September 5, 2023

The Story of Our Universe May Be Starting to Unravel (Source: New York Times)
According to the standard model, which is the basis for essentially all research in the field, there is a fixed and precise sequence of events that followed the Big Bang: First, the force of gravity pulled together denser regions in the cooling cosmic gas, which grew to become stars and black holes; then, the force of gravity pulled together the stars into galaxies.

The Webb data, though, revealed that some very large galaxies formed really fast, in too short a time, at least according to the standard model. This was no minor discrepancy. The finding is akin to parents and their children appearing in a story when the grandparents are still children themselves. It was not, unfortunately, an isolated incident. There have been other recent occasions in which the evidence behind science’s basic understanding of the universe has been found to be alarmingly inconsistent.

Take the matter of how fast the universe is expanding. This is a foundational fact in cosmological science — the so-called Hubble constant — yet scientists have not been able to settle on a number. (9/2)

China Publishes New Datasets Obtained by Mars, Lunar Probes (Source: Xinhua)
China published two new batches of data on Monday, obtained by its Mars probe and lunar probe. The scientific data obtained by three scientific payloads including a high-definition camera on Tianwen-1, the country's Mars probe, from January to March this year, have been released, amounting to nearly 68 gigabytes, according to the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). (9/5)

Musk Hints at the Bold Future of SpaceX's Starship Program (Source: The Street)
Musk revealed a few details about SpaceX's plans for next year. The space exploration company, he said, will be responsible for delivering 90% of all payload to orbit mass for 2024. And once SpaceX's bold Starship program gets up and running, that number will exceed 99%, Musk said. "These magnitudes are madness to consider, but necessary to make consciousness multiplanetary," Musk said in a post on X. (9/4)

Bangor University Scientists Design Fuel for Nuclear Reactors on the Moon (Source: Sky News)
Scientists at a Welsh university have designed fuel which could sustain life on a base situated on the moon. A team at Bangor University in north Wales has been conducting research which they say will make space travel safer and more efficient. Rolls-Royce was given funding earlier this year to build a nuclear reactor for a lunar base. NASA's Artemis mission aims to put astronauts - including the first woman - back on the surface by the end of 2025. (9/4)

India's Manastu Space Secures $3 Million Investment (Source: Your Story)
Space-tech startup Manastu Space has raised $3 million in a pre-Series A funding round. Mansatu Space will use the funding for the development and deployment of its Green Propulsion and Debris Collision Avoidance System, and in-space services. The technology helps satellites to navigate through space and avoid any debris that might collide with them. Mansatu Space started at the Student Satellite Lab at IIT Bombay where the founders worked on developing Pratham as an Indian ionospheric research satellite with implications in early tsunami warnings. (9/3)

UAE Investments in Space Sector Surpass Dhs22bn (Source: Gulf Business)
The UAE has achieved continuous accomplishments in the space economy sector, which has enhanced the country’s global competitiveness while contributing to the diversification of its economy. The country’s investment in the space sector has already surpassed the Dhs22bn mark, encompassing satellite communications systems, earth and space exploration, data transmission services, satellite broadcasting, and mobile satellite communications, among others. (9/5)

Las Vegas Spaceport Could Provide Satellite Launch Services (KTNV)
The Las Vegas Spaceport could add satellite launch services to its list of offerings when it opens. Company officials said they've entered into a strategic agreement with O-G Launch to introduce advanced small and medium satellite launch services. According to a press release, they would use a Boeing 757 aircraft to carry recyclable rockets and payloads up to 40,000 feet before launching them into space. That's if they get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. (9/4)

India Declares Lunar Mission Success (Source: Space News)
India declared its Chandrayaan-3 mission a success as the lander and rover powered down at the end of the lunar day. The Indian space agency ISRO said the Vikram lander shut down Sunday night, a day after the Pragyan rover. The rover covered more than 100 meters during its time on the surface, short of expectations before its launch of as much as 300 to 350 meters. Both the lander and rover collected images and other scientific data since the Aug. 23 landing. ISRO hopes to reestablish communications with the lander in late September after the two-week lunar night, but neither the lander nor rover have systems to keep them warm. (9/5)

Upcoming ESA Tests to Allow Ariane 6 Debut Date (Source: Space News)
ESA expects to be able to set a date for the first Ariane 6 launch after two tests planned over the next month. ESA and other partners on the long-delayed launch vehicle program said Monday that they should be able to announce a new launch period for the rocket's inaugural flight after two static-fire tests of the core stage of the rocket and its Vulcain 2.1 engine. One test, scheduled for Tuesday, will fire the engine for four seconds while the second, scheduled for early October, will last 470 seconds. ESA said that if those tests go well the first launch could take place "not too late" into 2024, but declined to be more specific ahead of the tests. (9/5)

SDA Readies Demonstration of Tranch 0 Capabilities (Source: Space News)
SDA is now preparing to demonstrate the capabilities of those Tranche 0 satellites. Two key goals for SDA will be to test the radio and optical communication payloads on the satellites that will make up the Transport Layer, designed to relay information from satellite to satellite and provide links to military systems on the ground, at sea and in flight. Seven of the 19 Transport Layer satellites have Link 16 payloads, an encrypted tactical data protocol used to connect aircraft, ships and ground vehicles so they can exchange data, including text, voice messages and imagery. SDA had planned to start testing Link 16 payloads launched in April but was held up by licenses needed for those demonstrations. (9/5)

Space Tango Hires New CEO (Source: Space News)
Space Tango, a company that provides space research services on the ISS, has hired a new CEO. The company announced Friday that S. Sita Sonty would take over as CEO from co-founder Twyman Clements, who will remain with the company as president. Sonty, former head of the space industry practice at Boston Consulting Group, will help the company grow its microgravity research business. (9/5)

China's Galactic Energy Launches From Sea-Based Platform (Source: Space News)
Chinese company Galactic energy conducted the first sea-based launch of its Ceres-1 rocket Tuesday. The rocket lifted off from a mobile sea platform off the coast from Haiyang, Shandong province, at 5:34 a.m. Eastern. Aboard were four satellites for Guodian Gaoke, a commercial firm constructing its Tianqi low-Earth orbit narrow-band internet-of-things constellation. The launch was the ninth successful flight of the Ceres-1 in as many attempts, and the fourth launch of the rocket since late July. (9/5)

SpaceX Asks FCC to Revoke Viasat/Inmarsat Acquisition (Source: Telegraph)
SpaceX has asked the FCC to revoke its approval of Viasat's acquisition of Inmarsat. SpaceX said in FCC filings that Viasat's "blatant disregard" for regulations was cause for the FCC to reverse an earlier decision to transfer Inmarsat's licenses to Viasat, but did not elaborate. Viasat called the SpaceX claims unfounded and an effort to "hijack" an acquisition that has already been completed. (9/5)

Marilyn Lovell Passes (Source: Washington Post)
Marilyn Lovell, wife of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, has died. Marilyn Lovell passed away at the age of 93 last month. The two met in high school in Milwaukee and married in 1952. She was thrust into the spotlight in 1970 during the Apollo 13 mission, watching and waiting from home as the astronauts and mission controllers worked to save the mission and return the crew to Earth. A quarter-century later, the movie Apollo 13 dramatized the mission and brought new fame to the Lovells. (9/5)

¥10 Billion JAXA Fund Set to Boost Space Business (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
Japan's government plans to subsidize the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the tune of about ¥10 billion in fiscal 2024 as a fund for companies and universities engaged in space development. Similarly, it intends to revise the Law Concerning JAXA to enable large-scale, long-term funding, with the aim of stimulating the up-and-coming domestic space business.

The Cabinet Office along with three ministries — the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry — will jointly include the expense in the fiscal 2024 budget proposal. JAXA, which is well versed in space-related technologies, will allocate the funding to companies and universities that develop technologies like satellites, rockets and advanced technologies for lunar exploration. (9/5)

NASA Supports Air Taxi Development (Source: Vertical Magazine)
NASA's Ames Research Center is deeply involved in shaping the future of electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, with state-of-the-art facilities like the world's largest wind tunnel and vertical motion simulator. Steve Yoon, chief of the computational physics branch, discusses NASA's ongoing research in advanced air mobility, noting that the eVTOL market has the potential for exponential growth. (9/1)

China Continues to Make Strides in Space Breeding Technique (Source: Space Daily)
Upon a search for "space-bred seeds" on China's e-commerce giant JD.com, a stunning array of vegetables and fruits appears, each with remarkably positive user reviews. Over the decades, the plant seeds brought back from space have transcended their role in laboratory research. They have stepped into the daily lives of Chinese people, being utilized as food and serving as educational materials for curious children interested in science.

It was in 1987 that China sent its first crop seeds including rice and pepper into space, marking the start of the country's journey in space breeding. Over the past 30 years, it has conducted over 30 such space experiments involving plant seeds, seedlings and strains, resulting in the cultivation of almost 1,000 new varieties. Space breeding refers to exposing seeds or strains to cosmic radiation and microgravity in space to mutate their genes, so as to create new species or varieties with greater performances.

At a space breeding base in Beijing's Tongzhou District, multiple intelligent greenhouses are used for growing crops that have traveled to space, including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce. The greenhouses are mainly used to evaluate and screen new varieties, a major step after mutant plants or seeds return to Earth. (9/4)