September 7, 2017

2019 BRAC Round Supported in Congress, Pentagon (Source: Defense News)
The Pentagon supports a proposal to authorize a base closure round in 2019 from Sens. John McCain and Jack Reed, the top Pentagon official in charge of military installations said Tuesday. The Pentagon’s new assistant defense secretary for energy, installations and environment, Lucian Niemeyer, said the Department of Defense backs their proposal to launch a base realignment and closure, or BRAC, process. That proposal would have the Government Accountability Office, and not an independent commission, validate the analysis before Congress makes the final call.

Editor's Note: Florida has generally benefitted from previous BRAC rounds, but that's not expected to be the case for future rounds. On the Space Coast, there were fears previously that Patrick Air Force Base's operations would be impacted, with major responsibilities there relocated to nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Navy's NOTU presence at the Cape was also a concern. Both PAFB and NOTU have seen strategic investments and build-up that should make them less attractive for closure. (9/6)

SpaceX Launches USAF Spaceplane, Lands Rocket at Cape (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX successfully launched the Air Force's fifth X-37B spaceplane mission from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, in advance of Hurricane Irma's likely shutdown of the spaceport in coming days. The Falcon-9 rocket's first stage successfully landed at the spaceport after upper-stage separation. (9/7)

Israel's Spacecom Sues IAI Over Amos-6 Satellite (Source: Globes)
Israeli satellite operator Spacecom has filed suit against the manufacturer of its destroyed Amos-6 satellite. Spacecom filed a $138 million suit against Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) even as the two companies continue arbitration over Amos-6, lost in a Falcon 9 pad explosion a little more than a year ago. Spacecom did not comment on the suit, but IAI noted it was "astounded" by the suit, which came after IAI transferred a $170 million insurance claim on the lost satellite to Spacecom. (9/7)

SpaceX and Tesla Share Resources (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX and Tesla share more than their chief executive, Elon Musk. The two companies frequently collaborate on issues, such as materials, including one case where Tesla brought in SpaceX engineers to help solve a problem with a cast aluminum part for Tesla's electric cars. The companies share talent in other areas, including software development, and Tesla also pays SpaceX for use of a corporate jet. (9/7)

Solar Flare Could Bring Big Auroras, Comm Disruption (Source: Space.com)
The sun produced its biggest solar flare in more than a decade Wednesday. The larger of two flares spotted early Wednesday was classified by space scientists as an X9.3, making it the strongest since an X17 flare in 2005. The flare could lead to geomagnetic storms in the coming days, producing auroras and disrupting communications. (9/6)

Discovery of Boron on Mars Adds to Evidence for Habitability (Source: Space Daily)
The discovery of boron on Mars gives scientists more clues about whether life could have ever existed on the planet. "Because borates may play an important role in making RNA - one of the building blocks of life - finding boron on Mars further opens the possibility that life could have once arisen on the planet," said Patrick Gasda. "Borates are one possible bridge from simple organic molecules to RNA. Without RNA, you have no life. The presence of boron tells us that, if organics were present on Mars, these chemical reactions could have occurred."

RNA (ribonucleic acid) is a nucleic acid present in all modern life, but scientists have long hypothesized an "RNA World," where the first proto-life was made of individual RNA strands that both contained genetic information and could copy itself. A key ingredient of RNA is a sugar called ribose. But sugars are notoriously unstable; they decompose quickly in water. The ribose would need another element there to stabilize it. That's where boron comes in. When boron is dissolved in water - becoming borate - it will react with the ribose and stabilize it for long enough to make RNA. (9/7)

CASIS ISS Cotton Sustainability Challenge Now Open (Source: CASIS)
The ISS Cotton Sustainability Challenge has officially opened and is now accepting applications. The deadline to submit proposals is November 1, 2017. The ISS Cotton Sustainability Challenge invites leading researchers in the fields of life sciences, physical sciences and remote sensing to propose new experiments on the ISS to address cotton sustainability. Click here. (9/6)

New Horizons Will Get Incredibly Close to Its Next Target (Source: Gizmodo)
On New Year’s Day 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will zoom past MU69—a mysterious Kuiper Belt object located four billion miles from Earth. In anticipation of the upcoming flyby, NASA has just revealed the probe’s flight plan, and there’s some exciting news: New Horizons is expected to come three times closer to MU69 than it did to Pluto in 2015.

When New Horizons gets to MU69, it’ll be the furthest Solar System encounter ever made by a space probe. To add a cherry on top of this very delicious ice cream sundae, New Horizons will come within 2,175 miles (3,500 km) of the distant Kuiper Belt object at closest approach. At that distance, the probe’s telescopic Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) will spot details as small as 230 feet (70 meters) across. By comparison, the resolution at Pluto, with the probe zipping past at a distance of 7,800 miles (12,500 km), was around 600 feet (183 meters). (9/6)

Fixing Defense Space Won't Require a Space Corps (Source: Breaking Defense)
Tired of complaining about space programs that are over budget and behind schedule? Build a space version of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office. Oh, and just go out there and lead. You don’t need a Space Corps to fix what ails the space enterprise, former Air Force Space Commander Bob Kehler told a day-long seminar on how to organize space to fight a war.

While he said he didn’t oppose the idea of a Space Corps, championed by Reps. Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, he certainly didn’t support it. “I think you should reorganize only when absolutely necessary,” Kehler said.

“At this point, at any rate, it’s a major distraction.” He said a Space Corps would “not produce” more space professionals and it “won’t help” improve space acquisition. “If you want to fix space, go fix it,” he told the audience. “Nothing is stopping us from doing this.” (9/6)

China, Britain to Promote Space Education (Source: Xinhua)
Leading space scientists from Britain and China signed a partnership agreement here on Wednesday which aims to promote and strengthen both sides' space education and space culture activities. Under the memorandum of understanding, a new virtual center will be established to lead space education and space culture activities between the two countries.

The center will be led by Britain's National Space Academy and a consortium of Chinese laboratories. In the areas of culture and education programs, it will be supported by the University of Nottingham. For the first stage of this partnership, the team aims to select 100 primary and middle schools in China, Britain, and countries along the Belt and Road to carry out a trial run of the education program, according to Yu. (9/6)

Space Station Lab’s Mission Patch Goes All In on a Star Wars Theme (Source: GeekWire)
Factual and fictional worlds collide in the latest mission patch associated with the International Space Station’s role as a U.S. national laboratory. Virtually every element on the patch ties in to the Star Wars saga, including the droids BB-8, K-2SO and Chopper, as well as the Death Star and a patch border shaped like the Millennium Falcon. The only nod to real-life space exploration is an outline of the International Space Station itself. Click here. (9/6)

Irma Threat Closes World's Second-Largest Radio Telescope (Source: Space.com)
The second-largest radio telescope in the world has suspended operations as powerful Hurricane Irma churns ever closer. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which features a 1,000-foot-wide (305 meters) radio dish, is closed for safety reasons until further notice, telescope representatives said via Twitter on Tuesday. (9/6)

Space Nation Enlists NASA's Help with Astronaut Training App (Source: Space News)
Space Nation, the Finnish startup, announced plans to work with NASA under a Space Act Agreement to refine the contents of the astronaut training smartphone application it plans to release in February. Through the Space Nation Astronaut Experience Program, the company plans to invite anyone with a smartphone to work on skills like teamwork and problem-solving while tackling a series of physical and mental challenges.

Top competitors will be eligible to attend a training boot camp under the supervision of experienced astronauts.  Space Nation plans to send one of the competitors on a commercial suborbital flight. (9/6)

Steampunk Rover Could Explore Hellish Venus (Source: Space.com)
This Venus rover concept looks like something out of science fiction — from the 19th century.  Researchers are studying the possibility of building a steampunk Venus rover, which would forsake electronics in favor of analog equipment, such as levers and gears, to the extent possible.

"Venus is too inhospitable for the kind of complex control systems you have on a Mars rover," said project leader Jonathan Sauder, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "But with a fully mechanical rover, you might be able to survive as long as a year."  Thanks to Venus' thick atmosphere, pressures on the planet's surface are high enough to crush the hull of a nuclear submarine, NASA officials said. (9/6)

WTO Sides With Boeing Over State Economic Incentives Complaint (Source: IB Times)
The World Trade Organization's appellate body handed a key victory to Boeing on Monday by rejecting European Union claims that tax incentives provided to the US aircraft maker by Washington State were illegal and constituted state aid. The long-running dispute saw Boeing's European rival Airbus win a claim in 2016, backed by the EU, that around $9bn (£7bn) in aid was provided to the US aircraft maker to help build its 777X model.

But Boeing and US government appealed the decision last year and secured an outright victory that is not subject to further appeal, according to the Geneva-based WTO. The latest ruling now goes to the WTO's dispute settlement body for formal adoption within 20 days. Boeing has always maintained that the tax breaks amounted to no more than $1bn. Furthermore the aircraft maker said that the breaks it received did not constitute state aid. (9/4)