In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – Mar.13.2022

March 13, 2022 TopSpacer

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Axiom Space Ax-1! 1st all-private crew to space station explained – VideoFromSpace

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch Crew Dragon Endeavour with the Axiom Space Ax-1 crew no earlier than March 30, 2022. Learn more about the Ax-1 mission: https://www.space.com/ax-1-axiom-spac… Axiom VP & former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría will command SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour and is joined by fellow crew members Larry Connor (pilot), Mark Pathy (mission specialist) & Eytan Stibbe (mission specialist).

Virgin Orbit to launch “ForgeStar” returnable, reusable space platform from Spaceport Cornwall

March 10, 2022 TopSpacer

An announcement from Virgin Orbit:

Virgin Orbit to Launch First Welsh Satellite From UK Spaceport Summer 2022

- - - - Cardiff-based Space Forge secure slot on first launch from UK soil with Virgin Orbit
        
        Space Forge have developed a fully returnable and reusable satellite platform to enable in-space manufacturing
        
        This mission, launched from Spaceport Cornwall this summer, will test new return capability

LONG BEACH, Calif. & CARDIFF, Wales–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading launch company Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) and European in-space manufacturing tech start-up Space Forge announce today an agreement to launch the first satellite developed in Wales in summer 2022.

In a historic moment for UK space, the satellite will be launched as part of a broader joint UK-US mission to open the country’s first domestic space port in summer 2022 out of Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay, Cornwall.

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne ignites in mid-air for the first time during the company’s Launch Demo. May 25, 2020. Credit: Virgin Orbit/Greg Robinson.

With shared values of democratising space and pioneering responsive and responsible launch technologies, the synergy between Virgin Orbit and Cardiff-based Space Forge’s ethos makes this the ideal marriage for initial launch from the UK. This, coupled with Spaceport Cornwall’s ambitions to become a world leader in responsible launch will offer a real-world example of a global shift in environmental space practice – from sustainable on the ground operations, to horizontal lower impact launch technologies, to in-orbit services minimising the environmental impacts of manufacturing.

Space Forge is on a mission to make space work for humanity – seeking to harness the power of microgravity, offering an on demand service to advance the expansion of the market for premium research and development applications.

Space Forge recently announced that, along with partners, it is developing a world-first service incorporating both launch and return of a new small class of vehicle – the ForgeStar – that can be deployed from conventional launchers to provide rapid, reliable and reusable in-space infrastructure. This inaugural mission will see Space Forge’s ForgeStar-0 platform launched for the first time and will test future return from space technology.

The Forge Star Platform, “ *a fully returnable and reusable satellite platform to enable in-space manufacturing*“. Credits: Space Forge

Aiming to unlock the next steps on the path to market expansion, dedicated in-space manufacturing, coupled with proof of reliable return, will allow Space Forge to leverage the benefits of the space environment, namely: microgravity, vacuum, and temperature, to create products impossible to manufacture on Earth.

Their focus is on producing materials and products which offer game-changing levels of performance and efficiency in power hungry infrastructure and systems – reducing the environmental impact of production on earth to unlock new value and innovation. Research suggests that manufacturing certain materials in space could reduce CO2 emissions by 75% – the equivalent to removing all petrol cars from the UK.

“We at Virgin Orbit are delighted to have been chosen to move Space Forge forward in their space journey as we look forward to our inaugural Cornwall launch. Space Forge is joining the growing community of space innovators advancing space technologies for the betterment of our world,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “Their commitment to sustainability builds a foundation for future growth in the industry that we at Virgin Orbit are proud to be part of.”

Joshua Western, CEO, Space Forge:

“We’re thrilled to be making UK history with our first launch. We will demonstrate the use of space for good through in-space manufacturing and reliable return and it’s brilliant that both Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall share our ambitions. This is the start of a great collaboration and we are so excited to see where it goes.”

Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall:

“Launch from Cornwall is the chance to set the bar for the global space industry. Leading with companies like Space Forge, who are innovating in the responsible use of space, is key to this next iteration of space exploration.

It’s amazing to see our partners Virgin Orbit select customers who share our ambitions in this area and we can’t wait to show the world how this can be done.”

Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency:

“The UK is set to become the first nation in Europe to offer small satellite launch, as we become one of the most attractive space economies in the world.

“Space Forge is an innovative, fast-growing company and their agreement with Virgin Orbit demonstrates how all regions of the UK are playing a key role in our ambition to create a thriving small satellite launch market. In-space manufacturing harnesses the benefits of the space environment to create materials far superior to those we can produce on Earth, which can be used to speed up electric car charging or improve the lifetime of aircraft engines.

“This is a huge moment for Space Forge to be part of the first satellite launch from the UK and I wish them all the best, along with Spaceport Cornwall and Virgin Orbit.”

About Space Forge: Space Forge Ltd is a UK start-up on a mission to lead the clean industrial revolution by harnessing space. The company is developing fully returnable satellites that are designed for manufacturing next generation super materials in-space. In creating a reliable return, Space Forge will advance the expansion of the microgravity market for premium research and development applications by lowering the barriers to entry. The company is focused on R&D initiatives where dedicated return from the space environment can add a significant benefit, or overcome obstacles found terrestrially, to unlock new value and innovation.

Website: https://www.spaceforge.com/, Instagram: @space_forge, Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-forge-ltd/, Twitter: @space_forge

About Virgin Orbit: Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) operates one of the most flexible and responsive space launch systems ever built. Founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2017, the company began commercial service in 2021, and has already delivered commercial, civil, national security, and international satellites into orbit. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rockets are designed and manufactured in Long Beach, California, and are air-launched from a modified 747- 400 carrier aircraft that allows Virgin Orbit to operate from locations all over the world in order to best serve each customer’s needs. Learn more at www.virginorbit.com and visit us on LinkedIn, on Twitter @virginorbit, and on Instagram @virgin.orbit.

About Spaceport Cornwall: Spaceport Cornwall is the horizontal space launch site at Cornwall Airport Newquay, in South West England. Spaceport Cornwall is a partnership between Cornwall Council, commercial launch operator Virgin Orbit and Goonhilly Earth Station. The consortium will deliver small satellite launch into lower Earth Orbit, for the first time ever from the UK by 2022. The project is funded by the UK Space Agency, Cornwall Council, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership and Virgin Orbit. For video and media content: www.spaceportcornwall.com/media

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Astronomy, Exoplanets, Space Science

ESO: ALMA observes largest molecule yet in a planet-forming disc

March 8, 2022 TopSpacer

A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO):

Astronomers discover largest molecule yet in a planet-forming disc

This composite image features an artistic impression of the planet-forming disc around the IRS 48 star, also known as Oph-IRS 48. The disc contains a cashew-nut-shaped region in its southern part, which traps millimetre-sized dust grains that can come together and grow into kilometre-sized objects like comets, asteroids and potentially even planets. Recent observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) spotted several complex organic molecules in this region, including dimethyl ether, the largest molecule found in a planet-forming disc to date. The emission signaling the presence of this molecule (real observations shown in blue) is clearly stronger in the disc’s dust trap. A model of the molecule is also shown in this composite.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands have for the first time detected dimethyl ether in a planet-forming disc. With nine atoms, this is the largest molecule identified in such a disc to date. It is also a precursor of larger organic molecules that can lead to the emergence of life.

“From these results, we can learn more about the origin of life on our planet and therefore get a better idea of the potential for life in other planetary systems. It is very exciting to see how these findings fit into the bigger picture,“

says Nashanty Brunken, a Master’s student at Leiden Observatory, part of Leiden University, and lead author of the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Dimethyl ether is an organic molecule commonly seen in star-forming clouds, but had never before been found in a planet-forming disc. The researchers also made a tentative detection of methyl formate, a complex molecule similar to dimethyl ether that is also a building block for even larger organic molecules.

“It is really exciting to finally detect these larger molecules in discs. For a while we thought it might not be possible to observe them,”

says co-author Alice Booth, also a researcher at Leiden Observatory.

The molecules were found in the planet-forming disc around the young star IRS 48 (also known as Oph-IRS 48) with the help of ALMA, an observatory co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). IRS 48, located 444 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, has been the subject of numerous studies because its disc contains an asymmetric, cashew-nut-shaped “dust trap”. This region, which likely formed as a result of a newly born planet or small companion star located between the star and the dust trap, retains large numbers of millimetre-sized dust grains that can come together and grow into kilometre-sized objects like comets, asteroids and potentially even planets.

These images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show where various gas molecules were found in the disc around the IRS 48 star, also known as Oph-IRS 48. The disc contains a cashew-nut-shaped region in its southern part, which traps millimetre-sized dust grains that can come together and grow into kilometre-sized objects like comets, asteroids and potentially even planets. Recent observations spotted several complex organic molecules in this region, including formaldehyde (H2CO; orange), methanol (CH3OH; green) and dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3; blue), the last being the largest molecule found in a planet-forming disc to date. The emission signaling the presence of these molecules is clearly stronger in the disc’s dust trap, while carbon monoxide gas (CO; purple) is present in the entire gas disc. The location of the central star is marked with a star in all four images. The dust trap is about the same size as the area taken up by the methanol emission, shown on the bottom left.

Many complex organic molecules, such as dimethyl ether, are thought to arise in star-forming clouds, even before the stars themselves are born. In these cold environments, atoms and simple molecules like carbon monoxide stick to dust grains, forming an ice layer and undergoing chemical reactions, which result in more complex molecules. Researchers recently discovered that the dust trap in the IRS 48 disc is also an ice reservoir, harbouring dust grains covered with this ice rich in complex molecules. It was in this region of the disc that ALMA has now spotted signs of the dimethyl ether molecule: as heating from IRS 48 sublimates the ice into gas, the trapped molecules inherited from the cold clouds are freed and become detectable.

“What makes this even more exciting is that we now know these larger complex molecules are available to feed forming planets in the disc,” explains Booth. “This was not known before as in most systems these molecules are hidden in the ice.”

The discovery of dimethyl ether suggests that many other complex molecules that are commonly detected in star-forming regions may also be lurking on icy structures in planet-forming discs. These molecules are the precursors of prebiotic molecules such as amino acids and sugars, which are some of the basic building blocks of life.

By studying their formation and evolution, researchers can therefore gain a better understanding of how prebiotic molecules end up on planets, including our own.

“We are incredibly pleased that we can now start to follow the entire journey of these complex molecules from the clouds that form stars, to planet-forming discs, and to comets. Hopefully with more observations we can get a step closer to understanding the origin of prebiotic molecules in our own Solar System,”

says Nienke van der Marel, a Leiden Observatory researcher who also participated in the study.

Annotated image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) showing the dust trap in the disc that surrounds the system Oph-IRS 48. The dust trap provides a safe haven for the tiny dust particles in the disc, allowing them to clump together and grow to sizes that allow them to survive on their own. The green area is the dust trap, where the bigger particles accumulate. The size of the orbit of Neptune is shown in the upper left corner to show the scale.

Future studies of IRS 48 with ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in Chile and set to start operations later this decade, will allow the team to study the chemistry of the very inner regions of the disc, where planets like Earth may be forming.

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Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week – March.7.2022

March 7, 2022 TopSpacer

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

1. Tuesday, Mar. 8, 2022; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): We welcome back Joe Carroll to discuss his guest post on the David Brin blog. See our blog for his post which forms the discussion for tonight.

2. Hotel Mars – Wednesday, Mar. 9, 2022; 1:00 pm PST (3:00 pm CST, 4:00 pm EST): Douglas Messier returns to discuss SpaceX prioritizing for cyber defense and related news.

3. Friday, Mar.11, 2022; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome Nathan Hirsch and Jonathan Zarate to discuss the USC Liquid Propulsion Lab (LPL), its history, past and current projects, and plans.

4. Sunday, Mar.13, 2022; 12-1:30 pm PST (2-3:30 pm CST, 3-4:30 pm EST): This program is under construction at this time due to Space Show book writing schedules. Check the Upcoming Show Menu on our website for updates later in the week.

Some recent shows:

** Sunday, March.6.2022 – James A. M. Muncy discussed “commercial space and policy updates, Ukrainian impact on NewSpace”.

** Friday, March.4.2022 – Marc Bell, CEO of Terran Orbital gave a “brief cubesat history, LEO, MEO & GEO satellites, lunar satellites, DOD and intelligence agency customers and products, funding, public stock issues, and more“.

** Hotel Mars – Wednesday, March.2.2022 – Dr. Jeff Foust talked with John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston about the “state and future of the ISS due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine“.

** Tuesday, March.1.2022 – Michael Listner discussed “India, international space cooperation, norms, lawfare, Russia and Ukraine, congress passing a budget authorization, Artemis Accords, the ISS future, militarization of space, Eric Berger, NewSpace economic slowdown, FlightAware, stalled space legislation, commercial satellites & Ukraine, NEEP, FAA & SpaceX, FCC litigation with VIASAT and more“.

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

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

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In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – March.4.2022

March 4, 2022 TopSpacer

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Expedition 66 Space Station Crew Answers Ohio Student Questions – March 2, 2022 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 66 Flight Engineers Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn of NASA answered pre-recorded questions about life and work on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight event March 2 with the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Chari and Marshburn are in the midst of a planned six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** NLRA 2022-6: In-space Production Applications: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing – ISS National Lab – YouTube

On February 28, 2022, the ISS National Lab held a webinar to provide further background on NLRA 2022-6 and to answer any questions.

** Episode 58 – Geopolitics, Cooperation and the ISS – Space Thoughts

** Keeping it fluid(ics) | Cosmic Kiss 360° – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

Europe’s Columbus laboratory is a hive of activity in this 360° timelapse as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer works on an experiment called Fluidics and his @NASA colleague Raja Chari carries out activity in the Veggie plant habitat. Developed by French space agency @CNES and co-funded by @Airbus, the Fluidics experiment investigates how liquids behave in space. It was first run by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet in 2017 during his Proxima mission. Made up of six small, transparent spheres housed in the black centrifuge seen here, the experiment studies two phenomena. The first is ‘sloshing’ or how liquids move in enclosed spaces. The second is wave turbulence. Understanding the underlying physics of how liquids move in space will help improve the fuel economy of spacecraft and our knowledge of Earth’s oceans. By observing how surface forces behave in reduced gravity and singling out interactions, scientists aim to improve climate models for forecasting sea states and better understand wave formation on Earth. Fluidics is just one of many European and international science experiments Matthias is supporting throughout his six-month Cosmic Kiss mission.

Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss

** Media Briefing: NASA, Axiom, & SpaceX Officials Discuss 1st Private Astronaut Space Station Mission – Axiom Space

Axiom Space will host a virtual press conference at 11 a.m. EST Monday, Feb. 28, to preview the launch of Ax-1, the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch is targeted for Wednesday, March 30 at 2:46 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During the 10-day mission, which includes eight days aboard the space station, the four-person multi-national crew will complete more than 25 research experiments developed for microgravity in collaboration with leading health and science organizations across the globe. Axiom Space, a leader in human spaceflight and space infrastructure, is committed to the commercialization of low Earth orbit.

Briefing participants are:
• Michael Suffredini, President and CEO, Axiom
• Michael López-Alegría, Ax-1 Crew Commander, Axiom
• Christian Maender, Director, In-Space Research and Manufacturing, Axiom
• Kathy Lueders, Associate Administrator, Space Operations, NASA
• Robyn Gatens, Director, International Space Station, NASA
• Phil McAllister, Director, Commercial Spaceflight Division, NASA
• Benjamin Reed, Sr. Director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX

Ax-1’s crew includes Michael López-Alegría, Axiom vice president and former NASA astronaut, as commander; American entrepreneur and non-profit activist investor Larry Connor as pilot; investor and philanthropist Mark Pathy of Canada as mission specialist; and impact investor and philanthropist Eytan Stibbe of Israel as mission specialist. Axiom Space has contracted SpaceX to launch the Ax-1 crew to the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. Ax-1 is the first of several planned Axiom missions to the space station, each a critical step toward Axiom Station, the first private space station. This new method of access to low-Earth orbit is progress toward a next generation platform, which will serve as a center for scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to pursue revolutionary breakthroughs in the unique environment of microgravity.

For more information about Axiom Space and the Ax-1 mission, please visit: https://www.axiomspace.com