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Space policy roundup – Aug.26.2019

August 26, 2019 TopSpacer

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):

Schedule:
- What’s Happening in Space Policy August 25-September 7, 2019 – SpacePolicyOnline.com
NASA lunar program:
- Actually, NASA is looking at all options for the Moon—including prizes | Ars Technica
Commercial Crew Program:
- Boeing, SpaceX aim for more commercial crew test flights this fall – Spaceflight Now
Space law:
US military space:
- USSPACECOM Stands Up August 29, Ushers in New DOD/NRO Era – SpacePolicyOnline.com
- Air Force seeks new candidates to manage the Space Enterprise Consortium – SpaceNews.com
International space

Webcasts:

** NASA’s Red Planet Rick and Putting Humans on Mars | The Planetary Society

Rick Davis is the perfect person to co-lead NASA’s Mars Human Landing Sites Study. No one is more devoted to putting human bootprints on the Red Planet. He returns to Planetary Radio for this inspiring and informative conversation about our progress. Bruce Betts leads off What’s Up with another brief LightSail 2 update. The Planetary Society’s solar sailing CubeSat continues to raise its orbit.

** Fri, 08/23/2019 – Jeff Greason talked about “beam propulsion, advanced propulsion and Jeff’s new business venture, Electric Sky“:

** The Space Show – Thu, 08/22/2019 – Lt. General Steven Kwast, USAF, discussed the creation of “a U.S. Space Force, economic protection and power, lunar industrialization, China in space plus much more”.

** Wed, 08/21/2019 – Hotel Mars/The Space Show with John Batchelor, Dr. David Livingston – Laura Montgomery discussed the “SpaceIL lunar lander crash on the Moon with an unknown tardigrade payload and planetary protection issues”.

** August 22, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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Moon Rush: The New Space Race

Activism, Space Policy

The Space Show this week – Aug.26.2019

August 26, 2019 TopSpacer

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

1. Monday, August 26, 2019; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): No show on Monday which is now reserved for special programming.

2. Tuesday, August 27, 2019; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): We welcome back Dr. Jeff Foust of Space News and The Space Review for news and information updates.

3. Wednesday, August 28, 2019; [OFF TOPIC PROGRAM] 7:00 pm PDT (8:00 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT): We welcome indie filmmaker Jordan Livingston to the show to discuss his film project and Kickstarter, “DeLorean – Living the Dream: The inspiring true story of the dreamers behind history’s timeless car.” Please see the details on our blog for this program.

4. Friday, August 30, 2019; 9:30-11:00 am PDT (11:30 am -1 pm CDT, 12:30-2 pm EDT): We welcome back Ted Southern of Final Frontier Design regarding engineering, designing and making spacesuits.

5. Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019 12-1:30 PM PDT (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): No show today due to the Labor Day Holiday. Go OU Sooners tonight!

Some recent shows:

** Fri, 08/23/2019 – Jeff Greason talked about “beam propulsion, advanced propulsion and Jeff’s new business venture, Electric Sky“:

** Thu, 08/22/2019 – Lt. General Steven Kwast, USAF, discussed the creation of “a U.S. Space Force, economic protection and power, lunar industrialization, China in space plus much more”.

** Wed, 08/21/2019 – Hotel Mars with John Batchelor, Dr. David Livingston – Laura Montgomery discussed the “SpaceIL lunar lander crash on the Moon with an unknown tardigrade payload and planetary protection issues”.

** Tues, 08/20/2019 – Rand Simberg talked “about tardigrades on the Moon, Planetary Protection, and defining important OST legal terms which may control who and what gets done in space in the future”.

** Sun, 08/18/2019 – Open lines viewer discussion program with Dr. David Livingston.

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

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

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Systems

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Aug.25.2019

August 25, 2019 TopSpacer

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

** Communications with the Virginia CubeSat Constellation spacecraft built by several Virginia universities and deployed from the ISS into orbit in July have not been established yet: Aerospace team awaits communication with CubeSat after successful deployment into space | The Cavalier Daily

In order to contact Libertas, a “wake-up command” was sent up by U.Va. An acknowledgement packet — a unit of data that must be decoded — was sent back, responding to the ground station signal. Due to technical difficulties with the University’s ground station caused by a series of lightning storms, the Virginia Tech ground station was able to listen in and receive the response signal. By achieving this one-way communication, Libertas is currently the only CubeSat which has responded to a signal, showing that it is alive and working.

“Initially from deployment, we don’t know if the satellite is on, or whether something broke,” [Uni. Virginia student Connor Segal] said. “You don’t know if maybe the antenna didn’t deploy or the board was hit with a cosmic ray, so the initial step is establishing contact and seeing whether the satellite is alive or not.”

Though the team has not made two-way communication with the satellite, meaning they have not received data, Segal is happy with where the team is at.

See previous entries about the Virginia CubeSat program here, here, here, and here. This video shows the deployment of the three CubeSat Constellation spacecraft

Virginia CubeSat ConstellationDeployment — *Three Virginia CubeSat Constellation spacecraft deployed from the ISS on July 9, 2019.*

Continue reading Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Aug.25.2019 →

In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Aug.24.2019

August 24, 2019 TopSpacer

Here is the latest Space to Ground report from NASA on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Animation of the EVA this week on which Expedition 60 Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan of NASA installed the second docking adapter for commercial crew vehicles:

** ORBIT – A Journey Around Earth in Real Time [4k] – Includes musical soundtrack.

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

Space Policy

Space policy roundup – Aug.23.2019

August 23, 2019 TopSpacer

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):

National Space Council meeting (see video below):
NASA lunar program:
- With Artemis, NASA at risk of repeating Apollo mistakes, scientist warns | Ars Technica
- Earth’s Moon: Lunar Prospecting Advice – LeonardDavid.com – testimony to the National Space Council by Clive Neal, Professor of Lunar Geology at the University of Notre Dame, on innovative space initiatives and using the resources of the Moon.
- NASA Advances Plans for Robotic and Crewed Moon Landings – NASASpaceFlight.com
Lunar crew mission prize competition:
NASA human exploration programs:
- Op-ed | NASA must shift its focus to infrastructure and capabilities that support dynamic missions – SpaceNews.com
- SLS contractors expect first launch in 2021 – SpaceNews.com
Europa mission:
- The ambitious Europa Clipper has cleared an important step toward flight | Ars Technica
- NASA Has Committed to a Rocket for the Europa Mission–and It Won’t Be Ready on Time – Scientific American
Mars sample return:
- Turning a corner on Mars – The Space Review
NASA centers:
- NASA Administrator, Members of Congress to Talk Ohio’s Role in Artemis | NASA
Regulation:
- The government’s plan to update rocket launch licensing is pissing off the commercial space industry – The Verge
- FAA launch office, with mounting workload, prioritizing reorganization over expansion – SpaceNews.com
US military space:
International Space

Webcasts:

** VP Pence participates in National Space Council meeting –

Vice President Mike Pence chairs the sixth meeting of the National Space Council and delivers remarks on expanding space exploration and strengthening the United States’ leadership in commercial space at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center National Air and Space Museum.

** The Space Show – Thu, 08/22/2019 – Lt. General Steven Kwast of the USAF discussed the creation of a new Space Force.

** The Space Show, 08/20/2019 – Rand Simberg talked “about tardigrades on the Moon, Planetary Protection, and defining important OST legal terms which ma control who and what gets done in space in the future”.