February 9, 2019

NASA Working to Minimize Shutdown Impact to Springtime Orion Abort Test (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Lockheed Martin, and the U.S. Air Force have resumed preparations for the Orion Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) test after the five-week long government shutdown disrupted work. The AA-2 test will collect data on the performance of Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS) by initiating an abort at a high-stress point during ascent.

Major pieces of flight test hardware were about to be shipped or were being delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida and the adjoining Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) launch site when the shutdown closed several federal agencies including NASA. Although some work was able to be restarted before the shutdown ended, it is expected that the launch date for the test will be delayed a couple of weeks into mid-May.

All the hardware for the three-minute long test has arrived at launch site, with a couple of exceptions. “Today I can tell you everything is there, other than there are these structural pieces, the ogives, the launch abort system ogives,” Mark Kirasich, NASA Orion Program Manager, said in an interview. “The other two [pieces] are coming momentarily and that was planned anyway.” (2/8)

Don’t Put Astronauts on Cereal Boxes (Source: Stanford Daily)
How can NASA recover the mantle of “cool”? New administrator Jim Bridenstine has some ideas. Looking at the proliferation of NASA logos on T-shirts and lunch boxes, he proposes trying to push NASA as a recognizable brand — by allowing corporate sponsorship of spacecraft, or, for instance, astronauts to appear on cereal boxes. The hope is that perhaps if NASA was more recognizable, people would pay more attention to the latest iteration of the journey to Mars.

This is a terrible idea. Name recognition is not quite NASA’s problem — those T-shirts are selling for a reason. Instead, the issue is reigniting passion. SpaceX is winning the battle by focusing intentionally on cool factors. They built reusable rockets because nobody had done it before. They focus on aesthetics — white, sweeping lines and a “Star Trek” art style — in everything they do. NASA could come up with a more inspiring architecture than a space station orbiting the moon, which strikes many people as a bland repeat of past glories. But lacking concrete policy changes, NASA should harness its remaining advantage over SpaceX and the other upstarts: gravitas. (2/4)

NASA Awards Contract for End-user IT Services, Technologies (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded Leidos of Reston, Virginia, a contract for information technology (IT) end-user services to support the agency’s headquarters, centers and other performance sites. NASA End-user Services & Technologies (NEST) is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that has a maximum value of $2.9 billion and includes a two-year, three-month base period followed by a two-year option, one-year option, and five one-year award term options that would extend the period of performance to May 31, 2029. (2/7)

How do You Feed Astronauts on a Journey That Lasts Millennia? (Source: Cosmos)
European astronomers have calculated the amount of onboard space needed to feed the crew of a multi-generational ship – one of the many challenges of journeying to planets orbiting stars other than the sun. “With our current technology, it is not feasible to reach an exoplanet in less than several centuries of travel,” explains Frédéric Marin, astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Strasbourg in France, who led the study.

To reach even the closest exoplanet – Proxima Centauri b – would take about 6300 years. This is well beyond the lifespan of any astronaut, and so such spaceships must be multi-generational. Marin and his team are interested in how human populations may evolve and survive in the resource-limited environment of space – especially when the journey is one-way. They previously calculated the minimum size of the initial crew to ensure that their descendants arrive at the other end without genetic disorders. Turns out, just 98 crew members are needed to ensure a 100% success rate for a 6300-year journey. Click here. (2/8)

Researchers Find Evidence for a New Fundamental Constant of the Sun (Source: NUN)
New research undertaken at Northumbria University shows that the Sun’s magnetic waves behave differently than currently believed. Their findings have been reported in the latest edition of the prominent journal, Nature Astronomy. After examining data gathered over a 10-year period, the team from Northumbria’s Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering found that magnetic waves in the Sun’s corona – its outermost layer of atmosphere – react to sound waves escaping from the inside of the Sun.

These magnetic waves, known as Alfvénic waves, play a crucial role in transporting energy around the Sun and the solar system. The waves were previously thought to originate at the Sun’s surface, where boiling hydrogen reaches temperatures of 6,000 degrees and churns the Sun’s magnetic field. However, the researchers have found evidence that the magnetic waves also react – or are excited – higher in the atmosphere by sound waves leaking out from the inside of the Sun.

The team discovered that the sound waves leave a distinctive marker on the magnetic waves. The presence of this marker means that the Sun’s entire corona is shaking in a collective manner in response to the sound waves. This is causing it to vibrate over a very clear range of frequencies. This newly-discovered marker is found throughout the corona and was consistently present over the 10-year time-span examined. This suggests that it is a fundamental constant of the Sun – and could potentially be a fundamental constant of other stars. (2/7)

Now You Can Join the Search for Killer Asteroids (Source: WIRED)
From its start in 2010, Pan-STARRS has been watching the 75 percent of the sky it can see from its perch and recording cosmic states and changes on its 1.4 billion-pixel camera. It even discovered the strange 'Oumuamua, the interstellar object that a Harvard astronomer has suggested could be an alien spaceship. Now, as of late January, anyone can access all of those observations, which contain phenomena astronomers don’t yet know about and that—hey, who knows—you could beat them to discovering.

Big surveys like this one, which watch swaths of sky agnostically rather than homing in on specific stuff, represent a big chunk of modern astronomy. They are an efficient, pseudo-egalitarian way to collect data, uncover the unexpected, and allow for discovery long after the lens cap closes. With better computing power, astronomers can see the universe not just as it was and is but also as it's changing, by comparing, say, how a given part of the sky looks on Tuesday to how it looks on Wednesday.

Pan-STARRS's latest data dump, in particular, gives everyone access to the in-process cosmos, opening up the "time domain" to all earthlings with a good internet connection. It takes multiple images of each part of the sky to show how it’s changing. Over the course of four years, Pan-STARRS imaged the heavens above 12 times, using five different filters. These pictures may show supernovae flaring up and dimming back down, active galaxies whose centers glare as their black holes digest material, and strange bursts from cataclysmic events. (2/7)

Trump Fails to Block NASA's Carbon Sleuth From Going to Space (Source: Mashable)
In early 2017, the Trump Administration tried to ax NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3. It didn't work. Then, again in 2018, the White House sought to terminate the earth science instrument. Again, the refrigerator-sized space machine persisted. Now, SpaceX is set to launch OCO-3 to the International Space Station in the coming months, as early as April 25.

Using a long robotic arm, astronauts will attach OCO-3 to the edge of the space station, allowing the instrument to peer down upon Earth and measure the planet's amassing concentrations of carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas. In 2017, the Trump White House released its budget plans for 2018. It called for "terminating" five earth sciences missions, including OCO-3. In fact, the White House wanted to cut NASA's entire Carbon Monitoring System, and the same situation arose in 2018.

But budgetary haggling between congressional lawmakers (who live in districts that support NASA's missions) and advocacy from NASA leaders — almost certainly kept NASA's carbon observing programs alive. OCO-3 also had a key negotiating benefit: As far as space missions go, it's pretty low-budget. It was built using "spare parts" from its aging predecessor, OCO-2 (currently in space). (2/7)

Pence Promises Missions to the Moon and Mars During Ceremony (Source: KTAR)
Vice President Mike Pence is honoring the nation’s fallen astronauts during a NASA day of remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorials at the cemetery honor those who perished when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, and when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. Pence recalled both events, saying that when the Columbia broke up, so did the hearts of the American people.

Pence tells NASA staff and family members of fallen astronauts that President Donald Trump’s administration is committed to the United States leading in space exploration. Pence says the president has made it clear “we are going back to the moon, and once we’re back on the moon, the United States is going to Mars.” (2/7)

How a Key House Democrat Abandoned Space Exploration in Favor of Climate Change (Source: Daily Caller)
When news broke that Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) had received a seat on the House Science Committee, it raised eyebrows in the scientific and aerospace communities, which were still smarting from her attacks on science. Would she use her position to mend fences with supporters of space science, offended by her campaign’s open mocking of her opponent, John Culberson’s support for the Europa Clipper mission?

Then Fletcher acquired a seat on the House Energy Subcommittee and became chair of the House Environment Subcommittee. The first seemed to be a natural fit. Fletcher dealt with a lot of energy companies when she was a corporate litigator. A lot of energy firm employees live in her district. However, placing someone from Houston in charge of environmental issues seemed to be eccentric at best. A more natural fit would have been the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. The Johnson Spaceflight Center is just south of Houston. Houston-based members of Congress traditionally are united in support of NASA.

Fletcher revealed what she intends to do on the House Science Committee in an interview on Houston’s NPR station. She is going all in on climate change, though not with the same kind of zeal as her fellow freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her approach seems to consist of “listening” to scientists and other experts and developing clean energy technology. Which scientists and what technology? Fletcher declined to reveal. The interview starts at about the 15-minute point in the broadcast. (2/7)

Firm Behind UK's Sutherland Spaceport to Open Base in Moray (Source: Press and Journal)
Spaceflight company Orbex has opened its headquarters and rocket design plant in Moray, with the promise of up to 150 new jobs for the area. At yesterday’s opening event at the Forres facility, the firm unveiled the first full prototype of the Prime rockets it plans to launch from a proposed spaceport in Sutherland.

Orbex also revealed the identities of customers who have signed up for satellite launches from the site on the A ‘Mhoine peninsula, starting in 2021. Chief executive Chris Larmour said the firm aimed to hire about 40 staff this year, then grow its workforce up to 150. A small number of workers are expected to be based at the launch site. (2/8)

Orbex Shows Off New Rocket with 3D Printed Engine (Source: British Telecommunications)
A spaceflight company has unveiled a new rocket as it opened its headquarters and rocket design facility in the Highlands. Orbex, which is involved in plans to create a spaceport in Sutherland, said its new base in Forres, Moray, will bring more than 130 jobs to the region. At the opening on Thursday the company unveiled its Prime rocket which is designed to deliver small satellites into Earth’s orbit. Made from a specially-formulated lightweight carbon fibre and aluminium composite, it includes what the company said is the world’s largest 3D printed rocket engine. (2/7)

Colorado Congressmen Want to Help NASA Take Longer Missions to Faraway Spots (Source: Denver Post)
Space travelers tapping natural resources on the moon and other planets to survive isn’t just the stuff of novels or movies. It’s the subject of serious study by NASA and researchers, and has an entire program devoted to it at Colorado School of Mines.

Now, Rep. Scott Tipton of Colorado has introduced a bill in Congress to take steps that could create an institute dedicated to research into what natural resources in outer space could be used by astronauts on long missions to faraway spots. The bill introduced Thursday and co-sponsored by fellow Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter would direct NASA to study the idea and submit a report to Congress in six months.

The Space Resources Institute Act is intended to support plans for space missions that will be longer in duration and distance, Tipton said. The goals are to identify minerals, water sources and other materials on asteroids or planets that crews could use to supplement their supplies and develop the technology to put them to use. (2/7)

African Union Rejects Ghana’s Bid to Host African Space Center (Source: Ghana Web)
The African Union (AU) has rejected a bid by Ghana to host the African Space Center. The Commissioner for Human Resources Science and Technology (HRST), Prof Sarah Agbor, has explained that the bid came in very late, leaving the AU with no option but to reject it. Speaking at a briefing at the AU headquarters, she said “the deadline for the bid was October 30, 2018, and Ghana came in November so automatically, without even looking at the documents, you [Ghana] were not considered.”

Ethiopia, Egypt, Namibia and Nigeria put in bids but Namibia withdrew from contention later on. The HRST Commissioner said Egypt, Nigeria and Ethiopia have been shortlisted by an independent high-level panel as possible a host country for the space center. She said one of them will soon be announced as the winner of the bid. (2/8)

The Saturn V Story: From Nazi Roots to America's Moon Rocket (Source: Popular Mechanics)
In 1923, a prominent German physicist named Hermann Oberth released a study called “Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen,” or, roughly translated, “By Rocket to Space.” That same year, another fateful event happened across the country, when a rising star in the Nazi party named Adolf Hitler suffered an embarrassing defeat in Munich as his Beer Hall Putch uprising was foiled by local authorities.

These two facts may seem tangentially related. But they would go on to shape the life of an eleven-year-old Berliner named Wernher von Braun, and in so course, spark the future of human spaceflight. Amid the political upheaval of 1920s Germany, the seeds of what would become America’s greatest technological achievement—the Saturn V rocket that would carry astronauts to the moon—were beginning to germinate. But before von Braun could become the father of America’s space program, he’d first go by a very different title: Nazi officer. Click here. (2/6)

No, NASA Has Not Discovered a New Planet Covered in Marijuana (Source: Politifact)
Cannabis enthusiasts may have been lured to an online story that purports scientists have discovered a new planet completely covered in marijuana. Alas, it is not so. The story, posted Feb. 4 on the blog ehealthdigest.org, has been on the internet since at least May 2015. The story was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Let’s be clear: No, NASA has not discovered a planet covered in marijuana. (2/8)