June 24, 2020

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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