September 23, 2023

Chandrayaan-3 Not the Achievement of Modi Government Alone, Says Opposition (Source: The Telegraph)
The Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday described the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission as a result of the "competencies, capabilities and capacities that have been created over 60 years" in space research, not the achievement of the Narendra Modi government alone or a symbol of "muscular nationalism". (9/21)

FAA: What Goes Up May Not Come Back Down Without a Re-Entry Permit (Source: BoingBoing)
The first commercial spaceflight is currently stuck in orbit. Having failed to get permission to bring its orbiting laboratory back to Earth, the Varda Space Industries capsule has circled the globe for two months beyond its planned "mission." The specimens are safe in their craft named a "Winnebago," as Varda patiently waits for the FAA's review of their plans. (9/22)

World's Most Intense Waterslide Was Designed To Save Crews From Exploding Saturn V Rockets (Source: Jalopnik)
In rocket science it’s best to plan for all contingencies, such as giving crews and astronauts places to hide should something go wrong with the several thousand tons of propellant sitting on top of an ignition source. Enter, the Rubber Room. NASA built two rubber rooms deep below the two launch pads at Launch Pad 39 Complex. If there was time to react, NASA had a built-in process for folks to quickly and efficiently get to safety, starting with a nine-story waterslide completely in the dark. Click here. (9/19)

Close Call! 2 Huge Pieces of Space Debris Had a Near-Miss in Earth Orbit (Source: Space.com)
Two big pieces of space junk almost slammed into each other in low Earth orbit, highlighting the need to clear up space close to home. Leolabs, a space traffic management services which tracks satellites and other objects in orbit, spotted the close call on Sept. 13, as a defunct Soviet payload and a spent Chinese rocket body whizzed by each other at incredible speeds.

The conjunction of the two objects saw the pair pass each other head-on. Leolabs identified these as likely being Cosmos 807, an 880 pounds (400 kilograms) payload launched in 1976, and a roughly 4,400 lb. (2,000 kg) Chinese Long March 4C rocket stage launched five years ago. (9/21)

3D Simulation of a Supernova Needed 5 Million Hours of Supercomputing (Source: New Scientist)
In recent years, large scale supernova observations have revealed rare types of cosmic explosions, one of which is tens to hundreds of times more luminous than ordinary supernovae, and the other lasts for extremely long periods of time. Dubbed as exotic supernovae, these rare events challenge and overturn previously established understanding of supernova physics. The suspects for exotic supernova are stars with masses ranging from 80 to 140 times that of the Sun.

Scientists say that learning more about these unusual supernovae may hold the key to understanding the evolution of the most massive stars in the universe. However, modeling what happens during these massive explosions is quite challenging. Ke-Jung Chen and team said that current models have mainly been confined to one-dimensional simulations. Using cutting-edge supercomputer simulations and millions of hours of computing time, they were able to model how turbulent structures in the interior of an exotic supernova explosion impact the brightness and explosion structure of the entire supernova. (9/21)

These Chemicals in a Planet’s Atmosphere Mean There’s Likely an Advanced Civilization There (Source: Universe Today)
MIT’s Sara Seager and an international team of scientists suggest that technological civilizations might be uncovered via a hunt for chemicals not created by life. Specifically, the team proposes nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). They are ideal technosignature gases to find because, as they state in the paper, “Life on Earth is not known to produce any molecules with N–F or S–F bonds, and this includes fully fluorinated N and S compounds.”

Their paper states that fluorine is nearly excluded from the chemistry of life on Earth. Other natural processes don’t create it in huge amounts, either. That leaves only artificial (read: industrial) pollution. In other words, those gases would be the atmospheric by-products of industrial activity. Here on Earth, their abundance increased rapidly (from nearly non-existent) since the Industrial Revolution began.

Not only are these gases specific to industrial processes (at least here on Earth), but they have very unique spectral features. When found in the atmosphere of a distant planet, their spectral fingerprints would leap out from the background spectra. So, if astronomers see those fingerprints in an alien world’s atmosphere, perhaps a reasonably advanced civilization generated them. (9/16)

Dark Stars: Have We Finally Found a Weird Sun Powered by Dark Matter? (Source: New Scientist)
In the early days – and we are talking very early, not long after the big bang – the universe might have been littered with strange stellar monsters. Wide enough to engulf our whole solar system, these stars would be powered not by nuclear fusion, like a regular star, but instead by dark matter: specifically, particles of this mysterious stuff self-annihilating to fuel so-called “dark stars”.

Over the past 16 years, she and her colleagues have refined their understanding of these tantalizing hypothetical objects. The problem was, finding evidence for them always seemed out of reach. Until recently, that is, because Freese and her colleagues have reported a potential sighting: unusual galaxies seen by a new telescope. “Maybe some of these objects aren’t really galaxies at all, but actually singular stars – dark stars,” says team member Jillian Paulin. (9/20)

If You Could See Gravitational Waves, the Universe Would Look Like This (Source: Universe Today)
Imagine if you could see gravitational waves. Of course, humans are too small to sense all but the strongest gravitational waves, so imagine you were a great creature of deep space, with tendrils that could extend a million kilometers. As gravitational waves rippled across your vast body, you would sense them squeezing and tugging ever so slightly upon you. And your brilliant mind could use these sensations to create an image in your mind. Click here. (9/22)

Satellogic Relocating From Uruguay to the US in Search of Government Growth (Source: Space News)
Satellogic is relocating from Uruguay to the United States in a bid for more government business as revenues continue falling short of expectations, the publicly traded Earth observation operator announced. Satellogic is currently registered in the British Virgin Islands and headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, meaning it is not subject to U.S. export controls for an imagery business that recently branched into selling its dishwasher-sized satellites to other companies.

The domicile change means Satellogic would lose this export advantage it had over U.S.-based satellite suppliers, its vice president of sales Luciano Giesso said during the South Florida Space Day conference. However, it would smooth the way for a business that currently relies on third-party arrangements with local companies to sell high-resolution multispectral imagery to the U.S. government. (9/22)

Egypt Hosts Delegates from the Philippines Space Agency (Source: Africa in Space)
Dr Jay Jean Perez, the Deputy Director General of Space Science and Technology at the Philippine Space Agency, led a delegation to the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA). During this visit, the team was hosted by Dr Sherif Sedky, the Executive Director of EgSA. The primary objective of this visit was to foster collaborative endeavors between the two nations by facilitating the exchange of space exploration and technology expertise. (9/6)

Space Safety and Situational Awareness Transition Act Resurrected in US Congress (Source: SpaceRef)
The Space Safety and Situational Awareness Transition Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on Sep. 14) amid other measures to reduce space junk. The bill was co-announced by US Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Donald Norcross (D-NJ). The bill would establish a civil SSA capability under the Department of Commerce and provide new congressional oversight to support spaceflight safety and space sustainability. The bill would also support NASA research and development activities to help inform and improve space situational awareness. (9/14)

Florida Spaceport Territory Expansion Considered (Source: SPACErePORT)
As Space Florida works to expand Florida’s capabilities to support the nation’s space enterprise, Space Florida is studying the integration of Homestead Air Reserve Base (near Miami) and Tyndall Air Force Base (near Panama City) as "spaceport territories" within the Florida Spaceport System. They would join the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Eglin Air Force Base, Patrick Space Force Base, Jacksonville's Cecil Spaceport, and Space Coast Regional Airport as territories covered under Chapter 331, Part Two, Florida Statutes.
 
The move would enable the spaceport authority to leverage these bases' assets to support regional aerospace industry growth and statewide supply chain expansion, with an array of innovative financing, development, and planning capabilities made possible through Chapter 331.  (9/22)

Stanford and UC Berkeley Collaborate on Investigation to Produce Superior Graphene Aerogel in Space (Source: CASIS)
Graphene aerogel is a remarkable lightweight material that is both thermally insulating and electrically conductive. This makes it appealing for use in a wide variety of applications—from improved energy storage in batteries to better oil spill cleanup methods to next-generation space suits. A team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley are leveraging the ISS National Laboratory to produce higher-quality graphene aerogel than is possible on Earth. (9/22)