July 4, 2018

Engine Tests Underway for DARPA Spaceplane Program (Source: Space News)
A space shuttle-era main engine is undergoing a series of daily test firings to demonstrate its suitability for use on a reusable spaceplane under development. The Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-22 engine is in the midst of a series of 10 100-second engine firings over the course of 10 days at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. As of July 2 the company has completed six such tests and was on track to complete the rest on schedule.

The engine is a version of the Space Shuttle Main Engine with only minor modifications, said Jeff Haynes, AR-22 program manager at Aerojet, in a July 2 interview. “We’re not designing or building any new hardware for this engine,” he said. “We’re taking and making use of existing hardware, most of it being flight proven.” One minor difference in the engine, he said, is using a new flight controller, or computer system, from the updated version of the RS-25 engine intended for use on NASA’s Space Launch System.

The purpose of the test series is to demonstrate that the engine can be used 10 times in 10 days. That is a major requirement of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Experimental Spaceplane program, for which the AR-22 will power Boeing’s Phantom Express vehicle. Although the AR-22 and its shuttle-era predecessors have decades of experience, the same engine has never been tested so frequently. (7/3)

You May Want to Book a Citizenship in the First-Ever Space Nation, Asgardia (Source: Economic Times)
Asgardia is the first-ever space nation — a global humanitarian project for everyone on the planet. It hopes to one day set up human colonies on the Moon. It was founded in October 2016 and already has about 2,00,000 citizens, a constitution and an elected parliament.

It has elected a leader — Igor Ashurbeyli, a Russian billionaire and a computer scientist who has spearheaded the new nation since it was first announced in 2016. 'We have thus established all branches of government. I can therefore declare with confidence that Asgardia — the first space nation of the united humankind — has been born, Ashurbeyli said.

Asgardia wants to build up a population of 150 million within 10 years. It plans to set up 'space arks' with artificial gravity in outer space where humans could live permanently. In November 2017, Asgardia cemented its presence in outer space by launching the Asgardia-1 satellite. It contains 0.5 TB of data belonging to 18,000 of Asgardia's citizens, such as family photographs, as well as digital representations of the space nation's flag, coat of arms and constitution. (6/30)

NASA Seeks New Ways to Handle Trash for Deep Space Missions (Source: Space Daily)
When trash accumulates, astronauts manually squeeze it into trash bags, temporarily store almost two metric tons of it for relatively short durations, and then send it away in a departing commercial supply vehicle, which either returns it to Earth or incinerates it during reentry through the atmosphere. Future spacecraft, much farther from Earth, likely will not have the regular cadence of visiting commercial ships that can remove trash.

NASA is turning to U.S. industry to advance concepts for trash compaction and processing systems. The agency has issued a call for prototypes, and eventually, flight demonstrations to fly on the space station. The solicitation seeks solutions that compact trash, remove biological and physical safety concerns, and recover trapped resources for potential reuse or repurposing. Proposing companies won't have to start from ground zero, however. NASA has been developing waste management systems since the 1980s, including recent developments such as the Heat Melt Compactor and "trash to gas" technologies. (7/4)

US Asks Russia to Fix Its Broken Toilet on ISS (Source: Sputnik)
The Russian space toilet made headlines for all the wrong reasons soon after being installed back in 2007 after American astronauts refused to let Russian crewmembers use the facilities. NASA has renewed a contract with Energia Rocket and Space Corporation on the maintenance and repair of a series of components of the lavatory onboard the US segment of the International Space Station, according to the Russian company's annual report.

NASA bought the Energia-made space toilet in 2007 for $19 million after unsuccessful efforts by US engineers to create their own space toilet, with US designs facing a series of malfunctions before the US decided to switch to the Russian-made waste receptacle. According to the company, it received new orders for the toilet contract in 2017 following negotiations.

"Work under this contract over the years has assured the effective operation of the American segment of the ISS and the station as a whole, for emergency situations to be quickly responded to, and for a stable workload of corporate units and related enterprises to be secured," Energia noted. The Russian space toilet made headlines on ISS for all the wrong reasons soon after being installed back in 2007 after American astronauts refused to let Russian crewmembers use the facilities. (7/4)

All-Time Heat Records Set All Over the World During the Past Week (Source: Washington Post)
From the normally mild summer climes of Ireland, Scotland and Canada to the scorching Middle East, numerous locations in the Northern Hemisphere have witnessed their hottest weather ever recorded over the past week. Large areas of heat pressure or heat domes scattered around the hemisphere led to the sweltering temperatures. No single record, in isolation, can be attributed to global warming. But collectively, these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see increase in a warming world. (7/3)

Too Big to Fail? (Source: Space Review)
NASA announced last week yet another delay for the James Webb Space Telescope as well as a cost increase that will require Congress to formally reauthorize the mission. Yet, as Jeff Foust notes, few doubt that the mission will continue even with its latest problems. Click here. (7/2) 
 
Launch Failures: the Boring Stuff (Source: Space Review)
Sometimes, you need to sweat the small stuff when it comes to launches. Wayne Eleazer describes how a lack of attention to such details led to launch and satellite failures over the years. Click here. (7/2) 
 
A New Rocketry—-and Workforce-—Competition (Source: Space Review)
A nonprofit organization announced a rocketry competition for universities last month. Jeff Foust reports on how this effort is intended not just to promote rocket development but also expand and diversify the industry’s workforce. Click here. (7/2)
 
Space Lawmaking (Source: Space Review)
Different countries take different approaches to development national space laws, but all spacefaring countries need laws to comply with their treaty responsibilities. Lucien Rapp examines those differences and how they can inform future global space governance. Click here. (7/2)

Blue Origin Targets Moon Landing by 2023 as Step Toward Lunar Settlement (Source: GeekWire)
Blue Origin is laying out a plan to support the creation of permanent settlements on the moon, starting with a lunar landing mission within the next five years. Blue Origin’s business development director, A.C. Charania, said the company’s Blue Moon program is “our first step to developing a lunar landing capability for the country, for other customers internationally, to be able to land multi metric tons on the lunar surface.”

“Any permanent human presence on the lunar surface will require such a capability,” he said. Charania said “we’re actively working on the descent stage for Blue Moon, the capabilities, the partnerships that are required to enable that service … to start going back to the moon with larger and larger payloads.” Blue Moon could help answer longstanding scientific questions about the moon’s origin and evolution, delve into lunar resource identification and extraction, and “enable human lunar return,” Charania said.

Charania said the first Blue Moon landing could take place even before 2023. Blue Origin’s executives have talked about a five-year time frame for lunar landings several times over the past year, but Charania’s comments made clear that the company is looking for international partnerships as well as support from NASA. (7/2)

Amid Cancer Cluster Fears Brevard Testing Water at 13 Public Schools (Source: WKMG)
After 20 former Satellite Beach High School students were diagnosed with cancer, Brevard County Public School officials said they will test 13 barrier island schools for firefighting chemicals discovered in groundwater at Patrick Air Force Base.

Brevard County Public school officials said Tuesday in a news release that there is no indication of any problems with the drinking water from Melbourne or Cocoa water utilities, but that they are having the schools tested before students return in the fall. The results will be released before the start of the 2018 school year. (7/3)