June 29, 2018

Rep. Posey's Space Bill Passed by House of Representatives (Source: Space News)
The Commercial Space Support Vehicle Act directs the Department of Transportation, through the FAA, to issue licenses and experimental permits for “space support vehicles,” which include aircraft flights that provide training for or research supporting commercial launches. They include aircraft such as Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and Stratolaunch’s giant aircraft under development, which are intended to serve as air-launch platforms, as well as F-104 aircraft operated by Starfighters Aerospace for high-performance training and research.

Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), the bill’s sponsor, linked the bill to Space Policy Directive 2, which calls on the Transportation Department to streamline launch licensing regulations by Feb. 1, a month before the deadline in the bill for the FAA to make necessary regulatory changes. “The intent of timing is to include the development of regulations in the regulatory reform process that the Vice President and the National Space Council tasked the FAA to complete by that date,” he said in remarks on the House floor.

The bill passed through the House Science Committee, which favorably reported it to the House floor in March. “The passage of H.R. 5345 and H.R. 5346 reaffirms our commitment to keeping America the global leader in the growing space economy,” said committee chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) in a statement after the bills’ passage. “It is vital we continue to support NASA and our commercial space sector so that we maintain a vibrant space program to inspire generations to come.” (6/29)

Future Astronauts Must Perform Surgery in Space — and It Will Be Gross (Source: LiveScience.com)
Runaway blood, urine and fecal matter are just some of myriad possible complications of space surgery that likely await future astronauts. In a review of studies called simply "Surgery in space," the team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and King's College Hospital in London scoured six decades of scientific literature to compile the most comprehensive (and fascinating) list of those complications yet.

If surgery in space is necessary, then, it will have to be performed in person by highly trained humans. This poses problems of its own. For starters, storage space on existing spacecraft is scarce enough as it is, without having to accommodate a small hospital. "It would be impossible to carry all the equipment necessary to treat every anticipated space [condition]," the authors wrote.

One way around this, previous studies have suggested, is 3D printing. Instead of launching ships into the void carrying every medical tool known to humanity, send them aloft with a digital database of 3D-printable templates for every medical tool known to humanity. This way, astronaut doctors could print only the precise tools they needed, when they needed them. (6/25)

The UAE and the Future of Space Ports: What You Need to Know (Source: UAE)
What exactly is a cosmic aviation hub? Dubai announced on Wednesday that Al Maktoum Airport will be one - handling a combination of conventional, supersonic and space planes. No timeframe was given but this new hub has been called a “multi-mode super port”. What’s needed to turn Maktoum into such an airport? The question is not so much about the facility but one of regulations, aircraft technology, logistics, air traffic control and planning.

Could a space plane operated by the likes of Virgin Galactic land at Maktoum? “The simple answer is yes,” said Mr Peaford. Commercial space travel could even start before the return of supersonic aircraft. But the question is one of regulation, air traffic control and planning. The skies over the Middle East are getting increasingly busy. “It is bad enough trying to get into the UAE’s crowded airspace without a spaceship charging in among all that A380 wake turbulence, but that is not a problem that cannot be served by proper planning,” he said.

Maktoum will also have the ability to handle the ground services, supply rocket fuel and surmount the logistical problem. Howard Tonks, an aviation veteran and chief commercial officer of Falcon Aircraft Recyling in the UAE, points to aircraft in the United States already being used for training and entertainment by flying in parabolic curves, climbing and diving steeply enabling passenger to experience weightlessness during the flight. (6/28)

NASA Lays Out Plans For Low-Boom Demonstrator (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA has laid out a three-phase program to collect data on public acceptance of reduced sonic booms using the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works-developed low-boom demonstrator, which has been designated the X-59A QueSST. Community response data gathered by the Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) program will be provided to FAA and ICAO to help define a standard for en route noise that will permit civil supersonic flight over land. (6/28)

Dragon Capsule Launched From Florida with ISS Experiments, Supplies (Source: Space News)
SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft early this morning on the final flight of a Falcon 9 Block 4 rocket. The Falcon 9 lifted off on schedule at 5:42 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral and placed the Dragon into orbit nearly 10 minutes later. The Dragon, carrying about 2,700 kilograms of supplies, equipment and experiments for the station, will arrive there early Monday. The launch was the final flight of the older Block 4 version of the Falcon 9, using a first stage that launched NASA's TESS mission in April, as SpaceX transitions to the improved Block 5. (6/29)

Stand By for a Revised Timetable for Commercial Crew (Source: Space News)
NASA will soon revise the schedule for commercial crew test flights, taking into account the status of those vehicles as well as other ISS activities. NASA's current schedule, published earlier this year, calls for Boeing and SpaceX to make uncrewed test flights in August, followed by crewed missions in November and December, but there's widespread skepticism in the space industry the companies will be ready by those dates. At a briefing Thursday, Kirk Shireman, NASA ISS program manager, said a revised schedule of test flights would be ready "very soon." One issue, he said, is determining when those test flights can take place given not just the companies' readiness but also the schedule for other spacecraft traveling to and from the station. (6/29)

Compatibility Issues Slow DOD Use of Commercial Satellite Capacity (Source: Space News)
Outdated terminals could prevent the Defense Department from taking more advantage of commercial satellite capacity. An 18-month analysis of alternatives study found there are opportunities for the Pentagon to make more use of commercial communications satelites. However, most existing military satellite terminals are not compatible with modern commercial satellites. Because of the cost and the complexity of upgrading military equipment, it could take decades to update or replace all 17,000 wideband satcom terminals currently in the Defense Department's inventory. (6/29)

Apollo Gantry Section Featured in New KSC Visitor Gift Shop (Source: CollectSpace)
Visitors to a gift ship can now walk on the same path as Apollo astronauts. The remodeled souvenir store at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex now includes part of the gantry arm that the Apollo 11 astronauts walked across to get to their spacecraft on the launch pad. The arm, which had been on display outdoors, was restored and moved into a new exhibit, but it was too long to display in one piece there. The extra part now crosses part of the upper level of the store. (6/29)

Facebook Cancels Program to Deliver Internet by Aquila Drones (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Facebook’s plans to beam high-speed Internet from enormous solar-powered drones in the stratosphere appear to be in disarray. Two key engineers behind its Aquila drones have left the company, and it recently cancelled plans for a secret high-altitude flight campaign at Spaceport America, possibly because Facebook no longer has any aircraft available to deploy.

A trove of emails between Facebook and Spaceport America, obtained under New Mexico public records law and first reported by Business Insider, details the painstaking process of turning a site for rockets and spaceplanes into a testbed for some of the largest drones in the world. That years-long project came to an abrupt halt earlier this year, when Facebook decided not to move forward with a high-altitude flight campaign. At around the same time, Andy Cox, the British engineer Facebook hired in 2014 to develop its drones, and Martin Gomez, Facebook’s director of aeronautical platforms, left the company.

FAA records also show that Facebook has let the registration of one of its two full-size Aquila (eagle in Latin) drones lapse. The other was badly damaged on its maiden flight and does not appear to have flown since. Facebook has conceded that it was terminating its Aquila program, closing its drone factory, and focusing on partnerships instead. (6/28)

Mystery Surrounds Purpose of Chinese Dual Satellite Launch (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
China launched its 18th orbital mission of the year, lofting two technology demonstration satellites – of which there is very little detail about. Launch was via a Long March-2C launch vehicle from the LC3 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on June 27. According to the state media, the new-tech experiment twin satellites will be used to “link the inter-satellite network and conduct new technology tests on satellites earth-observation”. The two satellites were developed by the Dongfanghong Satellite Company from the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). (6/28)

Spaceport America Loses Facebook as Potential Client (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Facebook's plans for a massive drone to beam internet access to underserved communities across the globe has crashed and burned, and along with it plans to test the aircraft at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. The social media giant announced in a blog Wednesday that it's terminating efforts to build the Aquila, a solar-powered drone with a wing span the size of a Boeing 737, which Facebook has been working on since 2014 after acquiring the U.K.-based aerospace firm Ascenta.

The company had investigated logistics for flight testing and other research and development in New Mexico. It even signed a short-term lease with the Spaceport and worked with facility officials in 2016 and 2017 on site preparation. But current Spaceport infrastructure proved inadequate for the Aquila, and the drone itself may have been technologically too complicated for Facebook to continue developing. (6/28)

This Spray Will Clean Polluted Air Just As Well as Trees (Source: Daily Beast)
“We sounded too good to be true until NASA said: ‘This is real.’” That’s how Glen Finkel, CEO of PURETi, describes their product, a coating that can be applied to any surface and create a chemical reaction that cleans the air. It really does sound like science fiction—but it’s the real deal. The coating, which lasts for years, has the ability to break down the organic matter in pollution and keep surfaces from accumulating dirt while purifying the air.

All it takes is light. The PURETi coating is filled with a mineral called titanium dioxide. When ultraviolet light and titanium dioxide interact, the mineral activates oxygen and humidity in the air and, as Finkel says, “turns them into scrubbing bubbles.” Organic material floating around, like as greenhouse gas pollutants such as Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)—which is the main bad guy in smog—get broken down and decomposed into the less harmful chemical nitrate.

In the 90s, NASA considered PURETi for use on the International Space Station and later selected it to help fight mold during cleanup efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Recently, PURETi has found its way onto building facades in a partnership with Spanish tile maker Neolith, which coats their tiles with the air cleaner during the manufacturing process. (6/28)

Wind-Powered Mars Landers Could Really Work (Source: Space.com)
Wind power on Mars is feasible, a new study suggests. Researchers demonstrated a small, lightweight wind turbine under simulated Martian atmospheric conditions, at the Aarhus Wind Tunnel Simulator II at Aarhus University in Denmark. Those trials were held in the fall of 2010. The study team reported follow-up findings, and a strong take-home message, in a paper presented at the Mars Workshop on Amazonian and Present Day Climate, which was held last week in Lakewood, Colorado. (6/28)

Bridenstine Shoots for the Moon and Mars, Vows to Leave Politics on Earth (Source: Yahoo News)
“If we’re going to go in a sustained way, it cannot be a United States government-exclusive mission. It has to be a mission that includes our commercial partners in this country and our international partners,” Bridenstine told Yahoo News. “We think that it is possible that as early as next year we could have a commercial company delivering something to the surface of the moon on behalf of NASA. That is an aggressive timeline, and I’m not guaranteeing it, but it’s what we’re shooting for.”

“Ultimately, we want to have landers that go to the moon with humans on board. The goal would be to do that within 10 years. I’m not guaranteeing anything, but that’s the objective, that’s the goal,” he said. It differs from the Apollo project because everything will be reusable and establish a sustainable architecture for return visits and further exploration. “One of the challenges we had with Apollo is we left flags and footprints and after 1972 we never went back,” Bridenstine said.

The current NASA strategy of working with commercial and international partners takes this reality into account. The agency wants to build a sustainable fiscal model that will enable further exploration. “That’s the vision here. We’re trying to accomplish the same objective, but we’re doing it in a way that’s never been done before,” he said. ... “I want to be clear. We are going to the surface of the moon. The Gateway does not compete with this. We are going to the surface of the moon. We are also going to do Gateway,” Bridenstine said. (6/28)