January 15, 2022

GM and Lockheed Martin's New Lunar Rover, Rendered (Source: Motor Trend)
We're going back to the moon and General Motors is coming along, too. Just as it did with Boeing back in the 1960s, GM is teaming up with the aerospace experts at Lockheed Martin for the newest versions of the moon buggy. This time, however, much of the technology used in these buggies are coming from the same Ultium EV tech used in the GMC Hummer and Chevrolet Silverado EV trucks.

Fortunately, technology has taken some great leaps and bounds since Apollo 17. According to GM back in May of 2021, these next-generation lunar rover vehicles are being designed to drive even farther distances to support the first excursions of the Moon's south pole. These new LRVs will also need better technology beyond their capacities as the south pole is dark, making it much colder with much more rugged terrain and the sunlit surfaces the Apollo missions landed in.

Fortunately, GM's Ultium technologies will most likely help create the drive and battery packs these new rovers need. These new rovers will also be autonomous, allowing them to launch prior to the human landings. This is needed to help prepare for "commercial payload services and enhance the range and utility of scientific payloads and experiments" according to GM. Click here. (1/14)

It’s Time for a Global Ban on Destructive Antisatellite Testing (Source: Scientific American)
Although the prospects of a new multilateral treaty banning the existence of space weapons are dim, there are other things that can be done to minimize the dangerous consequences of these weapons. First and foremost, the countries that are developing and testing such weapons—China, India, Russia, and the United States—can unilaterally declare a moratorium on further testing that creates orbital debris. Doing so would send a strong signal to the international community that they are committed to the long-term sustainability of space and for delegitimizing the testing of these weapons against satellites.

Second, all countries should participate in and contribute to the OEWG on space threats to discuss how to move towards a global ban on destructive ASAT testing. Countries should come to the table with ideas for addressing other pressing threats to space security. This includes nonconsensual close encounters with another country’s satellites and attempts to disrupt satellite operations by targeting them with ground-based lasers. Although less obviously threatening than kinetic attacks where a satellite is physically destroyed, such acts are increasing in frequency and could inflame tensions, potentially leading to misperceptions or mistakes that then spark actual armed, hostile conflict in space. (1/14)

No Evidence of Life in Mars Meteorite Found in Antarctica (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A 4 billion-year-old meteorite from Mars that caused a splash here on Earth decades ago contains no evidence of ancient, primitive Martian life after all, scientists reported Thursday. In 1996, a NASA-led team announced that organic compounds in the rock appeared to have been left by living creatures. Other scientists were skeptical and researchers chipped away at that premise over the decades, most recently by a team led by the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Andrew Steele.

Tiny samples from the meteorite show the carbon-rich compounds are actually the result of water — most likely salty, or briny, water — flowing over the rock for a prolonged period, Steele said. The findings appear in the journal Science. During Mars’ wet and early past, at least two impacts occurred near the rock, heating the planet’s surrounding surface, before a third impact bounced it off the red planet and into space millions of years ago. The 4-pound rock was found in Antarctica in 1984. (1/13)

Using High Temperature Composites For Sustainable Space Travel (Source: Space Daily)
On the ground, sound waves travel at around 340 metres per second. An aircraft is Supersonic when it exceeds the speed of sound. Hypersonic speed is more than five times the speed of sound - or 'Mach 5' - which is just over 6,000 kilometres per hour. At Mach 5 and above, friction caused by molecules flowing over the hypersonic aircraft can generate temperatures in excess of 2000 Celsius. Suffice to say that Brisbane-based aerospace engineering start-up, Hypersonix Launch Systems, is choosing its materials to cope with these extremes.

Founded in 2019, Hypersonix Launch Systems aims to provide sustainable satellite launch services from Australia using hypersonic scramjet technology. In a short time, and in the shadow of the pandemic, the Hypersonix team of close to 20 aerospace engineers and material specialists has developed reusable scramjet engine technology for engines that are powered by sustainable green hydrogen fuel. (1/14)

NASA, White House Initiative to Spur Entrepreneurial Spirit of HBCU Scholars (Source: NASA)
NASA and the Department of Education are collaborating to enhance the federal Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Scholar Recognition Program using NASA entrepreneurial expertise. Beginning in 2022, a NASA pitch competition for students at higher education institutions will officially become part of the HBCU Scholar Recognition Program, part of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity. The competition will be a small-scale version of NASA’s Minority University Education and Research Program (MUREP) Innovation and Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC). (1/12)