SPACE - random thread about space stuff

[jztemple2]

Interesting article: Texas abortion ban could take an unexpected toll on the space industry. One might note that the Florida legislature is considering a similar law.

Texas' new anti-abortion law could have an unforeseen side effect: upending the space industry.

On Sept. 1, a new abortion law went into effect in the state of Texas; a near-total ban that prohibits all people from seeking, receiving or performing abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy. The law could overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision to protect a pregnant person's ability to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction, and is expected to face judicial challenges. But while government officials continue to grapple with the legality of the ban, people who can get pregnant in Texas are grappling with the grim realities of its ramifications — and its consequences are already reaching the space sector.

"This law is just a nightmare," Frances "Poppy" Northcutt, now a Texas attorney who became the first female engineer to work at NASA's Mission Control during the Apollo program, told Space.com.

The new legislation bans abortions more than six weeks into a pregnancy — before many people are even aware they are pregnant — and permits individuals to sue violators (including medical professionals involved) for a monetary reward. The law comes despite a United Nations assertion in 2018 that access to abortion be considered a human right. Even President Joe Biden has criticized the law, saying that it infringes on constitutional rights and calling on his administration to respond.

Healthcare and spaceflight might seem unrelated, but Texas is a major aerospace hub. From NASA's Johnson Space Center to offices, factories and launch sites belonging to companies including SpaceX, Blue Origin and many more, roughly 144,000 people are employed in Texas in aerospace, the state reported in 2020.

NASA estimates that its Johnson Space Center in Houston employs 3,000 civil servants and works with roughly 12,000 contract employees; agency-wide, one-third of its employees are women. (These numbers only reflect binary gender categories.)

Comparable statistics aren't available for private space companies based in Texas, but given how many people work in aerospace in the state, it is clear that this law will directly impact many people in Texas.

[Daehawk]

Hubble telescope discovers 6 mysteriously dead, massive galaxies from early universe

Scientists studying early galaxies were stunned earlier this year when they discovered six massive galaxies that seem to have died during the universe's most active period of star birth. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope spied the six galaxies, which appeared to have run out of the cold hydrogen gas needed to make stars while most other galaxies were producing new stars at a rapid pace.

"At this point in our universe, all galaxies should be forming lots of stars. It's the peak epoch of star formation," Kate Whitaker, a University of Massachusetts, Amherst assistant professor of astronomy and lead author of a recent study on the six galaxies, said in a press release. "So what happened to all the cold gas in these galaxies so early on?"

[Formix]

Hubble telescope discovers 6 mysteriously dead, massive galaxies from early universe

Scientists studying early galaxies were stunned earlier this year when they discovered six massive galaxies that seem to have died during the universe's most active period of star birth. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope spied the six galaxies, which appeared to have run out of the cold hydrogen gas needed to make stars while most other galaxies were producing new stars at a rapid pace.

"At this point in our universe, all galaxies should be forming lots of stars. It's the peak epoch of star formation," Kate Whitaker, a University of Massachusetts, Amherst assistant professor of astronomy and lead author of a recent study on the six galaxies, said in a press release. "So what happened to all the cold gas in these galaxies so early on?"

First proof of Galactus!

[TheMix]

Hubble telescope discovers 6 mysteriously dead, massive galaxies from early universe

Scientists studying early galaxies were stunned earlier this year when they discovered six massive galaxies that seem to have died during the universe's most active period of star birth. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope spied the six galaxies, which appeared to have run out of the cold hydrogen gas needed to make stars while most other galaxies were producing new stars at a rapid pace.

"At this point in our universe, all galaxies should be forming lots of stars. It's the peak epoch of star formation," Kate Whitaker, a University of Massachusetts, Amherst assistant professor of astronomy and lead author of a recent study on the six galaxies, said in a press release. "So what happened to all the cold gas in these galaxies so early on?"

First proof of Galactus!

I was thinking along the lines of "We all know what happened...." But your's is much better!

[Holman]

Interesting article: Texas abortion ban could take an unexpected toll on the space industry. One might note that the Florida legislature is considering a similar law.

This set me thinking: why is it that 1960s NASA chose the southern US (Texas, Florida, Alabama) for its headquarters and bases for launch activity?

Was it (a) proximity to the equator, (b) local weather patterns, or (c) political considerations?

If (a), I can see the need to stay in the South. If (b) or (c), though, wouldn't it make sense to move north? I can see near-future Dixie becoming a place actual scientists won't want to live, and climate change might soon ruin the South's reputation for good launch weather.

[Jeff V]

Interesting article: Texas abortion ban could take an unexpected toll on the space industry. One might note that the Florida legislature is considering a similar law.

This set me thinking: why is it that 1960s NASA chose the southern US (Texas, Florida, Alabama) for its headquarters and bases for launch activity?

Was it (a) proximity to the equator, (b) local weather patterns, or (c) political considerations?

If (a), I can see the need to stay in the South. If (b) or (c), though, wouldn't it make sense to move north? I can see near-future Dixie becoming a place actual scientists won't want to live, and climate change might soon ruin the South's reputation for good launch weather.

Good question -- Raydude, do you have any comment? Political considerations seem unlikely as back in that day, there wasn't so much polarization.

[Kraken]

Interesting article: Texas abortion ban could take an unexpected toll on the space industry. One might note that the Florida legislature is considering a similar law.

This set me thinking: why is it that 1960s NASA chose the southern US (Texas, Florida, Alabama) for its headquarters and bases for launch activity?

Was it (a) proximity to the equator, (b) local weather patterns, or (c) political considerations?

If (a), I can see the need to stay in the South. If (b) or (c), though, wouldn't it make sense to move north? I can see near-future Dixie becoming a place actual scientists won't want to live, and climate change might soon ruin the South's reputation for good launch weather.

All of the above. This essay sums it up:

Launches into equatorial orbits (i.e. most space exploration, science, and communication satellite launches) need to be from a facility which is as close to the equator as possible while still being part of the US mainland and having empty ocean to its east for rockets to potentially explode over. In other words, they need to be on the Atlantic coast of Florida. That’s why the launches are from Cape Canaveral.

But Cape Canaveral is not a great place for the tens of thousands of engineers, technicians, scientists, administrators, and astronauts who comprise the manned space program. (That’s what’s in Houston—the manned space program, not “NASA headquarters”. The actual headquarters are in Washington.) When NASA started looking for a home for the manned space program in 1961, it identified a set of criteria for the facility:

"The site required access to water transportation by large barges, a moderate climate, availability of all-weather commercial jet service, a well established industrial complex with supporting technical facilities and labor, close proximity to a culturally attractive community in the vicinity of an institution of higher education, a strong electric utility and water supply, at least 1000 acres of land, and certain specified cost parameters."

Cape Canaveral itself certainly did not meet these criteria—it was an Air Force base next to a tiny town, intentionally isolated for safety’s sake. The Orlando metro area, an hour away, didn’t meet the criteria either. At the time, greater Orlando had a population of 200,000. It had no research universities, limited jet service through a facility shared with the Air Force, and a small Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) plant in an otherwise mostly agricultural economy. And only a handful of cities in the entire nation even met the weather and water supply requirements; Orlando wasn’t one of them. Cape Canaveral would eventually bring more universities and industry to Orlando, and the theme park industry would expand its population and airport facilities, but none of that had happened yet.

Instead, NASA evaluated sites in 23 cities and selected three finalists:

Tampa, Florida, on MacDill Air Force Base, which was slated for closure.
Houston, Texas, on land donated by Rice University.
San Francisco, California, at Benicia Arsenal, which was slated for closure.

The Tampa site evaporated when the Air Force decided to keep its base, so NASA went with Houston, their second choice. It had a large technical workforce supporting the oil industry, two research universities, an airport (Houston Hobby) with robust domestic and international jet traffic, and the sorts of museums, theaters, and musicians that keep administrators and dignitaries from trying to get out of the place as soon as possible. The facts that the Vice President was a Texan and the chair of the House appropriations subcommittee in charge of NASA represented Houston were certainly factors too, but there were a lot of reasons to choose Houston.

[Holman]

Very interesting. Thanks!

[Holman]

I always remember that in 1965 my dad (three years before I was born) got offers out of grad school from both AT&T and NASA. He picked AT&T because he thought it would be more secure and stable.

My dad could have been in NASA management in 1968 when I was born. WHAT THE FUCK, Dad??

[raydude]

Interesting article: Texas abortion ban could take an unexpected toll on the space industry. One might note that the Florida legislature is considering a similar law.

This set me thinking: why is it that 1960s NASA chose the southern US (Texas, Florida, Alabama) for its headquarters and bases for launch activity?

Was it (a) proximity to the equator, (b) local weather patterns, or (c) political considerations?

If (a), I can see the need to stay in the South. If (b) or (c), though, wouldn't it make sense to move north? I can see near-future Dixie becoming a place actual scientists won't want to live, and climate change might soon ruin the South's reputation for good launch weather.

Good question -- Raydude, do you have any comment? Political considerations seem unlikely as back in that day, there wasn't so much polarization.

If the question is why do I think NASA chose Texas in the 60s? I would have answered no idea. Until I read the essay linked by Kraken. Then I'd point to that link.

If the question is, what do I think about the Texas abortion ban and the effect on the space industry then I would say, NASA should enter the fight. As one of the few federal agencies that is generally liked by the public, NASA is in a unique position to be the champion of women's rights. After all, who wants to be seen as the enemy of female space explorers?

They don't even necessarily have to actively protest the law. Just give women legal protection and options to get abortions. Maybe even put out press releases to the effect of "Mary Jane, Mission Control lead for the past 3 missions to ISS, latest victim of Texas abortion law." Make the narrative one of evil old white men vs. female space scientists and engineers.

[Unagi]

Well, a vast vast majority of women that go through an abortion would rather not make it a public thing, as I believe I would also feel.

Regarding Texas, I always thought it was for the latitude (close to the equator) and the safe splash-down in the Gulf, for any failed launch. Likewise, the Atlantic for Florida.

[Kraken]

I don't think NASA launches rockets from TX.

[Unagi]

I don't think NASA launches rockets from TX.

You’re right.
Calif, Fl, and a few other rando , but not Texas.
I was conflating FL into Houston control.

[jztemple2]

Regarding Texas, I always thought it was for the latitude (close to the equator) and the safe splash-down in the Gulf, for any failed launch. Likewise, the Atlantic for Florida.

This is the thinking of SpaceX no doubt, regarding the Gulf. The only issues that would occur to me are the fixed oil platforms might get in the way and depending on the launch trajectory, whether the flight path would cross land areas and a failed ascent might endanger populated areas.

[raydude]

Well, a vast vast majority of women that go through an abortion would rather not make it a public thing, as I believe I would also feel.

No doubt they would rather not have it public. But the way the law is written in Texas, all it takes is an associate of the woman with Neanderthal thinking to realize that said woman is getting/has had an abortion and then suing the woman as a private citizen. At that point, NASA needs to have the woman's back.

[Kraken]

Well, a vast vast majority of women that go through an abortion would rather not make it a public thing, as I believe I would also feel.

No doubt they would rather not have it public. But the way the law is written in Texas, all it takes is an associate of the woman with Neanderthal thinking to realize that said woman is getting/has had an abortion and then suing the woman as a private citizen. At that point, NASA needs to have the woman's back.

Aren't those lawsuits going to be a matter of public record?

Insofar as the TX abortion law impacts NASA, FL just introduced copycat legislation, so double-whammy. NASA could hypothetically move Mission Control to a friendlier state (they won't), but Kennedy Space Center definitely ain't going nowhere.

[jztemple2]

More hi-tech jobs for Florida, specifically our county: Terran Orbital to open a $300M satellite manufacturing and component facility on Florida’s Space Coast

Satellite manufacturing company Terran Orbital said Monday it would open the world’s largest space vehicle manufacturing facility on Florida’s Space Coast at a cost of $300 million.

The 660,000-square-foot factory will be capable of producing “thousands of different types of space vehicles per year,” including 1000 complete satellites and over 1 million satellite components per year, the company said in a statement.

Terran Orbital was founded in 2013, the same year that it acquired nanosatellite developer Tyvak, but has maintained a low profile since. In 2017, Lockheed Martin took a small stake in the company. While Terran operates a 128,000-square-foot facility in Irvine, California, CEO and co-founder Marc Bell told TechCrunch in a recent interview that Terran doesn’t disclose its current manufacturing capacity or how many satellites it has built.

Terran Orbital is a contract manufacturer that designs, builds and engineers satellites, primarily for the U.S. government. Bell said around 95% of Terran’s work is related to NASA and the Department of the Defense, and he declined to specify any of the company’s commercial customers.

The company will also be developing its own satellite constellation, Bell added. These satellites will use a type of synthetic aperture radar that will be capable of capturing images even through clouds or other weather events that impact visibility, like thunderstorms. Terran said it will start launching these satellites at the end of 2022.

It’s anticipated that the facility will be completed in 2025 and should generate around 2,100 jobs at an average wage of $84,000. The facility is being built in partnership with Space Florida, the state’s aerospace development authority, which is providing the conduit financing.

The announcement marks the latest boost for Florida’s Space Coast, which is already home to facilities owned by SpaceX, Blue Origin, Redwire and others. Last year, more than 1,200 satellites were launched into space, more than double the amount that were sent to orbit the previous year.

[jztemple2]

Auroras expected tonight in New York, Washington and Wisconsin as solar storm barrels toward Earth

A moderate solar storm will slam into Earth today (Sept. 27), potentially causing auroras to dance in the sky at much lower latitudes than usual. As a result, the Northern Lights may be visible tonight in the northern United States, including New York, Wisconsin and Washington state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

The storm — which is made up of charged solar particles oozing across space — may also cause satellite disruptions and some "power grid fluctuations" at high latitudes (particularly above the 55th parallel north, a line that runs through Canada, Northern Ireland and much of Russia), NOAA said.

However, the storm will remain relatively weak, ranking as a level G2 storm on a five-level scale where G5 is the most severe. Only in category G4 storms and above are widespread power outages expected, according to NOAA.

[jztemple2]

This might be something for folks who are interested in the history of the space program as seen through the eyes of one of the significant trade publications of the late 1950s through most of the 1960s, Missiles and Rockets magazine. The link takes you to collected and scanned volumes, about 12 issues in each downloadable PDF or other format, which are hosted by Archive.org. The oldest volume starts with the January 4, 1960 issue.

A description of the magazine:

Missiles and Rockets was a professional trade periodical developed in 1957 to facilitate the aerospace industry. This was a new industry at the time, built out of component parts that included the aeronautic, electronic, and automotive industries, as well as research science. The US government's Cold War and science-based decision to fund satellite research at a high level in 57 was an abrupt development, following years of low levels of funding. The result was a "gold rush" mentality across the constituent industries that all sought to redefine themselves in terms of their potential contributions to aerospace. In its early years, Missiles and Rockets editorialized in favor of large-scale, science fiction-based schemes for civil and military exploration and exploitation of outer space. As the technologies matured, the editorial tone developed toward a more realistic acquaintance with the realities of programmatic funding and technological development. Missiles and Rockets was absorbed by competitors and ceased publication in 1968.

[Zaxxon]

The Verge has a scoop, via FOIA request, on some of the legal maneuvering between Blue Origin, NASA, and Spacex for the HLS procurement brouhaha.

From NASA's response to BO:

In NASA’s main response to Blue Origin’s protest, filed in late May, senior agency attorneys accused the company of employing a sort of door-in-the-face bidding tactic with its $5.9 billion proposal for Blue Moon, the lunar lander Blue Origin is building with a “National Team” that includes Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Blue Origin was “able and willing” to offer NASA a lower price for its lunar lander but chose not to because it expected NASA to ask and negotiate for a lower price first, the attorneys allege, citing a six-page declaration written by the company’s senior vice president Brent Sherwood in April.

In the declaration, Sherwood complains that NASA “did not afford Blue Origin, a well-funded private space company backed by Jeff Bezos, any opportunity to submit a revised business position” when NASA found out it wouldn’t have enough money from Congress to fund two lander proposals. He said Blue Origin had already committed “almost one billion dollars” of corporate contributions and private investments to the Moon lander bid, and “had the financial potential to increase” that.

Backed by the world’s richest man, Blue Origin indicated in its protest that the $5.9 billion price — nearly double SpaceX’s proposal — was partially based on an assumption that NASA would have more than enough money from Congress to pay for the proposal, even as Congress had been indicating a month before Blue Origin submitted its proposal last December that it wouldn’t give NASA all the funding it said it needed. In NASA’s response, the attorneys said companies were instructed to submit their best proposal first. They pointed to seven instances where NASA told bidders its award decision, and whether to pick one or two companies was based on how much funding it’d end up getting from Congress.

But Blue Origin argued that NASA should’ve canceled or changed the terms of the program when Congress voted to give the agency only a quarter of what it requested. Blue Origin has also argued that it was unfair of NASA to only invite SpaceX to tweak parts of its proposal after selecting it for a potential award, one of many claims that NASA attacked over hundreds of pages of legal rebuttals.

Overall, NASA effectively called BS on that argument, saying “Blue Origin made a bet and it lost.”

Blue Origin “made an assumption about the Agency’s HLS budget, built its proposal with this figure in mind, and also separately made a calculated bet that if NASA could not afford Blue Origin’s initially-proposed price, the Agency would select Blue Origin for award and engage in post-selection negotiations to allow Blue Origin to lower its price. All of these assumptions were incorrect,” the four NASA attorneys wrote in the so-called Agency Report, dated May 26th. “Realizing now that it gambled and lost, Blue Origin seeks to use GAO’s procurement oversight function to improperly compel NASA to suffer the consequences of Blue Origin’s ill-conceived choices.”

[Zaxxon]

Blue Origin's descent continues...

Rife with sexism: employees of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin describe 'toxic' workplace culture.

I'm primed to take some of this letter with a grain of salt, but on the whole this seems pretty damning.







In other space news, the Super Heavy orbital launch is looking more and more like 2022, as the PEA public comment period was extended to 11/1 this morning:

[jztemple2]

Mercury looks stunning in this 1st flyby photo from Europe and Japan's BepiColombo mission

wo spacecraft built by Europe and Japan captured their first up-close look at the planet Mercury in a weekend flyby, revealing a rocky world covered with craters.

The two linked probes, known together as BepiColombo, snapped their first image of Mercury late Friday (Oct. 1) during a flyby that sent them zooming around the planet. The encounter marked the first of six Mercury flybys for BepiColombo, a joint effort by the space agencies of Europe and Japan, to slow itself enough to enter orbit around the planet in 2025.

BepiColombo took its first official photo of Mercury at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT) with its Mercury Transfer Module Monitoring Camera 2, a black-and-white navigation camera, as the probe was about 1,502 miles (2,418 kilometers) away from the planet, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). Just 10 minutes earlier, at 7:34 p.m. EDT, BepiColombo made its closest approach to Mercury, passing within 124 miles (200 km) of the planet.

The two orbiters are riding to their target planet on the Mercury Transfer Module on a seven-year trip that began with a launch in 2018. So far, BepiColombo has successfully made four flybys of three different planets: one of Earth in April 2020, two of Venus (in October 2020 and August 2021) and now one of Mercury.

The next Mercury flyby is scheduled for June 20, 2022 and will be followed by four more flybys in June 2023, September and December of 2024, and January 2025. If all goes well, BepiColombo is expected to enter orbit around Mercury on Dec. 5, 2025.

[Hrdina]

Given how much recruiting I have seen from BO lately, I bet their turnover has been bad.

[Kraken]

Fun fact: It's harder to visit Mercury than the outer solar system because to go into orbit you have to slow down enough to be captured, and the sun has other ideas about your trajectory. Good explainer here.

[Jeff V]

The main difference between NASA and indy companies is that the latter is angling for profits. We still need a NASA for purely scientific pursuits.

[raydude]

Given how much recruiting I have seen from BO lately, I bet their turnover has been bad.

And it's not like there are tons of aerospace engineers working on space stuff; it's a small enough community that word gets around. I'll bet the ones that apply to BO are not necessarily the best of the bunch; they just couldn't get hired on to other companies.

[stessier]

First video in the James Webb telescope series.

[Daehawk]

God bless Hubble

[jztemple2]

William Shatner will launch into space with Blue Origin on Oct. 12

Captain Kirk will boldly go where some men have gone before, on a suborbital flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard launch system.

Actor William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame and Blue Origin's Audrey Powers, the vice president of missions and flight operations, will fill the last two seats on the company's second crewed flight, due to blast off from New Shepard's west Texas launch site in just over a week, on Oct. 12. Rumors were swirling in late September that the 90-year-old actor would be on the company's second flight, which today's announcement confirms.

[Zaxxon]

It's awesome that he's going, but I have to admit to some worry about the possibility of Shatner's 90-year old body not holding up well to those G-forces.

[jztemple2]

Chinese company aims for suborbital space tourism with familiar rocket design

If you're seeing a mashup of Blue Origin and SpaceX, you're not seeing things.

A Chinese launch company is aiming to provide rides to space for tourists as soon as 2024, apparently drawing inspiration from the exploits of Blue Origin.

CAS Space, a commercial spinoff from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is already developing rockets for commercial satellite launches and announced in August that it wants to send people up into space, albeit briefly.

According to the press release, CAS Space is working on a single-stage reusable rocket which would take as many as seven passengers on a 10-minute ride up above the Kármán line at 62 miles (100 kilometers), which is generally held to be the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

"You've got your SpaceX in my Blue Origin!". "No, you've got your Blue Origin in my SpaceX!"

[Zaxxon]

"You've got your SpaceX in my Blue Origin!". "No, you've got your Blue Origin in my SpaceX!"

I'd settle for some Blue Origin in my orbit.

[Zaxxon]

Not looking great for Starliner's next attempt anytime soon. NASA is purportedly shuffling astronauts that were scheduled for Starliner onto Dragon.

[Daehawk]

[jztemple2]

1,000 days on the moon! China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits big milestone

A Chinese lander and rover are still up and running more than 1,000 Earth days after they made a historic first-ever landing on the far side of the moon. The Chang'e 4 lander carrying the Yutu 2 rover touched down in Von Kármán Crater on Jan. 2, 2019, and the robotic mission has been exploring the unique area of our celestial neighbor ever since. Both spacecraft reached the 1,000-days-on-the-moon mark on Sept. 28. The Yutu 2 rover has covered a total of 2,754 feet (839.37 meters) of lunar ground and acquired 3,632.01 gigabytes of data during its driving, Chinese officials have said.

China's Yutu 2 rover, as seen by the Chang'e 4 lander, on the far side of the moon. (Image credit: CNSA)

[Zaxxon]

That's awesome.

[Daehawk]

[Daehawk]

[Unagi]

Viagra should totally sponsor Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket in some way.

It just struck me when I saw the rocket standing there with the words 'blue origin' written on it...

[Daehawk]

I tried to reset the video to the start but it refuses to do that even when I remove the timestamp in the link. You'll just have to restart it yourselves. But its worth it.