Oklahoma Space Alliance
A Chapter of The
[email protected]
405 496 3616
National Space Society
March 2017
Quote of the Month
“A blade of grass is commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle
on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch
of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a
human being?”
Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
Carl Sagan Image Credit: Boingboing.net
Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Table of Contents
Quote of the Month .................................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Blue Origin BE4 Engine................................................................................................................................. 3
Falcon 9 Launches Dragon to ISS .................................................................................................................. 4
New Zeeland’s Taranaki Volcano ................................................................................................................. 5
Plasma Rocket Engine .................................................................................................................................. 6
Soyuz-U Retired after 786 Flights ................................................................................................................. 7
Ariane 5 Launches SKY Brazil 1 ..................................................................................................................... 8
Record 104 Satellites Launched on 1 Rocket ................................................................................................. 9
Seven Earth Like Planets Orbit 1 Star ......................................................................................................... 10
Virgin Galactic Tests Launcher One Engine ................................................................................................. 11
Astronaut Helps Enid School with Observatory .......................................................................................... 12
SpaceX Plans for Two Tourists to Circle Moon ............................................................................................ 13
A radically easier path to space settlement ................................................................................................ 14
The North Polar Layers of Mars .................................................................................................................. 15
Heads Up NASA People: A Storm Is Coming ................................................................................................ 16
Cape of Good Hope Seen from Orbit .......................................................................................................... 17
Maven Avoids Collision with Phobos .......................................................................................................... 18
Atlas V Launches NROL-79 Satellite ............................................................................................................ 19
Growing Plants in Space ............................................................................................................................ 20
What’s Next for Space Mining Industry? .................................................................................................... 21
EveryWear Space Medicine Wearable Device ............................................................................................. 22
That’s All Folks .......................................................................................................................................... 23
Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
What’s Happening
March 2017
Blue Origin BE4 Engine
Copyright © 2016 Oklahoma Space
Alliance
Editor
Stephen Swift
[email protected]
405-496-3616
The Oklahoma Space Alliance What’s
Happening is a presentation in each
monthly meeting of the Oklahoma Space
Alliance. Oklahoma Space Alliance is 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 editor or
the originating source. Reprint rights are
granted to chapters of NSS and to any
non-profit organization for education or
information purposes only provided
credit is given.
.
OSA 2017
http://nsschapters.org/ok/osanss.html
President &
Stephen Swift
Update Editor
[email protected]
405-496-3616
Vice President &
David Sheely
Chapters Representative
[email protected]
405-821-9077
Secretary &
Syd Henderson
Outreach Editor
[email protected]
405-321-4027(H)
405-365-8983(C)
Treasurer
Tim Scott
[email protected]
405-740-7549(H)
NSS Region
Claire McMurray
[email protected]
405-329-4326(H)
405-863-9173(C)
NSS Headquarters
1155 15th Street NW, Suite 500
Washington DC 20005
Exec Director
TBD
[email protected]
202-429-1600
Oklahoma Space Alliance
First Production BE4. Credit: Blue Origin
“On March 6, Jeff Bezos posted photos of the first
fully assembled BE-4 engine at the company’s Kent
facility, also noting that production engines #2 and #3
are expected to follow in close succession. BE-4 has
been designed for a 100-flight lifetime and is
expected to be used by the New Glenn Rocket as well
as United Launch Alliance’s future Vulcan rocket.”
See article with introduction video of New Glenn
launch system at
https://spaceflight101.com/blue-origin-shows-offbe-4-engine-announces-first-new-glenn-customer/.
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March 2017
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Falcon 9 Launches Dragon to ISS
Falcon 9 Liftoff from KSC 39-A. Credit: Michael Deep / Spaceflight Insider
“SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday on a resupply mission
to the International Space Station (ISS) that marks a new era of private spaceflight
at one of NASA’s most storied bases.
A Falcon 9 rocket took off at about 9.40am eastern from the Kennedy Space
Center, off the coast of central Florida, from a launchpad that has seen off some of
NASA’s most famous missions but has gone unused since the agency retired its
space shuttle fleet in 2011.”
See article and videos at
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/19/spacex-launch-falcon-9-elonmusk-kennedy-space-center.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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New Zeeland’s Taranaki Volcano
Tananaki Volcano Photographed from Orbit. Credit: NASA
Thomas Pesquet: The Taranaki volcano in New Zealand is a perfect round
emerging from the green forest. They say it looks like Mount Fuji in Japan, I hope
to capture Mount Fuji too one day.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Plasma Rocket Engine
Credit: Arstechnica.com / Ad Astra Rocket Company
“It looks kind of boring,” Chang-Díaz (former NASA astronaut) admits. “But that
plume is 3.5 million degrees. If you stuck your hand in that, it would be very bad.”
“NASA awarded Chang-Díaz’s company, Ad Astra, a three-year, $9 million contract
in 2015. This unlocked an opportunity long awaited—a chance to prove the
doubters wrong. Naturally, it won't be easy. Ad Astra must fire its plasma rocket
for 100 hours, at a power level of 100 kilowatts, next year.”
See article at https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02/nasas-longshot-bet-on-arevolutionary-rocket-may-be-about-to-pay-off/.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Soyuz-U Retired after 786 Flights
Liftoff with Progress MS-05 for ISS Resupply. Credit: Roscosmos / NASA
The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, launched the Progress MS-05/66P
resupply mission on February 22 aboard the final Soyuz-U rocket in history. Liftoff
from pad 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome began a mission that concluded with
an orbital rendezvous and docking with the Station on Friday.
See article at https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/02/soyuz-u-progress-ms-05launch/’
See launch video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjOUeC5hgSE.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Ariane 5 Launches SKY Brazil 1
Screenshot Credit: Arianespace / Spaceflight Now
An Ariane 5 rocket climbed into space from French Guiana on Tuesday evening,
February 14, hauling the Sky Brazil 1 and Telkom 3S communications satellites to
orbit on the way to operating posts over Brazil and Indonesia.
See article and video at https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/02/14/video-ariane-5darts-through-cloudy-skies-with-sky-brasil-1-and-telkom-3s/.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Record 104 Satellites Launched on 1 Rocket
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched 104 satellites into orbit
aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on Feb. 14, 2017, setting a new record
for the most satellites launched simultaneously on one rocket. Credit: ISRO
See article with video at http://www.space.com/35709-india-rocket-launchesrecord-104-satellites.html.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Seven Earth Like Planets Orbit 1 Star
Image Credit: Alex Kasprak / Snopes Astronomy News
“In a much-anticipated press conference on 22 February 2017, NASA announced
the discovery of seven “Earth-sized” planets orbiting a single star 40 light years
away. Three are “firmly” located in the habitable zone.”
See article at http://www.snopes.com/2017/02/23/nasa-announces-discoveryseven-earth-sized-exoplanets-orbit-around-nearby-star/.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Virgin Galactic Tests Launcher One Engine
N3 Hot Fire Test February 13, 2017. Credit: Virgin Galactic
Last week, Virgin Galactic continued to test the first stage engine of its airlaunched LauncherOne. The Newton Three (N3) engine recently completed a longduration test at full thrust.
The N3 produces about 73,500 pounds (327 kilonewtons) of thrust. It is powered
by liquid kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX). Previous firings include a full
thrust, 90-second firing in the fourth quarter of 2015 and multiple full thrust firings
throughout 2016.
See article and video at
http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/commercial/virgin-galacticcontinues-test-launcherone-engine/.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Astronaut Helps Enid School with Observatory
Astronaut Nancy Currie-Gregg with Students and Friends
Credit: The Oklahoman
Astronaut Nancy Currie-Gregg was at the school recently as part of a fundraising
effort led by her husband, Tim Gregg, 60, to refurbish Oklahoma's only high school
observatory.
Currie-Gregg was in Enid, her husband’s home town’ to help raise $50,000 for the
observatory fund. Replacing the 54 year old telescope is at the top of the list of
priorities.
See article at http://newsok.com/article/5540157.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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SpaceX Plans for Two Tourists to Circle Moon
SpaceX says its Falcon Heavy rocket will be used in the mission to the moon.
Artist rendering credit: SpaceX
“The private company SpaceX has announced that it plans to send two passengers
on a mission beyond the moon in late 2018.
If the mission goes forward, it would be the "first time humans have traveled
beyond low Earth orbit since the days of Apollo," as NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce
told our Newscast unit.”
See article at http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwoway/2017/02/27/517579221/spacex-announces-plans-to-sent-two-customers-tothe-moon.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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A radically easier path to space settlement
Habitat Image Credit: Bryan Versteeg
“Very smart and capable people have been dreaming about space settlement for
decades, but these dreams have not come to fruition. Why? Because building a
space settlement is extraordinarily difficult. There are two ways to overcome this:
a lot of money or an easier way. An enormous pile of government money doesn’t
seem to be headed our way, but it turns out there is a much easier way. … This is
low Earth orbit (LEO) directly over the Equator (or ELEO).”
See article at http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3181/1.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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The North Polar Layers of Mars
Mars North Pole Layers of Ice. Credit: NASA
“The North Polar layered deposits are a 3-kilometer thick stack of dusty water ice
layers that are about 1000 kilometers across.
In many locations erosion has created scarps and troughs that expose this layering.
The tan colored layers are the dusty water ice of the polar layered deposits;
however a section of bluish layers are is visible below them. These bluish layers
contain sand-sized rock fragments that likely formed a large polar dune field
before the overlying dusty ice was deposited.”
See article at http://spaceref.com/mars/the-north-polar-layers-of-mars.html.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Heads Up NASA People: A Storm Is Coming
Credit: Think Ink Blog / Google Images
“To the president and his supporters who see a bloated bureaucracy with lots of
duplication and rules that choke jobs, the budget cuts are a necessary first step to
make government run more efficiently. Office of Management and Budget
Director Mick Mulvaney said this week that non-military spending will take the
"largest-proposed reduction since the early years of the Reagan administration."
To prepare for that possibility, agencies are preparing to shave 10 percent off their
budgets.”
See article at http://nasawatch.com/archives/2017/03/heads-up-nasa-p.html.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Cape of Good Hope Seen from Orbit
Image Credit: NASA
Broader Image. Credit: Landsat / Copernicus via Google Earth
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Maven Avoids Collision with Phobos
Image: NASA
On February 28th, NASA’s Mars orbiter MAVEN performed a rocket motor burn in
order to increase its velocity by less than a mile an hour. The correction ensured
that MAVEN would miss collision with Mars moon Phobos.
See article at http://gizmodo.com/nasa-spacecraft-avoids-very-embarrassingcollision-with-1792937649.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Atlas V Launches NROL-79 Satellite
Screen Shot Credit: ULA
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., (March 1, 2017) – A United Launch Alliance
(ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office
(NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 March 1 at 9:50 a.m. PST.
Designated NROL-79, the mission is in support of national defense.
See press release at http://www.ulalaunch.com/ula-successfully-launchesnrol79.aspx?title=United+Launch+Alliance+Successfully+Launches+NROL79+Payload+for+the+National+Reconnaissance+Office&Category=News.
See launch video at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/ula/atlas-vsends-classified-nrol-79-payload-space/.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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Growing Plants in Space
Future astronauts may grow some of their meals inside greenhouses, such as this
Martian growth chamber, where fruits and vegetables could be grown
hydroponically, without soil. Credit: Pat Rawlings/NASA
“Orbiting approximately 350 kilometers over the surface of the Earth is the
International Space Station (ISS). Since 2002 the ISS has had a greenhouse where
plants of all varieties are grown using hydroponics.”
See article at http://gardenculturemagazine.com/technogardens/hydroponics/hydroponics-growing-space.
What’s wrong with above picture?
Answer: Colonists will need to be much more efficient in using greenhouse space.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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What’s Next for Space Mining Industry?
Artist Image of FireFly Concept. Image: Deep Space Industries
“If humans eventually want to become a space-faring species, we'll need to be
able to collect basic resources, like water, straight from the space environment; it's
too expensive and risky to send everything up from Earth.“
See article at http://www.space.com/34774-whats-next-for-space-mining.html.
The article emphasizes need for a complete supply chain including support for
miners, need for uses and distribution of product.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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EveryWear Space Medicine Wearable Device
Credit: CNES–E. Grimault
With EveryWear an astronaut can simply take a photo to scan the bar code of a
food item before eating – the app will record the calories and provide a nutritional
assessment. EveryWear also records an astronaut’s basic measures of
temperature, artery reactions and heart performance. While an astronaut is
wearing a smart shirt, EveryWare will record an EKG.
See article at https://phys.org/news/2016-12-image-everywear-space-medicinewearable.html.
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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That’s All Folks
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Oklahoma Space Alliance
March 2017
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