IAC What You Did There
We’ve got Mars on the Mind, IAC FOMO, and Artemis is Ready (Again) – Not to Mention Asteroid Collisions
Hello Continuum readers and Celestial Citizens,
What a week it has been for the space industry – from all the IAC happenings going on in Paris to major new announcements around space hotels and orbiting stations to Perseverance discovering organic molecules. And that’s to say nothing of the stunning images that JWST continues putting out. As always we’ll be covering all the highlights over the last two weeks and distilling the ever-expanding space industry into a bite-sized dose of cosmic current events.
And if you are like me and experiencing IAC FOMO then here are some at-home remedies to brighten your day:
Bop-ba (bop-ba)...this is the sound of (martian rocks) settling (or slamming into the red planet
Start planning that IAC 2025 trip to Sydney
Catch up on Andor and become enamored with the already famous ‘bell guy’
Now onto the space beat for the week…
A Balloon that Can Spot the Most Elusive Particles in the Universe
One of the most endlessly fascinating things about astronomy is that we still don’t know the answers to some pretty big questions. We might have mapped out most of the Earth, but the rest of the universe remains fairly unknown.
Even where certain things, like particularly hard-to-detect particles, come from is a mystery – and it’s one a team of physicists and astronomers from multiple universities and organizations is trying to solve. They are launching a project next year called EUSO-SPB2 that aims to tell us where in the universe certain rare and hard-to-detect particles come from.
Top Headlines
2033 Can’t Come Fast Enough – The recent release of the David Bowie documentary isn’t the only thing causing people to ask “Is there life on Mars?” Last week, NASA announced the discovery of organic molecules in the Jezero Crater by Perseverance, which is believed to have once been a river delta. These molecules are considered, “a potential biosignature which NASA describes as a substance or structure that could be evidence of past life but may also have been produced without the presence of life.” Scientists will only be able to thoroughly examine the samples when they’ve returned to Earth, likely in 2033. Ken Farley, one of the scientists that was part of the NASA press conference stated that, “the reality is the burden of proof for establishing life on another planet is very, very high” and Axios Writer Miriam Kramer wrote that this is “effectively a new kind of science, so actually defining what qualifies as a true signature of life is going to be a challenge in and of itself.” As we reach further into our celestial neighborhood and develop more and more tools to detect what we currently consider to be signs of life, will we fundamentally start questioning what even qualifies as “life”?
Don’t Look Up – What came first, NASA’s DART mission or the idea for Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up? The “Double Asteroid Redirection Test” (DART) was launched last November as a test: What would happen if we crashed a space probe into an asteroid? DART’s target is the moon Dimorphos which orbits the asteroid Didymos. DART is expected to collide with Dimorphos next Monday. Ahead of the collision, Space.com details the “realisticness” of the mission and how DART could set the stage for shall we say a more dramatic collision scenario…
A-Okay – Open that launch window and let the fresh air in, Artemis might be ready to go! (again). On Wednesday, the Artemis team conducted a fueling test after two seals around an interface, also known as ‘the quick disconnect,’ had been replaced. Although there was another hydrogen leak detected, with “the same signature” as the one that scrubbed the September 3 launch, engineers were able to troubleshoot and manage the leak, and Artemis completed its fueling test successfully. All eyes are on September 27 for, hopefully, the first launch of Artemis 1.
Paving the Way – The first European Female ISS Commander will be ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Cristoforetti has been aboard the ISS since April of this year. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher praised Cristorforetti, stating “Throughout her Minerva mission she has contributed greatly to the scientific and operational successes of the Station, and I anticipate that it will continue to thrive under her command.” The symbolic passing of the key ceremony will take place next Wednesday, September 28th and will be streamed live from the ISS.
New Sheriff in Town – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA will work together on investigating commercial space mishaps, and have signed an agreement clarifying their roles in such matters. Specifically, the NTSB will lead investigations on serious injuries (fatal or not) related to launch and reentry of commercial flights, as well as damage to any property not associated with the launch that could have caused those injuries.
May the Force be with You – Everyone’s favorite military branch announced last week that it will expand its University Partnership Program to include the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. The University’s college of engineering already conducts research in satellite photography and tracking Earth phenomena, which makes it a natural partner for recruitment for the Space Force. And that’s not all the guardians of the immediate galaxy have been up to lately – they also put out a snazzy new single.
JWST Download
JWST is a planet paparazzi, taking its first picture of Mars, and getting an incredible shot of Neptune’s rings.
One of JWST’s observing modes is halted temporarily.
And lastly, is JWST too good? Or do we need new exoplanet models?
A Global Space
Russia – Russia made it clear they were not happy about satellites being used to aid Ukraine at a meeting of the United Nations Working Group to reduce space threats. Citing the “uses of commercial and civilian assets,” the head of the Russian delegation Konstantin Vorontsov warned that the “quasi-civilian infrastructure may become a legitimate target for retaliation.” They argued that the UN should focus on “prohibit[ing] the threat or use of force against or with space objects.” You can view the full transcript of Russia’s statement here.
China – On Sunday, China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission was awarded the World Space Award from the International Astronautical Federation at IAC 2022 in Paris. The mission is notable for its “combined, landing, and roving in a single launch,” its global mapping of Mars, and of course, its selfies. And China isn’t slowing down – announcing an ambitious mission yesterday: Tianwen 4, a “two for one shot” of sending a probe to Jupiter and a smaller spacecraft to make a flyby of Uranus.
MOONSHOT
If we’re going to get to space, we’re going to need a lot of help. In our Moonshot section, we’ll share highlights from some of the commercial companies that are taking us there:
SpaceX yet again broke their own record, this time for rocket reuse. The BlueWalker 3 Satellite launch on September 10 marked the 14th time Falcon 9 rocket had been used.
Blue Origin however is back to square one for their hopes at a rocket reuse record. A cargo only New Shepard launch malfunctioned last week, that specific rocket’s 9th launch.
Someone at Hilton must watch For All Mankind – the hotel brand will be working with Lockheed Martin and Voyager Space Holdings on their Starlab space station. Hilton will design astronaut facilities, hospitality suites, and sleeping arrangements, as well as, “examine opportunities for the marketing of the space station and astronaut experiences onboard.”
Another space station enters the conversation – Vast Space, a Southern California startup founded by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb, announced plans to establish an artificial-gravity space station in low Earth orbit.
Astrobotic announces LunaGrid at IAC 2022, a commercial service that is intended to generate and distribute power at the lunar poles.
Cue a misquoted Mike Myers impression, Intuitive Machines LLC will be going public at a valuation over $1 billion and attempting to prove the much used (and now much disputed) phrase of 2021 “you can’t spell space without SPAC.”
Satellite communications company Lynk received FCC approval for its space texting service.
Sierra Space’s Large Inflatable Flexible Environment habitat passed its Ultimate Burst pressure test last week. This versatile and yes, inflatable, future space home is one step closer to becoming a reality, and also, one step closer to continuing the trend of tiny homes for our solar system.
It’s Morphin time! Morpheus Space, a startup that will offer “propulsion systems and software to help satellites maneuver in orbit” raised $28 million in its Series A round.
Space Tweet of the Week
Space Reads!
Can’t get enough stellar content? Here are some pieces of space-adjacent news we’ve been reading:
It seems if you wish hard enough and long enough, your dream might actually come true. From 2017, read The Outline’s piece about Hilton’s “never-ending quest” for a space hotel.
After you’ve set your reminder that a space probe will be crashing into an asteroid on Monday, check out Science.org’s write up about the DART mission.
The Associated Press details the rivalry between the US and China in Space.
Did you know Pan Am once took flight reservations to the Moon?
Let’s hope this Daily Beast article doesn’t encourage Adam Levine to slide into any astronaut’s DMs – seriously no one needs to see what he can do with an “out of this world” pun.
And that’s a wrap on a busy week! A big thank you to Evan Yee for writing this edition with me and to Jackie Appel for her article on space balloons as particle detectors. We hope you enjoyed reading Continuum this week and will share it with your friends.
Thanks for hanging with us in this part of the universe.
Keep it celestial people,
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum