NASA Names Headquarters After ‘Hidden
Figure’ Mary W. Jackson (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Wednesday the agency’s
headquarters building in Washington, D.C., will be named after Mary W.
Jackson, the first African American female engineer at NASA. Jackson
started her NASA career in the segregated West Area Computing Unit of
the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jackson, a
mathematician and aerospace engineer, went on to lead programs
influencing the hiring and promotion of women in NASA's science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. In 2019, she was
posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. (6/24)
The Case for Renaming the USS John C.
Stennis (And NASA's Stennis Space Center) (Source: US Naval
Institute)
If South Carolina Senator Strom Thurman and Alabama Governor George
Wallace were the face and voice of the Southern Dixiecrats, then
Mississippi Senator John C. Stennis was the heart, soul, and brains of
the white supremacist caucus in the 1948 Congress. The Dixiecrats were
the faction of the 1940s Democratic Party that consisted of
malcontented southern delegates who protested the civil rights plank in
the party platform, and President Harry S. Truman’s advocacy of that
plank. The blinding of Army Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr. by a South
Carolina policeman in 1946 strengthened Truman’s resolve.
Stennis, on the other hand, almost singlehandedly derailed the cultural
changes being attempted by then-Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo
Zumwalt, as Zumwalt detailed in his memoir, On Watch. Stennis was
vehemently opposed to black equality, and spent his entire career, both
as a Mississippi prosecutor, judge, and state senator attempting to
ensure it did not happen. He ordered congressional subcommittee
hearings on “Permissiveness” in the Navy, led by Louisiana Senator
Eddie Hebert, in a thinly veiled attempt to thwart Zumwalt’s
initiatives.
Thurman, Wallace, and Stennis all signed the infamous Southern
Manifesto—a document written in 1956 in opposition to racial
integration in public places—as did all Southern Democrats from the
former Confederate states. During a meeting on the topic, requested by
Zumwalt, Stennis told Zumwalt, “Blacks had come down from the trees a
lot later than we did.” The subcommittee ignored the mountain of
evidence Zumwalt presented that showed systematic and pervasive racism
in the Navy. (6/24)
Tech, Defense Giants Lobbying for Tax
Break That Would Save Them Billions (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The aerospace and defense contractors Lockheed Martin Corp. and
Raytheon Technologies Corp. would save $2 billion each in 2022 if
lawmakers agreed to keep the soon-to-expire corporate tax break,
according to executives at the two companies. The airplane manufacturer
Boeing would save approximately $2.5 billion, according to one
estimate. One of Florida’s biggest companies — Brevard County-based
defense firm L3Harris Corp. — would save an estimated $550 million.
Tech giants like Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. would likely reap
enormous savings, as well. (6/24)
Why Indian Space Start-Ups are Feeling
Forced to Set Up Base Abroad (Source: The Print)
The Modi government is reportedly planning to launch a board to promote
private engagement in space activities. The proposal is a promising
move towards addressing some of the biggest problems that are keeping
the local space industry from achieving its potential. India makes a
great place for building a space business as a startup. It has
experienced space professionals who have been nurtured in an ecosystem
that has 60 years of space mission experiences.
It has the entrepreneurial spirit, with perhaps one of the youngest
sets of founders among space startup hubs around the world. It has
established a small and medium enterprises landscape that can cater to
the manufacturing and testing of satellites and rockets. It has
academic institutions that produce globally-matched human resources,
which can be employed by the emerging startups in the space industry.
Yet, we are seeing several Indian space startups set up entities
abroad. To understand what motivates Indian startups to look at the
option of setting up abroad, one should look at what is missing
locally, and this is where the board may step in. (6/16)
Senate Intelligence Committee Confirms
the US Navy Has a UFO Task Force (Source: Vice)
The Senate Intelligence Committee wants the Director of National
Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense to create a comprehensive,
unclassified report concerning unidentified aerial phenomena upon the
passing of a Senate appropriations bill initiated by Senator Marco
Rubio, Motherboard has learned.
A recent Senate Intelligence Committee report on the bill, which
concerns funding the government's intelligence activities, recommended
its passing. It also asked for a “detailed analysis of unidentified
aerial phenomena data and intelligence reporting collected or held by
the Office of Naval Intelligence, including data and intelligence
reporting held by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.” This
report is to be submitted to the congressional intelligence and armed
services committees 180 days after the funding bill's enactment, and
should be unclassified, although it may have a classified annex.
Notably, the committee report acknowledges the existence of an
"Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force" in the U.S. intelligence
apparatus. Previously, the existence of such a task force was only
alluded to in a statement from DoD spokesperson Susan Gough that was
obtained by UFO writer Roger Glassel and reported by the Black Vault,
the largest civilian archive of declassified government documents, in
May. (6/23)
UK's Space Hub Sutherland Recommended
for Approval (Source: BBC)
Highland Council officials have recommended councillors give planning
permission for a space port. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)
wants to build the satellite launch site on peatland on the Moine
Peninsula near Tongue. Council officials have said launches should be
limited to 12 per year. Among the reasons for this is the amount of
plastic and metal debris falling into the sea during rocket launches.
Twelve would see an estimated five tonnes of carbon fibre reinforced
plastic and seven tonnes of metal alloy dropping into the sea each
year, according to the officials' report. (6/23)
Relativity Wins Iridium Contract,
Selects Vandenberg Launch Site (Source: Space News)
Small launch vehicle developer Relativity Space has won a contract to
launch six Iridium replacement satellites, which it plans to carry out
from a new launch site it proposes to develop at Vandenberg Air Force
Base. Relativity announced June 24 that it won a contract from Iridium
for “on-demand” launches of six replacement satellites using its Terran
1 rocket. Those launches would take place starting no earlier than 2023.
York Space Systems Supports Air Force
Study of Satellite Imagery (Source: Space News)
York Space Systems is working with a university on an Air Force study
on satellite imagery. The Denver-based company is working with
Metropolitan State University of Denver to investigate ways to reduce
the cost and speed delivery of high-quality satellite imagery. York
will pair its commercial spacecraft and open-standard payload
interfaces with the university's commercial software and tools to
optimize space imagery applications for the Air Force Small Business
Technology Transfer study. (6/24)
SpaceX Destroys Another Starship Test
Article in Texas Test (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX blew up another Starship prototype Tuesday, this time on
purpose. The company performed a burst test of a tank originally built
for a vehicle designated SN7. The test was designed to study the
performance of the tank, which used a new steel alloy. Four previous
Starship prototypes have been destroyed in testing since last November,
most recently the SN4 vehicle that exploded after a static-fire test
last month. (6/24)
Gravitational Wave Detection Spots
Black Hole Event (Source: Space News)
Gravitational wave observatories have detected the merger of a black
hole with an unknown object. The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave
observatories detected the signature of the event last August, which
astronomers believe came from the collision of a black hole 23 times
the mass of the sun with an object weighing about 2.6 solar masses. The
smaller object is a mystery to scientists, since it is above the
theoretical upper limit of neutron star masses but lighter than any
known black holes. (6/24)
Griffin and Porter Depart DoD for
Private Sector Opportunity (Source: Space News)
Mike Griffin and his deputy, Lisa Porter, are leaving the Defense
Department next month, they announced Tuesday. Griffin, a former NASA
administrator who has been undersecretary of defense for research and
engineering since early 2018, said he and Porter are leaving July 10
for an unspecified opportunity in the private sector. Griffin served as
the Defense Department's chief technology officer and spoke out against
the slow and "process driven" way the military develops and procures
satellites and other systems while adversaries like China are moving at
a rapid pace. He advocated for the creation of the Space Development
Agency to address that, but has been fighting efforts to accelerate the
transfer of the Space Development Agency to the U.S. Space Force. (6/24)
Senate Authorization Bill Directs Air
Force to Fund Launch Vehicle Research (Source: Space News)
The Senate version of a defense authorization bill directs the Air
Force to fund launch vehicle research and development work. The bill,
the full text of which was released Tuesday, calls on the Air Force to
provide up to $250 million to help launch providers prepare to meet
future national security launch requirements. That funding is intended
to get companies ready to meet the requirements of the National
Security Space Launch Phase 3 competition in 2024. The bill also calls
for a tactically responsive space launch program, including identifying
basing requirements to enable such launch systems and mobile launch
range infrastructure. (6/24)
Industry Players Align to Oppose FCC
Ligado Decision (Source: Space News)
Five industry associations are joining forces to oppose the FCC's
decision to allow Ligado develop a 5G network. The industry groups have
created the "Keep GPS Working Coalition" to oppose the Ligado decision,
arguing that the network would interfere with GPS signals in a
neighboring spectrum band. The coalition is expected to support
legislation to be introduced this week by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)
and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), called the "Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer
Access to Infrastructure Necessary for GPS and Satellite Communications
Act," that would require Ligado to compensate businesses and consumers
affected by the network. (6/24)
Motion Denied to Block FCC C-Band Plan
(Source: Space News)
The FCC's C-band auction has survived a legal challenge. The U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a motion Tuesday by
satellite operators ABS, Arsat and Hispasat to block plans to clear
C-band satellite spectrum for 5G networks. The FCC denied those
satellite operators a share of the subsidies it is offering to other
satellite operators after concluding those three companies did not have
C-band customers in the United States. Those operators may appeal the
court's decision, however. (6/24)
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