July 10, 2019

The Complicated Ongoing Nomination Process for DoD Leadership (Source: DoD)
When the Senate receives the president's official nomination for Acting Secretary Spencer to be the secretary of defense, he will cease to serve as the acting secretary of defense and become solely serving as the secretary of the Army. At the same time, Ryan McCarthy, the under secretary of the Army, who is currently performing the duties of the secretary of the Army while Dr. Esper is acting secretary of defense, will solely serve as the under secretary of the Army.

So very simply, what will happen is, the White House will send a formal nomination to the Senate.  The Senate will receive it.  Acting Secretary Esper will step out of his role as the acting secretary of defense and revert to his role as secretary of the Army.  He's physically going to move offices, so he's going to move from where he currently is in the secretary of defense's office, go back to his office over in the Army.

And Under Secretary McCarthy, who's currently performing the duties of secretary of the Army because Secretary Esper fleeted up to be the acting secretary of defense, will just revert back to being the under secretary of the Army.  Concurrently, as outlined in Executive Order 13533, aptly titled, "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Defense," dated March 1, 2010, the secretary of the Navy, who's the next in line for succession, who is Richard Spencer at this time -- he will become the acting secretary of defense.  (7/9)

Why a Japanese Billionaire Wants to Send Artists to the Moon (Source: CNN)
Astronauts are mostly cut from the same cloth: scientists or military pilots who the US government deemed to have the proverbial "right stuff." But Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has different ideas about who the next moon travelers should be. "What I want to do is show the people of Earth just how beautiful our planet is by taking artists up there, so that they can convey that beauty to the world," he told CNN in an exclusive interview. His quotes have been translated from Japanese.

Ten months ago, Maesawa announced he would spend untold amounts of money to reserve a flight aboard a gargantuan launch vehicle still under development by SpaceX. (The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.) The mission, which SpaceX tentatively scheduled for as soon as 2023, would take Maezawa on a slingshot trip around the moon. Through six decades of human space travel access to orbit has, with a few exceptions, been relegated to highly trained astronauts. But Maezawa declared he would find six to eight artists to join him -- people, he said, who could communicate their experiences to the masses in new ways. He calls the project "Dear Moon."

There are, of course, no guarantees Maezawa's "Dear Moon" mission will ever take flight. SpaceX has notched dozens of successful uncrewed launches, but the giant rocket the company is building for deep-space missions, called Starship, is still in the very early stages of development and is expected to be hugely expensive. SpaceX has even acknowledged such risky undertakings have bankrupted other companies. Maesawa is aware some people think his idea is crazy or that it will never happen, but he brushes off the detractors: "I don't think anything innovative is going to come from doing things that everybody understands and approves of." (7/10)

White House Challenges HASC Space Corps Language, Strongly Objects to Space Launch Provisions in NDAA (Source: Space News)
The White House on Tuesday issued a long list of objections to the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. The bill is headed for a debate on the House floor this week amid concerns that there might not be enough votes to pass it. The Senate already passed its version the NDAA June 27. The biggest difference between the House and Senate versions is the top line funding for defense. The HASC is proposing $733 billion while the Senate wants $750 billion.

In a 10-page “Statement of Administration Policy” the White House threatens to veto the NDAA if it includes the lower funding line. It also criticizes H.R. 2500 (the HASC version of the NDAA) for including a number of provisions that “raise deep concerns.” On the National Security Space Launch program, the administration “strongly objects” to HASC language “as it would increase mission risk for the nation’s national security satellites.” (7/9)

Virgin Galactic Projects Rapid Growth and Profitability After Going Public (Source: Space News)
With an $800 million infusion thanks to a merger with a public investment vehicle, Virgin Galactic expects to rapidly build up commercial operations and be profitable as soon as 2021. Virgin Galactic announced a merger July 9 with Social Capital Hedosophia (SCH), a special purpose acquisition company, whereby SCH will take a 49 percent stake in the merged company. That deal will allow Virgin Galactic to become publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares in SCH are currently listed.

George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, said the merger with SCH allowed the company to gain the benefits of an initial public offering (IPO) of stock with less expense. A special purpose acquisition company is an entity that raises money for the express purpose of acquiring a company, usually within a limited timeframe. (7/9)

FCC to Introduce New Simplified Licensing Regulations for Smallsats (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission released the draft text of new regulations this week meant to streamline licensing procedures for small satellites. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the regulations will make licensing small satellites cheaper and faster in order to better match cost and pace at which smallsat operators often function. The streamlined regulations, as proposed, will apply to satellites 180 kilograms or less. The maximum design life for applicable satellites is six years or less, and they will also need to have the ability to “quickly” deorbit if they lose contact with ground control, he said. (7/9)

What If Life Did Not Originate on Earth? (Source: New Yorker)
For almost seven years, nasa’s Curiosity rover has been exploring the terrain of Mars. Two weeks ago, it made a stunning discovery: relatively large concentrations of methane gas. The rover also found methane in 2013, but the readings recorded this month—approximately twenty-one parts per billion—were about three times as concentrated. The reason this news registered among scientists is that methane is often a sign of life; although the gas can be produced by various chemical reactions, most of it comes from animate beings. Does this mean that we are on the verge of discovering life on Mars, and, if so, what kind of life is it likely to be? Click here. (7/10)

Discovering Exoplanets With Gravitational Waves (Source: Phys.org)
In the past two decades, the knowledge of exoplanets has grown significantly, and more than 4000 planets orbiting a large variety of stars have been discovered. Up to now, the techniques used to find and characterize these systems are based on electromagnetic radiation and are limited to the solar neighborhood and some parts of the galaxy.

Researchers show how these limitations may be overcome by gravitational-wave astronomy. "We propose a method which uses gravitational waves to find exoplanets that orbit binary white dwarf stars," says Nicola Tamanini. White dwarfs are very old and small remnants of stars once similar to the sun. "LISA will measure gravitational waves from thousands of white dwarf binaries. When a planet is orbiting such a pair of white dwarfs, the observed gravitational-wave pattern will look different compared to the one of a binary without a planet. This characteristic change in the gravitational waveforms will enable us to discover exoplanets." (7/10)

Can We Deflect a Killer Asteroid? (Source: RT America)
NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies has detected 1,120 Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) so far this year. RT America’s Trinity Chavez reports for the News with Rick Sanchez on the likelihood of Earth being struck by one of these objects. She also discusses known asteroids that are particularly worrisome to astronomers and how humankind might hope to prevent such a catastrophic scenario. Click here. (7/8)

Satellite Imagery Can Now Be Used to Predict When Bridges Might Collapse (Source: Gizmodo)
Satellite images can make it easier to get around when you’re using apps like Google Maps, but researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the UK’s University of Bath believe advanced satellite imagery can also be used for a more critical purpose: analyzing structures like bridges for tiny movements that could be signs of potential collapse.

When it comes to infrastructure projects like bridges, cities and municipalities strive to conduct regular inspections and perform preventative maintenance. This upkeep, however, requires major investments of both materials and manpower, and quite often structures fall by the wayside until something catastrophic happens. (7/10)

SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy Rocket Needs a Launch Pad and Work is Already Starting (Source: Teslarati)
According to SpaceX job posts published early this month, the company has already begun the process of looking for the engineer or engineers that will be responsible for preparing both Starship/Super Heavy and its prospective pad facilities for the rocket’s inaugural launches. Per one of those posts, Starship/Super Heavy’s “initial launch capability” will be achieved at Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A (also known as Pad 39A), a facility SpaceX has leased since 2014 and launched from since 2017.

Originally constructed in the 1960s to support Saturn V, the largest operational US rocket ever built, Pad 39A spent another three decades supporting dozens of Shuttle launches until the latter was also retired, after which SpaceX took over the historic facility. Although SpaceX has specifically discussed plans to ultimately turn its South Texas outpost into a full-fledged orbital launch site, that will be an extremely slow and expensive endeavor and Pad 39A makes sense for several reasons.

According to SpaceX VP of Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller, “the goal is to get orbital as quickly as possible, potentially even this year, with the full stack operational by the end of next year and then customers in early 2021.” In short, Starship and Super Heavy-compatible launch facilities are going to be needed at 39A (and, eventually, Boca Chica) far sooner than later. Even if it’s likely that the vehicle development will suffer delays that could push Starship’s orbital launch debut into 2021 or beyond, launch pad design and construction is challenging and slow but still fairly predictable. (7/8)

Robotic SpaceX Cargo Mission Could Aid Space Settlement (Source: Space.com)
The next SpaceX mission to the International Space Station (ISS) may be uncrewed, but it could nonetheless eventually help humanity extend its footprint far beyond low Earth orbit. The company's Dragon cargo capsule is scheduled to launch toward the ISS atop a Falcon 9 rocket on July 21 from Florida. In addition to food, water and other supplies, Dragon will be toting 2,500 lbs. (1,135 kilograms) of science gear, which will enable 47 separate experiments, NASA officials said.

A fair number of these payloads have a distinct space-settlement flavor. For example, the BioRocks experiment will investigate how microbes interact with rocks in a low-gravity environment, potentially paving the way for "biomining" on the moon and Mars. (Much mining here on Earth already employs microbial helpers.) (7/10)

Women are Less Supportive of Space Exploration – Getting a Woman on the Moon Might Change That (Source: The Conversation)
There continues to be a gender gap in support for space exploration. Since 1973, the General Social Survey, a now biannual, representative public opinion survey of Americans, has asked respondents whether they believe spending on the space exploration program is too much, about right, or too little. Looking at the percentages of people who respond “too little,” we can assume that if they would like to see more funding, they also support a more expansive space exploration program.

The data show that there is an average gap of over 10 points between the percentages of men and women who support more funding. The gap has fluctuated over time: In 1974, there was only a 6.8 percentage point difference while in 1988, the gap reached 19.7 percentage points. In 2016, the gap sat at 9.7.

For Artemis to succeed in getting the first woman to the Moon by 2024, a lot of political and public support will be required. But a recent AP-NORC poll found there is not a lot of enthusiasm for going back to the Moon. Only 42% of the 1,137 respondents supported the idea, 20% opposed it, and 38% didn’t care either way. NASA’s efforts to reach out to women should help them garner support, but it is by no means guaranteed. (7/9)

Polish Startup's Smallsats Reach Orbit (Source: Space News)
A Polish startup has placed its first two smallsats into orbit. SatRevolution successfully deployed its first two nanosats, Swiatowid and KRAKsat, into orbit from the International Space Station July 3. The company says the deployment, carried out by NanoRacks, marks the beginning of its initiative to place some 1,024 nanosats into orbit by 2026 as part of its Real-time Earth-observation Constellation project. The company says that constellation will ultimately be able to image the Earth in "close to real time." (7/10)

Solar Sail Yet to Unfurl (Source: Planetary Society)
The Planetary Society is holding off on deploying a solar sail on a new satellite while it performs additional tests. The organization said Tuesday that engineers decided to conduct additional tests of the LightSail 2 spacecraft and possibly update its flight control software before attempting to deploy its solar sail. That deployment is now scheduled for no earlier than July 21. LightSail 2 launched on a Falcon Heavy mission last month and was released from another satellite last week. (7/10)

Amazon Plans Nationwide Broadband—with Both Home and Mobile Service (Source: Ars Technica)
Amazon is seeking government permission to launch 3,236 broadband satellites that would cover nearly all of the United States and much of the rest of the world. Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems filed its application with the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday last week, saying it intends to cover all of the US except most of Alaska.

"The Kuiper System covers the area between 56°N and 56°S latitudes," the Amazon subsidiary told the FCC. "Accordingly, customers throughout [the] continental US, Hawaii, and all US territories will have access to Kuiper System services. So too will customers in many other countries within the coverage area. The Kuiper System will not provide FSS [fixed-satellite service] in the majority of Alaska, however, because the state's high latitude is outside of the coverage area."

Even if the network covers the whole continental US, it could be most popular in areas that lack cable or fiber access. Amazon said in April that Kuiper's focus is on unserved and underserved parts of the world. "This is a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband Internet," Amazon said at the time, adding that it intends to offer broadband service through partnerships with other companies. Amazon's satellite plan isn't solely for residential and business Internet—it's also for mobile access. (7/8)

One Giant ... Lie? Why So Many People Still Think the Moon Landings Were Faked (Source: Guardian)
It took 400,000 NASA employees and contractors to put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 – but only one man to spread the idea that it was all a hoax. His name was Bill Kaysing. It began as “a hunch, an intuition”, before turning into “a true conviction” – that the US lacked the technical prowess to make it to the moon (or, at least, to the moon and back).

Kaysing had actually contributed to the US space program, albeit tenuously: between 1956 and 1963, he was an employee of Rocketdyne, a company that helped to design the Saturn V rocket engines. In 1976, he self-published a pamphlet called We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle, which sought evidence for his conviction by means of grainy photocopies and ludicrous theories. Yet somehow he established a few perennials that are kept alive to this day in Hollywood movies and Fox News documentaries, Reddit forums and YouTube channels.

Despite the extraordinary volume of evidence (including 382kg of moon rock collected across six missions; corroboration from Russia, Japan and China; and images from the Nasa Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing the tracks made by the astronauts in the moondust), belief in the moon-hoax conspiracy has blossomed since 1969. Among 9/11 truthers, anti-vaxxers, chemtrailers, flat-Earthers, Holocaust deniers and Sandy Hook conspiracists, the idea that the moon landings were faked isn’t even a source of anger any more – it is just a given fact. (7/10)

Buzz Aldrin is Looking Forward, Not Back—and He Has a Plan to Bring NASA Along (Source: Ars Technica)
Just after Memorial Day this year, I began talking regularly with the pilot of the first spacecraft to land on the Moon. We had spoken before, but this was different—it seemed urgent. Every week or two, Buzz Aldrin would call to discuss his frustration with the state of NASA and his concerns about the looming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing without a lack of discernible progress to get back.

“I’ve been going over this in my mind,” Aldrin told Ars “We’ve been fumbling around for a long, long time. There has to be a better way of doing things. And I think I’ve found it.” He realizes that, with a big Apollo anniversary on July 20, this may be one of his last chances to change things. You only hit a Golden Anniversary once, and then it’s gone. And soon, pretty quickly, so are you. So Buzz Aldrin would like to grab the spotlight at this moment, and in the process he hopes to finally get NASA moving forward. He wants NASA to stop trying to repeat the Apollo program of yesteryear and embrace the future of spaceflight. Click here. (7/9)

Could NASA Build the Famous Saturn V Today? It's Working on It, With a Twist (Source: Space.com)
The last Saturn V launch was in 1975, to heft the Skylab space station into orbit. As NASA aims to bring its astronauts to the moon's surface in 2024, could we build that same rocket today? NASA's modern-day answer is the Space Launch System (SLS), a behemoth booster that has been criticized repeatedly for launch delays — it was first supposed to fly in December 2017, which now could be pushed to 2020 or later — while costing more than $10 billion.

"It's a lot late and a lot over budget; it's far from a burning success at this point," Mike Neufeld, a senior curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's space history department whose research focuses on rockets, told Space.com. These are fair criticisms — NASA has blown its own first launch target dates repeatedly, and Ars Technica reports that an advanced version of SLS is under budget threat — but there are other reasons that the SLS is running late. A key one is that the vehicle is more complicated than any previous rocket, said John Blevins, SLS deputy chief engineer.

The Saturn V was imagined as a one-destination rocket, but that's not the case for SLS, which has made its design process more complex. For example, the material that lines its inner tanks is "much beefier than it needs to be" for the rocket's first robotic mission to the moon, Blevins said, because SLS will eventually send spacecraft elsewhere. It's a rocket that could ferry astronauts to asteroids or to Mars, depending on government priorities. The SLS could launch a massive Mars sample-return mission. (7/9)

SpaceX’s Attempts to Buy Bigger Falcon Fairings Foiled by RUAG’s ULA Relations (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX recently approached global aerospace supplier RUAG with the intention of procuring a new, larger payload fairing for its Falcon 9 and Heavy rockets. RUAG is a prolific supplier of rocket fairings, spacecraft deployment mechanisms, and other miscellaneous subassemblies and components, and ULA has relied on RUAG for fairings and various other composites work for its Atlas V, Delta IV, and (soon) Vulcan launch vehicles.

According to SpaceNews, that close relationship with ULA forced RUAG to turn SpaceX away, owing to ULA’s argument that the specific fairing technology SpaceX was pursuing is ULA’s intellectual property. The ramifications of this development are not earthshaking but they’re still worth exploring.

Update: A more recent report by SpaceNews seemingly revealed that RUAG has no such exclusivity or IP agreement with ULA. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that the reality is probably somewhere in between RUAG’s official statement and the more incendiary information that preceded it. As a commercial entity, RUAG is in no way obligated to supply hardware or services to any prospective buyer, and the political and economic ties between ULA and RUAG are likely more influential than public statements will ever acknowledge. (7/10)

There’s Something Very Odd About This Story of a Fre at a SpaceX Facility in Florida (Source: BGR)
A fire at a SpaceX prototyping facility on Monday did as much as $100,000 in damage, according to reports from local news sources and agencies quoting fire department estimates. The fire, which occurred at SpaceX location in Cocoa, Florida, is interesting in its own right, but the initial report actually raises more questions than it answers. SpaceX spokesperson James Gleeson and Cocoa city spokesperson Yvonne Martinez noted that fire crews initially placed the estimate for damages at a whopping $650,000, but walked back that number after learning that the fire that broke out on Monday wasn’t the first fire at the facility.

“Martinez said the fire department estimates about $50,000 to $100,000 in damages were sustained by the shipping container and equipment inside, as well as the adjacent building. Crews had estimated $650,000 early on, but that was due to previous damages caused by another fire at some point." (7/9)