January 21, 2018

Our Universe Could Be Littered With Alien Viruses—and We Should Be Looking for Them (Source: Gizmodo)
It’s generally agreed that some kind of microbe will be the first form of life we discover on another planet, moon, or other space rock. But hardly anyone thinks we’ll find an alien virus, which is weird, given how prolific and successful these biological entities are on Earth. A new study seeks to correct this oversight, calling for an entirely new discipline known as “astrovirology.”

Viruses exist in massive numbers on Earth, and they date back to the very beginnings of life. More viruses exist on our planet than any other cellular organism—upwards of about 10 to 100 times more—so it’s a reasonable bet that viruses exist on other worlds. Yet scientists know surprisingly little about these “bags of genes” and how they work, with even less attention paid to the possibility of viruses existing elsewhere in the solar system and beyond. Problematically, NASA’s 2015 Astrobiology Strategy makes scarce mention of viruses, focusing primarily on the search for fully cellular alien microorganisms.

A new paper argues that this is a missed opportunity, and that astrobiologists should explore the possibility that viruses exist en masse throughout the universe. To that end, Stedman proposes the field of “astrovirology,” and asks that scientists start developing strategies and tools required to detect viruses off-planet. He said his proposal isn’t about subdividing the field of astrobiology even further, but more of an attempt to integrate viruses into “mainstream” astrobiology. (1/19)

UK Loses Space Data Center to Spain Amid Post-Brexit Security Concerns (Source: Politico)
Spain was picked Thursday as the new host of a data center that protects military information gathered by the EU’s satellite program, which must move from the U.K. after Brexit. The secure facility helps ensure the security of the Galileo satellite program — used by government defense programs as well as for civilian uses. The center, currently located in Swanwick, England, is a backup for the main infrastructure in Paris.

The European GNSS Program Committee voted today “by a large majority” in favor of relocating the U.K. center to Spain, said a Commission spokesperson. The move comes amid concerns over such a facility being located in a non-EU country. Even if the U.K. stays in the Galileo program, like Norway or Switzerland, non-EU member countries are excluded from participating in security aspects. (1/18)

Mars One Chief: Mission On Track; Humans Could Also One Day Move to Venus or Jupiter (Source: The Independent)
The man behind a project to establish a permanent habitable settlement on Mars has said he hopes people will one day inhabit floating balloons suspended in Venus’ thick atmosphere or pods fixed to one of Jupiter’s 69 moons. Bas Lansdorp said he was now confident his Mars One mission – to send people on a one-way trip to the red planet – would lift off in 2031.

That date was pushed back five years after the project ran into problems with funding, but Lansdorp says his mission is now back on track. This year marks the beginning of a gruelling selection process for the 100 successful applicants, involving indeterminate periods locked in a 200sq m cabin with complete strangers in a test of their psychological state. He insists the concept of relocating to Mars would gradually become more normal.

“Mars won’t be the final destination for humans looking to set up permanent settlements away from Earth,” he says. "After that, space explorers will be thinking about floating cities in the atmosphere of Venus in an extremely large balloon, or moving to one of Jupiter’s moons, or an asteroid. Humans have always settled in new places they have discovered.” (1/21)

Balance Transparency and Security at Spaceport America (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
We recognize that it’s trying to fit a fat thread through a tiny eye, but think there is still a chance to thread the needle and find the right balance when it comes to offering protections to private companies operating out of Spaceport America while also maintaining public transparency.

The bill now under consideration, SB 98 sponsored by Sens. William F. Burt, R-Alamogordo, and Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, is probably not the right solution. It goes too far in allowing companies to decide for themselves what information, if any, to release to the public. This is a unique problem – one that New Mexico has never had to deal with before, and for which there are few experiences from other state to draw from, although Virginia and Florida both have protections. (1/21)

Bill Calls for California Institute for Aerospace in Antelope Valley (Source: Parabolic Arc)
A bill introduced by State Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) calls for the establishment of the California Institute of Aerospace in the Antelope Valley to promote the industry throughout the state. Under the measure, the University of California would establish the institute on a satellite campus located within 20 miles of either Edwards Air Force Base or the United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. The institute would be located within the 36th District that Lackey represents.

“The creation of the California Institute for Aerospace by the University of California would greatly amplify the state’s role in the industry and improve public-private partnerships for innovative research,” the bill states. “The model provided by the Collaborative Center for Aerospace Sciences, a joint research venture of the United States Air Force Research Laboratory and the University of California, Los Angeles, is an example of the partnerships the California Institute for Aerospace could form and expand.”

The institute’s goals would include create new job opportunities in aerospace research and design, creating public-private partnerships to perform innovative research in aerospace technology, increasing the amount of research, development and design taking part in the state, and developing California’s next generation of engineers and technicians through expanded research opportunities. Locating the new institute in Antelope Valley — which is nicknamed the Aerospace Valley — would place it in close proximity to one of the state’s key aerospace clusters. (1/21)

Government Shutdown Impacts Spaceport Operations (Source: The Verge)
The US government is officially shut down, and that means federal agencies like NASA will be forced to send some workers home without pay and alter daily operations. A shutdown won’t have a big impact on the space agency’s biggest projects, but commercial companies like SpaceX — which rely on NASA and other government hardware — are suffering schedule delays. SpaceX's much-delayed static test of its Falcon Heavy rocket at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport has been delayed again, and its planned Jan. 30 launch could also be affected.

"Due to the shutdown removing key members of the civilian workforce, the 45th Space Wing will not be able to support commercial static fires taking place on KSC.” (1/21)

China Focus: The Making of Heroes - the Women and Men of China's Space Program (Source: Xinhua)
Taikonaut Zhang Xiaoguang prepared for 15 years to go into space. Zhang, one of the 14 pilots recruited as China's first batch of taikonauts, was 32 when he joined the Taikonaut Corps of People's Liberation Army at its founding in 1998. In order to pass the more than 30 fundamental courses that are required of every taikonaut, he wrote over 200,000 Chinese characters of study notes.

He studied advanced mathematics, aerodynamics, astronomy, English, environmental science, medicine, psychology, space science and technology and many other theoretical courses, all in one year, a superhuman task equal to compressing a normal college student's four-year study plan into 12 months. Click here. (1/21)

Backgrounder: China's Six Manned Space Missions (Source: Xinhua)
Since the establishment of the Taikonaut Corps of the People's Liberation Army in 1998, Chinese taikonauts have completed six manned spaceflights, conducted over 100 scientific experiments and orbited the earth for 68 days and nights. The corps recruited its first batch of 14 taikonauts from the elite pilots of the PLA Air Force in 1998. In 2010, seven more former pilots joined the mission. Here are the details of each manned spaceflight. (1/21)

The New Space Race - In Heaven as it is on Earth (Source: Economist)
SpaceX's ambition is to propel humanity beyond its home planet. But what is going on in space today also reflects the shifting balance of power on Earth. In the days of the space race between America and the Soviet Union, the heavens were a front in the cold war between two competing ideologies. Since then, power has not merely shifted between countries. It has also shifted between governments and individuals. Click here. (1/18)

Electron "Still Testing" Flight Soars to Orbit (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
On Sunday, Rocket Lab successfully completed the second test flight of the company’s Electron rocket from their own Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The test, simply called “Still Testing,” was previously slated for December 2017, but after exhausting most of their 10-day launch window, Rocket Lab postponed until this month. The first test flight of the Electron, called “It’s a Test,” occurred on May 25, 2017, with the launch vehicle making it to space – but not achieving orbit.
 
This second flight, despite being a test, carried three small commercial satellites, including two weather- and ship-tracking Lemur-2 satellites for Spire Global and one Earth-imaging Dove satellite for Planet Labs. These three CubeSats all joined existing satellite constellations for their respective companies.

The first stage of the Electron rocket is powered by nine Rutherford engines, designed in-house at Rocket Lab and named for New Zealand-born British physicist Ernest Rutherford. Additive manufacturing, also called 3D printing, is used to manufacture all of the engine’s primary components, which means an entire engine takes just three days to build. (1/21)