March 15, 2020

KSC Visitor Complex to Temporarily Close Due to COVID-19 Concerns (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
On March 16, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) will join the growing list of major central-Florida entertainment and amusement properties which have temporarily closed in consideration of the health risks associated with COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.  (3/14)       

Space Force Postpones Atlas Launch Social Media Event (Source: SPACErePORT)
The 45th Space Wing at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport had been planning a social media event in conjunction with the next Atlas AEHF launch, now planned for March 26, but the event has been postponed. "Due to everything happening in the world right now, our 45th SW Social event is being temporarily postponed for the time being. We are already working with our 45 SW Social partners to reschedule this event with very similar activities to take place in the near future at another of our upcoming launches." (3/14)

UK Spaceport Plan Splits Highland Neighbors with Majority of Respondents Against Hi-Tech Scheme (Source: Press and Journal)
In total, 404 people have objected with 111 in favour – but the responses have seen neighbor pitted against neighbour and landowner against landowner. Many of the objections have come from outwith the Sutherland area earmarked for the scheme. Among the protesters are TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham who said the £17.3m project was not worth the “destruction” of part of the Flow Country’s peat bog. (3/14)

Satellite Images Show Iran's Mass Graves for Coronavirus Victims (Source: Space.com)
New satellite images from Maxar show Iranian authorities digging large numbers of graves in the Qom area, which media reports say is due to the growing numbers of coronavirus victims in the country. The Washington Post, which noted that the graves were so extensive you can see them from space, said coronavirus caused several high-profile deaths in Iran's leadership. "Among the dead are members of parliament, a former diplomat and even a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader," the Post report said. "At least two dozen other officials, including a vice-president, have been affected." (3/13)

SpaceX Aborts Starlink Launch at T-0 (Source: Tech Crunch)
SpaceX  was attempting to launch its sixth batch of Starlink internet broadband satellites, but the launch was aborted when the countdown timer reached zero. On the live feed of the launch, SpaceX engineers were heard to cite a “launch abort on high engine power,” and the announcer presenting the webcast said that it was indeed an abort related to Merlin engine power, and SpaceX  later provided added detail, including that the sequence was auto-aborted by its system.

The announcer noted that the “vehicle appears to be in good health,” which SpaceX later confirmed, which should bode well for resetting for another attempt. SpaceX has a backup opportunity on Monday, but the actual next launch attempt is still to be determined, likely as SpaceX investigates and learns more about what exactly was behind the engine power issue and when it makes sense to try again, given conditions on the launch range. (3/15)

Another New Blue Origin Video: BE-3U Engine Progress Update (Source: Blue Origin)
Two BE-3U engines will power the upper stage of New Glenn. Fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen – these powerful engines are a variant of the BE-3PM flying today on New Shepard. Here’s a peek at how the test program is going in West Texas. Click here. (3/9)

Is SpaceX Starlink Low Latency? The Answer Could Unlock Billions in Funding (Source: Inverse)
Is SpaceX's planned Starlink constellation a real, low-latency broadband service? That's the question at the heart of a new funding discussion, which could unlock up to $16 billion in federal subsidies. The company has suggested to the Federal Communications Commission that it should be allowed to compete for funding aimed at improving rural internet access over the next 10 years. A Feb. 7 draft of the auction procedures suggests satellite broadband firms could fail to qualify as low latency, as the networks typically take a long time to respond to user requests compared to land-based networks. SpaceX argues that Starlink does respond quickly enough that it could be considered low latency.

“Low-latency service is not an aspirational feature of a proposed system—it results from the laws of physics,” David Goldman, SpaceX's director of satellite policy, wrote in a February 20 letter urging the agency to reconsider the proposals laid out 13 days prior. In his comments, Goldman is likely referring to the lower orbit of the Starlink satellites, which means signals have further to travel. On February 28, the agency released a proposal that could support satellite services with low enough latency, while also asking the public for input.

Unlike other systems, which use tens of satellites, SpaceX has applied for permission to fill the sky with up to 42,000 satellites. The craft will orbit around 550 kilometers above the Earth's surface, while other satellites can orbit more than 1,000 kilometers above the surface. A UFO-shaped gound antenna, described as about the size of a pizza box, will provide access to a home through line-of-sight communications with the satellites. (3/13)

NASA Unsticks Burrowing Mars 'Mole' With a Push From the InSight Lander (Source: C/Net)
Mars has been very resistant to the NASA InSight lander's burrowing heat probe, but there's a new glimmer of hope for the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, better known as the "mole." Mole first got stuck over a year ago. The InSight team has tried everything from patting the soil around the probe to pushing against the side of it to help it gain traction. NASA's latest move involves pushing down on the top of the mole using the scoop on the end of InSight's robotic arm. NASA tweeted an update on Friday saying, "A bit of good news from Mars: our new approach of using the robotic arm to push the mole appears to be working!" (3/14)

Ancient Supermassive Black Hole Has Its Particle Beam Aimed Right at Earth (Source: Science Alert)
Astronomers have discovered the existence of a supermassive black hole that looks to be the oldest and most distant of its kind we've ever encountered – and it just happens to be aiming its bright particle beam directly at Earth. The newly found supermassive black hole – called PSO J030947.49+271757.31 – is the most distant blazar ever observed, researchers say. That conclusion is based on the wavelength signature of the object's redshift, a phenomenon scientists can use to measure the distance of light-emitting sources in space.

Based on their readings, astronomers say the light we can detect from PSO J0309+27 was actually emitted almost 13 billion years ago, meaning the blazar existed in the extremely early stages of the Universe, less than a billion years after the Big Bang. While thousands of blazars have been found to date, the exceptional distance and age of PSO J0309+27 makes it a remarkable outlier – but that doesn't mean the object is entirely unique. Because blazars happen to be pointed right at us, we have the opportunity to better analyse their beams. Similarly bright active galactic nuclei - called quasars - are inclined at different angles, so their particle beams are more likely to remain hidden from us. (3/12)

139 Minor Planets Spotted at the Outer Reaches of Our Solar System (Source: The Register)
Astronomers have discovered 139 minor planets lurking at the edge of the Solar System after examining a dataset collected to study dark energy in the universe. Small worlds that circle our Sun in orbits further out than Neptune are labelled trans-Neptunian objects (TNO), with one being the relegated-planet Pluto. Eggheads in the US identified 316 TNOs in the dark-energy dataset, of which 139 bodies were previously unknown.

Specifically, the dataset features images snapped by the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a project that used the Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile to study the role of dark energy in the universe’s rate of expansion. The pictures were taken of the southern hemisphere for six years, from 2013 to 2019. (3/13)