July 23, 2021

The Woman Who Brought Us the World (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Had Virginia Tower Norwood listened to her high school guidance counselor, she would have become a librarian. Her aptitude test showed a remarkable facility with numbers, and in 1943, he could think of no better way for a young woman to put such skills to use. Luckily, Norwood didn’t suffer from the same lack of imagination. The salutatorian of her Philadelphia high school class, she had long been devouring logic puzzles and putting the slide rule her father had given her at age nine to good use. Norwood ignored her counselor’s advice and applied to MIT.

She would go on to become a pioneering inventor in the new field of microwave antenna design. She designed the transmitter for a reconnaissance mission to the moon that cleared the way for the Apollo landings. And she conceived and led the development of the first multispectral scanner to image Earth from space—the first in a series of satellite-based scanners that have been continuously imaging the world for nearly half a century. (6/29)

SpaceX's Genius New Rideshare Launcher (Source: Primal Space)
Over the last few years, rockets have gotten cheaper and satellites have gotten smaller. Because of this, SpaceX has started their new Rideshare program, which allows smaller satellites to go to space for a much lower price. Click here for the video. (7/23)

Europe's Mars Orbiter Finds No Trace of Methane on Red Planet (Source: Space.com)
A joint European-Russian spacecraft orbiting Mars has found no signs of gases related to the existence of life in the atmosphere of Mars, according to three new studies. Scientists were hunting for telltale signs of methane gas in data from a spacecraft called the Trace Gas Orbiter, which arrived at Mars in 2016 as part of the ExoMars mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia's Roscosmos.

Specifically, they used two instruments to look for traces of methane, as well as the byproducts of its chemical reactions triggered by sunlight, ethane and ethylene. But despite gathering over two and a half years worth of measurements from one of the instruments (called the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite, or ACS) and over a year's worth of data from the other (known as Nadir Occultation MArs Discovery, or NOMAD) the researchers found no trace of their target gases. (7/22)

Akash Demonstrates Fast Data Rate for Small Satellite (Source: Akash)
Akash Systems showed it could transmit data at a rate of 650 megabits per second from a miniature satellite radio. The X- and S-band radio "achieved the fastest known data rate from a palm-sized package within a bandwidth of 120MHz," the company announced July 21. With higher transmission rates, small satellite operators can transfer "very high-resolution images and videos back down to Earth" in minutes, Felix Ejeckam, Akash co-founder and CEO, said by email. (7/23)

Onward and Upward for NASA's Bill Nelson (Source: KPCW)
On Cool Science Radio, Bill Nelson, NASA’s 14th administrator comes on the show. In March of 2021, President Biden nominated Nelson to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He was confirmed by unanimous consent by the United States Senate on April 29, 2021, and sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on May 3. Click here for the interview. (7/22)

NASA Investigates Renaming James Webb Telescope After Anti-LGBT+ Claims (Source: Nature)
NASA is considering whether to rename its flagship astronomical observatory, given reports alleging that James Webb was involved in persecuting gay and lesbian people during his career in government. Keeping his name on the $8.8-billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — set to launch later this year — would glorify bigotry and anti-LGBT+ sentiment, say some astronomers. But others say there is not yet enough evidence against Webb, who was head of NASA from 1961 to 1968. They are withholding judgement until NASA finishes an internal investigation. (7/23)

HawkEye 360 Completes Milestone in Preparation to Launch Second Cluster (Source: HawkEye 360)
HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and data analytics, today announced it has successfully completed environmental testing of its second cluster of three satellites. This significant milestone for HawkEye Cluster 2 clears the way to prepare for launch, which is scheduled for late 2020. HawkEye Cluster 2 will join the company’s first cluster of satellites that were launched in December 2018, doubling the size of HawkEye 360’s constellation. (7/16)

Nauka Module Problems Appear Resolved, Pirs Module Disconnect Delayed (Source: Space News)
Russia launched a long-delayed module for its segment of the ISS July 21, but the module encountered technical difficulties after reaching orbit. Those problems, which appear to have since been resolved, prompted Roscosmos to postpone the removal of the Pirs airlock module that the newly launched Nauka module would replace. Roscosmos said it would wait until July 23 to remove and deorbit Pirs as planned. Nauka, meanwhile, completed two correction maneuvers hours after its launch, allaying concerns the module’s propulsion system was out of commission. (7/23)

Commerce Department Needs Support for Space Role (Source: Politico)
It’s been three years since a presidential directive required the Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce to develop a clearinghouse to ensure that the growing number of satellites and orbital debris don’t literally take down the growing commercial space industry. And on Thursday there were some pointed questions about the delay during a hearing convened by the Senate Commerce Space and Science Subcommittee.

What’s “holding up the process and what needs to be done to pick up the pace?” asked Sen. Cythia Lummis (R-WY). “This really was a resource question,” Kevin O’Connell, the former head of the office, responded. He noted that “when I arrived at the office in 2018 no one had led the office in 10 years” and it had a “very very small staff.” He added: “We had a very very small budget in the office. It needs to be resourced now.” Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association, agreed,telling lawmakers that “”action and funding are needed now.” (7/22)

NOAA Restoring GOES-17 Operations After Computer Reset (Sources: NOAA, Space News)
NOAA is restoring operations of a weather satellite that malfunctioned Thursday. The GOES-17 weather satellite went into safe mode early Thursday when an onboard computer reset. NOAA said engineers were working to recover operations of the spacecraft, and the agency was prepared to bring GOES-15 into service as a backup if needed. GOES-17 operates at the GOES-West location in geostationary orbit, but NOAA said in June that it would replace GOES-17 ahead of schedule because of problems with its main instrument found shortly after its 2018 launch. (7/23)

NASA Confirms July 30 CST-100 Launch to ISS From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
NASA confirmed plans Thursday to launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner next week on an uncrewed test flight. At the end of a flight readiness review, NASA and Boeing said they were ready to launch the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) 2 mission on July 30. OFT-2 will attempt to complete the objectives of the first OFT mission in late 2019, which was cut short by software and communications problems. Boeing has implemented 80 recommendations from an independent review last year of the OFT mission. A successful flight would allow NASA to proceed with the first crewed flight of Starliner, but agency managers declined to state when that might take place other than no earlier than the end of this year. (7/23)

Ex-NASA Chief Envisions a Future Where Humans Go to Space Stations Owned by Corporations (Source: CNBC)
The future of space innovation will be controlled by corporations, ex-NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. Bridenstine’s remarks came as Blue Origin launched its first crewed spaceflight Tuesday morning, with its founder, Jeff Bezos, on board. “Space is really big. We’re only just now scratching the surface of it,” Bridenstine said.

These missions are led by “entrepreneurs that are investing their own money. They’re not getting billions and billions of dollars from the federal government to help develop their product here,” said Bridenstine, currently senior advisor to private equity firm Acorn Growth Cos. “The goal for all of these folks is to drive down costs and increase access and really to do it through innovation.” (7/20)

Virgin Galactic Takes Back Seat As Best Way To Profit From Space (Source: Investor's Business Daily)
Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic (SPCE) launched an out-of-the-world race of egos. But investors care more about making money on space — and some ETFs offer top spots that might be less obvious. Five main ETFs aiming to profit from space take distinct approaches — to the point they're hardly related. But that's likely to be the norm and an advantage. Investing in space is in such infancy, many individual stocks in the race will likely deliver heartache. ETFs are looking to temper this risky proposition by including more established S&P 500 stocks.

To understand just how unpredictable space investing is, just look at how the main ETFs treat Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is arguably the poster child for the space race. It's publicly traded, unlike Bezos' Blue Origin or Elon Musk's SpaceX. And the scarcity of established pure-play space stocks fuels Virgin Galactic shares. Shares are up nearly 40% this year, easily topping the gains of all the major space ETFs. And that's despite some major concerns. The company is expected to lose money annually until eking out a profit of $40 million in 2024, says S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Also concerning is the fact Branson himself is a seller. The Branson-controlled Virgin Group Holdings unloaded more than 5.5 million shares, or roughly 10% of its Virgin Galactic position, as of the end of June. Virgin Group is still the No. 1 holder, though, with 23% of shares outstanding. And yet, one of the largest space ETFs, Cathie Wood's ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX), doesn't own Virgin Galactic at all. Meanwhile, it's a No. 2 holding in SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR). (7/22)

Canada's SSA Gets Government Funding for Climate Monitoring (Source: Space News)
A Canadian startup working on its own SSA satellite system has received government funding to also perform climate change monitoring. NorthStar Earth & Space is working with the Canadian Coast Guard on the project, using an airborne hyperspectral sensor system to monitor sensitive marine and coastal environments. NorthStar is currently working on a constellation of satellites for SSA services, and plans to later develop a separate constellation for hyperspectral Earth imaging. (7/23)

Parsons Contract with Space Force Extended (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has extended a contract with Parsons Corp. to develop satellite ground station services. Braxton Technologies, a company recently acquired by Parsons Corp., received a $139.4 million contract this week to continue development and prototyping of the Space Force's next-generation ground system for satellite operations, called enterprise ground services. Braxton's work on the project dates back to a small business innovation research award in 2017. The project features a suite of satellite command-and-control services that uses open standards and a common platform to operate a wide range of satellites. (7/23)

August Targeted for Rocket Lab SPAC (Source: Business Wire)
Rocket Lab's merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) could be completed next month. Vector Acquisition Corp., the SPAC that announced in March it would merge with Rocket Lab, announced its shareholders will vote on the deal Aug. 20. That vote is the final milestone in the merger, which would make Rocket Lab a publicly traded company and provide several hundred million dollars in capital to fund development of its Neutron rocket. (7/23)

Moon Formation Detected Around Exoplanet (Source: Science)
Astronomers have spotted evidence of one or more moons forming around an exoplanet. Images of a young star system, PDS 70, by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array show a dust disk that includes two exoplanets still forming. One of the planets has its own dust disk that astronomers believe could form moons. While astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, there's been no conclusive discoveries yet of "exomoons" orbiting them. (7/23)

Star-Gazing Investors Launch More Money Into Space Tech (Source: CrunchBase)
Venture funding in space travel, satellite communication and aerospace — which includes space-related technologies such as thrusters and propulsion systems — hit a new high last year, and that record is likely to be eclipsed this year. According to Crunchbase data, nearly $5.2 billion in venture funding has gone into space tech funding already this year — including huge rounds such as SpaceX’s $850 million round and Long Beach, California-based Relatively Space‘s$650 million Series E. (7/23)

Japanese Astronaut Says ‘Space Diplomacy’ Can Save the Earth (Source: PassBlue)
Naoko Yamazaki made space history not only as the second woman astronaut from Japan, but also by participating in the record-setting 2010 NASA space shuttle mission STS-131 to the International Space Station, or ISS. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., the mission marked the first time that four women were together in the ISS at once. It set a record as the longest Discovery space shuttle mission as well, lasting more than 15 days.

A member of the EarthShot Prize Council, a global environment project, Yamazaki practices an astronaut’s “citizen diplomacy,” as she calls it, which includes promoting the application of experiential knowledge and technology of space ecosystems for solving Earth’s environmental issues. She thinks that space diplomacy can contribute much value to global diplomacy, especially to both environmental diplomacy and science diplomacy in planetary and outer-space affairs.

In Japan, Yamazaki advises the government on space policy and promotes the teaching of STEM among youths, especially young women. She co-founded the Space Port Japan Association in 2018, which promotes the country’s aeronautics industry. She also teaches, lectures widely in schools and science museums and contributes her expertise as an astronaut-citizen-diplomat in many forums. Recently, she was a visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. (7/22)

More Questions Than Answers For Milspace Norms (Source: Breaking Defense)
A new study by The Aerospace Corporation finds that there are four strategic decisions that US policy-makers will need to consider — and perhaps more crucially, weigh tradeoffs among –in developing norms of behavior for space, including domestic buy-in, and the choice of initial negotiating partners. The new study, “Building Normentum: A Framework for Space Norm Development,” comes as US Space Command is working to implement the first-ever official DoD guidance on norms for US military space operations.

Creating norms for military space operations could help reduce the chance of miscalculation, misperceptions and thus the risk of conflict. While there are sets of norms that guide military operations in both peacetime and conflict in the air, land and sea domains, there are few agreed internationally in the space domain. In particular, the study cautions decision-makers that while many domestic stakeholders support both the concept of international norms and the need for US leadership in developing those tenets, the priorities and perceived needs among those stakeholders are widely disparate. Click here. (7/20)

Updating Space Doctrine: How to Avoid World War III (Source: War on the Rocks)
The clock is ticking because the United States has been inviting an orbital Pearl Harbor for decades. Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, calls our military satellites “big, fat, juicy targets.” He’s correct. They are both exquisite and relatively defenseless, just as the U.S. Air Force designed them. There are also constellations of NASA, commercial, and allied satellites that are completely vulnerable. At least the fleet at Pearl Harbor had big guns — its mistake was being caught off-guard. In comparison, most satellites are naked. Click here. (7/23)

Space Force Seeking Alliances in Europe to Guard Orbit (Source: Politico)
The U.S. military's Space Force is looking to develop partnerships with European countries to counter threats in orbit from the likes of Russia and China, according to General John W. Raymond, the Pentagon's chief of space operations. "We have seen what China and Russia have done in developing a suite of capabilities designed to deny our access to space," Raymond told journalists Thursday following meetings in Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands aimed at building support for measures to provide "stability" in orbit.

Raymond said Beijing and Moscow had both developed jamming systems, targeted energy weapons and satellites installed with offensive weaponry, along with Earth-based missiles capable of taking out spacecraft. France and the U.K. have also launched military space units over the last few years and Raymond said the U.S. already has a dialogue with both countries. The plan is to now widen that cooperation to include other friendly nations. This month, Germany also officially opened its own space military unit. (7/22)

NGA Opens Moonshot Labs in St. Louis (Source: NGA)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will host a special ceremony celebrating the opening of Moonshot Labs, its first-ever unclassified, collaborative innovation space, Friday, July 23, at the T-REX innovation center in downtown St. Louis. Moonshot Labs, NGA’s first-ever unclassified innovation center, is about 12,000 square feet of shared workspace at T-REX that aims to foster collaboration among the government, industry and academic geospatial community members in the St. Louis region. (7/19)

How 2 Moms Partnered to Make Science Fashion for All (Source: Inc.)
When Jaya Iyer saw an astronaut's drawing of a dinosaur in space, she saw an out-of-this-world business opportunity. Now, thanks to a new Netflix show, she's hoping to see sales skyrocket. Today, the Netflix series Motherhood in Focus debuts an episode interviewing former NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg about balancing her work in space and motherhood on earth. She'll be wearing a dress she and Iyer designed for Iyer's fashion line.

The astronaut and entrepreneur partnered over their shared mission to help promote STEAM -- science, technology, engineering, art, and math -- education and to break down gender stereotypes in clothing. Nyberg, in addition to being an astronaut and mechanical engineer, is also a textile artist. During a mission on the International Space Station in 2013 she had sewn a stuffed dinosaur toy to connect with her then-3-year-old, dinosaur-obsessed son.

The partnership with Iyer was "a perfect fit," says Nyberg. The stuffed animal inspired the "Dinos in Space" print, now on clothing and handbags. Iyer founded her educational apparel brand Svaha after she was unable to find a girl's style outer-space T-shirt for her 2-year-old daughter who dreamed of being an astronaut. (7/20)

Forget Branson and Bezos—the Real Deal Comes This Fall (Source: TIME)
The storm of press that the Branson and Bezos missions occasioned has largely overlooked a much bigger space deal coming in September, when yet another billionaire—Jared Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 Payments, an online payments company—goes aloft with three other civilian astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a mission dubbed Inspiration4. Isaacman purchased all four seats for an undisclosed sum, though judging by the prices in the commercial space market, $50 million each is a not unreasonable guess.

Note to Rich Space Racers: Dream Bigger (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
It is astonishing to think that for less than 1 per cent of his wealth, Jeff Bezos could fund the production of enough vaccines to inoculate the entire world against COVID-19. Instead, he’s engaged in pursuing a Plan B space race to achieve what humans already did, better, 50 years ago. Count me out from Branson’s “generation of dreamers”. I’m a Millennial. Our dreams extend as far as owning a house. Yet “space tourism”, as Branson calls it, is here to stay: another idea foisted on us by a very rich man that makes about as much sense as sending a submarine into a labyrinthine Thai cave system to locate lost schoolchildren. (7/23)

The Case Against Space Tourism (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The last time there was talk about sending an ordinary person into space, NASA was doing the talking. In 1985 Christa McAuliffe beat out more than 11,000 other applicants to win a seat on the space shuttle Challenger. Almost overnight, she became a national celebrity: America’s teacher in space. NASA had a journalist-in-space program ready to go, with applicants including Walter Cronkite and Norman Mailer.

When reporters asked McAuliffe whether she was nervous about rocketing into orbit, she repeated what she had been told: that the shuttle was as safe as a passenger jet. In fact, like today’s Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic vehicles, the space shuttle was an engineering experiment in progress. Professional astronauts have a full understanding of the risks. Civilians like Christa McAuliffe don’t. (7/22)