August 21, 2018

Planetary Resources Sale of Earthly Resources On Hold (Source: GeekWire)
An auction of equipment by a struggling asteroid mining company is on hold. Planetary Resources had planned to auction off much of its equipment, ranging from industrial tools to laptops, later this month, but a notice posted by the auctioneer said that the sale is on hold. Neither the auctioneer nor Planetary Resources explained the delay. (8/21)

Data Analysis Confirms Lunar Ice Findings (Source: NASA)
A reanalysis of data collected a decade ago confirms that there is water ice at the poles of the moon. Scientists reexamined data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a NASA instrument flown on India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter in 2008, to see if the instrument had detected water ice at the poles. The new analysis confirms the presence of water ice, although that ice is distributed differently at each pole: concentrated in craters at the south pole, while more widely, but sparsely, spread out at the north pole. Ice in large enough concentrations close to the lunar surface could be a key resource for future human missions to the moon. (8/21)

More U.S. Concerns About Chinese Military Space Activities (Source: Space News)
A Defense Department report raises new concerns about Chinese military space activities. The Pentagon's annual report on Chinese military capabilities, released last Friday with little fanfare, noted continued development of counterspace technologies, such as ground-based anti-satellite missiles and lasers as well as "orbiting space robots." The country is also enhancing its space surveillance capabilities that could support counterspace activities. China also is "probably testing dual-use technologies in space that could be applied to counterspace missions," the report states. (8/21)

China Criticizes NASA Visit by Taiwan President (Source: LA Times)
China has criticized a visit by Taiwan's president to a NASA center. China's foreign ministry complained about Tsai Ing-wen's visit Sunday to the Johnson Space Center, the first time a Taiwanese president visited any U.S. government facility. A Chinese government spokesman called the visit an exercise "aimed at splitting China" but didn't mention if there would be any response by the government. U.S. law restricts NASA's ability to cooperate with China, requiring congressional approval for any bilateral activities. (8/21)

With Spaceflight’s Help, LeoStella Moves Ahead with Seattle-Area Satellite Factory (Source: GeekWire)
Today it’s an empty office building in a business park south of Seattle. But within just a few months, the place will be turning out two to three satellites per month for a U.S.-European joint venture called LeoStella. LeoStella is a 50-50 joint venture owned by Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries and Thales Alenia Space, a French-Italian heavyweight of the aerospace industries. The hookup is part of a $150 million deal announced in March.

To make the arrangements even more tangled, LeoStella’s first customer is BlackSky, a Spaceflight Industries subsidiary that’s planning to put a constellation of 60 Earth-observing satellites into orbit. BlackSky already built the Global constellation’s first four satellites in-house, for launch on rockets such as India’s PSLV, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Rocket Lab’s Electron. LeoStella is tasked with building 20 more of the 120-pound (55-kilogram) satellites over the next year or two. (8/21)

Our New Planet Hunter (Source: Air & Space)
The next generation of humans will see the night sky entirely differently from the way we see it today. Even in cities, where the glare of lights drowns out all but the brightest stars, people will be able to look up, locate a distant sun, and describe the alien worlds that orbit it. Giant telescopes on frigid mountaintops will have scrutinized those worlds, helping astronomers discern their sizes and basic compositions. A telescope orbiting Earth will have peered into their atmospheres, and may have found signs of life. By staring at star glint—the bright reflection of light off an ocean—astronomers should be able to map planetary continents and discover many of their alien Everests and Grand Canyons.

This era of discovery begins now, with NASA’s latest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Launched in April, the TESS mission marks a new chapter in the way scientists study exoplanets. We will no longer be astounded—as we have been over the last decade—by the sheer number of planets in the cosmos, but by the diversity of their structures and constituents. TESS will find exoplanets by looking for changes in a star’s brightness. Its light curve will show the dimming that indicates a planet passing in front of it.

These transits help determine a planet’s size, but TESS doesn’t carry a spectroscope, which is necessary to calculate a planet’s mass. So an integral part of its mission is to distribute its data to astronomers using the coming generation of telescopes, which will be able to inspect the planets in detail. “TESS is going to be this scouting mission,” says Natalia Guerrero. “We really want to find stars that are easy to follow up from the ground and [from] other space telescopes.” (8/20)

Stratolaunch Developing a Variety of New Air-Launch Rockets (Source: Stratolaunch)
Stratolaunch is developing a new family of launch vehicles that will enter regular service starting in 2020. The company’s unique air-launch system will use the world’s largest aircraft as a mobile launch platform, capable of deploying launch vehicles that will carry satellites to multiple orbits and inclinations on a single mission. With these new vehicles, Stratolaunch is poised to make access to space convenient, affordable, and routine.

Among the vehicles to be supported by Stratolaunch's huge aircraft are Northrop Grumman's Pegasus (up to three at a time), a new Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) with a 3,400 kg payload capacity (launching in 2022), a three-core version of the MLV with a 6,000 kg payload capacity, and a fully reusable space plane for human and cargo spaceflight. The space plane is currently in the design study phase.

Founded in 2011 by Paul G. Allen, Stratolaunch Systems Corporation believes in safeguarding Planet Earth for future generations. We do this by enabling convenient, affordable, routine, airline-style access to space that empowers the world’s problem solvers, so that they can collect rich and actionable data and drive advancements in science, research, and technology from space. Click here. (8/20)

The Trump Administration Needs to Exercise Leadership in Space Security Diplomacy (Source: Space Review)
The Trump Administration’s space policy efforts have been driven by a theme of restoring American leadership in space, but there’s one area where those efforts have fallen short. Brian Weeden explains why the US needs to become more engaged in international discussions on space security issues or risk ceding that leadership to China and Russia. Click here. (8/20)
 
India Seeks its Own “Gagarin Moment” (Source: Space Review)
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would launch its first astronaut by 2022. Ajey Lele examines why India would invest in a human spaceflight program with a such a short-term deadline. Click here. (8/20)
 
A Big Push for Small Satellites for NASA Science (Source: Space Review)
NASA’s science programs are dominated by big missions, but smaller spacecraft are playing an increasing role. Jeff Foust reports on a new initiative to make greater use of CubeSats and other smallsats for NASA science programs, including in fields that had previously eschewed such spacecraft. Click here. (8/20)
 
Rethinking the Mars Terraforming Debate (Source: Space Review)
A recent scientific paper appears to kill the idea of being able to terraform Mars. John Strickland argues that the paper ignores other approaches to making the planet more habitable that, while not feasible now, are also not impossible at some point in the future. Click here. (8/20)