September 1, 2024

A Billion Dollars short: A Progress Report on the Planetary Decadal Survey (Source: Planetary Society)
In the first two years of this decadal period (2023 - 2032), NASA spent $1.04 billion less on planetary science than outlined in the decadal survey's Level Program, and $1.27 billion less than outlined in the Recommended Program. NASA is on track to spend $5 billion below the Level Program and $11 billion below the Recommended Program over the 10-year decadal period. These funding discrepancies will delay high-priority planetary science missions and reduce the cadence of missions in the coming years. (8/21)

Air Force Selects Outpost for $33.2 Million for Scalable Earth Return Vehicle for Hypersonic Testing and Re-Entry Missions (Source: Outpost)
Outpost Technologies Corporation (Outpost), pioneering multi-ton Earth return to advance development of the space economy, announced that the company is selected to receive a $33.2 million, four-year Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract from the Air Force Ventures program (AFWERX) to develop and test a scalable heat shield, payload bus and paragliding system to develop a Joint Precision Orbital Cargo (J-POC) space vehicle to support hypersonic testing and reentry missions. The selection notice was presented on August 22nd, at Fed Supernova 2024, the premiere defense event in Austin, TX, and will begin later this year. (8/28)

Space Scientists Invent Futuristic VR Simulations For Moon Astronauts (Source: Forbes)
The first American astronauts set to touch down on the Moon in the new millennium will not blast off for another 700 days, but now they can begin exploring potential landing sites by jacking into a Matrix-style simulation of its cratered South Pole sector.

Simultaneous revolutions in space-based imagers and laser scanners, and in virtual reality modelling toolkits, are giving rise to VR doubles of real-life lunar scenes that appear to be identical twins. “We are building very high resolution, photorealistic digital twins of potential Artemis III landing sites,” and then developing these into cutting-edge virtual replicas of the orb’s ancient plains and impact formations, says Kip Hodges. (8/31)

Russia, China Threats Push U.S. to Brink of Arms Race in Space (Source: The Gazette)
Are we ready for offensive weapons in space? “We need space fires to enable us to establish space superiority,” said the head of Colorado Springs-based U.S. Space Command, Gen. Stephen Whiting. Though Whiting didn’t explain exactly what “space fires” means, a recent military document defines “fires” as “available weapons and other systems to create a specific lethal or nonlethal effect on a target.” In space, that means offensive weapons that could either destroy or disable enemy satellites. (9/1)