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Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 1 of 14 February 2019
Update
Apollo 14 on the Moon
Oklahoma Space Alliance
A Chapter of The National Space Society
A free email newsletter of the Oklahoma Space Alliance
February 2019
February 2019 OSA Meeting
Saturday, February 9, 2019
2:00 PM
Zio’s Italian Restaurant
1353 24th Ave NW, Norman, OK
405-793-7427
Program— Space News and Events
Website: http://osa.nss.org
Quote of the Month "Some question why Americans should return to the Moon. “After all,” they say “we have already been there.” I find that mystifying. It would be as if 16th century monarchs proclaimed that “we need not go to the New World, we have already been there.” Or as if President Thomas Jefferson announced in 1803 that Americans “need not go west of the Mississippi, the Lewis and Clark Expedition has already been there.” Americans have visited and examined 6 locations on Luna, varying in size from a suburban lot to a small township. That leaves more than 14 million square miles yet to explore.”
Neil Armstrong
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 2 of 14 February 2019
Table of Contents Apollo 14 on the Moon .............................................................................................................. 1
January 2019 OSA Meeting ....................................................................................................... 1
Quote of the Month ................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2
SpaceX’s First Test of Raptor Engine ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
SpaceX Has Many Milestones Expected in 2019.………………………………..…………………………………….4
Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Pilots Awarded FAA Astronaut Wings ......................................... 5
Buzz Aldrin Honored in State of the Union Address……………………………………………………………..…..5
New Shepard Test Flight Carries NASA Experiments .................................................................. 6
LRO Photographed Chang'e 4 on Far Side of the Moon ............................................................. 7
Space Station Module Has Hundreds of Dents from Debris ....................................................... 8
Missile Defense Review Emphasizes Space-Based Missile Defense Systems .............................. 9
NASA Battled Cybersecurity Threats During Government Shutdown………………………………………10
Kendra Horn to Chair House Science Space Subcommittee ………….………………………………………..11
Virgin Galactic Partners with Under Armor.…………………………………………..………….……………………12
Feature-length video: Debate on NASA’S Lunar Gateway ……………………………………………....…….13
That’s All Folks ......................................................................................................................... 14
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 3 of 14 February 2019
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update
February 9, 2019
Editor Cliff McMurray
Asst Editor Claire McMurray
405-863-6173 (C)
The Oklahoma Space Alliance Update is a bi-monthly newsletter of the Oklahoma Space Alliance a chapter
of the National Space Society, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. The
address of OSA is 102 W. Linn, #1, Norman, OK 73071.
Unless otherwise noted, all contents of articles herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone but the writer. Reprint rights are granted to recognized
chapters of NSS, provided credit is given.
Articles may be submitted by U.S. mail or electronically. Articles may be sent to the Editor at
121 South Creekdale Drive, Norman, OK 73072 or to [email protected]. Each submission should include the author’s name and either e-mail address
or phone number (for verification only). A text or Microsoft Word file is preferred. Please contact the
Editor by phone, e-mail or texting before mailing your information.
OSA Officers for 2019 President & Cliff McMurray
Update Editor
[email protected] 405-863-6173 (C)
Vice President David Sheely [email protected]
405-8321-9077 (C) Secretary & Syd Henderson
Outreach Editor
405-321-4027(H)
405-365-8983(C)
Treasurer Tim Scott
405-740-7549(H)
NSS Headquarters 1155 15th Street NW, Suite 500 Washington DC 20005
Exec Director Kirby Ikin
202-429-1600
SpaceX’s First Test of Raptor Engine
SpaceX has test-fired the flight version of its new
Raptor rocket engine for the first time. This is the
engine to be used on both stages of the BFR (now
called Super Heavy and Starship).
Source and video:
https://www.space.com/43218-spacex-raptor-rocket-engine-test-video.html?utm_source=sdc-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign
=20190205-sdc
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 4 of 14 February 2019
SpaceX Has Many Milestones Expected in 2019
SpaceX launched 21 missions in 2018, up from up from 18 launches in 2017. Expected this year: first flights of Crew Dragon, additional flights of Falcon Heavy, test flights of Starhopper (the prototype for BFR), and more.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikcdm8r4Jy4
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 5 of 14 February 2019
Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Pilots Awarded FAA Astronaut Wings
Virgin Galactic test pilots Mark "Forger" Stucky and Frederick "CJ" Sturckow were awarded Commercial Astronaut Wings by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday (Feb. 7). The two were recognized during a ceremony held at the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., for their Dec. 13, 2018, flight aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo "VSS Unity," which was the first time that the vehicle had flown into space.
Story with video: https://www.space.com/43258-virgin-galactic-pilots-astronaut-wings-faa.html
Buzz Aldrin Honored in State of the Union Address
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 6 of 14 February 2019
Donald Trump paid homage to the Apollo 11 crew in his State of the Union address this week. He also mentioned the upcoming return of American crew-carrying spacecraft, but did not mention his proposal for a Space Force.
Story and video: https://www.space.com/43241-trump-apollo-11-state-of-the-union-2019.html
New Shepard Test Flight Carries NASA Experiments
The New Shepard reusable launch system was launched and landed at Blue Origin’s West Texas Launch Site, on 23 January 2019. This was the fourth mission for this New Shepard launch vehicle. For Blue Origin’s mission NS-10, the New Shepard Crew Capsule 2.0 transported nine NASA-sponsored research and technology payloads
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzYCDbDlnc
LRO Photographed Chang'e 4 on Far Side of the Moon
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 7 of 14 February 2019
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently photographed the Chang'e 4 lander, which on Jan. 2 became the first-ever spacecraft to make a soft touchdown on the moon's mysterious far side, on the floor of the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater. The photo gives an impressive sense of the scale of the crater.
Source: https://www.space.com/43252-china-far-side-moon-lander-nasa-photo.html
Video of Chang’e 4’s landing as seen from onboard camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJi_YEubKCY
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 8 of 14 February 2019
Space Station Module Has Hundreds of Dents from Debris
A new scan of an International Space Station module shows several hundred impact craters from "marauding" debris, according to the European Space Agency. But so far, the hull of the European Columbus science laboratory is doing its job in protecting astronaut crews.
After nearly 11 years in orbit, Columbus shows wear and tear from tiny meteorites striking its surface, as well as from possible bits of human-generated space debris, according to a statement from ESA. Agency officials haven't expressed any concerns about the damage yet, but this new information will better feed into models of orbital debris density near Earth.
Source: https://www.space.com/43145-space-debris-dents-european-station-module.html
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 9 of 14 February 2019
Missile Defense Review Emphasizes Space-Based Missile Defense Systems
There is renewed interest in developing space-based interceptors, but there’s also a lot of resistance due to expense. Don’t expect to see anything deployed any time soon, but it’s interesting to see it being talked about again.
Article: http://theavion.com/missile-defense-review-emphasizes-space-based-missile-defense-systems/
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 10 of 14 February 2019
NASA Battled Cybersecurity Threats During Government Shutdown
When the U.S. government partially shut down in December,
furloughing almost all NASA employees for 35 days, missed
paychecks and stalled science weren't the only issues NASA had to
worry about. The shutdown also threatened the agency's
cybersecurity, NASA officials said at a post-shutdown town hall
meeting Tuesday (Jan. 29).
Story and video: https://www.space.com/43215-nasa-
cybersecurity-government-shutdown.html
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 11 of 14 February 2019
Kendra Horn to Chair House Science Space Subcommittee
U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn will lead a House Science subcommittee on space and aeronautics, House Democrats announced Wednesday, giving her an early leadership role on space policy. Horn has a background in space: she worked for the Space Foundation, first as Manager of Government Affairs at their D.C. office and later as the Manager of Communication and Media Relations until 2008.
Oklahoma has an outsize role in space policy, with Tulsa resident Jim Bridenstine leading NASA and Rep. Frank Lucas, of Cheyenne, serving as the top Republican on the House Science Committee.
Story: https://newsok.com/article/5621609/kendra-horn-to-chair-space-subcommittee
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 12 of 14 February 2019
Virgin Galactic Partners with Under Armor
Under Armour has announced that it’ll be going to space as the
apparel partner of Virgin Galactic. Under Armour says it will be
creating a new generation of space apparel and footwear, plus an
astronaut performance program, for Virgin’s commercial space flight
program. That includes spacesuits for passengers and pilots, as well
as uniforms for Virgin’s Spaceport America facility in New Mexico.
Story and videos: https://www.fastcompany.com/90296359/under-
armour-is-going-to-space-for-real-this-time-with-virgin-
galactic?utm_medium=email
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 13 of 14 February 2019
Feature-length video: Debate on NASA’S Lunar Gateway
The 2018 Mars Society Convention held a debate on the Lunar Orbital Platform-
Gateway: "Breakthrough or Boondoggle?" (Spoiler: Bob Zubrin gets the best of it,
again)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f6fMI5DiOA
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 14 of 14 February 2019
That’s All Folks