January 3, 2022

Axiom Space Developing In-House Spacesuits to Prepare for Future Stations (Source: Space.com)
Even as commercial spaceflight company Axiom Space prepares to launch the first fully private crew to the International Space Station early next year, its engineers are also developing in-house spacesuits. Texas-based Axiom teased the spacesuits in a tweet posted on Nov. 23. While the suits fit into Axiom's own long-term plans of creating private space stations that can host paid research missions, the company also hopes to provide the suits to NASA as the space agency prepares for crewed Artemis program launches to the moon. (12/22)

Why Can't We Put a Space Station on the Moon? (Source: Space.com)
A space station on the moon could be very useful. It would provide future space missions with a stopping point between leaving the Earth and reaching further into the solar system or even the Milky Way. One reason we haven’t built a space station on the moon is that we don’t send people there very often. We have only managed to put astronauts on the moon six times so far. These moon landings took place in a three-year period between 1969 and 1972 and were part of a series of space missions called the Apollo missions. (1/2)

The Counties With the Most UFO Sightings (Source: 24/7 Wall Street)
Reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have increased in recent years, and some parts of the country have proven to be particularly hospitable to strange things in the sky -- or at least to those who see them.

24/7 Tempo has identified the counties with the most UFO sightings per capita, based on data provided by Cheryl Costa and Linda Miller, authors of "UFO Sightings Desk Reference: United States of America 2001-2020." The data shows the relative likelihood of county residents reporting UFO sightings. (Population figures come from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.)

A number of factors influence the number of sightings, including population, geography, climate, and weather. Reporting is facilitated by access to broadband, and media reports may create a feedback loop: high-profile incidents, such as when airline pilots report being buzzed by fast-moving objects, are often followed by a rash of sightings. Click here. (1/2)

Is Earth Expanding or Shrinking? (Source: Live Science)
Like any good gift giver, Earth is constantly giving and receiving materials with the surrounding solar system. For instance, dust speeding through space regularly bombards our planet in the form of shooting stars, and gases from Earth's atmosphere regularly seep out into space. So, if Earth is continuously giving away matter, as well as acquiring new material, is it expanding or shrinking?

Because of Earth's gaseous gifts to space, our planet — or, to be specific, the atmosphere — is shrinking, according to Guillaume Gronoff, a senior research scientist who studies atmospheric escape at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. However, we're not shrinking by much, he said. After Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, a small amount of accretion continued to happen in the form of meteors and meteorites adding to Earth's mass, Gronoff said.

But once a planet forms, another process begins: atmospheric escape. It works similarly to evaporation but on a different scale, Gronoff said. In the atmosphere, oxygen, hydrogen, and helium atoms absorb enough energy from the sun to escape the atmosphere, according to Gronnoff. "We don't have the weight of the Earth at the precision needed to see if the Earth is losing or gaining." But by observing the rate of meteors, scientists estimate that about 16,500 tons (15,000 metric tons) — about one and a half Eiffel Towers — impacts the planet every year, adding to its mass, Gronoff said. (1/2)

Israeli University Supports Air and Space Strategy (Source: Jerusalem Post)
Tel Aviv University and the Israeli Air Force announced on Sunday that they had established a joint center that “will harness the world of civilian research and knowledge to advance various areas related to policymaking and strategic thinking on issues of air and space.” Named the Elrom Center, the new think tank opened its door at the end of last week and is the first of its kind in Israel in this area of research. The center is part of the IAF’s vision “to harness scientific knowledge for the benefit of the air force, encouraging creative and critical thinking and accelerating the incorporation of innovation into world views of the air force.” (1/3)

China Plans Space Station Completion in 2022 (Source: Space News)
China's space plans for the new year include completing its space station. Two large modules, called Wentian and Mengtian, are scheduled to launch in June and August, respectively, on Long March 5B rockets, completing the station. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. is targeting more than 40 launches in 2022, including six missions to complete the construction of the space station and transport cargo and crew to it. That total does not include launches projected this year by several private Chinese space companies. (1/3)

Investors Hope for Better SPAC Performance (Source: Space News)
Investors in space SPACs are hoping for better performance in 2022. Of nine space companies that started trading publicly this year after mergers with SPACs, all but one ended the year with shares trading down significantly from when they went public. Those declines come amid high redemption rates for more recent SPAC deals and delays in closing other mergers. Despite those problems, some industry officials remain upbeat about the companies that went public through SPAC mergers and prospects for more such deals this year. (1/3)

ACT Wins NASA Contract for Lunar Thermal Control (Source: Space News)
A company has won NASA funding to develop technologies for improved thermal control of lunar spacecraft. Advanced Cooling Technologies (ACT) said it would use the $5 million NASA Sequential Phase II SBIR Program Award to develop a "toolbox" of heat transport, radiator and other systems for moon-bound landers, rovers and habitats. Those technologies are critical to enabling spacecraft to survive the two-week lunar night. Astrobotic plans to use ACT's technologies for its Griffin lunar lander that will deliver NASA's VIPER rover to the moon's south polar region. (1/3)

Next SpaceX Starlink Florida Launch Going High Inclination with Far-South Droneship Landing (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX plans to kick off 2022 with a launch of Starlink satellites later this week. Liftoff of a Falcon 9 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites is scheduled for late Thursday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. In a change from previous Starlink launches, the booster will travel southeast rather than northeast, with a landing on a droneship near the Bahamas. (1/3)

Cosmonauts to Spacewalk for Prichal Installation (Source: TASS)
Two Russian cosmonauts will conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station later this month. Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov will carry out the spacewalk, scheduled to last six and a half hours, on Jan. 19. They will continue installing the Prichal node module that docked with the station in November. (1/3)

Top Satellite Launches to Watch in 2022 (Source: Via Satellite)
This year is set to be a big one for satellite launches, as a number of major satellite operators launch satellites that mark the culmination of years-long business plans and investments. Via Satellite previews the top satellite launches we’ll be watching and covering in 2022. Click here. (12/30)

Relativity Software VP Hire Signals Commitment to New 'Factory Operating System' (Source: Relativity Space)
Relativity Space is announcing a significant investment in the future of its software-driven manufacturing platform through the hiring of Scott Van Vliet, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. He will lead the Integrated Software and Additive Manufacturing teams, overseeing 150+ employees today and doubling the team before the end of the year to expand Relativity’s ‘Factory Operating System.’ Relativity’s ‘Factory Operating System’ is unified platform that integrates data collection, correlation, machine learning, visualization, and workflow tools to enable faster rates of compounding progress across Relativity’s Stargate printers, production factories, test and launch infrastructure, and rocket development.

With its software division representing a significant and growing portion of the company’s talent, Relativity recently surpassed 600 employees in total. With teams across its Long Beach, Vandenberg, Seattle, Washington D.C., Stennis, and Cape Canaveral locations, Relativity is scaling its revolutionary, large scale approach to 3D printing and automation to build a new tech stack for aerospace manufacturing -- one capable of building rockets and other products. (1/3)

NASA Might Just Pull Off the James Webb Space Telescope Deployment (Source: Ars Technica)
Nine days after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA says it has made good progress deploying the $10 billion instrument and has now begun the critical process of "tensioning" the sunshield.

On Monday, six motors on board the telescope began the process of fully extending the first of five layers of the sunshield. These tennis-court sized layers, each made of a polyimide film called Kapton, will shade the instrument and allow it to cool down to 50 Kelvin, which is -223 degrees Celsius and just 50 degrees above absolute zero. This cold environment is critical for Webb to observe infrared light and detect heat from very distant objects.

NASA's Webb project manager, Bill Ochs, said the first of these five layers should be completely deployed by the end of Monday. The goal is to extend the other four layers on Tuesday and Wednesday. After this time, the massive sunshield—the most complex aspect of an intricate deployment process—will be complete. (1/3)

From Hops to Belly Flops, Starship Prepares for a Leap Into Space (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
SpaceX’s Starship program is set to take its next leap in the coming year, following a 2021 that included numerous test flights and widescale groundwork at its launch and production facilities. With the success of Ship 15’s 10 kilometer launch and landing, SpaceX has refocused towards a full-stack launch to orbital velocity as the opening salvo to a year of test flights.

Starbase entered 2021 soon after Starship SN8, the first full-scale Starship prototype, had just suffered a failure on landing due to low header tank pressure. SN9, a similar but slightly improved vehicle, was installed onto suborbital Pad B for testing after tipping over in the High Bay after a support holding it up gave way.

SN9 wouldn’t fly until February due to the FAA investigation into the SN8 flight. As a sign of what is now the usual Starbase production cadence, SN10, 11, and 12 were in various stages of assembly at the time. However, SN12, 13, and 14 would never see flight, or even complete construction, due to SpaceX deciding to focus all resources on the improved SN15. (1/3)