Humans Could Be Heading
to Mars in 25 Years, NASA Says (Source: USA Today)
About 25 years is how long it could take for NASA to send humans to
Mars, officials said Tuesday. That's only if the space agency is able
to create technology able to sustain deadly radiation and conditions
that could eat bones and blind eyes. "The cost of solving those means
that under current budgets, or slightly expanded budgets, it's going to
take about 25 years to solve those," said former NASA astronaut Tom
Jones, who has flown on four space shuttle missions.
There aren't yet solutions in place to protect astronauts from cosmic
rays, solar flares and radiation levels that are so high an outbound
trip to Mars would result in the amount of radiation an astronaut might
be exposed to over an entire year. The agency must also perfect a
spacecraft that can easily land on Mars and take off with humans and
cargo. (11/15)
AFRL Aids NASA in Lofty
Endeavor (Source: AFSPC)
Ingenuity and collaboration were the keys to success as a group of Air
Force Research Laboratory engineers took a series of tests to new
heights. At the request of NASA, AFRL rapid-response systems support
researchers delved into the realm of space to help determine the
effects of unintended electrical arcing on astronaut space suits during
extravehicular maintenance. NASA researchers came to the AFRL team with
a simple question. How does an electrical arc behave in a vacuum?
Although this may seem like a fairly simple question, it was a concept
that had not been explored fully before.
To answer this question, AFRL began by determining how to build
fixtures for a low-pressure test and performing proof-of-concept
testing to determine the best method to reliably create an arc in the
planned lab setting. This initial series of tests helped the
researchers understand the materials, positioning and current needed to
successfully generate the arc, as well as the proper test setup to use
for an Earth-orbit vacuum environment. With this initial data in hand,
the team then began to prepare for low-pressure testing. Reaching out
to fellow AFRL materials and electronics researchers, the team acquired
a low-pressure chamber and secured a laboratory for conducting the
tests. (11/8)
Space Force Advocates
Face Setback with New Congress (Source: Space News)
Advocates of a Space Force are not giving up despite the outcome of the
midterm elections. With Democrats now in control of the House, many are
skeptical that proposals to establish a separate Space Force can make
it through Congress next year. "Chances are still greater than zero,"
said Doug Loverro, a former Pentagon official and advocate for the
Space Force, of the odds Congress would approve such a plan. "If I had
to bet money, I would say we're probably not going to get all the way
there this time. But maybe we'll get part of the way there." (11/14)
Momentus Raises $8.3
Million for Space Tug (Source: Space News)
A startup has raised $8.3 million in seed funding to provide "last
mile" satellite delivery services. Momentus is developing a tug
designed to move satellites from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit
or Earth escape trajectories. That system will be powered by plasma
thrusters that use water as propellant. The company believes there will
be a market for its services from satellites launched as secondary
payloads who want to go to different orbits. (11/14)
Rocket Lab Raises $140
Million in new funding (Source: Rocket Lab)
US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has closed a Series E financing
round of $140 million (USD). The funding round closed last month, prior
to the launch of the successful mission ‘It’s Business Time,’ and was
led by existing investor Future Fund, with strong participation from
current investors including Greenspring Associates, Khosla Ventures,
Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC (Data Collective), Promus Ventures and
K1W1. New investor ACC also contributed to the round.
The round follows the opening of Rocket Lab’s new mass production
facility for the Electron vehicle last month, as well as the
announcement confirming the location of Rocket Lab’s second orbital
launch site. Construction has now begun on Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2,
which is based within the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia.
Launch Complex 2 can support monthly orbital launches from US soil, and
is designed specifically to serve the responsive space needs of
government customers. Between the two Rocket Lab launch complexes, the
company can support up to 130 orbital missions per year. (11/15)
Mars Mission Advocates
Warming to Moon First (Source: Space News)
Advocates for human missions to Mars are warming to plans for going
back to the moon first. Supporters of Mars exploration had previously
treated human lunar missions with skepticism given their cost and
potential to delay Mars missions. However, at a briefing this week,
those advocates said that with NASA now set to return to the moon, they
see benefits from testing technology there that can be utilized for
Mars missions. They cautioned, though, that Mars requirements have to
be kept in mind from the beginning when planning lunar missions
because, as one person warned, "otherwise you can get bogged down and
not press on to Mars." (11/14)
Army Continues Smallsat
Program Despite Kestrel Eye Closure (Source: Space News)
Despite the end of one small satellite program, the Army is still
supporting smallsat initiatives. Dynetics recently won a contract from
the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic
Command for a program called Gunsmoke-L. That $8.3 million contract
covers the development of two "tactical space support vehicles" that
will carry out classified missions. The award comes after the Army
decided to end its Kestrel Eye experimental smallsat last month. (11/14)
Canada Still Considering
NASA Lunar Plans (Source: Canadian Press)
Canada is holding off making a commitment to joining NASA's lunar
exploration plans. After NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said he
would welcome Canadian participation in efforts to return to the moon
during a visit to Ottawa Wednesday, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains
said only that the country "would not take anything off the table"
about potential roles. Bains said the government is still working on a
long-delayed long-term space policy now expected for release before
next fall's federal election. (11/15)
Ariane 6 Demand Difficult
to Gauge (Source: Space News)
ArianeGroup says a lack of commitment by European governments to use
the Ariane 6 is making it difficult to forecast demand for the vehicle.
The company, which announced this week plans to cut its workforce by
more than 2,000 people by 2022, said uncertainties about "institutional
demand" for the rocket, coupled with strong competition and declining
demand from commercial satellite operators, made it difficult to
predict demand for the Ariane 6. Ministers from several ESA member
states signed a joint statement last month recognizing the importance
of consolidating their government space missions and launching them on
European vehicles. That statement, ESA Director General Jan Woerner
said, is a "first step" toward providing a minimum, multiyear order for
the Ariane 6 and Vega C rockets. (11/15)
Greenland Ice Cap Hid
Large Impact Crater (Source: Science)
Scientists have discovered an impact crater under Greenland's ice cap
that may be relatively young. The crater, buried deep below snow and
ice in northwestern Greenland, is 31 kilometers in diameter and
appeared to have been created by an asteroid impact about 13,000 years
ago. That impact, some scientists believe, could explain a sudden drop
in temperatures around that time as the ice age was ending, but many
scientists remain skeptical. (11/15)
Super Earth Found About
Six Light Years Distant (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers have discovered a "super Earth" planet orbiting a nearby
star. Astronomers announced Wednesday they detected evidence for a
planet orbiting Barnard's Star, a red dwarf about six light-years away.
The planet is about 3.2 times the mass of the Earth and orbits at a
distance of 0.4 astronomical units. At that distance the planet is
unlikely to he habitable, with a surface temperature of — 170 degrees
Celsius. (11/14)
‘Unlike Us, Elon Musk is
Using Old Tech’: Russia Shows Off Reusable Nuclear Engine for Mars
Mission (Source: Russia Today)
A leading Russian space research center has posted a video of its
nuclear-powered rocket, that will be able to land on Mars after seven
months, and can be re-launched into space just 48 hours after landing.
Moscow’s Keldysh Research Center is famous for developing the Katyusha
rocket launched during World War II, and has been working on what it
says is a “unique” propulsion system since 2009. From past
descriptions, it comprises a gas-cooled fission reactor that powers a
generator, which in turn feeds a plasma thruster.
Questioned on whether he might be beaten to the punch by foreign
companies, particularly more agile private corporations such as Elon
Musk’s SpaceX, which is planning its own mission to Mars, Koshlakov was
unconcerned. “Elon Musk is using the existing tech, developed a long
time ago. He is a businessman: he took a solution that was already
there, and applied it successfully. Notably, he is also doing his work
with help from the government,” concluded Koshlakov. (11/14)
SpaceX's Mr. Steven, a
Unique Fairing-Catching Ship, Could Soon Make its Florida Debut
(Source: Florida Today)
Visitors to Port Canaveral should soon see a bright yellow horizontal
net supported by the four massive arms of Mr. Steven, a one-of-a-kind
SpaceX ship designed to function as a catcher's mitt for plummeting
rocket nose cones. Currently based at the Port of Los Angeles, the ship
is expected to arrive on the Space Coast next month, presumably to
support one of two Florida missions on the company's manifest through
the end of the year.
"Our friends at SpaceX met with us a couple months ago," Port Canaveral
CEO John Murray said during his annual "State of the Port" address last
week. "They're bringing two more vessels to the port." Murray went on
to confirm that Mr. Steven is slated to arrive in early December.
(11/14)
Greg Wyler Provides
Update on OneWeb (Source: Via Satellite)
The system has been designed. The satellites have been tested. They are
going through final stages of testing now before the launches begin.
The satellites have actually performed better than expected in many
ways, especially with their Radio Frequency (RF) performance which is
really positive.... They are launching these first satellites in the
next 4-5 months. [The start of commercial service] might be early or
mid-2020. [No longer late 2019.] You just don’t know when you are doing
something this new and big. If you miss it by two months, six months,
or even a year, you would be considered to have very great foresight.
(11/14)
A Massive Impact Crater
Has Been Detected Beneath Greenland’s Ice Sheet (Source:
Gizmodo)
An unusually large asteroid crater measuring 19 miles wide has been
discovered under a continental ice sheet in Greenland. Roughly the size
of Paris, it’s now among the 25 biggest asteroid craters on Earth. An
iron-rich asteroid measuring nearly a kilometer wide (0.6 miles) struck
Greenland’s ice-covered surface at some point between 3 million and
12,000 years ago, according to a new study published today in Science
Advances.
The impact would’ve flung horrific amounts of water vapor and debris
into the atmosphere, while sending torrents of meltwater into the North
Atlantic—events that likely triggered global cooling (a phenomenon
sometimes referred to as a nuclear or volcanic winter). Over time,
however, the gaping hole was obscured by a 1,000-meter-tall
(3,200-foot) layer of ice, where it remained hidden for thousands of
years. (11/14)
How Blue Origin Blazed a
Trail for Amazon HQ Plan (Source: GeekWire)
The process that Amazon went through to choose New York, Northern
Virginia and Nashville as key sites for expansion isn’t the first HQ2
exercise for CEO Jeff Bezos: You could argue that the pattern was set
when Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture decided where it’d manufacture
and launch its New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin’s selection process
produced far less hype than the yearlong contest that Amazon conducted,
and far fewer jobs were at stake. But like the HQ2/3/4 arrangement
announced today, the exercise ended up producing multiple winners — as
well as disappointed suitors.
The saga of Blue Origin’s expansion starts way back in 2006, six years
after Blue Origin’s founding, when the company set up an HQ2 test
facility and launch pad on 18,600 acres of ranchland in West Texas.
Obviously, it wouldn’t do to try launching rockets from the
headquarters and production facility that Blue Origin had just opened
up in Kent, Wash., not far from Interstate 5.
Blue Origin’s next major move came in 2015, when it was considering
where to build a huge manufacturing facility for the orbital-class New
Glenn. The suborbital New Shepard spacecraft were and continue to be
built in Kent, but New Glenn required something bigger. The competition
came down to Florida vs. North Carolina, and although North Carolina
(“First in Flight”) reportedly offered more financial incentives, Cape
Canaveral won out. The fact that the Air Force was willing to offer
Launch Complex 36 at the Cape as a pad for Blue Origin turned out to be
a crucial deal-sweetener. (11/13)
So What's Going on With
That 'Hurricane of Dark Matter?' (Source: Gizmodo)
It’s the perfect science-fiction device: a hurricane of dark matter.
Recent, real-life research has demonstrated that our Sun is currently
engulfed in a so-called a stellar stream. Some publications have seized
on this ominous-sounding idea, reporting that Earth is about to be
walloped by a dark matter storm—but in fact, if it exists, we’re
already inside the storm. The reality of the situation isn’t quite so
dire, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
Stellar streams are populations of related stars that could have once
been pieces of a dwarf galaxy or globular cluster, but have now been
shredded apart by gravitational forces and pass through parts of our
galaxy. Since astronomers are pretty sure that stuff called dark matter
serves as the gravitational scaffolding for dwarf galaxies, then
presumably a stellar stream should also contain some percentage of dark
matter. Maybe a dark matter experiment could detect dark matter
particles from the recently discovered stream running through our
cosmic neighborhood.
Perhaps this dark matter hurricane could be detectable by today’s
existing dark matter detection experiments, and would have a
distinguishable signal from the Milky Way’s background dark matter. It
would move much faster—a “hurricane,” compared to the background dark
matter “wind,” according to the paper published last week in Physical
Review D. The researchers then analyzed whether they’d be able to spot
the stream with upcoming dark matter detectors. (11/14)
Geophysicists Propose New
Theory to Explain Origin of Water (Source: Cosmos)
Earth’s water may not have originated solely from material carried by
asteroids, according to new US research. A study in the Journal of
Geophysical Research: Planets led by Steven Desch from Arizona State
University challenges widely-accepted ideas about the asteroidal origin
of hydrogen in the planet’s water by suggesting it came in part from
the solar nebula – clouds of dust and gas left over after the formation
of the Sun.
And the researchers believe their findings could provide new insights
about the development of other planets and their potential to support
life. To date, many scientists have supported a theory that all of
Earth’s water came from asteroids, primarily because the ratio of
deuterium, a heavier hydrogen isotope, to normal hydrogen is similar in
ocean and asteroidal samples. Certainly the ocean chemical signature is
close to what is found in asteroids, but that may not be the whole
story, explains Desch.
“It’s a bit of a blind spot in the community,” he says. “When people
measure the ratio in ocean water and they see that it is pretty close
to what we see in asteroids, it was always easy to believe it all came
from asteroids.” Desch and his colleagues say more recent research
suggests hydrogen in Earth’s oceans does not represent hydrogen
throughout the entire planet. Samples taken from deep underground,
close to the boundary between the core and mantle, have notably less
deuterium, indicating this hydrogen may not have come from asteroids.
(11/12)
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