1. Monday, Feb. 24, 2020; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): No special programming today.
2. Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7-8:30; pm PST (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): We welcome back Dr. Namrata Goswami for Space Force, national security space updates and space policy 2020.
3. Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020: Pre-recorded Hotel Mars Program with John Batchelor. See Upcoming Show on The Space Show website for details.
4. Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST, 10-11:30 pm EST): No special show today.
5. Friday, Feb. 28, 2020; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome David Rich regarding the Space Resource Report at www.spaceresource.com.
6. Sunday, March 1, 2020; 12-1:30 pm PST (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CST): We welcome back Dr. John Brandenburg on his GEM Unification Theory work, Mars, Mach Thruster work and more.
** Fri, 02/21/2020 – Dr. Matthew Caplan, a computational nuclear astrophysicist at at Illinois State University, talked about “stellar engines, the Caplan Thruster, stars, and lots of physics questions and answers”.
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):
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** NASA & Axiom Space Designing Commercial Expansion Of Space Station – Scott Manley
It’s been 4 years since NASA first seriously suggested the idea of commercial expansion of the International Space Station, and at the end of January they announced an agreement with Axiom Space to begin designing the extension with launches happening possibly as early as 2024. The specific details of the agreement are not clear at this time, however it’s known that the initial phase is a design study and business case analysis with reviews required before approving the next phase. https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/issport
** NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir discusses the Zero-G Oven with Michigan students
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir of NASA discussed the revolutionary Zero-G oven recently used on the orbital outpost during an in-flight question and answer session Feb. 19 with students from the East Middle School in Grand Blanc, Michigan. The oven was launched on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship last November, and, along with cookies baked in the oven, was returned to Earth in January on a SpaceX/Dragon resupply vehicle.
** OSCAR: NASA is developing tech for recycling in space
The Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor, or OSCAR, is an Early Career Initiative project funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in 2018. Work on OSCAR has demonstrated new ways to manage trash and waste in space by offering new options for safe disposal and the potential to transforming it into useful resources.
OSCAR has a reactor that uses heat, oxygen and steam to turn things like food packaging, old clothing and even human waste into water and a gas mixture. Industry calls this mixture synthetic gas or syngas, and it is primarily carbon dioxide with small amounts of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. Molecules from syngas can be used as building blocks for beneficial products like fuel for the spacecraft. The crew can also vent these gases for easy trash disposal.
On Dec. 11, 2019, OSCAR reached a major milestone when it launched on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. This suborbital flight added around three minutes of valuable microgravity performance data to OSCAR’s previous data from lab and drop tests. During the flight, OSCAR was able to autonomously inject trash into the high temperature reaction chamber and collect targeted product gases.
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):
Physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and author Paul Davies’ new book explores what he believes to be the defining quality of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere. He talks about this and much more in a special, extended conversation. Paul’s book is one of the prizes in the new What’s Up space trivia contest.
A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):
Nanoracks’ 17th CubeSat deployment mission included satellites launched to the International Space Station on both Northrop Grumman’s NG-12 flight and the SpaceX CRS-19 mission. The deployer packs were then assembled together on orbit by the astronaut crew.
“The diversity of users on each CubeSat mission is growing with every flight,” says Nanoracks Senior External Payloads Mission Manager, Tristan Prejean. “Our 17th CubeSat mission has satellites built by university students, international space agencies and research institutes, commercial companies reaching the ISS for the first time, and by our friends at NASA. Commercial access to low-Earth orbit is enabling an unprecedented cohort of users from around the world to make discoveries in space – and we are watching this grow year by year.”
Notably, AzTechSat-1 is the first satellite built by students in Mexico for deployment from the Space Station and is the first CubeSat built as a collaboration between the Mexican Space Agency and NASA. The investigation demonstrates communication within a satellite network in low-Earth orbit. Such Intra-satellite communication could reduce the need for ground stations, lowering the cost and increasing the number of data downloads possible for satellite applications.
Additionally, HARP marked the 100th CubeSat project for which launch and deployment was funded by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), which offers universities, high schools and non-profit organizations the opportunity to fly small satellites. Launches for CSLI selectees are provided through Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions facilitated by NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP). HARP, RadSat-u, Phoenix, SOCRATES, CryoCube, AzTechSat-1, SORTIE, and ARGUS-02 missions were all part of the ELaNa 25 mission managed by NASA LSP.
Today the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) CubeSat made history by becoming the 100th CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) selected mission deployed into space. This mission marks nearly 12 years of the CSLI providing CubeSat developers rideshare opportunities to space via Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions.
“This 100th mission is extremely noteworthy because it highlights just how special and valuable CSLI is. Not only does the initiative provide real-life, hands-on experience to the next generation of space exploration professionals, it also adds tremendous value and moves NASA’s mission forward in meaningful ways,” said Jim Norman, director, Launch Services at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “I want to thank all the university students, faculty and staff, industry partners and NASA centers who have participated in this program for their contributions.”
HARP is a 3U CubeSat designed to measure the microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosols, cloud water and ice particles. It is a precursor for a new generation of imaging polarimeters to be used for the detailed measurements of aerosol and cloud properties in larger missions. The wide field-of-view imager splits three spatially identical images into three independent polarizer and detector arrays. This technique achieves simultaneous imagery of the three polarization states and is the key innovation to achieve a high polarimetric accuracy with no moving parts. The mission is expected to spend nearly a year in orbit with three months dedicated to technology demonstrations and an extended science data period of an additional seven months.
Funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, HARP launched Nov. 2, 2019, as part of the ELaNa 25 mission on Northrup Grumman’s 12th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station.
Space BD Inc is the official service provider selected by JAXA in the area of ISS utilisation and satellite launch service.
Curtin University has been planning and developing the satellites named Binar-1 (1U CubeSat) and Binar-2 (3U CubeSat) since 2018. These satellites will be the first pair of satellites launched from Curtin University as well as the first from Western Australia.
The project is led by Professor Phil Bland at the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University. Professor Bland, along with a team of 12 Curtin staff and student engineers have developed the miniaturised satellites.
