September 5, 2017

Russia’s Evolving Rocket Plans (Source: Space Review)
Russia’s development of new launch vehicles has taken a circuitous path in recent years. Bart Hendrickx provides an update on recent developments, including plans for a new rocket and accelerated development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle. Click here. (9/5)
 
Cassini’s Grand Finale (Source: Space Review)
NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn will end later this month with a plunge into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Jeff Foust examines the mission’s final days and what the spacecraft has accomplished since its beginnings three decades ago. Click here. (9/5)
 
Learning to Fly Again (Source: Space Review)
For the first time in nearly four years, Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser test vehicle took to the skies last week above Edwards Air Force Base. Jeff Foust reports on the flight and the company’s continued hopes to one day fly a crewed version of that spacecraft. Click here. (9/5) 
 
Extended Human Space Travel Through Biolation (Source: Space Review)
Long-duration space travel creates human factors requirements that drive up the size, cost, and complexity of interplanetary spacecraft. Steve Hoeser describes how a form of hibernation, dubbed “biolation,” could mitigate those problems. Click here. (9/5)

Jobs Turnaround on the Space Coast with Aerospace, Aviation and Engineering Leading the Way (Source: Florida Today)
Maybe it's easier to forget what the local jobs picture was just seven years ago, as a major U.S. recession and cutbacks at the Kennedy Space Center gripped Brevard County. It was painful, and it looked like this in early 2010: Nearly 31,000 people had no jobs and the  unemployment rate was 11.8 percent. The labor force had shrunk to 259,295.

Here's what it looks like Labor Day 2017: The unemployment rate is 4.4 percent and about 12,000 people, out of a workforce of 273,698, are jobless. The current local labor force is significantly higher than the peak of 265,336 reached in July 2006.

Weatherman noted that high-tech landscape in Brevard has developed into two geographical book ends: Aviation and defense-related companies like Harris Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. in the southern end of Brevard, while the central and northern part of the counties are bulking up with aerospace ventures like Blue Orion, SpaceX and the satellite venture, OneWeb. Click here. (9/5)

NASA Team Passes Major Technological Milestone for Characterizing Exoplanets (Source: Space Daily)
NASA researchers say they have passed a major milestone in their quest to mature more powerful tools for directly detecting and analyzing the atmospheres of giant planets outside the solar system - one of the observational goals of NASA's proposed Wide-Field Infrared Space Telescope, also known as WFIRST.

In tests conducted at the High-Contrast Imaging Testbed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in Pasadena, California - one of the world's most advanced testbeds of its kind - researchers created what they call a region of very deep contrast between a simulated star and its planet. They also demonstrated the ability to detect and analyze the planet's faint light over a relatively large portion of the visible to near-infrared wavelength band. (9/4)

Pentagon Will Have to Rely on Russian Rocket Engines Until Mid-2020s (Source: Space Daily)
The US Defense Department's technical and funding challenges will result in Pentagon using the Russian RD-180 rocket engines until mid-2020s which is longer than it had initially been expected. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Air Force initially said that the replacement of the Russian engines with the US domestic alternatives would be completed by 2020. However, it now turns out that the Atlas V carrier rockets with RD-180 will be used through 2024 or 2025, according to ULA. The same report, citing people familiar with the matter suggested this term might even be extended until 2028.

The replacement issue is particularly important in the context of the timing of US space programs especially amid the rising tensions with Moscow. The new US-build engine is reportedly expected to be fully tested by 2019 for the replacement rocket booster Vulcan to be certified for operation by 2022 or by 2023. However, ULA's spokeswoman said that the missions of the current Atlas V were extended until at least the mid-2020s when Vulcan would demonstrate its dependability. (9/5)

Russia Claims its MiG-41 Fighter Jet Can Fly in Space at Hypersonic Speeds Without a Pilot (Source: IBT)
The MiG-41, Russia's long awaited update to its ageing MiG-31 fighter jets, will reportedly be capable of flying at hypersonic speeds and reach space. The fighter plane is also said to be equipped with missiles that can go hypersonic as well as have the ability to be operated as a drone. The report claims that the MiG-41 is a hypersonic fighter that can reach speeds of over mach 3.5 – over 4,300 km per hour.

The report cites Ilya Tarasenko, director general of the MiG Corporation, as saying that the aircraft they are working on will "be able to work in outer space", but did not provide any details as to operating altitude or what they intend to do with a fighter in space. He added that the MiG-41 will be invisible to enemy radars. (9/4)

Trump’s NASA Nominee Vows to Compete With China in Space (Source: Epoch Times)
Longtime space advocate Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) has been nominated by President Trump to be the next administrator of NASA. Bridenstine is known for his strong support for a new manned mission to the Moon, and for his belief that the United States needs to challenge China’s ever-expanding presence in space.

Bridenstine has previously expressed serious concerns about China’s space ambitions, as he sees the U.S. presence in space and competition with other adversaries there as intimately linked with national security. Bridenstine’s support for a new manned mission to the Moon is partially motivated by China’s ever-expanding presence on and around the Moon. (9/4)

China Set for New Astronauts and Return to Flight? (Source: GB Times)
September could see China launch its first space mission since failures in June and July, and possibly the selection of a new batch of astronauts in preparation for the future Chinese Space Station (CSS). China is expected to pick 10-12 astronauts in this third round this year, including two women. Indications are that the final decision could take place in September or October, though the process, and even their identities, will be shrouded in mystery.

While the two previous rounds drew on air force pilots, the third astronaut selection will seek candidates with more diverse backgrounds, reflecting the change in spaceflight plans required for CSS objectives, such as research. China plans to carry out at least four crewed missions across five years as it constructs the 60-80 metric tonne space station in low Earth orbit, starting around 2019. (9/5)

Massive Black Hole Discovered Near Heart of the Milky Way (Source: Guardian)
An enormous black hole one hundred thousand times more massive than the sun has been found hiding in a toxic gas cloud wafting around near the heart of the Milky Way. If the discovery is confirmed, the invisible behemoth will rank as the second largest black hole ever seen in the Milky Way after the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* that is anchored at the very center of the galaxy.

Astronomers in Japan found evidence for the new object when they turned a powerful telescope in the Atacama desert in Chile towards the gas cloud in the hope of understanding the strange movement of its gases. Unlike those that make up other interstellar clouds, the gases in this cloud – including hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide – move at wildly different speeds. (9/34)

Propulsion Systems Doom Intelsat Satellite to Shorter Life (Source: Space News)
Two separate propulsion issues will shorten the life of an Intelsat communications satellite by three and a half years. The company said that it noticed early this year that north-south stationkeeping of its Intelsat 33e spacecraft was using more fuel than it expected, which it blamed on a higher than expected disturbance torque on the spacecraft. The issue is separate from a thruster malfunction shortly after the satellite's launch just over a year ago. The company filed an insurance claim for $78 million earlier this year, but had previously only mentioned the original thruster problem. The company said that Intelsat 33e could be a candidate for the Mission Extension Vehicle being developed by Orbital ATK to extend the life of geostationary orbit satellites. (9/5)

Climate Hawks Start #StopBridenstine Campaign (Source: Climate Hawks)
NASA performs critical climate science research - its satellites have been tracking hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Trump has nominated Jim Bridenstine, a member of Congress from Oklahoma - not a scientist - to run NASA. But Bridenstine is a climate denier. In 2013 he demanded that President Obama apologize for spending NASA money on global warming.

NASA needs to be kept out of politics. Florida's two senators, Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, have already voiced concern about Bridenstine's political baggage. And, equally important, NASA needs to be run by someone who respects science. Not climate denier Jim Bridenstine. Add your name to tell Senators to strongly oppose Trump's pick, climate denier Jim Bridenstine, to run NASA. Click here. (9/3) 

Fact Sheet on Backgrounds of NASA Administrators (Source: Space Policy Online)
President Trump’s nomination of Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) to be the next NASA Administrator has raised questions about what qualifications are needed to serve in that position. SpacePolicyOnline.com has created a new fact sheet summarizing the educational background and professional experience of previous NASA Administrators. Eleven men have served as Administrator of NASA since the agency was created in 1958.   Some media sources are reporting that all of them had degrees in science or engineering or had served as an astronaut. That is not correct. Click here. (9/4)

FINESSE Mission to Investigate Atmospheres of Hundreds of Alien Worlds (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
One of NASA’s proposed missions, known as the Fast INfrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE), could greatly improve our understanding of extrasolar worlds. If selected for development, the spacecraft will investigate at least 500 exoplanet atmospheres, providing detailed information about climate processes on distant alien planets.

FINESSE has been recently chosen by NASA for concept studies and evaluations. It is one of the agency’s six astrophysics Explorers Program proposals that could be selected by 2019 to proceed with construction and launch. The mission’s main objective is to study the processes that govern planet formation and global climate. It will investigate the mechanisms that establish the atmospheric chemical composition of exoplanets as well as the processes involved in atmospheric evolution. (9/5)

This Spacecraft is Thinner Than a Human Hair and Can Capture Space Debris (Source: PopSci)
This past spring, the NIAC awarded researchers at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California $500,000 to continue development of an unusual-looking spacecraft that's meant to mop up small pieces of space debris; almost like a space vacuum cleaner. Called Brane Crafts, the tiny ships are about a yard across and thinner than a human hair. Each one would wrap around a chunk of debris and yank it down to into the atmosphere, where it would heat up and eventually be incinerated about 155 miles above the Earth’s surface. (9/4)

Kacific Selects SpaceX to Provide Launch Service [Likely From Florida] (Source: SpaceRef)
Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) has selected SpaceX as the launch provider for its Kacific-1 satellite, which is being built by Boeing. Kacific-1 will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9, sometime in 2019. Editor's Note: Looking toward 2019, I guess there's a chance this commercial launch could be among the first at SpaceX's proposed Boca Chica spaceport in Texas. (9/4)

Air Force Awards $11M Contract Mod for Spaceport Support Services at the Cape (Source: DOD)
Space Coast Launch Services has been awarded an estimated $11,387,859 contract modification for operations, maintenance and engineering support to critical launch, spacecraft and ordnance facilities and support systems owned by the 45th Space Wing. Work will be performed at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (8/30)

United Technologies Inks $23B Deal For Rockwell Collins (Source: Law 360)
United Technologies Corp. will buy Rockwell Collins for $23 billion in cash and stock, confirming recent rumors that a combination of the two aerospace companies was in the works. Connecticut-based United Technologies’ takeover of Iowa-based Rockwell Collins stands to help the company as it looks to tap into the growing push to make airplanes smarter and more connected, according to a statement by the company.

Editor's Note: As of mid-2014, Rockwell Collins employed about 1400 people on the Space Coast, with two major facilities in Melbourne, Florida. UTC's Pratt & Whitney division has major operations in West Palm Beach, Florida. (9/5)