May 18, 2018

Contamination Found in SLS Engine Tubing (Source: Space News)
NASA is dealing with a contamination problem with tubing in part of the core stage of the first Space Launch System vehicle, an issue that could contribute to further delays for its launch. At a May 17 meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) at KSC, panel member Don McErlean said the committee had been briefed on a “late development” with the core stage, being constructed at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

A “routine quality assurance inspection” of the core stage, he said, discovered contamination in tubing in the engine section of the core stage, which hosts the vehicle’s four RS-25 main engines and associated systems. That contamination turned out to be paraffin wax, which is used to keep the tubes from crimping while being manufactured but is supposed to be cleaned out before shipment.

“The prime contractor determined the vendor was not fully cleaning the tubes and it was leaving residue in the tubes,” McErlean said. The contamination was initially found in a single tube, he said, but later checks found similar residue in other tubes. All the tubing in the core stage is now being inspected and cleaned. (5/17)

With Six New Satellites and More Coming, Planet Looks to Disrupt High-Res Imagery Market (Source: Space News)
Planet is trying to break into the top tier of the remote-sensing business by offering “guaranteed” high-resolution images to customers on the day at time of their choosing.

The company has 13 remote-sensing SkySat satellites — seven came from the acquisition of Terra Bella from Google. Six more were launched last fall and recently declared operational. “This means having satellites overhead every day twice a day. It’s access that doesn’t exist in the market right now,” SkySat product lead Louis Rousmaniere told SpaceNews. (5/17)

Firefly Aerospace Opens Research and Development Center in Dnipro, Ukraine (Source: FireFly)
Firefly Aerospace announced today the official opening of its Research and Development center in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine. Headquartered in Cedar Park TX, Firefly currently has additional offices in Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, Japan. The opening of this R&D center is a significant step towards achieving future Firefly goals.

The R&D center in Dnipro will further enable the world-class engineering teams at Firefly Aerospace to design and manufacture components of launch vehicles and launch systems. The Firefly R&D center, home to more than 150 employees, is equipped with the largest 3D-printer in Ukraine, intended for industrial manufacturing of high-quality metal parts.

“We plan to launch the first Firefly Alpha in the third quarter of 2019. By 2021, our mass production facilities will support two Alpha launches per month. This will enable our customers to purchase dedicated launches, allowing them to go directly to the orbit of their choosing, according to their schedule.” said Firefly founder Dr. Max Polyakov. (5/17)

Satellite Study Finds Major Shifts in Global Freshwater (Source: Space Daily)
A new global, satellite-based study of Earth's freshwater distribution found that Earth's wet areas are getting wetter, while dry areas are getting drier. The data suggest that this pattern is due to a variety of factors, including human water management practices, human-caused climate change and natural climate cycles.

The NASA-led research team, which included Hiroko Beaudoing, a faculty specialist at the University of Maryland's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), used 14 years of observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world.

The study, published in the May 17, 2018 issue of the journal Nature, also incorporated satellite precipitation data from the ESSIC-led Global Precipitation Climatology Project; Landsat imagery from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey; irrigation maps; and published reports of human activities related to agriculture, mining and reservoir operations. The study period spans from 2002 to 2016. (5/17)

Scientists Spot Strange Lasers Coming Towards Earth From Space Ant Nebula (Source: Independent)
Scientists have spotted two strange lasers coming out of the huge ant nebula. The mysterious blasts appear to suggest that the cluster is hiding a double star system at its heart. The rare blast is usually associated with the death of a star, and was seen by the European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory.

When middleweight stars like our own Sun get approach their death, they turn into dense, white dwarf stars. As they do, they shed their outer layers of gas and dust into space, creating a kaleidoscope effect that is visible across the universe.

And now scientists have found that process is even more dramatic than it first appears. At the same time, stars throw out powerful lasers, according to the new observations. In the case of the space ant, it is still not clear where that laser is coming from. But it appears to be a twin star system that is dying. (5/17)

SpaceX's Controversial Rocket Fueling Procedure Appears 'Viable,' Says NASA Safety Advisory Panel (Source: LA Times)
A NASA safety advisory group weighed in Thursday on SpaceX’s highly scrutinized proposal to load rocket propellants while astronauts are aboard, saying it appears to be a “viable option.” Several members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said that as long as potential hazards can be controlled, loading crew before fueling is finished could be acceptable.

“My sense is that, assuming there are adequate, verifiable controls identified and implemented for the credible hazard causes, and those which could potentially result in an emergency situation … it appears load-and-go is a viable option for the program to consider,” panel member Capt. Brent Jett Jr. (Ret.) said during Thursday’s meeting.

SpaceX’s rocket fueling procedure, known as “load-and-go,” has come under scrutiny, most recently earlier this year when the issue came up during a meeting of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. SpaceX uses super-chilled liquid oxygen to maximize the amount that can fit in the tank and increase the rocket’s power at liftoff. But the extremely cold temperature means it must be loaded right before launch, and in a flight with a crew, that means astronauts would be aboard. (5/17)

NASA Could See Windfall if FY 2019 Appropriations Bill Passes (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
New legislation could see NASA gain a substantial increase in the agency’s budget. Should the bill pass the full House and Senate, and get signed into law, NASA’s science and exploration programs stand to gain the most. While the bill would increase funding for Deep Space Explorations Systems by $294 million — including Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) — and the agency’s Science programs by $459 million, the bill would also see NASA’s lunar exploration program gets fully funded with a $504.2 million bump.

Astrobotic, with its ambitions to explore the Moon, was understandably receptive. “The FY 2019 House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill firmly sets America on a course back to the surface of the Moon for the first time since 1972 with its full funding of the Lunar Discovery and Exploration program in Science Mission Directorate and Advanced Cislunar and Surface Capabilities in the Advanced Exploration Systems office,” noted the company’s CEO, John Thornton, in a release issued by Astrobotic.

With the lunar program components fully funded, along with the boosts to human and planetary science programs, NASA may be able to undertake that at which it excels: exploration. Speaking at the “Humans to Mars Summit” on May 9, 2018, NASA’s new Administrator, Jim Bridenstine, likened the agency’s role to that of early American exploration ventures, such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Bridenstine noted the need for a public-private partnership to bring NASA’s goals to fruition. (5/17)

Next Florida Launch: SpaceX Falcon-9 Carrying an SES Satellite (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Nothing’s ever 100 percent certain about launch schedules, but the next launch on the horizon for Florida is another SpaceX rocket carrying a satellite for one of the world’s biggest satellite companies. It will be a previously flown first-stage rocket booster, according to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex launch page.

SES, Luxembourg’s biggest public company, plans to mount its SES 12 satellite SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to reach orbit. Launch could happen on May 31. The SES launch will be from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40. Since the launch pad is south of the space center proper, viewing could be decent from areas around Port Canaveral, but a time isn’t set yet. (5/17)

Trump's New NASA Head: Humans Contributing in 'Major Way' to Climate Change (Source: The Hill)
President Trump's newly minted head of NASA said Thursday that climate change is happening and humans are contributing to it in a "major way." Jim Bridenstine, a GOP congressman who was confirmed as the new administrator of NASA last month, made the comments while speaking to employees at his first town hall at NASA headquarters in Washington.

"I don't deny the consensus that the climate is changing, in fact I fully believe and know that the climate is changing. I also know that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way," Bridenstine said. "Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. We are putting it to the atmosphere in volumes that we haven't seen and that greenhouse gas is warming the planet. That is absolutely happening and we are responsible for it," he added.

Bridenstine, a former Oklahoma congressman, was narrowly confirmed to lead NASA in April after enduring a months-long Senate confirmation process due to opposition from Democrats and some Republicans. As a Republican lawmaker, Bridenstine had made a series of statements questioning climate change, among other controversial views. During his Senate confirmation hearing last November, Bridenstine wouldn't say how much humans were contributing to climate change. (5/17)

Brexit Britain's Space Ambitions are an Expensive Waste of Time (Source: WIRED)
Brexit is officially an astronomical pain in the neck. Because Britain is departing the EU, its access to the continental club's satellite network is changing – and while those pre-existing rules shouldn't have been news to our government, the ensuing disagreement has the UK threatening to launch its very own navigation satellite system.

But ignore the headlines saying the EU is blocking Britain from accessing the space infrastructure it helped build (it's not – not yet at least), and the stories screaming that we've already started building our own £3 billion satellite network (we haven't – we've only just got a task force). The real story isn't the loss of secure signal, but us throwing away our sensible space policy.

Galileo is the EU's two-decades-long satellite navigation project, built to rival the American GPS. But don't panic that your Google Maps may get less accurate, as its not the main civilian Galileo service that's at the centre of the dispute. That will still be available to anyone, Britain included. (5/16)

Advisory Committee Asks NASA to Develop Plans for Reduced ISS Crew (Source: Space News)
A NASA advisory committee, concerned about delays in the development of commercial crew systems, wants the agency to look at options where the International Space Station is operated with a reduced crew. At a meeting of the ISS Advisory Committee, Thomas Stafford said that NASA should consider training Russian cosmonauts on key systems in what’s known as the U.S. Operating Segment (USOS) portion of the ISS, which includes elements from the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada, in the event extended commercial crew development delays reduce the size of the station’s crew.

One option he mentioned at the meeting is “providing training to Russian crewmembers on the USOS critical systems.” That training, he said, would be provided to cosmonauts scheduled to fly to the station on Soyuz missions in September 2019 and March 2020. Stafford said his committee requested a presentation from NASA on such planning at its next meeting. (5/15)

The ABCs of OEZs: Understanding Spaceport Camden’s Safety Criteria (Source: Spaceport Camden Blog)
Last week the Tribune & Georgian printed some excerpt of emails exchanged between Camden County and property owners on Little Cumberland Island regarding Land Hazard Areas, overflight exclusion zones and their potential to close and/or require evacuations of Cumberland Island and Little Cumberland Island.

This blog post will explain how these terms are used in the Code of Federal Regulations, the steps Camden County has taken to identify overflight exclusion zones and Land Hazard Areas, the due diligence the County has undertaken to ensure a variety of companies can launch from Spaceport Camden and our efforts to ensure property owners on Cumberland Island and Little Cumberland Island can remain on their property during launches. Click here. (5/14) https://spaceportcamdenblog.com/2018/05/14/the-abcs-of-oezs-understanding-spaceport-camdens-safety-criteria/

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus Capsule to Host Research Destined for the International Space Station (Source: CASIS)
The 9th Commercial Resupply Services (awarded by NASA) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by Orbital ATK is targeted for launch no earlier than 5:04 a.m. EDT on May 20th. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus capsule will host multiple payloads sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory (managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space).

These payloads represent a diverse combination of science (life and materials sciences, chemistry evaluations), technology, small satellites, and the replenishment of hardware facilities to support future research. Additionally, multiple investigations will launch to station focused on inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. Here are research videos and highlights of sponsored ISS National Lab investigations that are part of this mission. (5/16)

GOP Lawmaker Says Rocks Falling into Ocean to Blame for Rising Sea Levels (Source: The Hill)
A Republican lawmaker on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee said Thursday that rocks from the White Cliffs of Dover and the California coastline, as well as silt from rivers tumbling into the ocean, are contributing to high sea levels globally.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) made the comment during a hearing on technology and the changing climate, which largely turned into a Q&A on the basics of climate research. Climate scientist Philip Duffy testified before the panel, addressing lawmakers’ questions about climate change. "The rate of global sea-level rise has accelerated and is now four times faster than it was 100 years ago," Duffy told the panel.

Brooks said that erosion played a factor in that. "Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up," Brooks said at the hearing. (5/17)