March 29, 2019

Indian PSLV to Deliver 21 Rideshare Satellites to Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, reports it will launch 21 spacecraft on a rideshare mission from India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at India's Satish Dhawan Space Center. The launch is scheduled for April 1 (March 31 in the U.S.). Payloads aboard the mission include the Astrocast-02 3U cubesat from Switzerland-based Astrocast and Flock 4a, 20 next-generation Dove satellites from Planet.

This launch represents Spaceflight's eighth launch on a PSLV and with the completion of this mission, the company will have sent 95 spacecraft to orbit aboard PSLVs. Astrocast's network of 64 cubesats will securely extend the reach of two-way communications to the 90 percent of the globe currently not covered by cellular networks. Using L-Band frequencies, Astrocast's small form factor modules, miniaturized antennas, and optimized data protocol make it the most advanced nanosatellite on the market today. (3/26)

Russia Reveals Details About Its First 'Predator' Satellite for Debris Cleanup (Source: Sputnik)
While the US expresses concern about Moscow developing new military satellites, Russian space companies have come up with peaceful and actually globally useful inventions in the sphere of satellite technologies. State-funded firm Russian Space Systems has presented the concept and characteristics of their latest development - a satellite capable of devouring the remains of its own kind littering the Earth's orbit.

In the course of one full operational cycle, the satellite can recycle up to 500 kilograms of space debris, the developers indicated. What is more, it will use recycled trash as operational fuel. The 2.5 tonne satellite will be sent into the lower orbits at a height of around 400 kilometers, where it will find its first prey, grab it using a two-section titan net, compress it and then grind it into dust. (3/28)

NASA Begins Testing Habitation Prototypes (Source: NASA)
Over the next several months, NASA will conduct a series of ground tests inside five uniquely designed, full-size, deep space habitat prototypes. The mockups, constructed by five American companies, offer different perspectives on how astronauts will live and work aboard the Gateway – the first spaceship designed to stay in orbit around the Moon, providing the critical infrastructure needed for exploration, science and technology demonstrations on the lunar surface.

NASA doesn’t plan to select one habitat prototype to advance to flight – rather, the tests will help NASA evaluate the design standards, common interfaces, and requirements for a future U.S. Gateway habitat module, while reducing risks for eventual flight systems.

“These tests were formulated so that we can do a side-by-side comparison of very different and innovative concepts from U.S. industry,” said Marshall Smith, who leads human lunar exploration programs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “While we won’t dictate a specific design when we procure the U.S. habitat, we will enter the procurement phase with far less risk because of the knowledge we gain from these tests.” (3/27)

ULA Begins Cutting Metal for Vulcan Rockets (Source: Ars Technica)
On Thursday night, United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno shared an image of a rocket panel on Twitter and declared, "The age of Vulcan has begun..." This is one of the first pieces of metal being cut and formed for the Vulcan-Centaur rocket's fuel tanks, Bruno later confirmed. "This is a piece of actual first flight hardware." Bruno characterized the piece as being "bump formed," a process which occurs after barrel panels are machined.

The cutting of metal for a rocket that will actually fly into space suggests that ULA remains on track toward bringing its Vulcan rocket—a successor to its Atlas and Delta boosters—online by 2021. However, the most complex things that must be created for new rockets generally are not fuel tanks, but propulsion and software. The company has made progress in those areas, too, by procuring BE-4 engines from Blue Origin and reusing 40-60% of the software from the Atlas and Delta rockets. (3/29)

Meet SpaceX's Starship Hopper (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX continues to amaze in popularizing space exploration. Not only is it doing fantastic work in reaching and exploring space, shown by its efforts to transport supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station, it also flaunts retro exhibitions that capture the interest of people worldwide. Recently, Elon Musk — the CEO of SpaceX — released images and information on what he calls the "Starship" Hopper test rocket.

The prototype hopper was recently constructed in a project that will hopefully be used to help colonize Mars. Starship and its huge first-stage booster, Super Heavy — which together were formerly known as the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) — could be the vehicles to undertake this important task. In order for Starship and Super Heavy to be successful, there are many things to take into account, and a lot of power needs to be exerted.

This is not just another 384,400-kilometer (238,855 miles) mission to the moon. This is going to be a journey more than 140 times longer. This means that there needs to be enough food, supplies and protection from the harmful radiation of space in order to survive this journey, and even then there’s the question of how much fuel is needed to break free of Earth’s gravity and make it Mars. Click here. (3/29)

NASA Mission Finds New Planet, Most Promising Stars to Support Life (Source: CNN)
NASA's planet-hunting TESS mission has only been surveying the sky since July, but it's already making incredible discoveries. In January, three exoplanet discoveries were connected to the initial observations from TESS. Now, data collected by TESS has determined a new Saturn-size planet. TOI (TESS Object of Interest) 197.01 is considered to be a "hot Saturn." It's similar in size to that planet and orbits its host star at a close distance, circling it every 14 days, which creates a high surface temperature on the planet.  

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite launched in April to take up the planet-hunting baton from the Kepler space telescope as that historic mission ended. TESS is surveying an area in the sky that is 400 times larger than what Kepler observed, including 200,000 of the brightest nearby stars. Over the course of two years, the four wide-field cameras on board will stare at different sectors of the sky for days at a time. This will enable scientists to survey nearly the entire sky. (3/29)

Should Astronauts Memorial Recognize Suborbital Fliers? (Source: Florida Today)
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation is reconsidering whether to also honor private-sector astronauts. The foundation, which operates the Space Mirror memorial at the Kennedy Space Center, declined three years ago to include on the memorial Mike Alsbury, a Scaled Composites pilot killed during a SpaceShipTwo test flight in 2014. A foundation committee meeting today will reexamine that decision, in part because SpaceShipTwo has since demonstrated it is capable of flying to space. The memorial includes the names of 24 astronauts who died either on spaceflights or in other training or related activities. (3/28)

$1 Million X Prize Award Offered for Successful Israeli Company's Lunar Landing (Source: Space News)
A year after the Google Lunar X Prize expired, a former team could win a consolation prize of sorts. The X Prize Foundation announced it will give a $1 million "Moonshot Award" to SpaceIL if its Beresheet lander successfully lands on the moon next month. SpaceIL was one of the competitors in the Google Lunar X Prize, whose $20 million grand prize expired a year ago with no team yet ready to attempt a launch. Several other former teams are continuing their lander efforts, many of which are tied to NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. (3/28)

Mars Helicopter Completes Earth Flight Tests (Source: NASA JPL)
A small helicopter that will go to Mars next year has completed flight tests on Earth. The Mars Helicopter successfully wrapped up a series of flight tests in a chamber where the atmosphere is lowered to the pressures found on Mars, and with cables to simulate the reduced gravity there. The copter, weighing less than two kilograms, will hitch a ride to Mars on the Mars 2020 rover, and will be deployed from the rover early in the mission to take flight. (3/29)

Here's The Truth About That Photo of 'Mushrooms' Growing on Mars (Source: Science Alert)
A peculiar new paper, published in a little-known scientific journal, has the tabloids stirred up about the possibility of life on Mars. According to this paper, an international team of scientists are now claiming to have found evidence of 'mushrooms' growing on the surface of the Red Planet.

Instead of mushrooms, NASA calls them 'blueberries', but unlike the authors of this new paper, no one at the space agency actually thinks these tiny spheres are a sign of life, let alone a growing fruit or vegetable. In 2004, the Opportunity rover discovered millions of these 'blueberries', and upon analysis they were determined to be composed of the iron oxide, hematite. (3/29)

Upgraded LIGO Ready for Continued Gravity Wave Detection (Source: Business Insider)
One of the most remarkable experiments in history — a pair of giant machines that listen for ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves— will wake up from a half-year nap on Monday. And it will be about 40% stronger than before. That experiment is called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO); it consists of two giant, L-shaped detectors that together solved a 100-year-old mystery posed by Albert Einstein.

In 1915, Einstein predicted the existence of ripples in the fabric of space However, he didn't think these gravitational waves would ever be detected — they seemed too weak to pick up amid all the noise and vibrations on Earth. For 100 years, it seemed Einstein was right. Even as hundreds of scientists worked on LIGO from 2002 into 2015, they failed to "hear" any waves. This was despite predictions that collisions of two black holes should make gravitational waves at detectable levels.

But that 13-year slump ended in September 2015, when an upgraded "advanced" LIGO detected its first gravitational waves: signals from the merger of two black holes some 1.3 billion light-years away. The following December, the team detected a second collision event. By 2017, three researchers who helped conceive of LIGO earned a Nobel Prize in Physics. (3/28)

Georgia Tech Students To Conduct Test Rocket Launch At Spaceport Camden (Source: WJCT)
Students from Georgia Tech’s Yellow Jacket Space Program will be in Camden County this weekend to conduct a rocket test. The test launch is being conducted to give students hands on experience controlling a rocket. John Simpson, spokesman for Camden County, said it’s actually quite common for people in the aerospace industry to conduct these kinds of suborbital tests.

Alton Schultheis, 23, an aerospace student at Georgia Tech, said that experience is extremely valuable to him and other students going forward, “because the rest of what our organization does in developing much larger, much more complex vehicles that require this same baseline type of math and understanding.”

The launch is being held at Spaceport Camden because the tests being conducted by the Georgia Tech students require the rocket to be flown at high altitudes. There are height restrictions on amateur rocket launches and Schultheis said it was easier for the school to get the waivers they needed through the spaceport. The launch has been authorized by the FAA. (3/28)

Rocket Lab Continues Quest for Monthly Launch Cadence (Source: Space News)
In January, when Rocket Lab announced plans to launch DARPA's R3D2, the company said this launch was the first of 12 for 2019, with an increasing cadence of missions as the year went on. “Basically, our goal for 2019 is to continue to deliver that regular, reliable service to orbit,” said Peter Beck. However, this mission suffered about a one-month slip because of delays shipping the satellite to New Zealand and making final preparations for launch.

It’s unclear what impact that delay will have on Rocket Lab’s schedule. The company said its plans for this year call for “building and launching rockets every month.” The company currently builds one Electron a month, and Beck said prior to this launch that the vehicle for the next mission had completed stage testing and was on its way to the launch site. Rocket Lab hasn’t disclosed the payload or date for that mission. (3/28)

Pensacola Approves ST Engineering Lease and $20 Million Loan Authorization (Source: Pensacola News Journal)
The Pensacola City Council has unanimously approved the new lease for ST Engineering and authorized the mayor to borrow up to $20 million to float the cash until the city begins receiving grants approved to fund the $210 million project. The vote Thursday essentially clears the way for ST Engineering's expansion of its aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul hangar, although the city has yet to identify funds for the last $4.8 million needed to fully fund the project.

The $20 million loan authorization will allow the mayor to provide cash flow to pay contractors building the three new hangars and administration building. ST Engineering opened a hangar at the airport last year and is in the process of hiring 400 workers. Once the three additional hangars are built, the company will hire another 1,325 workers. (3/28)

Scientist-Astronaut and Two Aerospace Executives Named to Embry-Riddle’s Board of Trustees (Source: ERAU)
An accomplished scientist-astronaut and two leading aerospace executives were unanimously confirmed March 22, 2019 to serve on Embry-Riddle's Board of Trustees. The new trustees are scientist and NASA astronaut Janet Kavandi, Kaman Corporation CEO Neal J. Keating and Boeing NeXt Vice President and General Manager Steve Nordlund ('90).

“Janet Kavandi will bring deep scientific, operational and business insights to the table,” said Mori Hosseini, chairman of the Embry-Riddle Board of Trustees. “Both Neal Keating and Steve Nordlund are strong leaders with extensive knowledge of aerospace business. All three of these new Trustees have keen energy, vision and business acumen that will serve Embry-Riddle very well. We look forward to working with them to support our mission of service to students.” (3/22)

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Air Force Research Laboratory Celebrate New Partnership (Source: FSU)
The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and researchers and engineers from Eglin Air Force Base celebrated the beginning of a new partnership Monday to train undergraduate students in areas critical to the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin will fund a $400,000 grant to create the Air Force Research Laboratory Scholars program at the College of Engineering. The program will bring students into the lab environment where they can directly benefit from working with faculty researchers on Air Force-related research. (3/18)

Strange Earth Organisms Have Somehow Survived Living Outside The ISS (Source: Science Alert)
Terrestrial organisms stuck on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) have survived 533 days in the vacuum, intense ultraviolet radiation, and extreme temperature variations of space. You know what that means? It's not impossible for life to survive on Mars. Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars seems like the most likely candidate to host life. But it's extremely inhospitable - dusty, arid, lower in gravity and oxygen, subject to harsh radiation due to its thinner atmosphere, cold and wracked by dust storms that can plunge the planet into darkness.

We have yet to detect life there, but there are a few ways we can test how feasible its presence is. One is searching for life in Mars-like environments on Earth (spoiler: we found it). Another is using that most breathtaking of resources, the ISS. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) led an experiment called BIOMEX, in which organisms such as bacteria, algae, lichens and fungi were exposed to Mars-like conditions aboard the space station. (3/27)

Rocket Lab Electron Orbits DARPA’s R3D2 Prototype Antenna (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Although a few weeks after initially scheduled, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle successfully orbited a prototype satellite for DARPA. Liftoff occurred on March 29 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Rocket Lab had planned on launching March 24, however, a video transmitter problem, combined with space traffic and weather issues, prompted a postponement to March 28/29.

The payload, DARPA’s Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2), is intended to space-qualify a new reflect array antenna that is “made of a tissue-thin Kapton membrane,” according to DARPA, which “packs tightly for stowage during launch,” making it possible to fit larger, more capable antennas in smaller satellites and, therefore, on smaller rockets or alongside other payloads. (3/28)

ASAT Test a Big Leap, But India Still Miles Behind China (Source: Times of India)
India’s first-ever anti-satellite missile test on Wednesday was in direct response to rapid advances made in the military space arena by China, which has had "counter space" capabilities as a thrust area and tested its own ASAT weapon against a LEO weather satellite in 2007.  China is also moving towards a space station with military applications in the near future.

India, in sharp contrast, has not even approved a full-fledged Aerospace Command that the armed forces have been demanding for almost a decade now. The PM Narendra Modi government only recently agreed to set up a small tri-Service Defense Space Agency. (3/28)