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July 2017 Quote of the Month
“I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.”
Elon Musk
Image Credit: Garin Kilpatrick
A Chapter of The [email protected]
National Space Society 405 496 3616
Oklahoma Space Alliance
Table of Contents
Quote of the Month .................................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Second Used Falcon 9 Launch ...................................................................................................................... 3
SpaceX Wins Launch of USAF X-37B ............................................................................................................. 4
SpaceX to Restore Launch Pad by End of Summer ........................................................................................ 5
Sixty Years of Atlas Launches ....................................................................................................................... 6
Rocket Lab Makes it into Space on First Launch ............................................................................................ 7
Senate Bill Allows Russian Rocket Engines ................................................................................................... 8
Astronomers Peer into Stellar Nursery ......................................................................................................... 9
Kepler Survey Catalog Includes 219 New Planets ........................................................................................ 10
Blue Origin Retains Engine Lead ................................................................................................................. 11
Pense Talks Commercial & Does Not Mention SLS ...................................................................................... 12
Ariane 5 Launched from French Guiana ...................................................................................................... 13
Hydroponics News Item ............................................................................................................................. 14
SpaceX Feature Presentation ..................................................................................................................... 15
About SpaceX ................................................................................................................................................... 16
SpaceX Accomplishments to date in 2017 ....................................................................................................... 17
Additional SpaceX Events for 2017 .................................................................................................................. 18
Elon Musk Cautious? ........................................................................................................................................ 19
That’s All Folks .......................................................................................................................................... 20
Oklahoma Space Alliance
What’s Happening
July 2017 Copyright © 2016 Oklahoma Space
Alliance Editor Stephen Swift
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://chapters.nss.org/ok/osanss.html
President & Stephen Swift
Update Editor
405-496-3616
Vice President & David Sheely
Chapters Representative
405-821-9077
Secretary & Syd Henderson
Outreach Editor
405-321-4027(H)
405-365-8983(C)
Treasurer Tim Scott
405-740-7549(H)
NSS Region Claire McMurray
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
Second Used Falcon 9 Launch
Sept. 23, 2017 Launch of Bulgariasat-1
Credit: SpaceX/Spaceflight101
SpaceX launched Bulgaria’s first communications satellite on Friday – the first of two Falcon 9 launches in the space of two days – via the company’s second flight-proven rocket – which also landed a second time. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center was at 15:10 Eastern Daylight Time (19:10 UTC). See article at https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/spacex-falcon-9-second-flight-bulgariasat-1-mission/. See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j12dheDuXT0.
SpaceX Wins Launch of USAF X-37B
X-37B Space Plane Credit: USAF AF.MIL
“Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp will fly its first mission for the U.S. Air Force in August when it launches the military's X-37B miniature spaceplane, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said on Tuesday.“
“Four previous X-37B missions were launched by United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 (BA.N).”
See full article at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-spacex-idUSKBN18X2SV.
SpaceX to Restore Launch Pad by End of Summer
Falcon 9 Explodes September 1, 2016 Credit: theGuardian
“Construction crews at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad are busily repairing and upgrading the facility after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded there last year, with the pad’s return to service scheduled before the end of the summer, clearing the way for final preparations for the triple-core Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight late this year.”
“The resumption of launches from pad 40 will allow SpaceX to complete modifications of nearby pad 39A for the Falcon Heavy. Officials rushed pad 39A into service earlier this year for Falcon 9 flights last year’s explosion left pad 40 unusable.”
See article at https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/06/10/spacex-aims-to-restore-damaged-launch-pad-to-service-by-end-of-summer/’
See explosion at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/01/spacex-explosion-launch-site-florida.
Sixty Years of Atlas Launches
Screenshot Credit: ULA Video 60 Years of Atlas Launches.
Published by ULA on Jun 12, 2017
“The Atlas rocket launched for the first time on June 11, 1957. From the world's first communications satellite to John Glenn's orbital mission to exploration, national security and commercial missions, Atlas continues to blaze new trails in space. For a longer, more detailed history of Atlas, check out our video Atlas History 2011 (https://youtu.be/9DEWwcLco00).”
See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMkLjE1D3Sw.
Rocket Lab Makes it into Space on First Launch
Rocket Lab Launch May 25, 2017 Credit: Rocket Lab
“Rocket Lab broke new ground today when its Electron rocket reached space at 16:23 NZST.”
“Electron lifted-off at 16:20 NZST from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. It was the first orbital-class rocket launched from a private launch site in the world.”
Rocket Lab is an American Company that focuses on launching small satellites.
See article and videos at http://spaceref.biz/company/rocket-lab-conducts-successful-flight-test.html.
Senate Bill Allows Russian Rocket Engines
The RD-180 engine in the first stage of the Atlas 5. An amendment to a Senate
sanctions bill will allow continued imports of Russian engines for civil and
commercial launches. Credit: ULA
“WASHINGTON — Senators overwhelmingly passed an amendment to an Iran-Russia sanctions bill June 15 to fix language some argued could have prevented NASA and others from launching missions on rockets that use Russian engines.”
This action allows continued launches of Atlas V with Russian engines.
See article at http://spacenews.com/amendment-to-senate-bill-allows-continued-imports-of-russian-rocket-engines/.
Astronomers Peer into Stellar Nursery
In this composite image combining GBT radio and WISE infrared observations, the filament of ammonia molecules appears red and Orion Nebula gas appears blue. Credit: R. Friesen, Dunlap Institute; J. Pineda, MPIP; GBO/AUI/NSF “Astronomers have released an image of a vast filament of star-forming gas, 1200 light-years away, in the stellar nursery of the Orion Nebula.
The image shows ammonia molecules within a 50-light-year long filament detected through radio observations made with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. That image is combined with an image of the Orion Nebula—an object familiar to amateur and professional astronomers alike—taken with NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Exp.”
See article at https://phys.org/news/2017-06-radio-astronomers-peer-deep-stellar.html.
Kepler Survey Catalog Includes 219 New Planets
NASA’s Kepler space telescope team has identified 219 new planet candidates, 10 of which are near-Earth size and in the habitable zone of their star.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“NASA’s Kepler space telescope team has released a mission catalog of planet candidates that introduces 219 new planet candidates, 10 of which are near-Earth size and orbiting in their star's habitable zone…”
See article at https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-releases-kepler-survey-catalog-with-hundreds-of-new-planet-candidates.
Blue Origin Retains Engine Lead
A group of BE-4 engines being assembled at Blue Origin's Kent, Washington, facility. Credit: Blue Origin
“Updated 6:30 p.m. Eastern June 28.
WASHINGTON — An independent assessment of rocket engine development delivered to a House committee last week has concluded that Blue Origin remains well ahead of Aerojet Rocketdyne despite a recent testing setback.”
See article at http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-retains-engine-lead-as-house-considers-limitations-on-launch-system-funding/.
Blue Origin pics Huntsville, Alabama (city of Senator Shelby’s alma mater, the University of Alabama) for BE-4 rocket engine manufacturing.
See June 26 article at https://www.geekwire.com/2017/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-picks-huntsville-alabama-rocket-city-4-engine/.
Pense Talks Commercial & Does Not Mention SLS
Vice President Mike Pence addresses NASA employees on Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: arsTECHNICA
“Perhaps the most significant reference came when Pence made the following remarks: "In conjunction with our commercial partners, we'll continue to make space travel safer, cheaper, and more accessible than ever before. The truth is that American business is on the cutting edge of space technology."
“During his speech, Pence did not mention the Space Launch System rocket that NASA intends to begin stacking in the Vertical Assembly Building late next year, or in 2019, for its inaugural launch. This massive rocket, which, factoring in development costs, may require about $3 billion per launch, seems to be the opposite of "cheaper" and making space "more accessible."
See article at https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/mike-pence-gives-a-shout-out-to-commercial-space-companies/.
Ariane 5 Launched from French Guiana
Launch of an Ariane 5, Flight VA238, with the Hellas Sat 3 / Inmarsat S EAN and GSAT-17 satellites aboard on June 28, 2017. Credit: ESA/CNES/Airanespace
“Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket left the pad at the Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:15 p.m. EDT (21:15 GMT) on June 28, 2017. Flight VA238, as the mission was named by Arianespace, deployed two satellites – Hellas Sat 3 / Inmarsat S EAN and GSAT-17 – into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) 39 minutes after lifting off, completing the fourth Ariane 5 launch of the year.”
See article and video at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/arianespace/arianespace-closes-first-half-2017-launch-flight-va238/.
Hydroponics News Item
Lettuce being grown at Infinite Harvest. Credit: Joshua Polson, The Greely Tribune
It took a lot of trial and error to find a way to efficiently farm indoors, but Romano was used to the scientific process, as he has a master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado. He studied his process as a way to grow crops in space before realizing they would work on Earth, too. Once he felt his techniques were ready, he started Infinite Harvest, which opened January 2015 in Lakewood.
See article at http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/08/lakewood-hydroponic-farm-agriculture/.
SpaceX Feature Presentation
The launch of Commercial Resupply (CRS) mission four in September, 2014.
Credit: SpaceX
About SpaceX
Screenshot of Falcon 9 Launch Source: About SpaceX Video
See ‘About SpaceX’ and ‘Making Life Multi-Planetary’ videos: http://www.spacex.com/about.
SpaceX Accomplishments to date in 2017
• Ten Falcon 9 Orbital Launches to date in 2017
• Successful launch and landing of Previously Flown
Falcon 9 stage 1
• Successful reuse of Dragon for ISS resupply
• Second launch and landing of Previously Flown
Falcon 9 stage 1
• Three Falcon 9 launches to orbit in 12 days
Additional SpaceX Events for 2017
• Completion of repairs to Launch Pad 40 Providing SpaceX with two KSC Launch Pads Allowing update of Pad 39A for Falcon Heavy
• First Falcon Heavy test flight
• First Dragon 2 test flight
• Up to 11 additional orbital launches in 2017
Elon Musk Cautious?
Elon Musk Credit: Valentin Flauraud | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“When you think about qualities that make a successful Silicon Valley CEO, the first thing that comes to mind isn't usually "cautious."
“Paysa used IBM's supercomputer Watson to determine the top 11 most cautious tech leaders in Silicon Valley and around the U.S., scoring them on a scale from 0 (least cautious) to 1.0 (most cautious).
Watson determined that Elon Musk was the most cautions.
See article and list at http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/elon-musk-is-the-most-cautious-leader-in-tech-according-to-ibm-data.html.
That’s All Folks
