April 27, 2020

US Deficit Could Weigh on Future Defense Spending (Source: Breaking Defense)
Experts say that the high deficits the US government is running in 2020 will cause pain for coming defense budgets. "What has historically happened is, when Congress's fiscal conservatives come out and get serious about reducing the debt, reducing spending defense is almost always part of what they come up with for a solution," said Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Security. (4/27)

Digging Up Regolith: Why Mining the Moon Seems More Possible Than Ever (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Human beings set foot on the moon 50 years ago, but since then, no one has really figured out how best to utilize Earth's closest celestial neighbor. Earlier this month, with an executive order allowing U.S. companies to mine the moon, the Trump administration opened the door to a possible commercial future on the lunar surface. It was a moment many proponents of lunar commercialization never thought they’d see.

“You have direct interest from the White House in making this happen right now, which is sort of remarkable,” George Sowers, a space mining researcher and professor of engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, tells Popular Mechanics. “From that standpoint I think the future's pretty rosy.” This executive order put an exclamation point on the debate over the U.S’s attitude toward The Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Signed during the Cold War, the treaty banned national sovereignty over off-world bodies but didn’t forbid their commercialization.

The 60-year-old treaty suffered a mortal blow in 2015 when the Obama administration signed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act that made it legal for Americans to own and sell commodities collected off-planet. This new executive order makes it plain that the current administration is supporting the idea. But it takes more than pen ink to open the moon for mining. The technical and economic challenges of such an endeavor have proven formidable since the idea first emerged in the 1960s. (4/27)

Putting the White House Executive Order on Space Resources in an International Context (Source: The Space Review)
An executive order on space resource rights issued by the White House in early April generated debate and controversy regarding national policy on the topic. Ian Christensen and Christopher Johnson examine the order from an international perspective. Click here. (4/28)
 
Burevestnik: a Russian Air-Launched Anti-Satellite System (Source: The Space Review)
An image of a Russian fighter with a large missile mounted underneath it prompted speculation that the Russian military was working on a new anti-satellite weapon. Bart Hendrickx reveals new details about an effort that includes both an air-launched rocket and small, maneuverable satellites. Click here. (4/28)
 
Taking on the Challenge of Mars Sample Return (Source: The Space Review)
Mars sample return is a long-standing goal of many planetary scientists, but difficult and expensive to achieve. Jeff Foust reports on how NASA and ESA are firming up plans to do so over the next decade, despite many uncertainties. Click here. (4/28)
 
Draft Moon Village Association Principles: Creating Best Practices for Sustainable Lunar Activities (Source: The Space Review)
The Moon Village Association recently released a draft set of principles regarding best practices for future lunar development. Giuseppe Reibaldi and Mark Sundahl discuss the formation of the principles and their request for feedback about them. Click here. (4/28)
 
The Lunar Development Cooperative: A New Idea for Enabling Lunar Settlement (Source: The Space Review)
Management of lunar activities in a way that is consistent with existing treaties has long been a challenge. A group of authors offer a concept that they believe can effective coordinate various activities in a sustainable way. Click here. (4/28)

Casio's New NASA-Tribute Casio G-Shock Watch (Source: CollectSpace)
A new, limited edition wristwatch not only pays tribute to NASA's past, but also its own spaceflight history. Casio's G-Shock DW5600NASA20 offers a retro, NASA-inspired-take on the same digital model that astronauts wore on board the space shuttle. "All systems go, as Casio G-Shock pays homage to NASA, with a custom DW5600 timepiece, honoring decades of space exploration and groundbreaking discoveries," the company wrote on its G-Shock website.

Released for sale on Friday (April 24), the NASA-themed G-Shock features an all-white color scheme with the space agency's early shuttle-era logotype (the "worm") emblazoned in red across the top of the watch face. The strap is inscribed in black "National Aeronautics and Space Administration" and the keeper (or band loop) is printed with the American flag, evoking the iconic livery of the orbiters. The watch's metal caseback and its illuminated face both reveal a depiction of the moon. (4/27)

What My Spacewalk Taught Me About Isolation (Source: New York Times)
Retired NASA astronaut Nicole Stott reflects on the three months she spent on the International Space Station, far from her husband and 7-year-old son. Living on the space station, being alone on a spacewalk, watching lightning storms crisscross the planet — all these experiences taught her that we’re all inherently connected, even when we’re physically far away. In space, crew members had to make individual sacrifices for the survival of the spacecraft and success of the mission — and a safe return home. Click here. (4/27)

NASA CubeSat Will Shine a Laser Light on the Moon's Darkest Craters (Source: NASA JPL)
As astronauts explore the Moon during the Artemis program, they may need to make use of the resources that already exist on the lunar surface. Take water, for instance: Because it's a heavy and therefore expensive resource to launch from Earth, our future explorers might have to seek out ice to mine. Once excavated, it can be melted and purified for drinking and used for rocket fuel. But how much water is there on the Moon, and where might we find it?

This is where NASA's Lunar Flashlight comes in. About the size of a briefcase, the small satellite - also known as a CubeSat - aims to detect naturally occurring surface ice believed to be at the bottom of craters on the Moon that have never seen sunlight. "Although we have a pretty good idea there's ice inside the coldest and darkest craters on the Moon, previous measurements have been a little bit ambiguous," said Barbara Cohen, principal investigator of the mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Scientifically, that's fine, but if we're planning on sending astronauts there to dig up the ice and drink it, we have to be sure it exists."

Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the spacecraft is a technology demonstration: It will seek to achieve several technological firsts, including being the first mission to look for water ice using lasers. It will also be the first planetary spacecraft to use a "green" propellant, a new kind of fuel that is safer to transport and store than the commonly used spacecraft propellant hydrazine. (4/27)

Pentagon Formally Releases 3 Navy Videos Showing "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" (Source: CBS)
The Pentagon on Monday formally released three unclassified videos taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with "unidentified aerial phenomena." One of the videos shows an incident from 2004, and the other two were recorded in January 2015. The videos became public after unauthorized leaks in 2007 and 2017, and the Navy previously verified their authenticity. "After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions."

The 2004 incident occurred about 100 miles out in the Pacific. Two fighter pilots on a routine training mission were dispatched to investigate unidentified aircraft that a Navy cruiser had been tracking for weeks. The pilots found an oblong object about 40 feet long hovering about 50 feet above the water, and it began a rapid ascent as the pilots approached before quickly flying away. "It accelerated like nothing I've ever seen," one of the pilots said. The pilots left the area to meet at a rendezvous point about 60 miles away. When they were still about 40 miles out, the ship radioed and said the object was at the rendezvous point, having traversed the distance "in less than a minute," the pilot said.

The two other videos of incidents in 2015 include footage of objects moving rapidly through the air. In one, an object is seen racing through the sky and begins rotating in midair. Five Navy pilots who spotted the objects in 2015 told The Times in 2017 that they had a series of interactions with unidentified aircraft during training missions in 2014 and 2015 along the East Coast from Virginia to Florida. (4/27)

Tired of Self-Isolating? Astronauts Are Used to It (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
As many Floridians and Americans continue to self-isolate in their homes, many for the first time, astronauts have a leg up, as they’ve all gone through quarantine before. A blog post from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex explains that, in order to prevent the contraction and spread of any illness, astronauts are held in isolation for seven days prior to their launch as part of the Crew Health Stabilization Program.

Michael Lopez-Alegria, a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one International Space Station mission, recalls the first time he quarantined prior to launch. “My first flight tied a NASA record because we scrubbed six times before we actually launched ... We were in quarantine for a much longer period because of all of those attempts,” said Lopez-Alegria, who will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame this year. “It’s kind of nice to not have to worry about everyday things in life like preparing meals. We were allowed visitation by our families, who also had to go through a medical screening.”

Before launching to board the ISS for more than seven months, the veteran astronaut had to isolate for two weeks. This wasn’t nearly as long as the Apollo 11 astronauts’ quarantine following their return from the moon — 21 days — for fear of “moon germs.” (4/27)

SpaceX Starship Passes Pressurization Test at Texas Site (Source: Space News)
A SpaceX Starship prototype passed a pressurization test overnight. The Starship SN4 vehicle, on a pad at the company's South Texas facility, was loaded with liquid nitrogen for a cryogenic pressurization test. Three earlier Starship prototypes were destroyed in similar tests, but the SN4 vehicle survived this one. The vehicle will be ready for a static-fire test with a single Raptor engine later this week, company founder Elon Musk said, with a low-altitude test flight possible in the coming weeks. (4/27)

Viasat Wins FCC Approval for MEO Constellation (Source: Space News)
Viasat won FCC approval last week for a medium Earth orbit satellite constellation. The 20-satellite system would operate at 8,200 kilometers using Ka-band and higher frequency V-band spectrum for uplinks and downlinks. Viasat has focused mainly on building a trio of large geostationary satellites that, with at least one terabit of throughput each, stand to be the highest capacity satellites in the world. The company, though, has shown interest in other orbits. Viasat hasn't given a schedule for developing the constellation, but the FCC approval requires the company to launch half the system in six years and the full constellation in nine years. (4/27)

Pompeo: Iran Launch Advanced Ballistic Missile Program (Source: Space News)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran's military satellite launch is evidence of the country's ongoing development of long-range ballistic missiles. Pompeo said in a statement Friday that the launch of the Nour-1 satellite proved that "Iran's space program is neither peaceful nor entirely civilian." That satellite, Gen. John Raymond, commander of U.S. Space Command said in a separate statement, is a 3U cubesat that does not yet to be under control: "it's a tumbling webcam in space; unlikely providing intel." (4/27)

China's Mars Mission Readies for July Launch (Source: Space News)
China's first independent Mars mission remains on schedule for launch in July. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft, with a mass of about five tons, will launch on a Long March 5 rocket. The spacecraft has been delivered to the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, but the launch will depend on the outcome of the Long March 5B launch now scheduled for early May. Tianwen-1 features an orbiter with a high-resolution camera and a lander with a 240-kilogram rover. (4/27)

Northrop Grumman Confirms OmegA Development On Track (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman says test data confirms development of the OmegA rocket is on track. Data from static-fire tests of the rocket's first and second stage solid-fuel motors supports continued production of hardware for the rocket, slated to make its first launch in 2021. The company did change the design of the nozzle on the first stage after it appeared to shatter near the end of its static-fire test, which the company blamed on "a ground test phenomenon" that would not occur in flight. Northrop Grumman is one of four companies competing for two launch awards from the U.S. Space Force later this year. (4/27)

ULA Supports Suppliers During Pandemic (Source: Space News)
United Launch Alliance is helping its suppliers get through the pandemic. ULA said it assisted suppliers by alerting them to Defense Department guidance that identified such companies as essential businesses that could remain open, and also training companies on how to follow federal health guidelines and implement protocols to keep employees from getting sick. ULA itself has had only one case of COVID-19 among its workforce so far. The company is moving ahead with preparations for its next launch, of the X-37B spaceplane, in mid-May. (4/27)

NASA Shows Off Virus Projects (Source: Space News)
NASA showed off its projects to support coronavirus relief efforts at the White House Friday. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other agency officials presented work on those projects to President Trump in a short briefing a day after NASA discussed them with the media. Those efforts include a simple, low-cost ventilator, a breathing helmet and a system designed to quickly disinfect vehicles and rooms. (4/27)