March 12, 2019

Trump Proposes $500 Million Cut to NASA as Agency Aims for the Moon (Source: Houston Chronicle)
NASA would face a $500 million cut in the coming budget year under a spending plan released Monday by President Donald Trump's administration, but space agency officials say the budget remains focused on human exploration, specifically to the moon. "This is a really good budget for NASA," Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said Monday. "We're blessed with this budget."

Just last month, Trump signed the budget for the current year, allocating $21.5 billion to the history-making space agency. The proposal released Monday for fiscal year 2020, which starts Oct. 1, would only provide $21 billion. The cut comes as Trump has touted the ambitious goal of returning humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.

Budget cuts would come to projects such as the Space Launch System rocket, which will carry the Orion spacecraft to the moon, the education office and a new telescope, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). But during a livestreamed speech from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Administrator Jim Bridenstine avoided discussing the programs that would be cut. (3/11)

Simulated Extravehicular Activity Science Operations for Mars Exploration (Source: Space Daily)
A new study describes the Science Operations component and new results from NASA's Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT). The goal of BASALT was to provide evidence-based recommendations for future planetary extravehicular activity (EVA), simulating in particular the conditions associated with conducting human scientific exploration on Mars.

In the article, the researchers focus on the study design and results of the second field deployment of BASALT. They describe the overall scientific objectives and rules of the EVA, critical capabilities needed for science-driven EVAs and specific activities such as sampling and communication, EVA distance and duration of deployment, individual roles and responsibilities of the extravehicular and intravehicular crews, needs for data and image capture.

They also present recommendations for future directions and subsequent research objectives. "As we move human exploration back to the Moon, into deep space and onwards to Mars, it will be important for the science and exploration communities to identify EVA design requirements that will simultaneously uphold safety and operational standards, while enabling flexibility for scientific exploration," says Dr. Lim. (3/7)

NASA’s Deep Space Exploration System is Coming Together (Source: NASA)
NASA will soon return humans to the Moon for decades to come, and the system that will transport astronauts from Earth to the Gateway near the Moon is literally coming together. Building on progress in 2018, most of the major manufacturing for the first mission is complete, and this year, teams will focus on final assembly, integration, and testing, as well as early work for future missions.

NASA is focused on launching the first mission, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), in 2020 to send an Orion spacecraft on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from the modernized spaceport at Kennedy Space Center on an uncrewed test flight before sending crew around the Moon and back on the second mission, Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) by 2023.  

For the Orion spacecraft that will fly on EM-1, engineers will continue stacking the crew and service modules together at Kennedy and performing tests to ensure the modules operate properly together. In the summer, the stacked modules will fly aboard the agency’s Guppy aircraft to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where together they will undergo thermal vacuum testing as well as electromagnetic interference and compatibility evaluations during a four-month test campaign. (3/8)

Cape Canaveral Area Set for Major Economic Boost as America Ramps Up Space Program (Source: Fox News)
In 2004, when then-President George W. Bush announced that NASA would end space exploration at the end of the decade, the region that for 50 years was a major hub for travel to outer space became anxious about its future. Florida's Space Coast, as it has long been known, had already been battered by the longest recession in U.S. history. The decision to end government space travel meant 30,000 jobs were lost in Brevard County. The unemployment rate, which was about 3 percent in 2006, rose to 12 percent in 2010.

But as the community prepared for the end of an era with Atlantis’ final launch on July 8, 2011, a plan was already in the works to boost the area's economic future. The community began courting private companies to capitalize on the dilapidated facilities that had once been the launching pads for the Apollo missions. Space Florida, a state-funded agency, and its partners saw a unique opportunity to keep the space industry alive by securing funding and infrastructure upgrades to give commercial companies that wanted to get into human space flight a customer. Click here. (3/11)

Brazil to Sign Accord with U.S. on Space Technology Next Week (Source: Reuters)
The United States and Brazil have negotiated an accord to safeguard U.S. space technology the South American nation hopes will be used in commercial rockets lifting off from its launch site near the equator, the Brazilian government said on Monday. The agreement is being wrapped up in time to be signed next week during a visit to Washington by President Jair Bolsonaro. “Negotiations are being concluded with a view to signing an agreement during the presidential visit to Washington,” a foreign ministry official said.

Brazil hopes to get a piece of the $300 billion-a-year space launch business by drawing U.S. companies interested in launching small satellites at a lower cost from the Alcantara base run by the Brazilian Air Force on the South American country’s north coast. Because of its location close to the equator, launches burn 30 percent less fuel and rockets can carry larger payloads, though Brazil is aiming for the cost microsatellite niche market that is growing fast, Air Force officers said.

The United States and Brazil signed a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) agreement last year during a visit to Brasilia by former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis. The accord on sharing real-time tracking data on objects and debris in space is needed to develop a satellite launching business without the risk of collision. In 2017, Boeing and Lockheed Martin visited the Alcantara space center, which is especially attractive to smaller firms, such as Vector  because of its location. But without the technology safeguard agreement (TSA) that protects sensitive American space launch and satellite technology, no U.S. rocket could blast off from Brazil. (3/11)

Vega C Debut Slips to 2020 (Source: Space News)
The maiden flight of Vega C, Europe’s next-generation light-lift vehicle, has slipped to early 2020, a change the manufacturer linked to 2019’s busy launch schedule. This year will mark the highest number of the currently-operational version Vega rockets launched in a single year, barring any delays of those four launches. The first is scheduled for March 14 with the Italian Space Agency’s PRISMA Earth observation satellite. Coccon said the second Vega is slated for around June, followed by the latter two by the end of November. (3/11)

North Korea's New Rockets (Source: Space Daily)
North Korea is hoping to expand its role as a spaceport more than as a missile test site. North Korea's space program has made five satellite launch attempts since 1998. The last three have all taken place from Tongchang-Ri, on North Korea's north-west coast, which now seems to be the only operational spaceport. Another site on North Korea's east coast seems to have been mothballed.

Despite the publicity and the controversy, it should be noted that North Korea's fledgling space program has been modest in its achievements. The greatest propaganda blow it has achieved was beating South Korea in the race to launch a satellite from its own territory. This happened in December 2012. But North Korea's first satellite failed to operate. Similarly, the second North Korean satellite, launched in 2016, also failed to transmit after reaching orbit.

The Unha-3 rockets used in these recent launches were small by the typical standards of space launch vehicles. Their power was also modest. Unha-3 rockets can only loft fairly small satellites into low orbits. But North Korea has claimed that it will introduce more powerful satellite launch vehicles in the future. This analyst suggests that the Tongchang-Ri launch site is now being readied to accommodate these new rockets. (3/11)

Next-Generation Space Industry Jobs Ready for Take-Off on Florida's Space Coast (Source: Space Daily)
As the U.S. approaches a return to human spaceflight and a rapid increase in the frequency of satellite launches, an entire generation of workers from the Apollo program and space shuttle days have retired. A new generation of commercial space companies, dubbed "NewSpace," is emerging around the world and on Florida's Space Coast, where astronauts once departed for the moon missions of the 1960s and '70s and on space shuttle missions in the following decades.

Brevard County, where Kennedy Space Center is located, saw a bigger economic crash than the rest of the country during the Great Recession because of the end of the shuttle program. It has now returned to booming growth thanks to the economy and the boom in NewSpace companies. Unemployment hit a low of 2.9 percent in Brevard in fall of 2018, down from almost 12 percent unemployment in 2010. The labor force hit a low of 189,740 people employed in 2011, but was back up to 224,200 people employed in December.

Central Florida companies have formed the Space Coast Consortium to revitalize the talent pool in the area, including OneWeb, Rocket Crafters, RUAG, Matrix, Precision Shapes, Discovery Aviation and Knights Armament. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin, which will build rockets just outside Kennedy Space Center, hasn't taken on a formal role in the group yet but is exploring it. Click here. (3/11)

New Satellite Keeps Close Watch on Antarctic Ice Loss (Source: Space Daily)
A recently-launched satellite mission has captured precision data on the elevation of the Antarctic ice sheet proving a valuable addition to monitoring efforts in the region, according to work published this week in The Cryosphere. From its orbit 815 km above the Earth, the Sentinel-3 satellite was able to detect the height of the ice surface to within tens of centimeters , tests carried out at the remote Lake Vostok validation site in East Antarctica showed.

The study, led by researchers from the new joint Lancaster University-CEH Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science (CEEDS), alongside European Space Agency (ESA) and industry partners, shows the potential of Sentinel-3 - one of the EU Copernicus satellite missions - to contribute toward long-term ice sheet monitoring programs. The scientists also found that Sentinel-3 could detect areas where the ice surface was rapidly lowering, thereby establishing the satellite's credentials as a new platform which can help to monitor Antarctica's contribution to sea level rise. (3/11)

NASA's Deep Space Exploration System is Coming Together (Source: Space Daily)
NASA will soon return humans to the Moon for decades to come, and the system that will transport astronauts from Earth to the Gateway near the Moon is literally coming together. Building on progress in 2018, most of the major manufacturing for the first mission is complete, and this year, teams will focus on final assembly, integration, and testing, as well as early work for future missions.

NASA is focused on launching the first mission, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), in 2020 to send an Orion spacecraft on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from the modernized spaceport at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on an uncrewed test flight before sending crew around the Moon and back on the second mission, Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) by 2023.

For the Orion spacecraft that will fly on EM-1, engineers will continue stacking the crew and service modules together at Kennedy and performing tests to ensure the modules operate properly together. In the summer, the stacked modules will fly aboard the agency's Guppy aircraft to NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where together they will undergo thermal vacuum testing as well as electromagnetic interference and compatibility evaluations during a four-month test campaign. When Orion returns from Ohio, it will undergo final checks and processing before final preparations for launch and integration with SLS. (3/11)

$14.1 Billion for DOD Space in New Budget Proposal (Source: Space News)
The Trump administration’s $750 billion national defense budget request for fiscal year 2020 includes $14.1 billion for space programs. According to DoD budget documents released on Tuesday, the space request is about $2.6 billion more than what Congress enacted in fiscal year 2019. The Pentagon justified increased spending on space as necessary to ensure “unfettered access to and freedom to operate in space,” the budget documents state.

The budget includes $306 million to establish three new organizations: a U.S. Space Force, a Space Development Agency and U.S. Space Command. The Defense Department must “adapt to posture itself for the wars of the future,” the documents say. “The DoD must be prepared to assure freedom of operation in space, to deter attacks and, when necessary, to defeat space and counter space threats.”

The administration is seeking $72.4 million for 160 billets to establish the Space Force headquarters (120 would transfer from other services and 40 would be new hires). The budget also requests $83.8 million to stand up U.S. Space Command and $149.8 million to establish a Space Development Agency.  (3/12)

Air Force to Submit Space Force Transition Plan by March 22 (Source: Space News)
It has been a turbulent few days in the Air Force since Secretary Heather Wilson announced on Friday she will be stepping down to become president of the University of Texas El Paso. But that has not slowed down the Space Force Planning Task Force that faces a March 22 deadline to deliver a report to Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

Leading the task force is John Stopher, principal assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force for space. “The team is aggressively working through all of the important details that have to be completed so the plan can be delivered to the Secretary by March 22,” Stopher said. Shanahan in a Feb. 21 memo directed the Air Force to begin the “detailed planning necessary to establish a U.S. Space Force when the legislation proposed by the President is enacted.” Air Force Maj. Gen. Clint Crosier is the director of the task force and reports directly to Stopher.

The report due March 22 should map out the “initial work plan that lays out key phases of transition from pre-establishment to full operational capability,” Wilson said. If Congress authorizes the new branch for fiscal year 2020, the Air Force will need to specify the staff that would have to be in place by October 1 to form the Space Force headquarters. According to a DoD source, the transition plan is broken into five phases over five years. However, it does not address key issues such as the size and organizational structure of the Space Force. (3/12)

Ethanol to Help Fuel Russian Space Tourism Rocket (Source: Space Daily)
Ethyl alcohol, which can be used in a gasoline mix or on its own as vehicle fuel and as a beverage to fuel social events, will now power a rocket for commercial suborbital spaceflight. A company named CosmoCourse plans to start relatively short flights in 2025 to take groups of six tourists to an altitude of 37 to 200 miles - giving space tourists five minutes in zero gravity.

The rockets would use "environmentally friendly components: liquid oxygen as the oxidizer and ethyl alcohol as fuel. Nitrogen in its liquid and gas forms will be used as an additional component," company CEO Pavel Pushkin said. Drinking and fuel ethanol are the same, and countries that use ethanol as fuel include additives to alter taste or otherwise make it distinguishable from similar alcohols that result from fermentation, but are intended for human consumption. (3/11)

NASA Budget Request Spells Trouble for SLS (Source: Ars Technica)
Two sources familiar with the thinking of Vice President Mike Pence—who leads US space policy—have said he is frustrated with the slow pace of the nation's efforts to send humans to the Moon. In particular, he is growing tired of delays with NASA's Space Launch System rocket, which was originally due to launch in 2017 and is now likely delayed until 2021 at the earliest.

Notably, President Donald Trump's budget request calls for a 17 percent reduction in the budget for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, once viewed as the backbone of the space agency's efforts to explore deep space. The president's budget request chips away at the supremacy of the SLS booster in three important ways.

First of all, with the budget cut, the president's proposal "defers" funding for the Exploration Upper Stage. The budget also opens the door to commercial launches of cargo to lunar orbit, including elements of the Lunar Gateway. Finally, the budget says that a robotic probe to Europa, due to launch in the 2020s, will not launch on the SLS booster. Instead, it will launch on a private rocket. (3/11)