June 17, 2019

Rare 'Superflares' Could One Day Threaten Earth (Source: Space Daily)
Astronomers probing the edges of the Milky Way have in recent years observed some of the most brilliant pyrotechnic displays in the galaxy: superflares. These events occur when stars, for reasons that scientists still don't understand, eject huge bursts of energy that can be seen from hundreds of light-years away. Until recently, researchers assumed that such explosions occurred mostly on stars that, unlike Earth's, were young and active.

Now, new research shows with more confidence than ever before that superflares can occur on older, quieter stars like our own - albeit more rarely, or about once every few thousand years. The results should be a wake-up call for life on our planet, said Yuta Notsu, the lead author of the study and a visiting researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder. (6/12)

SpaceX Falcon 9 Wins Korean Launch Contract as 2019 Mystery Missions Persist (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX has silently announced that Falcon 9 won a contract for a South Korean military communications satellite, currently scheduled to launch from the the Cape Canaveral Spaceport's LC-40 pad no earlier than Nov. 2019. The satellite – known as Anasis II (formerly KMilSatCom 1) – is based on a common bus built by Airbus and could weigh anywhere from 3500 to 6000 kilograms. Falcon 9 will be tasked with launching Anasis II to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), after which the satellite will use its own onboard propulsion to circularize the orbit and begin operations.

Although the Korean contract brings SpaceX one step closer to its goal of 18-21 launches (excluding Starlink) in 2019, it also raises the question: what mystery missions are missing from public launch manifests? (6/17)

Are the U.S. and China on a War Footing in Space? (Source: Politico)
A top Chinese general has a warning for any U.S. leaders planning an arms race in space: Be prepared to lose. Outspending a rival power into economic exhaustion might have helped the U.S. win the Cold War, said Qiao Liang, a major general in the Chinese air force who co-wrote a book called "Unrestricted Warfare: China’s Master Plan to Destroy America." But he said it won’t work against a wealthy manufacturing powerhouse like China.

“China is not the Soviet Union,” Qiao said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “If the United States thinks it can also drag China into an arms race and take down China as it did with the Soviets … in the end, probably it would not be China who is down on the ground.” Qiao’s words come as both Washington and Beijing are pouring money and resources into an increasingly militarized space race that some security specialists and former U.S. officials fear is heightening the risk of war.

The aggressive maneuvers include President Donald Trump’s proposal for a standalone Space Force — which Qiao dismisses as “an unwise move” — and efforts by both countries to develop laser and cyber weapons that could take out each other's satellites. The rivalry is plainly on the minds of leaders at the Pentagon, which cites "space" 86 times in a new threat assessment of China's military. It also warns that the People's Liberation Army is working on "enabling long-range precision strikes" and developing directed-energy weapons for use in orbit. (6/16)

The Return to the Moon With Robots (Source: Air & Space)
As early as September of next year, a metal-wrapped spacecraft will slowly fall toward the surface of the moon. Retro rockets on its underbelly will puff tiny amounts of fuel into the moon’s tenuous exosphere, silently slowing and steering the uncrewed ship. As its legs find purchase on the sun-bleached gray surface, the moon will once again host the American flag. But this time, the stars and stripes will decorate a spacecraft designed not “for all mankind,” as the Apollo lander was, but for kickstarting lunar commerce.

This time, the spacecraft is not owned by NASA but by the company that built and will operate it. NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS) reflects the agency's 21st century outlook that private ownership is the surest path to a robust and self-sustaining lunar economy, in which not only NASA but also other space agencies and private companies will pay to ship freight and eventually people to the lunar surface.

CLPS selected nine companies last November to begin working on robot landers to deliver experiments and cargo to the lunar surface. Last week, NASA announced the three that will ferry yet-to-be-finalized scientific payloads to the moon as soon as next fall. The robots are part of the agency's ambitious Artemis program, which seeks to return humans to the lunar surface in 2024. (6/2)

Firefly Opens First Alpha Rocket Launch to Academic and Educational Payloads (Source: Ars Technica)
One of the questions facing any company as it brings a new rocket to market is what to put on top of the booster. After all, things can sometimes go all explodey with inaugural flights. So the first flight of any rocket typically serves as demonstration missions, to prove via an actual test flight that all of a company's modeling and ground testing were correct. SpaceX famously put Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla Roadster on the first flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket.

Despite a sometimes whimsical payload, however, first flights demonstrate a number of capabilities to potential customers. (In the case of the Falcon Heavy, the rocket's upper stage performed a six-hour coast in space before re-firing its upper stage engine to demonstrate the ability to directly inject key satellites into geostationary space for the U.S. military).

As Firefly nears the first flight of its Alpha rocket, the company also faces such a payload decision. It has an (undisclosed) customer for the flight, but the smallsat launcher also has some unused capacity for the mission—the Alpha rocket has about twice as much lift as an existing competitor, Rocket Lab's Electron vehicle. (6/17)

Smith to Continue to Press for Change in National Security Space Launch Program (Source: Space News)
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee will continue to press for change in the Air Force's launch program. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) won changes last week to the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement through an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act his committee marked up. That amendment did not go as far as he wanted, but a committee staffer said Smith will continue to seek changes with the program, having been unsatisfied so far with the Air Force's response to his issues about competition. Smith, though, has said he won't otherwise interfere with the ongoing procurement. (6/17)

NASA Plans Commercial Cargo Launches to Gateway (Source: Space News)
NASA plans to seek proposals later this summer for commercial cargo services to support the lunar Gateway. NASA issued a draft request for proposals Friday, with comments due July 10. A final RFP is expected later this summer with the potential for multiple awards. Companies will be required to deliver at least 3,400 kilograms of pressurized cargo and 1,000 kilograms of unpressurized cargo to the Gateway on each mission, with the ability to remain docked there for up to three years at a time before departing with cargo for disposal. (6/17)

Arralis to Join Embry-Riddle Research Park (Source: ERAU)
Global communications powerhouse Arralis plans to establish a presence within Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Research Park – a move that will bring up to two-dozen high-paying jobs to Volusia County, Fla., University President P. Barry Butler announced June 17 at the Paris Air Show. The recruitment resulted from a highly collaborative effort by Embry-Riddle, Enterprise Florida, Team Volusia, Space Florida, Volusia County and the City of Daytona Beach, Butler said. Discussions between Arralis and Embry-Riddle were initiated at 2018 Farnborough International Airshow.

“Embry-Riddle and its collaborators are committed to recruiting world-class technology talent to Central Florida,” Butler said at the opening of the Florida Pavilion at the 53rd Paris Air Show. “Arralis is a perfect fit for Florida’s space triangle. Their products are defining the future of global radar and wireless communications.” Arralis has its roots at the Nexus Innovation Center at the University of Limerick, with design centers in Belfast and Manchester and a sales office in Harwell in the United Kingdom, Butler added. According to Arralis Europe co-founder, CEO and Chief Technology Officer Mike Gleaves, the company will eventually put manufacturing and assembly operations in place in Florida. (6/17)

Maxar May Sell MDA Unit (Source: Reuters)
Maxar Technologies is considering selling its MDA business unit. The sale of MDA, the division of Maxar based in Canada that specializes in space robotics, could net the company more than $1 billion as it seeks to reduce its debt. MDA is the original part of Maxar, which later acquired Space Systems Loral, DigitalGlobe and Radiant Solutions. Maxar declined to comment on the reported sale. (6/17)

FCC Chief Not Convinced 5G Will Affect Satellite Weather Service (Source: Space News)
The chairman of the FCC doesn't believe that offering 5G services in one band will interfere with satellite weather observations. Meteorologists are concerned that using a 24-gigahertz band for 5G services will create interference with water vapor observations in a nearby band, degrading weather forecasts. At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week, though, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai dismissed those concerns, saying that a study provided to the FCC about that interference was "fundamentally flawed." He also criticized the Commerce Department for attempting to block an auction of spectum at that band. Both the Commerce Department and NASA have warned that 5G services at 24 gigahertz could interfere with forecasting. (6/17)

Russia's Spektr-RG Finally Reaches Launch Pad (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A long-delayed space observatory is finally at the launch pad. A Proton rocket carrying the Spektr-RG spacecraft arrived at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Friday ahead of a launch this Friday. Spektr-RG is a joint German-Russian X-ray observatory to conduct an all-sky survey of various X-ray sources. The mission has been delayed by years due to technical issues with the spacecraft. (6/17)

White House Official Urged Bridenstine to Reject Climate Change (Source: AP)
Climate change skeptics, including a White House official, tried to pressure NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to change his position. Since becoming administrator last year, Bridenstine has repeatedly stated he believes that human activity is causing climate change. Emails obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request show that William Happer, a climate skeptic now on the staff of the National Security Council, contacted NASA leadership to relay concerns that "many children are being indoctrinated by this bad science." Those efforts appear to have had no change on the information provided by NASA on climate change. (6/17)

Canada's NorthStar Plans Constellation for Space Situational Awareness (Source: Reuters)
A Canadian space situational awareness startup has secured the support of the Canadian government. The agreement between NorthStar Earth and Space and Canadian Commercial Corporation will allow NorthStar to work with the United States and other nations to provide SSA services. The company has proposed developing a satellite constellation that will track objects in orbit while also performing Earth remote sensing. (6/17)

Next NASA Mars Mission to Serve as Pathfinder for Astronauts (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
It’s no secret that sending the first astronauts to Mars will be a monumental challenge marked with many “firsts.” Given that NASA hasn’t launched a manned mission beyond low-Earth orbit in 47 years – crews will need a guide to show them the way. Enter the next rover the U.S. space agency plans to send to the Red Planet. Being designed and built at NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Mars 2020, the agency’s next robotic mission to the Red Planet, is also being directed to help pave the way for the first humans to visit Mars.

Mars 2020 is an automated mission, one of its goals will include stepping stones for making a human landing on Mars safer, more sustainable, and more comfortable than ever thought possible. Like a design straight out of a Walt Disney education short, the Mars 2020 rover will feature a remote sensing mast. The mast stands over seven feet in height (2.2 meters), and will be used primarily for the extension of engineering cameras after being deployed shortly after touchdown. (6/17)

How NASA Contributed to the Cinematography of ‘Barry Lyndon’ (Source: Film School Rejects)
In their quest to photograph the dark side of the moon, NASA commissioned ten Planar 50mm f/0.7 still lenses from the German optical manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG. When Kubrick learned of their existence, he purchased three for himself as well as a Mitchell BNC camera. The director did not rent equipment. Since these lenses were designed for still photography, the motion picture camera demanded somewhat severe modification. Trusted technical wizard Ed DiGiulio was charged with grounding down the lens mounts because of the extreme size of the rear element that needed to be positioned only 4mm from the film plane. After hacking away and removing whole chunks from the Mitchell, DiGulio accomplished a miracle of sorts.

Then came a new problem. The NASA lenses had almost no depth of field which meant that focus had to be exact or all figures would be blurry. Within ten feet of the camera, Alcott marked distances to the exact inch. To keep track of these measurements, focus puller Douglas Milsome used CCTV to record and monitor the distances. The video camera was positioned at a 90-degree angle to the movie camera, filming the actors in profile. On his TV screen, Milsome placed a grid in which he could document how much a performer had shifted in the scene. This method allowed a little flexibility of movement while maintaining focus. (6/9)

Naming Apollo: Why NASA Chooses Greek Gods as Names (Source: Astronomy)
When NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced on May 13 that the space agency’s efforts to return to the Moon would be named the Artemis program, it seemed an obvious choice. The goddess Artemis was heavily associated with our natural satellite, and she’s also the twin of Apollo, whose moniker graced NASA’s first round of lunar missions. But where did the Apollo program’s name come from in the first place? The answer is equal parts history, tradition, mythological symbolism, and sounding cool.

To be clear, there’s no master plan for all this. “Names given to spaceflight projects and programs have originated from no single source or method,” write Helen Wells, Susan Whiteley and Carrie Karegeannes in the preface to their 1976 book, Origins of NASA Names. History, folklore, and simple acronyms have also inspired the agency’s official epithets.

But Apollo and Mercury specifically were the brainchild of one man: Abe Silverstein. Trained as a mechanical engineer, he ended up working two decades at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) improving planes and jets, designing wind tunnels and fuel systems, among other things. Then, in 1958, when NACA basically turned into NASA, he helped lead the transformation, and Silverstein emerged as the space agency’s director of spaceflight development. (5/31)

Womankind's Giant Leap: Who Will Be the First Female Moonwalker? (Source: Phys.org)
Who will take the giant leap for womankind? More than fifty years after the end of the Apollo program, NASA plans to return to the Moon by 2024 as a "proving ground" to test the next generation of spacecraft ahead of an eventual crewed mission to Mars. The new program has been named Artemis after Apollo's twin-sister in Greek mythology, and the space agency has said that the mission will see the first woman to stride the lunar surface.

So, who will she be? No one knows for sure, but it's a likely bet the candidate will be selected from among NASA's current roster of 12 female astronauts. They're aged between 40 and 53, and are former military pilots, medical doctors and scientists who were picked from among thousands of applicants since the late 1990s. The four women of the 21st class of astronauts, recruited in 2013, represent a good mix of youth and experience. Currently between the ages of 40 and 41, they will all have made their first space forays between now and 2020. (6/15)

NASA to Partner with American Industry to Supply Artemis Moon Missions (Source: Space Daily)
In the latest step in sending astronauts to the lunar surface within five years, NASA issued a draft solicitation June 14 to industry seeking comments for a future opportunity for American companies to deliver cargo and other supplies to the Gateway in lunar orbit. The first logistics service to the orbital outpost is expected to deliver science, cargo and other supplies in support of the agency's new Artemis lunar exploration program, which includes sending the first woman and the next man to the surface of the Moon by 2024.

Last fall, NASA asked American companies for ideas on how to best supply the Gateway, which will be located in an orbit around the Moon about 250,000 miles from Earth. The Gateway will be a command and service module for missions to the lunar surface and eventually, exploration farther into the solar system. Following up on that initial request for information, today NASA published a draft solicitation for industry comments on its logistics approach, which are due July 10, 2019.

"We're asking industry to provide a spacecraft to deliver cargo and other supplies to the Gateway. It will dock to the orbital outpost, but will be responsible for generating its own power," said Marshall Smith, director, human lunar exploration programs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We're using the Moon as a proving ground for Mars to develop the technologies and systems we need for exploration farther into the solar system, so we look forward to seeing how industry responds to our upcoming solicitation, and potentially awarding multiple contracts for this lunar service." (6/17)