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:
A rare alignment of planets and other objects will enable the solar-powered Lucy spacecraft to examine seven asteroids, six of which are among the thousands of Trojan asteroids that orbit ahead of and behind Jupiter. The mission team, include Hal Levison, Cathy Olkin and Mike Sekerak, hope to unlock secrets of our solar system’s origin through these ancient artifacts. Planetary Society correspondent Andrew Jones helps us celebrate China’s Space Day with an update on the Chang’e 4 lunar mission. The space trivia contest returns as just one cog in the universe-spanning machine called What’s Up.
We are calling on the generation who will take the next giant steps into space. If you are between 10-18 years old, help shape ideas for the future of space exploration with the international Humans In Space Youth Art Competition.
Create artwork that is musical, literary, visual or video that expresses your ideas and inspiration for a new generation living, working and doing science on the Moon. What will it look like, sound like, and feel like?
Winning artwork selected by an international panel of artists, scientists, teachers, engineers and astronauts will be displayed through a worldwide tour, beginning with a kickoff event in the Vortex Dome in Los Angeles, California in August 2019. The first place visual and literary artworks will receive $250 US, and the first place video and musical artworks will receive $500 US.
Xinyi Christine of U.S.A. – Space Achievement Award, 13 – 14 Years Old
**A children’s art contest was part of China Aerospace Day for 2019 in Changsha, Hunan. An event held on April 24th that included a display of works from those
… participating in the collection of the 8th Space Painting Creation of My Space Dream. The event was jointly sponsored by the China Aerospace Society and the Hunan Provincial Department of Education. As one of the 2019 China Aerospace Science Popularization Series activities, the event received positive responses from young people across the country. [Google translation]
Space Center Houston Opened a Peanuts-Inspired Art Installation
Honoring the Apollo 10 Mission
HOUSTON, April 26, 2019 – See it now! Space Center Houston opened a new art installation featuring Charles Schulz’s iconic characters in a new groundbreaking arts initiative launch event. This art initiative is a partnership between Peanuts Worldwide, the Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Parks Board, Space Center Houston and Brookfield Properties designed to bring Houstonians public art re-imaginings of Charles M. Schulz’s beloved, iconic characters.
To kick-off the launch of the exhibit, Houston-area students and the guests engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities developed by Peanuts to learn about how NASA explores the cosmos, and the beloved character Snoopy made an appearance.
The “Peanuts Constellation” mural by artist Kenny Scharf.
At the entrance of Space Center Houston, the outdoor art installation features a full-scale International Space Station Training Module wrapped in an original Charlie Brown and Snoopy Motif by artist Kenny Scharf. Entitled “The Heavens and the Earth,” the art installation honors NASA’s 50th Anniversary celebrations of Apollo 10. NASA and Peanuts have a longstanding partnership. NASA named the Apollo 10 command and lunar modules “Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy,” respectively. (Apollo 10, which orbited the moon, served as a dress rehearsal for the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969.)
Featuring artwork by four of the world’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, the larger-than-life installations will continue on as “The Heavens and the Earth” Public Art Project with the Houston Arts Alliance Blasts Off, bring Insta-Worthy, Peanuts-inspired creations to Houston’s Public Parks and across the city’s most popular landmarks.
The Peanuts Global Artist Collective, presented by Peanuts Worldwide, launched a year ago with an ambitious public art initiative spanning seven international cities: Paris, Seoul, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Tokyo and Mexico City. Curated by the esteemed, leading art curators at Culture Corps, the project features the work of seven elite artists. Four of them—Nina Chanel Abney, AVAF, FriendsWithYou and Kenny Scharf—will pepper their creations throughout Houston.
For the latest news and openings in Houston and beyond, fans can log on to Peanuts Global Artist Collective. And to participate in the project, residents of and visitors to Houston are encouraged to pose in front of the murals (as thousands of others around the world have), and post to their own Insta using the hashtags #SnoopyGlobalArt and #PeanutsHTX.
A new episode of NASA’s weekly Space to Ground report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** The CRS-17 science and technology payloads set to go to the ISS next week aboard a SpaceX Cargo Dragon:
** Living and Working in Space: Microbes
As we search beyond Earth, microbes play a key role in the space environment. Researchers analyze single celled organisms like bacteria and fungi to help uncover important facts that will support deep-space missions. Along with understanding how microbes adapt and react on the International Space Station, scientist stress the importance of planetary protection. The goal of protecting Earth from potentially harmful microbes are important to human survival and the universe at large.
** Expedition 59 Inteviews with Army News Service KCTS and KUOW Radio April 24, 2019:
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:
** The Space Show – Mon, 04/22/2019 – Daniel Suarez discussed his new science fiction novel,Delta-v, and “deep space mining, space economics, commercial space, policy and regulations, government space activities, risk taking, lunar return, Mars and much much more”.
Investment in the satellite and space industry has evolved from traditional government sources to backing by a couple of billionaire Unicorn investors, and now to an explosion in venture capital and angel investors driving the industry. This new wave of funding has taken the industry from a dozen or so privately funded space companies globally in 2009 to 435 today, that have received over $20 billion in investment. Chad Anderson, CEO of Space Angels discusses many of the exciting trends occurring in the space industry including where investment funding is going, and more importantly why. He talks about his prediction that 2018 would be the year of SmallSat and that 2019 will be the year of Commercial Space Travel. Chad also discusses the potential for earth observation to follow the path of GPS and become tightly intertwined in our everyday lives.
Xiamen University Aerospace Academy with Beijing Lingkong Tianxing Technology Co., Ltd. successfully launched and recovered the reusable winged suborbital JiaGeng-1 technology tester rocket. (max alt 26.2Km)
Chinese launch startup ‘Space Transportation’ today carried out a test flight of a reusable winged suborbital tech demonstrator rocket with a mass of 3,700 kg. Named Jiageng-1, it was jointly developed with Xiamen University. https://t.co/UOXaP0NxrPpic.twitter.com/OaeSlc2Ihs
Images of the test flight below. Jiageng-1 has a max altitude of 26.2 km and max speed of 4,300 km/h. It is a step toward the development of the larger Tianxing I-1 vertical takeoff, horizontal landing launcher. pic.twitter.com/uqIHIuQIBF
** NASA documentary on Rocket Lab Electron launch of 10 student built CubeSats sponsored by the agency:
In December 2018, a Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched from remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying a NASA payload of 10 small satellites called Educational Launch of Nanosatellites-19 (ELaNa-19). The Electron is one of two vehicles NASA selected for its Venture Class Launch Service, in which small satellites, called CubeSats, fly on rockets designed especially for their needs. In this documentary, learn how the first launch of the Venture Class era demonstrates how the right ride into space can enable the designers of small satellites—from high schools and universities to NASA field centers—to dream big. To launch with ELaNa, visit http://www.nasa.gov/elana.
>>>Rocket Lab’s next launch is set for no earlier than May 4th and has a 2 week long window.
The satellites on board this mission will represent Rocket Lab’s heaviest launch to date, with the total payload weighing in at more than 180 kg. There are three research and development experiments on board for the U.S. Air Force, including:
The Space Plug and Play Architecture Research CubeSat-1 (SPARC-1) mission, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV), is a joint Swedish-United States experiment to explore technology developments in avionics miniaturization, software defined radio systems, and space situational awareness (SSA).
The Falcon Orbital Debris Experiment (Falcon ODE), sponsored by the United States Air Force Academy, will evaluate ground-based tracking of space objects, such as space junk.
The Harbinger research payload is a commercial small satellite built by York Space Systems that will demonstrate the ability of an experimental commercial system to meet government space capability requirements.
** Interstellar Technologies targeting April 30th for the suborbital MOMO launch attempt. There will be a live webcast. Check their Twitter page for latest info and links. Here is a video of a recent full duration test firing of the MOMO engine. Last year the engine on a MOMO rocket shut off shortly after liftoff and the rocket fell back to the pad and exploded.
** An update on the SNC Dream Chaser cargo vehicle program:
Just a few more months before the body assembly for our Dream Chaser® spacecraft is shipped up to our Louisville, CO facility from Fort Worth, TX. Watch this video to learn more about this state-of-the-art technology: https://t.co/Hn68PPkmKo
— Sierra Nevada Corporation (@SierraNevCorp) April 22, 2019
While we may not be showing it off publicly, we still continue to work on the crew design through an agreement with NASA. We actually meet with the Commercial Crew Program regularly and brief milestones to them through that agreement.
— Sierra Nevada Corporation (@SierraNevCorp) April 24, 2019
** The design of the Turbo Rocket, an oxygen breathing vertical launch rocket, was presented by John Bucknell at the recent Space Access 2019 conference: Turbo Rocket – NextBigFuture.com.
Here is a video of presentation Bucknell gave in 2018:
Stratolaunch, usurper of Spruce Goose’s biggest-ever title, might seem equally ridiculous. Composite construction, two fuselages, six engines and other bits hacked together from old 747s, lots and lots of wheels and bogeys… But it flies, and apparently flies very well.
What we do not know is whether Stratolaunch has an economically viable future. Built to heft huge rockets to 35,000ft for air-launch, it is expected to start commercial life in 2020 launching Pegasus rockets, whose payload capacity is less than 400kg – a load easily orbited by any number of existing launchers. Moreover, Pegasus – normally air-launched from a modified Lockheed L-1011 – has flown only 35 times. Not a lot of demand there.
Blue Origin is “going vertical” with its new headquarters and research and development facility in Kent, as they are expanding their world-class team, and will be building a new 250,000-square-foot facility that will support their new growth.
This means more rocket building, more hiring of rocket scientists, and a continued connection to space for the home of the original Lunar Rovers – Kent!
“I am so thrilled to see the progress on their new facility and love the energy they are putting into the business and that their employees will bring to the community,” Mayor Dana Ralph said. “We are proud they call the Kent Valley home.”
How does a spaceship get its nose? The team uses a fixture to raise the lower nose into place for a precision bond to the cabin. Next, they fit and attach the upper half which completes the assembly and leaves the nose ready for systems integration. pic.twitter.com/xS01q3KndZ
In a critical first for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule, the crew transportation vehicle is putting DoD and Air Force rescue teams through their paces as they seek to understand and refine what will be needed to rescue a Starliner crew from the capsule should an off-nominal landing in the water occur.
** Scott Manley: The Expander Cycle Rocket Engines – Using Waste Heat To Drive Your Rocket:
Another installment of ‘Things Kerbal Space Program Doesn’t Teach’ – explaining the expander cycle rocket engines in more detail. Expander cycles use the waste heat from the combustion chamber and nozzles to boil liquid hydrogen and power the turbines. The main advantages are cooler, less chemically active turbine environments, but if used in a closed cycle design the total thrust is limited.
Relativity, the world’s first autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations, today announced a partnership with mu Space, the innovative Thai satellite and space technology company, to launch a satellite to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket, the world’s first and only 3D printed rocket.
Relativity’s groundbreaking, patented 3D printing technology platform together with Terran 1’s unique and flexible architecture provides mu Space a faster and more reliable launch at a lower total mission cost than any other launch services company in the world. With this launch partnership, two of the most visionary and innovative aerospace startups are sharing expertise, resources, and capabilities to transform the satellite launch and services industry across the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions.
Relativity is developing the first and only aerospace platform to integrate machine learning, software, and robotics with metal 3D printing technology to build and launch rockets in days instead of years, disrupting 60 years of global aerospace manufacturing. The company expects to build its Terran 1 rocket from raw material to launch-ready in less than 60 days. As an innovator in the Asia-Pacific and international arenas, mu Space is developing both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite and space technologies that will accelerate the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in smart cities, and encourage new space investments in the Asia-Pacific region. mu Space’s LEO satellite will be a primary, dedicated payload on Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket, launching in 2022.
The service can deliver 300 kilograms or 400 kilograms within low Earth orbit and up to 100 kilograms to a lunar orbit, according to Kokorich — for a cost of around $4.8 million.
That’s radically cheaper than solutions that are currently on offer. Momentus uses rockets from any of the big private vendors to get its vessels into space and from there its own propulsion technologies and spacecrafts will haul a small cargo (roughly the size of a kitchen table) anywhere else it needs to go, [CEO Mikhail] Kokorich says.
>>Video of the bottom half of the Falcon Heavy core booster at Port Canaveral. The booster landed successfully but later fell over onto the landing platform during heavy seas. A hold-down system for securing a core booster to prevent such toppling was not ready in time for this latest FH launch. Video via www.USLaunchReport.com:
>>Starship related activity continues at SpaceX’s Boca Chica Beach facilities but no sign yet of the Raptor engine, which was removed from the Starhopper after a short hop a couple of weeks ago.
The last few weeks of SpaceX’s work on Starship and Starhopper prototypes has been marked by less visible progress relative to the past few months. The changes that are visible, however, confirm that its Boca Chica engineers are working around the clock to complete the first orbital Starship prototype.
At the same time, it appears that SpaceX’s South Texas facilities are preparing for a rapid period of expansion and build-up. New work around the ad-hoc Starhopper pad has recently begun, while construction of a second concrete jig for concurrent prototype fabrication and what will likely be a more permanent hangar and control facility are also ramping up. Things have been quiet news-wise for SpaceX’s McGregor and Hawthorne facilities but there is reason to believe that Raptor production and testing is going smoothly.
Today there was a lot of pad work underway:
Trucks, lots of trucks, supplying material for the work going on at Starhopper’s pad right now.
, and “deep space mining, space economics, commercial space, policy and regulations, government space activities, risk taking, lunar return, Mars and much much more”.
