to map what's happening.

In new research, scientists dissect a particularly intriguing phenomenon that occurred in the magnetic field in January 2018. Because the individual satellites were deployed within just 12 miles of each other, they got a prime view of what was happening. The phenomenon was an interplanetary shock, which is an interaction between two different patches of the stream of charged particles constantly flowing off the sun, which scientists refer to as the solar wind. When a fast patch of solar wind overtakes a slower patch, scientists believe it transfers energy to that slower patch and creates a shock. (8/13)

NASA Plans to Send Robonaut Back to ISS (Source: Space News)
NASA's Robonaut is getting ready to return to the International Space Station. At a recent conference, a project official said the humanoid robot will likely be flown back to the station late this year on a cargo mission, then undergo checkouts. The robot flew to the station in 2011 but suffered technical problems a few years later that led NASA to ship the robot back to Earth last year. Engineers traced the problem to design flaws in the robot's electrical system that have been corrected. Roscosmos is planning to launch its own humanoid robot, FEDOR or Skybot F-850, to the station this month, but is expected to remain on the station only briefly. (8/13)

Aevum Wins Air Force SBIR Grant for Launcher Development (Source: Aevum)
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Aevum a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract for its fully autonomous launch and space logistics service. Aevum’s unique platform can launch small satellites with response times as low as 180-minutes, measured from mission conceptualization to orbital insertion to data downlink, to any low Earth orbit. The USAF awarded Aevum under a special USAF SBIR topic developed, in partnership with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) – formerly MD5, and USAF AFWERX, to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and transition rate of the SBIR program.

Under this contract, Aevum will move quickly to find an Air Force transition partner for its autonomous launch system to provide strategic responsive launch capabilities to the USAF for global persistent awareness. Aevum has made rapid progress in bringing its autonomous launch architecture to full service. Autonomous launch is a brand-new type of access to space conceived by Aevum. It requires an advanced logistics network comprised of launch sites, launch support assets, ground stations, fully autonomous launch vehicles, cloud technologies, and software.

This global network is fully controlled and commanded by Aevum’s advanced mission management technology. The first in Aevum’s autonomous launch vehicle lineup is Ravn X. Ravn X is a reusable, three-stage launch vehicle – the only reusable, small launch vehicle poised to service small payloads. The first stage is a fully autonomous unmanned aerial system (UAS) powered by afterburning turbojet engines. The second and third stages are liquid rocket stages powered by staged-combustion liquid engines utilizing Jet A and liquid oxygen. (8/13)

Russia Says Small Nuclear Reactor Blew Up in Deadly Accident (Source: TIME)
The failed missile test that ended in an explosion killing five scientists last week on Russia’s White Sea involved a small nuclear reactor, according to a top official at the institute where they worked. The institute is working on small-scale power sources being tested for the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, known in Russia as the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile that President Vladimir Putin introduced to the world in a brief animated segment during his state-of-the-nation address last year.

The men, who will be buried Monday, were national heroes and the “elite of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center,” institute Director Valentin Kostyukov said in the video, which was also posted on an official website in Sarov, a high-security city devoted to nuclear research less than 250 miles east of Moscow. (8/12)

ESA Parachute Test for ExoMars Lander Fails Again (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency said Monday that another parachute test for the ExoMars 2020 mission failed last week. ESA said in a statement that, in the high-altitude test last week in Sweden, a parachute 35 meters in diameter suffered damage prior to inflation, causing a test article mimicking the lander to descend under a smaller pilot chute alone. In late May, both that 35-meter parachute and a smaller one 15 meters across were damaged in a similar test. The parachutes are key elements of the entry, descent and landing system for the mission, scheduled to launch in less than a year. ESA said in the statement that the mission team is "working to understand and correct the flaw in order to launch next year." (8/13)

Chinese Launch Startups Keep Testing (Source: Space News)
As one Chinese startup tests reusable launch vehicle technology, another company is gearing up for a first orbital launch attempt. Chinarocket Co., Ltd. is set to test launch its Jielong-1 (Smart Dragon-1) small launch vehicle as soon as this weekend from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket is capable of putting 150 kilograms into a sun-synchronous orbit. Chinarocket is a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for China's space programs. Linkspace, which flew a reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator to an altitude of 300 meters over the weekend and landed it successfully, is expected to perform a kilometer-level test before proceeding to a larger RLV-T6 tech demonstrator rocket. (8/13)

France's Mecano ID Develops Smallsat Launch Adapter (Source: Space News)
A French supplier of satellite components is developing a smallsat launch adapter. Mecano ID is developing a deployer with the assistance of the French space agency CNES. The Ejection Of Satellite (EOS) separation system is designed for smallsats between 20 and 60 kilograms, and should be qualified and ready for launch opportunities during the second half of 2020. Mecano ID is a 75-person company that counts on the space sector for 90% of its $10 million in annual revenue. (8/13)

NASA and DOE Developing Nuclear Reactor to Power Moon/Mars Bases (Source: Space.com)
A nuclear reactor that could support human missions to the moon and Mars should be ready for a flight demonstration in 2022. The Kilopower reactor, under development by NASA and the Department of Energy, is a fission reactor capable of producing one kilowatt of power but can be scaled up to 10 kilowatts. In a recent presentation, the project lead for Kilopower at Los Alamos National Lab said the reactor could be flown in space as soon as 2022, although NASA has yet to announce plans for such a test. (8/13)

NASA Picks Bennu Landing Sites for Asteroid Sample Collection (Source: NASA)
A NASA asteroid sample return mission has selected four potential sites on the asteroid Bennu to collect material. NASA said Monday that scientists identified four sites, named Nightingale, Kingfisher, Osprey and Sandpiper, where the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft could touch down briefly, collecting samples using a device at the end of a robotic arm. The spacecraft will now collect high-resolution images of the four sites so that scientists can select a primary and backup location by December. OSIRIS-REx will attempt to obtain the samples later in 2020 for return to Earth in 2024. (8/13)

Hawaii Observatories Reopen for Some Observations (Source: University of Hawaii)
Observatories on Hawaii's Mauna Kea reopened just in time to allow astronomers to rule out a potential impact by a near Earth asteroid. Several observatories on the mountain's summit reopened over the weekend after reaching an agreement with protestors who blocked access to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope there. One observatory, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, spent Saturday night observing 2006 QV89, an asteroid that carried a very small but non-zero chance of impacting the Earth in 2020. The observations have ruled out any potential future impact threat from the asteroid for the next century. (8/13)

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