The Cosmoquest blog hosts the latest Carnival of Space.
Carnival of Space #588 – Cosmoquest
Monthly Archives: November 2018
Space policy roundup – Nov.27.2018
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:
- Space settlement:
- Space law:
- US military space:
- Op-ed | Real talk and real solutions to real space threats – SpaceNews.com
- Training the Space Force: How the Military Will Prepare for Future Battles – National Defense Magazine
- Air Force Commander: Strategy to fight China in the Pacific brings greater attention to space – SpaceNews.com
- Editorial: Trump wants a Space Force. But he hasn’t articulated why it’s needed. | Editorial | stltoday.com
- Australian space:
- Chinese space:
- Ethiopian space:
- Russian space:
- UK space:
Webcasts:
** The Space Show – Sun, 11/25/2018 – Sarah Cruddas, a British space journalist, TV presenter and children’s author, talked about the Space For Humanity program that aims to enable several “non-astronauts to travel to the edge of space” on suborbital rocket flights. This segment was followed by an open lines program led by David Livingston.
** We Know Where the 2020 Rover Will Look for Martian Life | The Planetary Society
NASA announced on November 19th that the multi-billion dollar 2020 Mars rover will land in Jezero crater, where it will begin the search for the signature of past life. The selection process took five years, and Briony Horgan of Purdue University was part of it all. She joins us to talk about this exciting and enticing target on the Red Planet. Planetary Society Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla prepares us for the much more imminent Mars landing of InSight. Orion in the northern hemisphere’s night sky can only mean winter is coming. Just ahead of it is a new What’s Up segment from Bruce and Mat.
http://dcs.megaphone.fm/PPY2769282174.mp3?key=c5f6d5f0e69786c0f4b7d52185a8b001&listener=938a13a1-2802-4836-a951-0ebe7d83fa1c
** Why a lunar base is better than LOP-G – Dr. Robert Zubrin -21st Annual Mars Society Convention – A talk given in August but posted this week on the The Mars Society YouTube channel along with several other presentation videos from the meeting.
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Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes
The Space Show this week – Nov.26.2018
The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:
1. SPECIAL TIME: Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST, 10-11:30 pm EST): We welcome John Hunt to the show. John is a frequent Space Show caller, friend and supporter. This program is part of our new program to invite active and frequent Space Show participants to be guests on the program.
2. Tuesday, Nov. 27 2018, 7-8:30 pm PST; 9-10:30 pm CST; 10-11:30 pm EST: We welcome back Dr. Doug Plata to the program with news and updates.
3. Wednesday, Nov. 28 2018: Hotel Mars. See Upcoming Show Menu and the website newsletter for details. Hotel Mars is pre-recorded by John Batchelor. It is archived on The Space Show site after John posts it on his website.
4. Friday, Nov.30, 2018, 9:30 am -11 am PST, (12:30 -2 pm EST; 11:30 am -1 pm CDT: Dr. Haym Benaroya returns as our special guest for today.
5. Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, 12-1:30 pm PST, (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CDT): We welcome space well known space journalist and advocate Leonard David regarding multiple space development stories and his new book.
See also:
* The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
* The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
* The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs
The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.
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A message from David Livingston:
The Space Show / OGLF 2018 Annual Fund Raising Campaign
Nov. 25, 2018
Please support The Space Show. Your support is appreciated.
Dear Space Show Listeners:
On behalf of The Space Show, One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) and myself, I want to wish you all the very best for the upcoming Christmas and holiday season and for the New Year 2019. May it be a year full of health, happiness, prosperity, and peace. Like all of you, I also hope for a 2019 with lots of significant and productive space development, including the continued expansion of commercial space business opportunities, economic development, and yes, lots of near term lunar activities, both commercially and for our return to the Moon and on to Mars.
I also want to thank all of you who have so generously supported The Space Show/OGLF during this and previous years. Simply put, The Space Show owes its existence and success to all of you, listeners, callers, emailers, and guests alike. Your commitment to space development and The Space Show over the past 18 plus years is and has been very special to me and to everyone in our audience. It is also important to understand that Space Show funding needs are ever present and since we are a listener supported program, our future is largely in your hands. If you have questions relating your support for The Space Show, please contact me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
In addition to asking you for your support in our annual fund raising campaign, I would like to briefly tell you about our newly revised OGLF Advisory Board (www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/advisory-board.htm). Please look over the guidelines and if you are interested, let me know. We want your active participation, support and feedback and we believe the new Advisory Board will fill the bill for The Space Show. During 2019 The Space Show plans on maintaining the four programs per week schedule plus our short Hotel Mars segment hosted by John Batchelor of The John Batchelor Show. Note that Mr. Batchelor controls Hotel Mars and it is possible he might make changes in the program and/or schedule. I am still considering using the Monday program for a more timely Space Show topic presentation. Options for this are being developed and will be run by our Board of Directors and the new Advisory Board as soon as possible.
Please remember that The Space Show relies entirely upon your financial support for its continued operation and programming. Your financial support enables us to distribute our copyrighted content freely to everyone with online access. We never take fees from guests to be on the program, even when we are helping the guest promote books, movies, or other IP, including ideas and theories. Simply put, we do not do infomercials and we never will do them. Given our policy, we continue to need your financial support and help in maintaining and growing The Space Show. We want to continue providing a credible forum for your creative, scientific and opinion work, projects, theories, ideas, books, and views. That said, our costs (in all categories of operations) continue to rise and at times challenge our very existence. Your contributions help us in meeting these challenges. To remain strong and viable for 2019, your support for The Space Show is essential.
The Space Show is a non-profit 501C3 and California Public Benefit Corporation. Our parent 501C3 corporation is the One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) (www.onegiantleapfoundation.org). We understand that you have choices in making your tax deductible contributions and we certainly appreciate your including us in your gifting priorities. Contributions to The Space Show should be made through Pay Pal or if by check to One Giant Leap Foundation. Mailing and Pay Pal instructions can be found by clicking on the Pay Pal button on the right side of our home page, www.thespaceshow.com or by clicking on the OGLF page, www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/individuals.htm. From The Space Show home page, please use the Pay Pal button on the right side (www.paypal.com/webapps/shoppingcart). Don’t forget The Space Show Amazon support programs. For more information and to have your Amazon purchases help support The Space Show, please click on the large Amazon button near the center of our home page.
Space Show business and corporate sponsorships for 2019 are now available. Our program is unchanged from 2018. The sponsor gets his business banner ad placed on The Space Show home page plus I will read a 60 second or less sponsor PR message on each full length Space Show program. On the 60 minute programs, I mention each sponsor by name and thank them for their sponsorship but to save time for the guests, I don’t read the respective 60 second PR sponsor messages. For information on being a sponsor, email me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. These sponsorship opportunities are limited given I read the sponsor message on each regular length live show. Only so many messages can be read without eating into the guest talk time so if you are interested, please contact me as soon as possible.
The year 2018 is quickly coming to a close. Now is the time to support The Space Show/OGLF by making a contribution to help maintain and further develop our programming and show access. If you pay U.S. federal taxes, you get a tax deduction for your gift. The same is true for those of you paying California taxes as we are both a federal 501C3 nonprofit corporation and a California Public Benefit Corporation. Please check with your tax adviser regarding any and all tax questions that you might have regarding your potential OGLF tax deductions. You are also encouraged to contact me with your questions and comments about the show or anything else. Above all, please remember that we do need and appreciate your support.
Per above, you can make your donation online using Pay Pal by clicking on the Pay Pal logo on the right side of our home page. For those of you who prefer mailing a check, please make your check payable to One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc. and mail it in care of me to P.O. Box 95, Tiburon, CA 94920 USA. Remember, your gift makes possible The Space Show programming and all of the services we provide including our blog. Your generous support makes it possible to bring to all of you a wide variety of topics, issue discussions, factual information, timely analysis, a toll free line, listener interaction with our guests, and innovative guests from around the world. And don’t forget our blog which is available both before and during a program as well as after the program has aired and is archived. As I always say, your donations and support are what keeps The Space Show on the air.
Thank you for your support. I look forward to sharing the New Year with you through The Space Show and OGLF. Please contact me at drspace@thespaceshow.com if you have any questions. Let’s all work to make 2019 a banner year for space, prosperity, health, and peace around the world. Finally, I want to stress just how much your gift to TSS and OGLF is appreciated and needed for 2019 and beyond.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. David Livingston
The Space Show/One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc.
Videos: Follow the Insight Mission landing on Mars today [Update]
[ Update: The landing was a success: NASA InSight Lander Arrives on Martian Surface | NASA
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NASA’s Insight spacecraft will set down on the Martian surface today Nov. 26th at around noon PST (3 p.m. EST). NASA TV will provide live coverage:
InSight was launched on May 5th and marks the first landing of a NASA spacecraft on the Red Planet since the Curiosity rover arrived in 2012. InSight’s mission, which should last at least two years, is to study Mars’ deep interior. The studies will help scientists better understand the formation of Mars as well as other rocky worlds, including Earth.
InSight is accompanied by two mini-spacecraft in a test named Mars Cube One (MarCO). This is the first deep-space mission for CubeSats. The MarCO satellites will not land but instead will fly by Mars and attempt to relay data from InSight during its entry into the planet’s atmosphere and the landing sequence.
For the key events during the landing, see NASA InSight Landing on Mars: Milestones | NASA.
Here is a preview of the Insight landing:
NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft is on track for a touchdown on the surface of the Red Planet on Nov. 26. One day before landing, the mission team provides an update and explanations of everything that must go right during the entry, descent and landing of the spacecraft.
And here is a Q&A with the Insight mission team:
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Two rockets set to orbit dozens of payloads including space artworks
There are two rocket launches scheduled for this Wednesday that will each carry large collections of small satellites into low earth orbit.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to lift off from Southern California with “more than 60 satellites from more than 30 organizations” in the SSO-A mission brokered by Spaceflight Services of Seattle, Washington.
Targeting November 28 for launch of Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 24, 2018
The liftoff time is set for 10:31:47 am local Pacific Time and 1:31:47 pm EST and 1831:47 GMT. SpaceX aims to land the Falcon 9 first stage on a platform floating on the Pacific. This will be the first reusable F9 booster to fly three times.
The SSO-A collection of payloads includes two unusual spacecraft.
The Enoch cubesat is a tribute to Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American astronaut, who was killed in a plane crash in December 1967 before he had a chance to go to space: SpaceX to Launch CubeSat Containing “Soul” of First African American Astronaut – IEEE Spectrum
… Enoch contains a 24-karat-gold canopic jar with a bust of Lawrence. Canopic jars were used by ancient Egyptians to house the organs of the deceased for use in the afterlife. This jar was blessed at a Shinto shrine in Japan and “recognized as a container for Lawrence’s soul,” according to the museum.
“[Lawrence is] someone who has a mostly untold story, who I look at as a hero but who wasn’t necessarily considered one when I was a child in school,” says Tavares Strachan, the artist behind Enoch, in an interview with IEEE Spectrum.
The project is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Another space artwork to fly on the SSO-A mission is the Orbital Reflector designed by artist Trevor Paglen and sponsored by the Nevada Museum of Art. The spacecraft is an inflatable space mirror that will be visible by naked eye from the ground.
The low orbits of most of these spacecraft means the friction with the atmosphere will limit their time in orbit to relatively short periods. For example, the large cross-section area of the Orbital Reflector will reduce its lifetime to a few months. The much smaller Enoch should last 5 to 10 years.
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Meanwhile, at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is set to launch India’s Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) plus a collection of small satellites. These include a dozen from Spaceflight: Spaceflight Arranges Launch of 12 Satellites Aboard India’s PSLV C43 – Spaceflight.
Liftoff is set for 0400 GMT on November 29th or 11 p.m. EST on November 28th.
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Commercial use of small satellites is growing fast, e.g. earth imaging company Planet has 21 satellites on the two launches including five company birds on the Falcon 9 and two university CubeSats that the company sponsored.
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