February 2, 2018

Forget the Falcon Heavy’s Payload and Focus on Where the Rocket Will Go (Source: Ars Technica)
With a single Falcon Heavy rocket, he said, the United States could fly a crew of astronauts around the Moon. With two, it could land humans on the Moon and bring them back. NASA might return a sample of Martian rock to Earth with a single Falcon Heavy launch.

When, a reporter asked, might the Falcon Heavy be ready to fly? Musk explained that he thought SpaceX would roll out the big rocket to a launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, near the company’s headquarters in Southern California, in November or December of 2012. “The launch itself is more difficult to predict,” he admitted. But probably sometime the following year.

SpaceX, of course, did end up rolling the Falcon Heavy out to a launch pad in December. Of 2017. Along the way, Musk’s competitors in the aerospace business have snickered behind his back about the oft-delayed rocket, ridiculing his ability to meet schedules. They’ve also suggested that trying to fly a booster with 27 engines will meet the same fate as the Soviet N-1 rocket. Click here. (2/2)

China Launches Earthquake Science Satellite (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
China launched an earthquake science satellite and six secondary payloads early Friday. A Long March 2D lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 2:51 a.m. Eastern and placed the Zhangheng-1 satellite into orbit. The spacecraft, also known as the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite, is designed to observe any electromagnetic precursors to earthquakes. The rocket also carried two satellites for Satellogic, an Earth-observation company based in Argentina; two technology demonstration satellites built by GomSpace, one of which carries a payload for ESA; and two Chinese cubesats. (2/1)

China's Station Module Reentry Now Anticipated Mid-March to Mid-April (Source: GB Times)
An updated prediction estimates China's Tiangong-1 module will reenter in mid-March to mid-April. The forecast by the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office now expects the lab module to reenter between March 18 and April 12, somewhere between 43 degrees north and south latitude. A Chinese official said last month that the module was not out of control, but outside experts say there's no evidence that China is able to control the reentry of the module. (2/1)

SpaceX and ULA to Compete for New Military Launches (Source: Space News)
SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are likely to go head-to-head in the next round of EELV contracts. Both companies are expected to submit bids for five national security missions planned for launch in the early 2020s, with the Air Force awarding contracts for them by late this year. Analysts noted that, other than the fifth SBIRS satellite, the competition features a set of unique, classified payloads. (2/1)

NOAA Could Transfer Weather Satellite to Air Force for Indian Ocean Coverage (Source: Space News)
NOAA remains in discussions with the Air Force about the potential transfer of a spare GOES satellite. NOAA officials said at a Thursday briefing about the upcoming launch of the GOES-S satellite that it is beginning engineering studies about the feasibility of transferring one of its older and unneeded GOES satellites to the Air Force. The service has previously expressed an interest in taking over a GOES satellite and moving it to the Indian Ocean region to fill a gap in coverage there. GOES-S, which will be renamed GOES-17 after launch next month, will take over for GOES-15 at 135 degrees west. (2/1)

India Considers Increased Space Spending (Source: The Hindu)
The Indian government has proposed another significant budget increase for the Indian space agency ISRO. The proposed 2018–19 budget offers nearly 108 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) for India's Department of Space, an increase of more than 18 percent over its 2017–18 budget. The budget includes a large increase in its "space technology" line item, which covers satellite and launch vehicle development. The budget also includes funding for work on a second Mars orbiter mission and the country's first mission to Venus. (2/1)

Japan Plans Test Flight of Microsat Launcher (Source: Nikkei)
As JAXA prepares another test flight of the SS-520 rocket, a small launch vehicle industry is emerging in Japan. JAXA, working with Canon, plans to launch the SS-520-5 rocket carrying a single cubesat early Saturday. A previous launch of the rocket, a converted sounding rocket about the size of a utility pole, failed last year. Other Japanese companies, such as Interstellar Technologies, are also interested in developing small launch vehicles, and look to take advantage of a law that takes effect later this year for government licensing of commercial launches. (2/1)

PLD Space Wins ESA Backing for Microsat Launcher, Spaceport Possible in Spain (Source: Space Daily)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded the project "Study on Launch Service Making Use of a Microlauncher" to the Spanish company PLD Space. The study, a part of the ESA's Future Launcher Preparatory Program, will refine the definition of the ARION 2 launcher. ESA has also tasked PLD Space with proposing and defining - both technically and economically - a new European spaceport, which will be dedicated to launching small satellites to polar and heliosynchronous orbits. Thanks to the growing support from both the public and the private sector, the new spaceport would ideally be located in Spain. (2/2)

Putin Gives Nod to Creation of Russian Super Heavy-Lift Launcher (Source: Space Daily)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the creation of a new Russian super heavy-lift launch vehicle (SHLLV), which is supposed to be used for missions to the Moon and Mars, Roscosmos Director General Igor Komarov said. Komarov added that from the end of 2019 Roscosmos will have to form a subprogram, which will be included in the Federal Space Program 2016-2025.

"Before 2028, here (in the Vostochny Cosmodrome), facilities and ground infrastructure will be created, and simultaneously a super heavy class launch vehicle will be developed," Roscosmos chief added. In August, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that first flight tests of Russia's super heavy-lift launch vehicle should be scheduled for 2027 as opposed to the earlier reported date - 2030. Among other purposes, Russia intends to use a new SHLLV to put the projected Deep Space Gateway cislunar space station into orbit. (2/2)

Russia Could Offer Space Walks for Tourists (Source: AFP)
The head of RSC Energia says the company will offer spacewalks for prospective space tourists, but for a premium. Vladimir Solntsev told a Russian publication that a flight to a Russian module on the ISS, including a spacewalk, would cost $100 million, although with an undisclosed discount for the first customer. Solntsev discussed tourism prospects using a module called NEM-2 that the company says will be added to the station's Russian segment in 2019. Space Adventures, which sold tourist flights to the ISS in the past, included options for spacewalks as well, but without any takers. (2/1)

Dwarf Galaxies in Alignment (Source: Scientific American)
Astronomers have discovered an unexpected alignment of dwarf galaxies orbiting a larger one. Astronomers studying the movement of 16 dwarf galaxies surrounding the galaxy Centaurus A, 10 million light-years away, found that 14 of the dwarf galaxies were in the same orbital plane, which is unlikely to happen by chance. If other large galaxies have similar alignments of dwarf galaxies orbiting them, astronomers said, it could raise questions about models of dark matter used to explain the formation and evolution of galaxies. (2/1)

DynCorp, AAR Settle $10B Counternarcotics Contract Row (Source: Law360)
A Florida federal judge on Thursday dismissed DynCorp International LLC’s suit accusing a unit of AAR Airlift Group of stealing its secrets to score a $10 billion counternarcotics support services contract from the U.S. Department of State, after both parties said they’d struck an undisclosed settlement. On the heels of losing a separate but related U.S. Court of Federal Claims case that had challenged the decision to hire AAR, DynCorp agreed to end the trade secrets row in district court. (2/1)

NASA Twins Study Confirms Preliminary Findings (Source: Space Daily)
The Twin Study propelled NASA into the genomics era of space travel. It was a ground-breaking study comparing what happened to astronaut Scott Kelly, in space, to his identical twin brother, Mark, who remained on Earth. The perfect nature versus nurture study was born. After returning to Earth, Scott started the process of readapting to Earth's gravity. Most of the biological changes he experienced in space quickly returned to nearly his preflight status. Some changes returned to baseline within hours or days of landing, while a few persisted after six months.

Scott's telomeres (endcaps of chromosomes that shorten as one ages) actually became significantly longer in space. While this finding was presented in 2017, the team verified this unexpected change with multiple assays and genomics testing. Additionally, a new finding is that the majority of those telomeres shortened within two days of Scott's return to Earth.

Another interesting finding concerned what some call the "space gene", which was alluded to in 2017. Researchers now know that 93% of Scott's genes returned to normal after landing. However, the remaining 7% point to possible longer term changes in genes related to his immune system, DNA repair, bone formation networks, hypoxia, and hypercapnia. (2/2)

Colorado Aerospace Companies Flying High (Source: ChooseColorado)
Colorado’s robust aerospace industry is soaring, following leaps in technology and an increase in defense spending. According to Jay Lindell, retired Air Force major general, Colorado is first in the nation in terms of per-capita aerospace employment. More than 25,000 aerospace workers are employed in Colorado in more than 400 companies. Click here. (1/30)

NASA Shows Off SLS Hardware Made in Alabama (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA's new Space Launch System has some big missions planned. It will carry astronauts back to the moon, and it could carry big science instruments like the Europa Clipper to Jupiter in half the current travel time. But the focus in Huntsville this week wasn't on the big things SLS could do. It was on 13 cubesats slightly bigger than a shoebox and the adapter built in Alabama to launch them from the first SLS flight around the moon. Click here. (2/1)

Is Space the Next Frontier for Archaeology? (Source: Ars Technica)
In the past 60 years, humans have left a lot of stuff on other worlds or floating in space. We’ve landed (or crashed) spacecraft on Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and Titan. Along with the hundreds of objects in orbit around Earth, the Moon, and Mars, those spacecraft provide a physical record of human activity that could outlast some of the most ancient ruins here on Earth.

“There's stuff in orbit, particularly in middle to high orbits, that's up there for thousands or even millions of years,” said Flinders University space archaeologist Alice Gorman. Luckily, just as archaeologists back here on Earth take interest in the remains of decades past beneath us, some in the industry have started pursuing a similar curiosity in what's above our pale blue dot. And, accordingly, a branch of archaeology has emerged that wants to bring the study of humanity’s past into the future. (2/1)

Air Force Attempts to Bring Private-Sector Investment, Innovation to Space (Source: Space News)
For years Air Force officials have talked about building a “space enterprise” as a way to connect the military, the intelligence community and companies that are developing cutting-edge technology that the government needs. But first, the Air Force says it needs to have in place a “space architecture” to experiment with new types of satellites, hosted payloads and encryption tools to protect space systems.

So a contract was awarded this week to SSL, a Palo Alto, California-based spacecraft manufacturer owned by Maxar Technologies, to help the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center figure out how to build that architecture. A space architecture is needed to have a “more affordable and resilient national security space enterprise,” SSL said. An idea for a space architecture, for example, might involve a combination of small and large satellites in both low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit.

Other innovations that could be brought into the space enterprise are technologies to modernize the infrastructure, affordable access to space, commercial data processing, small satellites that could support future U.S. Air Force missions, and cyber-protected interfaces for hosting government payloads on commercial satellites. (2/1)

UK-Ukrainian Launch Vehicle Developer Skyrora to Establish Smallsat Launch Site (Source: Space News)
U.K.-based Skyrora has unveiled plans to host a suborbital test flight in the fourth quarter of 2018. As part of its strategy to meet the rising demand for small satellite launches in a cost-effective manner, the company aims to set up a facility to launch smallsats from Scotland. The company is in the process of finalizing the suborbital build and will be testing its engine in the U.K. during the first quarter of 2018. (2/1)

Why You (Probably) Shouldn't Worry About Earth's Magnetic Poles Flipping (Source: Space.com)
Earth's magnetic poles, whatever they're doing, are not going to spark chaos and kill us all — a scenario making the rounds online right now. According to an Australian news site, a magnetic flip would not only cause massive blackouts, "even flushing the toilet could become impossible." And the director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is suggesting a reversal would render parts of the planet uninhabitable.

Here's what's really happening and why there's no need to take cover in a doomsday bunker. Oceans of molten iron are swirling deep inside the planet around the outer core. That sloshing sets up a giant bar magnet through Earth — though not a real concrete magnet, of course. This giant magnet sits at an angle of about 11 degrees from the axis around which Earth spins. These poles are not in the same place as our geographic North and South poles.

And remember that swirling iron? It's constantly moving around. The result? Blobs of that iron get flipped in the opposite direction from iron atoms around them; scientists say they become "reverse-aligned." When there are enough reverse-aligned iron atoms, that giant bar magnet flips, and magnetic north becomes magnetic south. The flipping isn't a quick turn but rather a gradual one, and can take between 1,000 and 10,000 years. (2/1)

7 Things We Thought Were Made by Aliens; But Qeren’t… Probably (Source: New Scientist)
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a mysterious flying object from another solar system! 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, the space rock that first appeared in our telescopes in October 2017 has been causing uproar among astronomers. Almost undoubtedly a shard of another planetary system that somehow worked loose, one of the more outlandish alternative claims is that it is an alien spacecraft – a claim boosted by its highly unusual, elongated shape.

While we don’t yet know enough to pooh-pooh the idea entirely, the history of things we thought were made by aliens, but weren’t, suggests it’s just another case of wishful thinking. Click here. (2/1)

The Secret Cold War History of the Missile That Launched America's First Satellite (Source: Mental Floss)
An Army major general named John Bruce Medaris saw a big opportunity in the International Geophysical Year: to use a missile designed for war—which the Army had been prohibited from developing further—to launch a satellite into space. But Medaris, who commanded the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville would need to be creative about selling it to the Department of Defense. Click here. (2/1)