Space policy roundup – Feb.3.2020

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

Webcasts:

** Economic Impact of Spaceport America is Announced | Spaceport America

** Space Defense, Military Constellations and Knights, Bishops and Pawns | Kratos

Robert Zitz, National Security Consultant, Robert Zitz & Associates, LLC: During this episode we’ll talk about the increasingly contested space environment and the role small satellite constellations might play in the identification and mitigation of threats to our space assets with Robert Zitz, national security consultant. He has held senior executive positions in the industry as well as multiple leadership roles in Army intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, among others.

** Sun, 02/02/2020Dr. Gilbert Levin and Barry DiGregorio discussed the “Mars life searching project approved and funded by the UK but turned down by NASA, more on Viking and life on Mars possibilities”.

** January 31, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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The Space Show this week – Feb.3.2020

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Feb. 3, 2020; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): No special programming today.

2. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): Bob Zimmerman of Behind the Black returns for news and updates for space.

3. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020: Pre-recorded Hotel Mars Program with John Batchelor. See Upcoming Show on The Space Show website for details.

4. Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST, 10-11:30 pm EST): No special show today.

5. Friday, Feb. 7, 2020; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome back Dr. Paul Davies to talke about his new book, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life [Amazon commission link], plus a wide ranging discussion of cosmology and physics .

6. Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020; 12-1:30 pm PST, (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CST): We welcome back Michael Listner,  Atty, to discuss law as a tool of war as touched on during his last visit to The Space Show.

Some recent shows:

** Sun, 02/02/2020Dr. Gilbert Levin and Barry DiGregorio discussed the “Mars life searching project approved and funded by the UK but turned down by NASA, more on Viking and life on Mars possibilities”.

** Thu, 01/30/2020 Deep Prasad discussed “quantum computers, quantum information, quantum technology, Deep’s SETI research and work based on the Tic Tac events”.

** Hotel Mars/The Space Show combo program – Wed, 01/29/2020John Batchelor and David Livingston spoke with Doug Messier about “Boeing problems and culture, CST 100 Starliner, Phantom Express cancellation and more”.

** See also:
* The Space Show Archives
* The Space Show Newsletter
* The Space Show Shop

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

The Space Show - David Livingston
The Space Show – David Livingston

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Videos: Night Sky for February 2020

[ Update:  What’s Up: February 2020 Skywatching Tips from NASA

Looking for astronomy highlights for February 2020? This month is the best time of the year to try to view Mercury, soon after sunset; Mars disappears behind the Moon on Feb. 18; and the bright red star on Orion’s shoulder, Betelgeuse, has been acting weird. (Or has it?) Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up….

]

Tonight’s Sky: FebruarySpace Telescope Science Institute – YouTube

In February, the Winter Triangle is your guide to the night sky: The northern hemisphere is treated to views of the stars Procyon, Sirius, and Betelgeuse. Keep watching for the awe-inspiring space-based views of the Orion Nebula, which is sculpted by the stellar winds of central bright stars.

** What’s in the Night Sky February 2020Alyn Wallace

** The Virtual Planetarium: what to see in the night sky, February 2020BBC Sky at Night Magazine – YouTube

The Sky at Night presenters Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel reveal what they will be observing in the night sky throughout February

** Eyes on The Sky: February 2020Hudson Valley Community College – YouTube

Hudson Valley Community College astronomy instructor Richard Monda gives a detailed update of what will be happening in the night sky from Jan. 27, 2020 – Feb. 29, 2020 in the Northeastern US. Eyes on the Sky is a series of informational videos relating to Astronomy in the Capital Region of New York State and the Northeastern United States. The videos are hosted by Richard J. Monda, an astronomy instructor in the college’s Biology, Chemistry and Physics Department.

** Astronomy Events In February 2020The Secrets of the Universe – YouTube

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Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Feb.1.2020

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

The KRAKsat CubeSat.

** A review of KRAKsat performance after its deployment from the ISS in June 2019. The satellite was developed by students at the AGH University of Science and Technology  and Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. It was “one of the first Cubesat type satellites in Poland but also the first satellite in the world which uses magnetic liquid, called ferrofluid, for orientation control”. KRAKsat was active in orbit for about two weeks before a cascade of problems led it into an unstoppable reboot cycle.

This slow energy drain continued until the voltage dropped to the point that the power supply shut down, and that’s were things really started going south. Once the satellite shut down the batteries were able to start charging back up, which normally would have been a good thing. But unfortunately the KRAKsat had no mechanism to remain powered down once the voltage climbed back above the shutoff threshold. This caused the satellite to enter into and loop where it would reboot itself as many as 150 times per orbit (approximately 90 minutes).

The paper then goes into a laundry list of other problems that contributed to KRAKsat’s failure. For example, the satellite had redundant radios onboard, but the software on them wasn’t identical. When they needed to switch over to the secondary radio, they found that a glitch in its software meant it was unable to access some portions of the onboard flash storage. The team also identified the lack of a filesystem on the flash storage as another stumbling block; having to pull things out using a pointer and the specific memory address was a cumbersome and time consuming task made all the more difficult by the spacecraft’s deteriorating condition.

** Recognition for the CubeSat projects of the students at The Weiss School (preK-8) in Palm Beach Garderns, Florida:

More about the two Weiss School CubeSats

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-026 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • HuskySat-1 With AMSAT VHF/UHF Linear Transponder Planned for Deployment Soon
  • Celebration of 50th Anniversary of Australis-OSCAR 5
  • ARRL to Argue for Continued Access to 3-GHz Spectrum as FCC Sets Comment Deadlines
  • FO-99 (NEXUS) 1st Anniversary Report
  • Amateurs in the News: “96-year-old Amateur Radio operator at Ontario Science Centre speaks with astronaut”
  • Upcoming ARISS Contacts
  • Upcoming AMSAT Events
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

  • Resources:
    • PolySat – “PolySat is a student run, multidisciplinary independent research lab. We are the CubeSat development team of Cal Poly, an originator and leader for launches in the CubeSat community.”
    • Pauline Faure – Inside the CubeSat Lab at Cal Poly – Cold Star Project

Dr. Pauline Faure, Assistant Professor at California Polytechnic State University’s Aerospace Engineering Department, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan. We’re talking about what it’s like to be a student in Cal Poly’s CubeSat Lab. Dr. Faure has international experience in Europe, Japan and the USA. The lab has completed eight missions in the past year including the bus for Lightsail 2. This is a great interview for space students.

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