October 5, 2017

Alaska Antenna to Improve NASA's Space Communications System (Source: Space Daily)
NASA unveiled a new space communications antenna at the Alaska Satellite Facility in Fairbanks this week. The new antenna, AS-2, which sits atop the Elvey building at University of Alaska Fairbanks, will retrieve data from NASA's spacecraft. NASA operates three space communications networks, the Deep Space Network, Space Network and Near Earth Network. AS-2 will boost the capacity of the Near Earth Network, which supports space satellites orbiting within 1.2 million miles from Earth. (10/4)

"Tabby's Star" Could be Surrounded by Dust, Not Alien Megastructures (Source: Space.com)
A star with an unusual pattern of brightness changes likely is surrounded by dust, not alien "megastructures." The star, KIC 8462852 or "Tabby's star," attracted attention because of unusual drops in brightness that some suggested could be caused if the star was partially surrounded by giant structures made by some alien civilization. However, astronomers found that the dimming was stronger at ultraviolet wavelengths than in the infrared, which indicates that a cloud of dust orbiting the star is the more likely cause of the brightness fluctuations. (10/4)

Experts Call for More Diplomacy, Less Militarization of Space (Source: Space News)
As Congress debates a contentious proposal to create a military “space corps,” some of Washington’s top experts say the U.S. government should promote more civility and less bellicosity in the cosmos. Shifting the management of military space programs from the Air Force to a separate space corps is an idea that has long been talked about but never acted upon until this year, when the House Armed Services Committee inserted language in the House version of the 2018 defense policy bill.

There is no question that the United States has to protect its access to space, Neufeld said. “We can’t take it for granted, but it can go away if you don’t deal with this properly.” A 1967 treaty bans the deployment of weapons in space. Neufeld nevertheless sees fundamental threats to U.S. access to space — particularly low Earth orbit — that the nation should be able to address without overly militarizing what has been largely a peaceful domain. (10/4)

U.S. Missile Defense Gets $400 Million After North Korea Threats (Source: Bloomberg)
Congressional defense committees have approved shifting more than $400 million from other accounts into missile defense programs to clear the way for more ground-based interceptors, sensors and upgrades to Navy anti-missile vessels in the face of threats led by North Korea.

Boeing Co., Raytheon Co. and Orbital ATK Inc. are likely to be the top beneficiaries. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis disclosed the approval Tuesday during a Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He said he requested approval to shift, or “reprogram,” unspent funds for fiscal 2017 totaling $440 million from accounts such as Army wartime operations and maintenance. A formal six-page request listed $416 million of the total.

The shift of funds reflects a growing determination at the Pentagon and in Congress to bolster missile defenses as North Korea vows to perfect nuclear missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland as well as allies in Asia. It may be the opening round in moves to seek more than the $9.9 billion requested by the Pentagon for the fiscal 2018 year that began on Oct. 1. (10/3)

Pence: America Will Return to the Moon—-and Go Beyond (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Sixty years ago this week, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite into orbit, changing the course of history. The race for space was on, and the Soviets had taken an early lead. But the sight of Sputnik blinking across the October sky spurred Americans to action. Twelve years later, with “one giant leap for mankind,” the U.S. claimed its rightful place as the undisputed leader in the exploration of the heavens. That pre-eminence in outer space is now under threat—and once again, America must act. (10/4)

Trump’s New Space Council Vows America ‘Will Hold the High Ground Again’ (Source: Washington Times)
The White House is making a leap toward the final frontier, and they are doing it right. Thursday marks the inaugural meeting of the National Space Council, and as far as power and policy goes, this is a star-studded, innovative event with potential. President Trump’s critics would be wise not to squawk about it; the public remains fascinated, receptive and even patriotic toward space exploration, and this effort emphasizes a trio of unapologetically noble themes: “We will lead again, we will inspire again, we will hold the high ground again.”

Vice President Mike Pence, who is council chairman, will captain the big doings. Also present: Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson; Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross; Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao; Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke; Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney; National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster; Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats; Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot; Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan; Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Michael Kratsios; and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Paul J. Selva.

Editor's Note: VP Pence opened the NSC meeting with the same rhetoric used during the campaign: that the US has lost its leadership position in space. Few of the NSC members or speakers seemed to agree. The U.S. is far and away the global leader in space, with civil, military and commercial programs that are the envy of other nations. (10/4)

60 Years After Sputnik, Russia is Lost in Space (Source: Space News)
Just over 30 years after the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite, Sputnik 1, the nation that opened the space race stood on the precipice of a second golden age of space exploration. A major program, the Energia heavy booster rocket and the Buran space shuttle, was nearing completion — making its maiden flight in November 1988.

Another three decades later, on the 60th anniversary of Sputnik 1, the Russian space program is a shadow of its Soviet predecessor. The Energia-Buran project, its last major accomplishment, flew just once before the fall of communism gutted Moscow’s space program. For nearly three decades now, the Russian space industry has been in a state of triage, teetering on collapse.

But the Russian space program has consistently defied the dire predictions of those foretelling an imminent end to the program. Today, amid a major effort to reform and reorganize the Russian space industry under the new Roscosmos state corporation, there are signs that the bleeding has been slowed. But major questions about Russia’s future in space linger. (10/4)

Is America Facing Another Sputnik Moment? (Source: The New Yorker)
The direction of the American space program could well be decided by Donald Trump’s nominee to lead NASA, Jim Bridenstine. A former Navy pilot and current congressman from Oklahoma, Bridenstine has been a vocal supporter of human spaceflight over basic research—more landings on Mars, fewer probes to Pluto. In his proposed American Space Renaissance Act, he calls for NASA to retrench from its scientific mission and devote its resources to building the infrastructure for a future (and still largely speculative) space economy. But Bridenstine’s plan seems to ignore the existing space economy, with its launch systems and communications satellites around the planet, a more than three-hundred-billion-dollar industry.

It also elides the fact that, at a time of increasing automation here on Earth, the rush to send human colonists to space seems quaint, if not misguided. This was, and remains, the main drawback of America’s historical Sputnik moment. In the depths of the Cold War, it framed space exploration as a race for national grandeur and technological domination, another frontier to be conquered. For some, neither the moment nor the war ever really ended. It is as if, sixty years after the Soviets first put a satellite into orbit, the Americans still haven’t gotten there. (10/4)

The World Needs a Terrestrial Sputnik Moment (Source: The Atlantic)
Sputnik itself was just a small metal sphere filled with nitrogen, with a radio transmitter, power supply, fan, and antennae. All it did was beep, at two frequencies that could be detected by radio receivers, including ham-radio operators, around the world. That’s it.

On the surface, it would seem it was not much to write home about, and in fact the Soviet government initially didn’t write much about it. The official Communist newspaper Pravda printed only a few paragraphs about Sputnik 1 on launch day. But given the geopolitical situation at the time, outside the Soviet Union, in particular in the United States, the whole landscape of international power and prestige changed.

As we face the 21st-century challenges of climate change and nuclear proliferation and much else, it’s worth asking whether we need a terrestrial Sputnik moment to catalyze public and government action to realistically face these challenges. With any luck, the galvanizing act will be as harmless as the small metal sphere the Soviets launched, and not something much more traumatic. (10/4)

Roscosmos: Int'l Space Exploration to Continue Despite Geopolitical Situation (Source: Sputnik)
A Complicated geopolitical situation is unlikely to have a negative impact on the development of the international cooperation in space exploration, Russia's Roscosmos state space corporation Deputy Director General for International Cooperation Sergey Savelyev said Wednesday.

Savelyev stressed that space industry was not affected by anti-Russian sanctions. "And there is no coincidence, because large-scale projects, such as the Deep Space Gateway, could be implemented only if all countries work together," Savelyev pointed out. (10/5)

Space Club Sponsors "Space Week" Events on Space Coast in November and December (Source: NSCFL)
The National Space Club's Florida Committee annual Space Week program now includes two major components. The first includes the school visits to KSC, which this year will take place on November 16, 17, 20, 21, 28, 30 and December 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12. The second features former KSC Director Jim Kennedy visiting area classrooms, an activity sponsored by Delaware North/KSCVC.

Brevard Space Week has proven to motivate our school administrators and teachers to increase emphasis on teaching math and science, as well as stimulating student interest in those subjects. Our classroom visits also will provide students with leadership and inspirational tools that will tie everything together.

On behalf of the NSCFL, we are requesting our community’s financial help once again. All contributions to the NSCFL (a 501c3 entity) will go directly to Brevard Space Week. Contributions can be made online at www.nscfl.org. This year we are also requesting volunteers to share their knowledge with the students. If you or your company wants to volunteer, please contact Deanna Maynard at DMaynard@delawarenorth.com. (10/4)

Orbital ATK: The Bullet Blunder Turned Rocket Ship (Source: Seeking Alpha)
Aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman is set to acquire Orbital ATK, offering $134.50 per share. The total buyout cost is estimated at around $9 billion. OA stock prices soared following the announcement, closing at $132.25 on Sep. 18 - a significant jump from Sep. 15's close at $110.04. The burning question - is this acquisition good for either company? Click here. (10/2)

Would Aliens Look Like Us? (Source: NPR)
Convergent evolution is the phenomenon of species independently evolving to be similar. Usually it results from the species adapting to similar situations, natural selection favoring the same solution to the same problem posed by the environment. Convergent evolution was known to Charles Darwin but, until relatively recently, we thought it was uncommon, a great example of the power of natural selection, but not commonplace. We now know, however, that convergence is far from rare; rather, it is pervasive, occurring all around us.

Think, for example, of fast-swimming marine predators: dolphins, sharks, tuna and ichthyosaurs (extinct marine reptiles from the Age of the Dinosaurs) all evolved a very stream-lined body shape and powerful tails for rapid and efficient locomotion. Or consider Euphorbia plants from dry parts of Africa. Tough-skinned, often green, with spines instead of leaves, they look like cacti, but they're not, having independently evolved the same traits to cope with water loss and herbivores in arid regions.

The pervasiveness of convergence has led some evolutionary biologists to proclaim evolution deterministic, the outcome downright inevitable. If the environment repeatedly poses the same challenges, and if natural selection repeatedly produces the optimal solutions, then evolution is repeatable. The Homo sapiens species is supremely adapted to life on Earth, the adaptations we forged as we emerged on the savannahs of Africa proving a brilliant stepping-stone to global dominance. Consequently, if evolution is so deterministic, the expectation for life on planets like our own is clear: Humanoid life forms should evolve and dominate, just like here. Hollywood has it right. (10/4)

Overlooked Ocean Worlds Fill the Outer Solar System (Source: Scientific American)
Our solar system is filled with oceans. But only a few of those have captivated our attention. During its 1979 Jupiter flyby, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft found the surface of the moon Europa to be a cracked-up jumble of water ice, as if composed of icebergs floating atop some hidden sea. As the craft moved on to Saturn, it took measurements of that planet’s massive moon, Titan, and revealed the frigid world bore a thick atmosphere that could sustain lakes or seas of liquid hydrocarbons on the veiled, cryogenic surface below. Ganymede’s ocean is even bigger than Europa’s and might be the largest in the entire solar system. Click here. (10/4)

Musk Has Yet to Explain How People will Survive on Mars (Source: Business Insider)
Musk's latest BFR design is about 50 feet shorter, and its spaceship is supposed to carry about half the payload. SpaceX has already built and tested key pieces of hardware in hopes of launching its first mission to Mars in 2022. "I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and be ready or launch in about five years. Five years seems like a long time to me."

Musk hopes to fly four additional ships to Mars in 2024, including two cargo missions and two ships carrying the first Martian explorers. From there, an increasing number of missions could establish and grow a colony. Two uncrewed missions would pave the way for future human exploration of Mars. The first would locate sources of water in the soil, and the second would set up a chemical factory to turn that water, plus carbon dioxide in the thin Martian air, into oxygen and methane rocket fuel. After the first people land on Mars, regular cargo launches would resupply them with food and other essentials. Click here. (10/4)

Colorado's Spaceport Application Headed to FAA in December (Source: Commerce City Sentinel)
Front Range Airport officials are preparing for a Spaceport Colorado launch. If approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Spaceport Colorado could some day send people to the outer edges of Earth and into orbital space. Officials plan to submit a license application to the FAA in December to get spaceport approval for the 3,100-acre airport about six miles southeast of Denver International Airport.

An environmental proposal is expected to go out for review at the same time as the license application. Airport authorities plan to hold a public meeting so residents can have input during a 30-day public review period, said Dave Ruppel, Front Range Airport director. (10/4)

These Microbes May Hitch a Ride with Humans to Mars: Why That Matters (Source: Space.com)
When humans finally journey to Mars, they won't be the only living things on board the spacecraft; millions upon millions of microbes that live on and in these pioneering astronauts' bodies will also be along for the ride. Understanding how these microbes can grow, spread and adapt in the spacecraft's confined conditions is important for ensuring the health of the astronauts who participate in such future long-term space missions.

And a new study offers insight into how these bacteria might behave in such an environment. Six men who lived as "Marsonauts" for more than a year inside a mock spacecraft in Moscow have revealed how the multitude of microbes that live on astronauts' bodies can adapt and spread throughout a confined environment, according to the study. (10/4)

Globalstar to Make Stock Offer for $125 Million (Source: Space News)
Mobile satellite services provider Globalstar announced after Wednesday’s closing bell a proposed public offering of $125 million in shares of voting common stock. Shares of the company’s stock closed Tuesday at $1.81 a share. Globalstar said Thermo Capital Partners LLC — which is led by Globalstar chairman and chief executive Jay Monroe — intends to buy up to $20 million in shares during the public offering. Thermo Capital is Globalstar’s controlling shareholder. (10/4)

Wyler: 1 Billion OneWeb Consumer Subscribers by 2025 (Source: Space Intel Report)
OneWeb Executive Chairman Greg Wyler on Oct. 3 said his mega-constellation of 150-kilogram satellites was on schedule to launch its first 10 prototypes next year and that the Russian Soyuz rocket that will perform the task had already arrived at the European spaceport in French Guiana. He said the constellation could have one billion subscribers by 2025. (10/4)

Three Billionaires Will Make Your Space Travel a Reality Soon (Source: Entrepreneur India)
Traveling to space is a dream dreamt by youngsters for ages, but none could have the opportunity to live the ‘dream-come-true’ moment. With time man has been able to mould technology as per his needs and has strived to travel to the space, riding on technology. Now, entrepreneurs have started cashing in on people’s fascination with space travel and are trying to build sustainable business model in sector.       

Billionaires like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are leading the race to space with their specially designed programmes, which promise to make the voyage affordable for commoners. Technology has actually helped a lot in bringing down the prices. Entrepreneur India has listed three billionaires, who are making space exploration less expensive. Click here. (10/4)