January 11, 2024

Setting The Stage For The Search For Life With The Habitable Worlds Observatory: Properties Of 164 Promising Planet Survey Targets (Source: Astrobiology)
The Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 (Astro2020) has recommended that NASA realize a large IR/O/UV space telescope optimized for high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy of ~25 exo-Earths and transformative general astrophysics. The NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) has subsequently released a list of 164 nearby (d<25 pc) targets deemed the most accessible to survey for potentially habitable exoplanets with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO).

Notably, only 33 of the 164 stars in our sample have reliable space-based UV measurements, and only 40 have a mid-IR measurement. We also find that phosphorus, a bio-essential element, has only been measured in 11 of these stars, motivating future abundance surveys. Our catalog is publicly available and we advocate for its use in forthcoming studies of promising HWO targets. (1/9)

China Won't Beat US Artemis Astronauts to the Moon, NASA Chief Says (Source: Space.com)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is unconcerned that China will beat the United States in returning astronauts to the moon. "It is a fact: We're in a space race," Nelson said in a 2023 interview. "And it is true that we better watch out that they don't get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, 'Keep out, we're here, this is our territory.'"

But Nelson no longer seems to believe that the "race" is winnable for China. During a media teleconference on Tuesday that discussed the schedule for the agency's Artemis program, the NASA chief announced that the agency is now targeting September 2026 for its Artemis 3 mission, which will land a crew on the lunar surface. In response to a question about China's timeline during the teleconference, Nelson dismissed concerns that the U.S. could lose the race to put human boots back on the moon. (1/11)

Quantum Entanglement Discovery is a Revolutionary Step Forward (Source: Earth.com)
A team of researchers from South Africa has made a significant breakthrough regarding quantum entanglement. Led by Professor Andrew Forbes, in collaboration with renowned string theorist Robert de Mello Koch, now at Huzhou University in China, the team has successfully demonstrated a novel method to manipulate quantum entangled particles without altering their intrinsic properties. (1/11)

Gravitational Wave Observatory in Eastern WA Breaks Quantum Limit (Source: Columbian)
The LIGO Hanford Observatory near Richland is expected to detect 60% more cataclysmic cosmic events — like colliding neutron stars and black holes — thanks to a quantum limit breakthrough. Since the observatory was turned back on in May after three years of upgrades, including adding new quantum squeezing technology, it can probe a larger volume of the universe. “Now that we have surpassed this quantum limit, we can do a lot more astronomy,” said Lee McCuller. (1/3)

Star Mathematician Leaves US for China (Source: South China Morning Post)
After more than a decade of research and teaching in the United States, Chinese-born maths star Sun Song has joined a university in eastern China as a full-time professor. The 36-year-old geometer started his role as a permanent faculty member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (IASM) at Zhejiang University earlier this month. It is the latest in a string of high-profile appointments as the institute aims to become a world-class maths center. (1/6)

EchoStar Jumps as Satellite Operator Hires Advisors to Explore Strategic Options (Source: Reuters)
Shares of EchoStar surged as much as 41% on Wednesday after the satellite operator said it has hired advisors to help evaluate strategic alternatives following its merger with Dish Network. The merger, which was completed on Dec. 31, was engineered by telecom mogul Charlie Ergen to tackle growing competition from larger U.S. carriers. (1/10)

Space Force Gets New Leadership (Source: Space News)
U.S. Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting formally took over leadership of U.S. Space Command on Wednesday. At a change-of-command ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base outside Colorado Springs, Whiting took over from Army Gen. James Dickinson, who is retiring. Whiting was nominated in July, but his Senate confirmation was among those held up for months by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) In remarks at the ceremony, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks highlighted the importance of the command as "space is integral to military operations, and our competitors know it." Whiting's deputy commander is U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Thomas James. (1/11)

Italy's D-Orbit Raises $110 Million for In-Space Transport Services (Source: Space News)
D-Orbit, an Italian company offering in-space transportation services, has raised 100 million euros ($110 million). The company announced the first closing of a Series C round Thursday, led by Japanese company Marubeni Corporation. D-Orbit currently operates the ION line of orbital transfer vehicles for smallsats and hosted payloads. The company says it will use the new funding to expand its space logistics services, including space cloud computing and satellite servicing. (1/11)

China's OrienSpace Launches Inaugural Gravity-1 Rocket (Source: Space News)
A Chinese commercial rocket made its inaugural launch Thursday. The Gravity-1 rocket by OrienSpace lifted off at 12:30 a.m. Eastern from a ship just off the coast from Shandong Province. The rocket placed three Yunyao-1 Earth observation satellites into 500-kilometer orbits successfully. The solid-fuel rocket is designed to place several tons into low Earth orbit. Orienspace CEO Yao Song, who first rose to fame in the semiconductor industry, stated previously that the firm has already secured orders for the launch of hundreds of satellites and has been shortlisted in plans for a number of satellite constellations. (1/11)

Ovzon 3 Satellite Deploys Solar Arrays (Source: Space News)
The Ovzon 3 commercial communications satellite has successfully deployed its solar arrays. Redwire, which provided the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) hardware, confirmed Wednesday the successful deployment of the arrays on the spacecraft, a week after its launch. Ovzon 3 is the first commercial satellite to use the ROSA technology. The spacecraft is due to enter service in the middle of 2024 if it passes in-orbit health checks after reaching its orbital slot at 59.7 degrees east in geostationary orbit, where it would provide mobile connectivity mainly to government customers, including the U.S. Department of Defense. (1/11)

China Launches Kuaizhou-1A Rocket (Source: Xinhua)
Another Chinese rocket launched an experimental satellite overnight. A Kuaizhou-1A lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 10:52 p.m. Eastern Wednesday and placed the Tianxing-1 02 satellite into orbit. Chinese media said Tianxing-1 02 will perform space environment experiments. (1/11)

SpaceX Performs Direct-to-Device Test with Satellite Text Messages (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX says it has successfully tested the first direct-to-device payloads on Starlink satellites. Those payloads, on six Starlink satellites launched last week, used T-Mobile spectrum to connect with unmodified phones on the ground, transmitting text messages. SpaceX said those tests validated the technology that it will incorporate on more Starlink satellites. SpaceX is working with T-Mobile and mobile carriers in other countries to provide direct-to-device services to their customers in the next year. (1/11)

Axiom Completes Mission Review for Upcoming ISS Visit (Source: Axiom Space)
Axiom Space has completed a review for its next private astronaut mission. The company said Wednesday it successfully completed the flight readiness review for its Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station. Ax-3 is scheduled to launch Jan. 17 carrying astronauts from Italy, Sweden and Turkey to the station for a two-week mission. Ax-3 is commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who also commanded Ax-1 in 2022. (1/11)

Researchers Release Open-Source Space Debris Model (Source: Space Daily)
MIT's Astrodynamics, Space Robotics, and Controls Laboratory (ARCLab) announced the public beta release of the MIT Orbital Capacity Assessment Tool (MOCAT) during the 2023 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Space Forum Workshop on Dec. 14. MOCAT enables users to model the long-term future space environment to understand growth in space debris and assess the effectiveness of debris-prevention mechanisms. (1/11)

China's Chang'e 6 Set for Historic Lunar Sample Return Mission From Far Side (Source: Space Daily)
China is set to make space exploration history with its upcoming Chang'e 6 mission, which aims to be the first to collect samples from the far side of the moon. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced that the Chang'e 6 spacecraft is scheduled to land on the lunar surface in the first half of this year, marking a new milestone in lunar research.

Components of the Chang'e 6 probe were recently transported to the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, indicating that preparations are in full swing. The probe, a sophisticated ensemble of an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a reentry module, mirrors the design of its predecessor, Chang'e 5. The CNSA noted that the probe would undergo assembly and prelaunch checks at the center. (1/11)

NASA's 45-Day Mars Simulation to Study Human Responses (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has embarked on its latest 'analog mission' to simulate a journey to Mars, using the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. On January 26, a selected crew of four volunteers, comprising Abhishek Bhagat, Kamak Ebadi, Susan Hilbig, and Ariana Lutsic, will enter HERA for a 45-day mission that mimics the conditions of a Mars expedition. This simulated mission, a crucial part of NASA's ongoing research, is designed to understand how astronauts adapt to the isolation, confinement, and work environment they will face in actual spaceflight.

The crew, chosen for their diverse backgrounds and expertise, will engage in 18 human health studies during the mission. These studies will explore various aspects of human responses when millions of miles away from Earth. Ten of these studies are new to the HERA program, with seven led by international scientists, including collaborations with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre of the United Arab Emirates and the European Space Agency (ESA). This global participation highlights the collaborative nature of current space research and the international interest in Mars exploration. (1/11)

NASA Collaborates with Small Businesses on Laser Communications for Artemis Missions (Source: Space Daily)
NASA is actively collaborating with private industry partners and small businesses in the context of its Artemis program. This collaboration aims to develop scalable, affordable, and advanced laser communication systems, which promise to significantly expand the boundaries of space exploration and discovery for the collective benefit. (1/11)

Virgin Galactic’s Stock Rises After Truist Upgrade (Source: Market Watch)
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. shares rose 4% in premarket trade Wednesday after Truist Securities upgraded the stock to hold from sell and raised its price target to $3 from $1. “Our view on the company’s operational prospects is unchanged,” Truist Securities analyst Michael Ciarmoli wrote in a note released Wednesday. “The company’s decision to halt commercial operations mid-2024 to focus on deploying capital towards the development of the Delta fleet is prudent in our view but removes the likelihood of any significant upside or downside catalysts in the near term.” (1/10)

Intuitive Machines Stock is Soaring as Next Commercial Moon-Landing Mission Looms (Source: Market Watch)
Shares of space-exploration company Intuitive Machines Inc. climbed 23% on Wednesday ahead of the launch of the firm’s commercial lunar lander, which could come as soon as next month. The company’s stock, which ended the session at $2.83, registered its highest close since Dec. 15, 2023, when it closed at $2.80, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Intuitive’s shares also registered their largest daily percentage increase since April 26, 2023, when they rose 32.28%. (1/10)

No Matter How High He Gets, Elon Musk Shouldn’t Be Above the Law (Source: Washington Post)
There are plenty of reasons the U.S. government tests prospective employees for illegal drug use: because people who violate drug laws are more vulnerable to blackmail and because drugs can lead workers to behave recklessly and simply because rules are rules. All this is true even for low-level employees as well as contractors with equivalent roles. Why not, then, for the richest man in the world, whose stray comments can move markets and upend foreign conflicts?

Mr. Musk owns or leads several companies, each of which affords him influence over American life and the country. But it’s his leadership of SpaceX in particular that presents a serious problem... That any private individual could wield this degree of economic and political influence is troubling — but it is more alarming when that individual has a tendency, as does Mr. Musk, toward erratic behavior, and more frightening if the individual is abusing drugs that could make him more erratic still. What’s more, the drug use reported by the Journal likely violates the many, and hefty, federal contracts SpaceX has signed. These rules ought to be enforced consistently. But, so far in his career, Mr. Musk has flouted rules with few consequences. (1/10)

Spaceport Leaders Hold Public Meeting on Future Plans (Source: KOB4)
There was a discussion Wednesday night about the future of New Mexico’s Spaceport America. Spaceport leaders wanted to update the public on their plans and take feedback from people in the community at a meeting in Albuquerque. A few dozen people gathered at a facility by the Albuquerque International Sunport, and Spaceport reps explained their short-term and long-term plans.

“In the future, we’re focused on things like orbital launch, maybe in 10 or 15 years. We’re focused on re-entry, and on building a complete ecosystem, what we’re now calling Space Valley, from Los Alamos to El Paso,” said Scott McLaughlin, executive director of Spaceport America.

“It’s amazing how much goes on out there that people aren’t aware of,” said Andrew Nelson, vice president of aerospace with RS&H, the Spaceport’s consulting firm. They expect more companies to move in and to see an expanded workforce, possibly reaching the thousands, in the next five years. Spaceport reps have acknowledged a lot of people have been opposed to the project and the more than $200 million in taxpayer dollars that have gone into it. (1/11)

Russia's Angara Heavy Launch Vehicle Arrives At Vostochny Spaceport (Source: Aviation Week)
The first Angara A5 heavy launch vehicle to operate from Vostochny commercial spaceport in Russia’s Far East has been delivered to the pad, Russian space agency Roscosmos announced Jan. 9. (1/10)

NASA Glenn Employee to Compete on Jeopardy! (Source: WOIO)
A NASA Glenn Research Center employee will be competing for a second time on “Jeopardy!” Wednesday. NASA Glenn officials say Michael Vallely will be competing in the Second Chance Tournament Wednesday following his first appearance in June 2023. The NASA program analyst lost when he went into Final Jeopardy. NASA representatives say during his first Jeopardy! appearance, he shared his history with cancer and how he is a multiple-time cancer survivor. (1/10)

Feared Failure of Peregrine Mission Could Put US Behind China in Moon Race (Source: South China Morning Post)
The Peregrine mission is part of program for space firms to build and fly lunar craft on which NASA can buy cargo space for its scientific instruments. It may be a good idea to test out propulsion and lander technologies first in space, an author and space policy expert in Arizona says. (1/10)

Chinese Firm Launches World’s Most Powerful Solid-Fuel Rocket in Coup for Private Aerospace Sector (Source: South China Morning Post)
OrienSpace launched a mammoth solid-fuel rocket from a ship off Haiyang in Shandong province at on Thursday, sending three weather satellites into orbit. Chinese aerospace media reported that the Gravity-1 launch is ‘a significant advancement in the independent innovation of China’s commercial carrier rockets’. (1/11)

The Strongest Known Fast Radio Burst Has Been Traced to a 7-Galaxy Pileup (Source: Science News)
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Gordon and her colleagues took a closer look at where FRB 20220610A, the most powerful and distant FRB discovered to date, came from. The team was surprised to find a collection of seven galaxies located 11 billion light-years from Earth, all crammed inside a region the size of the Milky Way. “We expected some kind of monolithic spiral galaxy,” says Northwestern astronomer Wen-fai Fong. “It was kind of a jarring image.” (1/10)

Vulcan Rocket Brings Competition to Launch Landscape (Source: Reuters)
The launch of a new Vulcan rocket by United Launch Alliance marks a significant challenge to SpaceX, aligning with the US government's goal to diversify its satellite launch suppliers. The successful launch of Vulcan positions ULA as a strong competitor to SpaceX's dominance in the market, with potential for rapid launch cadence and an alternative route to space. (1/10)

1,500 New Type 1A Supernova Found as Part of the Dark Energy Survey (Source: Universe Today)
Supernova explosions are fascinating because they’re so cataclysmic, powerful, and awe-inspiring. They’re Nature’s summer blockbusters. Humans have recorded their existence in ancient astronomical records and stone carvings, and in our age, with telescopes.

Now, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) has uncovered the largest number of Type 1A supernovae ever found with a single telescope. Finding large numbers of them is about more than just cataloguing these exploding stars. Type 1A supernovae serve as standard candles, reliable markers for determining astronomical distances. That means they can help us understand the expansion of the Universe and the force that drives it: Dark Energy. (1/9)

Startling Signs of Gravity's Laws Breaking Down Detected in Twin Stars (Source: Science Alert)
In a new study, astrophysicist Kyu-Hyun Chae of Sejong University in Korea has analyzed nearly 2,500 wide binary star systems observed by European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope, arriving at the conclusion that standard gravity is breaking down at certain points within them. Chae first reported finding gravitational anomalies midway through 2023 in a study of the orbital motions of wide binaries, anomalies which he thought represented evidence of one theory of modified gravity, called modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). (1/11)

Old Stars May Be the Best Places to Search for Life (Source: Phys.org)
Stars like the sun are born spinning rapidly, which creates a strong magnetic field that can erupt violently, bombarding their planetary systems with charged particles and harmful radiation. Over billions of years, the rotation of the star gradually slows as its magnetic field drags through a wind flowing from its surface, a process known as magnetic braking. The slower rotation produces a weaker magnetic field, and both properties continue to decline together with each feeding off the other.

Until recently, astronomers had assumed that magnetic braking continues indefinitely, but new observations have started to challenge this assumption. "We are rewriting the textbooks on how rotation and magnetism in older stars like the sun change beyond the middle of their lifetimes," says Travis Metcalfe. "Our results have important consequences for stars with planetary systems, and their prospects for developing advanced civilizations." (1/10)

Astronomers Discover Planet Has Been Hiding 350,000-Mile-Long Tail (Source: Newsweek)
Astronomers have discovered that a gigantic planet has been hiding a 350,000-mile-long tail as its atmosphere seeps away. The exoplanet known as WASP-69 is gargantuan—roughly the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system—and is about 160 light-years from Earth. It is sometimes dubbed "hot Jupiter" because the gas planet orbits incredibly close to its host star. It is so close, in fact, that it completes its orbit of the star in less than four days, by Earth's time frame. (1/10)