update february 2016 oklahoma space allianceosa.nss.org/update1602.pdf · 405-821-9077 secretary...
TRANSCRIPT
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 1 of 20 February, 2016
Update
President’s Message By Stephen T. Swift
As seen in the past months, converging trends dominate space news. Convergence is not toward a place like Florida, Texas, Alabama or California. Rather, convergence is to a time. That time is now! These trends are significant enough and diverse enough to create a Phase Shift, an acceleration, a diversification and a burst of energy toward a richer, more robust, phase of space development. To quote Jack Nickelson speaking at the Oscars a few years ago: “You ain’t seen nothin yet”!
See Phase Shift at the end this Update.
Oklahoma Space
Alliance A Chapter of The
National Space Society A free email newsletter of the Oklahoma Space Alliance
February 2016
February OSA Meeting
Saturday, February 13, 2016
2:00 PM
Earl’s Rib Palace
920 SW 25th, Moore, OK
405-793-7427
Program—Celebrate space flight and space news with us. Enjoy
presentation on space events with slides and
videos. See Phase Shift.
Quote of the Month
“What commercial space industry is producing is amazing. We need to take advantage of it.”
Jim Bridenstine
Oklahoma 1st Districet Congressman Quote from Bridenstine’s pages in US House web site.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 2 of 20 February, 2016
Table of Contents President’s Message .................................................................................................................. 1
February OSA Meeting ............................................................................................................... 1
Quote of the Month ................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2
Blue Origin Reuses Rocket ......................................................................................................... 3
NASA Awards ISS Cargo Transport Contracts ............................................................................. 4
Falcon 9 v1.1 Launches Jason-3 Satellite .................................................................................... 5
Near Perfect Landing But No Cigar ............................................................................................. 6
Making Moonday Memorable ................................................................................................... 7
Movers and Shakers ................................................................................................................... 8
Zinnia Blooms in Space Station .................................................................................................. 9
New Seafloor Map ................................................................................................................... 10
Monitoring Rice Production from Space .................................................................................. 11
Stillwater, OK Company Manufactures Space Products ........................................................... 12
Scott Kelly Demonstrates Ping Pong with Water ...................................................................... 13
Asteroid Mining Will Assist Us to Travel to Space .................................................................... 14
OSA Members Visit Aviation and Aerospace Day ..................................................................... 15
What’s Happening? .................................................................................................................. 16
USAF Awards Propulsion Contracts ....................................................................................... 16
SpaceX test Fires Recoverd F9............................................................................................... 16
Large Methne Engines Coming Soon ..................................................................................... 17
ESA Invests in Dream Chaser ................................................................................................. 17
How Coffee is Brewed on ISS ................................................................................................ 17
Record Nbr of Airane 5 Launches .......................................................................................... 18
Bridenstine Makes Case for FAA/AST .................................................................................... 18
Atlas 5 Launches GPS iiF-12 .................................................................................................. 18
That’s All Folks ......................................................................................................................... 19
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 3 of 20 February, 2016
Oklahoma Space Alliance
Update
February 13, 2016
Editor Stephen Swift
405-496-3616
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 1125 S Air Depot Blvd. No112, Midwest City, OK 73110 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 2016 President & Stephen Swift
Update Editor
405-496-3616
Vice President David Sheely
405-821-9077
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 TBD
202-429-1600
Blue Origin Reuses Rocket
Jeff Bezos at Florida Announcement Credit: Blue Origin
Two months after it flew into space and landed smoothly, Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard booster made the trip again November 23, proving it can be reused for future space tourism jaunts and laying the groundwork for a future commercial satellite launcher, the company said.
The hydrogen-fueled single stage rocket took off and landed at a West Texas test facility owned by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000.
See article and video at http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/01/23/blue-origins-reusable-new-shepard-booster-flies-again/.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 4 of 20 February, 2016
NASA Awards ISS Cargo Transport Contracts
Orbital ATK Cygnus Credit: Orbital ATK
Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser Credit: SNC
SpaceX’s Dragon Credit: NASA
NASA has awarded three cargo contracts to ensure the critical science, research and technology demonstrations that are informing the agency’s journey to Mars are delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) from 2019 through 2024. The agency unveiled its selection of Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia; Sierra Nevada Corporation of Sparks, Nevada; and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California.
Awarding multiple contracts provides more options and reduces risk through a variety of launch options and mission types, providing the ISS program a robust portfolio of cargo services that will necessary to maximize the utility of the station.
See article at http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-international-space-station-cargo-transport-contracts.
See Sierra Nevada video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHvBUqfWDRs.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 5 of 20 February, 2016
Falcon 9 v1.1 Launches Jason-3 Satellite
Falcon 9 positioned for Jason-3 Launch Screenshot: SpaceX Video
SpaceX launched an international ocean research mission Sunday via its Falcon 9 rocket, the final F9 to fly in the v1.1 configuration. Flying from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the rocket lifted off with the Jason-3 spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 4E. See article at http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/01/spacex-launch-jason-3/.
The science objectives for Jason-3 are:
Extend the time series of ocean surface topography measurements beyond TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 to accomplish two decades of observations
Provide a minimum of three years of global ocean surface topography measurement
Determine the variability of ocean circulation at decadal time scales from combined data record of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1
Improve the measure of the time-averaged ocean circulation Improve the measure of global sea-level change Improve open ocean tide models
Credit: Wikipedia Jason 3-3
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 6 of 20 February, 2016
Near Perfect Landing But No Cigar
Falcon 9 Booster Lands on Drone Ship Before Leg Fails Causing Crash Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX came much closer to sticking the landing of their Falcon 9 rocket on a tiny droneship at sea than initially thought, as evidenced by a dramtic video of the latest attempt to recover the booster by making a soft ocean touchdown on Sunday, Jan. 17, after successfully propelling a US-European ocean surveillance satellite to low Earth orbit.
See article and video at http://www.universetoday.com/126854/watch-spacex-falcon-9-rocket-almost-stick-droneship-landing-tip-explode-video/.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 7 of 20 February, 2016
Making Moonday Memorable By Ken Murphy, President NSS of North Texas
Moon Day Event Credit: Ken Murphy
The NSS North Texas chapter has turned Moon Day into a significant event with 1500 people attending in 2015.
“The director of the Frontiers of Flight Museum approached me about putting together an event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing…. I decided to eschew a standard Apollo retrospective, and proposed that we instead celebrate the future of space exploration and showcase the space-related resources that are available in North Texas. The past offers valuable lessons, but it’s hard to move forward when your gaze is fixed on the past. Why not use the Apollo 11 anniversary as a platform for looking into the future?” Ken Murphy quoted in The Space Review.
See article at http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2897/1.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 8 of 20 February, 2016
Movers and Shakers
As a freshman, Bridenstine made his mark as a champion for companies seeking to
commercialize the collection of weather data via satellite, traditionally a
government function. He has since taken over the chairmanship of the House
Science environment subcommittee, a bully pulpit from which he continues to press
the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrate to integrate commercial
data into its weather forecasting models. See article at http://spacenews.com/5-
space-leaders-making-a-difference/. See Bridenstine plans broad space reform at
http://spacenews.com/bridenstine-planning-broad-space-reform-bill/. Also see
http://spacenews.com/u-s-air-force-taking-closer-look-at-buying-commercial-
weather-data/.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 9 of 20 February, 2016
Zinnia Blooms in Space Station
Zinnia Blossom Onboard the ISS Credit: Astronaut Jim Kelly
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 10 of 20 February, 2016
New Seafloor Map
Indian Oceanfloor Map Credit: NASA
The map above shows seafloor gravity anomalies in the western Indian Ocean, as assembled by David Sandwell of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Walter Smith of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and colleagues. Shades of orange and red represent areas where seafloor gravity is stronger than the global average, a phenomenon that mostly coincides with the location of underwater ridges, seamounts, and the edges of Earth's tectonic plates. The darkest shades of blue represent areas with the lowest gravity, corresponding to the deepest troughs and trenches in the ocean.
The map was created through computer analysis and modeling of new satellite data from the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 and from the NASA-CNES Jason-1, as well as older data from missions flown in the 1980s and 90s.
See article at http://spaceref.com/earth/new-seafloor-map-helps-scientists-find-new-features.html.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 11 of 20 February, 2016
Monitoring Rice Production from Space
Observing Rice Productivity from Space Credit: NASA
These two satellite images depict the An Giang Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, a major rice-producing region, at different times of year. Dark blue and black areas are inundated and have low biomass, while white and gray areas are other crops like row crops and trees. The differences in color indicate a change in the ratio between soil moisture and biomass. Credits: NASA
See article at http://spaceref.com/earth/monitoring-rice-production-from-space.html.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 12 of 20 February, 2016
Stillwater, OK Company Manufactures Space Products
The large steel vessel, with doors that seal, is called a thermal vacuum chamber. It is used by
engineers to test critical equipment designed, and built by Frontier before it is fitted into place on NASA's International Space Station. Credit: NEWSOK
Frontier is a high-tech aerospace engineering company that produces avionics, maritime radar and video distribution systems, space flight hardware, automated test systems, and components for defensive weapons systems. Clients include the U.S. Navy and prime contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, Rolls said.
The company employs 115 people in Stillwater, including 53 engineers with projected revenue of $28 million this year.
See article and video at http://newsok.com/article/5473564.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 13 of 20 February, 2016
Scott Kelly Demonstrates Ping Pong with Water
Scott Kelly in International Space Station Credit: NASA
Published on Jan 21, 2016
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who marked day 300 of a historic year in space on Jan. 21, 2016, shows off another fascinating feature of life in microgravity. Kelly used two paddles with hydrophobic, or water repellant, features to pass a sphere of water back and forth.
See article and video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLbhrMCM4_0.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 14 of 20 February, 2016
Asteroid Mining Will Assist Us to Travel to Space
Asteroid Capture Image Credit: Deep Space Industries
Imagine a world with ubiquitous, affordable space travel, where getting in a spaceship is no stranger than getting in an airplane. Harvard undergraduate Nina Hooper, an astrophysics student, shows how mining asteroids for platinum could be the way to make space travel cheap and accessible to civilians. Nina Hooper is a Harvard College student from Melbourne, Australia studying astrophysics. She loves traveling and adventure and is working towards what she believes is the ultimate adventure - going to space. She is also a private pilot, a songwriter and a major foodie. Nina intends to pursue a graduate degree in aerospace and astrospace engineering either in the US or UK.
See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-TVRtPlFIA&feature=youtu.be.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 15 of 20 February, 2016
OSA Members Visit Aviation and Aerospace Day
Display Area with Capitol Arches Credit: OSA Member Karen Swift
Stephen Swift, Karen Swift and Rosemary Swift visited Aviation and Aerospace Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Aviation and Aerospace companies and organizations from throughout the State had kiosks and tables with representatives on the Fourth Floor Rotunda. Participants included numerous companies, university aerospace departments, the FAA center including FAA/AST, the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority, the Stafford Air and Space Museum, and some student groups.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 16 of 20 February, 2016
What’s Happening?
News: February, 2016
USAF Awards Propulsion Contracts
SpaceX and Orbital ATK win contracts to develop rocket engines to reduce US dependence on Russian rocket engines.
See article at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/defense/orbital-atk-spacex-awarded-contracts-u-s-air-force/.
Raptor methane engine model Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX test Fires Recoverd F9
In a major advance towards the dream of rocket reusability, SpaceX successfully test fired the first stage engines of the Falcon 9 booster they successfully recovered last month.
See article at http://www.universetoday.com/126837/spacex-test-fires-recovered-falcon-9-booster-major-step-reusable-rockets/.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 17 of 20 February, 2016
Large Methne Engines Coming Soon
Russia to develop new comptetor for SpaceX’s Raptor engine and Blue Origin’s BE4 engine. Russian Space Agency Roscosmos announced development of a new methane-powered rocket engine to keep up with international competition. See article at https://www.rt.com/news/329003-roscosmos-methane-powered-engine/.
BE4 engine artwork Credit: Blue Origin
ESA Invests in Dream Chaser
ESA invests $36 M in development of berthing and docking machanism for Dream Chaser Cargo to attach to ISS.
See article at http://spacenews.com/europe-to-invest-in-sierra-nevadas-dream-chaser-cargo-vehicle/
Image Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.
How Coffee is Brewed on ISS
Astronaut Tim Peake sips coffee on ISS.
See Video at http://www.space.com/31709-space-coffee-how-it-s-brewed-on-iss-video.html.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 18 of 20 February, 2016
Screenshot Credit: ESA
See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej1pxK
LG614.
Record Nbr of Airane 5 Launches
January 28, Airane 5 completed its 70th consecutive successful launch from Europe’s French Guiana spaceport.
See article at http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/70th_consecutive_successful_launch_for_Ariane_5_999.html.
Bridenstine Makes Case for FAA/AST
The head of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) and Bridenstine are making the case for expanding AST's regulatory responsibilities. See article at http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/nield-bridenstine-make-case-for-expanding-faa-asts-authorities.
Atlas 5 Launch Screenshot Credit: ULA
Atlas 5 Launches GPS iiF-12
An Atlas V rocket launches GPS IIF-12,a penultimate GPS IIF satellite, for the United States Air Force. See launch video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMQbOCjUOV8.
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 19 of 20 February, 2016
That’s All Folks
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 20 of 20 February, 2016
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