A Telescope By Any Other Name Would Be Just As Sweet
JWST, Analog Astronauts in the Wild, and UFOs Take Center Stage
Hello celestial citizens and Continuum readers, I’m writing this latest edition from Explore Mars’ Humans to Mars Summit 2022! It’s been an amazing week listening to many fantastic panelists and chatting with lots of passionate space folx about the goal of getting humans to Mars by the 2030s. So who’s ready for life on the red planet?
As you ponder your relocation plans for Mars, you can also take a read-through of this week’s space news. We’re covering the JWST naming controversy, the recent Analog Astronaut Conference in Tucson, and of course, all the top stories for the week. And if you are feeling particularly cheeky this week, tag us on twitter (@continuum_hq) with what you think JWST should actually stand for - wrong answers only! Alright, now onto the content you came for…
NASA Grapples With a Less-Than-Stellar Legacy
The James Webb Space Telescope (or JWST, for short) is an engineering marvel. Sporting 18 gold-coated beryllium mirrors, five light-capturing instruments, and a nearly 3,250 square foot sunshield, it’s the most sophisticated and delicate stargazing instrument humans have ever devised.
Even more remarkably, everything from JWST’s launch to its mirror alignment to the first few test images have all gone off without a hitch – with one notable exception. While the space community at large is thrilled about the scope, many folks are less than pleased with its name. This controversy has drawn attention to an unsavory legacy of exclusion within space exploration, and has sparked a conversation about what names we use in science, and why.
Out In The Sonoran Desert, Analog Astronauts Share Dreams And Trade Ideas
By Brooke Edwards
In the warmth of early May, nearly 100 analog astronauts and space enthusiasts from all over the world gathered in Oracle, Ariz. for the 2022 Analog Astronaut Conference. Among the otherworldly landforms of the Sonoran Desert, ideas were shared and connections were made.
The conference was held at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2. It was a fitting venue for a gathering of analog astronauts, individuals who take part in simulated space missions — or “analog” missions — in sometimes-extreme environments on Earth, with the goal of helping scientists and astronauts prepare for conditions on the moon, Mars and beyond. Similarly, Biosphere 2 began as a petri dish for studying sealed biohabitats that could potentially house humanity as we expand into space. Today, the facility is primarily used for climate change research.
Top Headlines
If you thought the U.S. government has been a little shady when it comes to close encounters of the third kind – well, they heard you. On Tuesday, the Pentagon held its first public hearing in more than 50 years on “unidentified aerial phenomena” – a fancy term for UFOs – during which it disclosed that it has compiled hundreds of reports of unidentified flying objects, including some that appear to rely on advanced technologies that aren’t known to exist in any U.S. or foreign arsenals. The hearing also covered widely held conspiracies that the government has obtained material from crashed UFOs (they said they haven’t) and whether they have studied high-profile UFO cases such as one that reportedly shut down nuclear missile silos in Montana decades ago (they have not and promised to look into it).
Astronomers have unveiled the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The colorized image revealed last Thursday is from an international consortium behind the Event Horizon Telescope, a collection of eight synchronized radio telescopes around the world. As you might expect, getting a good image was a challenge: To make the shot happen, eight telescopes had to coordinate closely with what MIT astronomer Vincent Fish described to ABC News as “a process similar to everyone shaking hands with everyone else in the room.” Thankfully, at least one brand recognized all that hard work: In honor of the donut-shaped discovery, Krispy Kreme Donuts gave out free glazed donuts at all its stores the day after the announcement. Classic.
During some of its final vehicle checkouts, the Blue Origin team noticed that some of New Shepard’s backup systems were not meeting expectations of performance. As a result, Blue Origin’s fifth human spaceflight — New Shepard 21 — is delayed and a new target launch date has not yet been identified. When the flight does takes place it will mint five new citizen astronauts. One of them, Katya Echazarreta, will be the first Mexican-born woman in space, and the first citizen-astronaut sponsored by nonprofit Space for Humanity. Also on board are investor Evan Dick, business jet brokerage founder Hamish Harding, Victor Correa Hespanha (whose seat was sponsored by a cryptocurrency organization), commercial real estate entrepreneur Jaison Robinson and private equity investor Victor Vescovo.
In some nuclear news, two Seattle companies have won Pentagon contracts to develop nuclear-powered prototypes for space applications, with orbital demonstrations set for 2027. The Defense Innovation Unit says Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies has been tasked with demonstrating a chargeable, encapsulated nuclear radioisotope battery called EmberCore for propulsion and power applications in space, while Avalanche Energy won funds to continue development of a lunchbox-sized device known as Orbitron, which generates a fusion reaction that produces enough heat or electricity to power a high-energy propulsion system.
Over in the U.K., the space race is picking up momentum with several spaceports and rocket companies promising to start launching soon. California-based Astra Space, which launched its first successful commercial mission in March this year, has now joined the fray, signing an agreement with a spaceport on Shetland Islands. Astra, which gives small satellites dedicated rides to orbit, has already launched from Kodiak Island in Alaska and from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Adding a location in Scotland will help the company offer a wider range of orbital inclinations to their clients, the firm said in a statement.
And now, news from Mars. A Big One just shook Mars — and NASA’s InSight lander was there for the whole thing. The agency reported on May 9 that the largest earthquake, or in this case marsquake ever detected on another planet took place on May 4 – and you thought your Star Wars Day got rowdy.
A geologist and horticulturalist from the University of Florida successfully grew plants in regolith, or lunar soil, collected during the original Apollo landings. After planting the seeds in the regolith, scientists moved the plates of wells into terrariums within a tightly controlled growth room. Initially, the UF researchers were unsure if any seeds would sprout, as the experiment was the first of its kind. But within just 60 hours of being planted, every seed in the regolith germinated and had tiny shoots. Since the moon lacks an atmosphere, any plants grown beyond Earth would need to be cultivated in an enclosed space alongside humans with access to oxygen and water. Still, with further research on proper planting procedures and the wonders of lunar soil, the moon could very well host food and oxygen by the time humans step on the moon again.
Chinese startup iSpace once again failed to launch its Hyperbola-1 rocket early last Friday, following two failures in February and August last year. It’s not clear yet what happened, but teams are looking into it. iSpace is also developing the more complex Hyperbola-2, a larger methane-liquid oxygen launcher with a reusable first stage. It secured $173 million in funding in August 2020 to further its development.
Aging shuttle-era spacesuits aboard the ISS have been declared a "no-go" for most spacewalks, pending analysis to determine what led to excess water getting into an astronaut's helmet during a March excursion, officials confirmed Tuesday. But the bulky spacesuits — "extra-vehicular mobility units," or EMUs — can still be used for emergency repairs or to resolve other unexpected issues if agency managers agree after assessing the overall risk. Water intrusion has been a source of concern ever since a July 2013 spacewalk during which European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet flooded with water, a frightening, potentially life-threatening malfunction that forced the expedition to end early.
We’ll close out on a fly note with some good news for Boeing: On Thursday, the aerospace company launched its Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station after two failed attempts to get it into orbit. No astronauts were aboard for this test flight — unless you count a mannequin aptly named Rosie the Rocketeer — but Boeing hopes that Starliner will eventually ferry astronauts to and fro between Earth and the International Space Station. Exactly when that will be is still up in the air, but if all goes well on its return to Earth, Starliner could be carrying two or three astronauts to space by the end of the year.
Space Tweet of the Week
Space Reads!
Can’t get enough stellar content? Here are the pieces of space-adjacent news we’ve been reading this week.
Why can’t we be friends? This deep dive from Bloomberg gives some great background on the race between China and the U.S. to mine the moon driven by increased capabilities in lunar resource utilization.
Still a little flustered from watching Don’t Look Up? Might want to take a read through of this piece explaining how NASA’s Planetary Defense Team builds software to detect asteroids before they hit.
Inflation and interest rates got you down this week? Well, imagine living in Brownsville…housing costs have skyrocketed as SpaceX expands further into this Texas city.
Check out this interesting piece from Nature, laying out the $93 billion plan to put astronauts back on the moon. But hey - maybe the astronauts can stay in a hostel once they get there to keep costs down!
Continuum Podcast
Only have time for the highlights? Check out our companion podcast! Whether you’re a space enthusiast or just starting to look up at the stars, we’ll give you a quick rundown of all the biggest space news headlines every other week.
Things Found on the Internet…
And that’s a wrap for this week! Thanks for reading and joining us on our intergalactic quest to make space news for everyone. In fact, we are even the first space news media outlet to broadcast in Wookiee - IYKYK. But also if you don’t, check out @continuum.hq on Instagram for the #WookieeWednesday report.
Keep it celestial everybody!
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum