July 22, 2018

Where to Search for Signs of Life on Titan (Source: Space.com)
New findings suggest that large craters are the prime locations in which to find the building blocks of life on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Using imagery and data from the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe, scientists went on a hunt for the best places to look for biological molecules on the surface of Titan.

Titan is an icy expanse covered by organic molecules, with liquid methane lakes enshrouded by a thick, hazy atmosphere of nitrogen and methane that begs the question: why isn't there life on this strangely Earth-like world? Perhaps it is the balmy -179 degrees Celsius (-300 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature on the surface that would likely prevent any biochemical reactions from taking place. (7/21)

SpaceX Has a Successful Second Launch (w/Landing) of its Block 5 Rocket at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Ars Technica)
At the top of its launch window, the Falcon 9 rocket took off early Sunday at 1:50am ET and lofted its large satellite payload into geostationary transfer orbit. Meanwhile, the first stage of the rocket made a safe landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. One wonders how many times we will see this core fly.

SpaceX has not said how many new Block 5 cores it will build before beginning to re-fly these first stages. However, the company does intend to only fly Block 5 first stages of the Falcon 9 rocket from this point forward. The payload was a Telstar 19V commercial telecommunications satellite (7/22)

Air Force Gets First Real Look at Future ICBM Designs (Source: Space News)
Boeing and Northrop Grumman have presented design options to the U.S. Air Force for a new intercontinental ballistic missile. The companies are pitted in a head-to-head competition to build hundreds of ICBMs that will replace decades-old Minuteman 3 missiles. Both firms discussed their proposed ideas with Air Force leaders last month as the service faces a 2019 deadline to specify requirements and map out a procurement strategy for the ground-based strategic deterrent, or GBSD.

The companies submitted what is known as “trade studies” to help the Air Force draft program requirements before it releases a final “request for proposals” possibly a year from now. Editor's Note: With requirements for launch-on-demand, one would think these new ICBMs will have features of interest to the "responsive space" community. (7/22)

Buzz Aldrin Skips Space Center Gala Amid Feud With His Children (Source: AP)
Former NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin was noticeably absent from a gala kicking off a yearlong celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the first moon landing, even though his nonprofit space education foundation is a sponsor and he typically is the star attraction.

The black-tie Apollo Celebration Gala held under a Saturn V rocket at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday evening featured a panel discussion by astronauts, an awards ceremony and an auction of space memorabilia. Hundreds of people attended the sold-out event, including British physicist Brian Cox, who presented Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson with the ShareSpace Foundation's Innovation award.

Andrew and Jan Aldrin, as well as business manager Christina Korp, are on the foundation's board and attended the gala. Aldrin's oldest son, James, isn't involved in the legal fight. "We're sorry dad can't be here, I know some of you are disappointed," Aldrin said. "Ultimately, what we're about is creating the first generation of Martians." (7/22)

Astronaut Drops In on Kraftwerk Gig, Plays Duet From Space (Source: Phys.org)
Kraftwerk fans are used to hearing otherworldly tunes, but the German electronic music pioneers took it to another level at a gig in Stuttgart. Video posted Saturday by the European Space Agency shows German astronaut Alexander Gerst "dropping in" for a live performance from the International Space Station.

Using a tablet computer with a virtual synthesizer, Gerst played a duet of Kraftwerk's 1978 song "Spacelab" with the band Friday night to cheers from the audience. He's not the first space musician. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and played a duet with the Barenaked Ladies while 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth in 2013. (7/21)

Space Interest Gets Boost from Orlando Science Center (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An Orlando Science Center space exploration event last week included a station where visitors could build a contraption in which an egg could survive a 15-foot drop. The goal was to help represent, in a safe way for children, the landing of NASA’s rover vehicle onto the surface of Mars in 2012. The builders had limited resources, which forced them to think creatively.

Some built a bed of toothpicks for the egg to rest on. Others tied string through straws, which were attached to a newspaper that would act as a parachute. Their mission: discover a way to softly land the egg and not create a mess, said Jesse Zito, the science center’s manager of public programs.

As the space industry grows here, more frequent launches from companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the Boeing Defense-Lockheed Martin Space Systems partnership United Launch Alliance have meant more chances to create a spark of enthusiasm in children, said Justin Cirillo of the Central Florida Astronomical Society. An expected 2020 launch of astronauts from U.S. soil will boost that even further, he said. (7/22)

Seeking 72-Hour Space Environment Forecasts with Updates on the Hour (Source: DARPA)
Models for providing hourly terrestrial weather forecasts anywhere in the world have become increasingly precise—our smartphones buzz or chirp with local alerts of approaching thunderstorms, heavy snow, flash floods, and big events like tornados and hurricanes. The military relies on accurate weather forecasts for planning complex operations in the air, on ground, and at sea.

But when it comes to predicting environmental conditions in specific locations within the vast volume of space, no similar forecasting exists. As space launch companies make access to space more affordable and constellations of low-Earth orbit small satellites continue to grow, military and commercial space operators need new tools to track space environmental conditions and their potential impact. DARPA’s new Space Environment Exploitation (SEE) program aims to accurately predict near-Earth space environment disturbances and perturbations (scales as small as 100 kilometers in size) in one-hour increments extending out 72 hours. (7/17)

How Does NASA Test Spacecraft Safety? Brutaize a Replica (Source: WIRED)
Inside an 80-foot-tall chamber on Lockheed Martin’s Denver-area campus, backgrounded by red-rock ridges, stands a hulking spacecraft. You have to crane your neck to see the top of the apparatus. At the bottom, wires spew from a porthole to snake up and down and away. The cylindrical structure flows into a duller, funnel-like cone, which tapers into a tower with rocket nozzles. Next to it, the blue scaffolds of an indoor crane resemble a launchpad gantry.

But this spacecraft isn't going anywhere. It's a copy of Orion, the NASA vehicle that will someday ferry crew and cargo beyond Earth’s orbit—to the moon, to Mars, to deep space. This Orion twin, which we shall call PseudOrion, is architecturally identical to the real thing, which is nearly 2,000 miles away in Florida.

It's a lot safer there. Because here in Denver, teams of engineers are putting its doppelganger through hell, to probe its limits and ensure it won’t crack under pressure. Its sacrifice means Real Orion won't have to endure that same strife and the potential ensuing damage. (7/12)

Boeing Suffers Setback on Starliner Abort Test (Source: Ars Technica)
In late June, an anomaly occurred during preparations for Boeing's test of the Starliner spacecraft and its launch abort system. On Saturday, after Ars published a short report on the issue at a test site in White Sands, New Mexico, based on input from sources, Boeing provided additional information about the problem. This story has been updated to reflect the Boeing statement.

The company said it conducted a hot-fire test of the launch-abort engines on an integrated service module at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico in June. The engines successfully ignited and ran for the full duration, but during engine shutdown an anomaly occurred that resulted in a propellant leak. "We have been conducting a thorough investigation with assistance from our NASA and industry partners," the statement said. "We are confident we found the cause and are moving forward with corrective action. Flight safety and risk mitigation are why we conduct such rigorous testing, and anomalies are a natural part of any test program." (7/21)