August 13, 2018

How a Focused, Agile Australian Space Agency Can Succeed (Source: ABC Australia)
Despite being involved in space projects for so long, just two Australian astronauts have been into space. That's something Dr Clark is hoping to change. "We've been advising NASA on human space flight for over 40 years, and yet we haven't had one of our Australian doctors as head of one of those medical missions," she said. "So we do need to create those opportunities for the next generation and the generations after."

But parts, not people, are more likely to be Australia's first contributions. "We can certainly put Australian technology into shared missions," she said. "We don't have the budget of NASA, we're not NASA. But can we make sure, in those missions, we have the very best Australia has to put forward as part of that? Absolutely, we can do that."

The new agency is meant to be lean. It has just $41 million in funding to establish itself over the next four years. And it has wasted no time in getting down to business. "We've approved licences for an overseas launch for assets that will go into space," Dr Clark said. "And we have a pipeline for the next 12-18 months. This is more than what we've done for decades." (8/12)

Road to Mars Travels Through Louisiana (Source: The Advocate)
Louisiana doesn’t always come to mind when people think of America’s space legacy the same way that Texas and Florida do, but the most critical part of the road to space on NASA’s historic exploration programs has come through the Michoud Assembly Facility in southeast Louisiana for much of the past 50 years. When we think of the truly iconic moments in space, most were a result of the rockets built in Louisiana by NASA and its industry partners.

So this week, as NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visits the Bayou State, he will see that NASA’s Michoud facility is America’s rocket factory and produces NASA’s greatest space exploration systems. From the Apollo program’s Saturn V, to the space shuttle, and now America’s next great deep space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), Michoud is where the vital parts of these rockets come together.

The SLS program has restored Michoud’s critical role in building America’s most powerful rockets and restoring U.S. leadership in deep space to transport astronauts further than ever before. Additionally, the SLS program is supporting hundreds of NASA, Boeing and supplier jobs at Michoud and other supplier companies across the state that are contributing critical manufacturing and components for this rocket. (8/12)

Trump's Space Force Among Topics at Las Cruces Space Travel Symposium (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
This fall, leaders and experts in the commercial space industry will gather in Las Cruces for the 14th annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight to discuss the progress in space travel technologies, investments and policies. This year’s group of speakers features the son of an Apollo 11 astronaut and a United States government official who will offer details into the proposed Space Force.

Jared Stout, the executive deputy secretary and chief of staff for the National Space Council, is expected to attend the symposium to discuss the Trump administration’s proposed sixth branch of the U.S. military that would be dedicated to national security in outer space. Stout’s visit to Las Cruces comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s announcement in June that he would direct the Pentagon to create the nation’s first Space Force. (8/12)

North Carolina-Made Compression Suits May Fly on Orion Missions (Source: Winston-Salem Journal)
Astronauts face tremendous G forces at blast off and then weightlessness in space. But what happens when astronauts return home? Their homecoming not only involves returning to friends and family, but also a reunion with gravity. This change can cause orthostatic intolerance (OI), which is the inability to stand upright without experiencing an increased heart rate, low blood pressure and/or lightheadedness after being in a weightless environment, according to the NASA website.

To aid astronauts who experience the condition, NASA scientists and researchers set out to find a wearable compression garment or system to slowly reintroduce astronauts’ bodies to Earth’s gravity. NASA found what it was looking for right here in Catawba County. Previously known as BSN Medical, Essity produces compression garments for people with conditions such as lymphedema, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and other vascular conditions. The business has operations in Conover and Hickory. (8/12)

Stratolaunch Venture Rolls Out World’s Biggest Airplane for Weekend Tests (Source: GeekWire)
Stratolaunch, the launch venture created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, took the world’s biggest airplane out of its hangar this weekend at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port and revved up its engines in preparation for the next step toward shooting rockets into space from midair. The rocket-launching part is still a year or two away, but Stratolaunch is aiming to put the 385-foot-wide, twin-fuselage plane through its first test flight within the next couple of months.

In order to do that, the test program calls for flying five on-the-ground runway taxi tests at increasing speeds. Two of those tests have been done already, and in a tweet on Friday, Stratolaunch CEO Jean Floyd hinted at a third runway race. The taxi test didn’t end up happening this weekend, but Stratolaunch’s team did put the plane through a couple of days’ worth of fueling operations. full-power engine tests and communication tests. And folks in Mojave got a good look at the monster plane (which has carried the nickname “Roc” in honor of the giant bird of Eastern mythology). (8/12)

India Planning January Lunar Mission (Source: IANS)
ISRO is planning an early January launch of its Chandrayaan-2 lunar lander. ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said the launch of the mission on a GSLV Mark 3 rocket is now scheduled for Jan. 3, but with a window that extends into March. The mission was to launch in October but was postponed by technical issues. ISRO also announced that the Chandrayaan-2 lander will be named "Vikram" in honor of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space program. (8/12)

General Warns of Significant Costs for Space Force (Source: Space News)
A top general warns that the formation of the Space Force as a separate military branch will carry potentially significant costs. Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday there is a misconception that creating the Space Force from parts of the Air Force and other services will be "absolutely resource neutral" and that everyone involved needs to be "wide-eyed" about the potential costs. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said last week that cost estimates for establishing the Space Force have not been completed yet. (8/12)

DOD Chief Changes Tune on Space Force (Source: AP)
Secretary of Defense James Mattis defended his apparent change of opinion regarding the Space Force. In a letter to Congress last year, Mattis argued against creating a separate military branch for space "that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations." Mattis, though, says he is on board with the creation of a Space Force, and denied he was ever really opposed. "What I was against was rushing to do that before we could define the problem," he told reporters Sunday while on a visit to Brazil. (8/12)

Griffin (Potential Space Force Chief) Urges Improvements for Space Tech Development (Source: Space News)
Mike Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, called on industry for greater urgency when working on military space programs. Government programs are "mired in process" and take far longer to develop. China, he said, is making much faster progress on technologies like hypersonic weapons because they "are not consulting a lot of people that plain just do not need to be consulted." He noted he was concerned that he might not get everything he wanted done in the next two and a half years without process improvements. Griffin, in his comments last week at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium, did not touch on the Space Force, even as his name comes up for roles within that new military branch if it is created. (8/12)

Virgin Galactic's Rocket Man (Source: New Yorker)
Virgin Galactic is one of three prominent startups that are racing to build and test manned rockets. Its rivals are Blue Origin, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon; and SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla. Musk has said that he hopes that all this rocket building will “inspire the public to get excited about space again.” Branson recently told CNN, “I hope that Virgin Galactic will be the first of the three entrepreneurs fighting to put people into space to get there.”

The companies have different visions for the journey. Virgin Galactic plans to take half a dozen passengers on a “suborbital” flight, cresting at more than fifty miles above the Earth. Blue Origin has a similar altitude goal for its first manned flights, but it is developing the kind of vertical-launch system that one associates with nasa rockets. SpaceX is perhaps the most ambitious: Musk wants to colonize Mars. Click here. (8/13)

Trump’s Space Force Logos are Just as Dumb as Space Force (Source: Fast Company)
According to astronaut Mark Kelly and plenty of other experts, Donald Trump’s Space Force is, simply put, a pretty dumb idea. Nonetheless, last night the president’s reelection campaign released a slew of possible Space Force logos--and they’re right in line with the stupefyingly bad design Trump’s team is known for.

Let’s take a moment to breathe, because these logos aren’t official in any way. They weren’t created by anyone at the Pentagon, NASA, or any other federal agency. They were created by the Trump-Pence 2020 campaign PAC. And, as Parscale notes, they’re going to be used to “commemorate” the Space Force with a new “line of gear.” In other words, this is for merch. Ultimately, this is just a poor attempt to distract Trump supporters from the president’s legal troubles–and a way to sell more campaign merch. Click here. (8/10)

Military Space Plane Wings Toward Year in Earth Orbit (Source: Inside Outer Space)
The U.S. Air Force X-37B mini-space plane has winged past 340 days of flight performing secretive duties during the program’s fifth flight. Labeled the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5), the robotic craft was rocketed into Earth orbit on September 7, 2017 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

On this latest clandestine mission of the space plane, all that’s known according to Air Force officials is that one payload flying on OTV-5 is the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader, or ASETS-11. Developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), this cargo is testing experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipes for long durations in the space environment. (8/13)