May 23, 2020

How SpaceX's Sleek Spacesuit Changes Astronaut Fashion From the Space Shuttle Era (Source: Space.com)
A new breed of spaceship requires a new breed of spacesuits. For the first time since the space shuttle era a decade ago, American astronauts are expected to fly to space aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft May 27, marking the first commercial crew flight for NASA and the first time astronauts will launch from American soil in nearly a decade. Long-time space watchers will notice one thing different about the spiffy spacesuits that Crew-1 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will wear: they are not the orange "pumpkin" flight suits astronauts used to wear during the launch phase of shuttle flights managed by NASA.

The SpaceX spacesuits are a cool, one-piece white design, and much sleeker than the bulky space shuttle launch suits, which were also known as the Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES). So slim was the new SpaceX spacesuit design that in 2018, the company's founder Elon Musk had to reassure concerned Instagram followers after the reveal: "It definitely works. You can just jump in a vacuum chamber with it, and it's fine." The astronauts flying on the first crewed test flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon have also commented on differences with the SpaceX suit, compared to other spacesuits astronauts have used in different years. (5/22)

Trump to Visit Kennedy Space Center for Crew Launch (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
President Trump plans to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida next week to view the first launch of astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil in nearly a decade, according to White House officials. Vice President Mike Pence previously announced plans to travel to the Kennedy Space Center for the launch of NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Launch is scheduled for May 27 at 4:33 p.m. EDT. It will be the first time astronauts have lifted off from a U.S. spaceport and headed into orbit since the last space shuttle launch July 8, 2011. The trip to Florida’s Space Coast would make Trump the eighth sitting U.S. president to visit the Kennedy Space Center or neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama previously visited the spaceport while in office. (5/22)

To Safely Explore the Solar System and Beyond, Spaceships Need to Go Faster – Nuclear-Powered Rockets May Be the Answer (Source: The Conversation)
There are a lot of reasons that a faster spaceship is a better one, and nuclear-powered rockets are a way to do this. They offer many benefits over traditional fuel-burning rockets or modern solar-powered electric rockets, but there have been only eight U.S. space launches carrying nuclear reactors in the last 40 years. However, last year the laws regulating nuclear space flights changed and work has already begun on this next generation of rockets.

To escape Earth’s gravity and reach deep space destinations, ships need additional acceleration. This is where nuclear systems come into play. If astronauts want to explore anything farther than the Moon and perhaps Mars, they are going to need to be going very very fast. Space is massive, and everything is far away. There are two reasons faster rockets are better for long-distance space travel: safety and time.

Astronauts on a trip to Mars would be exposed to very high levels of radiation which can cause serious long-term health problems such as cancer and sterility. Radiation shielding can help, but it is extremely heavy, and the longer the mission, the more shielding is needed. A better way to reduce radiation exposure is to simply get where you are going quicker. But human safety isn’t the only benefit. As space agencies probe farther out into space, it is important to get data from unmanned missions as soon as possible. (5/22)

Examining Crew Dragon’s Launch Abort Modes and Splashdown Locations (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
With each new crew launch vehicle comes the inevitable question: how will Crew Dragon actually perform a launch abort and how will it aim itself to predetermined locations in the Atlantic Ocean stretching from KSC across to the western Irish coast? Crew Dragon has eight abort modes for Demo-2, one on the pad and seven in-flight. The modes will likely be refined as flight experience is gained, but it is not expected at this time that the various abort modes will change significantly on future Crew Dragon missions to the Station unless an issue is identified that needs to be corrected. Click here. (5/21)

On the Moon, Astronaut Pee Will Be a Hot Commodity (Source: WIRED)
Earlier this year, a team of European researchers demonstrated that urea, the second most common compound in human urine after water, can be mixed with moon dirt and used for construction. The resulting material is a geopolymer, which has similar properties to concrete and could potentially be used to build landing pads, habitats, and other structures on the moon.

On the moon, most infrastructure is likely going to be built by industrial 3D printers. Building with bricks would be way too inefficient and would limit the types of structures that could be made. But robotic 3D printers could autonomously build more complex habitats. Lunar regolith has chemical similarities to fly ash, which makes geopolymers an attractive option for building stuff on the moon. The downside is that geopolymers require a lot of water so they’ll flow through the nozzle of a 3D printer.

Superplasticizers are materials that are used to reduce the water content of concrete and geopolymers while maintaining their flowability. On Earth, superplasticizers are typically hard-to-pronounce substances like naphthalene and polycarboxylate. But as Arnhof and her colleagues discovered, urea works just as well and could easily be sourced on the moon. Rather than filtering out contaminants in astronaut urine and recycling the waste water, the pee could be stored in a tank and harvested for urea. (5/22)

Rocket Crafters Preps for First Free Flight of 3D Printed Rocket Fuel (Source: Florida Today)
The next time space startup Rocket Crafters fires its engine packed with 3D printed rocket fuel, it won’t be bolted to a test stand; it will be at Spaceport America in New Mexico to test its unique design in a launch on an open range. “This will be our first time flying it free,” said Rocket Crafters President Rob Fabian. “We’re going up and coming back down. It will hit about 60,000 feet.”

Florida-based Rocket Crafters, which is the first space launch company to use additive manufacturing to 3D print rocket fuel, has completed 52 launch stand engine tests. The flight test will be the next milestone for the company that is looking to get into the small satellite launching business. They are using data from the three largest-scale tests to prepare for their upcoming launch, which was expected to be in the coming months, but has been pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic. (5/22)

Forgivable Loans in an Unforgiving Environment (Source: Space News)
Oakman Aerospace hasn’t furloughed anyone. In fact, the Colorado company is training two recent hires thanks in part to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a U.S. Small Business Administration initiative designed to limit the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We likened it to winning the Powerball,” said Oakman Aerospace CEO Maureen O’Brien. That’s because Oakman Aerospace, one of the thousands of small businesses sharing more than half a trillion dollars in relief loans underwritten by the SBA, won’t have to repay the money if they meet the terms for loan forgiveness — namely, maintaining a steady payroll for the next two months.

The PPP is a $669 billion federal loan program established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in late March and expanded by a follow-on relief bill Congress passed in late April. Space companies needed no encouragement. Many began working with their banks to apply as soon as PPP was unveiled in March, but were frustrated when the initial tranche of $320 million was committed in less than two weeks. (5/22)