April 1, 2021

Deep-Sea Exploration Breakthrough to Guide Future Space Exploration Missions (Source: Space Daily)
Scientists from Arizona State University, who are a part of the Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog (SUBSEA) program, have pioneered a new approach to the scientific process of geochemical exploration for our Earth and beyond. Everett Shock of ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration and former ASU postdoctoral scholar Vincent Milesi worked with teams onboard the Ocean Exploration Trust's (OET) Exploration Vessel Nautilus to use deep-sea exploration on Earth as an analog for hydrothermal systems on other ocean worlds.

In so doing, they designed and tested a new concept of operations that could help change the paradigm of planetary exploration. Their new approach is detailed in a recent article published in the journal Planetary and Space Science. Current scientific field exploration often involves a multiyear experimental cycle, starting with data and sample collection followed by analyses and modeling that then leads to findings that influence the design of subsequent experimental efforts. (3/31)

Foundation Proposes SPACE ACT to Establish Public/Private Space Finance Corp. (Source: F4F)
The Foundation for the Future is proposing the Space Corporation Act of 2021 to the U.S. House and Senate with the goal of Presidential signature into law no later than the 60th anniversary of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 (COMSAT), in August of 2022. The SPACE ACT will create a private-public corporate structure (SPACE Corp.) to finance space projects and offer:

Loan guarantees through commercial lending institutions to support technology innovations; an investment fund to provide support to new space companies; grants to small businesses and other starting entrepreneurs in the space sector; and support for the "public benefit" space infrastructure projects through bonds and other financing opportunities. You can support the intensive lobbying and education campaign by clicking here and becoming a Member, or making a donation. (4/1)

Blue Marble Week Webinar Focused on the Cislunar Econosphere (Source: F4F)
The Foundation for the Future will sponsor a webinar on April 6-7 with the theme of Making in Space: From Mining to Manufacturing. As humanity expands into space and unlocks the incalculable abundance of the CisLunar Econosphere, Orbital Manufacturing is a necessary first step. Here on Earth, settlements emerged around concentrations of natural resources: rivers, forests, ores, harbors, fertile fields. Roads then developed between the resources and settlements, and towns grew.

Resource extraction (mining) and resource optimization (manufacturing) evolved. Eventually, specialization led to local, regional, and national competitive advantages. With growth speeding the process, communities and people prospered! This webinar will explore the evolution of orbital manufacturing, its technological and production capabilities on orbit, and the financial and industrial impacts on the United States. Click here. (4/1)

Former Astronaut Winston Scott Appointed to Eastern Florida State College Board of Trustees (Source: Florida Today)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has named former astronaut Winston Scott to the Eastern Florida State College board of trustees. Scott flew on two space shuttle missions in the late 1990s. He spent over 24 days in space and conducted three spacewalks. Scott, a resident of Melbourne, is a senior vice president at Florida Institute of Technology. He is a retired Navy captain, was vice president of student affairs at Florida State University, and served as executive director of the Florida Space Authority. (3/31)

A Meteorite Exploded in the Air Above Antarctica 430,000 Years Ago (Source: CNN)
Tiny particles recovered from the summit of a mountain in Antarctica are clues that a meteorite more than 100 yards wide exploded in the sky 430,000 years ago, sending a fireball of vaporized extraterrestrial material to the icy surface, according to new research. Such "airbursts" are thought to occur more frequently than falling meteors or much larger asteroids that leave craters in the ground -- such as the one that killed off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Identifying these space rocks, however, is much harder because they leave few traces in the geological record. (3/31)

Pandemic To Cost NASA Up To $3 Billion (Source: Space News)
A NASA audit concluded that costs imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the agency could reach $3 billion, with several major science and exploration programs announcing for much of that cost. A March 31 report by the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that the agency expects that the pandemic’s effects on the agency, ranging from closed facilities to disrupted supply chains, to be nearly $3 billion. Of that, about $1.6 billion came from 30 major programs and projects, defined by NASA as those with a total cost of at least $250 million. (3/31)

Clyde Space to Acquire Omnisys (Source: Space News)
Clyde Space plans to acquire Sweden's Omnisys, a company that develops scientific instruments. AAC Clyde plans to purchase Omnisys for about 75 million Swedish krona ($8.6 million), with 25 million krona paid in cash and about 50 million krona paid through 17,340,100 newly issued warrants in AAC Clyde Space. (3/30)

Interstellar Comet Borisov Was Shiny and New When it Passed Through Our Solar System (Source: SyFy)
For a long time, astronomers thought our second alien interstellar visitor, the comet 2/I Borisov, was rather boring: It looked pretty much like every small comet from our own solar system. However, now it appears that it was special: It was pristine, almost completely unchanged since it formed, meaning ours was the first solar system it visited closely. Borisov was discovered by amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov in late August 2019, and it didn't take long before it was found to be very interesting: Literally alien, a comet from another star that had spent countless years traveling through interstellar space before passing the Sun.

It zipped past the Sun in December 2019, getting about 300 million kilometers from it, or just inside the orbit of Mars, before heading back out again. It looked just like any other comet from our own solar system. If it hadn't been screaming through on an interstellar trajectory it wouldn't have been special at all. However, that's what straight-up images and spectra told us. It turns out polarization tells a different story. Observing Borisov with the Very Large Telescope, scientists found that the polarization of the dust was odd. The way the light was polarized in different colors didn't match the way any other known comet in the solar system polarizes light... except one: Hale-Bopp.

Other observations of the comet revealed something else, too. Most comets emit about the same mass of dust as gas when they warm up, kilogram for kilogram. But when Borisov passed the Sun it was blowing off about 200 kilograms of dust per second, while only emitting about 60–70 kg/sec of gas. Such a high dust/gas ratio is extremely unusual for local comets, but did match one. Yup. Hale-Bopp. Using the ALMA millimeter/submillimeter array, astronomers found that the grains of dust in Borisov were big, likely 1 mm in size or bigger, but compact, not fluffy (so more like icy particles than snowflakes). Again, that's unusual since local comets are fluffy. This implies it formed in the inner part of its home solar system. (3/31)

Florida Rocket Company Rebrands, Plans Bigger Rocket (Source: UPI)
A Florida rocket company, Rocket Crafters, has rebranded as Vaya Space and plans a new, larger rocket than it had been pursuing, now named Dauntless, according to company president Rob Fabian. The plan for Dauntless is to lift about 2,200 pounds to low-Earth orbit, Fabian said. That's more than twice as powerful as the Intrepid rocket the company no longer pursues. The goal for Dauntless would make it roughly as powerful as Texas-based Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket, which is also under development. (3/31)

'Imagine' if Virgin Galactic Actually Did Suborbital Tourism (Source: The Register)
The ambitiously named Virgin Galactic has unveiled the latest vehicle in its fleet – the Spaceship III named VSS Imagine. The reveal comes ahead of ground testing for the suborbital jalopy which, should all go well, will lead to glide flights this summer from the company's base at Spaceport America. The "breakthrough livery design" is, er, silver. A similar "breakthrough" exterior finish is featured on SpaceX's exploding Starships. SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, is mostly white with some reflective coating and decorative branding.

As well as the expected thermal protection, Virgin Galactic explained the thinking behind the mirror-like sheen: "This dynamic material is naturally appealing to the human eye, reflecting our inherent human fascination with space and the transformative experience of spaceflight." Alrighty then. More importantly, the arrival of VSS Imagine represents a change in how the aircraft are constructed. The design is now modular and the company expects that this third generation will represent the way forward for subsequent vehicles. A fleet will certainly be needed if the company is to get anywhere near its multi-year goal of 400 flights per year per spaceport.

The nature of the existing SpaceShipTwo's construction (and its carrier aircraft) does not particularly lend itself to scaling up operations. For analysts tiring of missed deadlines and holdups, the reveal of something ever so shiny will not have distracted attention from the fact that passengers will not be taking flight in VSS Unity until early 2022. By then it will be coming up for 18 years since SpaceShipOne scooped the $10m Ansari X-Prize and Virgin Galactic boss Richard Branson unveiled his ambitions for sub-orbital tourism. (3/31)

Schools, Real Estate and More May Draw Secret Manufacturer and Jobs to Space Coast (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Housing, education and economics will be key in landing the $300 million aerospace manufacturing project known only as "Project Kraken," and Florida's Space Coast checks all those boxes, according to a site selection expert. Space Florida's board of directors on March 17 gave the green light for the organization to negotiate with an unnamed spacecraft maker in an effort to lure it to bring a new manufacturing facility and 2,100 jobs to Brevard County. However, Florida is not the only state in the race to land the mystery company.

In this competitive project, the Space Coast stands is a real contender, site selection expert John Boyd told Orlando Business Journal. Geographic and economic advantages of Central Florida will help it stand out to this unnamed firm, said Boyd, a principal at Boca Raton-based The Boyd Co. Inc., which is not involved with Project Kraken. "Economic development is about the steak and the sizzle," Boyd said. "Florida is really having a moment today." (3/30)

Gilmour Space to Launch Fleet Satellites in 2023 (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Two of Australia’s New Space pioneers — Queensland-based rocket manufacturer Gilmour Space Technologies, and South Australian nanosatellite manufacturer for the Internet of Things (IoT), Fleet Space Technologies — are joining forces to launch small satellites to orbit.  “We have signed a contract to launch six Fleet Space Centauri nanosatellites on our Eris rockets in 2023,” said Adam Gilmour, the CEO of Gilmour Space, which is tracking to launch its first commercial payloads to orbit next year.  

Fleet Space launched Australia’s first commercial nanosatellites in 2018 – and its fifth just last week – with their technology already transforming critical industries from energy and utilities to mining. Gilmour Space Technologies is an Australian space company that has made significant progress in developing a new breed of lower-cost hybrid rockets to launch small satellites into Low Earth Orbits from 2022. (3/31)

The UAE's Tiny Lunar Rover Will Face Big Challenges on the Moon (Source: CNN)
Last month, the United Arab Emirates became the first country in the Arab world to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. But as it celebrates the achievement of its Hope probe, a group of Emirati scientists is already engaged in another historic feat: building a lunar rover. The vehicle will be another regional first -- and it is smaller than any rover to have landed on the moon.

To date, China's 310-pound Yutu rovers are the lightest to have made lunar landings, in 2013 and 2019. But the UAE's will weigh less than a tenth of that. Around 21 inches (54 centimeters) long and wide, and and 30 inches (76 centimeters) tall, it will weigh approximately 22 pounds with its payload. Set to launch in 2024, the Emirates Lunar Mission aims to travel to a part of the moon that has never been reached by a rover. The exact landing site has not yet been revealed. (3/31)

SpaceX is Adding a Glass Dome on Crew Dragon for 360 Views of Space (Source: The Verge)
The Crew Dragon capsule poised to fly four civilian astronauts to space this year is getting an upgrade: a glass dome will be added at the top to give space tourists a 360-degree view of the cosmos. Plans for the window were announced on Tuesday as SpaceX and the team managing the tourist mission, Inspiration4, revealed the full crew for the upcoming expedition. The glass dome-shaped window replaces Crew Dragon’s docking adapter since the spacecraft won’t be docking to the International Space Station.

It’s similar to the famed cupola aboard the International Space Station, but Crew Dragon’s appears to be an uninterrupted sheet of glass, with no support structures dividing the window’s view. SpaceX designed Crew Dragon under a $2.6 billion contract from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, a public-private initiative to stimulate the development of privately built space capsules that’ll serve as NASA’s primary rides to space. Boeing is developing a competing capsule, Starliner, under the same program. (3/31)

Sierra Nevada Plans for Crewed Dream Chaser, Inflatable Space Station and LEO Commercialization, Coming Soon to KSC (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Sierra Nevada outlined development plans for its low-Earth orbit (LEO) space station, releasing new images, details and video of the unique concept in support of LEO commercialization. The space station is a configuration of multiple large inflatable habitats that can be serviced by both cargo and crew carrying Dream Chaser spaceplanes.

SNC also released that a crewed Dream Chaser will be able to shuttle private astronauts and to serve as the only vehicle capable of rescuing astronauts from space destinations and returning them to Earth via a safe and speedy runway landing. The habitat is a three story, 27-foot large inflatable fabric environment that launches on a conventional rocket. It is undergoing a NASA soft-goods certification this year and the full size ground prototype developed under NASA’s NextSTEP-2 contract is in the process of being transferred from Johnson Space Center in Texas to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for further testing on short-and long-term habitation. (3/31)

OneWeb and SpaceX are Racing to Beam Internet to the Arctic (Source: The Verge)
Rival satellite internet companies OneWeb and SpaceX are vying to snag lucrative deals to provide broadband internet to Earth’s northernmost latitudes. OneWeb’s launch of 36 satellites this week inched it closer to its goal of beaming internet into the region by year’s end. SpaceX’s Starlink, which is already providing internet to thousands of consumers through a beta program, is eyeing the same area.

Billions of dollars in government funds are on the line for companies that can connect the region. The Arctic is a nearly broadband desert for the US military, and the UK is willing to spend big to connect rural areas to the internet. SpaceX is reportedly eying a chunk of the UK’s new $6.9 billion Project Gigabit program, which aims to provide “lightning-fast” broadband internet to areas with little to no internet access. OneWeb is also in talks with the program. (3/26)

NASA Tests Mixed Reality for Mission Operations for Exploration (Source: Space Daily)
Mixed reality technologies, like virtual reality headsets or augmented reality apps, aren't just for entertainment - they can also help make discoveries on other worlds like the Moon and Mars. By traveling on Earth to extreme environments - from Mars-like lava fields in Hawaii to underwater hydrothermal vents - similar to destinations on other worlds, NASA scientists have tested out technologies and tools to gain insight into how they can be used to make valuable contributions to science.

Three projects led by researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley presented their results in a special issue of Planetary and Space Science. Those results included new insights into how to study volcanic environments on other worlds, mission operation designs to manage conducting science in extreme environments, techniques to search for life, and more findings. (3/31)

UK's Shetland Spaceport Potentially Nixed Over Historic Site Concerns (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Shetland Space Center’s (SSC) plans to build a spaceport at an old Royal Air Force radar station has been shot down, spelling potential doom for the project and Lockheed Martin’s plans to launch satellites from site in northern Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland (HES)  said it would cause “extensive and adverse impact on the cultural significance” of Skaw radar station.

SSC chief executive Frank Strang has hit back saying he would “vigorously contest” the refusal. Mr Strang said he was “greatly surprised” by the decision, claiming HES had  “done nothing to preserve the site for the last 50 years.” Skaw is the UK’s most northerly Second World War radar station and protected as a scheduled monument of national importance. The proposed spaceport would be built almost entirely within the RAF radar station site. It would require the removal of nine buildings, including air raid shelters, guard huts and those associated with the radar system. (3/31)

Utilis Secures $6 Million to Harness Satellites to Protect Critical Infrastructure and Global Water Supplies (Source: Space Daily)
Utilis, a pioneer of satellite-based infrastructure intelligence, has announced that it has raised $6m from Beringea, the transatlantic venture capital firm. The funding will be used to accelerate the growth of its data-driven analytics which enables detection of water leaks and infrastructure asset management, reflecting the rising focus on resource preservation around the world during the climate crisis.

Utilis was founded in 2013 by Lauren Guy, a scientist focused on atmospheric physics and dynamics studying the ability of space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to detect underground water on Mars. The patented algorithm developed through this research has underpinned the development of the Utilis solution, harnessing satellites to spot underground leaks in water supplies around the world. Utilis today has 40 employees across its offices in the USA, Israel, and the UK, led by Elly Perets, an experienced software entrepreneur, as CEO.

Utilis has scaled to apply its pioneering leak detection product to more than 400 projects worldwide, spanning more than 55 countries including the USA, Italy, UK, Chile, China and South Africa. In total, its analytics have verified 30,000 leaks enabling infrastructure and utilities firms to save more than 7,000 million gallons of water, 17,000 MWh of energy, and 11,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. (3/3o)

Pratt & Whitney Can't Exit $1B Radioactive Subdivision Suit (Sources: Law360, Courthouse News Service)
A Florida federal court has rejected Pratt & Whitney's bid for summary judgment against property owners in their suit alleging that the company owes over $1 billion for contamination that allegedly damaged their water supply and caused a cancer cluster, destroying their property values. A West Palm Beach judge denied a motion for summary judgement from Raytheon-owned Pratt & Whitney.

Industrial runoff from a Pratt & Whitney plant contaminated drinking water with carcinogenic waste, residents of a rural community say in a federal class action. Eight cases of pediatric brain cancer were diagnosed in the community between 2005 and 2008, revealing an occurrence rate more than six times the state average, according to Palm Beach County’s Department of Health statistics. Editor's Note: Aerojet Rocketdyne now owns the former Pratt & Whitney rocket engine production operation in West Palm Beach. (3/31)