September 28, 2024

Black hole 'Blowtorch' is Causing Nearby Stars to Explode (Source: Live Science)
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a gigantic "blowtorch-like" jet blasting out of a black hole — and it seems to be causing nearby stars to explode. The 3,000-light-year-long trail of flaming plasma is beaming out from a supermassive black hole with a mass 6.5 billion times that of the sun in the center of the galaxy M87. Getting caught in this beam would be deadly for any cosmic object, but according to new observations, even being in its vicinity can be devastating. The superheated energy beam appears to be causing nearby star systems to erupt in explosions called novas. (9/27)

Scientists Discover Water Source in Outer Space Three Times Greater Than Earth's Oceans (Source: Indy 100)
There’s been a big development in the search for life in the universe, after scientists discovered an enormous presence of water vapor. The new research focuses on a gas and dust disk surrounding a young star, which was observed using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The star, named HL Tauri, is found 450 light-years away and surrounded by a staggering amount of vapor. In fact, it adds up to three times the volume of all the oceans on Earth, and it could mark the birthplace of planets. (9/27)

Satellite That Beamed Down 4.8 TB of Data in 5 Minutes While Doing 17K MPH Dies on the Job (Source: AutoEvolution)
Reaching peak activity back in 2023, the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) satellite broke record after record in terms of data speed and quantity. The record NASA mentions was achieved in June 2023, when the satellite, which is basically a CubeSat containing two commercial telecommunication modems, modified for use in space, managed to beam down 4.8 terabytes of data with zero errors.

Just to give you an idea of what that means, consider the fact 4.8 terabytes translates into 2,400 hours of high-definition video. Moreover, the huge amount of data was beamed down in just five minutes, as the speed reached a whooping 200 gigabits per second. But that's not even the most spectacular aspect of this entire endeavor. You see, the TBIRD shot its data down to Earth while traveling at speeds of 17,000 mph (27,300 kph). (9/27)

Firefly Offers Insight on MLV Testing, Reusability Plans (Source: NSF)
As Firefly Aerospace prepares for its upcoming Alpha rocket launches, work continues apace on its next-generation Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) rocket with its Miranda and Vira engines, utilizing its Briggs test site in Texas. The vehicle is being designed with reusability in mind, involving a recovery that follows a similar path as SpaceX’s Starship Mechazilla catch system.

Since its revival in early 2017, the Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace has been hard at work staking its claim in the small satellite launch market. Having developed, tested, and flown its Alpha launch vehicle multiple times, Firefly is bolstering itself with other end-to-end systems, including on-orbit management and lunar services. In cooperation with Northrop Grumman, Firefly is knee-deep in developing MLV, with qualification testing on its carbon composite structures already underway. Said structures are scaled mainly up from those that make up the construction of the smaller Alpha rocket. Click here. (9/27)

NASA Inspector Issues Warning About Growing Cracks Leaking Air From Space Station (Source: Futurism)
According to a new report by NASA's inspector general, the space agency is growing significantly concerned over leaks in a tunnel connecting the International Space Station's Russian segment to a docking port. Worse yet, officials are still not entirely sure what is causing them. "On-going cracks and air leaks in the Service Module Transfer Tunnel are a top safety risk," the report reads. "And NASA and Roscosmos are collaborating to investigate and mitigate the cracks and leaks, determine the root cause, and monitor the Station for new leaks." (9/27)

NASA Crew-9 Launch to ISS Aboard SpaceX Dragon from Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Crew-9 finally lifted off the launch pad at 1:17 p.m. on Saturday, September 28. After being delayed from August, and then again due to Hurricane Helene, the only factor that remained in the way of this SpaceX launch was weather − which keep spectators on watch until liftoff.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov took off on a five month mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) — a first for human spaceflight. Crews riding on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft typically take off from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A, however a crew access arm was added to the launch tower at SLC-40 earlier in the year making this launch possible. (9/28)

Starlink, Kuiper and the Satellite Spectrum Battle That Could Shape the New Space Economy (Source: Financial Times)
In August, when corporate activity was in a summer lull, SpaceX quietly opened up a new front in a global battle over a scarce and precious resource: radio spectrum. SpaceX petitioned the FCC to loosen globally agreed power limits on transmissions from operators like itself in low Earth orbit, the region of space up to 2,000km above the planet’s surface set to be a pivotal arena in the future of communication, transportation and defense.

The so-called equivalent power flux density rules were set more than 20 years ago to ensure signals from low Earth orbit did not interfere with those from systems in higher geostationary, or fixed, orbit. SpaceX told the regulator that these “antiquated power restrictions” were unfit for “the modern space age”. It went on to charge that the international process governing the rules had been hijacked by an alliance between the operators of older, geostationary systems and “America’s staunchest adversaries”.

Nine months ago at the World Radiocommunication Conference, where regulations governing spectrum use are decided, SpaceX and Amazon's Project Kuiper lost an initial attempt to win global support for a change to the power restrictions. On one side were the upstart tech companies whose LEO satellite networks are threatening the business models of longer-established competitors with high-speed, low-latency broadband services. On the other were these incumbent geostationary operators such as Viasat and SES, which are concerned that any changes could interfere with their networks. (9/27)

Milky Way Map Showcases 1.5 Billion Objects (Source: Space.com)
The most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way contains incredible images of over 1.5 billion objects within our galaxy. The 200,000 images were collected by the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile over the course of over 13 years, from 2010 to 2023, as part of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey and its companion project, the VVV Extended Survey (VVVX).

The images were combined to form the record-breaking map, which covers an area of the sky equivalent to 8,600 full moons (as seen from Earth). For context, it contains ten times more objects than a similar 2012 map released by the same team of scientists. Click here. (9/27)

Dark Matter May Interact With Regular Matter Beyond Gravity (Source: Science Alert)
The reason we call dark matter dark isn't because it's some shadowy material. It's because dark matter doesn't interact with light. The difference is subtle, but important. Regular matter can be dark because it absorbs light. It's why, for example, we can see the shadow of molecular clouds against the scattered stars of the Milky Way. This is possible because light and matter have a way to connect.

Light is an electromagnetic wave, and atoms contain electrically charged electrons and protons, so matter can emit, absorb and scatter light. Dark matter isn't electrically charged. It has no way to connect with light, and so when light and dark matter meet up they simply pass through each other. All of our observations suggest that dark matter and light only have gravity in common. Click here. (9/27)

4,000 Light-Years From Home, Astronomers Find a Chilling Vision of Earth’s Potential Future (Source: Study Finds)
What will happen to Earth when our Sun burns out? A newly discovered planetary system 4,000 light-years away might hold the answer, showing an Earth-like world orbiting the remnant of a star like our Sun. Imagine Earth not as the vibrant, life-sustaining oasis we know but as a frozen, desolate world orbiting the faint ember of what was once a star like our Sun. This is the scene set by the newly discovered system, where an Earth-mass planet circles a white dwarf at a distance roughly twice that of Earth’s current orbit around the Sun. It’s a cosmic déjà vu, a preview of one possible fate awaiting our planet in the distant future. (9/27)

Musk Pushes Solar Solution For World's Energy (Source: Benzinga)
Musk explained that a small portion of Texas or New Mexico could easily serve all US electricity needs if utilized for solar energy generation. He also highlighted the solar energy received by one square mile on the Earth’s surface, emphasizing the efficiency of the Starlink global satellite network, which is entirely solar/battery powered. (9/26)

It’s Official – South Africa's Military Has a Space Command Section (Source: SA Defence)
SAAF Chief, Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo hands a commemorative gift to SANDF Chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya to mark recognition of Space Command. That the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and its airborne service, the SA Air Force (SAAF), is committed to space was emphasised to delegates attending the second Air and Space Power symposium on 17 September when the newly established Space Command Section was officially recognised by South Africa’s senior soldier, SANDF Chief General Rudzani Maphwanya. (9/27)

Titan Submersible Owner Claimed NASA Helped Develop Carbon Fiber Hull; Agency Has Different Story (Source: Fox News)
Stockton Rush, the OceanGate co-founder and CEO behind the ill-fated Titan submersible, claimed the carbon fiber hull of the deep-diving vessel was developed with the help of NASA and aerospace manufacturers. But an official with NASA said it had little involvement in the process.

Also chiming in was a Boeing official, who said recommendations made by the aerospace manufacturer were ignored. Justin Jackson, a materials engineer for NASA, said the agency intended to play a role in building and testing the carbon fiber hull, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it from fulfilling that role. (9/26)

Congress Clears CR, Heads Home With To-Do List Largely Untouched (Source: Space Policy Online)
The House and Senate have passed a Continuing Resolution to keep the government operating for another three months. They quickly headed out of town, earlier than scheduled, both to beat the arrival of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States and to continue campaigning for the November elections. When they return in mid-November, their to-do list will look much the same as it did a month ago. The CR (H.R. 9747) continues funding for departments and agencies in the discretionary portion of the federal budget through December 20.

The House voted on the bill under suspension of the rules last night. That avoids the Rules Committee, but requires a two-thirds vote instead of a simple majority. This “clean” CR that lasts for three months easily met that requirement with a 341-82 vote. House Majority Leader Mike Johnson (R-LA) had tried last week to pass a six-month CR (through March 28, 2025) that included the SAVE Act that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, but it was defeated with almost all Democrats and 14 Republicans voting no. All no votes on this bill were from Republicans. (9/26)