Greenhouse Gases Reach
Record Levels (Source: CNN)
The dominant greenhouse gases released into the Earth's atmosphere
reached record levels in 2018, and their global warming power is now
43% stronger than in 1990, according to a new report by the American
Meteorological Society. The State of the Climate in 2018 study also
reported other key findings:
2018 was the fourth-warmest year on record. The three other warmest
years were 2015, 2016 and 2017, with 2016 as the warmest year since
records first began being kept in the mid-1800s. Sea levels rose to
record levels for a seventh consecutive year. And glaciers continue to
melt at a concerning rate for the 30th straight year. (8/14)
SNC Selects ULA for Dream
Chaser Spacecraft Launches (Source: ULA)
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global aerospace and national
security leader owned by Chairwoman and President Eren Ozmen and CEO
Fatih Ozmen, selected United Launch Alliance (ULA) as the launch
vehicle provider for the Dream Chaser® spacecraft’s six NASA missions
to the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser will
launch aboard ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rockets for its cargo resupply and
return services to the space station, starting in 2021.
Under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract, the Dream
Chaser will deliver more than 12,000 pounds of pressurized and
unpressurized cargo to the space station and remains attached for up to
75 days as an orbiting laboratory. Once the mated mission is
complete, the Dream Chaser disposes about 7,000 pounds of space station
trash and returns large quantities of critical science, accessible
within minutes after a gentle runway landing.
Editor's
Note: The two companies announced in July 2017 that two
Dream Chaser missions would fly atop Atlas 5 rockets in 2020 and 2021.
This new announcement represents an additional commitment. Also,
according to Parabolic Arc, "major elements of Vulcan Centaur (SRBs,
fairing, etc.) will be flown on Atlas V before Vulcan Centaur flies.
The Dream Chaser will launch on second Vulcan Centaur certification
flight." (8/14)
Maritime Launch Services
Pushes Back on Negative and Misleading Statements by Spaceport Opponents
(Source: SpaceQ)
Steve Matier, CEO of Maritime Launch Services (MLS) is pushing back on
negative and misleading statements by opponents. While there has been
some opposition to MLS building a spaceport facility in the Canso
region, there has also been widespread support for the project. One
opponent is Michael Byers who told an audience about the dangers of
Hydrazine, “‘the essential point is that this is an unproven rocket…You
could have a lot of hydrazine spread around your community," he said.
If you wanted to sow fear into local residents, what Byers said is
surely one way to do it. In his op-ed Matier counters saying “On June 4
of this year, the Nova Scotia Department of Environment approved the
Canso Spaceport Project. In his letter to me, Minister Gordon Wilson
wrote that he was satisfied ‘that any adverse effects or significant
environmental effects of the undertaking can be adequately mitigated
through compliance with the attached terms and conditions’.”
Matier further stated “In addition, MLS’s subcontractor, United
Paradyne Corporation (UPC), will be managing all the propellant
activities at the Canso facility. UPC is the current manager of the
world’s largest rocket fuel storage facility in the world where they
manage, deliver, and often times fuel all of America’s space-lift
missions.” (8/14)
China's Quantum Comm
Satellite a 'Sputnik Moment' for US Military (Nippon)
China’s launch of a quantum-encrypted communications satellite in 2016
should be viewed as a new “Sputnik moment,” according to a Japanese
professor. The satellite, nicknamed Mozi, remains unrivaled, and shows
China’s leadership in a technology that can securely transmit military
and diplomatic information, Aoki Setsuko, a professor at the Keio
University Law School, said. “With this achievement China has left
America in the dust,” she said. “For the United States, this is
comparable in seriousness to the Soviet success in the race to launch
the first artificial satellite. And so it seems appropriate to call it
the twenty-first century’s Sputnik moment.” (8/14)
India Orders Russian
Equipment for First Manned Space Mission (Source: Space
Daily)
India has ordered Russia's space equipment as it is preparing to send
its first manned mission to orbit. India plans to send its first crewed
mission, set to comprise three astronauts, to space by 2022, which will
mark the 75th anniversary of its independence, with Russia set to
assist it.
Indian Ambassador to Russia Bala Venkatesh Varma stated that Russia and
India will start practically cooperating on the matter in 2019 already.
The Indian government previously greenlighted the establishment of an
ISRO Technical Liaison Unit (ITLU) in Moscow after the two countries
signed an agreement to select and train astronauts for the Indian space
program, which is expected to cost more than $1.31 billion. (8/14)
Researchers Study Largest
Impact Crater in the US, Buried for 35 Million Years
(Source: Phys.org)
About 35 million years ago, an asteroid hit the ocean off the East
Coast of North America. Its impact formed a 25-mile diameter crater
that now lies buried beneath the Chesapeake Bay, an estuary in Virginia
and Maryland. From this impact, the nearby area experienced fires,
earthquakes, falling molten glass droplets, an air blast and a
devastating tsunami.
While the resulting "Chesapeake Bay impact crater" is now completely
buried, it was discovered in the early 1990s by scientific drilling. It
now ranks as the largest known impact crater in the U.S., and the 15th
largest on Earth. A team of researchers has obtained drilling samples
from the Ocean Drilling Project site 1073 and dated them with the
"uranium-thorium-helium technique" for the first time. The team studied
zircon crystals in particular because they preserve evidence of shock
metamorphism, which is caused by shock pressures and high temperatures
associated with impact events. (8/13)
Webb Space Telescope
Could Begin Learning About TRAPPIST-1 Atmospheres in a Single Year
(Source: Phys.org)
New research from astronomers at the University of Washington uses the
intriguing TRAPPIST-1 planetary system as a kind of laboratory to model
not the planets themselves, but how the coming James Webb Space
Telescope might detect and study their atmospheres, on the path toward
looking for life beyond Earth.
The study, led by Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, a UW doctoral student in
astronomy, finds that the James Webb telescope, set to launch in 2021,
might be able to learn key information about the atmospheres of the
TRAPPIST-1 worlds even in its first year of operation, unless—as an old
song goes—clouds get in the way. (8/13)
Space Wars Threaten
Earthly Intelligence (Source: Slate)
Every corner of our modern lives depends on environmental data from
Earth observation satellites. They provide more than 90 percent of the
data used by weather prediction models. The availability of much of our
most basic resources, especially agriculture and water, now largely
relies on meteorological and environmental forecasts made using this
information. Today, remote sensing satellites are able to offer
scientists data that range from sea surface height to soil moisture
content.
With this information, farmers can better plan for precipitation and
temperature fluctuations, thereby increasing their yield. Businesses
and regional planners can mitigate risks of flood zones. Ecologists can
monitor the migration of invasive species. Now, as we enter a new era
of space militarization, these environmental satellites are also at
risk. They’re clear targets for militaries across the globe. (8/13)
Air Force Suppressed
Space Force Debate; Lt. Gen. Kwast Spoke Truth To Power
(Source: Breaking Defense)
After the House of Representatives passed legislation calling for a
Space Corps, the head of the Air Force, Secretary Heather Wilson, and
the service’s Chief of Staff, Gen. David Goldfein, rejected the idea.
Completely. Then the Air Force placed a gag order — in government
speak, Restrictive Public Affairs Guidance — which suppressed advocacy
for a Space Force and stifled public debate. Only one Air Force
officer, Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast, spoke publicly in favor of it.
Air Force officers who hope to maintain our proud tradition of
conscience over career owe him a debt of gratitude. The gag order
worked – for more than a year, during the most important Air Force
debate in a century — the majority of officers have held their tongue.
While polls by Air Force Times suggest that a majority of Air Force
officers favor a Space Corps, only one of them displayed the moral
courage to speak truth to power.
When Congress asked for a Space Corps and the Trump Administration
ordered a Space Force, did even one active-duty space professional
senior leader speak out publicly in favor? No. Could it be that not one
senior space professional thought space was important enough to justify
its own service? No. Why were Air Force space professionals absent from
the debate? Why didn’t they offer dissenting best-military
advice to the American people? The most direct answer is simple — they
were told not to. (8/12)
Early Morning Wallops
Rocket Launch Brightens Students' Day (Source: NASA)
A NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket lifts into the morning
sky at 5:44 a.m., Monday, August 12, 2019, from NASA’s Wallops Flight
Facility. The launch was followed by cheers as the undergraduate
students see the rocket rise through the sky carrying their experiments
to an altitude of 96 miles. The experiments descend from
space via parachute into the Atlantic Ocean. It has been
recovered and early in the afternoon the students will have their
experiments in hand to see how they performed. (8/12)
Will Small Satellites
Help Stop Big Threats? (Source: C4ISRnet)
The Air Force’s primary early warning missile system could one day use
small satellites to assist in the work. Col. Dennis Bythewood, program
executive officer for space development at the Space and Missile
Systems Center. said DATE that the service was considering using a
setup comprised of hundreds of satellites for the Next Generation
Overhead Persistent Infrared system.
OPIR will replace the Air Force’s current early warning missile system,
the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). Those satellites provide early
warnings of ballistic missile attacks on the United States, its
deployed forces, or its allies. The Air Force has awarded Lockheed
Martin a $2.9 billion contract to build three geosynchronous OPIR
satellites and has contracted with Northrop Grumman to build two
satellites covering the polar regions.
Like it’s predecessor, OPIR will be comprised of a small number of
large, expensive satellites operating in geosynchronous orbit. But
according to Bythewood, Air Force leaders in Los Angeles are
considering adopting a proliferated architecture for future OPIR
capabilities. (8/13)
Space Club Invites
Industry Support for Annual Space Week Educational Program
(Source: NSCFL)
The National Space Club Florida Committee (NSCFL) has pledged a minimum
of $25,000 from the aerospace community toward this year's Brevard
Space Week: Destination Space. Last week's event was rousing success
with more than 6,500 Brevard Public Schools sixth graders and their
science teachers participating in a full day of organized and hands-on
activities at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Funding also
comes from the Brevard Schools Foundation, which seeks support from the
community at large, and through grants that match funding from private
industry.
Destination Space has proven to motivate our school administrators and
teachers to increase emphasis on teaching math and science, as well as
stimulating student interest in those subjects. Our classroom visits
also will provide students with leadership and inspirational tools that
will tie everything together. NSCFL is requesting our community’s
financial help once again. All contributions to the NSCFL (a 501c3
entity) will go directly to Space Week. Click here.
(8/13)
NASA Plans Independent
Review of CASIS (Source: Space News)
NASA plans to conduct an independent review of the nonprofit
organization that runs the part of the ISS designated a national lab.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced late Tuesday he was
seeking the review of the ISS National Lab, formally known as the
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), to ensure it is
"on mission" and "appropriately resourced" to perform research. That
review will be led by Elizabeth Cantwell of the University of Arizona
and expected to take 12 weeks to complete. NASA, in a separate letter
to CASIS, called for a "strategic pause" in its activities until after
the the review is completed. (8/14)
BAE Wins Continued DARPA
Funding for Space Machine Learning (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems has won a new phase of a DARPA contract to study the use of
machine learning technologies for space operations. The second phase of
the Hallmark Tools, Capabilities, and Evaluation Methodology
(Hallmark-TCEM) contract focuses on the use of machine learning for
space and situational awareness. The program is to help operators
improve their understanding of space events and their ability to take
actions in response to situations that might affect U.S. satellites in
space. The company originally won the $12.8 million contract in
November 2017. (8/14)
Spire to Support
Insurance Analytics (Source: Space News)
Spire Global has signed an agreement to work with an insurance company
to develop new products based on its satellite data. Spire will partner
with Concirrus, a London-based insurance analytics company, primarily
on products associated with maritime insurance. Spire's constellation
of more than 70 cubesats collects a variety of data, including tracking
ships with Automatic Identification System receivers. (8/14)
SpaceX Adds Boat for Full
Fairing Recovery Off Florida's Coast (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX's efforts to recover payload fairings from Falcon 9 launches now
involve a mix of mystery and mischief. The boat currently used to
capture payload fairings in a large net, the GO Ms. Tree, has been
joined in Florida by a second boat, GO Ms. Chief. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk
confirmed on Twitter that the second boat will also be used to catch
payload fairings, allowing both halves of the fairing to be retrieved.
After many tests, SpaceX has started to successfully catch fairing
sections with the net on GO Ms. Tree, including during last week's
launch of the Amos-17 satellite. (8/14)
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