April 1, 2018

This Chinese Space Station Is Going to Crash—But the Next One Could Dominate (Source: Daily Beast)
If Washington cuts the International Space Station’s funding and no private company takes over the station’s operation, the ISS could soon meet the same explosive fate that awaits Tiangong-1. And that could leave Tiangong-2 as humanity’s only off-world habitat, with China as its sole owner.

A Chinese monopoly on space stations would be the result of Beijing’s patient, unwavering approach to space exploration—an approach that, yes, occasionally results in an old, abandoned station dramatically burning up in the atmosphere. American space programs tend to fluctuate wildly with successive presidential administrations. The Chinese, by contrast, “are playing the tortoise to the U.S. hare,” Johnson-Freese said. “You know who ultimately won that race.” (3/31)

SpaceX Readies for Monday Mission From Florida to Resupply Space Station (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
SpaceX is set to send its next Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station with three tons of supplies and science. The CRS-14 mission will include materials to help the Expeditions 55 and 56 crews conduct and monitor more than 200 science and technology investigations. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT on Monday. It will have a one-second launch window as rendezvousing with ISS is a carefully-timed dance of orbital mechanics. (3/31)

Orbital ATK Unveils New In-Orbit Satellite Servicing Products (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Orbital ATK has introduced two new in-orbit satellite servicing products: the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) and Mission Extension pods (MEPS). These new products will join the company’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) to create a suite of in-orbit satellite servicing technologies capable of extending the life of existing satellites.

The MEP is an external propulsion module that attaches to an aging satellite that is low on fuel and provides up to five years of additional life in orbit. Once installed, the MEP is controlled by the customer via a self-contained C or Ku band telemetry and command system.

The primary mission of the MRV spacecraft is to transport and install MEPs and other payloads to customer satellites. The MRV can also provide space robotic capabilities for in-orbit repairs and other functions. Orbital ATK’s SpaceLogistics subsidiary will operate the new system, with its launch currently scheduled for 2021. (3/30)

Parachute Issue Led to Failed Falcon Fairing Capture (Sources: Elon Musk, SPACErePORT)
SpaceX's second attempt to capture a Falcon-9 fairing for reuse apparently has failed. A specially outfitted boat called Mr. Steven tried to maneuver itself underneath the parachute-assisted fairing after it was jettisoned from the launch vehicle over the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, according to a tweet by Elon Musk, the GPS guided parafoil twisted, resulting in a high speed impact. Air wake from the fairing interfered with the parafoil steering. He said SpaceX plans helicopter drop tests in the next few weeks to attempt to solve the problem. (3/31)

China Starts Comprehensive Training of Astronauts for Space Station (Source: Xinhua)
Comprehensive training for astronauts on China's future space station missions is underway, according to the Astronaut Center of China (ACC). The missions for the space station will feature long in-orbit stays, regular extra-vehicular activities, in-orbit assembling and repair of the station, which means more challenges for the selection and training of astronauts, the center said.

Currently, astronauts have begun the study of space station technology, mechanical arms and extra-vehicular activities. They have also gone through diving training for adaptation, and intensified their strength and stamina training, according to Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer at the ACC. (3/30)

How Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos Are Trying to Upend Space Exploration (Source: Fast Company)
When SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket in early February, it was one of the best public relations events in the recent history of space exploration. Millions of people watched the launch and saw SpaceX try to bring all three rockets back to Earth. Never mind that NASA appears to have lost some interest in the Falcon Heavy; the public is on board. You would think that eventually, the space agency would have to follow. Click here. (3/31)

How to Keep a Crew of Humans Alive to Mars? Put Them to Bed for Most of It (Source: Quartz)
There are questions around how to pack enough food and water to sustain the crew without making the rocket too heavy and around how much physical space would be left for the crew to live in. There are questions about what happens if someone gets dangerously ill and about what a claustrophobic half-year in these circumstances would do to the mental health of the Martian explorers.

Enter John Bradford of Atlanta-based SpaceWorks Enterprises. Using a $500,000 grant from NASA, Bradford’s team has been working on an adaptation of a promising medical procedure that could alleviate many of the human-related limitations of space travel. Click here. (3/30)

Air Force: It’s Time to Pull the Plug on JSTARS; Congress: Not So Fast (Source: Space News)
U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson calls it a “bold move”: cancel a $6.5 billion purchase of high-tech ground surveillance aircraft and shift that mission to a network dubbed “advanced battle management system.” The argument the Air Force makes in its 2019 budget request for not buying new aircraft to replace the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, is rather straightforward. It can’t survive modern air defenses. Click here. (3/30)

Is There Life Adrift in the Clouds of Venus? (Source: UW)
In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have turned over all sorts of rocks. Mars, for example, has geological features that suggest it once had — and still has — subsurface liquid water, an almost sure prerequisite for life. Scientists have also eyed Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus as well as Jupiter’s moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto as possible havens for life in the oceans under their icy crusts.

Now, however, scientists are dusting off an old idea that promises a new vista in the hunt for life beyond Earth: the clouds of Venus. An international team of researchers led by planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye lays out a case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life. “Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own,” explains Limaye, noting that some models suggest Venus once had a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as 2 billion years. “That’s much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars.” (3/30)