September 13, 2024

High Resolution Images Show Bubbling Gas on the Surface of Another Star (Source: Universe Today)
Although stars are enormous, they’re extremely far away, and appear as point sources in telescopes. Usually, you never get to see more than a pixel. Now astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to resolve details on the surface of the star R Doradus and track its activity for 30 days. The images revealed giant, hot bubbles of gas 75 times larger than the entire Sun. R Doradus is 350 times larger than our Sun, but only 180 light-years away. (9/11)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites From California (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites from California Thursday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 9:45 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base and deployed 21 Starlink satellites, 13 with direct-to-cell payloads. The launch was the 31st orbital launch this year from Vandenberg, an annual record for the base; all but one of the launches have been by SpaceX. (9/13)

EPA to Fine SpaceX for Texas Environmental Actions (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
The EPA intends to fine SpaceX nearly $150,000 for activities at its Starbase site. A proposed settlement between the EPA and SpaceX, announced this week, covers use of a water deluge system at the launch pad there without a permit as well as a liquid oxygen spill there in 2022. The settlement comes even as SpaceX continues to claim it has not broken any environmental laws there. The settlement is open to public comment to late October. (9/13)

Pentagon Issues RFI for SDA (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon is looking for information on advanced space domain awareness (SDA) technologies. The Space Security and Defense Program (SSDP), a joint initiative of the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, issued an RFI this week seeking input on SDA technologies to monitor and understand satellites and debris in Earth orbit. The SSDP is responsible for assessing potential threats to U.S. space assets and for gathering insights on technologies for the defense of U.S. systems. The RFI specifically seeks information on "proven and innovative SDA concepts for use between 2030 and 2040." (9/13)

Japan's ispace Plans Second Lunar Lander Launch in December (Source: Space News)
Japanese company ispace plans to launch its second lunar lander mission as soon as December. The company said at a Wednesday briefing that its Resilience lander was on schedule to launch as soon as December on a Falcon 9, targeting a landing at Mare Frigoris in the northern part of the near side of the moon about four to five months after launch.

The lander is the same design as ispace's first mission, which crashed attempting a landing in April 2023 because of a software glitch. The lander is carrying six payloads, including a small rover called Tenacity built by ispace's European subsidiary. Resilience is one of three lander missions planning to launch around the end of the year, joining Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost 1 and Intuitive Machines' IM-2. 

The IM-2 mission will take with it a NASA smallsat. The agency's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft will launch as a secondary payload on IM-2, mapping water ice deposits from lunar orbit. The lander itself will touch down in the south polar regions of the moon to deliver a NASA payload to drill into the surface to look for ice as well as a "hopper" vehicle. (9/13)

NASA Receives 11 Responses for VIPER Rover Takeover (Source: Space Policy Online)
NASA says it received 11 responses to an RFI about taking over its VIPER rover. NASA announced in July it would cancel the mission even though the rover is complete and going through environmental testing, but later released an RFI to solicit concepts for taking over the mission from the agency. NASA said it would assess the responses but did not offer a schedule for next steps. Members of the House Science Committee sent a letter to NASA earlier this month asking for details about its plans for the rover and the rationale for its decision to cancel it at this phase of development. (9/13)

Cosmology is at a Tipping Point – We May Be on the Verge of Discovering New Physics (Source: The Conversation)
For the past few years, a series of controversies have rocked the well-established field of cosmology. In a nutshell, the predictions of the standard model of the universe appear to be at odds with some recent observations. There are heated debates about whether these observations are biased, or whether the cosmological model, which predicts the structure and evolution of the entire universe, may need a rethink. Some even claim that cosmology is in crisis. Right now, we do not know which side will win. But excitingly, we are on the brink of finding that out.

To be fair, controversies are just the normal course of the scientific method. And over many years, the standard cosmological model has had its share of them. This model suggests the universe is made up of 68.3% “dark energy” (an unknown substance that causes the universe’s expansion to accelerate), 26.8% dark matter (an unknown form of matter) and 4.9% ordinary atoms, very precisely measured from the cosmic microwave background – the afterglow of radiation from the Big Bang.

It explains very successfully multitudes of data across both large and small scales of the universe. For example, it can explain things like the distribution of galaxies around us and the amount of helium and deuterium made in the universe’s first few minutes. Perhaps most importantly, it can also perfectly explain the cosmic microwave background. (9/12)

Observational Study Supports Century-Old Theory That Challenges the Big Bang (Source: Phys.org)
A Kansas State University engineer recently published results from an observational study in support of a century-old theory that directly challenges the validity of the Big Bang theory. Lior Shamir, associate professor of computer science, used imaging from a trio of telescopes and more than 30,000 galaxies to measure the redshift of galaxies based on their distance from Earth. Redshift is the change in the frequency of light waves that a galaxy emits, which astronomers use to gauge a galaxy's speed. (9/11)

Alien Star Could Have Side-Swiped Our Solar System Closer Than Voyager (Source: New Atlas)
Our solar system might still bear the scars from an extremely close shave with an alien star. Such an encounter – the closest pass we know of – would have shaken up objects on the outskirts and might even mean there’s no Planet Nine after all. The fringes of the solar system, beyond the orbit of the outermost known planet, Neptune, is a chaotic place. It’s populated by Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) including dwarf planets like Pluto and Sedna, and thousands of smaller rocky and icy bodies like Arrokoth. (9/12)

FCC Chair Wants More Competition to SpaceX's Starlink Unit (Source: Reuters)
Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel said she wants to see more competition to SpaceX's internet satellite constellation Starlink. Elon Musk's Starlink controls nearly two thirds of all active satellites and has launched about 7,000 satellites since 2018. Rosenworcel said "...Our economy doesn't benefit from monopolies. So we've got to invite many more space actors in, many more companies that can develop constellations and innovations in space." (9/11)

AST SpaceMobile Stock Takes Off (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
AST SpaceMobile Inc., the tiny telecom company that wants to compete with SpaceX, has become one of the hottest stocks in the world this year after soaring from $2 to $28 in just six months. Now, it faces a key test on the road to vindicating its massive rally and proving skeptics wrong. (9/11)

Students Are Building the Next Generation of Space Exploration Technology (Source: CNN)
On campuses and in classrooms everywhere, students are working on ideas that could seed a new generation of startups. That includes students CNN met for this season’s Tech for Good, like those at ETH Zurich in Switzerland who are developing a three-legged hopping robot for exploring microgravity environments, and an algorithm-controlled parachute for returning reusable rockets to Earth, which could save fuel.

In Japan, 40 students from two universities have built a lightweight rover with a robotic arm. They hope one day it will be used on Mars to repair spacecraft or conduct surveys. And in Canada, academics at Polytechnique Montréal are testing backpacks that can be mounted on robots to enable them to work as an efficient terrain-mapping swarm. Innovation like this could be crucial to continue the revolution that’s gripped the space industry in recent decades. There are plenty of opportunities, according to McAlister. (9/12)

Microbes in Orbit: Understanding Spaceflight’s Impact on Gut Health (Source: McGill Health News)
Scientists have uncovered how space travel profoundly alters the gut microbiome, yielding insights that could shape future space missions. The groundbreaking study, led by a McGill University researcher in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD), NASA’s GeneLab and an international consortium, offers the most detailed profile to date of how space travel affects gut microbes.

The study used advanced genetic technologies to examine changes in the gut microbiome, colons and livers of mice aboard the International Space Station (ISS) over three months. The findings reveal significant shifts in certain gut bacteria that correspond to changes in the mice’s liver and intestinal genes, suggesting that spaceflight might suppress the immune system and alter metabolism. This marks a breakthrough in understanding how space missions could affect astronauts’ health on long trips, the researchers said. (9/11)

Polaris Dawn Spacewalk: Is the US Breaking a 50-Year-Old Space Law? (Source: Al Jazeera)
Polaris Dawn is not a NASA mission, and it is not regulated by the US government. So when its astronauts exit their capsule and “walk” in space, it will mark a massive first for the private industry that is starting to dominate realms beyond Earth. And this raises a question: Is the US breaking a promise it made 50 years ago about how to operate in space?

“This is a mission which violates Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty,” said Tomasso Sgobba of the Netherlands-based International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety. According to the treaty: “The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty.”  In effect, the OST declared that home countries would be responsible for space activity from their soil, and would also be liable for them, should any accidents occur.

Says the FAA: “Under federal law, the FAA is prohibited from issuing regulations for commercial human spaceflight occupant safety.” It is longstanding US policy. For 20 years, the US Congress has limited its aviation regulator’s oversight, placing a moratorium on making rules for private human space endeavors. Instead, the FAA only certifies the rocket and the spacecraft “The FAA has no regulatory oversight for the activities of the Polaris Dawn mission,” the agency said. NASA also confirmed they have no involvement in the Polaris Dawn mission. (9/12)

Hypersonic Vehicles Set to Blast Off From Australian Spaceports (Source: Innovation Aus)
Australian aerospace startup Hypersonix Launch Systems will launch and return hypersonic vehicles from a new suborbital flight test service to be set up at Southern Launch spaceports as early as next year.

The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday to work on a turnkey hypersonic testbed they say will cement the state as the next global aerospace hub. The testbed is slated to arrive late next year – around the same time that Queensland-based Gilmour Space Technologies expects its similar HyPeRsonic Flight Test service to be ready. (9/12)

New World Record Set With 19 Humans In Earth Orbit At The Same Time (Source: IFL Science)
A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts – Don Pettit, Aleksey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner – have joined nine others currently onboard the ISS: Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Alexander Grebenkin, Oleg Kononenko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Nikolai Chub, and the two astronauts enjoying an extended stay, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Elsewhere in orbit, there are three “taikonauts” – Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu – onboard the Chinese Tiangong Space Station. There are also four civilians in orbit – Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon – who are taking part in SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, and just carried out the first-ever private space walk. With a total of 19 humans, it beats the previous record for the most amount of humans in Earth’s orbit at one time. That record was set last year in May 2023 when 17 people were in orbit. (9/12)

Starliner's Future is Cloudy (Source: Ars Technica)
After Starliner successfully landed in New Mexico without its crew, I attended a press conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. There were six chairs set up at the table for officials. A week before, NASA had sent out a press release announcing this post-landing news conference, noting that two senior officials from Boeing—Mark Nappi and John Shannon—would be in attendance. But at about 12:20 am, 10 minutes before the news conference was due to start, two of the chairs were removed. Shannon and Nappi were no-shows at the news conference.

It was not immediately clear why the Boeing officials declined to participate. Shannon in particular is well-loved at the space agency, and the long-term press corps appreciates his candor. He served as the final Space Shuttle program manager at NASA before taking a job to run human spaceflight programs at Boeing, and he was unlikely to face hostile space media.

One possible explanation is that Boeing has decided it will exit the Commercial Crew Program. The NASA officials at the press conference said they were confident that Boeing would continue despite losing at least $1.6 billion so far on the fixed-price contract and facing more losses amid investigations into the thruster failures on Starliner's latest flight. According to Boeing:"We will review the data and determine the next steps for the program." Editor's Note: Sell Starliner to Sierra Space along with ULA. (9/12)