August 28, 2020

Make That Three Launches in Two Days (Sources: Orlando Sentinel, SPACErePORT)
After multiple schedule adjustments, the Space Coast is still set to be the site of three back to back to back launches, capping off a busy summer that saw its share of historic missions. A ULA Delta Heavy mission, originally targeted for Wednesday, then pushed to the middle of the night Thursday, and now targeting early Saturday, will attempt to send up a national defense satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Also originally slated for Thursday, but now pushing past ULA’s launch and targeting Sunday night, SpaceX is targeting 7:19 p.m. to launch a radar imagery satellite into a near-polar orbit for Argentina’s space agency. Called the SAOCOM 1B, the satellite has been billed as a way to help emergency responders and monitor the environment .The satellite will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40. Weather for that launch is currently at 40% “go” as of the 45th Space Wing’s Thursday forecast.

The potential third mission is another from SpaceX that will deliver another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. On board there will be about 60 small satellites. After the potential weekend launch, almost 700 of the 12,000 satellites for which SpaceX has been approved to operate would be in orbit. Originally targeting Saturday, Aug. 29, Spaceflightnow.com reports it has been delayed to Sunday with a liftoff targeted for 10:08 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. (8/28)

GE Ships Two F414s to NASA as X-59 Demonstrator Progresses (Source: Flight Global)
NASA has taken delivery of two GE Aviation F414-GE-100 turbofans, which will power the agency’s in-development supersonic test aircraft, the X-59. GE based the F414-GE-100’s design on the F414-GE-39E, which powers the single-engined Saab JAS 39E Gripen. GE assembled and tested the F414-GE-100s at its site in Lynn, Massachusetts. NASA holds an option to purchase a third engine. Because X-59 is a single-engined aircraft, NASA will keep the second F414 as a backup, it says. (8/27)

US Space Force Schedules Pitch Day for Spring 2021 (Source: C4ISRnet)
The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center will host a Space Force Pitch Day in spring 2021. While the current plan is to host the event in person in Los Angeles, California, SMC noted that it may move to a virtual environment due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Air Force first introduced its pitch days in March 2019, and has since held several to find “defense unicorns” — nontraditional companies with innovative solutions that lack the resources and know-how to secure Department of Defense contracts. Inspired by the popular television series “Shark Tank,” select companies are given the unique opportunity to present their solutions to acquisition leaders, who are then able to award Small Business Innovation Research grants. (8/27)

Space Coast's AML Selected for ARPA-E Propulsion Development Grant (Source: AML)
Advanced Magnet Lab (AML) has been selected by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for the development of innovative lightweight and ultra-efficient electric propulsion motors, drives, and associated thermal management systems for commercial electric aircraft. The program couples AML’s novel permanent magnet rotor and stator technology with integrated power electronics and cooling, which have the potential to enable power densities beyond 12 kW/kg for the full electric drivetrain. Today, aircraft, using gas burning turbine engines, achieve approximately 6-9 kW/kg. (8/27)

Cost for SLS Increases (Source: Space News)
NASA has increased the cost estimate for development of the Space Launch System and its ground equipment. In a blog post Thursday, Kathy Lueders, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, now estimated the development cost of SLS through its first launch next year at $9.1 billion, and the development cost of Exploration Ground Systems at $2.4 billion. Both represent minor increases over the previous cost estimate from early this year, but are now 30% above the original cost baseline, triggering requirements for congressional notification and review. Lueders said the agency is maintaining a schedule for a first SLS launch no later than November 2021, but will be able to better predict the launch date once the SLS core stage completes its Green Run test this fall. (8/28)

NASA "Free Flyer" Station Support On Hold (Source: Space News)
NASA is putting on hold a planned solicitation to support development of a commercial "free-flyer" station. At the International Space Station Research and Development Conference Thursday, agency officials said they decided not to pursue a call for proposals for a free-flyer after releasing a draft solicitation last fall. As part of its low Earth orbit commercialization strategy announced last year, NASA said it would seek proposals for both a commercial module on the ISS and a free-flyer as part of its long-term efforts to eventually transition from the station, and awarded the ISS docking port to Axiom Space in January. Officials said they are still interested in pursuing a free-flyer solicitation in the future. (8/28)

Marine Sergeant Leads Space Command Enlisted Ranks (Source: Space News)
A Marine sergeant will be the top enlisted member of U.S. Space Command. Marine Corps Mastery Gunnery Sgt. Scott Stalker will assume duties as the senior enlisted leader of U.S. Space Command today, the command said. Stalker previously served as the chief senior enlisted leader of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. Stalker will take over for Space Force Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman who has been dual-hatted as senior enlisted adviser of the U.S. Space Force and senior enlisted leader of U.S. Space Command. (8/28)

Bill Would Require Space Force to Use Navy Ranks (Source: Space News)
A provision in a House defense authorization bill that would require the Space Force to use naval ranks has become controversial in the service. The so-called "Starfleet" amendment got new attention this week when actor William Shatner penned an op-ed endorsing the use of naval ranks, like those used on the Star trek series he starred in, for the Space Force. Sources say the amendment has turned into a polarizing issue inside the Space Force, with some seeming it as an insult that would permanently turn the service into a Star Trek punchline while others promoting it as a way for the Space Force to further distance itself from the Air Force. The House version of the defense authorization bill has yet to be reconciled with the Senate version, which lacks that amendment. (8/28)

FCC Approves Expanded OneWeb Constellation Plan (Source: Ars Technica)
The FCC approved an expansion of OneWeb's satellite constellation. The FCC issued an order this week allowing OneWeb to add 1,280 satellites in orbits 8,500 kilometers high, operating in V-band. OneWeb filed the application for the additional satellites more than three years ago, and this set of satellites is separate from an application the company filed in May seeking to add up to 48,000 satellites. OneWeb, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, did not disclose when it would start launching the new V-band satellites, but now has six years to launch half of them and nine years to complete the constellation. (8/28)

Arianespace Plans Vega Launch on Tuesday (Source: Arianespace)
Arianespace has confirmed plans to attempt a Vega launch next week. The company said Thursday it is preparing to launch the rocket on its Small Spacecraft Mission Service ride-share mission during a four-day window that opens Tuesday. The launch will be the return to flight of the rocket, which failed in its previous launch in July 2019. This launch has been delayed from the spring by both the coronavirus pandemic and unfavorable weather. (8/28)

NASA Assigns New Acting Director for ISS (Source: NASA)
The ISS program has a new acting director at NASA Headquarters. NASA announced Thursday that Robyn Gatens took over as acting director earlier this week, succeeding Sam Scimemi, who is now a special assistant in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The ISS director leads strategy, policy, integration and stakeholder engagement for the space station program at the agency level, working with the ISS program manager, Joel Montalbano. Gatens has been at NASA for 35 years, most recently as deputy director of the ISS. (8/28)

OGO Nears Re-Entry After 50 Years (Source: Sky & Telescope)
A space science satellite launched more than half a century ago is about to reenter. The Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO) 1 spacecraft is in a highly elliptical orbit with a perigee of just 117 kilometers, and satellite observers predict it will reenter Saturday over the central Pacific. It's unclear how much of the half-ton satellite might survive reentry and make it to the surface. OGO 1 launched in 1964 to study the Earth's magnetosphere and its interaction with the sun, and was deactivated in 1971. (8/28)

Vandenberg’s Future Space Plans Expected to be an Economic Boost for Two California Counties (Source: KCOY)
Vandenberg Air Force base is poised to be a key solution to space exploration, science and defense in the future along with an economic booster for the Central Coast. In a presentation to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, the base was described as the center of gravity for projects that would be part of a strategic plan for the future. Air Force Colonel Anthony Mastalir explained the details of an evolving and growing use for the base. It involves its unique site for launches.

"Geography is important. We have a straight shot to the south. We are the nation's primary polar orbit launch site. To achieve that orbit you have to launch due south," said Mastalir. The base already has had years of use. There are many acres of previously disturbed land. "We used to be Camp Cook where troops trained before they were sent to combat operations in World War Two," said Mastalir. There are already state of the art systems in place that are vital to the Air Force and space launches.

Vandenberg is increasing its infrastructure with Space Launch Complex (SLC) 8 for new companies. Millions of dollars have been allocated for improvements. Mastalir said, "we believe SLC 8 could be a potential incubator for companies."  He said it is a perfect place for new companies to fail early and learn from that and build that into their designs. And the REACH (Regional Economic Action Coalition)  group is working with the county on future plans where a diverse range of residents can survive and thrive in the area. (8/27)

How Supernovae Have Affected Life on Earth (Source: Astronomy)
On an ordinary day about 2.6 million years ago, a new light appears in the sky. Our ancestors, who spend at least some of their time in trees, probably notice it but gradually lose interest as the novelty wears off. It’s pointlike and brighter than the Full Moon, but it quickly fades from view during the daytime. It remains bright enough, however, to light up the night for several weeks or months, denying our ancestors a good night’s sleep. Nothing much more happens until about a hundred years later: Anyone who could reason and keep records would notice that the rate of lightning has increased a lot.

The lightning ignites fires. In the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, where humans’ ancestors are living, forests are converted to grassland, forcing inhabitants to walk from tree to tree. There may be long pauses between periods of increased lightning activity, so the area transitions from grassland to scrub and back again, challenging these early humans to adapt.

A really nearby event — 30 light-years away or closer — would induce a mass extinction from radiation destroying the ozone layer, allowing lots of ultraviolet radiation through to damage life on the surface. It has probably happened a few times, based only on the rate of supernovae, but we don’t have any direct evidence. Somewhat more distant supernovae go off more often, but scientists assume the effects on Earth would be similar, though weaker. (7/31)

Cosmic Rays May Soon Stymie Quantum Computing (Source: Space Daily)
The practicality of quantum computing hangs on the integrity of the quantum bit, or qubit. Qubits, the logic elements of quantum computers, are coherent two-level systems that represent quantum information. Each qubit has the strange ability to be in a quantum superposition, carrying aspects of both states simultaneously, enabling a quantum version of parallel computation. Quantum computers, if they can be scaled to accommodate many qubits on one processor, could be dizzyingly faster, and able to handle far more complex problems, than today's conventional computers.

But that all depends on a qubit's integrity, or how long it can operate before its superposition and the quantum information are lost - a process called decoherence, which ultimately limits the computer run-time. Superconducting qubits - a leading qubit modality today - have achieved exponential improvement in this key metric, from less than one nanosecond in 1999 to around 200 microseconds today for the best-performing devices. (8/27)

Sleep Duration, Efficiency and Structure Change in Space (Source: Space Daily)
It's hard to get a good night's sleep in space. An evaluation of astronauts serving on the Mir space station found that they experienced shorter sleep durations, more wakefulness, and changes in the structure of their sleep cycles while in microgravity. Researchers at Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and NASA Ames Research Center studied the sleep patterns of four cosmonauts and one astronaut before, during and after spaceflight to conduct missions on the space station.

Preliminary results show that they slept an average of only 5.7 hours in space, compared with 6.7 hours on Earth. They also spent significantly more time awake in bed, leading to a 17.7% reduction in sleep efficiency. In space their time in non-REM and REM sleep decreased by 14.1% and 25.8% respectively. On average it also took about 90 minutes after falling asleep for astronauts to reach their first episode of REM sleep in space, nearly 1.5 times longer than on Earth. In contrast, most sleep measures were stable across the inflight phase, with the exception of a decrease in the amount of time spent in bed and an increase in the length of time it took to fall asleep after going to bed. (8/27)

Ethiopia is Set to Launch its Second Satellite Into Space, Again with China’s Help (Source: Quartz)
Ethiopia is finishing plans to launch its second satellite into orbit next month, just eight months after the launch of its ETRSS-1 Satellite last December. The country’s space ambitions, backed by China’s funds and its satellite launch sites, has seen Ethiopian engineers design the satellites in an initiative co-funded by both countries. The ET-SMART-RSS earth observation nano satellite is expected to take off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, in Wenchang, Hainan province. (8/25)

Legal Personhood for the Moon (Source: The Conversation)
Even though there are international treaties governing outer space, ambiguity remains about how individuals, nations and corporations can use lunar resources. In all of this, the Moon is seen as an inert object with no value in its own right. But should we treat this celestial object, which has been part of the culture of every hominin for millions of years, as just another resource? Click here. (8/26)