October 31, 2020

Aerospace Corp. Calls for Collaboration in Space Solar Power (Source: Space News)
The Aerospace Corp. is calling for the U.S. government to work with industry and international partners to develop space solar power technologies. The concept of space solar power “evolved over a very long time and is probably a couple of generations away from being hooked into the terrestrial power grid,” James Vedda, senior policy analyst in the Aerospace Corp. Center for Space Policy and Strategy, said during an Oct. 27 media briefing.

Still, the U.S. should recognize “that we’re not the only ones in the world who are looking at this” and “think about the kind of benefits that will fall to those who master the technology of wireless transmission of huge amounts of power over long distances,” Vedda said. Many other countries are “actively pursuing space solar power technologies,” said Karen Jones, senior project leader and technology strategist. “If this is possible, it will have dramatic implications for all sectors of space activity and possibly terrestrial energy infrastructure here on Earth.” (10/27)

Russia Completes Concept Design of Rocket for Flights to Mars (Source: TASS)
Russia’s Makeyev State Rocket Center, known for its prospective Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), has designed the concept of Leader, a super-heavy space rocket to be used for missions to the Moon and Mars. The basic variant of the Leader rocket will be equipped with two first-stage side boosters with RD-171M oxygen-kerosene engines and one second-stage central booster featuring RD-0120 hydrogen-burning engine. The upper stage will include a booster, an orbital transfer vehicle and the Orel manned spacecraft. The rocket will be capable of delivering 53 tonnes of payload to the low-Earth orbit. Its total weight is estimated at 1,143 tonnes.

The rocket for a Moon mission will be built on the basis of two Leader rockets, or four side boosters and two central cores on the first and second stages. It will be capable of delivering 106 tonnes of payload to the low-Earth orbit. The rocket’s total weight is estimated at 2,284 tonnes. This modification of the rocket is not planned for use in manned space missions. The rocket for a mission to Mars will comprise three basic Leader rockets. It will be capable of delivering 160 tonnes of payload to the low-Earth orbit. The rocket’s total weight is 3,430 tonnes. (10/31)

Simulated Mars Mission Gearing Up at Hawaii Site (Source: Space.com)
A group of six researchers will embark on a mission to "Mars" on Monday (Nov. 2). The Martian crew will include artists, scientists and a journalist. The crew will spend two-weeks traveling to a simulated Mars habitat. The mission, known as Sensoria M2, will take place at the HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) habitat on the side of the volcano Mauna Loa. All crew members will have completed a two-week quarantine and COVID-19 tests prior to flying to the habitat to reduce risk as Sensoria M2 is taking place during the coronavirus pandemic.

This mission will be part of the Sensoria program. Sensoria aims to support underrepresented groups in the space sector to "close existing gaps in our ability to support the next generation of crewed missions," the program's website states. "All of our missions will be female-led and female-majority. We, of course, will welcome with open arms our male colleagues, but we believe that women need to be placed at the center of our shared vision for space exploration, that women need to be given a platform for professional development, opportunities for research and training," said bioengineer J.J. Hastings, who serves as the CEO of Analogs LLC, a company that backs the Sensoria program. (10/30)

NASA’s New Rocket Would be Most Powerful Ever. But it’s the Software That Has Some Officials Worried (Source: Washington Post)
NASA’s newest moon rocket is powered not only by four RS-25 engines that, combined, unleash 2 million pounds of thrust, but by two solid fuel side boosters that burn six tons of propellant a second at such enormous temperatures that during a recent test fire in the Utah desert, the flames turned sand to glass. When it launches, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket  would be the most powerful rocket ever flown.

But as NASA moves toward the SLS’s first flight, putting the Orion spacecraft in orbit around the moon, it’s not the rocket’s engines that concern officials but the software that will control everything. Computing power has become as critical to rockets as the brute force that lifts them, especially rockets like the SLS, which is really an amalgamation of parts built by a variety of manufacturers: Boeing builds the “core stage.” Lockheed Martin builds the Orion spacecraft. Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman are responsible for the RS-25 engines and the side boosters, respectively. And ULA handles the upper stage.

All of those components need to work together for a mission to be successful. But NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) recently said it was concerned about the disjointed way the complicated system was being developed and tested. At an ASAP meeting last month, Paul Hill, a member of the panel and a former flight and mission operations director at the agency, said the “panel has great concern about the end-to-end integrated test capability and plans, especially for flight software.” (10/31)

Maxar Lands $8M Space Force Contract (Source: BizWest)
Maxar Technologies has been tapped by the U.S. Space Force to build software to detect ground-missile launches and other mission-critical events using data collected from satellite arrays. In a statement Thursday evening, the Westminster-based Maxar said it will receive $8.5 million over 12 months to develop the software. The software is to be deployed at Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. The Space Force’s operations command center is based at Peterson Air Force Base outside of Colorado Springs. (10/30)

DoD Creates New Space Policy and Planning Position (Source: Stars & Stripes)
The Pentagon has created a new top civilian job to oversee all of the Defense Department’s space-related planning in a move that elevates the position of its senior space policy maker. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020 called for an assistant secretary of defense for space policy along with an office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, both of which were established Thursday. “The [assistant secretary] will be the senior official responsible for the overall supervision of DoD policy for space warfighting,” the statement says. “In addition, [the assistant secretary] is responsible for interagency coordination and international engagement on space policy and strategy.” (10/30)

Can Space Force Be the First Military Branch Built for Women? (Source: Air Force Magazine)
For nearly 250 years, the U.S. military has designed its machines, career paths, and uniforms through a male lens. Now, the Space Force has a chance to make history as the only military branch built with women in mind from the start. The Space Force, created in December 2019 to manage military satellite and radar operations and rocket launches, is the sole branch of the armed forces in which women have held equal roles from the beginning. In the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, women have spent the past few centuries gradually integrating into a lifestyle and workplace created largely by men, for men.

The Space Force knows it is unique. It’s by far the smallest armed force, as it looks to grow to about 7,000 people by next fall. It’s an apparatus dominated by computer workstations, not artillery. And while those can be assets to women looking for military careers, female service members say the Space Force can pursue a more equitable force through changes to recruitment, policy, professional development, and infrastructure.

As Space Force recruitment gets up and running, service officials are pushing for more female and minority prospects. They’ll particularly look for people with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). That worries 1st Lt. Emily G. Remeta, chief of standardization and evaluations at the 7th Space Warning Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. The aerospace engineering major and Reserve Officer Training Corps graduate believes focusing recruitment efforts solely on people with STEM degrees can lead to underrepresentation of women in the force. (10/30)

The Man Who Makes Swiss watches From Fallen Rockets (Source: Deccan Herald)
Kazakhstan is a land of adventure. For Patrick Hohmann, the adventure is of a different kind: he scouts the trans-continental Central Asian country for fallen off Russian Soyuz rockets – and make Swiss watches out of it. A space enthusiast, Hohmann, who is the founder of Swiss watch company Werenbach, said that the passion started nearly a decade ago. “Initially we sold 30 watches a year…in 2017, we sold 3,000 watches a year,” said Patrick.

“My mission is simple…I want to bring space on Earth,” he says.  The Werenbach watches are made from the material of real-life space rockets, recovered post-launch in Kazakhstan and subjected to an elaborate treatment process in preparation for watch production. (10/31)

Gulf Storms Delay Critical Testing Of NASA’s Next Moon Rocket (Source: WMFE)
An active tropical storm season in the Gulf has delayed a critical test of SLS, NASA’s next moon rocket. The Green Run is a critical test campaign of the core stage booster, culminating with a firing of the rocket’s four main engines. The test is conducted at NASA’s Stennis Space Flight Center in Mississippi. The full firing of the engines for eight minutes — called a hot fire — was scheduled for mid November. But an active hurricane season is delaying that final test. (10/30)

The One Thing Trump Got Right Is NASA Chief Jim Bridenstine. Should He Stay If Biden Wins? (Source: Forbes)
When James Frederick Bridenstine was announced as Trump’s nominee for NASA Administrator in September 2017, there was an uproar. Bridenstine’s apparent lack of qualifications for the post, coupled with his falsely-held views on climate change, made him seem an odd and controversial choice for an agency focused on science. “The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,” Democratic Senator Bill Nelson said in a statement at the time, while Republican Senator Marco Rubio told Politico: “I just think it could be devastating for the space program.”

What followed has been a highly successful stint as NASA Administrator. He has support across the political spectrum, having steered NASA on a bold new course, and is a popular figure with space fans both in the U.S. and around the world. Now many are wondering, in the event of a Biden victory over Trump in the upcoming Presidential Election, should Bridenstine continue as NASA Administrator – a rare olive branch across the political divide? Immediately after becoming Administrator in January 2018, Bridenstine sought to soothe some of the concerns about his tenure.

First, in May 2018, he changed course on climate change. “I don’t deny the consensus," he told a NASA Town Hall meeting. “I believe fully in climate change and that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way.” For all the ills of Trump’s presidency, Bridenstine is a rare success story. He has proven a popular NASA Administrator for space fans across the political spectrum, which has led to growing calls for him to remain as Administrator, even if Biden were to win. Such a move would not be unprecedented: Dan Goldin served as NASA Administrator in the George H. W. Bush administration, Clinton administration, and briefly the George W. Bush administration, in the 1990s and early 2000s. (10/30)

India and the US are Expanding Their Space Cooperation (Source: ORF Online)
The third India-U.S. 2+2 strategic dialogue, with the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries, has just concluded. The joint statement issued at the end of the dialogue is a remarkable and significant one. Space cooperation has usually not featured prominently in discussions between the two sides, yet the joint statement noted the agreement among the four ministers to start cooperation on a specific agenda within the broad space domain – Space Situational Awareness (SSA). The importance of SSA cannot be overemphasized given its utility in ensuring safe, secure, and sustainable use of outer space. (10/31)

Weird Ring-Shaped Molecule on Titan Could Be a Building Block to Life (Source: New Scientist)
A circular molecule spotted on Saturn’s moon Titan may help form precursors to life. This compound hasn’t been seen in the atmosphere of any planet or moon before. The molecule is called cyclopropenylidene and is made up of three carbon atoms in a ring with two hydrogen atoms attached. Conor Nixon at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and his colleagues spotted it floating in Titan’s thick atmosphere using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile.

Finding this molecule on Titan was a surprise. It is extremely reactive – if it bumps into any other particles, it tends to be quick to chemically react with them to form new compounds. Because of this, it had previously only ever been seen in tenuous clouds of gas and dust in interstellar space. Somehow, it lasts in the upper layers of Titan’s skies. (10/30)

Roscosmos Says Premature to Blame External Impact for Crack Aboard Space Station (Source: TASS)
Specialists continue studying the fracture found in Russia’s Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS) but it is premature to blame a possible external impact for its emergence, the federal space agency Roscosmos said. "Specialists are currently considering various versions of the fracture’s origin and that is why it is premature to make conclusions about its causes, including an external impact on the module," Roscosmos said. Specialists of the main flight control team of the space station’s Russian segment continue studying the crack in the Zvezda module jointly with the ISS crew, Roscosmos stressed. (10/30)

Second Launch of Heavy Angara Rocket Postponed Until November 28 (Source: TASS)
The second test launch of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket from the Plesetsk space center in northwestern Russia was tentatively postponed from November 24 to November 28. "The launch is tentatively scheduled for November 28," a source said. At the same time, the source added that the launch window has been set for November 20-29, and "the final decision about the date of the blastoff will be made later." (10/31)