April 17, 2021

White House Nominates Melroy to be NASA Deputy Administrator (Source: Space News)
The White House announced April 16 it will nominate former astronaut Pam Melroy to be NASA’s deputy administrator. Melroy’s nomination was one of eight the White House announced to fill positions across the government. The position will require confirmation by the Senate. Melroy will be second-in-command of the agency, behind Bill Nelson, the former senator nominated by the White House to be the agency’s administrator. Nelson's confirmation hearing for his nomination is on April 21. He is expected to easily win later confirmation by the full Senate. (4/16)

NASA Lunar Contracts for SpaceX: a Path Toward Starship Launches From Florida? (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX is poised to expand its services to NASA, with plans to launch major chunks of NASA Artemis hardware and supplies to the cislunar space and the lunar surface. With Kennedy Space Center serving as NASA's base for lunar hardware, experiment, and crew processing, it might now be appropriate for SpaceX to take a fresh look at hosting Starship missions at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

SpaceX has long said the Falcon-9 will ultimately be replaced by Starship, so perhaps one of the Falcon-9 launch pads can be upgraded for the larger rocket...or SpaceX could develop a third pad on the spaceport. Space Florida's erstwhile Shiloh launch site, north of LC-39B might be a candidate. Or SpaceX's planned converted oil drilling platform could be permanently sited offshore for Starship launches/landings, with relatively easy access to KSC's infrastructure.

And/or NASA could allow SpaceX to develop LC-39C, a planned-but-never-built pad that would also be served by NASA's massive VAB. One of the VAB's four vertical assembly bays was going to be used by Northrop Grumman for its now-canceled OmegA launcher. One or more of these bays could be repurposed for assembling the Starship and its super-heavy booster stage. (4/16)

The British Want to Clean Up Outer Space (Source: Bloomberg)
A startup called Astroscale Holdings is trying to solve the space debris problem by using a spacecraft with a robotic arm to snag inoperative satellites, an alternative to projects from recent years that aim to clean up space with huge nets and junk-grabbing harpoons. If Astroscale’s craft can grab debris without losing control in the process, the next step would be to push dead satellites toward Earth so they’ll burn up as they reenter the atmosphere.

John Auburn, Astroscale’s managing director and group chief commercial officer in the U.K., says that not only could this make space safer, but it could also reinvigorate his country’s space sector. “What the U.K. industry is pushing now is a complete end-to-end debris removal mission,” he says. “This would be the ultimate post-Brexit space mission.” (4/16)

Seizure of Unfriendly Satellites Presented as Option to Defend U.S. Spacecraft (Source: National Defense)
To defend U.S. space systems, the military could utilize on-orbit vehicles to physically seize satellites that pose a threat, an analyst said. Pentagon officials have grown increasingly concerned in recent years about the vulnerability of spacecraft to anti-satellite weapons, which could include an adversary's use of its own satellites to hit and damage U.S. spacecraft. They are also worried about the growing amount of debris in space as that domain becomes more congested.
 
An option for space-based "active defense" measures would be to leverage "the ability to grab another object in space — an uncooperative object — and take it to a safe orbit or safely dispose of it so it no longer poses a threat,” Todd Harrison, director of the aerospace security project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said during a panel discussion hosted by CSIS.

A space vehicle capable of docking with, manipulating or maneuvering other spacecraft or pieces of debris could come in handy, the study noted. “Such a system could be used to physically seize a threatening satellite that is being used to attack or endanger other satellites or to capture a satellite that has been disabled or hijacked for nefarious purposes,” it said. The platform could “also be used to collect and dispose of harmful orbital debris resulting from an attack," it added. (4/15)

Why the U.S. and China Should Collaborate in Space (Source: TIME)
While much has been made of the tense March 18 exchange between American and Chinese diplomats in Anchorage, Alaska, one area became an unlikely candidate for cooperation: outer space. During a press conference after the meeting, Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor, pointed out that the Perseverance rover that recently landed on Mars “wasn’t just an American project. It had technology from multiple countries from Europe and other parts of the world.”

China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, seized the opportunity to say that, “China would welcome it if there is a will to carry out similar cooperation from the United States with us.” Planned or not, Yang’s comment gave voice to one very smart way two geopolitical rivals sharing the same planet could work together despite their growing tensions. Space exploration has long been used to foster deep cooperation, even between adversaries.

Today, Sino-American space cooperation is similarly desirable. It could improve ties as it did for the U.S. and Russia, de-escalate an emerging Sino-Russian axis in space, and serve as a bargaining chip to help sustain other areas of cooperation. While China and the U.S. seem to clash on virtually every issue, space, by its nature, is different. Orbit isn’t a high-ground that one can seize. Instead, space works like a commons, where for any one state or company to be able to operate safely, all have to act responsibly. We need peaceful cooperation to enjoy its benefits. One reason not to cooperate in space with a geopolitical rival is technology transfer. There are legitimate concerns that collaboration could lead to technology sharing that unfairly advances China. (4/16)

Will the Average Person Need to Exercise During a Commercial Spaceflight? (Source: The Conversation)
While Crew Dragon’s short mission is unlikely to have much of an effect on the health of the passengers, these capsules will soon be going on much longer trips, which could have a large effect on a person’s health. Space missions decrease astronauts’ bone density by 1%-1.5% per month and weaken movement and postural muscles. Even the heart gets smaller, as it doesn’t have to pump against gravity in space. When these changes take place can vary a lot depending on what exercises are done and how often. But if no exercise is done, these changes will start from 14 days.

But capsular spacecraft, such as Crew Dragon and Nasa’s Orion – which will take people to the Moon and Mars – will not have the space for large exercise equipment, so passengers will be limited in what they can do. It’s uncertain what effect this may have on the average person’s physical health during space flight. Hopefully, over time, missions like Crew Dragon’s will become longer, more common and cheaper. But as space travel becomes more viable and missions become longer, it will be important to ensure passengers can exercise properly to avoid any negative effects on their health. (4/15)

Virgin Galactic Shares Drop Over 60% Since February Peak (Source: CNBC)
Shares of Virgin Galactic dropped in trading on Thursday, erasing its 2021 gains after founder Richard Branson sold more stock. The space tourism company’s stock has fallen more than 60% from its high above $60 a share in February. Virgin Galactic’s stock losses have accelerated after delays to its test flight program, and share sales by Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya last month and now Branson this week. (4/15)

Danish Billionaire’s Lawyers Given Date for Challenge to Highland UK Spaceport Decision (Source: Press & Journal)
Lawyers acting for a Danish billionaire owner of Topshop have been given a date for their bid to overturn a decision giving the go ahead for the UK’s first spaceport. Anders Holch Povlsen, 48, wants a Court of Session judge to stop the construction of the proposed Sutherland Space Hub, the UK’s first vertical launch facility.

His legal team have launched judicial review proceedings at Scotland’s highest civil court, asking a judge to consider a decision made by Highland Council to approve planning permission for the project in August 2020. A procedural hearing in the matter was scheduled to take place on Thursday at the court. However, the proceedings were cancelled after lawyers for Mr Povlsen’s company Wildland Limited and Highland Council told officials they were ready to proceed to the full hearing. (4/15)

First Round of Hearings by Congress Back a More Muscular NSF (Source: Science)
The U.S. Congress this week got its first chance to weigh in on proposals to expand the mission and massively boost the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the initial response was positive. During three committee hearings, most legislators seemed to like the idea, although some expressed reservations about its size and scope—up to $100 billion over 5 years, with half going to a new technology directorate. And everybody wanted more details.

Supporters said a budget boost at the $8.5 billion agency would reverse years of underfunding and help the country develop the emerging technologies needed to outinnovate China and other economic competitors. Opponents questioned whether NSF could handle such rapid growth and whether an agency that mostly funds academic research is also the best home for efforts to commercialize those discoveries. (4/15)

Researchers Identify Five Double Star Systems Potentially Suitable for Life (Source: Frontiers)
Almost half a century ago, the creators of Star Wars imagined a life-sustaining planet, Tatooine, orbiting a pair of stars. Now, scientists have found new evidence that five known systems with multiple stars, Kepler-34, -35, -38, -64 and -413, are possible candidates for supporting life. A newly developed mathematical framework allowed researchers to show that those systems – between 2764 and 5933 light years from Earth, in the constellations Lyra and Cygnus – support a permanent “Habitable Zone”, a region around stars in which liquid water could persist on the surface of any as yet undiscovered Earth-like planets.

Of these systems, Kepler-64 is known to have at least four stars orbiting one another at its center, while the others have two stars. All are known to have at least one giant planet the size of Neptune or greater. This study is proof-of-principle that the presence of giant planets in binary systems does not preclude the existence of potentially life-supporting worlds. The scientific consensus is that the majority of stars host planets. (4/15)

These 3 Spinning Brown Dwarfs are the Fastest 'Failed Stars' Ever Seen (Source: Space.com)
Brown dwarfs, which are sometimes called "failed stars," are more massive than most planets but not heavy enough to ignite like stars. Using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists have identified three brown dwarfs that are spinning faster than any other found thus far, at one rotation per hour, according to a NASA statement. In a new study, astronomers concluded that these three rapidly-spinning brown dwarfs may be approaching a speed limit for all brown dwarfs.

All three brown dwarfs are roughly the size of Jupiter and rotate once per hour, meaning that they spin at more than 60 miles per second, or 220,000 mph. The three brown dwarfs are different temperatures, adding more evidence to the idea of a speed limit. Brown dwarfs are spinning when they form (just like stars or planets), and as they age, cool down and contract they spin faster. (4/15)