September 24, 2020

NASA Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir Among TIME's Most Influential (Source: TIME)
In October 2019, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir exited the International Space Station and replaced a controller regulating the batteries that store the station’s solar power. But the two astronauts accomplished much more than fixing the space station. They completed the first all-female spacewalk, shifting who we see as strong, brave, competent, and who’s on the team pushing the boundaries of exploration.

Yes, as Koch and Meir said, they were just doing their jobs. All astronauts say that, because being in space is our job. Yet two women executing intellectually and physically demanding work in one of the most challenging circumstances in which humans operate—orbital altitude of 250 miles, velocity of 17,500 m.p.h.—is an important event. Not because these women proved what we, women, could do; that was never in doubt. Rather because the whole world saw it, including the gatekeepers (frequently men) who determine who has access to these opportunities.

Koch and Meir executed the 7-hr. 17-min. spacewalk wearing space suits designed primarily in the 1970s, when the U.S. had flown no women astronauts and women were just 16% of NASA’s workforce, compared with 34% today. Men’s physiology, perspectives, values, measurements, comfort and ambitions have mostly been the default template for designing major human endeavors. I believe that Koch and Meir, by their sheer skill and execution, shift us closer to a template based on intelligence, agility, capability, integrity, courage and excellence. (9/23)

SpaceX's Shotwell Among TIME's Most Influential (Source: TIME)
Gwynne Shotwell is living proof that you don’t need a space suit to be a space pioneer. Itching to build something after a decade’s work in the policy and analytical segments of the space sector, she jumped into the fledgling commercial space arena, becoming one of SpaceX’s earliest employees in 2002. As vice president for business development, Shotwell built the Falcon manifest to more than 70 launches, together valuing more than $10 billion.

She rose swiftly to her current role of president and chief operating officer, and under her guidance, SpaceX became the first commercial company to launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft, and the first to launch and recover astronauts. She is not only a quintessential engineer with a passion to build things, but also a “people engineer” who thrives on working with colleagues and customers. Gwynne Shotwell is helping to launch our future, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. (9/23)

BlackSky Adds New Satellites to Imagery Constellation (Source: Space News)
BlackSky will add new satellites to its constellation to provide high-resolution and nighttime imagery. The company said its Gen-3 satellites, slated to start launching in 2022, will be able to provide images with a resolution of 50 centimeters and carry infrared sensors that can operate at night and bad weather conditions. The U.S. Army will be one of the users of Gen-3 satellites, the company said, with the ability to directly task the satellites and downlink images from them. (9/24)

Air Force Plans Virtual Satellite Design Effort (Source: Space News)
An Air Force official said the military will seek to design satellites entirely in virtual environments to save time and money. Will Roper, the head of acquisition for the Air Force, said the service was considering two satellite programs that will adopt an "e-satellite" virtual design approach, but declined to name them. He argued that if these methods can be applied successfully, military satellites could end up costing dramatically less and get built in a fraction of the time it takes today. The Air Force previously announced plans for virtual "e-aircraft" design, but Roper said using the same approach for satellites will take more time. (9/24)

Spire Adds Crosslinks to Constellation (Source: Space News)
Spire is adding crosslinks to its satellite constellation. The first Spire cubesats equipped with crosslinks, allowing satellites to communicate with one another, will launch in the next few months, with the entire constellation of 90 satellites using them in the next one to two years. The use of crosslinks will speed up the time that satellites can return weather, ship-tracking and aircraft-tracking data to the ground, since they will no longer have to wait until they are in range of a ground station. (9/24)

Army to Test Isotropic Systems Satellite Antennas (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Army will test antennas developed by Isotropic Systems for satellite communications. The optical beam-forming antennas will be used to communicate with satellites operated by SES, including its O3b constellation. Isotropic says its antennas are designed to connect simultaneously with multiple communications satellites and then switch to new satellites to improve data flow and provide more resilient communications. (9/24)

Starting with Delta Heavy, a Busy Week for Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
After a brief hiatus, the Space Coast appears to be on course to host a spate of rocket launches from three separate pads before the end of the month. The latest Eastern Range schedule has both ULA and SpaceX launching three missions starting early Saturday through late Tuesday, using Delta IV Heavy and Falcon 9 rockets, respectively. Two of the launches come after several delays due to weather and technical issues while the third is a last-minute addition by the Space Force. The most powerful rocket in ULA's fleet, tasked with boosting a secretive intelligence-gathering satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, is targeting 12:14 a.m. Saturday for its liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (9/23)

The Space Commodities Exchange (Source: Quartz)
The problem with venture capital is that most funds operate on a three to five-year time horizon. It’s an understatement to say that most space technology projects take much longer. Bruce Cahan says we must build "infrastructure assets today that pay for themselves and their technologies over lifecycles of many decades.” One major reason this problem has been avoided so far are large, long-term government contracts to space contractors. Officials like USAF Gen. Steven Butow are eager to see private investment take a larger role, in part because of a belief that such initiatives are more efficient than big government programs.

So what is a space commodities exchange? It would function like any other commodities market, allowing participants to make bets on delivery of future goods and services. The “commodities” in question could be rocket launches, payload delivery, spacecraft fuel, debris removal, data connections, or even moon rocks and space-manufactured goods. In one hypothetical, a market to buy and sell rocket launch futures would allow satellite makers to buy cheaper insurance against launch failures and delays, the same way a market for corn futures allows farmers to hedge against gluts and droughts.

“By making a financial commodity of the risks the space entrepreneur doesn’t control, they can conserve their company’s limited venture capital equity to cover the development and other risks that their technology can control,” Cahan says. The key is standardizing the definitions of these goods so they can be traded effectively. One reason existing exchanges haven’t jumped into the fray is the challenge of unifying the industry around precise contractual language. (9/24)

Canadian Space Official Eyes Future Long-Term Presence of Canada in Space (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
From the robotic arms of the Shuttle era and the International Space Station to synthetic aperture radar programs and satellites studying critical elements of Earth’s changing climate to telecommunication needs in the northern parts of the country, Canada has been a mainstay of space exploration from the beginning. While many champion the current “golden age” of commercialization of space, that very commercialization is what has always driven Canadian space goals: to boost scientists and universities and industry through government investment designed to put private entities in charge of space projects instead of government.

Now, those public-private partnerships will propel Canada to the Moon via Canadarm3 and the NASA-led Lunar Gateway initiative. Gilles Leclerc, Director General, Space Exploration at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), who has been an instrumental figure within the Canadian space program for decades, talks about Canada's role in Artemis: "The 24 years is interesting because to get policy coverage for Gateway, we had to get approval for the whole life cycle of the program,” said Leclerc. “So not only designing and delivering, but operating Canadarm3 on Gateway as well.”

“And that reflects also the fact that this is a long-term commitment for Canada. Gateway is the first step, and then we’re going to look and propose to Government another major contribution for lunar surface exploration and Mars.” Exactly what those “major” contributions are will have to be seen in CSA’s proposals; however, CSA is already committed to fostering the creation of the first Canadian science experiments that will go to the surface of the Moon. “We’ve already received funding for the next five years to develop and launch, with commercial partners, the first payloads, the first science experiments, the first Canadian science experiments that will go to the surface of the Moon,” Leclerc added proudly. (9/24)

Pandemic Delays Astrophysics Missions (Source: Space News)
The pandemic may delay several astrophysics missions in development. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer spacecraft have both seen their launches next year slip because of issues linked to the pandemic. Missions in earlier stages of development could also be delayed, a NASA official said earlier this week, including the Roman Space Telescope. Operational missions have continued largely unaffected during the pandemic, although the Chandra X-ray Observatory suspended operations for a few weeks in August and September because of a technical issue with one of its instruments. (9/24)

SpaceX Bursts Starship Tank in Test (Source: Teslarati)
A SpaceX Starship propellant tank burst — on purpose — in a test Wednesday. SpaceX filled the tank, called SN7.1, with liquid nitrogen to test how much pressure it would take before bursting. The company didn't disclose if the test met their expectations, but road closures previously announced at its Boca Chica, Texas, site in the coming days for tests of its next prototype, SN8, have been canceled. (9/24)

Japan Sets Budget for Artemis Participation (Source: Asahi Shimbun)
The next budget for the Japanese space agency JAXA will include funding to support its role in the Artemis program. The budget for the next fiscal year, which starts in April, will include $760 million to work on projects associated with Artemis, including a robotic lunar lander mission scheduled to launch in 2022 as well as life support equipment and work on the HTV-X cargo spacecraft. The overall JAXA budget will reach a record high of more than $2.6 billion in the proposal. (9/24)

Animation Shows Eight Years of Black Hole Images (Source: Nature)
First there was an image of a black hole, and now there's a whole movie of one. Scientists have created a brief movie of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 using data collected over eight years by the Event Horizon Telescope, which took the historic first image of a black hole released last year. The animation shows the ever-changing, turbulent appearance of the black hole as material swirls around it. (9/24)

To Boldly Go: New Toilet Heading to ISS (Source: Business Insider)
A new toilet being developed for NASA's Orion spacecraft will fly to the space station next week. The toilet will be tested on the station alongside the existing one on the station, with a particular interest in how it manages odor given that it will eventually be used in a capsule that can accommodate up to four people for a month. Air freshener isn't an option, a NASA engineer said, and "you can't just open a window whenever something smells bad." (9/24)