October 18, 2020

Biden Presidency Could Have a ‘Remarkable’ Impact on Science Policy—But Also Face Hurdles (Source: Science)
If former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidential election, he will face high expectations from the U.S. scientific community. Its members will be counting on him to bring science and leadership to the fight against COVID-19 while reversing a host of moves by President Donald Trump that many researchers regard as disastrous. A President Biden will have vast authority to move quickly to undo many Trump policies. But he could be hampered by forces beyond his control, including which party controls the Senate, the ideological complexion of the courts, and—when it comes to fighting COVID-19—the progress of science itself.

To pay for new spending, Biden is likely to propose restoring higher taxes on the wealthy and killing programs he sees as wasteful. One potential target is the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s troubled heavy-lift rocket for the human space program. The SLS has cost $20 billion so far and, after years of delays, isn’t scheduled to launch until late 2021. Many NASA observers argue that commercial space firms, such as SpaceX, can do the job for less. (10/15)

SpaceX Successfully Launches More Starlink Satellites at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX on Sunday launched 60 more Starlink satellites, expanding its constellation to provide global internet service. A total of 835 Starlink satellites have been launched, with another batch of 60 more to be launched before the end of October. The launch took off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The first-stage booster landed downrange on a drone ship. This was 62nd recovery of a Falcon rocket, and the sixth landing for this stage.

The rocket's two fairing halves were also recovered using large nets aboard ships downrange, though one was damaged when the netting ripped and the fairing fell onto the deck below. This was the third flight for both fairing halves. (10/18)

Earth-Like Planets Often Come with a Bodyguard (Source: Max Plamck Institute)
An international group of astronomers has found that the arrangement of rocky, gaseous and icy planets in planetary systems is apparently not random and depends on only a few initial conditions. The study is based on a new simulation that tracks the evolution of planetary systems over several billion years. Planetary systems around Sun-like stars, which produce in their inner regions super-Earths with low water and gas content, very often form a planet comparable to our Jupiter on an outer orbit. Such planets help to keep potentially dangerous objects away from the inner regions. (10/13)

Earth-Watching Satellites Come of Age (Source: Axios)
Constellations of Earth-gazing satellites are giving new and growing markets an unprecedented view — and understanding — of the planet. The Earth observation market was once focused on collecting huge amounts of raw data, but companies are now working to pull in revenue by creating tools to analyze that information for customers. "Overall, there's just a broader understanding of the value of the data ... demand is rising across the board," said Krystal Azelton of the Secure World Foundation.

New companies are launching satellites that can take cloud-piercing radar images of Earth by night and day, while other satellites are able to collect non-imagery signals data like radio-frequency emissions, opening up applications like tracking illegal fishing in new ways. The market for Earth observation data and analysis — which was worth a little over $3 billion in 2019 — is predicted to reach $8.1 billion by 2029, according to a new report from Northern Sky Research. Many companies are aiming to beam back photos from orbit using constellations of small satellites, potentially flooding the market with data and increasing competition. (10/13)

Laboratories Celebrate Dark Matter Research with Worldwide Event (Source: Interactions)
There’s far more to our universe than meets the eye. Everything we can see, everything we know exists, makes up just five percent of the matter and energy in the universe. So, what about the other 95 percent? Astronomers and astrophysicists believe that approximately 25 percent of the missing mass and energy in the universe is made up of dark matter. This ubiquitous substance is everywhere, yet, so far, remains a mystery.

Dark Matter Day, an international event, aims to shed some light on that mystery. From Oct. 26-31, a series of Dark Matter Day events will highlight the global search for dark matter, which, together with dark energy, makes up about 95 percent of the mass and energy in our universe. Dark Matter Day spreads the word about the many fascinating ways scientists search for dark matter, and the importance of devoting scientific resources to unraveling this cosmic riddle. (10/14)

Supergiant Star Betelgeuse Smaller, Closer Than First Thought (Source: Australian National University)
It may be another 100,000 years until the giant red star Betelgeuse dies in a fiery explosion, according to a new study by an international team of researchers. The study not only gives Betelgeuse a new lease on life, but shows it is both smaller and closer to Earth than previously thought. The supergiant – which is part of the Orion constellation – has long fascinated scientists. But lately, it’s been behaving strangely. “It’s normally one of the brightest stars in the sky, but we’ve observed two drops in the brightness of Betelgeuse since late 2019,” Dr. Meredith Joyce said.

“This prompted speculation it could be about to explode. But our study offers a different explanation. We know the first dimming event involved a dust cloud. We found the second smaller event was likely due to the pulsations of the star,” she said. The researchers were able to use hydrodynamic and seismic modelling to learn more about the physics driving these pulsations – and get a clearer idea of what phase of its life Betelgeuse is in. "Pressure waves – essentially, sound waves—were the cause of Betelgeuse’s pulsation.”

The study also revealed how big Betelgeuse is, and its distance from Earth. “The actual physical size of Betelgeuse has been a bit of a mystery – earlier studies suggested it could be bigger than the orbit of Jupiter. Our results say Betelgeuse only extends out to two thirds of that, with a radius 750 times the radius of the sun,” Dr. László Molnár said. “Once we had the physical size of the star, we were able to determine the distance from Earth. Our results show it’s a mere 530 light years from us – 25 percent closer than previous thought.” (10/16)

Microsat Developer Axelspace Moves Into Components Business (Source: SpaceTech Asia)
Japanese space startup Axelspace, which has developed 5 microsatellites to date, has announced it will be developing critical components to prepare for the mass production of next-generation microsatellites. This initiative aims to lower cost and shorten the delivery time of satellites. In addition to its satellites, the company will now develop 2 different on-board components, together with partner companies, funded by a grant received by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). (10/18)

Staying to the Left of Boom by Going High (Source: American Greatness)
Currently, America’s vaunted military might is a Potemkin village: it appears strong but it is, in fact, a brittle framework that relies almost entirely on satellites that increasingly are vulnerable to attack and disruption. America’s enemies, notably China and Russia, have known about this vulnerability for at least a decade and carefully have tailored their forces to be able to knock America’s sensitive satellites out in a surprise space “Pearl Harbor” attack. If such an attack were to occur today, all America’s military could do would be to ride out being to the “right of boom”—a proposition that could very well allow either the attacking Chinese or the Russian forces to win a war against the US Armed Forces.

When Donald Trump campaigned for president in 2016, he routinely told audiences that America’s enemies were smart and highly dangerous. Countries like autocratic Russia, seeking to gain territorial advantage over the United States in the European plain, know that they cannot engage in a fair fight against the United States and hope to win. What’s more, despite Russia’s immense nuclear arsenal, the Kremlin is not foolish enough to risk a wider nuclear exchange with the United States without first having debilitated America’s ability to respond to their next large-scale attack on Europe.

Not only would the United States, NATO, and other allied European forces inevitably be overrun in this scenario, but the strategic position of the United States in the world would be destroyed. Think about it: U.S. foreign policy is predicated upon a web of globe-spanning, interlocking security alliances. The fact that NATO for years has been under increasing pressure from Russia and that the United States and its allies have failed to reinforce themselves under the pressure imposed by Moscow, has had a chilling effect on America’s global military alliances. (10/16)

Soyuz Launches From Kourou Delayed Again (Source: Sputnik)
Launches of Russian Soyuz carrier rockets from the Kourou Space Center, put off amid the coronavirus pandemic, are being delayed again, a space industry source told Sputnik. Last month, a spokesperson of Russian space agency Roscosmos told Sputnik that the next launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kourou was expected to take place at the start of November. Problems with the Fregat-M upper stage are behind the delay. (10/18)