UCF-Managed Arecibo
Telescope Gets Antenna to Help Search for Aliens (Source:
Orlando Sentinel)
A multimillion-dollar upgrade may be just what the world’s largest
operational radio telescope needs to search for alien intelligence.
Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory, which is managed by a University of
Central Florida-led consortium, won a $5.8 million award for a new
super-sensitive antenna that will enhance the telescope’s observation
capabilities by 500 percent, UCF announced this week.
The National Science Foundation awarded the money to a group of
scientists who will design and mount the antenna on the observatory’s
1,000-foot-diameter dish. The team will be led by Brigham Young
University engineering professors Brian Jeffs and Karl Warnick, and
will include collaborators from UCF and Cornell University, UCF said.
(8/16)
Space Coast Games to
Challenge Industry Teams at Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
Boeing is sponsoring an effort on the Space Coast inspired by the
recent Aerospace Summer Games in Southern California. The Space Coast
Games will be a family-friendly competitive event among companies with
ties to NASA and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Events will include fun
activities like tug-o-war, volleyball, kickball, watermelon eating,
etc. The date for this event is November 3 and the location is the KARS
Park facility on Merritt Island. Click here
for information. (8/16)
Mattis Sees Future US
Space Opportunities with Brazil (Source: Jane's 360)
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis sees future opportunities for
advanced research with Brazil, particularly in space, he told an
audience at Brazil’s war college on 14 August. Pentagon spokesperson
Commander Sarah Higgins said on 15 August that the Department of
Defense (DoD) has a strong science and technology (S&T)
relationship with Brazil.
She said the two nations signed a space situational awareness (SSA)
agreement that will allow them to share information about more than
23,000 objects in orbit, including Brazil’s satellites. Cdr Higgins
said Brazil has revitalised its space program since a tragic accident
more than a decade ago. A rocket exploding at the Alcantara Launch
Center (ALC) in northeast Brazil in 2003 caused numerous fatalities.
(8/15)
Ariane 6 is Nearing
Completion, but Europe’s Work is Far From Over (Source:
Space News)
In 2014, when the European Space Agency settled on a six-year roadmap
for the development of two next-generation rockets — Ariane 6 and Vega
C — Europe’s main launch service provider Arianespace was still in the
driver’s seat. International Launch Services was recovering from
another Proton failure. Sea Launch was in drydock. SpaceX had just
begun to crack the commercial market.
The competitive landscape was shifting but Arianespace still sat firmly
on top with its Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets. Responding to the
threat SpaceX’s lowpriced Falcon 9 posed to Europe’s launch sector
dominance, ESA and its industrial partners ArianeGroup and Avio made
cost control a defining requirement of Europe’s future launch vehicles.
Arianespace’s competitive landscape isn’t getting any easier. In the
U.S., SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA and Northrop Grumman are developing
Ariane 6 competitors, Russia is building Angara, India is gaining
traction with GSLV, Japan is building the H3 and China is aiming its
Long March family at markets further beyond its borders. In the midst
of these changes, ESA is pushing European industry to continue
innovating and finding efficiencies even after Vega C’s introduction in
2019 and Ariane 6’s debut in 2020. (8/15)
'Facility Issue' Cuts
NASA Engine Test Short (Source: Space News)
NASA confirmed Wednesday that an unspecified "facility issue" cut short
an RS-25 engine test Tuesday, although the test was still a success. An
agency spokesperson said that the test, scheduled to run for more than
eight minutes, ended three minutes early because of that issue, but
didn't provide more details about what specifically went wrong. A NASA
statement released earlier Wednesday made no mention of the problem or
even the planned and actual duration of the test. Both NASA and Aerojet
Rocketdyne, which builds the RS-25, said the test was a success
nonetheless. Eight more tests of the engine are planned through early
next year as part of the overall Space Launch System effort. (8/15)
Descartes Partners with
Airbus on Global Imagery (Source: Space News)
Geospatial analytics company Descartes Labs announced a partnership
with Airbus Wednesday. Under the agreement, Descartes will add Airbus'
OneAtlas global basemap image catalog to its existing library of
Landsat and Sentinel data. Descartes uses technology to extract
insights from image data, and announced Wednesday that it has also
added weather data to its image library. (8/15)
ISRO Surprised by Human
Spaceflight Announcement (Source: The Telegraph)
The head of the Indian space agency ISRO said he was surprised by Prime
Minister Modi's announcement Wednesday of a 2022 goal for the country's
first human mission. K. Sivan, chairman of ISRO, said in an interview
that Modi's announcement of that specific date for the first crewed
mission was "a surprise for us," but added that he felt that ISRO was
confident it could meet the deadline based on development of key
technologies. Two uncrewed test flights would take place before the
first crewed mission, Sivan said, with an estimated cost of the overall
program of nearly $1.5 billion. (8/15)
Russia to Develop
Super-Heavy Rocket as Reusable Spacecraft (Source: TASS)
Russia’s super-heavy carrier rocket scheduled to blast off for the
first time from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East in 2028
will be a reusable spacecraft, State Space Corporation Roscosmos Chief
Dmitry Rogozin said. The multiple-use principle "will be formulated as
a task during the work on the super-heavy rocket," Rogozin stressed.
According to designers’ plans, the Russian super-heavy carrier rocket
should be able to deliver over 70 tonnes of cargo into low near-Earth
orbit at the first stage. It will be developed to provide for deep
space flights, specifically, to the Moon and Mars.
The construction of the infrastructure for the new carrier rocket at
the Vostochny cosmodrome is scheduled to begin in 2026 and its first
launch will take place in 2028. The concept of creating a super-heavy
carrier rocket envisages maximally utilizing the accumulated potential.
Also, basic elements and technologies of the Soyuz-5 medium-class
rocket currently under development will be used to create the
super-heavy launch vehicle. According to Roscosmos’s estimates, the
creation of the super-heavy carrier rocket and the construction of the
corresponding infrastructure will cost 1.5 trillion rubles ($22.5
billion). (8/16)
Angara Launch Pad Years
Away at Vostochny (Source: TASS)
It could take nearly four years to build a second launch pad at
Russia's new Vostochny Cosmodrome. In an interview, Roscosmos head
Dmitry Rogozin said a contract for building the second pad, intended
for use for the Angara launch vehicle, will take 45 months to complete
once a contract to construct it is signed. That contract should be
awarded in the near future. (8/15)
Tennessee
Middle-Schoolers Complete Space Experiment (Source:
Knoxville News Sentinel)
Five boys have worked over the summer at a Tennessee middle school to
complete a science experiment on the effects of space travel on tooth
decay after their sample tooth returned from the International Space
Station. The team competed with others around the world to have their
experiment chosen by the National Center for Earth and Space Science
Education. (8/13)
SpaceX's Starlink
Constellation Could Have a Military Customer (Source:
Teslarati)
In FCC regulatory documents, SpaceX states that it is “working with a
manufacturer of conformal antennas for tactical aircraft” to design and
build “a custom installation kit consisting of mechanical plates for
the low-profile antennas and fairings reducing wind drag”, seemingly
indicating that SpaceX itself intends to supply the phased array
antennas itself.
Normally, this sort of testing would be fairly mundane and expected for
any global satellite network, as one of the largest markets for
satellite internet connectivity happens to be commercial aviation,
particularly airlines and passenger entertainment. Most tellingly,
SpaceX wrote it “will perform a series of tests with the integrated
airborne prototype terminal … varying motion for representative roll
and pitch rates of a high-performance aircraft“, later also describing
a request for permission for “additional test activities undertaken
with the federal government.”
It just so happens that the US Air Force’s Research Laboratory (AFRL)
spoke with Aviation Week earlier this year (just weeks after SpaceX’s
first prototype satellites had launched, in fact) about a nascent
program exploring the potential utility of a spate of commercial Low
Earth Orbit satellite internet constellations proposed for launch in
recent years. (8/15)
Student Experiments Soar
with Early Morning Launch from Wallops (Source: Space
Daily)
Approximately 100 undergraduate university and community college
students from across the United States were on hand to witness the
launch of their experiments and technology demonstration projects on a
NASA suborbital rocket at 6:13 a.m., Aug. 14, from NASA's Wallops
Flight Facility.
The Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket launched as the sun was
rising over the horizon and carried the student projects to an altitude
of 98.5 miles. After a brief ride into space, the payload carrying the
students' projects descended by parachute and landed in the Atlantic
Ocean approximately 64 miles from the launch site. After recovery, the
experiments will be returned to the students later in the day. (8/15)
ASTERIA Wins Small
Satellite Mission of the Year Award (Source: Space Daily)
The ASTERIA mission has earned the Small Satellite Mission of the Year
award from the Small Satellite Technical Committee of the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The award is given to
a mission that has "demonstrated a significant improvement in the
capability of small satellites," according to the award description.
The mission is a collaboration between NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and the Massachusets Institute of
Technology, Cambridge. The award was presented at this month's annual
Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah, hosted by AIAA and Utah
State University. Finalists for the award are selected by committee,
and the winner is chosen through a public vote. (8/15)
New Pentagon Report Names
Russia, China as Threats to US Space Capabilities (Source:
Space Daily)
A new space report by the Pentagon has named Russia and China as key
threats to US space capabilities, according to a document released on
Thursday. "The United States faces rapidly growing threats to our space
capabilities. China and Russia, our strategic competitors, are
explicitly pursuing space warfighting capabilities to neutralize US
space capabilities during a time of conflict," the report said.
"Other potential adversaries are also pursuing counter-space
capabilities such as jamming, dazzling, and cyber-attacks." The report
specified that the US Space Command's capability development efforts
would focus on global surveillance for missile targeting and other
priorities. "Department capability development efforts will focus on...
Persistent Global Surveillance for advanced missile targeting," the
report said.
The paper stated that the command will also focus on developing its
deterrent capability and nuclear command, control and communications.
In addition to this, artificial intelligence-enabled global
surveillance and near-real-time space situational awareness will be
priorities, it added. At the same time, the Pentagon outlined in the
report the US Space Command's major priorities. "US Space Command
priorities will include: designing and executing a full range of joint
space training and exercises, with focused support to the Asia Pacific
Security Initiative and the European Deterrence Initiative," the report
said. (8/10)
US Working Hard to Cease
Reliance on Russian Rocket Engines (Source: Sputnik)
The U.S. is working hard to halt its dependence on Russia's RD-180
rocket engines, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. Earlier in
August, the US administration announced new sanctions against Russia in
response to Moscow's alleged use of chemical weapons against Russian
ex-intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in the UK city of Salisbury in
March. The Russian upper house's budget committee head, Sergei
Ryabukhin, has told Sputnik that Russia's options for retaliation
against the new US sanctions may include affecting deliveries of the
RD-180 engines to the United States.
Bridenstine emphasized that NASA did not want to be dependent on
Russia, but wanted to maintain good relations with Moscow. Russia is
supplying the RD-180 engines to the United States under the 1997
contract. The US space program relies on the Russian-built engines to
power the first stage of the Atlas V rocket, used for sending heavy
payloads into space. In late July, Igor Arbuzov, the head of Russia's
major rocket engine manufacturer JSC NPO Energomash, said his company
had signed a new agreement with the United Launch Alliance on the
delivery of six RD-180 rocket engines for Atlas V rockets in 2020.
(8/14)
Earth Mini-Moons:
Potential for Exciting Scientific and Commercial Opportunities
(Source: Space Daily)
The detection of "mini-moons" - small asteroids temporarily captured in
orbit around Earth - will vastly improve our scientific understanding
of asteroids and the Earth-Moon system, says a new review published in
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science. These small and fast-moving
visitors have so-far evaded detection by existing technology, with only
one confirmed mini-moon discovery to date. The advent of the Large
Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will verify their existence and track
their paths around our planet, presenting exciting scientific and
commercial opportunities.
"Mini-moons can provide interesting science and technology testbeds in
near-Earth space. These asteroids are delivered towards Earth from the
main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter via gravitational
interactions with the Sun and planets in our solar system," reports Dr
Robert Jedicke, lead author, based at the University of Hawaii,
Honolulu, USA. "The challenge lies in finding these small objects,
despite their close proximity." (8/14)
Wearable 'Microbrewery'
Saves Human Body from Radiation Damage (Source: Space
Daily)
The same way that yeast yields beer and bread can help hospital lab
workers better track their daily radiation exposure, enabling a faster
assessment of tissue damage that could lead to cancer. But rather than
building portable cellars or ovens, Purdue University researchers have
engineered yeast "microbreweries" within disposable badges made of
freezer paper, aluminum and tape. Simply adding a drop of water
activates the yeast to show radiation exposure as read by an electronic
device.
On a commercial level, the readout device could one day be a tablet or
phone. The badge could also be adapted in the future for nuclear power
plant workers and victims of nuclear disasters. Radiology workers are
regularly exposed to low doses of radiation when they obtain patient
imagery, such as X-rays. While protective gear largely keeps workers
within a safe range of radiation exposure, absorbing a little bit is
still inevitable. Radiation doses creeping above regulated guidelines
pose risk for developing conditions such as cancer, cataracts, skin
irritation or thyroid disease. (8/10)
Mystery Russian
Satellite's Behavior Raises Alarm in US (Source: BBC)
A mysterious Russian satellite displaying "very abnormal behavior" has
raised alarm in the US, according to a State Department official. "We
don't know for certain what it is and there is no way to verify it,"
said assistant secretary Yleem Poblete at a conference in Switzerland
on 14 August. She voiced fears that it was impossible to say if the
object may be a weapon.
Russia has dismissed the comments as "unfounded, slanderous accusations
based on suspicions." The satellite in question was launched in October
last year. Alexander Deyneko, a senior Russian diplomat, told the
Reuters news agency that the comments were "the same unfounded,
slanderous accusations based on suspicions, on suppositions and so on."
He called on the US to contribute to a Russian-Chinese treaty that
seeks to prevent an arms race in space.
Ms Poblete's comments were particularly interesting in light of
President Donald Trump's decision to launch a sixth branch of the US
armed forces named Space Force, added Ms Stickings. "The narrative
coming from the US is, 'space was really peaceful, now look at what the
Russians and Chinese are doing' - ignoring the fact that the US has
developed its own capabilities." (8/15)
Two Companies Team Up to
Send 3D Bioprinter to the Space Station (Source: IEEE
Spectrum)
When our reality catches up with sci-fi, there will be lots of reasons
to have bioprinters in space. For example, an astronaut on the
long-haul voyage to Mars might get a terrible burn while futzing around
with chemicals, and would be grateful for the ability to print out a
new patch of skin. Or, looking even further into the future, a Martian
colonist might suffer from liver failure but be saved by doctors who
could print out a replacement organ.
Those scenarios are far off both in terms of humanity’s spaceflight
capabilities and the state of 3D bioprinting—a rapidly advancing
technique in which specialized 3D printers squeeze out biomaterials and
cells to build up pieces of tissue, layer by layer. But a new
partnership between the bioprinter company Allevi and Made in Space, a
company with two 3D printers aboard the International Space Station
(ISS), represents the first step toward those scenes of sci-fi
medicine. (8/10)
Can Humans Live in Space
Without Going Crazy? (Source: Discover)
What impact does being in space have on the human psyche? And for those
future Mars astronauts, how would the human mind hold up as Mother
Earth fades away to a dot? Surprisingly, it wasn’t until Mars missions
became feasible that NASA considered the full breadth of the
psychological needs of astronauts. Click here.
(8/15)
NASA Rocket Carries
Student Experiments into Space from Wallops (Source:
DelMarVa Now)
A suborbital sounding rocket carrying student experiments from across
the U.S. blasted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Tuesday
morning. The 44-foot tall, two-stage Terrier-Improved Malemute rocket
took off at 6:13 a.m. carrying the student projects to an altitude of
98.5 miles. Officials had to briefly delay liftoff after a boat entered
the area. Approximately 100 undergraduate university and community
college students from across the United States were on hand to witness
the launch. (8/15)
State Grant Funds New
Facilities at Cecil Spaceport in Jacksonville (Source:
Jax Daily Record)
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority board of directors accepted a $1.8
million matching grant from Space Florida to design and build a space
operations control center, a payload preparation facility and a rocket
motor testing facility at the Cecil Spaceport. (8/15)
Hanging Out With the Guy
Who Launched the Fastest Manmade Object in History
(Source: Medium)
The fastest manmade object ever was just launched from Florida, and
it’s possible you didn’t hear much about it. I had the honor of meeting
Tory Bruno, Chief Executive Officer of United Launch Alliance on the
Mobile Service Tower for rollback prior to the Parker Solar Probe Delta
IV Heavy launch. He showed up without media or an entourage…. which I
thought was awesome. I also captured a candid moment between him and
his wife. Click here.
(8/13)
Lockheed ‘Seizes High
Ground’ With Second Hypersonics Deal (Source: Breaking
Defense)
It’s not over until it’s over,, but Lockheed Martin is
certainly showing early promise in the eye-wateringly difficult
technical field of building a useful hypersonic weapon. The Air Force
announced last night that it was awarding the world’s biggest defense
company a $480 million contract to develop a prototype for the
Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). (8/14)
Russian Cosmonauts to
Spend Almost 7 Hours Outside ISS on Wednesday (Source:
Sputnik)
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergei Prokopyev will spent almost
seven hours in the open space on Wednesday on a mission to install an
antenna as part of a birds monitoring the experiment. On the same
mission, Artemyev and Prokopyev launched four nanosatellites into orbit
and picked up bacteria samples from the International Space Station's
(ISS) external surface.
So far, 19 space dust samples have been delivered to the Earth since
the experiment began in 2010. The scientists found DNA of bacteria from
the upper level of the World Ocean, the dust with a strong
concentration of holmium, normally typical of Przybylski's Star in the
constellation of Centaurus.
Editor's
Note: So here's another reference to Russia's dubious
claims of harvesting extraterrestrial bacterial DNA in low Earth orbit,
by wiping it off the exterior of the International Space Station. It
would be nice to hear NASA's opionion on this. (8/15)
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