In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Satellites offer an efficient and cost-effective way to monitor endangered species. “Green” propellant successfully demonstrated on NASA mission.
Human Space Exploration
One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected
TASS (1/22): One more crack has been discovered at the International Space Station (ISS), and yet another one is suspected to exist, according to the Station’s Russian Segment head Vladimir Solovyov. Air loss due to the crack is insignificant for now, and the team is working on learning more about the issue and fixing any problems, according to Solovyov. A first crack in the Russian Zvezda module that was causing an air leak was found in 2020. (Editor’s note: TASS is a Russian government-owned news source).
Space Science
Mars has been through many ice ages in the last billion years
Universe Today (1/21): Imagery from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission appears to confirm that the Red Planet has experienced multiple ice ages. The conclusion is based on observations of Martian glacial deposits and the reduction of large boulders to smaller rocks on the planet’s surface over time. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Rocks show Mars once felt like Iceland
Coalition Member in the News – Jacobs
EarthScience.Rice.edu (1/20): Research based on data gathered by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover suggests the Red Planet may have been much like Iceland. The effort was led by Michael Thorpe, a postdoc at Rice University and NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC). An assessment comparing the historic environment at Gale Crater on Mars to conditions in Idaho, Hawaii, Antarctica, and Iceland was published in the journal JGR Planets.
Space Station detectors found the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning
Sciencenews.org (1/21): Blue jets are bursts of electrical energy that rise from thunderclouds into the stratosphere. Using photometers aboard the International Space Station (ISS), scientists are able to learn more about how blue jets form and potentially interfere with radio communications. Space Station research and technology yields advancements for our planet and for humanity, from gaining knowledge about natural phenomena to helping to increase the efficiency of medicine used on Earth.
Other News
Scientists count elephants from space with satellites and computer smarts
Coalition Member in the News – Maxar
CNES (1/19): The world’s largest land animal is still hard to monitor in the wild, but satellites could make the task easier. A team of researchers developed a method for counting African elephants using imagery from Maxar satellites, opening up a new way to monitor vulnerable and endangered animals. The satellite images could offer an effective alternative to surveillance done by humans in aircraft, which can be an expensive and challenging way of counting elephants, thus helping the planet while lowering expenses.
Northrop Grumman test fires solid motor for ULA’s Vulcan rocket
Coalition Members in the News – Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance
SpaceNews.com (1/21): Northrop Grumman on Thursday carried out a 90-second, flight qualification static fire of the strap-on solid rocket motor for the new United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket at test facilities in Promontory, Utah. The Vulcan Centaur is expected to launch into space for the first time later this year.
Green propellant successfully demonstrated on NASA mission
Coalition Member in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne
SpaceNews.com (1/21): In June 2019, NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission launched among the payloads on NASA’s Space Test Program 2 mission. The mission demonstrated the performance of a non-toxic “green” propellant called ASCENT, which may provide safer ground handling for a wide range of future spacecraft.
Space industry executive calls on Biden to keep the National Space Council
SpaceNews.com (1/21): The National Space Council should be sustained by the Biden administration as a relevant entity in the space policy discussion, according to Mandy Vaughn, CEO of VOX Space; and she’s not alone. The council has come and gone over the years. President Trump reinstated it in 2017.