October 4, 2019

Musk's Starship May Be More Moral Catastrophe Than Bold Step in Space Exploration (Source: Phys.org)
SpaceX's Starship announcement is exciting, invoking deep emotions of hope and adventure. But I can't help having a number of moral reservations about it. Musk has declared a fascinatingly short time line to achieve orbit with this rocket. He wants to build four or five versions of the vehicle in the next six months. The first rocket will do a test launch to 20km within a month, and the final version will orbit the Earth.

Whether this is possible remains to be seen. Bear in mind that in the early 1960s when the then US president, John F Kennedy, announced the race to the moon, it took nearly a decade to achieve and several crew members died during the testing phases. And on Mars, there is a risk that microbe-ridden humans walking on the planet could contaminate it with bugs from Earth. And contamination may threaten alien organisms, if they exist. It may also make it impossible to figure out whether any microbes found on Mars later on are Martian or terrestrial in origin.

Another issue is the health of the humans are being sent out to Mars. Deep space is not without its dangers, but at least working in low Earth orbit, on the moon and the International Space Station, the Earth's magnetic field offers some protection from harmful space radiation. Mars doesn't have its own magnetic field and its atmosphere provides little shelter from cosmic radiation. Astronauts would also be exposed to deep space radiation for the minimum six-month journey between planets. (10/2)

How Much Does a Ticket to Space Cost? Meet the People Ready to Fly (Source: Washington Post)
When Lori Fraleigh unwrapped the present her husband had given her for her 38th birthday, she found a curious surprise: a model of a spaceship. It was cool, sure. Then she noticed the ticket. It took Fraleigh, a Silicon Valley executive, a moment to realize what her husband had purchased for her: a trip to space with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. “I went through a lot of crazy emotions, like, ‘Did you really buy this?’ ” she recalled of the moment in 2011. “ ‘Do we still have enough money to remodel the kitchen?’ ” (10/2)

Team Led by Pakistani Scientist Discovers Signs of Life on Saturn Moon (Source: Express Tribune)
For those obsessed with life beyond earth, a discovery announced by a team of scientists on Wednesday may have brought us one step closer to answering that question. And in what is sure to pique the interest of Pakistanis, a compatriot of theirs spearheaded the breakthrough. The groundbreaking development itself revolves around the discovery of an organic molecule, understood to be a prerequisite for the existence of life, on one of Saturn’s 62 moons. The discovery, experts believe, make the moon named Enceladus a notable candidate for extra-terrestrial life. (10/2)

Some Black Holes May Actually Be Blobs of Dark Energy (Source: Futurism)
Some of the black holes floating around our universe might actually be something else entirely. It’s possible that some may be blobs of dark energy, the mysterious theoretical force thought to be pushing the universe’s outward expansion, according to Live Science. A pair of University of Hawaii scientists arrived at the unexpected conclusion when they were trying to make sense of that expansion — and if their work holds up it could rewrite our understanding of the cosmos.

Some black holes may actually be dense masses of dark energy that grow larger as the universe expands, whether or not they feed on anything nearby, according to research published in The Astrophysical Journal in August. In a second study posted on the preprint server ArXiv last month, the team found that the interactions of these theoretical objects could have caused some of the more bizarre and difficult to explain gravitational waves that were detected a few years back, Live Science reports. (10/2)

Space Holding Co. Co-Founder on Why Space Could Be Smart Investing (Source: CNBC)
Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, joins CNBC's "Closing Bell" to discuss why investing in space could be the new frontier amid recent market volatility. Click here. (10/3)

Life On Miller's Planet: The Habitable Zone Around Supermassive Black Holes (Source: Astrobiology)
In this paper, we discuss a number of additional astrophysical effects that may be important in determining the (un)inhabitable environment of a planet orbiting close to a giant, accreting black hole. Foremost among these effects is the blueshift and beaming of incident radiation on the planet, due to the time dilation of an observer orbiting very close to the black hole. This results in high-energy flux incoming from surrounding stars and background radiation, with significant implications for habitability. Click here. (10/3)

Space Can Solve Our Looming Resource Crisis – But the Space Industry Itself Must Be Sustainable (Source: The Conversation)
Australia’s space industry is set to grow into a multibillion-dollar sector that could provide tens of thousands of jobs and help replenish the dwindling stocks of precious resources on Earth. But to make sure they don’t flame out prematurely, space companies need to learn some key lessons about sustainability.

Sustainability is often defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Often this definition is linked to the economic need for growth. In our context, we link it to the social and material needs of our communities. We cannot grow without limit. In 1972, the influential report The Limits to Growth argued that if society’s growth continued at projected rates, humans would experience a “sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity” by 2070. (10/2)

UK Tries to Get Ahead in European Space Race (Source: Politico)
The U.K. wants to become the first European country to host a commercial spaceport — but it is in a race against the clock. The British government is determined to open a spaceport in the early 2020s and is funding different types of projects in Sutherland and Glasgow Prestwick, both in Scotland; Cornwall Airport Newquay in England, and Snowdonia in Wales.

“The U.K. space sector is thriving, and horizontal spaceflight is an exciting prospect which could provide services to our world-leading small satellite industry as well as international customers and space tourists,” said the U.K. Science Minister Chris Skidmore earlier this year. However, competition is mushrooming all over Europe. To name but a few, Norway wants to launch rockets from Andøya in 2020; Sweden aims to start launches from Kiruna in 2022; Portugal intends to build a spaceport on the island of Santa Maria in the Azores; and plans are underway for another facility in Grottaglie, at the heel of the Italian boot.

While some partnerships aim to create facilities for vertical launches, others are trying to adapt existing commercial or military airports to enable aircraft attached to a rocket carrying a small satellite to take off. Some of these facilities could also be exploited for space tourism. Although the EU already has a spaceport in French Guyana for the launch of big rockets, these other projects aim to offer a more affordable solution for smaller satellites and space tourism, closer to home. (10/2)

NASA Awards Contract for Operations, Maintenance of West Virginia Facility (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded a contract to the West Virginia University Research Corporation in Morgantown, West Virginia, for support services at the agency’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. The Operations and Maintenance 2 (O&M2) contract is a cost-no-fee contract and has a total potential value of $24.9 million. The contract begins Oct. 1 with a six-month base period followed by four one-year options and one six-month option. (10/2)

How to Invest in Space (Source: Morningstar)
For intrepid investors the final frontier is opening up; space itself. Fifty years after the first moon landing, there are stellar opportunities to make money from the growing space economy. Morgan Stanley estimates this booming sector will grow from around $350 billion to more than $1.1 trillion by 2040. Although the commercial space industry has been around for a couple of decades, recent years have seen commercial investment more aligned with venture capital both from investment firms and billionaires, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.

According to Bryce Space and Technology, a consultancy specialising in this area, 2018 saw record investments of $3.2 billion into start-up space companies. For investors interested in this space (no pun intended) there are a growing number of pure play start-ups, but all of them are currently unlisted. Most of these minnows are focused on getting satellites into space and providing wireless data communications, but there are also niches in space tourism and space freight.

Undoubtedly the most high-profile of the bunch is Elon Musk’s Space X, which has successfully developed reusable space rockets. According to Morgan Stanley, this has reduced the cost of launching a satellite from approximately $200 million to around $60 million, with the aim of reducing it further to $5 million. Space X has also begun to launch its own satellite broadband network and has plans to send someone to Mars in 2024. It is even anticipated that its rockets could challenge Fedex and DHL international freight services, by dramatically reducing the time it takes to move high-value freight around the planet. Click here. (10/2)

Astronomical Imperialism! (Source: Workers.org)
On the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. space land grab on July 20, when the Apollo 11 mission planted a U.S. flag on the moon, there was intensified hoopla about research in astronomy and future space travel. However, buried in the romantic exhilaration are motives that are anything but benign. The world’s richest billionaires are in on the space race and are investing untold millions of dollars to reap enormous financial gain. Private corporations are investing heavily in not just space tourism, but in plans to mine the moon and the asteroid belt to obtain materials that will yield huge profits.

The imperialists’ ultimate goal: appropriating the solar system’s moons and Mars to establish ownership for future mining, strategic U.S. military bases and settlements. The struggle against imperialist hegemony must oppose Pentagon domination and capitalist exploitation of the newest target: outer space. The possibility of space wars is no longer just in “Star Wars” creator George Lukas’ mind. It is real.  

While corporations scheme to gain riches, the Pentagon’s militarization of space is intensifying to protect capitalist interests and uphold U.S. domination. In 2018, Commander in Chief, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to set up a sixth branch of the military, the U.S. Space Force, which is slated to be established by 2020. Click here. (10/1)

Commercial Competition: The Rocket Science of the Space Force (Source: Forbes)
Less than twenty years ago, hurtling something into space strapped to a rocket was still a craft that few understood; quite literally rocket science, if you will. At the time, a nationwide team of government-funded strategists, physicists, and engineers were forced to pull together a launch strategy following a string of failures in the '90s. Not long after executing their revised strategy, they grappled with the launch market collapse, which ultimately resulted in a government-directed monopoly, ULA.

The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) acquisition program they directed, as it turns out, was a brilliant technical success but a business failure. The failure of the EELV government business model and the subsequent monopoly with no competition meant prices climbed exorbitantly high, in some cases over $1B per launch for the biggest satellites. It didn’t take a president like Teddy Roosevelt to break up that monopoly—it took one immigrant from South Africa with private capital, boundless energy, and aspirations to get to Mars: Elon Musk.  

How the times have changed. In private conversations today with the Washington space policy crowd on the Air Force’s competition for the future of space launch, you might get the impression that accounting for the current private investment bonanza in the space industry is tedious and burdensome. Yet we forget the trails our launch industry forefathers blazed to get us to a point where the United States has not one but four certified large launch companies eager and ready to compete at a cost of less than $100M per launch—down from the previous average of $350M to $400M only fifteen years ago. (9/30)

Seattle Man Builds His Own Spacesuit (Source: KING 5)
He's not just reaching for the stars. Seattle's Trent Tresch is getting dressed for the trip, too. "What is out there waiting to be discovered?" he wonders. Tresch is a member of Pacific Spaceflight, a non-profit science organization started by Portland professor Dr. Cameron Smith. The group aims to help make space travel readily available to almost anyone. "Pushing the limits of humanity has really drawn a lot of people in." Tresch is one of the group's experts in spacesuit construction and testing.

"The goal was to build these suits to make them affordable and accessible," he says. His homemade designs are created with available materials. "Mostly off the shelf." Tresch tests the suits in his living room lab and at local climbing sites. "It really gets your heart rate up," he says after putting his suit through the paces at an indoor skydiving facility, a vertical wind tunnel that allows him to float on a pillar of rushing air.  "I'm sweating, let's just put it that way." This suit is designed to survive the kinds of extreme conditions found above 60,000 feet. (10/1)

US Vows Cooperation With Japan in Space (Source: Nikkei)
On September 25, a rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center, ferrying 6 tons of supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and launching the next half century of close collaboration between JAXA and NASA. While our two countries have long cooperated around the world, since the Apollo 11 Moon Landing 50 years ago, our cooperation has also reached beyond our planet and into outer space.

Last July, our U.S. Embassy celebrated the historic moon landing and other achievements in space during our annual Independence Day reception. Among the guests of honor were seven Japanese astronauts, all veterans of ISS, who reaffirmed the close alignment of NASA and JAXA's mission goals. These shared objectives cover our collaboration across the fields of human spaceflight, Earth and space science, aeronautics research, as well as our ambitious plans for future space exploration. (10/1)

Making the Rules in Space: When Does Careful Become Crushing? (Source: The Hill)
NASA is tasked, by law, with the long-term goal of expanding human presence in space. This immense and incredibly long-term task requires a very forward-looking perspective tempered by humility. Planning for our future in space necessarily means proceeding from a place of profound ignorance in an environment that continually confounds our expectations. The technocratic tendency when managing the unknown is to eliminate all uncertainty.

However, we should be wary of attempts to address uncertainty by piling on rules, regulations and requirements before we adequately understand the problems we are facing. The long-term and wildly unpredictable nature of space exploration almost guarantees running into high-consequence, low-probability “black swan” events. Some of these “black swans” will involve incredibly good fortune, others will be terrible disasters. We also know that a diverse investment portfolio is not only better able to weather adversity but to get lucky and capitalize on good fortune when it appears.

In space investment, diversity means partnerships with other countries, throughout industry, and across academia, because every new approach opens up the solution space just a little more. This diversity also extends to different problem-solving approaches. Within the U.S., some approaches to building spaceflight systems are very analysis intensive while others rely on a more empirical (i.e. test and fly) methodology. We are still relatively new to space and are still learning; it is too early to declare which approach will work best in the long term. (10/1)

China Shares Photos of Its Doomed Moon Plant (Source: Futurism)
Back in January, China became the first country to grow a plant on the Moon — a single cotton seedling sprouted before dying in the harsh cold of the lunar night. But newly-released images reveal that the cotton plant fared a little bit better in its sealed-off biome than previously believed. The seedling grew two green leaves before it died, instead of just one as previously reported. While the difference between growing one and two cotton leaves is fairly inconsequential, the images are a fascinating glimpse into China’s attempts to study how the lunar environment affects life. Click here. (10/1)

Blue Origin’s Passengers Will Pay Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars for a Ticket on New Shepard (Source: Tech Crunch)
Blue Origin chief executive Bob Smith said that the window for getting the crewed flight done within the 2019 time frame was narrowing. “We’re not going to be date-driven,” Smith said. But as commercial launches come to market, customers can expect to pay “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for a ticket on the New Shepard suborbital flight. (10/2)

Amazon’s Project Kuiper and OneWeb Raise the Curtain Higher on Their Satellite Plans (Source: GeekWire)
Filings with the FCC are providing fresh details about the plans being laid by Amazon and OneWeb to set up networks of satellites for global broadband internet access. OneWeb, for example, is seeking FCC approval for up to 1.5 million ground terminals that customers would use to receive and transmit satellite data. Amazon, meanwhile, is answering questions from the FCC about how the satellites in its Project Kuiper constellation would be maneuvered and deorbited.

The answers make clear that Project Kuiper’s satellite design is still very much in flux. That’s in contrast to SpaceX, which has already launched 60 of its Starlink satellites and is expected to send another batch into orbit as early as this month. SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb are considered the leading competitors in the nascent market to offer high-speed internet access from low Earth orbit, or LEO, to the billions of people who are currently underserved. Other players in the LEO broadband market include Telesat and LeoSat. (10/1)