March 30, 2020

Lockheed Nabs $601.3M for Work on Trident II D5 Ballistic Missile, Much of it at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space Daily)
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $601.3 million contract modification for work on the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile for the Navy. The deal modifies an earlier contract for production and support of the missiles, which were first deployed in 1990. The missiles have undergone constant improvement since the Navy announced a life extension program to make the missiles usable until 2040, with the most recent life extension contract being awarded in February. One-third of work on the contract will be performed in Utah, with other parts executed in California, Colorado, and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. The expected completion date is September 2024. (3/19)

Paired with Super Telescopes, Model Earths Guide Hhunt for Life (Source: Space Daily)
Cornell University astronomers have created five models representing key points from our planet's evolution, like chemical snapshots through Earth's own geologic epochs. The models will be spectral templates for astronomers to use in the approaching new era of powerful telescopes, and in the hunt for Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. "These new generation of space- and ground-based telescopes coupled with our models will allow us to identify planets like our Earth out to about 50 to 100 light-years away," said Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy and director of the Carl Sagan Institute. (3/27)

Raytheon Directed to Change From Chinese Ground System Hardware for Next-Generation GPS (Source: Space News)
SMC has directed Raytheon to change the computer hardware for a next-generation GPS control system called OCX. SMC said Friday that the OCX program office instructed Raytheon to replace the system's IBM computers with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) hardware, and that the changes added $378 million to the cost of the program. That change was made because that IBM hardware will now be produced by a Chinese company, Lenovo, which the Defense Department considered an unacceptable cybersecurity risk. Separately, SMC said Friday an upgraded ground control system for the GPS constellation developed by Lockheed Martin has passed tests and is now being used to operate the satellites. (3/30)

LEO Space Fence Ready (Source: Space News)
The space surveillance radar site known as the Space Fence is ready for use after five years in construction. The Space Force said Friday that the Space Fence, a radar located on Kwajalein Island, has completed testing. The powerful radar will be able to track objects in low Earth orbit as small as a marble, and is expected to significantly increase the total number of tracked objects in the catalog maintained by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. (3/30)

Space Command Provides Bandwidth for Hospital Ship (Source: Space News)
U.S. Space Command is providing additional satellite bandwidth for a hospital ship supporting the coronavirus pandemic. The USNS Mercy, which arrived at the Port of Los Angeles Friday, is getting twice the bandwidth it previously had access to after the Hawaii-based Pacific Regional Satellite Communications Support Center replanned existing missions using the Wideband Global Satcom satellite system. That additional bandwidth will be used for telemedicine and other online capabilities. (3/30)

Pandemic Drives Move to Virtual Mission Control (Source: Space News)
The pandemic has raised interest in the use of virtual mission control capabilities rather than physical control centers. Concerns about having personnel in close proximity led ESA to reduce staffing of one mission operations center and put four missions on hiatus. However, some companies have already used virtual systems to operate their spacecraft, allowing normal operations to continue even with stay-at-home orders in place. One company that makes a cloud-based mission control system, Kubos, is offering a free extended trial of that software to satellite operators. (3/30)

Indian Space Center Shifts to Pandemic Supplies Production (Source: Times of India)
An Indian space center has shifted from producing rockets to supplies needed for the pandemic. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre is now producing "simple-to-operate" ventilators as well as hand sanitizer for use by hospitals in India. Launches are on hold in India during a national lockdown, and the Indian space agency ISRO has provided no updates on the status of a launch in early March that was postponed because of an unidentified technical issue. (3/30)

Virgin Orbit Developing Ventilator With Universities (Source: Virgin Orbit)
Virgin Orbit has developed a new mass-producible bridge ventilator to help in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Virgin Orbit team has been consulting with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium (BVC), led by the University of California Irvine (UCI) and the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), a group formed to spawn and nurture efforts to build producible, simple ventilators to aid in the current COVID-19 crisis. Pending clearance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Virgin Orbit aims to commence production at its Long Beach manufacturing facility in early April, sprinting to deliver units into the hands of first responders and healthcare professionals as soon as possible. (3/30)

Bankrupt OneWeb Owes Arianespace Nearly a Quarter Billion Dollars (Source: Parabolic Arc)
OneWeb listed Arianespace as its top creditor with $238,137,447.58 in unsecured debt in a bankruptcy filing last Friday. The French company is far ahead of the other 29 top unsecured creditors listed in the filing. Qualcomm is next with only $8 million. In its filing, OneWeb said it has between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors. The company estimated its liabilities and assets at between $1 billion and $10 billion apiece. (3/28)

Stratolaunch Announces hypersonic Vehicle Plans (Source: Space News)
Stratolaunch, the company founded by the late billionaire Paul Allen as an air-launch company, announced March 30 it is developing a reusable hypersonic vehicle designed to be launched from the company’s giant aircraft. Stratolaunch said it is pursuing development of a vehicle called Talon-A. That vehicle, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, will launch from the company’s aircraft and fly to speeds of Mach 5 to Mach 7 before gliding back to a runway landing. It will also be able to take off on its own from a runway under rocket power. (3/30)

The Long, Wild Story of the Universe, in 5 Eras (Source: Big Think)
There are many ways to consider and discuss the past, present, and future of the universe, but one in particular has caught the fancy of many astronomers. First published in 1999 in their book The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity, Fred Adams and Gregory Laughlin divided the universe's life story into five eras: 1) Primordial era; 2) Stellferous era; 3) Degenerate era; 4) Black Hole era; and 5) Dark era. Click here. (3/27)  https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/5-universe-eras

Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Study May Have Spotted Dark Matter (Source: Big Think)
By comparing data derived from gravitational lensing and gamma ray observations by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, a study showed that certain regions of the sky emit more gamma rays. While the main cause of this phenomenon may be supermassive black holes, the researchers think that some of the emissions may be because of dark matter. It's a so-far-undetected substance that supposedly takes up as much as 27% of all matter in the Universe, with dark energy taking up another 68% (as per NASA).

The study builds on nine years of gamma-ray data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) that's part of the Fermi space observatory, and was carried out by Simone Ammazzalorso at the University of Turin in Italy, Daniel Gruen at Stanford University in California, and colleagues. The data from the telescope previously pinpointed many individual gamma-ray sources, like the remains of supernova explosions or jets of ionized matter called blazars created from accretion of material by supermassive black holes. (3/28)

Soon, Hundreds of Tourists Will Go to Space. What Should We Call Them? (Source: Ars Technica)
Perhaps the best people to ask about this question are some of the astronauts who have gone to space and returned as evangelists for sharing the wonders of space with those back on Earth. Nicole Stott flew two missions to space, spending more than three months on the International Space Station in 2009, then serving as a mission specialist on space shuttle Discovery's final flight in February 2011. During her stint on the station, Stott became the first person to paint what she saw out the window while in space. Later, after retiring from NASA, she became a founder of the Space for Art Foundation.

"I think it's simple: if they get to 'space,' they're an astronaut," she told Ars. "We're at a time where the opportunity for traveling to space is opening up to more people. Whether you are traveling to space as a professional who lives and works there or as someone just visiting, it seems the simplest approach is the best." Over time, this may need to evolve, she said. When there are many people living, working, and visiting space, there may need to be some distinction between the space professional and the visitor classification. But for now, "astronaut" works for everyone. This seems significant, coming from Stott, who was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and flew into space after nine years of training. (3/4)

Georgia Spaceport Blows Through Rainy Day Funds (Source: Spaceport Facts)
Camden taxpayers are continuing to pay for the compilation of the Environmental Impact Statement, monthly retention contracts for Andrew Nelson and a host of other contractors, plus lobbyists, totaling tens of thousands a month. Commissioner Casey recently said the licensing and permitting, should it be granted, will last another year. Spaceport funding is only budgeted through June 30, 2020, so the Commissioners are already planning for next fiscal year's spaceport expenses. (3/29)

SoftBank Shares Sag After Satellite Investment Collapses (Source: Nikkei)
SoftBank Group's share price rally ended abruptly on Monday after the collapse of one of its investments raised fresh worries over the quality of the technology group's assets. SoftBank's stock price fell more than 10% early on Monday after gaining 45% last week on its announcement that it will sell or cash in $41 billion in assets. The company's shares closed down 5%.

U.K.-based satellite operator OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday in the U.S. SoftBank is said to have invested about $1.9 billion in OneWeb and owned nearly 40% of its shares. The group's most valuable holdings are its stakes in Alibaba, worth about 13.7 trillion yen, and SoftBank Corp., worth about 4.5 trillion yen. (3/30)

Stars and Starlink (Source: Space Review)
With OneWeb’s bankruptcy filing, astronomers may have one less satellite constellation to worry about disrupting their observations. But, as Jeff Foust reports, they are still working with SpaceX to find ways to mitigate the effects of the Starlink satellites. Click here. (3/30)
 
And That’s the Way it Was on the Way to the Moon: an Interview with Walter Cronkite (Source: Space Review)
Besides being one of the most trusted people in America in the 1960s, Walter Cronkite was also a space buff who closely followed, and covered, the Apollo program. Dwayne Day finds an interview from decades later where Cronkite discussed how critical his coverage of the program was. Click here. (3/30)
 
The Decade of Venus: an Interview with David Grinspoon (Source: Space Review)
A new series of missions may be bound for Venus in the coming decade by NASA and other space agencies. Arwen Rimmer talked with planetary scientist and astrobiologist David Grinspoon on why renewed studies of Venus can help us not just understand our nearest planetary neighbor but also worlds around other stars. Click here. (3/30)
 
Why a Business Case for Mars Settlement is Not Required (Source: Space Review)
One obstacle to a permanent human settlement on Mars, in the minds of many, is how such a settlement could be economically viable. John Strickland argues that a business case isn’t essential to a Mars settlement, at least during its formative phase. Click here. (3/30)