October 26, 2020

NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon (Source: NASA)
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places.

SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. Previous observations of the Moon’s surface detected some form of hydrogen, but were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). Data from this location reveal water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million – roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water – trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy. (10/26)

SLS Mobile Launcher Moves to Launch Pad for Final Tests (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
On October 20, 2020, the Mobile Launcher (ML) for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket rolled to Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B for the first time since December 2019. The roll, which began just after midnight and took approximately 8 hours to complete; the ML is scheduled to remain in place for a minimum of two weeks, as engineers prepare it for a rehearsal prior to the launch of SLS and Orion on the Artemis l mission in 2021. During the ML’s time on the launch pad, the NASA team will be able to perform a full countdown in preparation for its first launch.

Other tasks to be completed include lowering the engine service platform into its pre-launch, and launch positions, as well as performing routine inspections. Other preparations expected to occur on the pad include testing of umbilical swing arms, as well as additional subsystems. A key task also planned during this period is a “top to bottom washdown“ of ML. This wash down will not only utilize the platform’s sound suppression system, but will also trigger the Launch Umbilical Tower’s fire suppression system. (10/23)

SpaceX Starship: The Continued Evolution of the Big Falcon Rocket (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Since 2012, SpaceX has been working on a reusable rocket family, now called Starship, that will eventually replace its workhorse Falcon 9 family. Its design has evolved into a rocket possibly unprecedented in its ambition, being even larger than the venerable Saturn V rocket, but with far more uses. At launch, it will be the world’s largest launch vehicle and mass 5000 tonnes, more than eight times the world’s largest passenger jet, the Airbus A380.

Pushing it off the pad will be 28 Raptor engines producing more thrust than an astounding 50 A380s (75,315 kN/16,931,500 lbf). The Starship upper stage alone will mass 11/12th of a Falcon Heavy, and its reusable cargo variant’s 150 tonne payload would take five reusable Falcon Heavy launches to equal. Its cargo bay is large enough to swallow a passenger locomotive or a tunnel boring machine. Click here. (10/24)

Mark Kelly's Views on Space Force, NASA's Artemis Return to the Moon are Problematic (Source: The Hill)
Captain Mark Kelly, a candidate for senator from the state of Arizona, has an impressive resume. He flew combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. He flew on the space shuttle four times, twice as a mission commander. However, Kelly's views on space policy, a subject with which he should be familiar given his former profession, are problematic. Kelly opposed the creation of the United States Space Force. "This is a dumb idea. The Air Force does this already. That is their job. What's next, we move submarines to the 7th branch and call it the 'under-the-sea force?'," he tweeted 2 years ago.

Kelly also opposes NASA's Artemis return-to-the-moon program. The Daily Beast noted that he stated, "We should just go straight to Mars. Forget about the Moon. We've been there. We've already done that." The idea that the United States should abandon the moon because American astronauts visited there six times 50 years ago is laughable on its face. The moon not only contains a great many opportunities to do science, but it also contains valuable resources that could fuel a space-based industrial revolution. The international Artemis Alliance has already garnered a lot of political soft power for the United States. (10/11)

A Spacecraft Could Get to Titan in Only 2 Years Using a Direct Fusion Drive (Source: Universe Today)
Fusion power is the technology that is thirty years away, and always will be – according to skeptics at least.  Despite its difficult transition into a reliable power source, the nuclear reactions that power the sun have a wide variety of uses in other fields.  The most obvious is in weapons, where hydrogen bombs are to this day the most powerful weapons we have ever produced. But there’s another use case that is much less destructive and could prove much more interesting – space drives.

The concept fusion drive, called a direct fusion drive (or DFD) is in development at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).  Scientists and Engineers there, led by Dr. Samuel Cohen, are currently working on the second iteration of it, known as the Princeton field reversed configuration-2 (PFRC-2).  Eventually the system’s developers hope to launch it into space to test, and eventually become the primary drive system of spacecraft traveling throughout our solar system. (10/23)

Space Florida Invites New Projects for Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida has entered into an innovative bi-lateral partnership with the Israel Innovation Authority (OCS) to support joint aerospace research & development projects. Florida and Israeli companies are invited to form teams and submit joint applications for this program. Up to $1 million in grant awards may be made to Florida companies under this program in FY 2021. Space Florida administers the program in conjunction with Israel Innovation Authority (OCS), the international arm of the Office of the Chief Scientist. The application deadline is no later than 5:00pm EDT , Monday, February 22, 2021. Click here. (10/24)

NASA Prototype Can Diagnose Multiple Illnesses by Analyzing Breath (Source: Space Daily)
NASA researchers have created a prototype of a technology that can diagnose a variety of illnesses and abnormalities just by analyzing compounds in a person's breath. NASA representatives presented the E-Nose Breathanalyzer, to members of David Grant USAF Medical Center this week, per an Air Force announcement. The Breathanalyzer is currently under development at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, but researchers say it will be able to diagnose a range of illnesses and other problems, including respiratory illnesses, infectious disease and cardiovascular conditions. (10/22)

Satellites Hit the Assembly Line (Source: Parabolic Arc)
For decades, skilled engineers and technicians have been building satellites designed for unique missions and making them one at a time. They have delivered 1 or 2 dozen per year, each with a high price tag and each designed to operate for decades in high orbit around earth. But the business of space is changing, demanding hundreds and even thousands of satellites in record time. To handle it all, the assembly line has come to satellite manufacturing – and nothing will ever be the same again. Click here. (10/25)

How to Avoid a Space Arms Race (Source: The Hill)
On September 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed that leading space powers agree to prohibit the “stationing” of weapons in space and the “threat or use of force” against space objects. There’s hardly anything new in Putin’s pronouncement. As far back as 1985, the USSR called for a ban on “space strike weapons.” Moscow has sounded variations on the same theme, often aided and abetted by China, ever since. Both nations share a common desire to curb the U.S. technological prowess in developing advanced space capabilities, especially those that might be applied to missile defense or anti-satellite operations.

Ironically, both Russia and China are actively developing and testing a variety of technical approaches to threaten U.S. and allied space assets in the event of a crisis or conflict. Twice this year, Russia has tested different systems capable of destroying U.S. satellites. These developments are worrying. U.S. economic and national security have grown increasingly dependent on the global communications, precision navigation, weather forecasting and overhead imagery provided by on-orbit systems. Click here. (10/24)

China's Lunar Rover Travels 565.9 Meters on Moon (Source: Xinhua)
The lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have been switched to the dormant mode for the lunar night after working stably for the 23rd lunar day, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. The lander was switched to dormant mode at 9:40 p.m. Friday (Beijing Time) as scheduled, and the rover, Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), at 12 noon Friday, said the center. A lunar day is equal to 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is the same length. The Chang'e-4 probe, which switched to dormant mode during the lunar night due to the lack of solar power, had been on the far side of the moon for 660 Earth days as of Saturday, and the rover has traveled 565.9 meters. (10/24)

Tupperware Shoots for the Stars with a Device Meant to Grow Vegetables in Space (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Tupperware Brands is looking beyond the kitchen by going to space. The Osceola County-based company known for its plastic containers has been awarded a patent for a device intended to grow vegetables in low Earth orbit. A partnership with NASA and research and manufacturing company Techshot, the device is called the Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System, or PONDS.

NASA needs its astronauts to grow food as the length of space missions increase to reach the moon and Mars. The project could also help Tupperware make money on Earth. Bill Wright, Tupperware Brands' executive vice president of product innovation, said work on the device could apply to future indoor gardening products from the company. He said home gardening for fresh herbs and other plants has been a growing trend that has accelerated with the coronavirus pandemic.

“It also tells people that we’re not the same old Tupperware,” Wright said. “It’s reintroducing the brand to a whole new generation." The patent follows big changes at the business over the past year, including the hiring of Miguel Fernandez as its new CEO after Tricia Stitzel stepped down last November. Tupperware has struggled, having not reported a sales increase in a quarter compared with the previous year since 2017. (10/26)

Russia Launches Glonass NavSat (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Russia launched a Glonass navigation satellite Sunday. A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 3:08 p.m. Eastern carrying a Glonass-K satellite. The satellite is the third in a new generation of Glonass satellites that will eventually replace the existing Glonass-M satellites. (10/26)

DoD Prepares for Major (100-150) Satellite Procurement (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) is preparing for a new satellite procurement. The agency issued a request for information on Friday, seeking ideas for a new layer of satellites known as Tranche 1 that will include 100-150 spacecraft. Those satellites will be "very similar" to the Tranche 0 satellites it acquired in recent months, including 20 communications and eight missile-tracking satellites. SDA anticipates selecting multiple vendors for Tranche 1 after issuing a formal request for proposals next summer, with the satellites launched in 2024. (10/26)

Goldman Sachs Less Enthusiastic About Virgin Galactic (Source: Investor's Business Daily)
Not everyone on Wall Street is bullish about Virgin Galactic. Goldman Sachs issued a "neutral" rating on the stock Friday as it initiated coverage of the suborbital spaceflight company. Goldman Sachs said that while there are "substantial" growth prospects for Virgin Galactic, the timeframe for doing so is long and the company faces potential competition. That rating stands in contrast to other Wall Street analysts who have been far more optimistic about the company. Virgin Galactic shares closed down 7.7% Friday. (10/26)

China Launches New Group of Military Satellites (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
China launched a new group of triplet satellites for the Chuangxin-5 (CX-5) constellation on Monday. Launched under the name Yaogan Weixing-30 Group-7, the three satellites were orbited by a Chang Zheng-2C launch vehicle from the LC-3 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Like the previous missions on the series, this mission is once again classed as involving new remote sensing birds that will be used to “conduct electromagnetic probes and other experiments.” (10/26)

Designer of Failed Oxygen Supply System on Russian Side of ISS Rules Out Production Defect (Source: Sputnik)
Designer of Electron-BM, an oxygen supply system mounted on the International Space Station (ISS), Alexey Kochetkov on Thursday told Sputnik that the system failure was not caused by technical issues or manufacturing inconsistencies. It was the third time the system failed in seven days. Earlier, the ISS crew reported on the system's breakdown on 14 and 19 October but managed to fix it. "It is no fault of ours. So, we are advising the Mission Control Center, but nothing else", Kochetkov said. He refused to comment further. (10/23)