August 6, 2018

Space Florida Proposes Launch, Landing Pads at KSC (Source: Florida Today)
An experimental space plane and other small rockets could blast off from a new pad at Kennedy Space Center, and boosters could begin landing at the spaceport, under state proposals now under review by NASA. Space Florida wants to develop Launch Complex 48 to support Boeing’s Phantom Express, the winner of a competition to demonstrate quick-turnaround launches for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

In addition, the state has proposed building three landing pads at KSC to provide more options for SpaceX or Blue Origin boosters returning from space, and possibly other reusable vehicles. “We see a need,” said Jim Kuzma, senior vice president and general manager at Space Florida. “We’re continuing to assess anywhere where we think the infrastructure is going to be stressed as the launch cadence continues to increase.”

Launch Complex 48 would be tucked in between KSC’s pad 39A, now operated by SpaceX, and Launch Complex 41 to the south, the home of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. The landing pads would be located near the northern edge of the center’s secure perimeter. Both sites are highlighted in KSC’s master plan as available to be developed for those uses, and NASA had solicited interest. Each project would be subject to further environmental review. Click here. (8/5)

Meet the People Behind NASA's InSight Mars Lander (Source: NASA)
A new series of videos introduces some of the people leading NASA's InSight, the agency's next mission to Mars. "Behind the Spacecraft" profiles the men and women working on the first mission ever dedicated to studying Mars' deep interior. The InSight spacecraft is on its way to a Nov. 26 landing on the Red Planet. All the videos are available today and will be spotlighted on social media each week over the next three months. Click here. (8/2)

SpaceX Dragon Capsule Makes Safe Return From the ISS (Source: Engadget)
Around a month ago, SpaceX launched one of its Dragon cargo capsules into space, loading it up with supplies destined for the International Space Station. Now, it has made it safely back to Earth, splashing into the Pacific Ocean just after 6PM Eastern. Its return completes the CRS-15 mission, which brought scientific experiments, crew provisions, equipment and other supplies to the ISS. NASA says it will take approximately two days for the capsule to be retrieved and brought back to port, after which the cargo and experiments it returned will be unloaded. (8/3)

Lockheed Martin Deploys Augmented Reality for Spacecraft Manufacturing
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s space division is using augmented reality headsets and software to speed up the time it takes for engineers to learn about and conduct manufacturing processes on spacecraft, said Yvonne Hodge, the division’s vice president and chief information officer.

Augmented reality, which superimposes digital content including hologram-like images onto a user’s view of the real world, is becoming a “critical part” of the division’s digital infrastructure, Ms. Hodge said. It’s making one spacecraft production line more efficient and speeding up the time it takes to troubleshoot manufacturing and design issues, as well as reduce the rate of defects. (8/1)

We're Going to Die in Record Numbers as Heatwaves Bake The World, First Global Study Shows (Source: Science Alert)
Mounting science is painting a very bleak picture of a future of soaring temperatures, and the accompanying death toll those soaring temperatures will demand. New research has given us the first solid prediction of how more heatwaves like the one that's struck Europe this year will affect future death rates, finding tropical heatwaves in some areas could one day send the mortality rate skyrocketing by as much as 2,000 percent. (8/2)

Russia Is Slowly Declining As a Space Superpower (Source: Defense One)
The first country to launch a satellite is losing its space advantage to leakers, competitors like SpaceX, and most importantly to China. July was a tough month for the Russian space program. First came the arrest of scientist Viktor Kudryavtsev for allegedly leaking information on the development of hypersonic missiles to a member of NATO. Shortly thereafter, a second scientist was arrested on similar charges of leaking technology information, this time allegedly to Vietnam.

That may just be the start; the Federal Security Service, or FSB, is reportedly investigating a dozen more people in Kudryavtsev’s office. “The damage from [the alleged leaking] is unlikely to be stronger than the transfer to China of the technology of manned space exploration.” Complaints about Chinese acquisition of Russian rocket technology have become a common refrain in Russian state media.

“Today Russia is still competitive when it comes to space lift, but has big issues given the advancements made by SpaceX. However, much of the profit in the space market from what I understand, and the way it is discussed by Russian industry leadership, is not in space lift at all, but in additive assembly and satellites” said Koffman. “As such, SpaceX is de facto eating away, and will likely displace Russia, from a segment of the market that is not especially profitable and much of the value lies elsewhere,” he said. (8/5)

China Solicits International Cooperation Experiments on Space Station (Source: Xinhua)
China is asking the world to collaborate in experiments on its planned space station so as to promote international space cooperation and sustainable global development. The Committee on Science and Technology Experiments of the Chinese Space Station was established recently under the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

The offer is open to the entire international community. Proposals and projects can be submitted online (www.css-research.cn) and peer-reviewed. The candidate projects will go through to the China Manned Space Agency. CAST might also provide opportunities to conduct some international cooperation experiments on other spacecraft or satellites, said Zhang. (8/5)

Israel Likely to Beat India in Moon Mission Race (Source: DNA)
India's ambitious lunar probe mission, Chandrayaan-2, has hit another roadblock due to technical glitches and has been postponed for next year. After several delays, the launch date of Chandrayaan-2 was finally set in October but it has now been shifted February next year.

The new delay may give Israel a chance to become the fourth country to make a soft landing on the moon's surface. Israel, through a non-profit group named SpaceIL, plans to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon in February in the first landing of its kind since 2013.

So far, only four countries - the US, Russia and China - have successfully landed rovers on Moon with last being China's Chang'e 3 in December 2013. If Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is successful in its 'Chandrayaan-2' mission before February, India will be only the fourth country to do so. (8/5)