August 4, 2023

Huntsville Rocket Park Renewal: NASA SLS Mockup to Stand Alongside Restored Historic Boosters at Space Museum (Source: CollectSpace)
A full-scale mockup of the engine section of NASA's new monstrous moon rocket will soon stand among newly-restored historic boosters from the early years of the space program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) in Huntsville, Alabama. A ground breaking ceremony with state and local officials, as well as leaders from the nearby NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, was held Thursday morning (Aug. 3) celebrating the expansion and reconfiguration of the USSRC's Rocket Park, which has stood since 1965. In 2018, a number of the long-standing rockets were lowered and removed off property to be repaired and repainted. (8/3)

Real Space Food Versus Fake Space Food (Source: YouTube)
How did freeze-dried ice cream come to dominate the imaginations of space-obsessed kids? Click here. (7/27)

Satellite Operators Poised for $9 Billion Payday After Clearing C-band Spectrum (Source: Ars Technica)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched early Thursday with the last of a dozen new C-band video relay satellites purchased by Intelsat and SES to help clear spectrum for the rollout of 5G wireless services in the US. Intelsat and SES are on track to receive nearly $9 billion in incentive payments from 5G cell network operators by the end of the year. The payments are due after Intelsat and SES clear the lower 300 MHz of C-band spectrum, which is being transitioned from satellite services to terrestrial 5G under the supervision of the Federal Communications Commission. (8/3)

Sporadic Electrical Problems with O3b Satellites Causing Delay for Lauching Others (Source: Space News)
SES says it has encountered an electrical problem with the first four of its O3b mPower satellites. In an earnings call Thursday, newly appointed CEO Ruy Pinto said those satellites are experiencing sporadic issues with their power modules which require resets that he compared to flipping circuit breakers. Those issues have not affected the performance of the satellites' broadband payloads, but the company has delayed the launch of the next pair of Boeing-built satellites, which had been scheduled for June, until September to resolve the problem. Pinto said that SES remains on track to begin initial commercial service with six of the planned 11 O3b mPower satellites by the end of the year. (8/4)

HASC Chairman Starts Investigation of Space Command HQ Decision (Source: Space News)
The chair of the House Armed Services Committee has started an investigation into the Biden administration's decision on Space Command's headquarters. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said Thursday he sent letters to Gen. James Dickinson, commander of Space Command, and Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, demanding transcripts of interviews and other documents related to Space Command’s basing decision, threatening to subpoena these documents if they are not provided. The Pentagon said Monday that President Biden elected to keep Space Command's headquarters in Colorado Springs rather than move it to Huntsville, Alabama, as the Trump administration decided in early 2021. (8/4)

NASA Approves Another Axiom Commercial ISS Astronaut Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA has picked Axiom Space for a fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. NASA said Thursday it selected Axiom to fly a fourth mission to the ISS, called Ax-4 and scheduled for no earlier than next August. Axiom has flown two such missions to the station so far with a third, Ax-3, scheduled for early 2024. the company has not announced the crews for either Ax-3 or Ax-4. The private astronaut missions are part of NASA's efforts to shift from the ISS to commercial space stations around the end of the decade. (8/4)

Australia Space 'In Limbo' After Budget Cuts (Source: Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Australia's space industry says it is "in limbo" after federal budget cuts. Industry officials said they are uncertain about their future after the government canceled the billion-dollar National Space Mission for Earth Observation in June. Some fear a perceived lack of government support will mean startups in the country won't be able to attract investment and could move overseas. Australia's science and industry minister has defended the cancellation, saying it was needed to address budget deficits and that the government would support the industry in other ways, such as through access to a national reconstruction fund. (8/4)

Court Rejects Astra Shareholder Lawsuit (Source: Bloomberg Law)
A federal court has rejected a shareholder lawsuit against launch vehicle company Astra Space. The class-action suit was linked to statements the company made during its merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) about its intent to launch up to 300 times a year within several years. Astra retired the Rocket 3.3 a year ago after a handful of flights, many of which failed. A judge concluded that the statements about its launch plans were protected by "forward-looking" language and disclaimers. (8/4)

Russian Cosmism: Inspiring Putin and Musk with Ideas of Immortality and Space Colonization (Source: El Pais)
The ultimate goal: to achieve immortality for all and resurrect every soul that has ever lived. But it didn’t stop there – humanity would colonize the cosmos, securing its everlasting existence. Russian cosmism was an intellectual movement that emerged in late 19th century Russia. It believed in a deep connection between humans and the cosmos, beyond our daily, earthly lives.

Although the movement has long since vanished, its ideas continue to inspire influential figures like tech entrepreneur and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who plans to revive Russian space exploration. Cosmism’s ambitions of immortality can also be seen in transhumanist movements rooted in Silicon Valley’s techno-utopian ideals. Click here. (8/3)

NASA Uses Colorado Mountains for Moon Landing Training (Source: Axios)
Astronauts from NASA's Artemis mission recently visited the U.S. Army's High-Altitude Aviation Training Site at the Eagle County airport in Gypsum to practice moon-landing tactics. "Flying in mountains, you get a lot of visual illusions … you may be up flying and looking at the [landing zone] and thinking, 'OK that looks fine,' and you get down here and realize, 'Wow, those rocks are huge, I can't land here anymore, I've got to hover,'" Lt. Col. Nicholas S. Tucker told the Vail Daily. (8/3)

GE, NASA Advance Hybrid Electric Aircraft (Source: Simple Flying)
GE and NASA have unveiled the livery for their hybrid-electric aircraft that will participate in NASA's Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project. The aircraft is part of NASA's efforts to develop and promote green aviation technologies. (8/3)

1st Solar Eruption to Simultaneously Impact Earth, Moon and Mars Shows Dangers of Space Radiation (Source: Space.com)
A solar eruption that occurred in Oct. 2021 was simultaneously detected here on Earth, on the moon — and even on Mars. By detecting the same coronal mass ejection (CME) on these three different worlds for the first time, scientists can better determine how a planet's magnetic field and atmosphere work together to shield life from such radiation. This first-of-its-kind CME detection  was made even more impressive by the fact that at the time of the eruption, our planet and the Red Planet were on opposite sides of the sun with a gulf of around 155 million miles (250 million kilometers) between them. (8/3)

Northrop Grumman Shifting Next ISS Cargo Launches to Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Last week's Cygnus launch marks the final supply of the Russian-made RD-181 engines used on the rocket’s first stage. A major portion of that stage is also fabricated by a Ukrainian company, so with both a federal law requiring companies to shift to U.S.-based engines in place for certain missions, and supply chain issues related to the war in Ukraine, Northrop Grumman decided in 2022 it would partner with Firefly Aerospace to create a new version of its Antares rocket.

The American-made redo, though, won’t be available until at least 2025, so Northrop Grumman made a deal to send its Cygnus spacecraft up on its next set of missions via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets flying from Florida. Its first flight, for NG-20, will be as early as December using SpaceX’s upgraded Space Launch Complex 40. It has been redeveloped in the last year at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport to support crewed missions in addition to SpaceX’s existing capability from nearby LC-39A. Northrop Grumman has at least two more resupply launches with SpaceX on tap in 2024 and potentially more through 2025. (8/4)

New Details on Extent of Rocket Launch 'No-Go' Area at UK's Sutherland Spaceport (Source: The Northern Times)
A proposed 50 square kilometre “Launch Exclusion Zone” (LEZ) is set be put in place around the Sutherland Spaceport during rocket launches. The zone would cover much of Melness Crofters' Estate, and ironically it would also include a significant part of the neighbouring Eriboll Estate, owned by Danish entrepreneur Anders Holch Polvsen, who launched a failed legal challenge against the spaceport. (8/4)

How Long Could You Survive in Space Without a Spacesuit? (Source: Space.com)
"Within a very short time, a matter of 10 to 15 seconds, you will become unconscious because of a lack of oxygen," according to Stefaan de Mey, a senior strategy officer at the European Space Agency (ESA) charged with coordinating the strategy area for human and robotic exploration. "The oxygen starts expanding and rupturing your lungs, tearing them apart — and that would cause boiling and bubbling of your blood, which immediately will cause embolism and have a fatal impact on your body," de Mey said.

Being in space without an EVA suit becomes very deadly — very, very quickly. While someone could survive this grim scenario, they would want to have very little air in their lungs and get back to the safety of a pressurized spacecraft within seconds — or hope to be rescued and resuscitated within minutes. (8/3)

NASA Data Helps Bangladeshi Farmers Save Water, Money, Energy (Source: NASA)
With nearly 170 million residents, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated nations in the world. Nearly half of its residents work on or live around farms, and rice crops are critical to feeding that population.

So when researchers from the University of Washington and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Agriculture joined forces to use data from NASA and its partners to help the country’s rice farmers, the potential benefit was substantial. Through their IRAS program, short for the Integrated Rice Advisory System, researchers from UW and Bangladesh use satellite data to deliver information to farmers about how much water they are using, how much they have, and how much their crops need. The program is funded by Bangladesh's Department of Agricultural Extension. (8/3)