June 8, 2019

A House Divided, or in This Case, a Rocket (Source: Space News)
The war between advocates of a government-run human space program in the Apollo mode and those who want a more diverse, semi-commercialized effort has bogged down into a classic war of attrition. Resources are split. Both sides are falling far short of their near-term goals. Neither side has given up, and they relentlessly snipe at each other and fight for small scraps of political and financial ground. The space community has been a house divided for most of a decade. Why is it so difficult to resolve this conflict?

Most likely, it is because it is tied to a wider conflict in our society. At first blush, there is no obvious connection to our nation’s ongoing cultural wars, or with “conservative” versus “liberal” economic principles. In fact, on human spaceflight, many liberals are on the side of commercialization, while many conservatives push for top-down government management of our human space program. This war, however, does bear on a key national concern: jobs.

Both strategies will create jobs, but they stand to be different kinds of jobs in different parts of the country. If SLS were canceled, many of the civil service and contractor employees building it may have great trouble finding new jobs that pay what they are used to. SLS indecision feeds directly into the national angst that led to the job-protecting presidential campaigns of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. To put this in perspective, a single year of SLS and Orion development is more than three times what it cost NASA under COTS to help Orbital ATK and SpaceX develop two medium-class launchers, an automated reusable capsule, and a disposable freighter. (6/7)

Trump Chides NASA for Focus on Moon After Focusing NASA on Moon (Source: Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump criticized NASA on Friday for focusing on travel to the moon, raising questions about the space agency’s mandate just months after his administration declared the U.S. would return astronauts to the moon within five years “by any means necessary.” The president’s tweet followed an announcement by NASA that it would allow private citizens to travel to the International Space Station and open some facilities to businesses to help pay for the plan to return to the moon. But his remarks stood in contrast to his previous directive that NASA return astronauts to the moon by 2025.

It’s unclear when the president decided NASA shouldn’t focus on the moon. Less than a month ago, Trump reiterated his enthusiasm for the plan in a tweet: “Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!” And just last week, during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said: “We’ll be going to the moon. We’ll be going to Mars very soon. It’s very exciting. And from a military standpoint, there is nothing more important right now than space.” (6/8)

White House Reiterates Human Moon Missions on the Path to Mars (Source: Space News)
A day after President Trump appeared to cast doubt on NASA’s plans to send humans to the moon, a White House official said the moon remained a goal of the agency’s programs as a step towards Mars. Scott Pace, executive secretary of the National Space Council, said that efforts to return humans to the lunar surface by 2024 were ongoing, but that NASA and the administration should devote more attention to long-term aspirations of human Mars missions.

Pace was scheduled to speak at the conference long before President Trump’s comments in a June 7 tweet that appeared to criticize current plans. Pace didn’t address the tweet in his prepared remarks, but when asked about the tweet, referred to a statement by a White House official June 7 noting that Mars was a long-term goal of NASA’s human spaceflight efforts. “We have asked Congress for additional resources to get to the Moon by 2024, which will enable us to get to Mars roughly a decade after creating a sustainable presence on the lunar surface,” the official said on background.

Pace said that the president’s comments was a criticism not of going back to the moon but rather not paying more attention to that long-term goal. “We’re head down, coloring hard, working on the immediate execution of this,” he said, such as development of the elements of the lunar Gateway or lunar landers. “I don’t think we always do a good job speaking to the larger vision that this is part of,” he said. Also, NASA's administrator tweeted: "As @POTUS said, @NASA is using the Moon to send humans to Mars! Right now, @MarsCuriosity and @NASAInSight are on Mars and will soon be joined by the Mars 2020 rover and the Mars helicopter." (6/8)

NASA Selects Houston Spaceport Partner Intuitive Machines for Robotic Return to the Moon in 2021 (Source: MarketScreener)
- The first company based at the Houston Spaceport's location at Ellington Airport on a path to become one of the first private U.S. company to land a spacecraft on the moon. Intuitive Machines -- the first company based at the Houston Spaceport's location at Ellington Airport -- will join NASA's new era of lunar exploration with a robotic landing on the moon in 2021, under a contract award announced May 31, 2019, by NASA.

"On the cusp of the groundbreaking for the expanded plans for Phase 1 development at the Houston Spaceport, we are thrilled to see Intuitive Machines earn this ground-breaking opportunity with NASA," said Houston Aviation Director Mario C. Diaz. "We envision the Spaceport as an incubator, a place where innovation and new ideas are nurtured, and will produce the new ideas and new technologies that will drive the future of commercial space travel. Intuitive Machines is a valued partner and a prime example of those pioneering ideas that will take us back to the moon." (6/6)

Getting to the Moon Takes Practice — On a Giant Machine in Mountain View CA (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
The moon’s surface loomed close on the lunar lander’s two video screens as NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine toggled the craft’s controls back and forth to line it up with a superimposed target. Bridenstine, an experienced Navy jet pilot, was taking a few special guests, including U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, on rides in NASA’s moon landing simulator at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

The Vertical Motion Simulator, known at the acronym-loving space agency as the VMS, is going to be getting a lot of use over the next few years. On Friday, NASA awarded more than $250 million in contracts to three companies to deliver science and technology payloads to the moon in 2020 and 2021, and the VMS will be used in tests of the new landers. (6/4)

Ex-Im Bank Advocates Push for 10-Year Authorizations (Source: Space News)
Supporters of the Export-Import Bank of the United States told Congress June 4 that the bank’s charter should last 10 years before requiring reauthorization instead of the three to five years normally allotted. Some of those supporters, speaking at a House Financial Services Committee hearing, also voiced a desire to see rules changed so that Ex-Im Bank isn’t limited to financing deals under $10 million, which happens absent a full board of directors.

Congress reauthorized the bank in 2015 five months after its charter lapsed but didn’t approve until last month the minimum number of board members required to constitute a quorum. Without the quorum, the bank was largely unable to support satellite and launch transactions that the space industry had grown accustomed to making with export credit assistance. (6/7)

Hawaiian Plant Growth System Tested in North Dakota Mars Hab Simulator (Source: UH)
An award-winning autonomous hydroponic growing system called Box Farm, designed and built by engineering students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was successfully tested at the NASA-funded Inflatable Lunar-Mars Habitat at the University of North Dakota (UND) in May. “Because this system is a proof-of-concept prototype, we want to prove the individual tasks it can do,” said Preston Tran, the project’s team leader who graduated from UH Manoa in May. “Once it’s been proven, the system can be expanded to take care of hundreds or thousands of plants.”

The Box Farm team says the system will cut down on manual labor and increase the productivity of crews in space or on Earth. “I think this is the future,” said de León. “I’m not one of those people that thinks robots or humans. I think there will be a collaboration between robotic systems and human systems for the future exploration of space and this is an example of that.” (6/2)

Navy Removes 'Space' From Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (Source: Space Daily)
The U.S. Navy has removed "space" from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and added "information" in a rebranding effort that emphasizes information warfare. The agency's new name is the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command. Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, announced the immediate name change Monday at the Information Warfare Senior Leadership Symposium in Washington, D.C.

"We have been on a steady drumbeat since the issuance of the Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority to further normalize information warfare into the way we do operations and warfighting in the Navy," Richardson said. "Today, we will take an important step in that direction as we rename the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command. This new name more accurately describes the full totality of the mission, supporting naval warfare -- from seabed to space." (6/4)

Highest CO2 Levels in Human History Recorded in Hawaii (Source: Space Daily)
The highest carbon dioxide concentration levels in human history have been recorded at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. During the month of May, CO2 levels averaged 414.8 parts per million -- levels not present on Earth in millions of years. CO2 levels typically peak on Mauna Loa around this time of year, but carbon dioxide levels have increased consistently during the past few decades. This year's peak was 3.5 parts per million higher than last year's apex of 411.3 parts per million.

Climate scientists agree that increases in atmospheric CO2, the result of the burning of oil, gas and other fossil fuels, is to blame for rising global temperatures. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant greenhouse gas, but the levels of other planet-warming gases like methane are also rising. NOAA tracks many of them. (6/4)

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Begins Final Testing Phase Before 2020 Mission (Source: Tech Crunch)
NASA’s Mars  Helicopter will be a key experimental craft when it comes to shaping what humanity’s future exploring the Red Planet looks like — when it launches aboard NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, it’ll head to Mars with the aim of testing the viability of flying heavier-than-air vehicles through another world’s atmosphere. After passing its most recent volley of tests, it’s now moving into the final stages of preparation ahead of the target July 2020 Mars launch.

The four-pound, autonomous test helicopter will be carried above the Mars 2020 rover during the flight to the planet, and will be deployed once the rover sets down in Mars’ Jezero Crater, on the target date of February 18, 2021, after its multi-month trip from Earth. The helicopter has a camera on board, as well as a solar panel to provide power. This version doesn’t have any other kinds of sensors or scientific instruments on board, but that’s because its entire reason for being is to determine whether or not a Mars drone is even a viable proposition. (6/7)

NASA Opens ISS to Private Astronauts, More Space Companies (Source: Axios)
NASA is moving to expand its privatization of the International Space Station and bring more commercial activities to low-Earth orbit, freeing up the space agency to focus on returning to the moon by 2024 and ultimately proceeding to Mars, the agency announced. NASA believes that its resources would be better used with deep space missions. By moving into a customer role in Earth’s orbit instead of providing services, it could free the agency up for more of that cutting-edge exploration.

Under the new rules, paying tourists could gain access to the Space Station, but it's more squarely aimed at people and companies seeking to take advantage of low-Earth orbit to conduct research. Other space companies, like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, are more aggressively carving up the market for wealthy space tourists. NASA initially plans to make available 5% of its annual crew resources and cargo capability, including 90 hours of crew time and 175 kilograms of cargo launch capability, to private ventures.

However, per an agency press release, the agency will limit the amount given to any one company. NASA will soon allow private astronaut missions of up to 30 days in duration, provided the missions meet new requirements. The agency doesn't anticipate turning the ISS over to private sector astronauts any time soon, instead starting out with a goal of up to two short-duration private astronaut flights per year. (6/7)

Roscosmos Chief Hopes US Will Keep Using Russian Rocket  (Source: TASS)
Russia hopes that the United States will continue to use Russian space rocket engines, the chief of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said. "I hope that US customers will continue to use our engines. For us this means not just an influx of currency that we invest in our advanced engine manufacturing industry. It is also important for us as an example of how amid the harshest sanctions the country that initiated these sanctions keeps purchasing Russia’s high-tech products.

This testifies to the high quality of Russia’s engine manufacturing industry," he said. NPO Energomash provides its RD-180 engine for the United States’ Atlas III and Atlas V rockets and RD-181 engine for Antares rockets. Both contracts expire at the end of 2019. (6/7)

Russia to Create New Satellite grouping Constellation for Internet of Things (IOT) (Source: TASS)
Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos will deploy a new grouping of Gonets-2 satellites for the Internet of things, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said. "We are deploying a new Gonets-2 grouping… This will be the Internet of things. This system is capable of promptly transmitting information from ground sensors," the Roscosmos chief said.

Sensors will be installed on the ground, in particular, on dams, bridges and railways. If their condition deviates from the norm, the sensors will transmit a signal to Earth’s remote sensing satellites within the Gosudarevo Oko (Sovereign’s Eye) system, which will start monitoring a particular facility and involve additional resources for re-transmitting the signal," Rogozin explained. (6/7)

Houston Spaceport Groundbreaking, First Company Tenant Expected Within Weeks (Source: Houston Public Media)
The Houston Airport System received a commercial spaceport license from the Federal Aviation Administration on June 30, 2015. The groundbreaking for the first phase of infrastructure construction is scheduled for almost exactly four years later, on June 28. The Houston City Council last October approved $18.8 million to build streets and water and electricity infrastructure on the southeast side of Ellington Airport.

Completion is expected in May 2020, said Arturo Machuca, general manager for Ellington and the Houston Spaceport. And, he said, there’s more good news for the project. “I am pretty hopeful that also we are within weeks from making a large announcement connected to a company that will be serving as our anchor tenant,” Machuca said. The vision is for commercial space companies to have aircraft take off from the Houston Spaceport and fly into space over the Gulf of Mexico. (6/6)

How Jim Bridenstine Recruited an Old Enemy [Former FL Sen. Bill Nelson] to Advise NASA (Source: The Hill)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has appointed former Florida US Sentator Bill Nelson to the NASA Advisory Committee. The committee is a panel of outside experts that offers helpful suggestions for the space agency. Members serve at the pleasure of the NASA administrator. Anyone who knows the back story of Bridenstine and former Sen. Nelson would find this development remarkable. When Bridenstine was first nominated for the post of administrator of NASA, Nelson, then the senior senator from Florida, led a full-throated campaign to derail that appointment.

The NASA administrator has shown a rare greatness in a former politician by recruiting the man who worked so diligently to block his nomination, to get America back to the moon. Bridenstine even referred to Nelson as an “astronaut,” harkening back to when the then-congressman from Florida used his political connections to get a shuttle mission. In the meantime, Nelson’s appointment to the NASA Advisory Committee is garnering universal praise, not the least from Bridenstine’s predecessor, Charles Bolden. (6/7)

Safety Panel Doubles Down on Need for SLS 'Green Run' Test (Source: Space Policy Online)
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) reiterated today that it views the Green Run test for the Space Launch System (SLS) as “critical” from a safety and mission assurance standpoint. NASA continues to debate whether the test can be skipped to speed up the program and get the first launch off the pad in 2020. The head of NASA’s human spaceflight program said last week that NASA’s internal recommendation is to do the test, but a decision has not been made.

The SLS Green Run test will take place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the only place that has a test stand large enough to hold the core stage outfitted with all four of its RS-25 engines. The plan is to fire all four engines for 8 minutes, the full duration they would fire during an actual launch. It will take several months to get the core stage ready for the test once it arrives at Stennis, so the test is time consuming and expensive, but the resulting data will reduce the technical risk of a problem cropping up during an actual launch.

Indications that NASA was considering skipping the test and relying instead of data from a much shorter (seconds instead of minutes) engine firing on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center began circulating in March after Boeing informed NASA that the first flight would be delayed again. Originally promised for November 2018, it already had slipped to a December 2019-June 2020 timeframe and now was slipping into 2021. (6/6)

International Competition: U.S. Not Alone in Setting Sights on Return to Lunar Surface (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Just this year, two countries already have tried to leave their mark on the moon. In January, China successfully put a lander on the far side of the moon — a first for humankind — to study the topography and mineralogy of this unexplored area and do an astronomical study of the surface. And then in April, Israel tried to land a probe on the surface. Even countries such as India, Japan and North Korea have plans for heading to the moon, whether it be putting their first probe there or going big with a human mission. Click here. (6/6)

SpaceX’s Win on Welder’s Sex Harassment, Other Claims Upheld (Source: Bloomberg)
A female SpaceX welder can’t undo a California jury’s rejection of her job bias claims, including that male co-workers sexually harassed her, a state appeals court ruled. Zhoei Teasley failed to establish that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. shouldn’t have been allowed to show the jury a video of her in a bikini performing her body building competition routine, the California Court of Appeal said June 5. Teasley frequently shared videos and photos of her workouts on social media. (6/6)

Bezos: Blue Origin is Going to the Moon to ‘Save the Earth’ (Source: Venture Beat)
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said his other company, Blue Origin, is going to the moon to “save the Earth.” The idea is that moving more of humanity into space could be part of a long-term strategy to protect the Earth.

“To do big things in space, we need to use in-space resources, and so the moon is great. The reason we go to space, in my view, is to save the Earth. [If] we are going to continue to grow this civilization, we need the moon,” he said. “I’m talking about something that our grandchildren will work on and have their grandchildren work on, and so on. This isn’t something that this generation is going to accomplish, but we need to move heavy industry off Earth. It will be better done in space anyway. It will be way easier in space, and Earth will be zoned residential and flight industry.” (6/6)

Raytheon, United Technologies in Talks to Merge (Source: New York Times)
United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon Co. are in talks to combine in an all-stock deal that would create a giant in the aerospace and defense industries, according to a person familiar with the matter. The companies, which together have a market value of roughly $166 billion, could announce a deal in the coming days assuming talks don’t fall apart at the last minute, the person said. (6/8)