March 24, 2019

NASA Rocket Becomes Boeing’s Latest Headache as Trump Demands Moon Mission (Source: Washington Post)
Boeing senior executives arrived at NASA headquarters two weeks ago for what they knew would be a tense meeting. The rocket they’ve been building for NASA was behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Worse yet, there was no way it was going to be ready for a scheduled maiden launch in June 2020.

One estimate had the rocket launch as late as November 2021, and NASA’s leaders were furious, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid about sensitive negotiations. President Trump and Vice President Pence wanted NASA to pull off something big and bold with human spaceflight before the 2020 election: sending a crewless capsule around the moon in a precursor to an eventual return of American astronauts to the lunar surface.

But the latest delays would push the flight well past the election. “We’re not doing this,” a dismayed NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told the Boeing team. “We’re going to create an alternative solution. All options are on the table.” He said that although NASA still steadfastly supports the massive rocket, known as the Space Launch System (SLS), the agency would consider sidelining it and instead using commercially available rockets for the mission known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). (3/22)

More Boeing Problems: Another Space Vehicle it’s Building for NASA is Significantly Delayed (Source: Washington Post)
The bad news for Boeing has dripped out in a constant stream, day by day. There were revelations that it didn’t do enough to train pilots to a system failure in its 737-airplane line that led to a crash last year in Indonesia and then another this month in Ethiopia, killing everyone on board both flights, a total of 346 people.

Then NASA’s administrator said the agency is considering sidelining the massive rocket Boeing is help building because of how far behind schedule it is. And now, the agency is about to announce another major delay in a separate high-profile program: the spacecraft Boeing is building to fly astronauts to the International Space Station. The latest date for the first test of the Starliner capsule was to be in April, which was already pushed back repeatedly. Now that first flight — a test mission without any astronauts on board — is going to be delayed to at least August, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation. (3/22)

Free Satellite Data Available to Help Tackle Public Sector Challenges (Source: Space Daily)
Anyone working in the UK public sector can now receive free access to more than a thousand high-resolution satellite images of Britain, the UK Space Agency announced 21 March 2019. The archive of images and radar data for research and development projects is available to Government departments, emergency services and local authorities as well as industry and academia if their work meets a public sector need.

In the first trial of its kind the data, which has been made available by the UK Space Agency's Space for Smarter Government Programme (SSGP), is intended to benefit the public sector in areas such as planning and development and environmental monitoring, while boosting further growth in the UK's world-leading space industry, which already employs nearly 42,000 people. (3/22)

Russian Neutral Buoyancy Pool for Space Training to Resume Work in May-June (Source: TASS)
The Hydro Lab of Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in the Star City near Moscow, which includes a neutral buoyancy pool for weightless environment training of cosmonauts, will resume its operations in late May or early June after a lengthy reconstruction, the center’s head Pavel Vlasov told TASS on Sunday.

"It will start functioning in late May or early June. By that time, we will complete procedures needed to put it back into operation. Once they are over, we will be able to use it again," Vlasov said, adding that cosmonauts will start practicing there some time later. The Hydro Lab was created in early 1980s to provide weightless environment training to cosmonauts. It includes a 12-meter-deep neutral buoyancy pool, in which about 5,000 dives have been performed by cosmonauts wearing Orlan spacesuits. (3/24)

New Report Details Impact of Proposed Nova Scotia Spaceport in Event of Explosion (Source: The Star)
The head of a company proposing to open Canada’s only commercial spaceport near the small community of Canso, N.S., says the impact of any launch failure would be relatively small. Steve Matier said while a launch failure can happen, a lot of research and engineering goes into trying to avoid it. “When you’re analyzing a rocket, you’re analyzing the trajectory, the location, and you’re putting in the engineering controls and the processes, mature technology, you’re nowhere near the general public and you’ve got a rocket with a heritage of hundreds of successful flights,” he said. “...That makes it an extremely unlikely event.”

That said, Matier does point out the chance of a failure is not zero. Maritime Launch Services has filed a 475-page report with the Nova Scotia government to detail the environmental impact possible under a variety of scenarios. The report says an explosion on the launch pad would leave a crater in the granite about 10 meters deep. It also says some trees and soil in the immediate area would also be burned. (3/24)

SpaceX Cleared for More Testing; FAA Restricts Air Space for Boca Chica Activity (Source: Brownsville Herald)
he Federal Aviation Administration is restricting airspace around the SpaceX launch site early next week. The FAA is restricting aircraft within an approximate 1.25-mile radius of the site Monday through Wednesday to provide a safe environment for space activity. The restricted airspace is from the surface up to and including 1,000 feet, according to the FAA notice.

The notice was posted yesterday as SpaceX entered its second day of testing its Starship prototype. The airspace restrictions are scheduled to be in effect from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said yesterday afternoon he signed an order at SpaceX’s request extending the closures of a portion of State Highway 4 to Boca Chica Beach so SpaceX can continue testing. (3/23)

Spacecraft Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base Capture Super Bloom (Source: Noozhawk)
After capturing tragic disasters such as wildfires and debris flows, satellites launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base have snapped some vibrant images showing Mother Nature’s wildflower artwork from space. One image from Landsat-8’s Operational Land Imager instrument displayed what NASA called an explosion of yellow wildflowers covering green hillsides and valleys on the Carrizo Plain near New Cuyama northeast of Santa Maria.

Landsat 8, formerly known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, launched Feb. 11, 2013, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that blasted off from Space Launch Complex-3 on South Base. It’s the latest in a long series of Landsat craft launched from Vandenberg since 1972 to collect data about the planet with data and imagery used in agriculture, education, business, science and government. (3/23)

Art Installation in Limbo in Earth's Orbit (Source: Dezeen)
American artist Trevor Paglen has launched the first artwork into space, but it is yet to be activated because of fallout from the US government shutdown. The Orbital Reflector, a 30-meter-long reflective, diamond-shaped balloon made from a material similar to Mylar – a form of plastic sheet made from polyester resin – is currently orbiting the earth waiting for clearance to be released. When it is deployed it will be the first "purely artistic" object in space that does not have any military, commercial or scientific interest.

However, the partial US government shutdown from 22 December 2018 to 25 January 2019 means that the artwork has not yet been released. Instead it has been travelling in the earth's low orbit unactivated for three months. A brick-sized box containing the inflatable artwork was launched into the earth's low orbit on 3 December 2018 as part of a greater load of 64 satellites on Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (3/22)

Return to the Moon Must Include Private Partnerships (Source: Florida Today)
President Trump, NASA and Congress have established a national commitment to return Americans to the moon — not just to plant footprints and flags, but to establish long-term habitation and sustainable activity on the lunar surface. This ambitious objective should be applauded and, if executed appropriately, will serve to reinforce American leadership in space as countries like China, Russia, and India focus their own exploration efforts on the moon.

Public-private partnerships are fundamental to achieving this goal, and NASA’s fiscal year 2020 budget released this week prudently highlights commercial space capabilities as a central pillar of this strategy. Long-term habitation and exploration on the lunar surface, and ultimately Mars, requires an integrated effort that includes the development of capable landers, the operation of robust deep space habitats, and routine transportation of astronauts and large cargo.

But this is only possible if it’s affordable, and NASA should identify means by which public-private partnerships can complement existing programs of record. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation supports the President Trump’s budget request to more fully utilize public-private partnership programs and commercial service buys to accelerate cost-effective deep space exploration objectives, including sending landers and astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024. (3/22)

Branson Donates Historic Rocket Motor to Smithsonian (Source: Air & Space)
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson donated RocketMotorTwo’s case-throat-nozzle assembly to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in early February. The artifact will be displayed at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, before it takes its permanent position in a new “Future of Spaceflight” gallery, set to open in 2024, at the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. (3/24)

Alabama Governor: Space and Alabama Go Hand-in-Hand (Source: WAAY)
I am so pleased that Vice President Mike Pence has chosen Huntsville to host the National Space Council on Tuesday. The purpose of this gathering – in the shadow of the Saturn V rocket, which was developed right here in Alabama – is to discuss the future of American human spaceflight that is so appropriate as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The past, present, and future of American space leadership flows through Alabama.

The great minds at Marshall Space Flight Center also helped bring about the marvel of the Space Shuttle, which was essential to building and servicing the International Space Station, launching and servicing the Hubble Space Telescope, enabling crucial national defense missions and many more accomplishments. (3/22)

New Mexico is a Great Place for New Space Agency to Dock (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
We don’t know a lot about the new federal Space Development Agency, considering President Donald Trump ordered its formation less than a year ago. But even at this early stage, it makes perfect sense for it to call New Mexico home. After all, New Mexico joins the White House as the only places with protected airspace from ground level to infinity. We’ve got the people and infrastructure that power. Click here. (3/23)

Two Minotaur Launches Planned This Year from Virginia (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Northrop Grumman is gearing up for up to four launches this year at Wallops Island, Virginia, including two launches with Cygnus cargo ships heading to the International Space Station, and a pair of Minotaur rocket flights carrying classified payloads into orbit for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. One of the two Minotaur launches scheduled for the second half of the year was not previously disclosed by Northrop Grumman or the National Reconnaissance Office.

This year’s launch campaigns will begin with the liftoff of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket April 17 from pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a launch base run by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority on property owned by NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The Antares rocket will loft Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus freighter on a resupply mission to the space station, the 11th Cygnus launch under a $2.9 billion cargo transportation contract with NASA.

Later this year, three Northrop Grumman missions are lined up for launch from Wallops. Another Antares rocket is set for takeoff in October with the 12th Cygnus resupply mission to the space station, and Minotaur 1 and Minotaur 4 rockets are also due for launch before the end of 2019 from pad 0B, located about a quarter-mile (400 meters) south of the Antares launch complex. (3/21)

SpaceX's Hexagon Tiles for Starship Heat Shield Pass Fiery Test (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX is turning up the heat on its Starship spacecraft project, according to CEO Elon Musk. Literally. In a series of posts on Twitter this week, Musk unveiled a tantalizing glimpse at a SpaceX test of the hexagonal heat shield tiles that will protect its Starship vehicle as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX is developing Starship and its Super Heavy booster for deep-space trips to the moon and Mars. (3/22)

EchoStar, Khosla Ventures Invest $60 million in Wyler-Backed Broadband Venture (Source: Space News)
Tarana Wireless, a broadband infrastructure developer that counts OneWeb founder Greg Wyler among its backers, raised $60 million from satellite operator EchoStar and Khosla Ventures. Santa Clara, California-based Tarana has raised $200 million in total from investors that include AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and Wyler’s 1010 Holdings, LLC.

Tarana said March 21 that Wyler joined its board of directors, as did EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and Khosla Ventures partner Samir Kaul in conjunction with the new capital. EchoStar Executive Vice President Kranti Kilaru also stepped down from a nearly three-decade career at the Englewood, Colorado-based satellite operator to become Tarana’s president. Tarana is developing a connectivity product to enable long-distance wireless internet connections that hold steady even when physical objects such as buildings or trees are in a signal’s path. (3/22)