November 16, 2019

'Get Back to the Moon and Forget the Lunar Orbiting Space Station' (Source: Politico)
Physicist Ed Gibson was in the first class of NASA astronauts trained as scientists rather than military pilots. He served on the support crew for Apollo 12, the second mission to land men on the moon — and spent a record 84 days in space aboard Skylab, the precursor to the International Space Station. A longtime aerospace consultant, author and speaker, Gibson has advised NASA on a host of projects, including running a controversial oversight board for the Orion spacecraft that was accused of conflicts of interest.

He makes no secret of his current views that the space agency is on the wrong track by continuing to put so much of its scarce resources into the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule after so many years of delays — and when new and cheaper commercial alternatives are so promising. "People have fallen in love with them but they got old and expensive, and I think they're more worried about keeping some of the aerospace companies in fit shape than the American taxpayer,” he complains.

Gibson supports returning astronauts to the moon, but he's also among the vocal group of space insiders who contend that building a lunar orbiting Space Station first will just slow things down. "If that is needed in the future, show that it really is needed," he said. "You don't want to be living in lunar orbit or Mars orbit for a long period of time. That's why I think it's great to just go to the surface to shield yourself [from the radiation]. Then, if you want to go somewhere, you go out and, obviously, you've got to suffer whatever radiation there is, and you’ve got to have your spacecraft or your spacesuit to give you some added protection. (11/16)

UAE's Bold Vision for Space (Source: Flight Global)
No-one could accuse the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of lacking a long-term vision for space. The country has a project to put settlers on Mars by 2117. Its recent achievements and immediate objectives are impressive too. The Gulf nation has just sent an astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), and in June, the Arab world’s first probe to the Red Planet will take off. Named Hope, the craft is scheduled to reach its destination in 2021, the 50th anniversary of the UAE.

The UAE’s efforts are not just about “a rich country trying to get a return on investment”, but promoting the nation as a pioneer in space exploration and science, says Mohamed Al Ahbabi, director general of the UAE Space Agency, set up five years ago to spearhead the national space strategy, and the first fully fledged space agency in the region. “The UAE is a country of vision,” he says. “We always talk about the future.”

When Hazza Al Mansouri began his mission to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 25 September, it was a moment of huge pride for the UAE. During our visit in late September, electronic billboards on gantries across Dubai’s 12-lane Sheikh Zayed highway proclaimed: “Good luck, Hazza. The nation is with you.” The former military pilot and his back-up were chosen in 2017 from 4,000 applicants to train as the first Emirati astronauts. (11/16)

Astronauts on Spacewalk Prepare AMS Cosmic Ray Detector for Repair (Source: CollectSpace)
Astronauts working outside of the International Space Station have completed the first in a series of at least four complex spacewalks to repair a state-of-the-art cosmic ray detector.

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and astronaut Drew Morgan of NASA got off to a good start on Friday (Nov. 15) on what has been described as the most challenging spacewalks since the servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope more than a decade ago. Over the course of 6 hours and 39 minutes, the two Expedition 61 crew members began the tasks needed to replace the failing cooling system for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a $2 billion science instrument that was not designed to be worked on in space.

"We're going to perform what could be considered open heart surgery on this amazing experiment," said Parmitano, prior to the start of Friday's extravehicular activity (EVA, or spacewalk). "It's a combination of things that makes this EVA so challenging. You have certainly an access problem ... AMS is in a remote area without handles or locations to hold onto, because it was not made to be repaired [on] EVA." (11/15)

Lockheed Martin Receives $3.3B Contract for Work on Air Force Classified Communications Satellites (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $3.3 billion contract for support services on classified military communications satellites, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center announced Nov. 15. The 10-year indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract is for operations and support of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF), Milstar and Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) III constellations. (11/15)

Long Space Missions Can Change Astronaut Brain Structure and Function (Source: Space News)
Spaceflight changes astronauts' brain structure and function, a new study shows. Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina looked at how the human brain adapts to the microgravity environment of space. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of NASA astronauts, the researchers found widespread structural changes in the brain, especially after long-duration space missions, according to a statement. "This study looks at cognitive changes in the brains of astronauts," Donna Roberts, a neuroradiologist at the Medical University of South Carolina, said in the statement. "Not a lot is known about cognitive impairment in humans during spaceflight." (11/15)

Zero Gravity Made Some Astronauts’ Blood Flow Backwards (Source: New Scientist)
Being in zero gravity can have strange effects on the body – now it’s emerged that it can make people’s blood flow backwards. The changes to circulation caused two astronauts to develop small blood clots, which could have been fatal – but fortunately the man and woman affected came to no harm. The blood changes happened in a vessel called the left internal jugular vein, one of two that normally move blood out of the head when we are lying down.

When we are upright, they mostly collapse to stop too much blood from draining out of the head, with our circulation taking a different route through veins with more resistance instead. On Earth, people have occasionally been spotted with backwards blood flow in the left internal jugular vein if there is a blockage lower down, such as from a tumour growing in the chest.

Zero gravity is known to change people’s blood flow, so Karina Marshall-Goebel of KBR in Houston and colleagues wondered if it would also affect this vein. They carried out measurements and ultrasound scans of this blood vessel in nine men and two women both before and after their missions on the International Space Station, as well as 50 and 150 days into their flights. In two of the astronauts, the blood flow was backwards – perhaps because the lack of gravity caused organs in the chest to shift around, pressing on the vein lower down, says Marshall-Goebel. She adds that this vein is predisposed to be blocked based on where it lies in the body. (11/15)

US Paid Russia $3.9 Billion for Ferrying Astronauts to ISS, More to Come? (Source: TASS)
As of July 2019, NASA had purchased 70 Soyuz seats worth $3.9 billion to ferry 70 U.S. and partner astronauts to and from the Station, says NASA Inspector General Paul Martin’s report published on Thursday. He also underlined that "after 2017 when the Commercial Crew Program contractors were initially scheduled to begin crewed missions, NASA has used or contracted for 12 additional Soyuz seats at a cost of approximately $1 billion, or an average of $79.7 million per seat." Martin recommends "purchasing additional Soyuz seats and extending the missions of crewmembers" to address the potential crew reduction. He advises NASA management to make effort in order to persuade the US Congress to pay Russia. (11/15)

Ex-Astronaut Set for Trial in Wreck That Killed 2 Girls (Source: ABC News)
A former space shuttle commander is set for trial next month in Alabama on reckless murder charges in a wreck that killed two girls. Court records show the trial of one-time NASA astronaut James Halsell Jr. is scheduled for Dec. 9. The 63-year-old Halsell was arrested after a wreck killed 11-year-old Niomi Deona James and 13-year-old Jayla Latrick Parler in rural Tuscaloosa County in 2016. (11/15)

NASA Inspector General Warns of Possible Delays in Launching New U.S. Spacecraft (Source: CBS News)
NASA's inspector general warned that Boeing and SpaceX both face major technical challenges that threaten to delay initial flights of U.S. commercial astronaut ferry ships. If the worst-case scenario plays out, NASA could be forced to reduce its presence aboard the International Space Station to a single astronaut for an extended period, the audit said.

"[Commercial Crew] schedule assessments as of June 2019 suggest final certification for Boeing and SpaceX to fly crewed missions may not occur before summer 2020," the inspector general reported. "By this time, the Soyuz launch schedule will have decreased from two missions every six months to a single flight — a scenario that will result in a single U.S. astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts on the station beginning in April 2020 barring any adjustments to current crew schedules." (11/15)

NASA Faulted for ‘Unnecessary’ $287.2 Million Boeing Payment (Source: Bloomberg)
NASA paid Boeing Co. an “unnecessary” $287.2 million premium for work on a new space vehicle -- a payment meant to compensate for scheduling delays caused by the company, a government audit found. The additional compensation, disclosed in a NASA Inspector General report, was intended to mitigate the effects of a delay in four planned flights to ferry astronauts to the space station, according to the audit. But NASA postponed the flights because Boeing had missed its own deadlines, the report said.

“For these four missions, NASA essentially paid Boeing higher prices to address a schedule slippage caused by Boeing’s 13-month delay” in finishing a design review, auditors wrote. The report also found that NASA used flawed assumptions in 2016 when it calculated an 18-month schedule gap that prompted the extra cash. (11/15)

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall Proposes Amendments to Bill to Boost State’s Space Economy (Source: KRQE)
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall is pushing to bolster New Mexico’s growing space economy. He was among a bipartisan group of senators to add amendments to a new NASA bill. Sen. Udall said one of the amendments focuses on pushing NASA to consider the use of commercial spaceports, like Spaceport America in southern New Mexico, for civil space missions and operations.

Virgin Galactic has moved into the Spaceport as the company ramps up test flights. The state spent almost $220 million to build it. Udall thinks the Spaceport needs a lot more support and is being underutilized. He hopes this amendment will help give it a boost. “We will see as this develops as an industry; it’s already a significant industry,” said Udall. “It’s growing jobs in New Mexico, and other areas may be developed and become fruitful and lucrative for New Mexico.” (11/14)

Trump is Focused on the China Trade War When He Should Be Concerned About Space (Source: Washington Post)
While President Trump’s trade war with China continues to play out on Earth, the real fight for future economic dominance is going on over his head: literally.

In late October, a top Chinese space policymaker revealed plans to establish an Earth-moon space economic zone by 2050, with the potential to generate $10 trillion annually. That’s a tenfold increase over the ambitions articulated by the U.S. secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross, in an op-ed this year. The plan paints a picture of a domain from the Earth to the moon and nearby asteroids in which China, not the United States, is the lead player, deciding the norms and rules of the game.

The moon, with its abundant resources including Helium 3 for nuclear reactors, water in the form of ice, iron ore, titanium and platinum, offers humanity the materials to become a space-faring species. That’s not merely a matter of science fiction: The country that establishes a viable jumping-off point from the moon will be the first to get the opportunity to benefit from trillion dollars worth of space-based resources, among them lunar and asteroid mining and space-based solar power. (11/14)

Alien Hunters Need the Far Side of the Moon to Stay Quiet (Source: WIRED)
Last month, the SETI permanent committee of the International Astronautical Association hosted its second round of negotiations about the lunar farside in Washington, DC. The exploration of the moon might seem like an issue outside the purview of this group of professional alien hunters, but the far side of the moon is the most radio quiet place in the inner solar system and they want to keep it that way in case ET calls. Indeed, they argue that the fate of the lunar farside may determine whether we ever detect a signal from an extraterrestrial intelligence. (11/15)

'For All Mankind' on Apple TV+ Officially Renewed for Season 2 (Source: Space.com)
After nearly a month of reports, Apple TV+'s fictionalized version of the 1960s race to the moon, "For All Mankind," has officially been renewed for a second season. Season 1 of "For All Mankind," which depicts an alternate history where the Soviet Union beat the United States to the moon, debuted on the Apple TV+ streaming service Nov. 1. But hints at a second season were already in the air even as the first episodes touched down (that's a moon landing pun). (11/14)

USAF Driving Satellite Bus Commonality (Source: Aviation Week)
As the U.S. Air Force pursues the idea of a new “Century Series” of fighter aircraft, it is promoting a similar effort for satellites in which the service would create a spacecraft bus with common components and processes that can be customized for individual missions. Such a modular bus design will save time, reduce complexity and cut costs up to 20% over existing contracts, the service says. (11/15)

SpaceX and Boeing Set for Launch-Packed Holiday Season on the Space Coast (Source: Florida Today)
After a slower-than-average second half of the year for Space Coast rocket launches, SpaceX and Boeing are slated to bring 2019 to a close with a mission-packed December. SpaceX broke a two-and-a-half-month dry spell last Monday when a Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport with 60 Starlink satellites, setting the stage for at least three – and up to five – more flights through the end of the year.

First up on the Eastern Range is a Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon spacecraft, which will take supplies to the International Space Station no earlier than 12:48 p.m. on Dec. 4. If previous ISS missions are any indication, this flight will include a booster landing at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 1 about eight minutes after takeoff. It will mark SpaceX's 19th uncrewed flight to the ISS.

In the second half of December, SpaceX is slated to take the JCSAT-18 / KACIFIC-1 communications satellite on a Falcon 9 from the Cape's Launch Complex 40. The spacecraft will provide coverage for Asia. Two more missions could fly in December, though firm timing has not yet been established, and both could slip into 2020. Boeing and ULA, meanwhile, are targeting no earlier than Dec. 17 for an uncrewed "orbital test flight" of a Starliner spacecraft, which like Crew Dragon was selected by NASA to return American astronauts to the ISS from U.S. soil. (11/15)