November 11, 2023

Virgin Galactic Stock Soars After Earnings (Source: Barron's)
Virgin Galactic stock was soaring in Thursday morning trading after the Virgin Galactic Went to the Edge of Space Today. The Stock Is Up. The space tourism pioneer reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales. Fourth-quarter guidance isn’t hurting, either. (11/10)

Squeezing the Universe: LIGO Breaks the Quantum Limit (Source: SciTech Daily)
The National Science Foundation-funded LIGO and its sister detector in Europe, Virgo, have detected gravitational waves from dozens of mergers between black holes as well as from collisions between a related class of stellar remnants called neutron stars. At the heart of LIGO’s success is its ability to measure the stretching and squeezing of the fabric of space-time on scales 10 thousand trillion times smaller than a human hair. (11/10)

LIGO researchers report a significant advance in quantum squeezing, which allows them to measure undulations in space-time across the entire range of gravitational frequencies detected by LIGO. At very tiny, subatomic scales, empty space is filled with a faint crackling of quantum noise, which interferes with LIGO’s measurements and restricts how sensitive the observatory can be. Now, LIGO researchers report a significant advance in a quantum technology called “squeezing” that allows them to skirt around this limit and measure undulations in space-time across the entire range of gravitational frequencies detected by LIGO. (11/10)

Why Elon Musk Feels the Need to Guide Humanity to Mars and Beyond (Source: The Street)
"I want to die on Mars," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in March. "Just not on impact." Musk has made no secret of his ambition to help make humanity an interplanetary species. He built Starship, the world's most powerful rocket, with the express intention to do just that. The billionaire's reasons for getting to Mars and beyond are existential, if slightly long-term.

The Sun, Musk said, is constantly — if slowly — expanding. Eventually, it will heat the Earth, boiling its oceans and turning Earth into a facsimile of the planet Venus, where life like we know it is impossible. "If we do not become interplanetary and go beyond our solar system, annihilation of all life on Earth is a certainty," Musk said. "It could be as little as half a billion years; that's only 10% longer than Earth has been around at all. If life had taken 10% longer to evolve on Earth, it wouldn't exist at all." (11/11)

Seven Canadian Satellites on SpaceX Transporter-9 Rideshare Mission (Source: SpaceQ)
SpaceX's Transporter-9 rideshare mission includes 113 payloads, among them seven Canadian satellites from GHGSat, Kepler Communications, Wyvern, and the University of Toronto Aerospace Team (UTAT) Space Systems. SpaceX says that 90 payloads will be deployed directly from the Falcon 9 rocket along with another 23 that will deployed separately from several orbital transfer vehicles. (11/10)

Starfish Space Scrubs Plan for a Satellite Rendezvous After Thruster Suffers Anomaly (Source: GeekWire)
Five months after a tilt-a-whirl spin spoiled the debut of Starfish Space’s first spacecraft, the startup has halted efforts to put its Otter Pup back on track to demonstrate an on-orbit satellite rendezvous. Starfish had to abandon its plan to regroup and attempt a rendezvous when the Otter Pup satellite’s electric propulsion thruster suffered an anomaly and could no longer function. “We determined that we just pushed it a little bit too far,” said Starfish co-founder Austin Link. (11/10)

Transportation Department Official Suggests Industry Help Pay for FAA Commercial Space Office (Source: Space News)
A top Department of Transportation official suggested the launch industry should help pay for additional resources for the Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial space office. Speaking at a virtual meeting of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) Nov. 8, Polly Trottenberg, deputy secretary of transportation, all but rejected calls from industry to sharply increase the budget of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, to deal with growing levels of launch activity.

At an Oct. 18 hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee, industry witnesses recommended a significant increase in the budget for that office, which received nearly $37.6 million in fiscal year 2023, to hire more personnel to handle launch and reentry licensing. One witness, Bill Gerstenmaier of SpaceX, specifically recommended doubling the office’s budget.

Asked about increasing AST’s budget, Trottenberg said there were competing priorities elsewhere in the FAA, noting that the aviation did not receive as much support in last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as other modes of transportation. “I don’t think we made the commensurate investments on the aviation side,” she said, including in “the bread-and-butter systems of the FAA.” (11/10)

Chinese Scientists Build Martian Atmospheric Model for Sample Return Mission (Source; Xinhua)
Chinese scientists have developed a new numerical model to simulate the atmospheric environment of Mars, offering research support for China's sample-return mission to the red planet. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) plans to implement the Tianwen-3 mission, to bring Martian samples back to Earth, around 2028. To provide information on the meteorological conditions for spacecraft landing, scientists at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, designed and built "GoMars," a global open planetary atmospheric model for Mars. (11/10)

Vulcan Mission to Launch Human Remains (Source: Orlando Inno)
The debut flight of ULA's Vulcan is scheduled for Dec. 24. One notable cargo item — a privately owned lunar lander — arrived in Florida on Oct. 30. That lander will carry the cremated remains of the original "Star Trek" series creator Gene Rodenberry and cast member Nichelle Nichols, among others. Houston-based Celestis is the company behind the “memorial spaceflights”. The cremated remains of another 332 people will be part of this spaceflight. The ashes and DNA are in a radiation-protected container, and also have a second, titanium, layer of protection. Editor's Note: Among them are the remains of Central Florida's David and Liliane Webb. (11/10)

SpaceX to Launch 113 Payloads on Transporter-9 Falcon 9 Mission From California (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
For the fourth time in 2023, SpaceX will launch a smallsat rideshare mission to low Earth orbit with a multitude of payloads. The Transporter-9 mission flies Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX said the launch will include 113 payloads, 90 of which will be deployed directly from the Falcon 9 rocket. The other 23 satellites will deploy from orbital transfer vehicles at a later time. (11/11)

Microbes from Earth Might Allow Astronauts to Grow Crops on the Moon (Source: Space.com)
Microbes could help unlock vital nutrients in lunar soil to one day help farms sustain astronaut crews on the moon, a new study reports. Previous research found that lunar soil possesses a number of elements vital for plant growth. This has raised hopes that greenhouse farms on the moon could make use of local resources to help lunar bases sustain life, instead of astronauts having to lug huge amounts of soil or bulky hydroponic systems from Earth. (11/9)

'Lunar Swirls' Have Confused Scientists for Years. New NASA Moon Data Might Clear Things Up (Source: Space.com)
Swirls across the lunar surface are connected to changes in the moon's physical features after all, new observations from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have revealed. Lunar swirls are twisted-looking patches on the moon that shine brightly because they reflect high levels of sunlight. The swirls are marked by contrasting bright and dark imprints on the lunar surface, expressed as broad, bright loops separated by darker lanes.

Lunar swirls are known to occur in both the lunar mare  —  dark plains of basalt rock created by volcanism associated with ancient asteroid impacts on the far side of the moon  —  and bright lunar highlands. Yet, the specific cause of these high-albedo lunar swirls has remained hotly debated. Determining the features' origin  is considered key in understanding what processes have shaped the lunar surface, how particles move around on it, and even how the surfaces of planets and moons generally affect the space environment surrounding them. (11/10)

Shuttle Boosters Point Skyward for the First Time in a Decade (Source: Gizmodo)
The pair of rocket boosters that lifted the iconic Space Shuttle to orbit are now standing tall at the California Science Center, awaiting the Endeavor orbiter for the full display that will showcase the launch vehicle in its vertical glory for the first time since its retirement. (11/10)

Musk's Dislike of Bright Colors Has Led to SpaceX Workplace Safety Concerns (Source: New York Post)
Several current and former SpaceX employees have blasted the company over workers’ safety concerns. A Reuters investigation has highlighted a “lax” safety culture, led by Musk’s disliking of bright colors. During his frequent visits to the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, Texas, Musk would play around with a novelty flamethrower, while discouraging workers from wearing safety vests. Certain machines typically made in industrial safety yellow, were painted black or blue while yellow-safety tape was replaced with red. (11/11)

Concerns Raised Over Future of Spaceport America After Virgin Galactic Announcement (Source: KQRE)
Virgin Galactic’s announcement Wednesday that it will lay off 18% of its workers and pause spaceflights next year has some people worried about the future of Spaceport America. It has some state lawmakers saying, I told you so. “Something I’ve been saying was likely for well over five years. The business model was not paying dividends, the stock price had collapsed. There was not a business model or business plan that looked viable,” said Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces).

Executive Director of Spaceport America Scott McLaughlin is urging patience, “It all makes sense when you look at what they’re trying to do, in trying to get to very consistent and regular operations. So I don’t like that there’s a pause, we’ve had those in the past, but they did go to space six times this year.” McLaughlin insists the pause in flights won’t reduce Virgin Galactic’s lease payments to Spaceport America which runs through 2033.

McLaughlin said the latest numbers show that since the start of 2022, Spaceport America has created more than 800 jobs and brought $60M of new money to the region. New Mexico taxpayers however have spent far more on its bet on space tourism.”It’s been a struggle. About a 15-20 year struggle with them to figure out how we’re going to make this spaceport successful. We spent a lot of money… probably over 300 million dollars in that spaceport,” said Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup). (11/9)

US Military Gives Lockheed Martin $33.7 Million to Develop Nuclear Spacecraft (Source: Space.com)
Lockheed Martin has been handed a contract to work on nuclear-powered spacecraft technologies. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded $33.7 million to Lockheed Martin as part of the Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear (JETSON) effort to "mature high-power nuclear electric power and propulsion technologies and spacecraft design."

JETSON aims to launch a fission reactor that will be started up once in space. The reactor will generate heat, which is then transferred to Stirling power converters to produce electricity. This can then be used to power spacecraft payloads or electric thrusters for propulsion. (11/10)

Scientists Who Simulated Living On Mars Revealed The Challenges Of Life On The Red Planet (Source: Night Daily)
As summer was just winding down, a team of six researchers embarked on one of NASA’s most creative missions yet. But instead of boarding a rocket and jetting off into space, they traveled to the slopes of a volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. There, they entered a detailed simulation of Mars — a bizarre setting that would be their home for the next year.

So how did these six men and women react when forced into the close quarters of a simulated mission for 12 months? And what lessons can be learned that might make space travel easier in the years to come? As it turns out, the biggest obstacles were the things that nobody expected. Click here. (11/3)

Baron Expects SpaceX's Starlink to Go Public Around 2027 (Source: CNBC)
Billionaire investor Ron Baron told CNBC on Friday that he expects SpaceX to IPO its Starlink satellite internet service “in 2027 or so.” Baron is a major backer of Elon Musk’s companies. SpaceX leadership, including Musk, have discussed spinning off Starlink to take it public through an initial public offering once the business was “in a smooth sailing situation.” (11/10)

Do Gravitational Waves Exhibit Wave-Particle Duality? (Source: Big Think)
One of the incredible revolutions of quantum mechanics is wave-particle duality: the idea that all fundamental quanta, whether massless or massive, exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behavior. The only force we don't have a quantum theory for is gravitation, which obeys Einstein's general relativity. Although there are gravitational waves, there's no particle-like (graviton) counterpart in GR. But at a fundamental level, gravity may indeed be a quantum force: with a quantum gravity theory we still haven't discovered. Testing gravitational waves for wave-particle duality might bring about a new scientific revolution. (11/9)

SpaceX Workers Took Adderall, Slept in Bathroom: Report (Source: Business Insider)
Some SpaceX workers resorted to taking Adderall to keep up with the pace of work at the company's launch facility, and others found themselves falling asleep in the bathroom during long workweeks, a recent Reuters investigation found.

Travis Carson, a former SpaceX worker at the company's facility in Brownsville, Texas, told Reuters some workers took Adderall — a stimulant designed to help people with ADHD improve their focus and concentration levels — without a prescription to keep up with the pace of work. Carson was a welder and later a production supervisor at SpaceX from 2019 to 2022, when he was terminated following an argument with his manager, the publication said.

Four current and former SpaceX workers at the location, including Carson, told the publication that employees would sometimes work over 80 hours a week and some would sleep at the facility to get more work done. Some employees would fall asleep in the bathrooms, the four current and former workers who spoke with Reuters said. Click here. (11/10)

NASA is Breaking a Cardinal Rule of Branding, But it Works (Source: Fast Company)
NASA’s “worm” and “meatball” logos have divided the agency in the past, but increasingly, they’re appearing together. As it embarks on its Artemis era, NASA’s been using two logos at once. Technically, the meatball logo is the official logo, or the “NASA Insignia,” as it’s named in the agency’s online brand guide. The worm logo, which was NASA’s logo from 1975 to 1992, is the “NASA Logotype” and listed as a supporting element.

“Aesthetically, some might say they come from different planets,” NASA creative director David Rager said Monday during a panel at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., about the worm logo with its co-designer Richard Danne. “But we found with just the right balance they compliment each other fantastically.” (11/10)

OneWeb, Jio Satellite Get Permit to Provide Internet Services (Source: Financial Express)
Jio Satellite Communications and Bharti Enterprises-owned OneWeb have now received the license from the government to provide broadband internet services to end users using satellite, officials said. It’s noteworthy that these companies have secured pan-India Internet Service Provider (ISP) licenses, which are essential for delivering internet connectivity to end-users through satellite or mobile networks. (11/10)

Sierra Space Successfully Tests New 5,500 lbf Hypergolic Rocket Engine Capable of Continuous Throttling (Source: Sierra Space)
Sierra Space successfully tested a new 5,500 lbf. hypergolic rocket engine that promises to become a groundbreaking addition to its engine portfolio. “This high-performance, reusable bipropellant engine represents a major leap in space propulsion technology, setting new standards for efficiency, reusability and versatility”

Employing pure hydrazine fuel and MON3 oxidizer in a staged combustion cycle, the new engine delivers a vacuum specific impulse of over 339 seconds, making it very efficient for a storable engine. In addition, the engine is designed for continuous throttling from 5,500 lbf of thrust at 100% power down to 900 lbf at 17% power, allowing for precise control and maneuverability. (11/10)

Launch Contracts are “Basically Worthless” Until a Rocket is Proven and Flying, Rocket Lab CEO Says (Source: Tech Crunch)
Rocket Lab is waiting until Neutron is more technically mature before signing launch contracts with customers, CEO Peter Beck told investors on Wednesday. The statements provided an inside look on how the space company is thinking about bringing the Neutron next-gen launch vehicle to market – and the lessons learned from selling its first rocket, Electron.

“Until a vehicle is proven and flying, any launch contract that you can sign is basically worthless,” Beck said during a third quarter earnings call. “We can go and sign a launch contract tomorrow with a number of customers, but it will be like, some thousand dollars down and cancellable anytime. But that really doesn’t mean anything.” (11/9)

Houston Space Industry Set to Skyrocket with Texas A&M institute, Spaceport Wins, Leaders Say (Source: Houston Business Journal)
Industries across Houston are making strides for the future, and the region's aerospace sector is not getting left behind, local leaders said. During a Greater Houston Partnership event this week, GHP President and CEO Bob Harvey led the discussion by highlighting significant funding from the Texas Legislature. During the 88th legislative session, House Bill 3447 created the Texas Space Commission, intended to keep the Lone Star State competitive with other emerging space markets around the country.

From that bill, $350 million — over 56% of its total funding, according to Harvey — went to the Houston area, where Texas A&M University will use the funds to create a new $200 million Texas Space Institute facility near the JSC. North Carolina-based Collins Aerospace is the most prominent beneficiary of Houston’s efforts to bring companies to Houston. Collins completed a 120,000-square-foot facility at the Spaceport last year.

"The state of Alabama gave to Blue Origin $10 million to build the plant," Mario Diaz said. "So we got together with a couple of organizations and went hat in hand to Alabama. We said, 'OK, tell us what you did.'" (11/9)