June 30, 2018

Our First Contact With Aliens Might Be With Their Robots (Source: Popular Science)
Researchers working on Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) efforts hunt for the same thing that their predecessors sought for decades—a sign that life arose, as Carl Sagan would say, on another humdrum planet around another humdrum star and rose up into something technologically advanced.

It could happen any day. A strange radio signal. A weird, brief flash in the night sky. A curiously behaving star with no natural explanation.

It could be anything, so SETI researchers are casting a wide net, tracking down as many promising leads as they can. But one thing they’ve started to realize is that if a civilization from another world follows a similar path to our own, then we may be dealing with a whole different form of brainpower. Not a little green person, Vulcan, or strange organism we aren’t yet fathoming, but an artificial intelligence. Click here. (6/28)

Eight Questions We Should Ask About the Ethics of Space Exploration (Source: Quartz)
Metallic shrapnel flying faster than bullets; the Space Shuttle smashed to pieces; astronauts killed or ejected into space. The culprit? Space debris—remnants of a Russian satellite blown up by a Russian missile. The one survivor, Ryan Stone, has to find her way back to Earth with oxygen supplies failing and the nearest viable spacecraft hundreds of miles away.

Over on Mars, 20 years in the future, an exploration mission from Earth is going wrong. An epic dust storm forces the crew to abandon the planet, leaving behind an astronaut, Mark Watney, who is presumed dead. He has to figure out how to grow food while awaiting rescue. Click here. (6/28)

The Milky Way Is Full of Toxic, Sticky Grease (Source: Space.com)
Space: It's dark, cold and, in most parts of the galaxy, probably pretty sticky. Swirled amid the dust, soot and electromagnetic radiation that sits among the stars of the Milky Way, there is also a whole mess of toxic grease. This "space grease" — actually an oily form of hydrogen-bound carbon called aliphatic carbon — is one of several types of carbon leaked into empty space by blazing stars, and may be among the key ingredients in the formation of new stars and planets, astronomers say. (6/28)

Former Marshall Director Joins KBRwyle (Source: KBR)
KBR, Inc. announced that Todd May, Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, will join KBR's global government services business, KBRwyle, in July. May will serve as the Vice President of Space Strategy and will lead the organization's Systems Analysis & Services Division. In his new role, May will support enterprise space initiatives and oversee a systems engineering division supporting a variety of defense and civilian agency customers. (6/27)

China Developing Smart Rocket Able to Plot Own Flight Plan (Source: Xinhua)
China is developing a smart rocket that can rectify mechanical failures during flight and plot a new flight path. The rocket, which is being developed by a project team with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, will have the ability to perceive, judge, plan, and execute flight corrections by itself. It will be equipped with an advanced reusable power system that can be switched on and off repeatedly.

Based on its flight mission, capabilities and external environment, the rocket can automatically devise the best flight control plan and complete its own space launch. The ultimate goal for rocket launches is to enter the targeted orbit. In case of non-fatal malfunctions, those with non-explosive or non-structural damage, the smart rocket can respond and make adjustments by itself, including entering emergency rescue orbit and returning to base, to minimize losses. (6/29)

Floating Robot with IBM Brains Heading to ISS (Source: WIRED)
The next shipment headed to the International Space Station packs nearly three tons of research and resupply materials. You know, the typical stuff: sediment studies, a plant thermometer, a replacement hand for the giant robotic Canadarm. Oh, and also a floating robot designed as a helpmeet for astronauts—scientifically, logistically, and emotionally.

The bot’s full name is Crew Interactive Mobile Companion: Cimon. It looks like one of those spherical pool speakers, if you replaced the speaker with a screen that displays a line-sketch face that talks back. On this demonstration mission, Cimon is there to help the Station's commander with three very simple tasks that test its utility. But longer-term, Cimon could also watch and interpret how crew members interact with each other, tracking the social dynamics that might escape the astronauts' handlers on the ground. (6/29)

Rocket Lab Abandons Launch Window for Second Time (Source: Stuff)
Rocket Lab is facing a delay of at least weeks launching a second set of satellites into space after "weird behaviour" with a motor controller on its Electron rocket resurfaced. The company has abandoned its launch window which had been open until July 6 and will need to apply for new dates once it has worked out what went wrong.

Rocket Lab said the issue with the controller was identified during pre-launch checks, and was similar to one identified in April that forced it to give up its previous launch window that spanned April and May. Beck said the company could not afford to take chances now that its testing phase was over following its first successful deployment of satellites into space in January. (6/29)

Why Do We Need a Space Nation? (Source: Slate)
It may be harder than ever to start a new nation on Earth, but what about in space? At a lavish ceremony Tuesday night in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace—the former residence of the Habsburg emperors—Russian businessman Igor Ashurbeyli was inaugurated as the first head of state of Asgardia, the proposed first nation-state in space. Since plans for Asgardia—named for one of the realms of the gods in Norse mythology— were first announced in 2016, more than 200,000 people have signed up to become citizens on the country’s website.

Last year, it launched its first satellite—about the size of a loaf of bread, storing data on the country’s constitution and citizens—into orbit. A 150-member parliament with representatives from around the world met for the first time shortly before the inauguration.

For now, Asgardia is mostly the pet project of Ashurbeyli, an Azeri-Russian computer scientist and software CEO, who has also been footing most of the bills. But he has much bigger plans for the “nation.” I spoke with Ashurbeyli by phone, through an interpreter, the day after his inauguration in Vienna. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Click here. (6/29)

House Bill Establishes Marshall as National Non-Military Propulsion Lead (Source: Space News)
On voice votes, the House passed H.R. 5345, the American Leadership in Space Technology and Advanced Rocketry (ALSTAR) Act, and H.R. 5346, Commercial Space Support Vehicle Act, after brief debates and with no opposition. The ALSTAR Act establishes a “sense of Congress” that NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center be considered the lead center for non-military rocket propulsion research in the United States. It calls on the center to take several steps to use that influence, from interagency coordination and collaboration with industry to evaluating and recommending specific technologies for further development.

The bill, though, neither authorizes nor appropriates any funding for those tasks. “As Congress guides America’s national space policy, we must promote the robust rocket propulsion industrial base that is essential to our space presence,” said Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), the bill’s sponsor, in remarks on the House floor. (6/29)

Georgia's Governor, Lieutenant Urge FAA Support for Spaceport Camden (Source: News4Jax)
On the heels of letters of support for Spaceport Camden signed by every member of the Georgia Congressional delegation, Georgia's highest constitutional officers have also signaled their support for the project. In separate letters of support to acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell, Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Governor Casey both touted the benefits the project offers the state of Georgia.

"Camden is the ideal region for space vehicle manufacturing due to its location…[and] also offers a lunch range that is virtually unrestricted for the launch of spacecrafts to a wide range of orbits," Cagle said. Cagle further noted the regional benefits Spaceport Camden offers neighboring states stating "[t]his Spaceport not only opens up the door for economic growth in our state, but puts the Southeast on the cutting edge of scientific development." (6/29)

Prototype Rocket Engine Tested at Cecil Spaceport (Source: Generation Orbit)
Atlanta-based Generation Orbit Launch Services Inc. tested a functional prototype, liquid rocket engine at Cecil Spaceport. Generation Orbit completed an initial integrated engine firing of a full-scale, functional prototype of the GOLauncher1 (GO1) hypersonic flight test booster. Under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate, High Speed Systems Division (AFRL/RQH), GO is developing GO1 to be an affordable and flexible hypersonic testbed to flight test a wide range of hypersonic vehicle technologies.

The test was the first of its kind to be conducted at Cecil Spaceport in Jacksonville, FL. This is also GO’s first test campaign to include Ursa Major Technologies’ “Hadley” liquid rocket engine. The 5,000 lbf-class oxygen-rich staged combustion engine performed as expected through the tests. GO1 is a single-stage liquid rocket, launched from a Gulfstream III carrier aircraft, primarily designed for hypersonic flight testing. (6/28)

NASA Langley Works Toward Building Structures in Space (Source: Daily Press)
For Star Trek fans, the image is iconic: the starship Enterprise being built or serviced while docked in space, with autonomous robots and humans in spacesuits zipping about. We’re nowhere near that. Nowhere close. But we’re closer today than we’ve ever been as NASA and private partners develop autonomous robotic systems that could one day assemble, service and repair space structures large and small.

The project is called CIRAS, for Commercial Infrastructure for Robotic Assembly and Services, and three of its robotic systems were highlighted in a demonstration Thursday morning at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. “We’re way ahead of everybody,” said John Dorsey, NASA principal investigator for CIRAS. “If I have a toolbox of a certain set of capabilities, I can do just about everything I need to do. I can service, assemble, repair and upgrade everything.” (6/28)