March 22, 2020

Newly Discovered Comet Could Shine in May (Source: Daily Mail)
A comet called Atlas discovered in December is on its way towards Earth and could appear as bright as a crescent moon - unless it breaks up from the Sun's heat first. Atlas is close to Mars' orbit at the moment but is increasing in speed as it makes its way towards the Sun, making its closest approach to Earth at the end of May. It was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert system (ATLAS) in Hawaii and takes its name from the initials of the system. When it was discovered on December 28, 2019 it was faint and required a telescope, but as it comes closer it is getting brighter and can now be seen with binoculars. (3/20)

Musk Offers to Build Ventilators for COVID-19 Shortage (Source: Mashable)
In the face of a projected national shortage, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered to manufacture life-saving ventilators. There's just one problem: The companies actually making medical ventilators today don't think he can pull it off. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the world, officials around the U.S. have warned that, unless drastic measures are taken to create more, will we see demand for ventilators exceed the current supply. When, and if, this happens depends on numerous hard-to-predict factors such as the success of efforts to "flatten the curve." As such, Musk's claim on Friday that he's already started the work to build more seems at first like a blessing.

One company currently making ventilators at scale is Dräger. Founded in Lübeck, Germany, Dräger, which employs 13,000 people spread across 190 countries, manufactures and sells multiple different types of medical ventilators. When reached for comment about Musk's stated plan to start making ventilators, a Dräger spokesperson politely threw cold water on the idea. "The core technology of today's ventilators (electronics and software that control the pneumatics) is fundamentally different from the manufacturing operations of car manufacturers," explained company spokesperson Melanie Kamann over email. (3/21)

SpaceX Childcare Workers Concerned of Virus Exposure, Must Work (Source: BuzzFeed)
Workers at a child daycare and school for the Elon Musk–led rocket manufacturer SpaceX say their health and safety are being placed at risk by a company that is still asking its employees to come to the office despite the coronavirus pandemic. While the governor of California ordered all nonessential businesses to close and advised residents to stay home, SpaceX has remained open for more than 5,000 employees, citing its role as a government contractor. Because of this, the services supporting SpaceX’s campus, including on-campus preschool Xplor Education, have stayed in operation, leading some of its teachers and staff to worry that they’re being unnecessarily exposed to possible infection.

On Monday, according to documents seen by BuzzFeed News, an email was sent out to school employees and parents, notifying them that a parent had been tested over the weekend for the novel coronavirus after coming down with symptoms. That notice inspired internal questions and a petition asking the school to close that’s been signed by more than half of Xplor’s active staff, many of whom spend hours every day with infants and toddlers. (3/20)

Earth's Minimoon is Gone But Not Forgotten (Source: Space.com)
For a brilliant (albeit brief) period of time, Earth had two moons — our tried and true satellite with astronaut footprints and abandoned lunar buggies on its surface, and a miniature space rock pulled into our orbit. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and thus, the minimoon is no longer with us, according to The Atlantic.

Our (former) minimoon, known formally as 2020 CD3, was officially identified in February after it had been orbiting our planet for at least a year, astronomers estimate. This happy little surprise revealed what is most likely a small, 3-foot-wide (0.9 meters) space rock. Researchers think that gravitational forces flung the tiny space rock into our orbit, where it hung out for so long. (3/21)

Northrop Grumman Prices $2.25 Billion Debt Offering (Source: Northrop Grumman)
Northrop Grumman Corp. announced today that it has priced a $2.25 billion underwritten public offering of senior unsecured notes. Northrop Grumman expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include debt repayment and working capital. (3/19)

OneWeb Successfully Launches 34 More Satellites in Second Lunch of 2020 (Source: OneWeb)
OneWeb, the global communications company with a mission to bring connectivity to everyone everywhere, announced the successful launch of 34 more satellites, aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. OneWeb’s satellites separated from the rocket and were dispensed in nine batches. This is the second of its 34 satellite launches in six weeks, an achievement made possible by the pace and execution of OneWeb Satellites’ high-volume production factory in Florida. This launch brings the total number of satellites in the constellation to 74. (3/21)

Galactic Energy Prepares Ceres-1 Rocket for First Launch (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Galactic Energy, a low-key private Chinese rocket firm, celebrated its second birthday in February. That’s early days for a launch company, and yet the company is set to make its first attempt to reach orbit this June. The rocket is named Ceres-1, after the largest body in the asteroid belt, and will launch from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. With three solid fuel stages and a liquid propellant fourth stage, it will be able to lift 350 kilograms of payload to an altitude of 200 kilometers in low Earth orbit. (3/21)

Astronaut’s Family Won’t Attend Launch Next Month Due to Coronavirus Threat (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy’s family will be watching remotely from halfway around the world when he blasts off April 9 from Kazakhstan to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. That’s because travel restrictions and stringent social distancing guidelines instituted to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic will limit the ability for family members to travel to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the launch. (3/20)

I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share (Source: New York Times)
Being stuck at home can be challenging. When I lived on the International Space Station for nearly a year, it wasn’t easy. When I went to sleep, I was at work. When I woke up, I was still at work. Flying in space is probably the only job you absolutely cannot quit. But I learned some things during my time up there that I’d like to share — because they are about to come in handy again, as we all confine ourselves at home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Here are a few tips on living in isolation, from someone who has been there. Click here. (3/21)

COVID-19 Could Delay Commercial Crew Flight (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA has set a tentative date for the return of humans to space from American soil: The long-awaited SpaceX mission could come by mid-to-late May. That is, if coronavirus doesn’t get in the way. Earlier this week, the space agency moved to a mandatory work-from-home status. “Mission-essential” personnel will still go to work onsite. Two NASA employees, at Ames Research Center in California and Mars.

Now NASA has to weigh two competing concerns: The unknown length of the coronavirus outbreak and the pressure to launch the first piloted mission under its Commercial Crew program that has been nearly a decade in the making. The last time NASA launched astronauts from U.S. soil was July 8, 2011, on the final space shuttle mission. (3/19)