March 10, 2021

Why Is Space Command Moving Into Mo Brooks’s Backyard? (Source: New York Times)
President Biden may need to follow the example of his predecessor and take a hard look at the site selection for U.S. Space Command. It tells a tale of two cities, Colorado Springs and Huntsville, Alabama, and reveals a lot about our modern-day season of stunt guillotines and Trumpist revolutionaries. The Trump administration’s decision to move Space Command from Colorado to Alabama came one week after the congressman from Huntsville, Mo Brooks, took the stage at Trump’s last-stand rally on Jan. 6, invoked the patriotic ancestors who “sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives,” and rasped at the crowd, “Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America?”

Rumors of Trumpian quid pro quo ensued, especially from Aerospace Alley in Colorado, which seemed to have the advantage of incumbency over five other contenders. (Space Command was based in Colorado Springs from 1985 to 2002 and was deactivated for 17 years before being revived. It is not to be confused with Mr. Trump’s military legacy, Space Force, the littlest branch of the armed services.) Was the Huntsville pick Mr. Trump’s thank-you to Mr. Brooks, the very first member of Congress to declare, in December, that he would challenge Mr. Biden’s victory on Jan. 6? Or perhaps bug-off to Colorado for repudiating Trump along with Republican senator Cory Gardner last November?

The Defense Department’s inspector general has agreed to review the transfer, which won’t occur until 2026 at the earliest. But even if the study finds that Huntsville beat out Colorado Springs on the merits, would the Biden administration have cause to rescind the move? Or put another way, should law-abiding taxpayers be asked to send their government’s treasure to a district whose chosen representative was at the fore of the government’s attempted overthrow (or whatever that was)? (3/10)

NASA Seeks to Shrink Turbofan Cores for Efficiency as it Targets Next Narrowbody Jets (Source: Flight Global)
NASA has launched a research effort aimed at squeezing 5-10% more fuel efficiency out of turbofan cores, with the goal of developing engine technology for future commercial aircraft, possibly including an eventual Boeing 737 replacement. The agency launched the $191 million effort, called Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC), about one year ago with the goal of developing a “high-power-density” turbofan core. Such a core could benefit single-aisle aircraft entering service in the “early 2030s”, according to NASA documents. (3/9)

Advancing Science Through Human-Tended Suborbital Experiments on Commercial Vehicles (Source: Space News)
Contemporary science often relies on specialized expert researchers in the environment of the science — volcanoes, deep-sea submarines, the large airborne infrared telescope known as SOFIA, and the polar regions of Earth. The histories of science and technology successes abound with additional examples. These historical and everyday events should lead to a researcher flying with his or her experiment, for which they are the sole best-qualified expert, in suborbital spaceflight as an obvious plan.

Experiments that explore novel physical and chemical phenomena in weightlessness; explore astronomical events; develop instrumentation; study biological adaptation to spaceflight; develop medical procedures and equipment for future long-duration spaceflight; and make observations in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere will deliver superior science with an expert human performing the experiment in the spacecraft.

While automation will suffice for selected experiments, the time is now to ensure we achieve the best science in the best manner possible. Human-tended suborbital experiments flying with the new commercial reusable suborbital spaceflight industry are now possible and are vital to best advance science and technology. (3/9)

Rocket Lab Will Directly Challenge SpaceX with its Proposed Neutron Launcher (Source: Ars Technica)
After developing a successful small booster, named Electron, US-based launch company Rocket Lab recently announced plans to develop a much larger rocket. It's a big step up. Whereas Electron can loft a maximum of about 300 kg to low-Earth orbit, the company's planned Neutron booster will be capable of lifting eight tons—a mass that is more than 25 times greater.

Beck said he believes the future of the launch industry lies in constellations, be it mega-constellations or smaller clusters of satellites. Beck estimates that 80 percent of all future launches will be satellites that are bound for constellations. "It's pretty simple math," Beck said. While Electron is useful for getting small satellites into precise orbits, a bigger rocket is needed to become a player in the constellation satellite market.

To better understand the ideal size of a new rocket, Beck looked across the history of launch and determined that the average payload size for all rockets was about 4.5 tons. This falls between the small launch category, which generally can loft about one ton or less to orbit, and medium-lift rockets, which have capabilities ranging from about 12 to 20 tons. The most commercially successful medium-lift rocket currently flying, the Falcon 9, can lift as much as 22.8 tons to low-Earth orbit in fully expendable mode. (3/10)

New Report: Recent US Orbital Launch Delays (Source: Astralytical)
Launch delays can cost companies and customers money, resources, and market share while rockets and payloads sit on the ground awaiting launch. In the newly released Astralytical Orbit and Flyby series on US Orbital Launch Delays, we examine the length of recent launch delays and what caused them. By focusing on the five most active US orbital launch vehicles, we can examine which launch companies or launchers and launch sites or spaceports are more susceptible to certain launch delays and how long recent launches have slipped from their original launch dates. Click here. (3/10)

SpaceX Is Going All In on Its South Texas Starport (Source: WIRED)
New documents provide a detailed architectural drawing of the multi-acre site at the southern tip of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. The major hardware that exists or will be built includes: a) Two orbital launch pads, one of which is already under construction; b) Two suborbital launch pads, one of which already exists; c) Two landing pads, one of which already exists; d) Two structural test stands for Starship and the Super Heavy booster; e) A large "tank farm" to provide ground support equipment for orbital flights; and f) A permanent position for the totemic Starhopper vehicle at the site's entrance.

What is striking about this architectural drawing is its compact nature, largely because SpaceX has limited land to work with at the facility and must include stormwater ponds to mitigate against flooding. All of these facilities will be concentrated within a couple dozen acres, in stark contrast to more expansive launch sites at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. SpaceX appears confident that it can control the launch and landing of its vehicles such that any mishaps will not severely damage nearby equipment. This is an untraditional and possibly risky bet, but SpaceX has always been willing to take risks during development programs in order to move more quickly.

These detailed plans also provide more evidence that Elon Musk is all in on Texas for the future of SpaceX. These four launch pads, in conjunction with the acquisition of two oil rigs named Phobos and Deimos, provide some sense of the company's operational capabilities. The plan is likely to conduct launches from south Texas and land vehicles on these modified platforms and to fly Starships on suborbital hops from south Texas to these platforms for orbital launches. This effectively provides the Starship Launch System with four orbital launch pads—and possibly a fifth one should SpaceX continue work on site modifications in Florida. (3/10)

SpaceX Should Build NASA's Rockets Amid $20 Billion SLS Cost (Source: Newsweek)
Lori Garver, former deputy administrator for NASA, has said the space agency should turn to SpaceX and the private sector for rockets rather than build its own. Garver said NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) has cost $20 billion in 11 years and could increase by a further seven billion. The SLS will be the backbone behind NASA's plans to put humans—and perhaps the first woman—on the moon once more. SpaceX has already built and flown its Falcon Heavy rocket which is also capable of carrying cargo into deep space.

Jodi Singer, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the first woman to hold the position, defended the decision to develop the SLS. She told CBS over 25,000 people across 45 states have been employed as a result of the rocket's development. "It is built for going to deep space. And right now, it's the only vehicle that exists that can carry the Orion and take what it does to be able to go to deep space." (3/10)

ULA and SpaceX Each Get Two-Launch Contracts From Space Force (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force awarded contracts to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance for four national security launches Tuesday. ULA received $224.2 million for two missions named USSF-112 and USSF-87, while SpaceX got $159.7 million for USSF-36 and NROL-69. The NROL-69 mission includes only basic launch services, as the NRO will fund mission integration separately. All four missions are scheduled for launch in 2023. This is the second set of awards for the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 program, after the initial awards in August when SpaceX and ULA won the contracts. (3/10)

China and Russia Agree to Lunar Base Collaboration (Source: Space News)
China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday regarding a future international lunar research station. The heads of Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration signed the memorandum Tuesday in a virtual meeting. The station is described as a comprehensive scientific experiment base built on the lunar surface or lunar orbit that can carry out multidisciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities. The two agencies said they will jointly develop a road map for the construction of the station, but offered no details on a schedule for the project. (3/10)

Name Change and Intensified Space Focus for Ruag (Source: Space News)
Ruag International is shifting its focus to the space industry and changing its name in the process. The Swiss company said it is withdrawing from military markets, such as ammunition manufacturing, and will focus on its work supplying spacecraft and launch vehicle components. The company is changing its name to "beyond gravity" as part of that change. (3/10)

OHB to Deveop Arctic Weather Satellite Prototype (Source: ESA)
OHB Sweden will build a prototype arctic weather satellite for the European Space Agency. The satellite is designed to be a prototype of a future constellation of satellites that would provide more frequent data on conditions in the Arctic. Geostationary weather satellites cannot see the polar regions, while satellites in sun-synchronous orbit don't provide the same frequency of measurements that the proposed constellation would offer. The $38.6 million contract covers the construction of a single prototype satellite scheduled for launch in 2024. (3/10)

SpaceX Readies SN11 Starship For Texas Tests (Source: Space News)
SpaceX's newest Starship prototype is on the pad in Texas. The SN11 Starship rolled out to the pad Monday, with initial pressurization tests underway as of late Tuesday. This newest vehicle arrived on the pad less than a week after the launch and landing, but later explosion, of the SN10 Starship. In tweets, Elon Musk said that SN10 landed hard because of low thrust in one engine after it ingested helium used to pressurize a fuel tank. He added that "multiple fixes" are planned for SN11 to address that problem. (3/10)

SAIC Names New Space Chief (Source: Washington Business Journal)
SAIC has hired a new leader for its space business. The company said Tuesday that David Ray, who previously worked at Raytheon and FLIR Systems, will lead SAIC's civil and national security space business unit, part of its national security and space sector. That business generates $1.3 billion a year through work with NASA, NOAA and the Defense Department. (3/10)

Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Honors Christina Koch with Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence (Source: ASF)
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) is proud to announce 2000-2001 scholar, Christina H. Koch, as the 2020-2021 Neil Armstrong™ Award of Excellence recipient. Koch, a NASA astronaut who returned to Earth after the longest-ever single spaceflight by a woman, was an ASF scholarship recipient in 2000 and in 2001, while she was attending North Carolina State University (NCSU). The presentation of the annual Armstrong award was delayed due to COVID-19 but will be presented during this year’s ASF Innovators Weekend, August 2021. (3/9)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Stockholders Approve Acquisition by Lockheed Martin (Source: Aerojet)
At a special meeting of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s stockholders the merger agreement providing for the proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne by Lockheed Martin was approved. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, pending receipt of regulatory approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, and satisfaction of other closing conditions specified in the merger agreement. (3/9)

NASA Assigns Astronaut Mark Vande Hei to ISS Crew, with Launch Aboard Russian Soyuz (Source: NASA)
NASA has assigned astronaut Mark Vande Hei to an upcoming mission to the International Space Station as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 64/65 crew. Vande Hei, along with cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, are scheduled to launch Friday, April 9, on the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (3/9)

Palihapitiya Says He Never Wanted to Sell Virgin Galactic Shares (Source: Bloomberg)
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. tumbled Friday after its billionaire Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya offloaded shares worth about $213 million in the space-tourism company founded by Richard Branson. The Social Capital founder says he never wants to sell any shares in companies he invests in. He said he still believes in Virgin Galactic and his stock sale was due to liquidity concerns throughout his portfolio. (3/5)

Japan Budgets a Record $4.14 Billion for Space Activities (Source: Space News)
In response to the reignited global space race, Japan is planning a record space budget of 449.6 billion yen ($4.14 billion) in the fiscal year 2021, up 23.1 percent over the current fiscal year that ends March 30, according to draft budget documents. Japan’s proposed space budget, which encompasses planned space activities of 11 government ministries, includes 51.4 billion yen ($472 million) set aside for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to participate in NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, 18.9 billion yen for the development and advancement of the H3 rocket, and 80 billion yen for the nation’s Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) program. (3/9)

New Zealand Rocket Launches May Breach Nuclear-Free Laws, Say Peace Groups (Source: The Spinoff)
Rocket Lab launches of satellites honing US military targeting capabilities have been criticised by the Peace Foundation, which is calling on the PM to step in. Peace groups are calling on the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to stop the launch of a controversial US military satellite that is scheduled for lift-off from Mahia this month, saying it may contravene nuclear-free legislation.

Rocket Lab’s next mission is due to carry a satellite for the US Army’s Space and Missile Defence Command, called the Gunsmoke-J. The satellite is designed to improve US military targeting capabilities by improving how data is provided to “warfighters”. The satellite has previously been condemned by the Green Party, while a security expert has suggested it puts New Zealand into “the kill chain” and makes New Zealand a military target. (3/9)

Universities to Develop Lunar Power and Resource Utilization Tech for NASA (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Power and in-situ resources are two things humans will need as they explore deep space. How future astronauts use these commodities depends on the technology at hand. That’s why NASA is looking to U.S. universities for lunar-focused research to bring about advancements in in-situ resource utilization and sustainable power solutions. NASA selected six project proposals under its first-ever Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) solicitation. [None in Florida, FYI.] (3/9)

Mars Express Unlocks the Secrets of Curious Cloud (Source: Space Daily)
When spring arrives in southern Mars, a cloud of water ice emerges near the 20-kilometre-tall Arsia Mons volcano, rapidly stretching out for many hundreds of kilometres before fading away in mere hours. A detailed long-term study now reveals the secrets of this elongated cloud, using exciting new observations from the 'Mars Webcam' on ESA's Mars Express.

Mars Express has spied this cloud before as it hovers near the Arsia Mons volcano, just south of Mars' equator. Puzzlingly, Arsia Mons is the only low-latitude location on Mars where clouds are seen - and the only one of numerous similar volcanoes in the region to possess such a veil of cloud - at this time of year. Mars Express has seen this veil grow and fade on a daily basis throughout the spring and summer seasons, sending back striking images of this long and dramatic white cloud. However, the cloud is difficult to observe in its entirety due to the fast, changeable dynamics of the martian atmosphere and the constraints of many spacecraft orbits, limiting our knowledge of how and why it forms and changes over time.

The findings revealed that, at its largest, the cloud measures some 1 800 km in length and 150 km across. It is the biggest 'orographic' cloud ever seen on Mars, meaning that it forms as a result of wind being forced upwards by topographic features (such as mountains or volcanoes) on a planetary surface. In this case, Arsia Mons perturbs the martian atmosphere to trigger the formation of the cloud; moist air is then driven up the flanks of the volcano in updrafts, later condensing at higher, and far cooler, altitudes. (3/9)

China Selects Astronauts for Space Station Program (Source: Space Daily)
The crewmembers who will participate in the construction of China's space station have been selected and are being trained for their missions, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The construction of the space station has entered a crucial stage, said the CMSA, noting that this year will see several space missions including the launch of the station's core module, cargo replenishment, and a manned flight, which will be carried out one after another. China aims to complete the construction of its space station by around 2022. During the construction, China plans to launch four Shenzhou manned spaceships and four Tianzhou cargo spacecraft to transport astronauts and supplement materials. (3/5)

Organic Materials Essential for Life on Earth are Found for the First Time on the Surface of an Asteroid (Source: Space Daily)
New research from Royal Holloway, has found water and organic matter on the surface of an asteroid sample returned from the inner Solar System. This is the first time that organic materials, which could have provided chemical precursors for the origin of life on Earth, have been found on an asteroid. The single grain sample was returned to Earth from asteroid 'Itokawa' by JAXA's first Hayabusa mission in 2010. The sample shows that water and organic matter that originate from the asteroid itself have evolved chemically through time.

The research paper suggests that Itokawa has been constantly evolving over billions of years by incorporating water and organic materials from foreign extra-terrestrial material, just like the Earth. This study shows that S-type asteroids, where most of Earth's meteorites come from, such as Itokawa, contain the raw ingredients of life. The analysis of this asteroid changes traditional views on the origin of life on Earth which have previously heavily focussed on C-type carbon-rich asteroids. (3/5)

4.6-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite is the Oldest Volcanic Rock Ever Found (Source: New Scientist)
The oldest volcanic rock we have ever discovered may help us understand the building blocks of planets. The meteorite, which was discovered in the Sahara desert in 2020, dates from just 2 million years after the formation of the solar system – making it more than a million years older than the previous record-holder. “I have been working on meteorites for more than 20 years now, and this is possibly the most fantastic new meteorite I have ever seen,” says Jean-Alix Barrat.

When he and his colleagues analyzed the meteorite, called Erg Chech 002 or EC 002, they found that it was unlike any other meteorite we have ever located. It is a type of rock called andesite that, on Earth, is found mostly in subduction zones – areas where tectonic plates have collided and one has been pushed beneath the other – and rarely in meteorites. Most of the meteorites discovered on Earth are made of another kind of volcanic rock called basalt. Analysis of the chemical make-up of the new meteorite showed that it was once molten, and solidified nearly 4.6 billion years ago. (3/8)

Rare Meteorite That Fell on UK Driveway May Contain 'Ingredients for Life' (Source: CNN)
A fireball that lit up the sky over the United Kingdom and Northern Europe on February 28 was an extremely rare type of meteorite. Fragments of the space rock discovered on a driveway in the Cotswolds could provide answers to questions about the early history of the solar system and life on Earth. Almost 300 grams (10.6 ounces) of the meteorite have been collected from a small Gloucestershire town by scientists, who said the rock was formed of carbonaceous chondrite. The substance is some of the most primitive and pristine material in the solar system and has been known to contain organic material and amino acids -- the ingredients for life.

The Natural History Museum in London said the fragments were retrieved in such good condition and so quickly after the meteorite's fall that they are comparable to rock samples returned from space missions, both in quality and quantity. "I was in shock when I saw it and immediately knew it was a rare meteorite and a totally unique event. It's emotional being the first one to confirm to the people standing in front of you that the thud they heard on their driveway overnight is in fact the real thing." (3/8)

Scientists Propose Super-Tall Towers to Power Moon Base (Source: Futurism)
Scientists have come up with an ambitious new idea to provide bases on the Moon’s surface with solar power: massive, kilometer-high towers constructed from lunar concrete and almost entirely covered in solar panels. The team suggest in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper that the towers could be constructed by mixing lunar soil and heating it to bind it together, not too dissimilar from regular concrete.

Both poles of the Moon also have ample amounts of sunlight, with almost continuous coverage. On the surface itself, however, the regions where the Sun continuously shines, areas known as the “Peaks of Eternal Light,” are each only a few square meters in size. At an altitude of around a kilometer, though, that area balloons to several hundred square kilometers. What makes constructing these gigantic towers at least a little more realistic than building them here on Earth is the Moon’s low gravity. The material wouldn’t buckle under its own weight, despite the extremely tall design. (3/9)

Engineers Propose Solar-Powered Lunar Ark as 'Modern Global Insurance Policy' (Source: Phys.org)
Researcher Jekan Thanga is taking scientific inspiration from an unlikely source: the biblical tale of Noah's Ark. Rather than two of every animal, however, his solar-powered ark on the moon would store cryogenically frozen seed, spore, sperm and egg samples from 6.7 million Earth species. Thanga and a group of his undergraduate and graduate students outline the lunar ark concept, which they call a "modern global insurance policy," in a paper presented during the IEEE Aerospace Conference.

"As humans, we had a close call about 75,000 years ago with the Toba supervolcanic eruption, which caused a 1,000-year cooling period and, according to some, aligns with an estimated drop in human diversity. Because human civilization has such a large footprint, if it were to collapse, that could have a negative cascading effect on the rest of the planet." Climate change, he added, is another concern: If sea levels continue to rise, many dry places will go underwater—including the Svalbard Seedbank, a structure in Norway that holds hundreds of thousands of seed samples.

 Thanga's team believes storing samples on another celestial body reduces the risk of biodiversity being lost if one event were to cause total annihilation of Earth. Lunar lava tubes are about 100 meters in diameter. Untouched for an estimated 3 billion to 4 billion years, they could provide shelter from solar radiation, micrometeorites and surface temperature changes. (3/9)