February 8, 2019

NASA's Scolese Nominated to Lead NRO (Source: Space News)
The White House has nominated the longtime director of a NASA center to be the next head of the NRO. The White House announced Thursday it was nominating Chris Scolese to be NRO director, succeeding Betty Sapp. Scolese has run the Goddard Space Flight Center since 2012 and previously held positions at NASA Headquarters. He was acting administrator of NASA for first the six months of the Obama administration in 2009. While Scolese was a Navy officer and later worked for the Defense Department, he has been at NASA for more than three decades. (2/8)

DLR’s Pathway to the European Reusable Launch Vehicle (Source: TechForSpace)
Among a number of developments towards European Reusable Launch Vehicles, one of the most intriguing is German Space Agency’s (DLR) SpaceLiner. Unlike many other projects focused on VTVL (Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing), in 2005 DLR proposed intercontinental passenger transport that could land on conventional airports. Over time it evolved into a dual-purpose platform, with a heavy satellite launch capabilities. In 2018 first details about RLV-Demo and Semi-RLV were presented, showing a clear developmental pathway, from testbeds towards fully reusable platforms. Click here. (1/28)

Honeywell's 'Greenhouse' to Incubate Space Tech (Source: Space News)
Honeywell is creating an incubator devoted to space technologies. The Greenhouse in the company's Space Division will focus on slashing the cost and time required to produce key technologies like optical intersatellite links for small satellites, a company official said at the SmallSat Symposium this week. Honeywell has 25 full-time employees working in the Greenhouse established in the Ontario, Canada, facility that was home to Com Dev International before Honeywell acquired the satellite component builder in 2015. (2/8)

Lawmakers: Air Force Launch Procurement Strategy Undermines SpaceX (Source: Space News)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) are calling for an independent review of the Air Force’s space launch procurement strategy. They contend that the Air Force, in an effort to broaden the launch playing field, is putting SpaceX at a competitive disadvantage. They argue that the path the Air Force has chosen to select future launch providers creates an unfair playing field. Although SpaceX is not mentioned by name, it is clear from the lawmakers’ language that they believe the company is getting a raw deal because, unlike its major competitors, it did not receive Air Force funding to modify its commercial rockets so they meet national security mission requirements.

Feinstein and Calvert ask Wilson to “review how the Air Force intends to maintain assured access to space while preserving maximum competitive opportunities for all certified launch providers.” At issue are Launch Service Agreement contracts the Air Force awarded in October to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems and United Launch Alliance. The three companies collectively received $2.3 billion to support the development of space launch vehicles that meet national security requirements.

The Air Force started the LSA program in 2016 to ensure future access to space and to end its reliance on ULA’s Atlas 5 and its Russian main engine. SpaceX was widely considered a front-runner for an award but came away empty-handed. The Air Force did not disclose why SpaceX did not receive LSA funds. According to multiple sources, SpaceX launched a lobbying effort shortly after the LSA winners were announced to make the case to lawmakers that the decision unfairly tilted the playing field. (2/7)

Thousands of NASA Contractors Still Without Pay after 5-Week Shutdown. Will Congress Step In? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
For the first time in 29 years, and when it mattered most, Dan Faden wasn’t paid after a government shutdown. For five weeks beginning Dec. 22 the NASA contractor languished at home, opting to let his younger coworkers with small children go back to work in shifts on an as-needed basis so they, at least, could get some pay during the longest shutdown in U.S. history: 35 days that spanned the holidays, the start of 2019 and two paychecks.

The contractor, a safety specialist for engineering firm AECOM, always got back pay following previous shutdowns, but none were as long or hurt as much as the most recent. And this time, the money likely won’t come.

Contractors are at the mercy of the deals that companies sign with federal agencies. In the case of the Space Coast and NASA, several workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2061 in Cape Canaveral, including Faden, say their contracts have changed in recent years to cut out the provision that previously guaranteed them back pay in the event of a shutdown. (2/7)

Violence and Insecurity Threaten Mexican Telescopes (Source: Science)
Two astronomical observatories in Mexico have scaled back access and operations because of security threats, Mexico’s National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) in San Andrés Cholula announced on 5 February. The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) and the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) are both located on the Sierra Negra volcano in the Mexican state of Puebla.

The highway leading to the mountain has become a target for carjackings and robberies in recent weeks, as a fight intensifies between the Mexican government and fuel thieves. Scientists and technical staff have stopped visits to the HAWC, canceling a planned repair trip, while the LMT has reduced its scientific operations to “the bare minimum level,” says INAOE astrophysicist and LMT Director David Hughes. “I cannot responsibly continue the scientific operation of the telescope until these issues are addressed.” (2/6)

After Kepler, Exoplanet Discoveries Continue to Inspire (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
While the Kepler Space Telescope mission officially came to an end on 30 October 2018, starlight data recorded by the observatory continues to reveal new and intriguing exo-solar system objects. Among the recently-announced discoveries from Kepler data include an exoplanet of unusual size and the first potential exomoon around an exoplanet.

The big question at the time of the Kepler Space Telescope’s launch was how prevalent exoplanets were in our nearby swath of the galaxy.  While exoplanets were already known to exist, their prevalence was still a mystery. Part of the problem prior to Kepler was a lack of dedicated ground-based assets that could be – for lack of a better term – commandeered for long enough periods of time for the prolonged observations needed to gain a realistic understanding of exoplanet numbers and distribution.

To find and confirm exoplanets, direct observation of stars over multiple months and years is necessary in order to identify exoplanet candidates either by the transit (when an exoplanet passes between its parent star and the telescope causing an observable drop in light) or radial velocity (measuring the gravitational tug or wobble on a star from an exoplanet) methods of detection. In short, the astronomical community was in desperate need of a dedicated telescope that could be placed in a stable orbit to perform prolonged observations of a single patch of stars over multiple years. (2/7)

Branson Says He'll Fly to Space by July (Source: Space Daily)
British billionaire Richard Branson plans to travel to space within the next four or five months aboard his own Virgin Galactic spaceship, he said Thursday. "My wish is to go up on the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, that's what we're working on," he said. The American Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon July 20, 1969. Virgin Galactic is one of two companies, along with Blue Origin, on its way to sending passengers into space -- though just barely, and just for a few minutes. (2/8)

Chao Presents Astronaut Wings to Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Crew (Source: Space Daily)
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao has pinned FAA Astronaut Wings on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crewmembers, Test Pilots Mark "Forger" Stucky and Fredrick "CJ" Sturckow. Last year's historic spaceflight marked the nation's return to space on an American-made rocket, and paves the way for future travel to space with commercial spaceflight participants. (2/8)

Russia: Time to Prepare Space Lawyers for Moon Disputes (Source: Sputnik)
Russia's Roscosmos and its Academy of Sciences think that it is time to start preparing lawyers for the territorial disputes over the Moon. This recommendation has been made following the meeting between Roscosmos and the Academy of Sciences on the development of the National program for exploration and colonization of the Moon.

Former director of RUDN Institute of Space Technologies Gennady Raikunov said the need for preparing lawyers has been triggered by a growing number of claims of foreign companies to appropriate the Moon's territories and minerals. "Firstly, merchants in the United States and other countries have tried and are trying to sell land on the Moon. From a legal point of view, it is necessary to respond to such claims. Secondly, there is an issue of mining on the Moon, and the question arises on how to respond to their appropriation. Thus, a number of issues have emerged that were not settled at the legislative level," Raikunov said. (2/7)

NASA-Industry Partnerships Can Support Lunar Exploration, Reports Say (Source: Space Daily)
Renewed interest in exploration of the Moon has the potential to benefit lunar science greatly and could evolve into a program facilitated by partnerships between commercial companies and NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), say companion reports by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

"Review of the Planetary Science Aspects of NASA SMD's Lunar Science and Exploration Initiative" and "Review of the Commercial Aspects of NASA SMD's Lunar Science and Exploration Initiative" laud the rapid and effective steps the agency's science directorate has taken in responding to a 2017 presidential directive to lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners, beginning with a near-term focus on the Moon.

However, the two reports find that the activities undertaken to date, although aligned with community consensus for lunar science priorities, do not replace missions recommended in the National Academies' most recent planetary science decadal survey and remain subject to many unknowns, such as the ability of standardized commercial lunar landers to interface with complex science payloads. (2/8)