June 13, 2020

SpaceX Launches its Third Rocket in Two Weeks, Lands Booster on Droneship (Source: Ars Technica)
Just before sunrise along the Florida coast, a Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off on Saturday. The rocket performed nominally, ultimately delivering its payload of three SkySats and 58 Starlink satellites into orbit. This was the eighth flight of the current design of Starlink satellites, and the ninth launch of a large batch of them. After the mission, the first stage successfully landed on a drone ship. SpaceX has now landed 55 first stage boosters. (6/13)

Alaska Officials Seek U.S. Space Command Headquarters Move to Anchorage (Source: Anchorage Daily News)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz are asking the U.S. Air Force to consider Anchorage as the headquarters for the U.S. Space Command. “On behalf of the people of Alaska, and specifically Anchorage, Alaska, I am submitting our request for consideration to host the headquarters of the United States Space Command,” Dunleavy and Berkowitz wrote in a one-page letter to U.S. Air Force Assistant Secretary John Henderson. (6/12)

All-Female Air Force Weather Team Oversaw SpaceX Launch (Source: CNBC)
For the first time, all six members of the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing launch weather team are female. The next SpaceX launch, scheduled for Saturday morning, will see the six women decide if the weather is clear for liftoff. “Any little girl that’s looking up to us, I want to encourage you to pursue math and science and don’t shy away from it,” the 45th Space Wing’s reconnaissance launch weather office Melody Lovin told CNBC. (6/12)

Lueders to Lead NASA Human Spaceflight (Source: Space Policy Online)
Kathy Lueders is the new head of NASA’s human spaceflight program — the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD).  She succeeds Doug Loverro who resigned last month after less than six months on the job. She has gained renown as manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program that on May 30, in partnership with SpaceX, launched the first American astronauts into orbit from American soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. (6/12)

Are Crewed US Systems in Low-Earth Orbits a Defense Necessity? (Source: In Homeland Security)
With space-based systems now ubiquitous, there is a need for platforms in space to protect technological assets and repair them when necessary. That will mean having humans in space to manage these systems. The U.S., China, and Russia have the capability to shoot down satellites. Replacing these satellites would require rocket launches with replacement equipment on board.

With space-based systems, however, those assets could be repaired or replaced faster from orbiting stock or from a lunar base. From a U.S. perspective, this would save time and money. Also, it would lessen the potential impact of losing launch centers at Vandenberg AFB and Cape Canaveral in an international conflict. Russia, China, India and the European Union, among others, have a stake in gaining access to space and maintaining a presence there. Russia and China, however, have developed anti-satellite weaponry that can place U.S. assets in danger directly or harm U.S. satellites with a large debris field.

If the U.S. wants space dominance, as suggested by the president, then the only real option would be the occupation of the moon. This goes beyond the civilian/scientist drive to place a human on Mars. Space dominance suggests keeping forces and munitions hostile to the U.S. from entering certain orbits (area denial). But space dominance also suggests that the U.S. would need the ability to launch new assets into space from an uncontested extraterrestrial location. Based on current technology and costs, the moon is the only viable option. (6/12)

New Mexico Governor Appoints Spaceport Authority Board Members (Source: Las Cruces Bulletin)
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed three new members to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority and re-appointed three other members. The new appointees are Ethan Epstein of Los Rancho, Peggy S. Johnson of Williamsburg and Eric J. Schindwolf of Tijeras. Johnson is a native of Truth or Consequences and has served both as mayor and city commissioner for the city. She said she is excited about the appointment and is a big spaceport supporter. (6/12)

Rocket Lab Launches 'Don't Stop Me Now' Mission (Source: New Zealand Herald)
Rocket Lab's fresh attempt to launch its 'Don't Stop Me Now' mission has been a success. The mission, after being delayed due to hgh winds on Thursday, launched at 5:12pm. 'Don't Stop Me Now' is a rideshare mission from Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula that will deploy payloads for American and Australian customers. The mission is Rocket Lab's 12th Electron launch since the company began launches in May 2017. (6/13)

Senators Continue Building Space Force with Caution (Source: Air Force Magazine)
New legislation further establishes the Space Force as the sixth branch of the military, but wants a closer look at who will do that work and where. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, approved June 10, would temporarily stop the military from transferring its installations into the Space Force. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett would first need to send an analysis of those potential transfers to Capitol Hill.

It’s unclear which installations the provision is meant to cover, or whether that prohibits the Air Force from simply renaming bases that already handle space missions. Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., home to the 45th Space Wing, was supposed to be the first to change its nomenclature earlier this year, but the shift was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers want more information about what the Space Force will handle. The bill would direct Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley and the service chiefs to report on which space-related missions and careers should move to the Space Force and who those personnel should work for. This reporting requirement would come the year before many Army and Navy space personnel could begin joining the Space Force in fiscal 2022. (6/12)

Russian Space Agency To Deliver Launch Vehicles Despite OneWeb Bankruptcy (Source: UrduPoint)
Russian space vehicle manufacturer Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of state space agency Roscosmos, will continue manufacturing Soyuz launch vehicles and Fregat upper stage propulsion for OneWeb despite the latter's' bankruptcy, head of Glavkosmos Dmitry Loskunov said. OneWeb is a US-UK private satellite manufacturing company that planned to launch up to 672 satellites into low Earth orbit with the vision to provide broadband internet access to the entire world's surface. In 2015, the company penned a contract with Roscosmos through European aerospace company Arianespace to carry out 21 launches to deliver all the satellites into space.

In late March, OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a New York state court. "The overwhelming majority of funds under this contract have already been received by our enterprises, and almost all of the material and technical part should be produced before the end of this year," Loskunov said. If OneWeb is not able to find investors and go through with the project, Arianespace will be obligated to find other uses for the launch vehicles in question. (6/11)

Quantum 'Fifth State of Matter' Observed in Space for First Time (Source: Phys.org)
Scientists have observed the fifth state of matter in space for the first time, offering unprecedented insight that could help solve some of the quantum universe's most intractable conundrums, research showed Thursday. Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs)—the existence of which was predicted by Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose almost a century ago—are formed when atoms of certain elements are cooled to near absolute zero (0 Kelvin, minus 273.15 Celsius). At this point, the atoms become a single entity with quantum properties, wherein each particle also functions as a wave of matter. (6/11)

NASA Names First Woman To Head Human Spaceflight Program (Source: WMFE)
NASA’s Kathy Lueders will head NASA’ Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, leading the agency’s human spaceflight efforts. She’s the first woman to lead human space flight at NASA. Since 2013, Lueders served as NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager as SpaceX and Boeing developed new spacecraft to launch humans to the International Space Station. A successful launch of astronauts Dough Hurley and Bob Behnken last month from Kennedy Space Center ended a nearly decade-long reliance on Russia for rides to the station. (6/12)

NASA Selects University Teams to Develop Technologies to Enhance Its Artemis Missions (Source: NASA)
NASA, in partnership with the National Space Grant Foundation, has selected seven university teams to develop innovative design ideas that will help NASA advance and execute its Artemis program objectives. The selections are a part of the 2021 Moon to Mars eXploration Systems and Habitation (M2M X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge, sponsored by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) division.

The winning teams will be given monetary awards ranging from $15,000- $50,000 to assist them in designing and producing studies, research findings or functional products that bridge strategic knowledge gaps, increase capabilities and lower technology risks related to NASA’s Moon to Mars space exploration missions. This year’s winning M2M X-Hab teams will design, manufacture, assemble, test, and demonstrate functional prototypical subsystems and innovations that enable increased functionality for human space exploration missions in: Habitation Systems, Vehicle Systems, Foundational Systems (avionics, communications and navigation systems), Robotic Precursor Activities, Human Spaceflight Architecture Systems (Gateway-focused). (6/12)

Marine Corps Says Updated Satellite Communications System Works Better Than Expected (Source: C4ISRnet)
Field evaluations of the Mobile User Objective System show that the next generation satellite communications system is performing beyond expectations, according to a June 2 U.S. Marine Corps statement. Built by Lockheed Martin, MUOS replaced the legacy UHF Follow-On (UFO) system to provide narrowband communications. Consisting of four satellites and an on orbit spare in geosynchronous orbit, the $7 billion system can provide more than 10 times the bandwidth capacity of UFO. The fifth and final MUOS satellite launched back in 2016, and in October 2019 the U.S. Navy said the system was ready for full operational use. (6/10)

Astronauts Say Riding Falcon 9 Rocket was “Totally Different” From the Space Shuttle (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken say SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was a “very pure flying machine” as it sped their Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit, but they said they were surprised by the rougher-than-expected ride on the Falcon 9’s powerful upper stage. Hurley and Behnken became the first people to ride a Falcon 9 rocket into space May 30 after lifting off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Around 19 hours later, their Crew Dragon capsule autonomously docked with the International Space Station to complete the first trip to the orbiting outpost from a U.S. spaceport since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.

Each astronaut launched on two space shuttle flights before flying on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. “From the time the engines lit, the first two-and-a-half minutes to staging was about like we expected, except you can never simulate the Gs, so as the Gs built you could certainly feel those,” said Hurley, the Dragon’s spacecraft commander. “What I thought was really neat was now sensitive we were to the throttling of the Merlin engines. That was really neat. You could definitely sense that as we broke Mach 1. (6/12)

Amid Covid, India-Japan Moon Mission Takes Shape, ISRO to Lead Lander Tech (Source: Times of India)
Japan, which will be launching a joint lunar mission with India, The Lunar Polar Exploration (LPE) project hopes to put a lander and rover on the Moon's surface, with India's ISRO leading the lander development. JAXA says the mission will be launched after 2023. A Japanese H2 rocket will launch the mission . (6/13)

Former NASA Administrator Reprimanded for Use of Agency Personnel After Departure (Source: Space News)
NASA’s inspector general found that former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden continued to use the services of an employee to manage his activities for almost two years after leaving the agency. The NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report June 11 summarizing an investigation into allegations that Bolden’s former executive assistant, or EA, continued to support Bolden after he left NASA in January 2017, including aiding Bolden’s consulting business.

According to the report, Bolden added a provision to the assistant’s employee performance plan just before he left office in January 2017, authorizing the assistant to provide administrative support for speeches and other events that would take place after he left office, but for which he committed to participating while still at NASA. That support was originally envisioned to last for six to eight months. However, the OIG report found that work “displayed the hallmarks of mission creep and gradually expanded beyond its original scope.” (6/12)

Japanese Firms Finish Acquisition of Spaceflight, with BlackSky Satellite Venture Going its Own Way (Source: GeekWire)
Japan’s Mitsui & Co., working in partnership with Yamasa Co. Ltd., has completed the acquisition of Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. from its parent company, Spaceflight Industries. The transaction’s completion follows up on February’s announcement of the sale for an undisclosed amount. Spaceflight Industries’ other subsidiary, BlackSky Global, isn’t part of the transaction and will continue to operate as a privately held company with offices in the U.S.

Spaceflight Industries also has a 50% share in LeoStella, a satellite manufacturing company. The other half of that joint venture is owned by Thales Alenia Space, a French-Italian aerospace company. Mitsui and Yamasa will similarly split ownership of Spaceflight Inc. as a 50-50 joint venture, operating independently with its headquarters remaining in Seattle. The sale brings a parting of the ways for Spaceflight Inc., which focuses on arranging launch services for rideshare satellites; and BlackSky, which is building a satellite constellation for Earth observation and provides geospatial data analysis tools. (6/12)

University-Built CubeSat Launched with Swarm of Auroral Science Nodes (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Rocket Lab successfully launched five small satellites from New Zealand Saturday for customers in the United States and Australia, including a CubeSat with a novel swarm of tiny magnetometers to measure the plasma currents that shape colorful auroras. Around nine minutes after launch, the Electron’s second stage shut down its engine, and a Curie kick stage separated to prepare for a planned 96-second firing to inject the mission’s five payloads into a polar orbit a few hundred miles above Earth. Rocket Lab confirmed deployment of all five satellites a little more than an hour into the mission.(6/13)

Architects Have Designed a Martian City for the Desert Outside Dubai (Source: CNN)
Dubai is a city where firefighters use jetpacks, archipelagos are built from scratch, and buildings climb into the clouds; a slick metropolis in the middle of a vast red desert. First-time visitors would be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled onto a film set for a sci-fi movie. Now Dubai is set for what must be its most other-worldly architectural project yet. In 2017, the United Arab Emirates announced its ambition to colonize Mars within the next 100 years. But architects are already imagining what a Martian city might look like -- and planning to recreate it in the desert outside Dubai.

Mars Science City was originally earmarked to cover 176,000 square meters of desert -- the size of more than 30 football fields -- and cost approximately $135 million. Intended as a space for Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) to develop the technology needed to colonize Mars, architects Bjarke Ingels Group were asked to design a prototype of a city suitable for sustaining life on Mars -- and then adapt it for use in the Emirati desert. (6/10)

SpaceX YouTube Scam Cons Viewers Out of $150,000 in Bitcoin (Source: CoinGeek)
Three high profile YouTube channels have been hacked by scammers, pulling in as much as $150,000 in BTC in just two days. First reported by BleepingComputer, the YouTube channels have been hijacked by scammers posing as Elon Musk’s SpaceX official channel. The channels are currently directing viewers to send digital currency as part of a giveaway opportunity. In each of these cases, BTC is being actively scammed from unsuspecting viewers sending cryptocurrency on false pretenses, with reports suggesting the scams have netted thousands of dollars an hour since going live. (6/12)

Japanese Scientists Succeed in Inducing Hibernation-Like State in Rodents (Source: The Mainichi)
A team of Japanese scientists said Thursday they have succeeded in artificially inducing a hibernation-like state in rodents by stimulating nerve cells, suggesting beneficial implications for human medical applications and deep space exploration. The University of Tsukuba and Riken, a state-run research institute, announced their discovery in the online edition of the scientific journal Nature. Hibernation is a state in which some mammals actively lower their body temperature for energy conservation during winter months to survive food scarcity.

Mice and rats do not hibernate, although the former experience daily torpor. Previous research had indicated that the central nervous system was involved, but the exact mechanism had been unclear. The experiment showed that when lab mice's nerve cells dubbed "Q neurons" in the hypothalamus were artificially stimulated with drugs, their usual body temperature of around 37 C dropped to 24 C, and their oxygen consumption was reduced to 10 to 20 percent of the normal level. (6/12)

SASC Advances NDAA, Space Force Acquisition Reforms Not Included (Source: Space News)
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 25-2 following three days of closed hearings, the committee announced June 11. The markup authorizes $740.5 billion for national defense spending. SASC Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) hailed the bill as a show of strong bipartisan support. A summary of the bill released by the committee includes several items related to the U.S. Space Force and space programs. Notably absent from the bill are provisions on Space Force acquisition reforms that the committee in the 2020 NDAA asked Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett to submit. (6/11)

SASC Prohibits DoD From Complying with "Misguided" FCC Ligado Decision (Source: Space Policy Online)
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) approved its version of the FY2021 defense authorization bill yesterday and shared some of its provisions today. Among them, the committee prohibits DOD from spending money to comply with the FCC’s decision to allow Ligado to use frequencies close to those used for the GPS system until certain conditions are met. DOD and many SASC members strongly oppose the FCC decision.

In one of its rare hearings since the coronavirus pandemic changed how Congress conducts its work, a substantial number of SASC members agreed with DOD witnesses on May 6 that allowing Ligado to operate a terrestrial 5G broadband wireless system in a frequency band adjacent to GPS could jeopardize a wide range of national security capabilities. The sentiment was not universal.  Some committee members wanted to hear FCC’s side of the story, but SASC chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) were among the strongest voices calling for the FCC to reverse its decision.

Their counterparts on HASC agree, as do a number of government agencies and companies. The FCC is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, however, not SASC. That committee is chaired by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), who is a member of SASC and remained noncommittal at the hearing. (6/11)

Boeing Teams With Varjo on Virtual Reality Training for Starliner Space Taxi (Source: GeekWire)
Boeing isn’t due to start flying NASA crews to the International Space Station until next year, but in the meantime, astronauts can steer a computer-generated Starliner space taxi with the aid of Varjo’s virtual-reality headsets. Flnland-based Varjo announced today that Boeing will use its VR-2 headsets to augment more traditional simulator sessions in preparation for Starliner’s first crewed flight. Starliner is designed with the capability of flying itself, but the craft is also equipped with a joystick and other controls in case astronauts have to take manual control.

Astronauts can use the virtual-reality system to rehearse an entire mission — from pre-launch to docking, and from undocking to landing. Varjo’s VR system allows the astronauts to train remotely without having to go to a fixed-site simulator. They can even train in their quarters during the two-week pre-launch quarantine period. (6/11)