November 4, 2018

Former NASA Chief Visits Space Coast, Stumps for Sen. Bill Nelson (Source: Florida Today)
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and a former NASA chief visited the Space Coast this week to tout the senator's bid for re-election and the region's aerospace resurgence as the electoral countdown edges closer to next week's midterm. Former NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, an Obama appointee, four-time shuttle astronaut and Marine Corps major general, sat down with Nelson at Port Canaveral for an informal meeting Wednesday and supported the senator's race against Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is running for the same seat. (11/2)

SpaceX's 'Starman' and Its Tesla Roadster Are Now Beyond Mars (Source: Space.com)
Starman has put a lot of miles on his Tesla Roadster in the last nine months. The red electric car and its spacesuit-clad mannequin driver, which launched on the maiden mission of SpaceX's huge Falcon Heavy rocket in February, have made it beyond the orbit of Mars, company representatives said Friday night (Nov. 2). Starman and his ride — which once belonged to Musk — won't stay beyond Mars forever. The pair will loop back on their heliocentric orbit, eventually coming about as close to the sun as Earth does.

The Roadster and Starman will come within a few hundred thousand kilometers of our planet in 2091, according to an orbit-modeling study. The authors of that study determined that the car will slam into either Venus or Earth, likely within the next few tens of millions of years. (11/3)

SpaceX Building a Monster Rocket for Mars. Here's How Big it is Compared to 20 Familiar Objects (Source: Business Insider)
The BFR's dimensions and presumed capabilities are impressive — so much so that quite a few people in the aerospace industry are puzzled by how it will be done. They also wonder if it can be built successfully by a private company on a budget of about $2-10 billion. That's Musk's latest estimate for how much the development of BFR will cost; the sum is actually a relative pittance compared to what NASA is paying for its new (and not reusable) Space Launch System.

To help understand the magnitude of what Musk and his thousands of employees at SpaceX are trying to accomplish, Business Insider created an interactive size-comparison graphic. Click here. (11/4)

OU, NASA Partner on Satellite Earth Monitoring Project (Source: NewsOK)
University of Oklahoma and NASA officials unveiled a new program last week they say will give researchers a better look at where greenhouse gases are concentrated in the atmosphere. The university and the space agency are partnering to develop the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory, or GeoCarb, a scientific observatory that will measure concentrations of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane in earth's atmosphere and gather information about plant health. (11/3)

Israel Aerospace Industries to Pay $10 million for Late Delivery of Satellite Destroyed in Falcon 9 Explosion (Source: Space News)
Israel Aerospace Industries was ordered to pay Spacecom $10 million for late delivery of Amos-6, a satellite that ended up being destroyed in SpaceX’s 2016 Falcon 9 fueling mishap. In a Nov. 1 filing with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Spacecom said the late fee is the result of arbitration over the ill-fated telecom satellite’s protracted production.

Spacecom ordered Amos-6 from IAI in 2012 for $200 million in anticipation of a launch in 2014 or 2015. In its filing, Spacecom did not say when it was originally supposed to take delivery of the satellite, but by 2015 the launch of Amos-6 had slipped by a year. Spacecom representatives could not be reached for comment by press time. (11/2)

Iridium Expects Aireon to Pay Off $200M Debt by End of 2021 (Source: Space News)
Aireon, the aircraft-tracking venture Iridium founded to help finance construction of the now nearly completed Iridium Next constellation, is close to securing a credit line that should allow it to catch up on $200 million in overdue payload hosting fees. Aireon expects to finalize the credit line by year’s end, which would ensure the startup can continue paying down what it owes Iridium for the installation and launch of 81 hosted Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver payloads aboard the Iridium Next satellites.

The space-based ADS-B network Aireon operates onboard Iridium Next is intended to improve air traffic surveillance by expanding the real-time tracking of planes over oceans and other regions not covered by ground-based radar. The company has raised $351 million to date. Harris Corp., the company’s sensor payload manufacturer, has been updating the system to meet FAA requirements, which could lead to an FAA contract this year that would make Aireon an important part of the FAA’s air traffic management system. (11/3)

Roscosmos to Study Possibility to 3D Print Lunar Soil Details for Space Repairs (Source: Sputnik)
Russian space agency Roscosmos is planning to explore the possibility to 3D print details made of lunar soil in order to use them for space hardware repairs on the Moon, said Dmitry Rogozin, Roscosmos chief. "We need powder to be able to use additive technologies. And we want to understand if it is possible to make powder that can be baked and then used for the creation of certain constructions out of the lunar soil," Rogozin said.

He specified that these constructions would be the details for space hardware repairs. "In addition, according to the [Russian] Academy of Sciences, we will be able to use helium-3 as a base for the aircraft fuel," Rogozin added. Russian scientists and Roscosmos experts are expected to submit a draft of Russia's new lunar exploration strategy within two weeks. (11/3)

For Close-Knit Planets, Sharing Life Could Be Easy (Source: Space.com)
How could life be shared between planets in close proximity to one another? This question has received a greater insight thanks to new analytics based on previously known and new calculations. The findings from this new research are helping scientists understand how likely life would be on a given planet in such tight-knit systems if that world shows signs of habitability.

The TRAPPIST-1 solar system, which is 39 light-years from Earth and includes seven planets packed into an orbit smaller than Mercury's, provides a good model. This system's sun is an ultracool red dwarf. So, even though the seven nearby planets orbit closely, they are possibly all still in the habitable zone, to varying degrees depending upon the makeup of their atmospheres. That makes this system a perfect model for exploring the idea of panspermia, per Hawking, anywhere in the universe. (11/4)

Soyuz 2-1b Launches Uragan-M GLONASS Satellite (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
A Russian Soyuz-2-1b rocket launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome Saturday night, deploying a replacement satellite for the GLONASS navigation system with the aid of a Fregat-M upper stage. The current-generation Uragan-M spacecraft are designed for seven years of service, with new satellites being launched as needed to replace failing spacecraft on orbit. Saturday’s launch deployed Uragan-M No.757 – the forty-eighth Uragan-M and the 137th GLONASS satellite overall. (11/3)

China's Long March 3B Launches Beidou-3 Navigation Satellite (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Using a Long March 3B booster a new geosynchronous spacecraft for the country’s BeiDou satellite navigation system was sent to orbit on Thursday, November 1. The satellite, designated BeiDou-3 G1Q, expands China’s BeiDou network to 17. The flight got underway at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) located in China’s Sichuan Province. Very little information has been available from Chinese media outlets regarding Thursday’s launch. The state-run Xinhua press agency confirmed the success of the mission some nine and a half hours after liftoff. (11/2)

Field Widens to Chair House Science Panel (Source: Politico)
Improving the nation’s ability to predict weather with space technology will be a top priority for Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) if he wins the gavel of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee in the next Congress. Lucas, who has served on the committee for 16 years and is currently the vice chairman, said data collected in space must play a greater role in accurate weather prediction, which is critical to his constituents in Oklahoma who work in the weather and energy industries. (11/2)

UK Spaceport Could Earn Highland Crofters £70,000 a Year (Source: Press and Journal)
Crofters could earn £70,000-a-year to lease land for the UK’s first planned spaceport – and may receive bonuses from rocket launch fees. The figure was revealed by the campaign group opposed to the development on Melness Crofting Estate (MCE) in Sutherland. And a spokesman for Protect The Mhoine said the sum suggested the “precious environment” was being sold “very cheaply indeed”.

Land at the Mhoine peninsula has been identified as the proposed location for the launching of rockets carrying micro satellites. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is leading the project and revealed earlier this year a funding package of £17.3 million, including £2.5 million from the UK Space Agency and £9.8 million from HIE. But the plan for a vertical launch site has split the community of around 140, resulting in the formation of the pressure group whose members have concerns about its impact on the environment, local roads and crofting rights.

Editor's Note: What is a crofter? "A crofter is the person who occupies and works a small landholding known as a croft. A crofter is normally the tenant of the croft, paying rent to the landlord of the croft. But many others have purchased their crofts and are owner-occupiers of their crofts." Many crofters are farmers. (11/4)

45th Space Wing Commander Pushes Toward 48 Launches Per Year (Source: WMFE)
Air Force leaders want to launch 48 rockets per year from Florida’s Space Coast. Upgrades to the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base have helped them get nearly halfway there. It’s called the “Drive to 48” and would mean the 45th Space Wing would support about one launch per week, with two scheduled breaks for range maintenance that would last about two weeks.

The Space Wing is responsible for launch safety as well as providing weather information to mission controllers for launches from both Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, collectively known as the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. 45th Space Wing Commander Brigadier General Douglas Shiess says launches are ramping up on the space coast this year, getting his team closer to 48.

“We’re really hoping to get to 24, 25, 26, so we can say we’re halfway to 48. But most of our schedule looking out to 2019 is around 30.” The 45th Space Wing has upgraded its safety technology, as well as weather prediction systems, to help support more launches. Shiess, who took command of the Wing in August 2018, said it’s more than just upgrades on base. (11/3)

Air Force Expanding Space Training for More Depth (Source: Federal News Network)
In the midst of intensifying space operations and threats, the Air Force is increasing its initial training for airmen specializing in space from 77 days to 111 days, starting next October. Airmen involved in the training will also have to procure a top secret security clearance before they can begin certain parts of their curriculum. Currently, airmen only need a secret designation for space training. The elongated training will incorporate a greater depth of knowledge on threats like cyber and will require trainees to identify physical threats by sight. (11/2)