June 7, 2024

NASA Exploring Alternative Mars Sample Return Methods (Source; NASA)
NASA is moving forward with 10 studies to examine more affordable and faster methods of bringing samples from Mars’ surface back to Earth as part of the agency’s Mars Sample Return Program. As part of this effort, NASA will award a firm-fixed-price contract for up to $1.5 million to conduct 90-day studies to seven industry proposers.

Additionally, NASA centers, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory are producing studies. Once completed, NASA will assess all studies to consider alterations or enhancements to the Mars Sample Return architecture. The following companies were selected: Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin, Quantum Space, Northrop Grumman, and Whittinghill Aerospace (6/7)

One Last Time: VSS Unity Plans Final Launch (Source; Albuquerque Journal)
It’s almost time for VSS Unity to stand down. The spaceship’s last commercial flight out of Spaceport America is Saturday. Then, it’ll be all hands on deck for spaceflight company Virgin Galactic to continue crafting and fine-tuning its new Delta Class spaceships. The company plans to begin Delta test flights in 2025 and launch commercial service in 2026. (6/7)

NASA Scientists Take to the Seas to Study Air Quality (Source: NASA)
Satellites continuously peer down from orbit to take measurements of Earth, and this week a group of scientists set sail to verify some of those data points. On June 2, the SCOAPE (Satellite Coastal and Oceanic Atmospheric Pollution Experiment) research team, in partnership with the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, took to the seas in the Gulf of Mexico for its second campaign to make surface-based measurements of air pollutants. (6/7)

Carbon Dioxide Hits Record Level in Atmosphere, Causing Climate Change (Source: NPR)
The amount of planet-warming carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has hit a new record, as humanity struggles to rein in emissions of greenhouse gasses from burning fossil fuels.

The new record comes as tens of millions of people are grappling with extreme weather in the United States. Much of the western U.S. is experiencing the first major heat wave of the year, which is driving temperatures 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than what is normal for June. In the Southwest, temperatures are lingering well above 100 degrees. (6/7)

See Florida From Space With New International Space Station Photos (Source: Fox 35)
Have you ever wondered what Florida looks like from space? The International Space Station is giving us a glimpse into life hundreds of miles above ground with new satellite images of not only Earth, but of the Sunshine State! Click here. (6/4)

HPE's Spaceborne Computer Offers Template for Space-Based AI (Source: Space News)
With a recent upgrade, HPE’s Spaceborne Computer-2 on the International Space Station is tackling increasingly complex artificial intelligence and machine learning assignments. The initial Spaceborne Computer, installed on ISS in 2017, was a test to see how a commercial off-the-shelf HPE processor would function in orbit. Its successor, Spaceborne Computer-2, pulled from HPE’s more rugged Edgeline computers, has performed dozens of experiments since it reached ISS in 2021. (6/6)

AI Powering Commercial Insights Into the Final Frontier (Source: Space News)
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the space industry, and one area where its impact is particularly significant is space domain awareness (SDA), or the knowledge and understanding of activities occurring in space. By continuously analyzing the trajectories and behaviors of satellites, AI can rapidly analyze vast amounts of data from space sensors and help identify anomalies or potential threats. Notably, the capabilities of AI are enabling an array of commercial SDA services. (6/7)

ESA and Vast: Preparing for Future Human Spaceflight Missions in Low Earth Orbit (Source: ESA)
The agreement outlines the parties’ intention to foster human spaceflight, science, technology and commercialisation development and explore collaboration in low Earth orbit destinations other than the International Space Station. The collaboration will initially focus on exploring opportunities for access to space for Europe through the Vast space stations. Click here. (6/6)

Giant Japanese ‘Space Elevator’ Promises to Lift Tourists 22,000 Miles Above Earth by 2050 (Source: The Sun)
The bonkers $100 billion giant space elevator project could start hoisting people to Mars by 2050, says its Japanese designers. Obayashi Corporation, the firm behind iconic buildings such as the 2,080-foot high Tokyo Skytree tower, has proposed building the "technically feasible" space elevator. It would "bridge the gap between Earth and space via a cable, allowing people to travel to and from space as easily as if they were riding a train," the firm said. (6/6)

New Evidence Challenges Origin Theory on The Universe's Heaviest Elements (Source: Science Alert)
More-or-less all elements heavier than helium were produced in the 13.8 billion years between the Big Bang and the present day. Stars have produced many of these heavier elements through the process of nuclear fusion. However, this only makes elements as heavy as iron. The creation of any heavier elements would consume energy instead of releasing it.

In order to explain the presence of these heavier elements today, it's necessary to find phenomena that can produce them. One type of event that fits the bill is a gamma-ray burst (GRB) – the most powerful class of explosion in the Universe. (6/6)

First Detection of Negative Ions on the Moon (Source: Phys.org)
The first ESA instrument to land on the moon has detected the presence of negative ions on the lunar surface produced through interactions with the solar wind. The European team working with the Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument confirmed the success of this scientific mission that flew to the far side of the moon aboard the Chang'e-6 spacecraft.

The discovery of a new component of plasma at the surface of the moon opens a new window for space physics and for human and robotic missions in an era of renewed lunar exploration. (6/6)

SpaceX's Starship Makes 1st Successful Water Landing in 4th Test Flight (Source: Axios)
SpaceX's Starship and its massive reusable booster both successfully made their first controlled water landing during a fourth flight test on Thursday. It's a significant achievement for the vehicle, which is key to NASA's Artemis program. In previous tests, the company's Starship and Super Heavy booster weren't able to pull off controlled landings, which are crucial for returning astronauts to the Moon. (6/6)

Iran to Inaugurate West Asia’s Biggest Spaceport (Source: PressTV)
Iran's minister of communications and information technology says the Islamic Republic is to inaugurate the West Asia region’s biggest spaceport in its southern port city of Chabahar by early next year. The spaceport is expected to host its first launch by next March, Zarepour added. The official said construction of the facility had begun under Ebrahim Raeisi’s administration, referring to Iran’s former president, who was martyred alongside his companions in a helicopter crash last month. (6/6)

Virgin Galactic, Boeing Legal Battle Over Spacecraft IP Moves to Virginia (Source: Reuters)
Virgin Galactic told a California federal court on Thursday that it would dismiss a lawsuit, opens new tab that accused Boeing of breaking a contract to develop Virgin's space-tourism "mothership" and unlawfully claiming rights to related trade secrets. Virgin Galactic's attorney Brett Williamson of O'Melveny & Myers said the company has chosen instead to pursue its claims in Virginia federal court as part of a related lawsuit brought by Boeing there. (6/7)

Tanager-1 Is Ready for Launch: Planet's First Hyperspectral Satellite (Source: Planet.com)
Planet's first hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1—made possible by the Carbon Mapper Coalition and its philanthropic partners—is ready for launch. The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 3rd in preparation for liftoff as early as July on board the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX. Tanager-1 will be the first of a next-generation hyperspectral fleet which will expand Planet’s imaging capabilities in the spectral domain to complement the existing imaging capabilities in the temporal and spatial domains offered by the PlanetScope, SkySat, and Pelican missions. (6/6)

The 'Hole' on Mars making Headlines Could Be Crucial to Red Planet Exploration (Source: Space.com)
A mysterious pit on the flank of an ancient volcano on Mars has generated excitement recently because of what it could reveal beneath the surface of the Red Planet. Here's what that means. The pit, which is only a few meters across, was actually imaged on Aug. 15, 2022 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was about 159 miles (256 kilometers) above the Martian surface at the time.

This hole in the ground is also not alone. It's one of many seen on the flanks of a trio of large volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars. This particular pit is found on a lava flow on the extinct volcano Arsia Mons, and appears to be a vertical shaft. That raises a question: Is it just a narrow pit, or does it lead to a much larger and remarkable cavern? Or, could it perhaps be a really deep lava tube formed underground long ago when the volcano was still active?

There are several reasons why pits and caves on Mars are of interest. For one, they could provide shelter for astronauts in the future; because Mars has a thin atmosphere and lacks a global magnetic field, it cannot ward off radiation from space the way that Earth does. Consequently, radiation exposure on the Martian surface averages between 40 and 50 times greater than on Earth. (6/6)

Space Pioneer Raises $207 Million for Reusable Rocket (Source: Space News)
Chinese commercial company Space Pioneer has secured fresh funding for its reusable Tianlong-3 rocket, targeting launch contracts for megaconstellation plans. Space Pioneer—full name Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd—announced the funding worth more than 1.5 billion yuan ($207 million) June 6. At least 15 investors participated in the funding, including a mix of private equity and state-linked investment vehicles. (6/6)

Astronomers Have a New Way to Bypass Earth's Atmosphere (Source: Phys.org)
Astronomers have developed a new calibration technique that allows them to take sharp images in low radio frequencies—between 16 and 30 MHz—for the first time, bypassing the influence of the ionosphere. The astronomers say this will allow them to study things like plasmas emanating from ancient black holes and perhaps even detect exoplanets that orbit small stars. (6/5)

New Theory Suggests Time is an Illusion Created by Quantum Entanglement (Source: BGR)
A new definition of time suggests that what we once thought was a fundamental element of our physical reality could actually just be an illusion created by quantum entanglement. By its most basic definition, quantum entanglement is when two objects are so inextricably linked that when one is disturbed, the other is also disturbed, no matter how far apart they are. We also need to understand how time works in “general relativity.”

General relativity says that time is baked into our universe, that our physical reality is set in space-time, and that time can warp and dilate in the presence of gravity. However, quantum theory says that time isn’t bendable in any way. It does not change. Many physicists believe that the definition of time across both theories should be consistent.

The suggestion here, at its core, seems to point to time being purely a consequence of entanglement. It states that the only reason that an object appears to change over time is because it is entangled with a clock. As such, anyone observing the universe externally would see it as completely static and unchanging. (6/3)

NASA Says Official US Methane Estimate Is Wrong (Source: Newsweek)
NASA has reported that an official U.S. methane estimate is wrong. In a new satellite analysis, an international team of scientists found that methane emissions in the U.S. were higher in 2019 than previously estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the NASA Earth Observatory. The team found that emissions were 13 percent higher that year than originally thought. (6/5)

Parts Fall Off SpaceX's Starship as It Reenters Atmosphere (Source: Futurism)
Even stage separation of the spacecraft's Super Heavy booster went by without a hitch, with the largest rocket booster ever built softly splashing down in the ocean below, hinting at what a future landing at sea could look like. The company's Starship, however, had a far more arduous trip ahead of it, soaring to an altitude of well over 120 miles as it serenely circled the Earth.

But then, all hell started breaking loose as it careened through the Earth's atmosphere during its hellish descent. High-definition Starlink footage from the ship's exterior cameras showed the two spacecraft's aerodynamic fins being shredded to pieces as the plasma started heating up. Another dramatic moment came when the camera became obscured, then cracked and went dark. Then, moments before touching down, the feeds sprang back to life, showing the shredded zombie flaps articulating as designed, starting to right the plummeting spacecraft.

However, the flaps couldn't stop Starship from belly-flopping in the ocean, ending a highly dramatic launch and landing attempt. While it certainly didn't stick the landing, SpaceX is likely walking away with some useful telemetry for its upcoming test launches. (6/6)

Florida Early Stage Venture Projects Win $300K (Source: Space Florida)
Florida Venture Forum, Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, announced the recipients of $300,000 in award dollars and investment during its 16th annual Early Stage Venture Conference in Orlando. The conference also included the Space Florida AeroTech Summit, and the Forum’s Statewide Collegiate Startup Competition. A panel of judges evaluated each eligible company’s presentation and supporting materials.Among the space-focused winners are Lonestar Data Holdings ($40K) and X-Lumin ($200K). Click here. (6/6)

Starliner Mission Encounters New Issues en Route to ISS (Source: CNN)
Boeing’s Starliner mission has safely docked with the International Space Station and the spacecraft’s crew, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have arrived aboard the station after navigating new issues that cropped up overnight and Thursday en route to the orbiting laboratory. This is the first time astronauts have arrived at the space station from a Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

After a successful launch that was a decade in the making, Boeing’s Starliner mission experienced helium leaks and a temporary loss of thrusters during its journey to the space station, according to NASA.

During the final hour of their approach to the space station, Starliner’s crew began to manually pilot the spacecraft in a planned test of Starliner’s manual flight control capability. Five of the reaction control system thrusters failed on the service module, but the duo was able to get four of the thrusters firing again after conducting hot-fire tests. (6/6)

How do China's Researchers Operate its Lunar 'Excavator' 380000 km Away? (Source: CGTN)
According to Jin Shengyi with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, who knows the process well, the first step was to have exact replicas of the probe's working area, some 380,000 kilometers away. Researchers at the ground laboratory used data from the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to simulate a geographic model of the sampling area and the sampling process, providing important support for Chang'e-6 sampling decisions.

Jin and his team on the ground would first analyze the data of the perceptual imaging of the landing location obtained by Chang'e-6 and then build a digital model of the location. After that, they built a physical replica based on the digital model that resembles the lunar surface environment 1:1. The team selected more than 10 sampling points and ordered the robotic arm to work on them in just one request, thanks to the intelligent sampling system. The probe also collected lunar samples through drilling, which took three hours. (6/5)

Hubble Finds Signature of Water Vapor in Exoplanet GJ 9827d's Atmosphere (Source: Astonomy)
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a sign of water vapor in the atmosphere of a distant exoplanet, according to an analysis of observations published last year in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Exoplanet GJ 9827 d is about two times Earth’s diameter. It is also the smallest exoplanet observed by Hubble with evidence of a potential water-rich atmosphere. (6/4)

Results from the DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) YR1 Data Release (Source: Astrobites)
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a robotic instrument and spectrograph mounted on the Mayall Telescope in Kitt Peak, Arizona. The DESI collaboration aims primarily to understand the elusive Dark Energy. Since we still know so little about Dark Energy, a large galaxy survey can allow us to explore the history of the expansion of the Universe in more detail.

The DESI instrument has 5000 individual optical fibers controlled by robots that allow it to measure individual spectra of up to 5000 galaxies in just a mere 20 minutes! Click here. (6/2) https://astrobites.org/2024/06/02/ur-template-post-title-3/

Beijing Racing to Deploy Domestic Starlink (Source: Washington Times)
China is working to copy Elon Musk’s Starlink system of small satellites that enable easy access to the internet from remote locations. In late 2023, Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Technology, known as Genesat, unveiled its version of a flat-panel satellite as part of a space race with Starlink. The satellite is the size of a motorcycle and a key element of China’s space race to build its own version of Starlink’s thousands of small orbiting satellites.

“It used to take two to three months to design and customize a satellite,” said Cao Jin, the general manager of Genesat. “Now the factory can churn out a satellite every one and a half days and produce up to 300 a year.” (6/6)

Washington County Launches Free 10-Week Aerospace Manufacturing Training Program (Source: My Edmonds News)
Snohomish County, home to nearly 85,000 manufacturing jobs, faces a critical challenge: a shortage of skilled workers to fill crucial entry-level positions. Responding to this pressing need, AJAC (Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeships) has joined forces with Snohomish County and Bridgeways to introduce an innovative initiative — a 10-week training program designed to equip adults aged 18 and above with foundational manufacturing skills at zero cost. (6/6)

Zero Emissions Hypersonic Spaceplane Would Cross the Atlantic in 90 Minutes (Source: Supercar Blondie)
An Australian aerospace engineering company, Hypersonix Launch Systems, is working with the University of Sydney to create a one-of-a-kind zero-emissions hypersonic spaceplane. If the project becomes a success, it would be amongst the fastest planes of the modern era, capable of crossing the Atlantic in a mere 90 minutes. The best part about the project is that the plane would be completely sustainable by using green hydrogen to fly. (6/6)