July 4, 2019

Northrop Grumman to Build Two Triple-Payload Satellites for Norway, SpaceX to Launch (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman will build two satellites for Space Norway, each equipped with payloads for Inmarsat, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, and the U.S. Air Force. Space Norway announced the purchase July 3, having downselected between Northrop Grumman and an unnamed, competing U.S. satellite manufacturer. SpaceX will launch both satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket in late 2022, Space Norway said.

The satellites form the core of the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission — a two-satellite system designed to operate in highly elliptical orbits so they can enable broadband connectivity at latitudes beyond where geostationary satellites can reach. Whereas geostationary satellites provide coverage from over the equator, the ASBM satellites will use their unique orbits to cover the Arctic Circle, specifically 65-degrees north and above. (7/3)

Startup’s Plan to Deliver Baby in Space Halted Over ‘Serious Ethical, Safety and Medical Concerns’ (Source: The Verge)
Netherlands-based startup SpaceLife Origin’s mission to become the “first company that will make human reproduction in space safely possible” has been put on pause. CEO Kees Mulder says serious “ethical, safety and medical concerns” with two of SpaceLife Origin’s planned missions have caused him to pull back and reevaluate the idea, which was announced in October. He also says the time frame and business model for those missions are “not realistic,” and tells The Verge the company is “on hold.”

Mulder’s statements were posted to SpaceLife Origin’s website on June 20th, 2019, and they have replaced all other content on the website. Mulder also wrote that, “due to a serious and unrepairable breach of trust,” he has “ended [his] relationship” with SpaceLife Origin co-founder Egbert Edelbroek. He did not explain the alleged breach of trust. (7/3)

Russia Pressing Forward on ISS Expansion (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Russia is working towards the future expansion of its segment of the International Space Station. Although major additions to the United States’ segment have mostly ceased following the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, Russian segment expansion is set to restart as early as the middle of next year. Since the ISS program started in the 1990s, Russia has intended to expand its segment of the ISS from its current configuration. The first proposed module was the Science Power Platform – also known as the NEP – designed for the canceled Mir 2 space station.

The NEP would have consisted of two parts – a small pressurized module, and a truss with solar arrays, radiators and a robotic arm. The eight solar arrays would have generated enough power to end the Russian segment’s partial-reliance on the United States segment’s solar arrays. NEP was cancelled in 2004. Nauka – also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module – was to be built from the unfinished backup for the existing Zarya module, containing the main Russian science and research modules. The launch date for Nauka has been plagued with delays, with a current date in June 2020.

After Nauka, the second new Russian module will be the Prichal node – previously known as the Uzlovoy module. Prichal is a spherical docking node featuring six docking ports – one of which will be attached to the underside of Nauka. Prichal will allow additional Soyuz and Progress spacecraft to dock to the station, along with future station modules. Prichal is scheduled to launch on a modified Progress spacecraft in December 2020. However, that is dependent on when Nauka launches. The third new Russian module is the Science-Power Module-1 – also known as SPM-1 or NEM-1. Russia began designing two NEM’s following the cancellation of the NEP. (7/3)

Earth to Mars in 100 Days: The Power of Nuclear Rockets (Source: Phys.org)
The solar system is a really big place, and it takes forever to travel from world to world with traditional chemical rockets. But one technique developed back in the 1960s might provide a way to shorten our travel times dramatically: nuclear thermal rockets. Of course, launching a rocket powered by radioactive material has its own risks, which is why you haven't seen them. But maybe their time is here.

A marble-sized ball of uranium fuel undergoes fission, releasing a tremendous amount of heat. This heats up hydrogen to almost 2,500 degrees Celsius, which is then expelled out the back of the rocket at extremely high velocity, giving the rocket two to three times the propulsion efficiency of a chemical rocket. A nuclear thermal rocket could cut the Mars transit time in half, maybe even to 100 days, which means fewer resources consumed by the astronauts, and a lower radiation load.

And there's another big benefit. The thrust of a nuclear rocket could allow missions when Earth and Mars aren't perfectly aligned. Right now, if you miss your window, you have to wait another two years, but a nuclear rocket could give you the thrust to deal with flight delays. A reactor on board would be a small source of radiation to the astronaut crew on board, this would be outweighed by the decreased flight time. Deep space itself is an enormous radiation hazard, with the constant galactic cosmic radiation damaging astronaut DNA. (7/1)

Want to Work on Rockets? Advice From the New Space Workforce (Source: ClickOrlando)
Space startups from the Space Coast to the Pacific Coast are shaping the "new space" industry, revolutionizing how rockets are manufactured and reducing the cost of getting to science and telecommunication satellites to space. Since the Apollo 11 moon landing, the space industry has transformed financially as well, with processional venture capital firms and angel investors funding new, bold ideas in spaceflight technology.

"You don’t have to come from an engineering background, you don’t have to have 10 years of space legacy in your resume or pedigree," said Monica Jan, Virgin Orbit's senior director of customer experience and strategy. "I would love to see space become more mainstream, and become more everyday. I think that’s a bit of a combination of time and capital." Click here. (7/3)

This Is How Mastering Dark Matter Could Take Us To The Stars (Source: Forbes)
Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in all of modern science. Everywhere we look on large cosmic scales — from low-mass galaxies to the largest galaxy clusters, from the cosmic microwave background to the cosmic web that traces the Universe's structure — we can see the imprints and effects of its presence. For every proton's mass worth of normal matter, there's five times as much dark matter, out-massing and out-gravitating the conventional stuff that makes up everything we've ever directly detected.

All of our past and current rockets are chemical-based, unfortunately, and that places tremendous constraints on how far we've been able to go. Instead of bringing your fuel with you, what if you collected it as you went? Typically, ideas like this involve enormous magnetic fields that funnel charged particles into some sort of "trap" in your spaceship, allowing you to put nuclei and electrons together where you can then extract energy and perform further reactions with them.

But dark matter offers a tremendous advantage over normal matter in this regard. Why? Because you don't have to do anything special to collect it. It's literally everywhere, distributed in an enormous halo surrounding and encompassing every large galaxy we know of, including the Milky Way. The second tremendous advantage comes from the progression away from chemical-based rockets and towards the idea of a perfect fuel. (7/3)

Space Weather Causes Years of Radiation Damage to Satellites Using Electric Propulsion (Source: Space Daily)
The use of electric propulsion for raising satellites into geostationary orbit can result in significant solar cell degradation according to a new study. The extended journey results in greater exposure to the damaging effects of space weather. When (solely) electric propulsion is used, it can take up to 200 days to reach the target orbit due to lower thrust. This results in satellites spending a longer time in the Van Allen belt radiation. Understanding the size of this risk is essential for commercial operators to take steps to mitigate the effects and protect their assets.

In the last four years commercial satellite missions have begun to employ the use of electric propulsion for orbit raising. Without the need to carry chemical propellant onboard, satellite size and mass can be reduced, resulting in significant cost savings. Reducing the size of satellites could make it possible to launch two spacecraft on the same rocket (almost halving the cost of launch). Alternatively, the savings in mass could be used to accommodate additional/larger payloads, enabling increased revenue or greater technical capability. (7/3)

China Sees Lunar Future, But Not Before NASA (Source: GeekWire)
Wu Ji, former director general of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ National Space Science Center, agreed that moon tourism could well be a thing in 2069. “People will go there for space holidays, and come back,” Wu said. “The staff of the hotel will work there. So that will be permanent human habitability on the moon in 50 years.”

Wu said China plans to put astronauts on the moon eventually, but he acknowledged that NASA and its partners would get there first. He pointed out that it’ll take several years for China to build its own space station in Earth orbit. “That takes a lot of effort from us,” he said. “If we add a lunar landing on the moon, it’s not impossible, but it’s something in parallel with that.” (7/3)

Brevard Students Remain Above the State Average on Standardized Test Scores (Source: Florida Today)
In the wake of tumultous negotiations over teacher pay, new standardized testing data shows Brevard students for the 2018-19 school year outperformed the state average in nearly all subjects. According to data released Monday by the Florida Department of Education, passing rates on the Florida Standards Assessments were 2 to 4% above the average in mathematics and science, and in end-of-course exams in civics and U.S. history.

Reading and writing scores for grades 3 through 10 remained 6% above the average. Across all mathematics, 64% of students grades 3 through 8 received a passing score of Level 3 or above, 3% over the state average. Passing scores in science were down slightly from last year, but remained 2 to 3% above the state average. Editor's Note: I began tracking this when at the Florida Space Research Institute. The top two counties were always Brevard and Okaloosa, both home to substantial aerospace and defense industries in support of large military and NASA programs. (7/1)

3-D Holograms Bringing Astronomy to Life (Source: Phys.org)
Scientists working on unravelling the mysteries of star cluster formation have found an innovative way of sharing their work with the general public. Taking inspiration from a 19th century magic trick, researchers from the University of Leeds have developed 3-D holograms that allow people to watch massive stars forming before their eyes. (7/1)

Artificial Gravity Breaks Free From Science Fiction (Source: Phys.org)
Artificial gravity has long been the stuff of science fiction. Picture the wheel-shaped ships from films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, imaginary craft that generate their own gravity by spinning around in space. Now, a team from CU Boulder is working to make those out-there technologies a reality. The researchers are imagining new ways to design revolving systems that might fit within a room of future space stations and even moon bases.

Astronauts could crawl into these rooms for just a few hours a day to get their daily doses of gravity. Think spa treatments, but for the effects of weightlessness. The group hopes that its work will one day help keep astronauts healthy as they venture into space, allowing humans to travel farther from Earth than ever before and stay away longer. But first, Clark's team will need to solve a problem that has plagued proponents of artificial gravity for years: motion sickness.

"Astronauts experience bone loss, muscle loss, cardiovascular deconditioning and more in space. Today, there are a series of piecemeal countermeasures to overcome these issues," said Clark, an assistant professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. "But artificial gravity is great because it can overcome all of them at once." (7/3)

IAP Worldwide Services Wins $16.3M Army Satellite Deal (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
IAP Worldwide Services Inc. won a $16.3 million hybrid contract with the U.S. Army Contracting Command, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The contract assumes a firm-fixed-price deal in exchange for the private commercial services company's development of satellite communications and support. Cape Canaveral-based IAP Worldwide, which employs more than 2,000 people, provides engineering services to bridge the gap between IT networks and the operational field. (6/28)

Lunar Robotic Mission Heracles Will Scout for Human Landings (Source: Space.com)
NASA's push to return humans to the moon will get a huge international helping hand. A mission named Heracles will use a robotic rover to survey the lunar terrain in preparation for the eventual arrival of astronauts and to return samples it scooped up to Earth. The European-Canadian-Japanese mission, scheduled for the mid- to late 2020s, calls for the rover to arrive on the moon inside a small lander, under the careful watch of astronauts in NASA's planned Gateway space station. Gateway will orbit the moon and allow astronauts and robots easier access to the lunar surface. (6/28)