February 23, 2021

Apollo-Era Rocket Stage, Lost For Half a Century, Turned Up in a Telescope Search (Source: Air & Space)
Astronomers have confirmed that a small object temporarily captured by Earth’s orbit is the Centaur upper-stage rocket booster that helped lift NASA’s ill-fated Surveyor 2 spacecraft toward the moon in 1966. The object, designated 2020 SO, was initially detected by the Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System, which monitors near-Earth objects such as asteroids that might pose a threat to Earth. Upon closer examination, scientists at the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) realized that this was no ordinary asteroid.

Typically, the orbit of an asteroid is more elongated and tilted relative to Earth’s orbit. However, before 2020 SO was captured by this planet’s gravity, it was orbiting around the sun in a near circle and in an orbital plane that almost matched Earth’s. Adding to the mystery, the trajectory of 2020 SO was changing slightly in response to getting pushed by the solar wind, suggesting it was likely hollow.

Suspecting that they had discovered an old rocket booster, CNEOS director Paul Chodas calculated the object’s orbit backward in time and found that 2020 SO’s approach in late 1966 would have been close enough that it might have originated from Earth—coinciding with the launch of the Surveyor 2 spacecraft aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket. A thruster malfunction had caused the spacecraft to crash into the moon on September 23, while the spent Centaur upper-stage rocket sailed into space. (2/23)

NASA Postpones Postpones Next-Try SLS Green Run as Boeing Corrects Valve Issue (Source: Space News)
NASA announced Monday it is postponing a second static-fire test of the Space Launch System core stage that had been scheduled for this week. The agency said in a statement that engineers discovered a problem with a valve used to control the flow of liquid oxygen into the stage's four RS-25 engines. NASA and Boeing will work to correct the problem, but did not set a new date for the test. NASA had planned to perform the static-fire test Thursday, running the engines for up to eight minutes before shipping the stage to the Kennedy Space Center to be used on the Artemis 1 mission. (2/23)

SecDef Supports USAF Decision Process for Space Command Move (Source: Space News)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he supports the Air Force's decision-making process for selecting a headquarters for U.S. Space Command. Austin's comments Monday come after the Pentagon's inspector general announced last week it would investigate the process by which the Air Force recommended Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as the new headquarters. Austin noted that a final decision on the headquarters could come as late as 2023 because of the need to perform an environmental review of the new location. (2/23)

Redwire Acquires DSS (Source: Space News)
Redwire is acquiring space structures company Deployable Space Systems (DSS). The companies announced the deal early Tuesday, terms of which they did not disclose. DSS makes various structures and mechanisms including the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) that will be used on the International Space Station and lunar Gateway. DSS executives said that with those contracts underway, it's a good time to join Redwire and allow it to handle some of its corporate functions. DSS is the seventh company acquired by Redwire, which private equity firm AE Industrial Partners established last year to create a pure-play space company. (2/23)

L3Harris to Build GPS Payloads for Lockheed Martin (Source: Space News)
L3Harris has won a contract to provide Lockheed Martin with four GPS payloads. The $136 million contract, announced Tuesday, is for navigation payload mission data units that will be used for the next-generation GPS satellites known as GPS 3 Follow-on, or GPS 3F. The digital payloads passed a critical design review a year ago that required demonstrating the new payload design was mature enough to go into production. L3Harris received a $243 million contract from Lockheed in 2019 to design and build the first two units. (2/23)

Orbit Fab and Benchmark Space Systems Partner for In-Space Satellite Refueling (Source: Space News)
Two startups are partnering to demonstrate in-space satellite refueling. Orbit Fab and Benchmark Space Systems said Tuesday that they are working together on a flight this summer of Orbit Fab's first tanker spacecraft. That spacecraft will carry the hydrogen peroxide propellant used by Benchmark's thrusters, and Benchmark will incorporate Orbit Fab's refueling interface. The companies hope to jump-start interest in refueling satellites by demonstrating an end-to-end solution. (2/23)

Space Force Works to Expand Software Personnel (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is working to build up a corps of software coders essential to its missions. The service has started a software boot camp whose graduates are known as the "supra coders," a play on the Space Force motto of "Semper Supra." The coding boot camps will become regular events as the Space Force looks to build a cadre of 400 software coders who will be assigned to units around the world that perform duties like space traffic control, satellite operations and space data analysis. "Digital fluency is critical to all the guardians in the Space Force," said one Space Force officer. (2/23)

Antares Deployed ThinSats (Source: Space News)
An Antares launch over the weekend deployed 30 "ThinSat" education satellites. The satellites, each a fraction the size of a single 1U cubesat, were deployed as secondary payloads on the Antares launch of a Cygnus spacecraft Saturday, placed into low orbits that will decay in a matter of days. These satellites were part of a STEM program for middle school, high school and university students, but satellite developer NearSpace Launch says there is interest from NASA and the Space Force in using them for technology demonstrations. (2/23)

Draft Indian Space Policy Calls for Sustained Human Presence (Source: Space News)
A draft Indian space policy calls for the country to establish a "sustained" human presence in space. The draft version of the Humans in Space Policy by India's Department of Space includes the development of a long-term road map for human missions in low Earth orbit and exploration missions beyond LEO. The department released the policy recently for public comment ahead of potential approval by the Indian government's cabinet. (2/23)

Bill Nelson Wants To Be NASA Administrator (In 2017 He Said He's Not Qualified) (Source: NASA Watch)
Rumors are starting to bubble up. Bill Nelson wants you to know that he really, really wants to be the next NASA Administrator. There is one small problem however: according to his own previously established criteria for who should - or should not - be NASA administrator, he is not qualified. Oh yes: former NASA Adminstrator Charlie Bolden agreed with Nelson's qualification criteria. Just sayin'.

There was mention of this topic at the daily White House Press briefing: Reporter: There are reports that Presiden Biden is considering former Florida Senator Bill Nelson to be the NASA Administrator. Are those reports accurate? Is he under consideration? And when do you expect an announcement?
Psaki: I do not have any personnel announcements for you or any expectation as to when we will have an announcement on a NASA administrator - or a list of potential people. But that is an interesting one. (2/23)

SpaceX Plans to Double Starlink Broadband Speed (Source: The Verge)
Elon Musk says that SpaceX is planning to double speeds on its Starlink broadband internet service this year. Musk, responding to a tweet from a new Starlink user, said that the company will increase speeds, currently topping out near 150 megabits per second, to 300 megabits per second later this year. Latency will also decrease to 20 milliseconds. Musk said that Starlink should be able to provide service to "most of Earth" by the end of this year, expanding to the entire planet next year and followed by "densifying coverage." (2/23)

India's Pixxel Delays First Imaging Satellite Launch (Source: Business Insider India)
An Indian startup won't have its first satellite on a launch this weekend as originally planned. Pixxel had manifested its first imaging satellite as a secondary payload on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle late Saturday, but announced early Tuesday that it found "certain software issues" with the spacecraft during final testing. The company plans to continue testing and look for a new launch opportunity for the spacecraft. Pixxel eventually plans to deploy a constellation of satellites that will provide Earth imagery. (2/23)

It Only Looks Easy: Perseverance Lands on Mars (Source: Space Review)
All went according to plan last week as the Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars. Jeff Foust reports that the landing was harder than it might have looked, and its success a relief for NASA’s future Mars exploration plans. Click here. (2/22)
 
NASA Tests the Perseverance of Some Space Enthusiasts (Source: Space Review)
After the successful landing of Perseverance, space enthusiasts waited for a stream of raw images like those from previous missions, but instead only saw a trickle. Svetoslav Alexandrov explains why that could prove counterproductive for NASA. Click here. (2/22)
 
The Promise of Return on Investment Does Not Disappear in Cislunar Space and Beyond (Source: Space Review)
One of the key problems for those seeking investment for in-space infrastructure, including on the Moon, is the long time horizons associated with any return. Vidvuds Beldavs discusses approaches for improving those prospects without relying on uncertain government programs. Click here. (2/22)

Life From Earth Could Survive on Mars (Source: Independent)
Lifeforms from Earth could temporarily survive a Mars-like atmosphere, according to a new NASA study, which will help scientists to further understand the possibility of exploiting environments beyond our own planet. The joint study by NASA and German Aerospace Center (DLR) scientists tested the endurance of microorganisms after launching them into conditions similar to the Red Planet through balloons that floated up to high altitudes, finding that at least some of them survived the journey. (2/22)

The FAA is No Longer Concerned with SpaceX’s Starship SN9 and SN8 (Source: The Verge)
The FAA seems satisfied with its investigations into Elon Musk’s last two SpaceX Starship tests, each of which ended in an explosive crash, and the conclusion of those investigations should clear the way for a new SN10 flight in the very near future. In fact, Musk just tweeted there’s a “good chance of flying this week!” Late last month, we broke the news that SpaceX had violated its launch license with its Starship SN8 launch in December, but an FAA spokesperson now says that matter has already been settled. (2/21)

The Plan to Rear Fish on the Moon (Source: Hakai)
The seabass eggs, all 200 of them, were settled in their module and ready to go. The ground crew had counted the eggs carefully, checked each for an embryo, and sealed them tightly within a curved dish filled precisely to the brim with seawater. The countdown, and then—ignition! For two full minutes, the precious eggs suffered a riotous shaking as the rocket’s engines exploded to life, followed by another eight minutes of heightened juddering as they ascended to the heavens. These embryonic fish were on their way to low Earth orbit. Next stop: the moon.

Well, they haven’t actually left yet. But after a recent simulation designed to re-create the intense shaking of a typical takeoff, researchers in France found that the eggs survived the ordeal well. It’s a crucial discovery in the progress of the Lunar Hatch, a program that aims to determine whether astronauts could successfully rear fish on a future moon base.

Ultimately, Cyrille Przybyla, an aquaculture researcher who led the research, dreams of designing a lunar fish farm that uses water already on the moon to help feed residents of the future Moon Village set to be established by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Lunar Hatch project is just one of around 300 ideas currently under evaluation by the ESA, and may or may not be selected for the final mission. Przybyla’s hope, though, is to offer lunar residents fresh, appetizing, protein-rich food—not just packets of freeze-dried grub. “I proposed the idea to send eggs, not fish, because eggs and embryos are very strong,” says Przybyla. (2/22)

Meet the Former Disney Executive Taking Over as Virgin Galactic’s New CEO (Source: CNBC)
Virgin Galactic’s chief executive Michael Colglazier reports to work for the first time on Monday, after the company announced a change in CEOs last week. The move marks a bold change for the space tourism venture, which is getting ready to fly its first customers after over a decade of developing its spacecraft. But Colglazier’s introduction, as well as hints from Virgin Galactic’s leadership that it is “months” away from beginning commercial service, has effectively been given a round of applause by the company’s stock. (2/20)