April 9, 2018

Las Cruces Space Festival Highlights Area's Connection to the Cosmos (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
For millennia, humans have looked to the stars for guidance, to tell us where we are and who we are. This infatuation with space has played a vital role in shaping New Mexico, possibly more so than any other place in America. The first Las Cruces Space Festival, April 12-14, aims to celebrate the unique achievements of space exploration in New Mexico and all of those that will build a path for explorers to come.

The festival is intentionally starting on April 12, the date the Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin into a single orbit around the earth in 1961, which began human space flight. Jonathan Firth, Virgin Galactic executive vice president of spaceport and program development, is one of the festival's organizers. Virgin Galactic is the primary tenant at Spaceport America. (4/8)

I’m Not Signing Up to Become a Space Tourist Just Yet (Source: The Conversation)
Is there anyone reading this who didn’t want to be an astronaut when they were a child? I was especially passionate, but it was back in the days when Australian women weren’t allowed to be military or commercial pilots, and we didn’t have a space program, so that was the end of that. These days, having gained post-graduate qualifications in space studies and aviation medicine, I sustain my passion through my work as a medical educator, doctor and extreme environments researcher.

So, am I excited that we are edging closer to space tourism being a reality, and would I like to go? Yes, of course! (Assuming it was a lot more affordable). However, the child within is tempered by a rationalist voice saying “not until it is all proven and safely bedded down”. Click here. (4/9)

Peru Discovers the Value of Moss. Farmers Team with Space Agency (Source: Economist)
To the Quechua-speaking subsistence farmers who live in the higher reaches of the Peruvian Andes, the sphagnum moss that upholsters the land near their villages is a nuisance. They burn it away to clear land for planting traditional crops, like potatoes. Now some have realized that the spongy vegetation can be worth more than the tubers, which sometimes cost more to grow than they fetch in the market. The market for the sort of moss Peru produces, around 5,300 tonnes a year. But it is growing fast.

The absorbency of moss makes it useful for potting exotic plants like orchids. Because of its acidity, farmers add it to the soil in which they grow such foods as blueberries. Inka Moss, the only Peruvian exporter, has been teaching communities in the central Junín region since 2010 to harvest moss without uprooting it, allowing the plant to regenerate. So far, the rewards have been modest. Some 20 villages, each with about 60 families, made $1.4m in total from 2010 to 2016. Marco Piñatelli, Inka Moss’s boss, thinks the potential is much bigger.

To achieve that, Peru’s moss miners have enlisted help from the country’s space agency. It is using data gathered from a French-built satellite, which also tracks coca production and deforestation, to map mossy places. “It would take years to map areas using traditional techniques,” says Carlos Caballero, the general who heads the space agency. (4/5)

So, What About Mars? (Source: Space Review)
With the new direction given to NASA to return humans to the Moon, some wonder what that means for the agency’s former “Journey to Mars” plans. Jeff Foust describes how sending humans to Mars remains a long-term goal, although one with perhaps even less detail than before. Click here. (4/9)
 
On Seeing the Earth for the First Time (Source: Space Review)
What would it be like to finally be able to see the Earth from the outside, as a world floating in the darkness of space? In an essay excerpted from his new book, Christopher Potter discusses those efforts to see the Earth as it truly is, from space. Click here. (4/9) 
 
SpaceShipTwo is a Step Closer to Space (Source: Space Review)
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo made its first powered test flight last week. Jeff Foust reports on that achievement and its implications for both the company and suborbital space tourism. Click here. (4/9)
 
The Necessity of a Radical Review of Cybersecurity in Space (Source: Space Review)
Growing cybersecurity threats could jeopardize operations of space systems through attacks on ground stations or even satellites themselves. Anne-Sophie Martin argues that now is the time to address these threats on an international level given the lack of consideration of them in existing space treaties. Click here. (4/9) 

Photographers Shine in Recent Launch Coverage (Source: CNBC)
Those SpaceX missions have also helped launch the careers of a new generation of photographers. They got interested in photography, and shooting launches, in the last few years, and now regularly cover SpaceX and other launches. In some cases, they've found their images publicized by Elon Musk on social media. Click here. (4/8)

It's Official. Florida's Republican Governor Seeks to Unseat Democrat U.S. Sentator Bill Nelson (Source: The Hill)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) announced on Monday that he’ll challenge Sen. Bill Nelson (D), setting up a marquee battle that could help decide which party controls the Senate. Scott sought to paint himself as an outsider and vowed to "shake up Washington" if elected in November, without naming Nelson during his speech.
 
Scott, who because of term limits cannot run for a third term as governor, is a close ally of Trump. While Trump carried the state, Democrats and even some Republican believe that his closeness to Trump could be a liability if the president’s approval numbers don’t improve.

Nelson is one of 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection in a state that Trump carried. A February poll from Quinnipiac showed him with a 4-point edge over Scott. Scott has the ability to self-fund his bid, while Nelson has stockpiled cash, ending 2017 with $8 million in his campaign account. That means that for the second cycle in a row, Florida is likely to host the most expensive Senate race. (4/9)

Astra Space Scrubs Alaska Test Launch (Source: AP)
A suborbital launch from Alaska Friday was scrubbed. The launch of a rocket developed by Astra Space, a secretive California startup, was cancelled minutes before the scheduled liftoff from the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska on Kodiak Island. Alaska Aerospace Corporation, which runs the spaceport, said the postponement was apparently due to a problem with the rocket, with no new launch date announced. (4/9)

Musk Shows Off Huge Component for Manufacturing Heavy-Lift BFR (Source: GeekWire)
Elon Musk showed off a component that will be used to build part of its BFR launch system. Musk, in an Instagram post, showed an image of a large cylinder — dwarfing a Tesla Model 3 parked beside it — that he said is the "main body tool" for the upper stage, or "spaceship," part of BFR. The tool appears similar to that used by Boeing to help make the carbon composite fuselage of the 787 aircraft. (4/9)

Zuma Payload's Loss Blamed on Northrop Grumman Adapter Device (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Investigations have concluded that a payload adapter provided by Northrop Grumman caused the loss of the Zuma payload shortly after launch three months ago. Teams of government and industry investigators have reportedly concluded the payload adapter, purchased from an unnamed subcontractor and "significantly modified" by Northrop, didn't separate Zuma from the Falcon 9 upper stage as planned.

In addition, sensors on the spacecraft failed to report the problem until the upper stage started to deorbit. Neither the mission nor the customer for Zuma, reported to cost as much as $3.5 billion, have been disclosed. The investigations exonerate SpaceX, who many initially thought was responsible for the failed mission. (4/9)

Funds Shortage May Delay Crucial Indian Space Projects (Source: Geospatial World)
Four crucial space programs of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are likely to be delayed in the face of severe fund shortage. As per the report submitted to India’s upper House Rajya Sabha last month by a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, the Department of Space (DoS) is of the opinion that the shortage is so severe that ISRO may not be able to “advance actions for procurement of materials and renewal of fabrication contracts with the partner industries”. (4/9)

SpaceX's BFR Factory Abuzz at California Port (Source: Teslarati)
Given the surprising level of activity at this BFR-focused facility, it is fair to conclude that SpaceX is wasting no time at all with the production of its first full-scale BFR prototypes. Altogether, the tent factory is gradually being filled to the brim with custom carbon composite tooling capable of fabricating Mars spaceship and booster structures, propellant tanks, delta winglets, and more.

It’s no coincidence that this tent (and the prospective factory at Berth 240) were both located at Port of San Pedro – once completed, it should be comparatively easy to ship the massive components to SpaceX’s Texas or Florida facilities, both of which have been hinted as possible locations for BFR testing (and launches, eventually). Click here. (4/9)