July 22, 2024

South Korea’s New Space Agency Outlines Plans (Source: Space News)
South Korea’s new space agency, less than two months old, is laying out ambitious goals in spaceflight as part of its efforts to serve as a “control tower” for the county’s growing space presence. The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) 45th Scientific Assembly held here served as one of the first opportunities for the Korea Aerospace Administration, or KASA, to tell an international audience about its plans to coordinate and expand space activities in the country.

KASA started operations on May 27. The agency, Youngbin Yoon said, “serves as the control tower for national space affairs and international cooperation,” with the goal of creating an aerospace economy in South Korea. That work will be focused on space transportation, satellite, space exploration and aviation. KASA has long-term goals, he added, of sending a robotic lander to the moon in 2032 and another to Mars in 2045. (7/20)

Astronomers Discover What May Be 21 Neutron Stars Orbiting Sun-Like Stars (Source: Phys.org)
Most stars in our universe come in pairs. While our own sun is a loner, many stars like our sun orbit similar stars, while a host of other exotic pairings between stars and cosmic orbs pepper the universe. Black holes, for example, are often found orbiting each other. One pairing that has proven to be quite rare is that between a sun-like star and a type of dead star called a neutron star.

Now, astronomers led by Caltech's Kareem El-Badry have uncovered what appear to be 21 neutron stars in orbit around stars like our sun. Neutron stars are dense burned-out cores of massive stars that exploded. (7/16)

'Dark Comets' May Be a Much Bigger Threat to Earth Than We Thought (Source: LiveScience)
Mysterious, nearly invisible objects known as "dark comets" may pose a bigger threat to Earth than scientists thought, new research suggests. These small, rapidly spinning objects wander near Earth, likely after migrating from more distant reaches of the solar system. They might be a source of water and other volatile elements — and also a potent source of danger.

Dark comets are small — only tens of kilometers across. They show no visible outgassing or evaporation of volatile elements like water. But they don't move in perfect orbits, either. Instead, they show evidence for "nongravitational" acceleration, implying that there are some other forces capable of gently nudging their orbits.  (7/20)

Patented 'Exodus Effect' Propellantless Propulsion Drive that Defies Physics is Ready to Go to Space (Source: The Debrief)
A patented experimental propellantless propulsion drive is finally ready to go to space, according to its inventor, a veteran NASA scientist with decades of expertise in electrostatics. Dr. Charles Buhler, the technology’s creator, says the propulsion system may represent a working version of Quantized Inertia.

The controversial technology, which The Debrief covered in April, is privately owned by Exodus Propulsion Technologies and is not affiliated with NASA. After almost a decade of research, design, and testing, Buhler says he and his team are confident they have verified the force, one his team calls the Exodus Effect. The final step required to officially demonstrate the validity of their discovery is to send the propulsion drive unit into space. (7/19)

China Plans to Deflect Near-Earth Asteroid in 2030 (Source: New Atlas)
China is looking to get into the planetary defense business. A new paper by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) confirms that in 2030, the country plans to conduct a test mission to deflect a small asteroid from its current course. If you're going to have a space race, making the goal to develop a way of protecting the Earth from rogue asteroids is one of the more benign ones. Assuming, of course, that no one gets the idea of using the technology to deflect asteroids towards the Earth. That gets into Bond villain territory. (7/17)

Airbus Looking at Opportunities to Create Scale in Space, Satellites (Source: Reuters)
Airbus is looking at opportunities to create scale in defense, space and particularly satellites markets, CEO Guillaume Faury said on Sunday. Airbus and France's Thales are exploring a tie-up of some space activities as new competition disrupts the sector, two industry sources said last week. The sources said preliminary talks were focusing on the companies' overlapping satellite activities.

Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, in which Italy's Leonardo holds a 33% stake, are Europe's largest makers of satellites for telecommunications, navigation and surveillance. Demand for their geostationary satellites is increasingly under pressure as traditional manufacturers face competition from massive constellations of expendable satellites in low Earth orbit. (7/21)

Sci-Fi Horror Bug Discovered on International Space Station (Source: Fox8)
Aboard the International Space Station, NASA discovered 13 strains of a superbug, a multidrug-resistant bacterium. Its name? Enterobacter bugandensis. Having mutated in the extraordinary (and extraordinarily isolated) environment of outer space, the microscopic oddity is genetically distinct enough from its terrestrial counterparts to develop resistance to drugs.

It spells out prospective health risks—particularly to astronauts’ respiratory systems. Astronauts already suffer from weakened immune systems while on the space station. The discovered mega bug could especially assail astronauts in this state, potentially sickening them in a less than ideal environment. Obviously, the limited access to medical facilities in space adds to the difficulty. (7/21)

ScienceAlert: This Plant Is So Extreme Scientists Think It Could Thrive on Mars (Source: ScienceAlert)
Mosses are among Earth's great terraformers, turning barren rock into fertile soils, and now a team of scientists is proposing these non-vascular plants could do the same on Mars. Whether we should introduce life from Earth onto our red neighbor is another question – we don't have a great track record with this on our own planet.

But if we decide it's worth messing with soil on Mars to create a second home for us Earthlings, ecologist Xiaoshuang Li and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have a candidate that they think should do just the trick. Syntrichia caninervis is committed to upholding a severely frugal way of life. It thrives in the deserts of China and the US, along with the icy mountains of the Pamir, Tibet, the Middle East, Antarctica, and circumpolar regions. (7/21)

Cruise Ship-Sized Asteroid Moves Toward Earth (Source: Weather Channel)
An asteroid the size of a cruise ship will make a close pass to Earth in 2029 – here’s what to know. (7/20)

Satellite Damaged by Particle 'Smaller Than a Grain of Sand' and Historic Solar Storm (Source: Fox Weather)
Even big spacecraft on a mission to map the stars have to deal with the hazards of space. According to the European Space Agency, the Milky Way "billion-star surveyor" satellite called Gaia was struck by a high-speed micrometeoroid that was "smaller than a grain of sand" in April before being hit by the strongest solar storm in 20 years – the same storm that led to brilliant auroras on Earth in May. This affected the craft's ability to carry out the precise measurements for which it is famous. (7/20)

Senate Spending Bill Includes NASA Funding Increase (Source: Space News)
A spending bill a Senate committee will debate this week includes a funding increase for NASA. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up its commerce, justice and science (CJS) fiscal year 2025 spending bill Thursday, along with three other bills.

While the text of the bill has not been released yet, the leaders of the CJS subcommittee said Monday that the bill will include an unspecified increase for NASA, and will specifically protect the Artemis lunar exploration effort. They didn't discuss how the bill will differ from a House bill that appropriations advanced earlier in the month to provide a smaller increase than requested by NASA for 2025. (7/22)

Thales Alenia Team Wins French Satellite Inspection Contract (Source: Space News)
A team lead by Thales Alenia Space won a French government contract to operate a satellite inspection mission. Supported by undisclosed funding from the French space agency CNES and state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, the mission would use a pair of spacecraft due to launch before the end of 2028 as part of the European Robotic Orbital Support Services (EROSS) program.

The French effort, called Démonstration d'Inspection et Amarrage Novatrice Embarquée (DIANE), will use the EROSS spacecraft to inspect a spinning satellite and capture it. The timeline for DIANE depends on the availability of the EROSS assets, but in principle the mission could start as soon as the initial EROSS demonstration is over. (7/22)

ESA Apophis Mission Proceeds Ahead of Funding Decision (Source; Space News)
ESA is allowing a proposed mission to the asteroid Apophis to move ahead before a funding decision next year. ESA announced last week that it gave the Ramses mission permission to begin preparatory work before a funding decision at the 2025 ministerial meeting. Ramses, or Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety, is based on the Hera asteroid mission scheduled to launch in October.

It would launch in 2028 and arrive at Apophis about two months before the asteroid makes a very close flyby of Earth. It would complement NASA's OSIRIS-APEX mission, which will arrive at Apophis after the flyby. Project officials said they needed the approval to start work now before the ministerial to keep Ramses on schedule. (7/22)

Capella Halts Rocket Lab Launch for More Satellite Testing (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab postponed an Electron launch that had been scheduled for the weekend at the request of its customer. Rocket Lab said Capella Space sought the delay to perform additional testing of the satellite, with no new launch date announced. The next Electron launch will now be for another SAR imaging company, Synspective, scheduled "within the next few weeks." (7/22)

Space Foundation Sees 7% Space Economy Growth (Source: Space Foundation)
The Space Foundation says the global space economy grew by more than 7% last year. The organization estimated the value of space activities worldwide at $570 billion in 2023 according to its annual report released last week. That is a 7.4% increase over the $531 billion for the global space economy in 2022. The increase was driven by an 11% increase in international government spending, with commercial revenues growing 5.4%. (7/22)

UK Parastronaut Can Fly to Space (Source: The Telegraph)
A British "parastronaut" can safely fly to space, an ESA study has concluded. The feasibility study by ESA found no "technical showstoppers" that would keep John McFall, a British man with a prosthetic leg, from going to space. ESA selected McFall as an astronaut candidate in 2022 to see if people with physical limitations could participate in missions. McFall would still wear his prosthesis in space, with studies ongoing about any design changes needed for it. The study does not guarantee that McFall will go on a future mission to the International Space Station but shows that, if selected, he could be a full member of the crew. (7/22)

NASA Renames JSC Building for Apollo-Era "Hidden Figure" (Source: Houston Chronicle)
NASA renamed a building at the Johnson Space Center after one of the Apollo-era "hidden figures." At an event Friday, NASA formally renamed Building 12 at the center the "Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of Women of Apollo." Vaughn was a human computer for NASA and its predecessor NACA who went on to become the first Black manager at the agency. She was one of the people highlighted in the book and movie "Hidden Figures" about the roles that Black women played in the early space program. (7/22)

JPL's Theisinger Passes at 78 (Source: Pasadena Star-News)
Pete Theisinger, a key figure in several JPL planetary missions, has died at the age of 78. He spent 50 years at JPL in roles that included being manager of the Curiosity Mars rover mission. He also worked on Mariner missions to Venus and Mars, the Voyager missions and Galileo, and helped start the Perseverance Mars mission. (7/22)

Washington DC and Milwaukee Among US Cities Most at Risk from Space Weather (Source: Space Daily)
Several cities in the United States, including the nation's capital, have power grids particularly vulnerable to space weather, according to new research. However, the reasons for this susceptibility remain unclear. The British Geological Survey (BGS) conducted a study revealing that some US regions are more prone to the impacts of geomagnetic storms. These storms are caused by solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun. (7/21)

ISS Could 'Drift Down' for a Year Before SpaceX Vehicle Destroys it in Earth's Atmosphere (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX's newly commissioned reentry vehicle will only push the ISS into Earth's atmosphere some 12 to 18 months after the complex "drifts down" from its normal orbit. "We'll leave the crew on board as long as possible, so they're available to help maintain station and keep it healthy," NASA's Dana Weigel, ISS program manager, told reporters.

"Our plan is for [the astronauts] to leave about six months before the final reentry, as ISS reaches about 220 kilometers [136 miles]," Weigel said, explaining that's as low as human vehicles are typically rated to fly. For comparison, the typical ISS orbit is 250 miles (400 km) above Earth. (7/17)