March 201 9 Upd ate A free email newsletter of the Oklahoma Space Alliance Oklahoma Space Alliance A Chapter of The National Space Society Beresheet Looks Back to Earth March 201 9 OSA Meeting Saturday, March 9, 2018 2:00 PM Tom Koszoru s House 514 F enwick Ct, Norman, OK 73072 405-793 - 7427 Program Space News and Events Website: http://osa.nss.org Quote of the Month "People make their own fates, and if enough of us make our fate to be space explorers, perhaps we can actually get some space exploration done. Robert Zubrin Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 1 of 13 March 2019
Table of Contents Beresheet Looks Back to Earth... 1 January 2019 OSA Meeting... 1 Quote of the Month... 1 Table of Contents... 2 SpaceX s First Test of Raptor Engine... Error! Bookmark not defined. SpaceX Has Many Milestones Expected in 2019....4 Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Pilots Awarded FAA Astronaut Wings... 5 Buzz Aldrin Honored in State of the Union Address....5 New Shepard Test Flight Carries NASA Experiments... 6 LRO Photographed Chang'e 4 on Far Side of the Moon... 7 Space Station Module Has Hundreds of Dents from Debris... 8 Missile Defense Review Emphasizes Space-Based Missile Defense Systems... 9 NASA Battled Cybersecurity Threats During Government Shutdown 10 Kendra Horn to Chair House Science Space Subcommittee...11 Virgin Galactic Partners with Under Armor.... 12 Feature-length video: Debate on NASA S Lunar Gateway....13 That s All Folks... 13 Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 2 of 13 March 2019
Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Editor Asst Editor March 9, 2019 cliffmcmurray@hotmail.com 405-863-6173 (C) Cliff McMurray Claire McMurray The Oklahoma Space Alliance Update is a bi-monthly newsletter of the Oklahoma Space Alliance 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 writer. Reprint rights are granted to recognized chapters of NSS, provided credit is given. Articles may be submitted by U.S. mail or electronically. Articles may be sent to the Editor at 121 South Creekdale Drive, Norman, OK 73072 or to david.sheely51@gmail.com. Each submission should include the author s name and either e-mail address or phone number (for verification only). A text or Microsoft Word file is preferred. Please contact the Editor by phone, e-mail or texting before mailing your information. OSA Officers for 2019 President & Cliff McMurray Update Editor cliffmcmurray@hotmail.com 405-863-6173 (C) Vice President David Sheely david.sheely51@gmail.com 405-8321-9077 (C) Secretary & Syd Henderson Outreach Editor sydh@ou.edu 405-321-4027(H) 405-365-8983(C) Treasurer Tim Scott ctsscott@mac.com 405-740-7549(H) NSS Headquarters 1155 15th Street NW, Suite 500 Washington DC 20005 Exec Director nsshq@nss.org Kirby Ikin SpaceX s First Crew Dragon Launched t SpaceX successfully launched its unmanned test of the Crew Dragon capsule in the early hours of March 2; it docked with the International Space Station the next day, paving the way for a manned test flight sometime later this summer. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mysgw_p5vk The Rock Band OK Go Teams with Blue 202-429-1600 Origin to Launch Student Art Projects Into Space Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 3 of 13 March 2019
The Grammy award-winning band OK Go filmed their music video for their 2014 song "Upside Down & Inside Out" over the course of several hundred brief periods of weightlessness during 21 flights aboard a Russian I-76 MDK plane. Now they re hosting an "Art in Space" contest in partnership with the Playful Learning Lab at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and with the sponsorship of Cognizant Technology Solutions, a digital technology and consulting service company. Two winners will see their art projects launched on a New Shepard flight. Story and video: https://www.space.com/band-ok-go-student-art-spacelaunchcontest.html Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwgja9i18co Virgin Galactic Flies Test Passenger for the First Time Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 4 of 13 March 2019
In its first flight with a test passenger on board, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity flew again on February 22, reaching an altitude of 55.87 miles (89.9 kilometers) just two months after its first flight to space (depending on your definition). Story and video: https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-poweredflightfebruary-2019.html Japanese Asteroid Probe Grabs Sample Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 5 of 13 March 2019
Japan s Hayabusa2 grabbed its first sample of the asteroid Ryugu on February 21. It will make two more sampling sorties in the next few months. The first will be much like last Thursday's operation fire a bullet, collect some blasted-out material. But the second will slam a large kinetic impactor into Ryugu, creating a crater that Hayabusa2 will then sample for pristine, previously subsurface material. If all goes according to plan, these three samples will be returned to Earth in a return capsule in December 2020. Story and video: https://www.space.com/hayabusa2-asteroid-landingphoto.html Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 6 of 13 March 2019
Satellite Fires a Harpoon in Space in Debris-Catching Test A harpoon designed to capture orbital junk was successfully tested in space for the first time on February 8 as part of the active debris-removal demonstration mission called RemoveDebris. The pen-size titanium harpoon developed by Airbus engineers in the U.K. successfully snagged the target out of orbit and reeled it back to the main spacecraft. Story and video: https://www.space.com/space-junk-harpoonremovedebrissatellite-video.html Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 7 of 13 March 2019
A Brilliant Daytime Meteor Exploded Over Cuba Last Month On February 1, a relatively small metor exploded in an airburst at an altitude of 13.7 miles (22 km) over Cuba. The rock was estimated to be a few meters wide and to weigh about 360 tons (330 metric tons) and was traveling roughly 40,300 mph (64,800 km/h). Scientists are studying a new method, called gravitational ray tracing (GRT), which uses computer algorithms to track mock impactors back to their origins in space. The computer model did a good job of "predicting" the Chelyabinsk and Cuba meteors, researchers said. This latest event, although not nearly as energetic as the Chelyabinsk airburst, reminds us that development of planetary defense is a real need. Article: https://www.space.com/cuba-meteor-orbit-trajectorynaileddown.html Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 8 of 13 March 2019
Trump Signs Directive to Create a Military Space Force President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive-4 (SPD-4) on Feb. 19, ordering the Pentagon to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the United States military. But Congress must approve the creation of any new military branch, which has yet to happen in this case. Story: https://www.space.com/president-trump-space-forcedirective.html Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 9 of 13 March 2019
Israel's Lunar Lander Beresheet is On Its Way to the Moon Israel s first lunar mission was launched February 2 on a Falcon 9 booster. It s on a slow trajectory to the moon: it won t arrive for eight weeks. Beresheet cannot take a direct path to the moon because the lander shared a rocket ride with two other payloads. Also aboard the Falcon 9 were an Indonesian communications satellite and an experimental U.S. Air Force craft, both of which are only going as far as Earth orbit. Beresheet will end up traveling about 4 million miles (6.5 million kilometers) before touchdown, more than any other moon-landing mission to date. Story and video: https://www.space.com/israel-lunar-lander-long-tripmoon.html Additional amplification video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgfye1qnp3k NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019 Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 10 of 13 March 2019
NASA has selected 12 science and technology demonstration payloads to fly to the Moon as early as the end of this year, dependent upon the availability of commercial landers. NASA Press Release: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasaselectsexperiments-for-possible-lunar-flights-in-2019 Feature-length video: Gerard K. O'Neill: The Vision Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 11 of 13 March 2019
Gerard O Neill shares his vision for humanity s future in space in this video for the Space Studies Institute. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdtc9exenjc Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 12 of 13 March 2019
That s All Folks Oklahoma Space Alliance Update Page 13 of 13 March 2019