February 15, 2021

Space Florida Invites Applications for Space Transportation Infrastructure Projects (Source: Space Florida)
The Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching Fund solicits proposals to continue the development of space transportation infrastructure that supports Space Florida’s legislative intent and Florida spaceport territory master plans. Space Florida is designated in section 331.3011(3), Florida Statutes, to be the “single point of contact for state aerospace-related activities with federal agencies, the military, state agencies, businesses, and the private sector.”

Space Florida will use the qualifying applications to develop a proposed list of spaceport discretionary capacity improvement projects for submission to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Prioritized spaceport projects may be included in the FDOT five-year work program of transportation improvement projects. This application is mandatory before Space Florida can prioritize candidate projects for available State and/or Federal funding. Matching funds may be used for preliminary design, environmental study, design, engineering, and/or construction of spaceport facilities infrastructure recommended by master plans in Florida spaceport territories. Click here. (2/15)

Florida Tourism Promotion Links Space with Local Attractions (Source: Florida Today)
The Space Coast Tourism Development Council's new $650,000 "space-plus" marketing theme will use a split-screen approach, pairing rocket launches with another local activity, such as beachgoing or the zoo.

The local tourism industry is trying to get out of its tailspin, which started in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, tourism was one of the largest industries in the region, with $2 billion in annual visitor traffic and 28,000 jobs, an economic powerhouse alongside healthcare and manufacturing. The Space-Plus marketing theme uses a split-screen approach that combines rocket launches on one side of a TV ad, online advertisement or billboard with other local activity on the other, including the beaches. Ecotourism, Brevard Zoo and fishing.

The campaign is initially aimed at residents of other markets in Florida, including Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa / St. Petersburg, Vero Beach and West Palm Beach. Online elements of the campaign will also be seen in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina – two of the top 10 markets for Space Coast tourism and two markets with direct flights to Orlando Melbourne International Airport. (2/15)

How to Get Water on the Moon (Source: Space Daily)
Given plans for future manned missions to the Moon - and interest in the potential for longer-term lunar habitation - the presence of water on the Moon is of critical importance. Studies over the last few decades have revealed water lurking on our satellite in numerous forms. But how does it get there? Lunar water has been found locked in ice form in the cold, permanently shadowed craters at the Moon's poles, and drifting in gas form in the very thin lunar atmosphere. In addition, we've discovered that water exists in trace amounts across the Moon's surface, bound to lunar minerals.

But lunar water is more complicated than its mere presence or absence. The Moon is also thought to have a water cycle - water is continuously created on or delivered to the Moon's surface, and then destroyed on or removed from it. Understanding the driving processes in this cycle will enable us to best leverage the Moon's resources and deepen our insight into the physics that influences airless rocky bodies throughout our solar system and beyond. (2/12)

NASA Grants Renewal and Funding for Deep Space Health Protections (Source: Space Daily)
After a favorable program review in December 2020, NASA has exercised its option to renew the Houston-based Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) until 2028. TRISH works closely with NASA's Human Research Program in advancing innovations in biomedical research to protect astronauts on deep space missions.

The Institute will receive additional funding up to $134.6 million from 2022 to 2028. It will continue delivering innovative solutions that mitigate health and performance decrements anticipated for humans in deep space, while advancing terrestrial health technologies. (2/11)

Scientists Develop New, Faster Method for Seeking Out Dark Matter (Source: Space Daily)
For nearly a century, scientists have worked to unravel the mystery of dark matter - an elusive substance that spreads through the universe and likely makes up much of its mass, but has so far proven impossible to detect in experiments. Now, a team of researchers have used an innovative technique called "quantum squeezing" to dramatically speed up the search for one candidate for dark matter in the lab.

The findings center on an incredibly lightweight and as-of-yet undiscovered particle called the axion. According to theory, axions are likely billions to trillions of times smaller than electrons and may have been created during the Big Bang in humungous numbers - enough to potentially explain the existence of dark matter. Researchers on a project called, fittingly, the Haloscope At Yale Sensitive To Axion Cold Dark Matter (HAYSTAC) experiment report that they've improved the efficiency of their hunt past a fundamental obstacle imposed by the laws of thermodynamics.

The new approach allows researchers to better separate the incredibly faint signals of possible axions from the random noise that exists at extremely small scales in nature, sometimes called "quantum fluctuations." If axions pass through a strong enough magnetic field, a small number of them may transform into waves of light - and that's something that scientists can detect. Researchers have launched efforts to find those signals in powerful magnetic fields in space. The HAYSTAC experiment, however, is keeping its feet planted on Earth. (2/11)

Dark Matter: Particle Could Be Portal to Fifth Dimension (Source: Popular Mechanics)
In a new study, scientists say they can explain dark matter by positing a particle that links to a fifth dimension. While the “warped extra dimension” (WED) is a trademark of a popular physics model first introduced in 1999, this research, published in The European Physical Journal C, is the first to cohesively use the theory to explain the long-lasting dark matter problem within particle physics.

Our knowledge of the physical universe relies on the idea of dark matter, which takes up the vast majority of matter in the universe. Dark matter is a kind of pinch hitter that helps scientists explain how gravity works, because a lot of features would dissolve or fall apart without an “x factor” of dark matter. The new study seeks to explain the presence of dark matter using a WED model. The scientists studied fermion masses, which they believe could be communicated into the fifth dimension through portals, creating dark matter relics and “fermionic dark matter” within the fifth dimension. (2/10)

Space Investors Head to the Exits, at Last (Source: Space Review)
While investors have put billions of dollars into space companies in recent years, there had been few opportunities for them to get a return. Jeff Foust reports that those investors are finally seeing long-awaited exits in the form of mergers and companies going public. Click here. (2/15)
 
Reflecting Core American Values in the Competition for the Final Economic Frontier (Source: Space Review)
Some see a new competition emerging between the United States and China in space, with implications for the principles that will guide humanity’s future beyond Earth. Josh Carlson describes how a new report offers a blueprint for the US to win a competition like that. Click here. (2/15)
 
Global Navigation Satellite Systems: a Symbiotic Realist Paradigm (Source: Space Review)
Satellite navigation systems have geopolitical implications, from the UK’s loss of access to Galileo because of Brexit to Chinese efforts to get countries to use Beidou. Nayef Al-Rodhan argues for the need for better coordination among these satellite systems. Click here. (2/15)

MDA Into Canadarm3 Development as Commercial Space Robotic Needs Merge (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com
From its first flight in November 1981, to the on-going evolution of the technology to take it from low Earth orbit out toward the Moon, the various Canadarms and their associated space robotic platforms have been an ever-present and critical element of human space exploration. Now, as the need to develop a more autonomous robotic system for the Lunar Gateway arrives for MDA of Canada, the company simultaneously finds itself working to meet the growing commercial demand for space-based robotics.

Across nearly 40 years of operations, the five Canadarms and three Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) arms for the Space Shuttle, as well as Canadarm2, Dextre (formally known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator), and the other elements of the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) for the International Space Station have amassed more than 3 million hours of engineering and operational support for various on-orbit activities. (2/15)

Russia Launches Cargo to ISS (Source: CBS)
Russia launched a Progress cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station Sunday night. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off at 11:45 p.m. Eastern from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and placed the Progress MS-16 spacecraft into orbit nine minutes later. The Progress, taking the traditional two-day approach to the station rather than shorter trajectories used more recently, will dock with the station early Wednesday. It is carrying nearly 2,500 kilograms of supplies, including equipment that will be used to seal a small air leak in the station's Zvezda module. (2/14)

Astronauts Selected for SpaceX ISS Mission (Source: NASA)
NASA selected two astronauts for a SpaceX commercial crew mission to the ISS next year. NASA said Friday that Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines will be the commander and pilot, respectively, for the Crew-4 mission launching in 2022. Lindgren flew to the ISS in 2015 for a 141-day stay, while Hines will be making his first spaceflight. The other two crewmembers of the mission will come from international partners. (2/15)

China Maneuvers in Mars Orbit (Source: Xinhua)
China's Tianwen-1 Mars spacecraft performed its first maneuver since entering orbit around the planet. The maneuver early Monday changed the closest point to Mars in its orbit to 265 kilometers and shifted the spacecraft's inclination into a polar orbit. The spacecraft, which entered orbit last Wednesday, will deploy a lander carrying a rover in May or June. (2/15)

China's Yutu 2 Rover Discovers ‘Unusual’ Shard onLunar Far Side (Source: Express)
The Chinese Chang'e 4 probes returned to action for a 27th lunar day on the far side of the Moon on February 6. However, it is what the mission uncovered on the previous lunar day that has most surprised space scientists. The mission’s Yutu-2 rover stumbled across an unexpected shard-shaped rock, excitedly described by the team as a "milestone”.

Despite the lunar anomaly not looking too unusual to the untrained eye, the discovery has garnered significant interest among space experts. Dr Dan Moriarty, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center, told Space.com: “It seems to have a shard-like shape and is sticking out of the ground. That's definitely unusual. (2/14)

Deep Space Network Connects Again with Voyager 2 (Source: New York Times)
NASA's Deep Space Network is once again talking with Voyager 2. NASA shut down the only antenna capable of communicating with the distant spacecraft, a 70-meter dish near Canberra, Australia, last March to perform upgrades. While the antenna sent a test message to the spacecraft in October, regular communications finally resumed on Friday after the work on the antenna had been completed. (2/15)

New Faces on Space Committees (Source: Politico)
The House and Senate committees that oversee NASA have both announced their full rosters, including several new faces. Three freshmen Democrats join the Senate Commerce Committee: Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. New Mexico, which will be the gateway to space for tourists flying with Virgin Galactic, and Colorado, the current head of the military’s national space missions, both have significant space interests. For Republicans, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is the only newly elected member to join the panel.

On the House side, two new Democrats joined the House Science Committee this week: Jamaal Bowman of New York and Deborah Ross of North Carolina. Ranking member Frank Lucas, who announced the panel’s Republican members last month, also issued a statement this week that Brian Babin of Texas will continue to be the top GOP lawmaker on the panel’s space subcommittee. Democratic subcommittee chairs have not yet been decided. (2/12)

One Small Step Toward Spaceflight in the UK as Government Publishes Environmental Guidance (Source: Space Daily)
The first-ever launch into space from British soil is now one step closer, with the government today (10 February 2021) publishing its environmental guidance for the spaceflight regulator. A newly established consultation will also set out how the regulator, which will oversee all launch and space activity from the UK, should meet environmental objectives - helping ensure space travel fits into a modern, greener Britain.

The consultation, which will last for 6 weeks, forms part of the Space Industry Act 2018 and will pave the way for a range of commercial spaceflight and scientific endeavours to operate within the UK in the future. As part of the government's push to net-zero, access to space and the use of space-based technology will provide many environmental benefits. (2/12)

What Hollywood Gets Wrong, and Right, About Asteroids (Source: Space Daily)
Meet Kirsten Howley, the real-life astrophysicist working to prevent an asteroid "Armageddon." In the 1998 movie "Armageddon," an asteroid the width of Texas is about to hit Earth. The heroes who stop it in the nick of time are a group of orange-suited Americans, all men. Life isn't always like the movies.

Not that an asteroid couldn't slam into Earth, mind you. Asteroids - mostly tiny ones - pass by our planet virtually every second. But the people charged with stopping the big ones aren't reaching for their spacesuits with mere hours to spare.