January 3, 2020

SkyWatch Raises $10 Million in Bid to Commoditize Satellite Imagery (Source: Financial Post)
SkyWatch co-founder James Slifierz hopes that $10 million in venture capital funding will be all it takes to literally change the way we look at Earth. Slifierz’s Waterloo-based startup is trying to make satellite images an essential component of all kinds of new products by making it cheaper and easier to access them. The influx of capital from investors, which is being announced Friday, comes at a time when there’s a huge amount of excitement around the business of outer space. (1/3)

Clots in Space: Astronaut's Blocked Vein Brings Medical Insight (Source: US News & World Report)
"Space medicine" took another small step forward after an astronaut who developed a blood clot in a neck vein was diagnosed and treated while onboard the International Space Station (ISS), physicians at NASA and elsewhere report. The research team didn't reveal the astronaut's name, age or gender, but said the ISS crew member developed an asymptomatic thrombosis -- blood clot -- in the jugular vein, the major vein draining blood from the brain back to the heart.

Back on Earth, such a case could be quickly remedied in the nearest emergency room. But the logistics of doing so in space were far more complicated, said the team that included Dr. James Pattarini of Houston's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center and Dr. Serena Aunon-Chancellor, of the Louisiana State University Health Science Center, in Baton Rouge. (1/2)

Florida Tech Awarded NASA Grant to Improve Solar Radiation Forecasting (Source: Florida Tech)
A Florida Tech physicist has been awarded a $550,000 NASA grant to try to solve one of astronomy’s most vexing and dangerous problems: predicting when and where harmful doses of solar energetic particle radiation will occur. Whether from solar flares, solar wind, corona mass ejections or other phenomena, radiation from solar energy particles can affect astronauts working in space, spacecraft electronics, signals from GPS satellites and even commercial jetliners on polar routes.

Yet despite decades of observation and research and a grasp of many of the numerous “observables” that can cause these radiation bursts, scientists have developed models that can predict the timing and strength of the bursts only about half the time – not accurate enough to generate really useful forecasts. (1/3)

Israel's IAI to Build Dror-1 Satellite, Keeping Production Line Alive (Source: Space News)
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will build a communications satellite for the Israeli government, keeping its production line active. The Dror-1 satellite will have a design life of 15 years and will rely primarily on domestic technologies from IAI and other Israeli firms, the company said Thursday. The company disclosed few other details about the satellite. IAI was close to shutting down its geostationary communications satellite manufacturing line in 2018 when it lost a competition with SSL to build the Amos-8 satellite, a deal later cancelled. (1/3)

Audacy Shuts Down, Failing to Find Funding for MEO Relay Sats (Source: Space News)
Space communications startup Audacy has shut down after failing to raise funding. The company proposed launching three large communications satellites into medium Earth orbits to serve as relays for other satellites. The company launched a small demo satellite in late 2018 but failed to make contact with it, and started laying off staff in early 2019. The company's CEO continued seeking investment until August, when the firm defaulted on its debt. (1/3)

Commerce Dept. Tackles Space Industry Metrics (Source: Space News)
A Commerce Department bureau is undertaking an effort to measure the size of the space economy in the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently announced that it's starting development of a Space Economy Satellite Account to measure the size of the U.S. space industry. A prototype version of that account, which will be created in cooperation with the Office of Space Commerce, will be ready by late this year. Estimates of the size and rate of growth of the space economy vary widely, depending on what is included in the definition of the "space economy." (1/3)

China Could Launch More than 40 Orbital Rockets in 2020 (Source: Xinhua)
China could carry our more than 40 orbital launches in 2020. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country's largest space contractor, projected that launch rate Thursday, after conducting 27 launches in 2019. China overall performed 34 launches, counting those by CASC and Chinese startups, leading the world. (1/3)

NASA Offered to Fly Japanese Astronauts to the Moon (Source: Mainichi)
NASA reportedly offered to send Japanese astronauts to the moon in the 2020s if the country joined the Artemis program. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, during a visit to Japan in September, said a Japanese astronaut could land on the moon in the latter half of the 2020s, according to a report. The Japanese government announced in October it would cooperate with NASA on its lunar exploration program, although specifics of what roles Japan will play have yet to be worked out. (1/3)

NASA’s SLS Moon Rocket Readies for Next Pit Stop on Way to Kennedy Space Center (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The next rocket NASA wants to send to the moon is about to leave the house it was built in for a new home, but isn’t quite ready for Kennedy Space Center. First, the Space Launch System core stage with its four attached RS-25 engines will make its way by NASA’s Pegasus barge from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi before the end of January.

Stennis is where the RS-25 engines were tested individually, blasting massive plumes of smoke as each engine went through approval for use on the SLS rocket for Artemis 1, the uncrewed lunar mission with no set launch date. When the 212-foot core stage arrives to Stennis now, it will use the new B-2 Test Stand constructed there to test all four engines at once. If all the tests go well, the core stage will then make its way to Kennedy Space Center where it will be mated with the Orion capsule and side boosters for its eventual liftoff from Launch Pad 39-B. (1/3)

Want to Own a Little Piece of NASA history? It’s Available, and it’s Affordable (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Imagine if NASA Langley Research Center had a rummage sale and all of the items were free. In reality, it’s not Langley — it’s the mother of all motherships, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And it’s a little more complicated than haggling on the price and driving away with your find. But the availability of NASA artifacts — for free — through the U.S. General Services Administration’s GSAXcess program is remarkable nonetheless. Click here. (12/28) 

Exoplanets Studied Have Less Water Than Expected (Source: Space.com)
Many exoplanets have water, but not as much as expected. A new study examined the atmospheres of 19 exoplanets of varying size and temperature, detecting water vapor in 14 of them. However, the amount of water in those exoplanets was below what scientists predicted based on elemental abundances. The findings suggest that the planets somehow accrete less ice when they form than previously thought. (1/3)

Hubble May Grace New Dollar Coin (Source: CollectSpace)
The Hubble Space Telescope may appear on a coin this year. A committee has backed the design of a golden dollar coin for the U.S. Mint's American Innovation $1 Coin Program, which produces coins representing key discoveries and inventions from across the country. The proposed coin representing Maryland would include the Hubble Space Telescope and a font based on NASA's old "worm" logo. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Hubble's launch. (1/3)

NASA Selects Informal Learning Institutions to Engage Next Generation (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) program has selected four informal education organizations to promote STEM learning and help inspire the next generation of explorers. The projects provide students the opportunity to engage in NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach through science, technology, engineering, and math, and aim to reach populations that are historically underrepresented in STEM professions. Approximately $3.5 million in total will be awarded through cooperative agreements. Click here. (12/28)

NASA Video Shows What's In Store For 2020 (Source: IB Times)
What’s in store for NASA in 2020? A quick video gives a rundown of the agency’s big plans for the first year of the new decade. Under the Artemis program, NASA plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024, and explore more parts of the Moon’s surface than ever before. The plans to go back to the Moon then eventually to Mars will take years to accomplish, but major steps to mission accomplishment will be taken in 2020.

For instance, this year, NASA will be test firing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the most powerful rocket in the world that will send both humans and cargo to the moon and beyond. Other important tasks such as preparing a rover to search for water on the moon and testing next-generation spacesuits that are designed for a broader range of movements are also scheduled for the year. Click here. (1/2)