October 6, 2018

First SpaceX Mission with Astronauts Set for June 2019: NASA (Source: Phys.org)
NASA has announced the first crewed flight by a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to take place in June 2019. It will be the first manned US launch to the orbiting research laboratory since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011, forcing US astronauts to hitch costly rides aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. A flight on Boeing spacecraft is set to follow in August 2019. The timetable for both launches has already been postponed several times, but NASA said Thursday it would now be providing monthly updates on deadlines. (10/5)

Sponsored by OneWeb and Embry-Riddle, IAS Conference Brings Space Business Focus to Florida in November (Source: IAS)
The International Aerospace Series (IAS) consists of four events spread across the year, with one event to be held approximately every quarter. Our host partner for these events is Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and their worldwide campuses will host a Conference, a Summit, an Invitational, and a National Showcase. The first of the series is the International Aerospace Series: Florida Conference. It's scheduled for November 14-15 at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach campus.

The IAS:FC is a business-to-business matchmaking event connecting small and medium-size business, local governments, and universities to promote the development of the commercial aerospace industry.  It connects companies from across the globe with Florida OEM’s, suppliers and R&D facilities, expanding their business to support this growing industry.

International participation in this event is a highlight, as invitations to Japanese, Israeli, French and German companies are being confirmed. Business matchmaking sessions, lectures and break-out sessions hosted by companies, business match-making, and site visits will be part of the agenda. Click here. (10/5)

For That Long, Long Trip to Mars, Plan on a Lot of Hibernation (Source: C/Net)
I humans begin to travel to Mars in the next few decades, the one-way travel time of several months is going to make a long-haul international flight on Earth seem like a joyride. Fortunately, one company is working to make it much easier to not just fall asleep on long interplanetary trips, but to hibernate through most of them.

Atlanta-based SpaceWorks has received two rounds of funding from NASA to investigate the feasibility of making a staple of science fiction a standard for actual space exploration. NASA, which this week celebrated its 60th anniversary, plans to spend its next few decades taking us to the Red Planet.

"Fourteen days is the point we have pretty high confidence that we can get to," said John Bradford, SpaceWorks president and former NASA engineer. That's two weeks straight with the body's core temperature lowered by around 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). The point of going hypothermic like that is to induce a sleep state called torpor that reduces the body's metabolic rate by as much as 50 percent to 70 percent, which means less consumption of oxygen and other resources. It's similar to what happens when bears hibernate. Click here. (10/4)

Launch Dates to be Updated More Regularly as Commercial Crew Flights Draw Nearer (Source: NASA)
As NASA’s Commercial Crew partners Boeing and SpaceX crew transportation systems are within months of being ready for the first test flights of their spacecraft that will carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station from U.S. soil, the scheduling of launch dates enters a new phase.

This near-term scheduling balances the commercial partners’ readiness with NASA and the International Space Station’s schedule and the availability of the Eastern Range to establish a target launch date. NASA plans to provide up-to-date launch planning dates on the Commercial Crew blog, which will be updated approximately monthly, with near-term launches also appearing on NASA’s launches and landing schedule.

SpaceX and the Commercial Crew Program are working together to have the hardware and associated activities ready for its first test flight – Demo-1 – in December 2018, but the launch will occur in January to accommodate docking opportunities at the orbiting laboratory. Boeing’s targeted readiness for its Orbital Flight Test is March 2019. Both test flights will be uncrewed missions. (10/4)

NASA's Pluto Spacecraft Adjusts Course on its Way to Next Icy World (Source: CBC)
The NASA spacecraft that explored Pluto has adjusted course as its next target looms. New Horizons fired its thrusters late Wednesday way out in our solar system's so-called Kuiper Belt, a disk of icy worlds beyond Neptune. That puts the spacecraft on track for a New Year's Day flyby of a teeny, frigid world dubbed Ultima Thule. The name comes from medieval maps and literature.

New Horizons became the first spacecraft to visit Pluto in 2015. Its flyby revealed a world that astounded planetary scientists. It found that the dwarf planet had a thin, blue atmosphere, as well as nitrogen glaciers, mountain ranges and even a desert. The spacecraft's next target is 1.6 billion kilometres beyond Pluto and a whopping 6.4 billion kilometres from us. So, 13 years after rocketing from Florida, New Horizons will break its own record for humanity's most distant tour of a cosmic object. (10/4)

Intergalactic Light Beams Might Be Just the Ticket for Making Contact with Aliens (Source: NBC)
For more than a half century, we’ve been scanning the skies for radio signals that might be evidence of an alien civilization. Now physicists at the University of California, Santa Barbara are trying a different approach: scanning the skies for light beams that are monstrously intense. It’s a promising approach that could uncover aliens that have equipped themselves with the mother of all laser pointers.

The idea of using light beams to signal from one world to another isn’t new — even the Victorians considered it. In 1874, the Finnish mathematician Edvard Engelbert Novius proposed wiring up 22,000 light bulbs and using curved mirrors to focus their glow on Mars, thereby alerting Red Planet residents that they had neighbors on the third rock from the sun. He didn’t get the funding.

The Santa Barbara plan is to reverse Novius’ scheme and look for aliens who might be signaling us. Or, more accurately, inadvertently spilling light in our direction with a light source brighter than a blowtorch. The scientists plan to search for such high-tech luminaries camped out in the Andromeda Galaxy, which at 2.5 million light-years away is the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way. (10/5)

There’s a Glitch at the Edge of the Universe that Could Remake Physics (Source: New Scientist)
It is a well-kept secret, but we know the answer to life, the universe and everything. It’s not 42 – it’s 1/137. This immutable number determines how stars burn, how chemistry happens and even whether atoms exist at all. Physicist Richard Feynman, who knew a thing or two about it, called it “one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding”.

Now its mystery is deepening. Controversial hints suggest this number might not be the universal constant we had assumed, instead varying subtly over time and space. If confirmed, that would have profound consequences for our understanding of physics, forcing us to reconsider basic assumptions about the structure of reality. While arguments about the true significance of the findings rage, experiments looking both deep into the cosmos and at the fine-grained structure of reality in the lab are now set to deliver a definitive verdict – perhaps.

The idea that constants of nature – things like the speed of light, strength of forces and the masses of various particles – might not be so constant has an illustrious history. In 1937, physicist Paul Dirac wrote to the journal Nature, questioning astronomer Arthur Eddington’s attempts to calculate the constants from scratch. How could we be sure they haven’t changed over cosmological time? The fine structure constant, also known as alpha, is a case in point. Alpha lies at the centre of a theory Dirac initiated and Feynman worked on: quantum electrodynamics, or QED. This is the quantum theory of the electromagnetic force, and describes the interactions between light and matter. (10/3)

NASA Confirms Commercial Crew Delays (Source: Space News)
NASA confirmed Thursday delays for both SpaceX and Boeing's commercial crew test flights. In a statement, NASA said SpaceX's uncrewed and crewed test flights had slipped by two months each, to January and June 2019 respectively. Boeing's two flights are now scheduled for March and August 2019. The announcement came a day after a SpaceX executive said at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Germany that he was skeptical the company would be able to fly its uncrewed test by the end of the year as previously planned. NASA also stated it would provide more regular updates on the schedules for those missions. (10/5)
 
Fuel Shortage Limiting Continued Service for Dawn and Kepler Spacecraft (Source: Space News)
Two NASA spacecraft are about to reach the ends of their missions because they are nearly out of hydrazine fuel. In an IAC talk Thursday, the chief engineer for the Dawn mission said that spacecraft, currently orbiting Ceres, is expected to exhaust its hydrazine around the middle of this month, ending the mission by depriving it of attitude control. NASA's Kepler spacecraft, meanwhile, interrupted its latest observational campaign in late September and will transmit the data it collected next week, if it has enough fuel left to do so. (10/5)

Human Spaceflight Cooperation Planned Between NASA and UAE (Source: NASA)
NASA and the UAE Space Agency signed an agreement this week to cooperate in several areas, including human spaceflight. The agreement, signed during the IAC, allows the companies to discuss the option of training UAE astronauts at NASA facilities as well as opportunities to cooperate on the ISS or future lunar missions. The new agreement builds upon an earlier framework agreement between the two agencies signed in 2016. (10/5)

India Plans January Lunar Mission (Source: Times of India)
The Indian space agency ISRO is now planning a late January launch of its Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission. A scientists involved with the mission said that launching the spacecraft Jan. 30, rather than Jan. 3 as previously proposed, offers a more favorable trajectory that saves 27 kilograms of propellant. The mission, India's second to the moon, includes an orbiter as well as its first lunar lander and rover. (10/5)

Space Tango Plans Plant Biology Spinoff (Source: Space News)
A Kentucky space company is forming a subsidiary to examine plant biology in space, with a particular emphasis on hemp. Space Tango said the new subsidiary, yet to be named, plans to use microgravity research to better understand the characteristics of hemp plants. Space Tango has attracted as partners two Kentucky companies that distribute hemp seeds and produce therapeutics derived from the plant. (10/5)

McAuliffe Movie Planned (Source: collectSPACE)
Actress Michelle Williams will play Christa McAuliffe in an upcoming film. The Challenger will be a movie about McAuliffe's life, tracing "the incredible journey she took from her classroom to becoming a member of the space shuttle Challenger crew," according to the film's producer, Argent Pictures. Production of the film is set to begin next May, but no release date has been announced. (10/5)

Trump May Fire SECAF for Space Force Opposition (Source: Foreign Policy)
President Trump is reportedly considering firing Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson for her perceived opposition to the proposed Space Force. A report, based on multiple sources "with knowledge of the matter," said that Wilson's resistance to the president's initiative to create a separate military branch devoted to space "has grated on him and I think he permanently sees her as troublesome and ineffective now." Any move to fire Wilson would come after next month's elections, and one potential replacement being considered is Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), a leading advocate for a Space Force. A White House spokesperson denied that the president is planning to fire Wilson. (10/5)

Key Congressional Members Still Skeptical of Space Force Need (Source: Space News)
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee aren't convinced yet of the need for a Space Force. At a media roundtable Thursday, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of the committee, said senators need to "keep an open mind" about whether there should be a standalone Space Force or something like a Space Corps within the Air Force. One issue when considering those options, she said, will be their cost. She agreed, though, that the Pentagon should be doing more to protect satellites. (10/5)

Lockheed Invites Subcontractors to Compete for Missile Warning Payload Development (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has selected three companies to compete to provide payloads for the next generation of missile warning satellites. Lockheed said that Raytheon and and joint Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace team will develop plans for sensors that will fly on the Overhead Persistent Infrared Block 0 missile warning satellites Lockheed is building for the Air Force. Lockheed will select one of the competitors in 2020, after a critical design review.(10/5)

China a Growing Miolitary Threat in Space (Source: Space News)
The U.S. defense industrial base, including the space industry, faces serious challenges from China according to a new White House report. The report, ordered by the president last year, assessed the defense industrial base and supply chain, and warned that threats from China, from espionage to flooding global markets with strategic materials like rare earth elements, constitute the biggest threat to the industry. The report found that, in national security space, the government has not managed its investments wisely and that companies in the lower tiers of the supply chain are fragile and under stress. (10/5)

A Lunar Lander with an Elevator? Here is What the Future of Space May Look Like (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A lunar lander with an elevator, another one that shares a name with a popular beer, and a time when companies will send their products further into the cosmos than we’ve ever traveled before. That’s the future of space. Theoretically, at least. Those plans and more were outlined this week, as the top brass of the space industry met at the 69th annual International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany.

There, Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin discussed their lunar lander plans, part of separate initiatives to land large payloads on the moon. For Lockheed Martin, the decision is aligned with its work on NASA’s Gateway, a smaller International Space Station-like platform that the space agency plans to send into lunar orbit and use as a jumping-off point for missions to Mars. Lockheed’s design is also a response to NASA’s call for designs for small robotic landers — and the agency’s eventual goal of sending larger landers that carry astronauts to the moon’s surface.

So Lockheed went big — 62 metric tons. For reference, that’s nearly the weight of the space shuttles when empty. According to the company’s report detailing the plans, the single-stage lunar lander would be able to carry four astronauts from the Gateway to the moon for stays of up to two weeks. About 2,200 pounds of cargo could also take the ride on the lander. (10/5)

Boeing Plans Changes to SLS Upper Stages (Source: Space News)
With NASA’s decision to continue using an interim upper stage for additional flights of the Space Launch System, Boeing is working on changes to both that stage and a more powerful upper stage. In an Oct. 3 call with reporters, John Shannon, vice president and program manager for the Space Launch System at Boeing, said NASA has asked Boeing to look at changes to the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) to improve its performance.

Those changes were prompted by the decision NASA made earlier this year to delay the introduction of the EUS. That stage was originally planned to enter use with the second SLS mission, Exploration Mission (EM) 2. Instead, the first flight of what’s known as the Block 1B configuration of SLS has been delayed to the fourth SLS launch, likely no earlier than 2024. (10/5)

Pentagon Denies Report that Air Force Secretary Wilson May be On Her Way Out (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department on Friday dismissed a news report that says President Trump is considering removing Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. “This is nonsense,” Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana White said in a statement in response to a story published on Thursday by Foreign Policy. White did not elaborate. “The Department of Defense leadership team is focused on defending our great nation and working together,” she added.

Sources contacted by SpaceNews said rumors have circulated for two weeks that Trump administration officials who are overseeing a Space Force legislative proposal were unhappy with Wilson for submitting a a memo Sept. 14 laying out a detailed plan for how to organize a Department of the Space Force, with an estimated cost of about $13 billion over five years. (10/5)

European MASCOT Spacecraft Successfully Lands on Asteroid Ryugu (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
A small European spacecraft, known as the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT), successfully landed on asteroid Ryugu on Wednesday, Oct. 3, starting its short but busy operational life. MASCOT was deployed by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, which has orbited Ryugu since late-June 2018. The cube-shaped lander separated from the orbiter at 1:58 GMT on October 2 at an altitude of about 167 feet and descended in a free fall. The landing occurred some 20 minutes later.

“From the lander’s telemetry, we were able to see that it separated from the mothercraft, and made contact with the asteroid surface approximately 20 minutes later,” said Tra-Mi Ho, MASCOT project manager at German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Space Systems. After landing, the spacecraft almost immediately started exploring the surface of the asteroid, conducting various measurements. The probe is designed to investigate the structure and mineralogical composition as well as the thermal behavior and magnetic properties of Ryugu. (10/5)

New Dwarf Planet spotted at the Very Fringe of Solar System (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A previously unknown dwarf planet circles through the far reaches of our solar system, the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center. Officially designated 2015 TG387, the small and spherical object is probably a ball of ice. Astronomers first observed the dwarf planet on Oct. 13, 2015, from the Subaru telescope at Hawaii's Mauna Kea Observatories. Embracing the near-Halloween October spirit - and for want of something pronounceable - its discoverers nicknamed 2015 TG387 "the Goblin."

The Goblin is "about 300 kilometers in diameter, on the small end of a dwarf planet," said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington who discovered the object along with colleagues at Northern Arizona University, University of Hawaii and the University of Oklahoma. Dwarf planet Pluto, by comparison, is six times as wide. (10/2)

Mars Eclipsed by the Moon at Annual Gathering of World Space Leaders (Source: Space News)
In recent years, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) has been a venue for discussing Mars exploration plans. At this year’s just-concluded IAC here, though, the story was far different. Mars didn’t get much attention outside of technical paper presentations devoted to Mars exploration. Elon Musk stayed home, although attendees had hopes he would make a last-minute decision to show up. And Lockheed Martin devoted most of an hourlong presentation on the conference’s last day to the moon, rather than Mars.

Indeed, it was hard to avoid the moon, figuratively or even literally: a giant inflatable moon, about 2 meters in diameter, was at the Airbus booth in the exhibit hall and sometimes made its way to other conference events. NASA and other space agencies, for example, talked up participation in the Gateway. Startups showed off designs for lunar landers and rovers, which sometimes could be found roaming the exhibit hall. Blue Origin also used the IAC to remind people of its plans for lunar missions, signing a letter of cooperation with German aerospace company OHB.

But for all the enthusiasm about lunar exploration, and announcements made during the conference, there were far fewer specific details about just how to achieve those goals. For example, a number of countries, from established players like Europe and Japan to Australia’s brand-new space agency, are interested in cooperating on the Gateway. No decisions on who will participate and how are expected soon, though. (10/5)

Astrobiologist Unveils Design and Launch Date for SpaceX-Style Mars Cities (Source: Inverse)
A city on Mars could crop up in our lifetimes, but don’t expect them to resemble regular Earth dwellings. Lewis Dartnell, Ph.D., a research scientist with a position at the University of Westminster, claims that extraterrestrial dwellings could land on the red planet sooner rather than later, but the atmosphere and unique conditions would make everyday things like live TV and giant glass windows impossible.

“While the first human mission to land on Mars will likely take place in the next two decades, it will probably be more like 50-100 years before substantial numbers of people have moved to Mars to live in self-sustaining towns,” Dartnell said. His estimate is a touch more conservative than those from space-faring firms. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is aiming for the first manned mission to Mars in around 2024, with the first base established in 2028.

Dartnell outlined his vision of the Mars home for interior design firm Hillarys, which looked at the unique considerations of the planet and how they would influence the final structure. Paul Wooster, principal Mars development engineer for SpaceX, told an audience in September that these dwellings could support ambitious scientific research about life on Mars and the climate of the planet as well as serve as a site refuel rockets continuing on their journey to even more distant planets. Click here. (10/2)

Lockheed Martin Considering Flying Commercial Payloads on Orion (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin is in the early stages of studying the feasibility of flying small commercial payloads on future NASA flights of the Orion spacecraft in cislunar space. Company officials said they’re working with commercial payload service provider NanoRacks to solicit ideas of the types of payloads people would like to fly on Orion missions as part of an effort to determine the technical and fiscal feasibility of doing so. (10/5)

US State Department Clarifies Satellite Thruster Regulations (Source: Space News)
The U.S. State Department has revised an export control rule to clarify that spacecraft and their thrusters should not be classified as rocket engines, as some companies have been doing. The new rule, released Oct. 4 on the Federal Register, results from confusion among satellite and space hardware manufacturers from reforms meant to relax some export control laws in 2014 and 2017, according to the State Department.

Previous rules under U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) classified satellites and their thrusters as rocket engines, resulting in strict, weapons-level control of their sale to non-U.S. buyers. Since then, satellite and space hardware manufacturers have classified the same thrusters under both ITAR and the Commerce Department’s less stringent Export Administration Regulations, or EAR, the State Department said. (10/5)

Innovative Single-Person Spacecraft Design Passes Leak Test (Source: Space.com)
A spacecraft designed to eventually replace many spacewalking astronaut activities passed two key pressure tests in September, representatives from the company building the spacecraft told Space.com in an exclusive interview.

The spacecraft concept from Maryland-based Genesis Engineering Solutions is just big enough for one person; an astronaut would float inside the spacecraft for several hours and use robotic arms to manipulate equipment. Propulsive thrusters would allow the spacecraft to nestle close to a target, similar to NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit jetpack that was briefly tested on astronaut spacesuits in the 1980s.

Instead of using a bulky spacesuit to do repairs on NASA's future Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway space station, for example, the Genesis spacecraft operator could use the robotic arms while remaining in relative comfort inside of an enclosed cockpit. (10/5)

Flaw Found in Launch Pad Casing at Vostochny Cosmodrome Partially Fixed, says Operator (Source: Tass)
The first stage of the work to fix cavities (or voids) detected under the casing of the launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East has been completed, the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure reported on Friday. Specialists injected a special solution into the voids that had emerged, the Center’s press office said.

"The first stage of injection works at the Vostochny Cosmodrome’s launch pad is over. The first and the second portions of a special solution were injected into the cavities under the launch pad’s casing," the press office said in a statement. The condition of the launch pad’s casing will be restored to meet the requirements of the design documentation. The timetable for the work stage has been drawn up, the statement says. (10/5)

Bavaria One: German State to Launch its Own Space Program (Source: DW)
Bavarian Premier Markus Söder was mocked on social media for the self-referential ambitious new plan. Bavaria wants not only its own space program, but also its own Hyperloop track. Söder described his plans during a meeting of his Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

The party convention was widely watched as Bavaria gears up for regional elections on October 14, and polls indicate that the CSU, which has dominated Bavarian politics for decades, is about to receive its worst results since 1950.

One solution that Söder has proposed to combat voter drift away from the CDU toward the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Green party is strengthening Bavaria's already sizeable aerospace research. In late September, the regional government had already announced a new department at the Technical University of Munich, complete with 30 new professorships. (10/5)

Are Billionaires' Space Travel Plans Out of Touch With Reality? (Source: National Geographic)
While the momentum for space tourism has accelerated, the number of potential travelers remains unclear. Which leaves the question: How many people want to visit the final frontier? A recent Pew Research Center survey found most people lack the desire to orbit Earth. The research indicates that 58 percent of surveyed U.S. adults have no interest in traveling by spacecraft someday. Their stated concerns ranged from expensive costs, health worries, and general fear.

Around 48 percent of Americans claimed an eagerness to visit space, but their rationale seems a bit wobbly. The survey reports that the most common interest was to “experience something unique.” Interest aside, intrepid billionaires continue to pursue their otherworldly dreams. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic aim to take tourists on short, suborbital flights to touch the edge of space in the next year. More ambitiously, Elon Musk hopes to colonize Mars. (10/5)

Company That Launched Satellites Without Permission Gets New License to Launch More Probes (Source: The Verge)
Aerospace startup Swarm Technologies, which infamously launched four satellites without a federal license in January, has received permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch a new crop of satellites later this year. The approval comes while the FCC is still deciding whether to take any retaliatory action against Swarm for the unauthorized January launch.

Swarm is planning to launch three new satellites on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California in November. The satellites will travel to orbit alongside nearly 70 other probes as part of a mission called SSO-A, which is the largest ride-share that SpaceX has ever done. The FCC granted Swarm what is known as a Special Temporary Authorization for the upcoming flight. That means this is just a one-time license for Swarm, valid from September 24th, 2018, to March 24th, 2019. (10/4)