August 15, 2022

All Systems Go in Houston as NASA Prepares Return to Moon (Source: Space Daily)
Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight, will feature the first blastoff of the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will be the most powerful in the world when it goes into operation. It will propel the Orion crew capsule into orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft will remain in space for 42 days before returning to Earth. From 2024, astronauts will travel aboard Orion for the same trip, and the following year, at the earliest, Americans will once again step foot on the Moon.

For the duration of Artemis 1, a team of about a dozen NASA personnel will remain in JSC's Mission Control 24 hours a day. The center has been renovated and updated for the occasion. Teams have been rehearsing for this moment for three years. "This is a whole new deal -- a whole new rocket, a whole new spacecraft, a whole new control center," explained Brian Perry, the flight dynamics officer, who will be in charge of Orion's trajectory immediately following the launch. (8/15)

NASA Seeks Student Ideas for Extracting, Forging Metal on the Moon (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's 2023 annual Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge asks university students to design a metal production pipeline on the Moon - from extracting metal from lunar minerals to creating structures and tools. The ability to extract metal and build needed infrastructure on the Moon advances the Artemis Program goal of a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.

Its strength and resistance to corrosion make metal key to building structures, pipes, cables and more, but the metal materials for infrastructure are heavy, making them very expensive to transport. Student teams participating in the BIG Idea Challenge, a university-level competition sponsored by NASA and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), will develop innovative ways to extract and convert metals from minerals found on the Moon, such as ilmenite and anorthite, to enable metal manufacturing on the Moon. (8/15)

Iran Seeks 3 More Khayyam Satellites (Source: Space Daily)
Iran plans to commission three more versions of a satellite launched this week by Russia, Tehran's government spokesman said Friday. The Khayyam blasted into orbit on Tuesday, prompting US accusations that it is intended for spying. Iran dismissed Washington's claim as "childish." "The construction of three other Khayyam satellites with the participation of Iranian scientists is on the government's agenda," its spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi said. (8/12)

Chinese Smart Dragon-3 Rocket Completes Ground Tests (Source: Space Daily)
China's new carrier rocket Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3), designed for commercial use, has completed large-scale ground tests, its developer said on Thursday. The rocket was developed by the China Rocket Co. Ltd., which is affiliated with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT). It is a four-stage solid-propellant carrier rocket. (8/15)

Chinese Harvest From Heavenly Breeding (Source: Space Daily)
When China's Shenzhou-14 spaceship returns to Earth late this year, it will bring home some unusual packages - brewer's yeast grown in space. It will be part of the harvest of a 6-month-long breeding experiment aboard the Tiangong space station, which is under construction. Scientists say that the microorganism, exposed to deep space, will induce genetic mutations that may create superior strains on the ground.

Alongside the yeast samples, the "passengers" of China's latest long-duration space journey also include seeds of rice, soybeans, vegetables, and a variety of bacterial species that are essential in food preservation. They were selected by the Beijing Capital Agribusiness and Foods Group. The company's goal is to carry plants and microorganisms into orbit, recover them, and use them to provide fine quality food and beverages. (8/15)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Completes Propulsion Test Bed (Source: Air Force Technology)
Aerojet Rocketdyne has found success in its effort to develop an integrated system test bed "with applicability to a variety of future programs" at the Defense Department. The propulsion test bed, which was funded by Rocketdyne, will help advance development of missile programs, space launches and other Pentagon initiatives. (8/12)

Masten Gets Approval For $1.4M In Ch. 11 Financing (Source: Law360)
A bankruptcy judge on Friday approved $1.4 million in Chapter 11 financing for NASA contractor Masten Space Systems Inc. from the stalking horse bidder in an auction Masten hopes to run in a month. Astrobotics Technology is providing the financing package. Masten Space Systems Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court with plans to sell its assets at auction at the beginning of September. (8/12)

Florida Demonstrates the Breadth and Depth of its Aerospace Industry (Source: FINN)
From the renowned Kennedy Space Center to activity by industry leaders such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Florida is leading the way with an impressive network of aerospace companies. More than 100 delegates from the Sunshine State were at the Farnborough International Airshow in July to showcase 18 businesses pushing the envelope in everything from space to robotics. Click here. (8/15) https://www.wearefinn.com/topics/posts/florida-demonstrates-the-breadth-and-depth-of-its-aerospace-industry/

Anuvu Acquiring Signal Mountain Networks (Source: Space News)
Mobile satellite connectivity specialist Anuvu is buying Signal Mountain Networks, a satellite communications provider to the U.S. government. Anuvu said that buying Signal Mountain, which designs, implements, and supports satcoms and other connectivity systems for government agencies, could help unlock new revenue streams ahead of plans to start deploying its own constellation next year. The companies did not disclose financial details of the deal. (8/15)

Eutelsat Activates Advanced Satellite (Source: ESA)
A fully software-defined communications satellite has entered commercial service for Eutelsat. The Eutelsat Quantum satellite launched last year to demonstrate the feasibility of fully reconfigurable GEO satellites, developed with support of ESA and the U.K. Space Agency. Eutelsat has sold six of eight beams and expects to sell its full capacity in the coming months. (8/15)

World’s Largest Ice Sheet Crumbling Faster Than Previously Thought, Satellite Imagery Shows (Source: CNN)
Antarctica’s coastal glaciers are shedding icebergs more rapidly than nature can replenish the crumbling ice, doubling previous estimates of losses from the world’s largest ice sheet over the past 25 years, a satellite analysis showed on Wednesday. The first-of-its-kind study, led by researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles and published in the journal Nature, raises new concern about how fast climate change is weakening Antarctica’s floating ice shelves and accelerating the rise of global sea levels.

The study’s key finding was that the net loss of Antarctic ice from coastal glacier chunks “calving” off into the ocean is nearly as great as the net amount of ice that scientists already knew was being lost due to thinning caused by the melting of ice shelves from below by warming seas. Taken together, thinning and calving have reduced the mass of Antarctica’s ice shelves by 12 trillion tons since 1997, double the previous estimate, the analysis concluded. (8/11)