May 8, 2022

NASA MarsXR Challenge (Source: NASA)
We are seeking developers to create a new Virtual Reality (XR) research, development, and testing environment to help prepare for the experiences and situations that will be encountered on Mars. If this sounds intriguing and exciting to you, then join the NASA MarsXR Challenge today! On behalf of NASA, Buendea, and Epic Games, this challenge is seeking developers to create new assets and scenarios for the new Mars XR Operations Support System (XOSS) environment, using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5. Click here. (5/4)

30 Years After Intelsat VI Rescue, Northrop Grumman Aims to Make In-Space Servicing a Permanent Reality (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
On 7 May 1992, Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off on her first voyage at 23:40 UTC from Pad-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Her target: Intelsat VI F-3 (now known as Intelsat 603). The goal: rendezvous with, repair, and re-release the satellite. In the now-30 years since that mission, on-orbit satellite repair and servicing have largely languished — save for the five Hubble servicing missions Endeavour and the Shuttle fleet would conduct after STS-49.

Northrop Grumman now aims to change that in 2024 when their new Mission Robotic Vehicle and Mission Extension Pods begin launching to perform on-orbit satellite servicing and repairs. Presently, the first two MEVs are attached to Intelsats 901 and 10-02, respectively. These satellites were running out of fuel but were otherwise still fully operational. However, despite the success of the Mission Extension Vehicles program, there’s a catch. The MEVs can only help one satellite at a time, and they can only extend a satellite’s life by using the Mission Extension Vehicle’s fuel; they can’t service or repair satellites. (5/7)

Astronomers Discover a Rare "Black Widow" Binary (Source: Space Daily)
The flashing of a nearby star has drawn MIT astronomers to a new and mysterious system 3,000 light years from Earth. The stellar oddity appears to be a new "black widow binary" - a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that is circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star, as its arachnid namesake does to its mate.

Astronomers know of about two dozen black widow binaries in the Milky Way. This newest candidate, named ZTF J1406+1222, has the shortest orbital period yet identified, with the pulsar and companion star circling each other every 62 minutes. The system is unique in that it appears to host a third, far-flung star that orbits around the two inner stars every 10,000 years. (5/5)

Revealing the Secret Language of Dark Matter (Source: Space Daily)
In the Universe, dark matter and standard matter "talk" to each other using a secret language. This "discussion" happens thanks to gravity, scientists say, but not in a way they can fully comprehend. They propose a special property for dark matter called a "non-minimal coupling with gravity". This new type of interaction can modify dark matter gravitational influence on standard 'baryonic' matter.

According to the authors, the 'non-minimal coupling' could be the key to decrypt the enigmatic dialogue between the two components, possibly solving one of the biggest open questions about dark matter's nature. To prove the hypothesis, the assumption has been tested and then confirmed with experimental data from thousands of spiral galaxies.

If the non-minimal coupling is present, standard matter "perceives" spacetime in a way which is different from the one "experienced" by the dark matter. And this is a very interesting point. Usually, in fact, dark matter and baryonic matter perceive spacetime in the same way. For this reason, our theory, that we have proven to be in remarkable agreement with present experimental data, could represent a crucial issue in understanding the essence of dark matter". (5/2)

Exploding Russian Rocket Could Create More Hazards in Space (Source: Independent)
A motor from a Russian rocket exploded in orbit earlier this month, the US Space Force has confirmed. The explosion and subsequent break up of SL-12 R/B (#32398, 2007-065F), as the Space Force enumerated the object, generated 16 new pieces of space debris that the Space Force is now tracking. Unlike Russia’s intentional use of an anti-satellite missile to destory an old Soviet space satellite in November, the rocket motor explosion on 15 April was unintentional.

The missile test generated a cloud of debris that temporarily threatened the International Space Station and forced astronauts and Russian cosmonauts to take shelter in spacecraft docked to the space station for a possible emergency return to Earth. The rocket motor in question was a Russian SOZ “ullage” motor in orbit since its rocket launched three satellites in 2007, according to Jonathan McDowell, a Havard astrophysicist who also tracks satellites and space debris in his spare time. (5/5)

The Future of Space Tourism Is Now. Well, Not Quite (Source: New York Times)
Less than a year after Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson kicked off a commercial space race by blasting into the upper atmosphere within weeks of each other last summer, the global space tourism market is skyrocketing, with dozens of companies now offering reservations for everything from zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps and simulated zero-gravity flights.

But don’t don your spacesuit just yet. While the financial services company UBS estimates the space travel market will be worth $3 billion by 2030, the FAA has yet to approve most out-of-this-world trips, and construction has not started on the first space hotel. And while access and options — not to mention launchpads — are burgeoning, space tourism remains astronomically expensive for most.

First, what counts as space travel? Sixty miles (about 100 kilometers) above our heads lies the Kármán line, the widely accepted aeronautical boundary of the earth’s atmosphere. It’s the boundary used by the Féderátion Aéronautique Internationale, which certifies and controls global astronautical records. But many organizations in the United States, including the FAA and NASA, define everything above 50 miles to be space. Click here. (5/7)

SpaceX Moved NROL-85 From the Cape to Vandenberg at No Extra Cost, in Exchange for Reusing Booster (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-85 mission launched April 17 by SpaceX was originally scheduled to fly from Cape Canaveral, Florida. But just 12 months before the launch, the NRO informed SpaceX it needed to send its payload to a different orbit so the launch had to be moved to the western range at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. “This was a challenge,” NROL-85 mission manager Maj. Jonathan Schirner said this week on the NRO’s “The Dish” podcast.

National security space launch missions are rarely, if ever, moved from coast to coast on such short notice, Schirner said. “It’s the first time we’ve done a range change at the 12 month mark in the NSSL timeframe.” Typically it would be hugely expensive for the government to switch ranges like that because NSSL missions are planned two years in advance and SpaceX in this case had already started integration work at the Cape, Schirner said.

The NRO and SpaceX worked out a deal to move NROL-85 to the West Coast at no extra cost to the government and in exchange the NRO agreed to fly the mission on a reused first stage that had previously flown another NRO mission. Under the agreement, SpaceX would launch NROL-87 in February at Vandenberg and reuse the boost for NROL-85 in April. The Space Force’s Space Systems Command was able to examine the recovered booster and approve it for reuse in just two months, a much shorter than usual turnaround. (5/6)

NASA Administrator to Visit Florida Students, Industry (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will speak to elementary school students about the future of space exploration Monday, May 9, and tour a lab working on robotic construction technologies Tuesday, May 10, during a trip to Florida. Nelson and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will speak about the agency’s missions with students in grades three through five at Ventura Elementary School in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday.

On Tuesday, Nelson will visit Redwire Space headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida to tour the Archinaut testing and robotics lab. Redwire is working on NASA’s On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 2 (OSAM-2) mission, which will build, assemble, and deploy a solar array in orbit.

During the visit, Nelson will see firsthand Redwire’s efforts to use lunar and Martian dust to 3D print on the Moon and Mars. The NASA administrator will be briefed on in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities, which support the national strategy announced by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Space Council to transform space architectures and help maintain U.S. leadership in space. (5/6)