Tag: nasa

NASA: SpaceX, Blue Origin and 6 rivals to compete for lunar delivery contracts potentially totaling up to $10B in support of moon base project

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has revealed SpaceX, Blue Origin and six other aerospace companies are eligible to compete for lunar delivery contracts with a combined potential value of up to $10 billion as the agency advances plans to establish a permanent base on the Moon.

NASA outlined the next phase of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, establishing a $10 billion spending ceiling over the next decade.

This development follows NASA’s May announcement of plans to establish a permanent human outpost on the moon by 2032.

The announcement was made Saturday at the MAX POWER aerospace expo and air show at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The expansion brings together private companies to deliver scientific equipment, technology and infrastructure to the lunar south pole.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the moon’s infrastructure will be built “mission by mission.”

“We are building the Moon Base mission by mission,” Isaacman declared. “Today’s announcements expand nearly every part of that campaign, using the playbook that carried NASA through its greatest eras: fly often, learn, apply those lessons, and get more better and more capable with every mission. When our astronauts return to the Moon, they will arrive with the first elements of the Moon Base already waiting for them on the surface.”

NASA’s Program Executive for Moon Base Carlos García-Galán remarked that the program had made “incredible strides” toward completing the “near impossible.”

“In the eight months since Ignition, we’ve made incredible strides in accomplishing the near impossible: establishing a permanent outpost on the lunar surface,” said García-Galán. “We’ve consolidated numerous efforts into a streamlined program, evolving our human exploration architecture into an iterative and sustained campaign for Moon Base technology development and implementation. Most importantly, we’ve taken action, awarding new contracts and forging new partnerships to accelerate development.”

The multi-billion-dollar cap represents a maximum limit for future task orders rather than direct funding awarded upfront. As part of the initiative’s next phase, the agency has selected eight commercial partners to compete for upcoming moon delivery contracts.

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Robot successfully builds space structure in first autonomous construction demo

A robotic truss builder that was conceived, designed and built by Caltech researchers has successfully built a structure in space—without the help of astronauts—for the first time. The truss builder, part of DARPA’s Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program, consists of an autonomous manipulator that picks up struts and joints held in nearby dispensers to repeatedly assemble identical sections, or bays, of a perimeter truss.

“This is the first time that a structure has been autonomously constructed in space,” says Sergio Pellegrino, the Joyce and Krent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering, the Lynn Booth and Kent Kresa Department of Aerospace Leadership Chair, the executive officer for aerospace and a senior research scientist at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA.

Pellegrino is team leader of Caltech’s Autonomous In-Space Tensioned Reflector Assembly (ASTRA) demonstration, a robotic builder that has spent the last six months in space, working to construct a 1.4-meter-diameter (4.6-foot-diameter) reflector antenna from composite fiber tubes, aluminum joints and a Kapton reflective surface.

According to DARPA, the autonomous robotic assembly is akin to piecing together a high-tech K’Nex or Tinkertoy structure. But the process of automating the build in space is nothing like child’s play.

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NASA’s 1.5 Ton Spacecraft Set For Imminent Uncontrolled Reentry

NASA’s space telescope that tracks gamma-ray bursts has experienced an “ongoing attitude control issue” according to the space agency. A separate report from solar tracker website SpaceWeather warns the spacecraft is expected “to fall out of the sky” in the very near term.

“NASA’s Swift observatory is about to fall out of the sky. The 1.5-ton spacecraft spent nearly 22 years observing gamma-ray bursts. Now it is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere within days, creating a fireball that could even be visible in daylight (magnitude -8 to -10),” SpaceWeather wrote on its website.

SpaceWeather continued:

NASA’s Space Weather Operational Readiness Development Center predicts reentry on Nov. 3rd at 16:18 UTC +/- 12 hours. The Aerospace Corporation says Nov. 4th at 09:30 UTC +/- 26 hours. Uncontrolled reentries are hard to pin down, and the orbit is decaying fast. Only in the final hours will we know for sure when and where it will re-enter.

Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and southern Mexico are in the potential re-entry zone. Swift’s orbit is tilted 21 degrees to the equator, so debris can only come down between latitudes 21N and 21S. That band is mostly ocean, so the odds still favor a harmless splashdown.

Most of Swift will burn up in the fireball. But according to chief scientist Brad Cenko, some tungsten pieces and the observatory’s mirrors could survive.

NASA tried to save Swift. In July, Katalyst Space launched a robotic spacecraft named LINK to rendezvous with Swift and boost it higher. The mission failed. Meanwhile, solar activity puffed up Earth’s upper atmosphere, dragging Swift down faster than expected.

Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA, told USA Today that the spacecraft played “a major role in advancing our understanding of the changing universe and was part of a revolution in astrophysics that showed how critical rapid-response observations are to the entire community,” adding, “Swift leaves us with an extraordinary archive of multiwavelength observations that will fuel new discoveries for decades more.”

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About That Russian Air Leak on the International Space Station…

It’s official: A persistent air leak in the Zvezda module of the International Space Station forced Russia to permanently seal off the Transfer Chamber (PrK) to one of the structure’s few docking ports from pressurized access. In the movie version, this is when Tom Hanks would click on his radio to announce, “Houston, we had a problem. Now we just have a complication. Or two.”

I’ll get to the complications in a moment — think of them as “space Jenga” for now — but first, you need to know how the Russians got to the point of crippling a vital ISS section.

Back in June, “in a moment of very high drama,” as Eric Berger put it for Ars Technica, “NASA directed its astronauts living on the International Space Station to briefly seek emergency refuge in a Crew Dragon spacecraft.”

The issue was “persistent cracks” in the PrK that provides access to the Russian docking port. The cracks started showing up in 2019, leading to minor air leaks. Berger added then that “Russian astronauts [sic] have been attempting various fixes, often using a sealant called Germetall-1.”

No, they did not try duct tape or Flex Seal. At least not that I’m aware of.

Whatever repair work the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, proposed at the time “spooked NASA officials, prompting them to take the extreme step of securing their astronauts inside Dragon in case of a depressurization event.”

AKA, in case something went kablooey and our astronauts needed to make an emergency trip home from a dying space station.

Nobody has said much since the June incident, and NASA officials reportedly stayed mum because they didn’t want to embarrass their Roscosmos partners. Or at least not cause them any further embarrassment. After all, it isn’t every day that you send your partner’s astronauts scurrying for the escape capsule. But the upshot is that both NASA and Roscosmos probably knew four months ago that the PrK’s leaks weren’t repairable, and that sealing it off was the only option. Now it’s official.

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NASA Investigating Large Hole on Moon That May Open Into Enormous Cave

Beneath its pock-marked, craggy exterior, the Moon is thought to harbor a network of caves and tunnels from its volcanic past. Now, NASA has selected a mission to go investigate a promising window into our space rock’s subterranean secrets.

Gaping up at outer space, as if mugging for the orbital satellite cameras, is the Marius Hill Pit, a hole on the lunar surface that’s thought to be up to 150 feet deep and up to 300 feet across. Scientists believe it’s an example of a skylight — the collapsed roof of an underground lava tube, which forms a circular aperture in the ground.

If the feature is indeed a skylight, it could give scientists a peek at the Moon’s volcanic history. But scientists are also intrigued by the possibility of using these underground cavities as shelters for astronauts, or even the location of lunar bases.

Until now, the hole has only been investigated from orbit. The Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar pit Investigation (GIMLI) aims to do so from the ground. 

To determine if the hole opens up into a larger cave, the scientists at the Planetary Science Institute will equip a lunar rover with specialized instruments, including ground penetrating radar, seismic probes, and a sensor that measures the strength of the gravitational field called a gravimeter, to investigate it from the Moon’s surface. The rover will also use cameras to image the exposed portions of the pit.

“Confirming a substantial lava tube would give us an insight into how volcanism operated on the Moon,” said Gareth Morgan, a Planetary Science Institute senior scientist and deputy principal investigator on the GIMLI program, in a statement.

Most of the instruments will be constructed by Honeybee Robotics. The project is being funded through NASA’s Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon program, and the spacecraft will come through a private company in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payloads Services initiative.

The area near the MHP has a rich history of volcanic activity, according to a PSI release, with exposed layers of regolith and lava flows. Studying these layers could reveal how lava once flowed across the Moon. 

But the Moon’s underground structures have gained appeal with scientists because of how they could serve as an ideal sanctuary for astronauts. With barely any atmosphere to speak of, the lunar surface is constantly bombarded with radiation. Seeking shelter underground would provide a natural shield against those nasty solar and cosmic rays, and offer an environment with more manageable temperatures — essential elements if we’re ever to establish a long term presence up there.

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NASA is Trying to Bring Back This Amazing Supersonic Jet 

NASA is currently looking at bringing back the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, first developed by Lockheed Martin in the 1960s.

This airplane travels at altitudes of more than 80,000 feet and can reach a speed of 2,200 miles per hour. The two pilots, who are the only passengers in the plane, must wear special space-type suits. It’s an amazing piece of engineering.

The plane was retired in the 1990s. No word yet on the reason for bringing it back.

The New York Post reports:

NASA mysteriously trying to pull world’s fastest plane, SR-71 Blackbird, out of retirement — and won’t say why

NASA appears to be pulling the fastest plane ever produced —the SR-71 Blackbird — out of retirement as the Trump administration suggested it’s working on a new generation of hypersonic surveillance jets.

Former NASA and Air Force engineers confirmed that they had been recently offered jobs to get an old Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird back in the air nearly 27-years after its last flight, Aviation Week reported.

Mike Relja, a former test engineer for the Blackbird — which is capable of reaching speeds of Mach 3.3, 2,200 mph — said NASA reached out to him last month to get the neglected plane up and running, but added that he was now too old for such a massive undertaking…

The aircraft, which debuted 59 years ago, still holds the achievement for fastest crewed jet-flight on public record.

At Mach 3.3, for example, it could fly from New York to Los Angeles in a little over an hour — compared to about 5 hours and 30 minutes for a commercial airliner.

Retired NASA employees also confirmed that other Blackbird engineers were contacted over the summer to do work on the jet.

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Mystery Deepens As Spy Aircraft Disappears From US Air Base Without Explanation

An SR-71 Blackbird parked for years on an outdoor display at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center is no longer visible in commercial satellite imagery, and the agency has offered no public explanation of where it went.

The spy aircraft, the NASA 844, has been absent from its pad since at least May 17, according to Aviation Week.

Sources told the publication that the plane was moved into a hangar earlier this year for an inspection, though NASA has not described what that inspection involves, why it is taking place, or how long it will last.

The Serial 61-7980 was the last SR-71 built and the last to fly, completing its final flight in 1999 after the Air Force had already retired the type and NASA had retained a few surviving airframes for high-speed research.

Lockheed Martin produced 32 of the reconnaissance aircraft, 12 of which were lost in accidents and none to enemy action.

Questions about the disappearance of the SR-71 come a week after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman discussed plans for a new high-altitude, high-speed X-plane and displayed images of silhouette that closely resembled a Blackbird at annual the All-In Summit in Los Angeles. 

“In the service of the first A [aeronautics] in NASA, we are rebuilding our X-plane fleet. The X-59 is researching quiet supersonic flight, but it’s just the beginning,” the NASA head told attendees.

“As NASA recommits to flight test and works alongside industry to push the boundaries of airframe and propulsion design, it will not be long before NASA once again is flying as high and as fast as we had in decades past, and then even more.”

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NASA teams up with NFL for Inspiration Tour with flyovers scheduled for football games

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Football League (NFL) have announced a collaboration featuring aircraft flyovers and astronaut appearances at select games.

“The agency will soon bring America’s strengths in space exploration and aeronautics innovation to the football field,” NASA said in a press release on Thursday, announcing its new Inspiration Tour.

So far, NASA participation is scheduled for the following games:

  • Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Atlanta Falcons in Pittsburgh on September 13th
  • Baltimore Ravens vs. New Orleans Saints in Baltimore on September 20th
  • Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams in Philadelphia on October 4th
  • New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 11th

More football game dates could be added, according to NASA.

The administration said that some of the games will experience flyovers showcasing NASA’s aircraft fleet, used for high-speed testing, high-altitude research, astronaut training and more.

“Regularly flying the aircraft maintains the health of the fleet and publicly demonstrates new technologies that may be applied to future commercial air travel,” NASA stated.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will lead the tour across the country in order to “connect the agency with the people, technologies, and organizations that drive American leadership in space.”

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Chinese Hackers Broke Into NASA, Federal Reserve, DOJ & Senate: FBI Announces

The United States Department of Justice has on Wednesday announced US authorities thwarted a major state-sponsored hack which saw a temporary intrusion into NASA, the Federal Reserve, Senate, the DOJ, Department of Energy, and the Department of Health and Human services, along with four unnamed companies in the US and South Korea.

“Today we announced the disruption of a global botnet and hacking platform used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to target U.S. critical infrastructure,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.

“These tools were used by PRC cyber actors to hide the origin of their attacks. Thanks to the work of FBI San Diego, FBI Cyber Division, and DOJ partners, we seized adversary infrastructure and shut these platforms down,” he added.

Domains utilized by two hacking platforms identified as “QScan” and “QTRouter” were seized by the DOJ in the large scale counter-cyberespionage operation.

Describing a pervasive botnet which was ultimately believed to be backed by Chinese state actors, The Wall Street Journal details that the “goal was to blend in with legitimate networking traffic, making the hacking activity hard to trace, federal officials say.”

“The group exploited software vulnerabilities to launch cyberattacks against U.S. government agencies, power companies and hospital systems, and operated a worldwide network of hacked devices—known as a botnet—to conduct its hacking campaigns, according to Brett Leatherman, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s top cyber official,” WSJ continues.

As for the specific allegation that this had state backing, the DOJ press release states:

People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored group known as “QTFY,” employed by China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, created and operated QScan and QTRouter.

The DOJ announcement additionally outlines efforts at concealment and ‘plausible deniability’ in the following:

QTRouter consists of these compromised IoT devices, as well as commercial proxy service devices and leased virtual private servers. QTRouter then serves as an “obfuscation network” – meaning it allows QTFY and other malicious cyber actors to conceal the PRC-origin of their computer intrusion activities because the malicious communications appear to originate from computers (such as those compromised by QScan) that are outside of the PRC and may even be local to the targeted networks. Because the seized domains were hard-coded into both the QScan and QTRouter malware and used for essential tasks such as communication and authentication, the court-authorized seizures made QScan and QTRouter inoperable. 

Neither Beijing’s foreign ministry nor the Chinese embassy in Washington have officially responded to the allegations, and as has been the pattern in the past is likely to reject the US charge altogether.

Earlier this year Google was among those warning of imminent stepped-up Chinese and Russian targeting of US defense companies. 

Google’s prior report seemed to preview some of the techniques on display in this latest hack. The report cited observations of “more China-nexus cyber espionage missions directly targeting defense and aerospace industry than from any other state-sponsored actors over the last two years.”

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