January 22, 2024

US Congress Recommends Placing Assets at Lagrange Points to Counter China (Source: Ars Technica)
A bipartisan committee in the US House of Representatives recently issued a report on the economic and technological competition between the United States and China and offered nearly 150 recommendations to "fundamentally reset" the relationship. The report followed a year-long study of the competition between the countries since China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.

The recommendations cover a broad range of domains, but one suggestion on space was particularly notable. It involves locations where gravity is fairly stable, known as Lagrange points. The specific language in the report is this: "Fund NASA’s and the Department of Defense’s programs that are critical to countering the CCP’s malign ambitions in space, including by ensuring the United States is the first country to permanently station assets at all Lagrange Points. The CCP understands well the need for space-based operations and is developing formidable space capabilities to challenge US dominance in this domain." (1/19)

Space Force Culture Catches Up to Rapid Launch Capability (Source: Defense Scoop)
The US Space Force is focusing on a shift in mindset to enable the rapid launch of military payloads on demand, aiming for capability delivery on "tactically relevant timelines," as stated by Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein. This initiative, known as tactically responsive space, seeks to significantly accelerate the acquisition, construction, and deployment of national security systems into orbit. (1/19)

“NASA expects these large cargo landers to have high commonality with the human landing systems already in work with adjustments to the payload interfaces and deployment mechanisms,” NASA stated. “The preliminary design requirements include delivering 12 to 15 metric tons to the lunar surface.” NASA added that no payloads have been identified yet for those landers. The earliest the cargo landers would be used is Artemis 7, a mission projected for no earlier than the early 2030s. (1/21)

Iran Launches Satellite (Source; AP)
Iran launched a satellite Saturday in a demonstration of its missile technologies. A Qaem 100 rocket lifted off around 1:30 a.m. Eastern and placed the 50-kilogram Soraya satellite into a 750-kilometer orbit. That orbit is higher than those achieved in past launches by Iranian vehicles. The United States and its allies argue that such satellite launches violate a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran not to test ballistic missile technologies. (1/22)

Iran to Test and Launch Qaem 105 Orbital Rocket Next Year (Source: Tehran Times)
Following the successful launch of the Qaem 100 satellite carrier on Saturday, General Ali Jafarabadi hailed the action calling it a "brilliant page" in the nation's history. He noted that its successful deployment, using entirely Iranian solid fuel, marked a new milestone in Iran's space exploration capabilities. Furthermore, he highlighted the satellite's ability to place spacecraft in a 750-kilometer orbit, a feat that further solidified Iran's growing mastery of space technology.

General Jafarabadi outlined the next phase of development. "Our immediate goal is to integrate the Qaem-100 carrier into the operational cycle, allowing our scientists and experts to focus on the next step," he stated. "The next leap forward in our space program involves the Qaem-105 satellite carrier, which boasts more powerful engines and an advanced structural design," he continued. "We intend to conduct test and research launches of the Qaem-105 carrier next year." (1/21)

Blue Origin and SpaceX Start Work on Cargo Versions of Crewed Lunar Landers (Source: Space News)
NASA said that the work is being done under options to Blue Origin’s HLS contract, awarded in May 2023, and the “Option B” award to SpaceX in November 2022, which modified the original HLS contract SpaceX won in April 2021. The options, which cover work through a preliminary design review, do not require additional funding beyond the $3.4 billion to Blue Origin and $1.15 billion for SpaceX’s Option B. (1/21)

Boeing Keeps SLS Exploration Upper Stage On Track (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Development of the NASA Space Launch System rocket's Exploration Upper Stage is advancing into the qualification phase with prime contractor Boeing. The upgrade is scheduled to debut on the Artemis IV mission by the end of 2028. (1/19)

Sierra Space Tests Full-Scale Inflatable Space Station Module (Source: Space News)
Sierra Space has tested a full-scale version of an inflatable space station module. The company announced Monday it performed a burst test of its Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) module, demonstrating it exceeded NASA safety recommendations by 27%. LIFE, with a volume of 300 cubic meters when fully inflated, is intended for use on commercial space stations like Orbital Reef. Sierra Space plans additional tests of LIFE this year. (1/22)

Redwire to Supply Solar Panels for Blue Origin's OTV (Source: Space News)
Redwire will supply solar panels and other components for Blue Origin's Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle. Redwire announced Monday it won a contract from Blue Origin to provide four of its Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) systems, along with cameras and power distribution units. Blue Origin announced the Blue Ring project last year, describing it as a vehicle for transporting satellites and hosted payloads to high Earth orbit, cislunar space and beyond. (1/22)

ISS Movie Weak at Box Office (Source: Variety)
A movie set on the ISS failed to achieve liftoff at the box office over the weekend. The movie, called simply I.S.S., is a thriller that pits American and Russian space station crews against each other after war breaks out on Earth. The movie generated just $3 million in its opening weekend, finishing a distant seventh, with poor reviews from both critics and moviegoers. (1/22)

You Can Pay to Have Your Ashes Buried on the Moon. Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should (Source: The Conversation)
Two American companies make a business of the service starting at just a few thousand dollars – Celestis and Elysium Space. The practice is embraced by many, including astronauts who have been in space. A Moon burial (yes, you can buy one) costs more – around $13,000. Commercial payloads launched from US soil require approval, but that approval process only covers safety, national security, and foreign policy.

Peregrine, if it had made it, would have marked the first commercial lunar burial. It’s uncharted territory as other worlds become within reach, although it is not the first time it has come up. NASA pledged to consult in the future after an outcry from the Navajo when, 20 years ago, it carried some of Eugene Shoemaker’s ashes to the Moon aboard the Lunar Prospector probe. Like many other indigenous cultures, the Navajo Nation considers the Moon sacred and opposes using it as a memorial site.

However, NASA said in a press briefing it had no control over what was on Peregrine, highlighting the gaps between commercial enterprise and international space law. Another question concerns the rules in individual nations on where and how human ashes can be located, handled, and transported and how those could extend to space. For example, in Germany, ashes must be buried in a cemetery. With space privatization accelerating, the ethical and legal maze deepens. (1/21)

What We Do to the Moon Will Transform It Forever (Source: New York Times)
The moon stands alone. It is unique in the known cosmos: a solitary rock one-fourth the width of its host planet, the only place life has ever been found. And the moon is alone: It is a desolate, sunbaked and crater-pocked wasteland that harbors little except what we bring to it, either with our minds or with our spaceships. But that is about to change. The freedom to send any payload to the Moon could lead to controversy.

Nova-C will use thermal-reflective coatings designed by the sportswear brand Columbia; a company website shows an artist’s concept of the Columbia logo prominently displayed on the spacecraft as it sits on the lunar surface. The failed Peregrine lander was carrying small amounts of cremated human remains. In 2019, an Israeli lander carried a few thousand dehydrated tardigrades, microscopic creatures that can survive in the vacuum of space. It’s unclear what happened to them when the lander crashed, but the attempt raised new concerns about bringing biological materials to the moon.

Future launches will attempt to send more cremated human remains to the moon, as well as time capsules, messages and other materials bound to raise various objections. This new era of lunar missions is likely to change humanity’s relationship to the moon. Before this happens, we owe ourselves — and the moon itself — a more thoughtful consideration of what our planet’s only natural satellite represents. Anything we do to it will last forever. We have an enormous responsibility to the moon’s future, and to the future of anyone else who lives here beside it. (1/21)

Japan Hopes to Restore Power to ‘Moon Sniper’ (Source: Al Jazeera)
The Japanese space agency has said it hopes to be able to restore power to its moon lander after it was “switched off” following a historic touchdown on Saturday. JAXA said on Monday that it had switched off the vessel three hours after it landed to allow for a possible recovery of the craft when the sun hits its solar panels. It added that it hopes to be able to restore power to the probe, dubbed “Moon Sniper” for the craft’s precision landing capabilities. (1/22)

Astrobotic Starts Formal Peregrine Failure Investigation (Source: Space News)
Astrobotic will soon start a formal review of its failed Peregrine lunar lander mission. The company said in a briefing Friday that it will convene a review board to examine what went wrong with the lander, which suffered a propellant leak hours after launch two weeks ago. The leading hypothesis remains that a valve failure over-pressurized an oxidizer tank, rupturing it. The mission ended last Thursday when the spacecraft reentered over the South Pacific.

Astrobotic said it will incorporate lessons learned from the mission into Griffin, the larger lander it is developing to send NASA's VIPER rover to the moon. NASA says it wants to fully understand what happened with Peregrine before going ahead with the "very sophisticated and costly" VIPER mission. (1/22)

Japan’s Successful Moon Landing Was the Most Precise Ever (Source: Nature)
SLIM has very likely achieved its primary goal — to land on the Moon with an unprecedented accuracy of 100 meters, which is a big leap from previous ranges of a few to dozens of kilometers. SLIM carried vision-based navigation technology, which was intended to image the surface as it flew over the Moon, and locate itself quickly by matching the images with onboard maps.

It remains unclear if the car-sized, 200-kilogram spacecraft actually touched down in the planned, two-step manner with its five legs. Unlike previous Moon landers, which used four legs to simultaneously reach a relatively flat area, SLIM was designed to hit a 15-degree slope outside Shioli crater first with one leg at the back, and then tip forward to stabilize on the four front legs. (1/22)

Space-Based Solar Power Advocates Push Back Against NASA Report (Source: Space News)
Advocates of space-based solar power (SBSP) are pushing back against a recent NASA report that offered a pessimistic assessment of the technology. The report by NASA's Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy, released earlier this month, concluded that SBSP systems, designed to turn solar power into electricity and beam it down to Earth using microwaves, would produce power at 12 to 80 times the cost per kilowatt-hour of terrestrial renewable systems like wind and hydropower.

The space-based systems also offered no improvements in greenhouse gas emissions over terrestrial renewable alternatives. Supporters of SBSP argue that the NASA study, while rigorous, used unreasonable assumptions, like launch costs that in two decades will be no different from today. The NASA study comes as several countries and agencies are performing their own analyses of SBSP. (1/22)

NASA to Observe Day of Remembrance, Host Employee Safety Town Hall (Source: NASA)
In honor of the members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery for the benefit all, the agency will host its annual Day of Remembrance Thursday, Jan. 25. Traditionally held on the fourth Thursday in January each year, NASA Day of Remembrance will commemorate the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. 

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and Associate Administrator Jim Free also will host a town hall at the agency’s headquarters in Washington at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 23. (1/19)

Ingenuity Phones Home From Mars (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has re-established contact with its tiny helicopter on Mars, the US space agency said Saturday, after an unexpected outage prompted fears that the hard-working craft had finally met its end. Ingenuity, a drone about 1.6 feet tall, arrived on Mars in 2021 aboard the rover Perseverance and became the first motorized craft to fly autonomously on another planet. Data from the helicopter are transmitted via Perseverance back to Earth, but communications were suddenly lost during a test flight on Thursday, Ingenuity's 72nd lift-off on Mars. (1/21)

Eutelsat OneWeb and Paratus South Africa Join Forces to Enhance Satellite Connectivity in South Africa (Source: Space Daily)
Eutelsat Group has announced a significant development in its partnership with Paratus South Africa, a leading specialist in connectivity solutions. This collaboration marks an important step in enhancing Paratus South Africa's connectivity offerings through the integration of Eutelsat OneWeb's services. (1/22)

Lynk and Telikom Initiate Sat2Phone Services in Papua New Guinea (Source: Space Daily)
Lynk Global, in a landmark collaboration with Telikom Limited, has announced the launch of initial Sat2Phone services for subscribers in Papua New Guinea. This innovative partnership is set to significantly improve mobile coverage throughout the country, offering unprecedented connectivity benefits to both residents and visitors. (1/22)

GMV and Astroscale UK Spearhead New ESA Initiative for Improved Satellite Collision Avoidance (Source: Space Daily)
In a significant advancement in satellite collision avoidance technology, GMV, in collaboration with Astroscale UK, has been awarded a new activity under the European Space Agency's (ESA) CREAM (Collision Risk and Automated Mitigation) cornerstone. This initiative, an extension of the CREAM#2 activity, aims to develop an alternative commanding path for late collision avoidance maneuvers (CAM), leveraging the capabilities of the Galileo Return Link Service. (1/22)

Surrey Scientists to Help Build Zero Gravity Space Fuel System (Source: BBC)
Experts at the University of Surrey are helping to build a revolutionary fuel gauge that will be tested aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The gauge can accurately measure how full a tank is in zero gravity by using electrical sensors. The Smart Tank for Space (SMARTTS) is being developed by Atout Process Ltd. The company has enlisted the help of space engineers at the university's Surrey Space Centre, and it will use facilities available at the site. (1/22)

Paso Robles City Council Pushes for Continued Spaceport Development (Source; New Times)
The Paso Robles Airport will receive a boost in its efforts to modernize its airport following the presentation of an updated project plan at the Jan. 16 City Council meeting. Mayor John Hamon said that surplus funds could go toward continuing to develop the airport as a spaceport. The spaceport, which became one of the city's goals for the airport in 2022, is part of Paso's effort to make the city a hub for technological development and aerospace testing. (1/18)

Push Underway to Make Hawaii Relevant in Space Again (Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser)
Efforts are underway to reinsert Hawaii as a player in America’s aerospace and outer space industries. “During (then-Gov. David) Ige’s administration, he got rid of the office of aerospace, which I thought was a huge mistake,” said state Sen. Glenn Wakai. He introduced Senate Bill 2081 Thursday requiring a partnership with the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to establish an Aerospace and Aeronautics Development Program. Wakai wants to make Hawaii relevant again in America’s aerospace efforts under Gov. Josh Green’s administration.

State Rep. Kanani Souza chairs the new bipartisan Aviation and Space Caucus established Jan. 8. She introduced a bill Friday to reopen the Ellison Onizuka Space Center at the Kona airport. “We’ve got to revamp and reengage and re-create that space center because having it shut down doesn’t allow for everyone to learn about Ellison Onizuka, our space history and Hawaii’s role in that,” Souza said. The caucus includes 10 Democrats — three senators and seven representatives. At the same time, Souza is also completing her master’s in air and space law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. (1/21)

NASA Expert Highlights Ecuador's Aerospace Potential (Source: UTPL)
The Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL) , through its Faculty of Engineering and Architecture and UTPL TEC , coordinated the visit of Rafael Kargren, expert from NASA, to Ecuador. During his time in the country, the aerospace specialist developed several activities alongside teachers, researchers and government authorities. Rommel Torres Tandazo , professor at UTPL , highlighted that the visit of this international expert represented a unique opportunity, because it allowed the proposal to consolidate a space ecosystem in Ecuador to be promoted and, from the academy, to identify technological aspects that can be worked on. for the development of the country. (11/6)

Mind-Bending Speed is the Only Way to Reach the Stars – Here Are Three Ways To Do It (Source: Aeon)
While we have never been closer to becoming an interplanetary species, any hopes humanity has for inhabiting planets beyond our solar system – let alone solar systems beyond it – remain a distant dream. However, as this stunningly-rendered CGI animation shows, while human-transporting spacecrafts that might traverse the vast distances between planets and even stars are still quite far off, they’re theoretically possible. Commissioned by the Limitless Space Institute in Texas, which seeks to ‘advance human exploration beyond our solar system’, the video features the US aerospace engineer Harold ‘Sonny’ White describing three potential modes of interstellar space travel. Click here. (1/18)

The Moon Once Had Way More Water Than We Ever Imagined, Lunar Meteorite Reveals (Source: Space.com)
New research has revealed that the surface of the moon was rich with water around 4 billion years ago.  The research could be an important step towards better understanding the evolution of the moon and could also help inform future moon missions, including NASA's Artemis 3, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface no sooner than 2026 and leverage frozen water found there for a sustainable presence on the moon.

University of Western Ontario postdoctoral fellow Tara Hayden was investigating a lunar meteorite, which was once a piece of the moon's surface, when she discovered it contained the mineral apatite. This common phosphate allowed for a direct examination of an unknown stage in lunar evolution for the first time when the moon was molten. The study of the meteorite shows that the crust of the moon contained more water back in ancient lunar history than scientists had previously believed. (1/19)

Cosmic Strings Can Break — and When They Do, They Shake the Universe (Source: LiveScience)
How do you cut a quantum string the size of the universe? New research shows how the chaos of the Big Bang could have done it, and how those cuts could have led to a cosmos filled with rippling gravitational waves. Cosmic strings are the hypothetical leftovers from the earliest moments of the universe. Cosmic strings are likely one of the most common space-time flaws from the Big Bang, and if they exist, they would manifest as truly exotic objects. They would have thicknesses no wider than a proton, would stretch from one end of the universe to the other, and would be so dense that a mile of string would outweigh the entire Earth.

They would also be nearly indestructible. Before the new research, which has not been submitted for peer review yet, scientists believed cosmic strings were stable. Once cosmic strings formed, they simply existed, from the earliest moments of the Big Bang all the way to the present day. The only way to diminish a cosmic string would be if two of them intersected, or if one looped over on itself. Once that happened, the ensuing vibrations would force the cosmic string to decay into a shower of particles and high-energy radiation. (1/18)

Ancient Black Holes That Woosh Past Us Every Decade May be Altering Earth's Orbit (Source: Indy100)
A new study has suggested some of the universe's oldest black holes pass our cosmic neighborhood at least once every decade, moving planets in their wake. And if scientists can detect them, it would provide the first proof that these black holes exist as dark matter. Black holes are regions of immense gravity that trap light, the strangest among them being primordial black holes (PBHs). Astronomers have hypothesized that PBHs formed when dense, hot regions of space collapsed in the second immediately followed by the Big Bang.

If such a PBH were to encounter Earth, it wouldn't destroy the planet. Yet the new study, published in December 2023 on arXiv, suggests PBHs should subtly affect objects in the solar system. The authors wrote "[if] a PBH flies by a planet, it starts that planet wobbling or rocking slightly around the path it was taking before the flyby". That means the distances of planets from the sun — or from us — will change over time. Measuring these periodic oscillations in distance could reveal a PBH's passage. (1/18)

UAE Begins Work on Historic Lunar Gateway Project (Source: The National)
The UAE has begun work on a lunar-orbiting station being developed by NASA, which is set to pave the way for Emirati astronauts to take part in future Moon missions. The Emirates is to contribute an airlock to the planned Lunar Gateway station as part of a major international collaboration aimed at advancing space exploration. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center this week started to develop the crucial component of the project, said its director general, Salem Al Marri. (1/21)

SpaceX Junk or Treasure? Starship Relic Hunter Amasses Collection of Wreckage From Liftoffs, Crashes (Source: San Antonio Express)
Ron Parker keeps the small pieces on his coffee table. The mishmash of stainless-steel shards, frayed wires, washers and heat tiles recovered after explosions and crashes of SpaceX Starships and prototypes fill the low wooden table, giving his living room the feel of a museum exhibit. On his porch, jagged hunks of shiny steel with razor-sharp edges catch the sun like an outdoor sculpture display. The 4-millimeter thick metal looks as if it was torn as simply as a piece of paper. 

He calls one section about the size of a car door “Texas” because of its shape. Another rectangular piece that’s 10 feet long he calls the “question mark.” There’s a length of silver pipe with flanges sheared off by an explosion. It was buried so deep the private space company’s workers tried to cut it to retrieve it and gave up. Parker didn’t. Now the relic sits on his porch rail. (1/21)

Florida Lab is Making a Vaccine to Live in Space. It Might Help Here, Too (Source: Tampa Bay Times)
Traveling by plane isn’t always easy on the body. And neither is space travel. Astronauts often experience atrophy, the loss of bone and muscle, during their months living in zero gravity. People on Earth also tend to see their bones and muscles weaken as they age, increasing risk of injuries from falls.

Companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are working to open space travel for more people. And figuring out how to reduce atrophy is on the mind of scientists. At the University of Central Florida in Orlando, researchers have received state funding to collaborate with biotech company Vaxxinity, which moved its headquarters from Texas to Cape Canaveral last year, to develop vaccines that can prevent and mitigate muscle and bone weakening, a common health problem for people experiencing long-term spaceflight — and aging seniors. (1/20)

If Life Exists on Mars, Don't Count on Sample-Return Missions to Find It, Scientists Say (Source: Space.com)
While the clamoring to bring bits and pieces of Mars back to Earth for intensive study continues, scientists are also devising instruments and techniques that can be sent to the Red Planet to perform on-the-spot probes for life. Could these low-cost approaches usurp the early need for samples shot directly from Mars?

For the discovery of prior life on Mars, a sample return program would work best, but if we want to discover present-day life on the Red Planet, doing so with instruments right there on Mars is the way to go. That's the view of Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a professor for astrobiology and planetary habitability at the Technical University Berlin in Germany. Additionally, he thinks currently available methodologies are suitable and far enough developed to determine whether there is life on Mars. "However, in order to get unambiguous results we would have to put a suite of several of these methodologies together," Schulze-Makuch said. (1/21)

AAC Clyde Space COO Stefania Mandirola Steps Down (Source: Clyde Space)
AAC Clyde Space announces that its Chief Operating Officer Stefania Mandirola has stepped down from her role to explore new professional opportunities. The Group has decided not to seek an immediate replacement for the position. (1/12)