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Jul

2022

Space News from Planet Earth #03 – 04 July 2022

Space News from Planet Earth #03 – 05 July 2022

A bi-monthly newscast edited by Cole Armagost

1 Sierra Space signs agreement with Turkish Space Agency

by Jeff Foust — June 29, 2022

The “memorandum of cooperation was signed on the 29th of June . The memorandum was vague, but seemed to indicate a wide range of cooperative efforts involving spaceflight and potential lunar missions. For Sierra Space, it also projects future “engagement with Turkish businesses and Universities on space-related projects.” This agreement follows a stark increase in space involvement by the Turkish government over the last few years. The Turkish Space Agency was only recently formed in 2018 (and officially launched in 2021), but is already conducting work on several satellite programs and has even proposed mini satellite launch vehicle with a target launch in 2026. It may be that, for this nascent agency, involvement in the deal with Sierra space could lay the framework for future work by countries with less developed technological/space capability.

https://spacenews.com/sierra-space-signs-agreement-with-turkish-space-agency/

Neeraj Gupta (left), senior vice president and general manager of destinations at Sierra Space, meets with Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım (center), president of the Turkish Space Agency, and Cem Ugur, director general for ESEN, along with a model of the company’s Dream Chaser vehicle. Credit: Sierra Space

2 First James Webb Full Color Images to be released 12 July 2022!

by NASA Press Release -June 1 2022

After a six month wait while the telescope calibrated and aligned its mirror array, the James Webb is set to release its first ever full-color images. From this point, the telescope will be continuing scientific work for the foreseeable future. Preceding this first year of operation, teams had to compete for experimental time with the telescope, whereby each experiment is carefully integrated with the others in order to make the most efficient use of the telescope’s time.

Credit: NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/first-images-from-nasa-s-webb-space-telescope-coming-soon

3 China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket (photo)

by Andrew Jones – July 1st

A recent hot fire test of a new rocket engine designed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) was successfully conducted last week. The engine is slotted to be integrated into a “next generation rocket capable of launching astronauts to the moon.” This test falls in line with a space white paper released in early January 2022, which outlined goals through 2025 for the Chinese Space Program. Among these goals included an intent to send Chinese Astronauts to the moon in the coming decade.

https://www.space.com/china-tests-engine-new-moon-rocket

4 SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy rocket prototype moves to launch pad for tests

by Elizabeth Howell , June 30

Though the aerospace giant’s newest project still requires a launch license, the massive 50 meter rocket booster seems to be on track for a test launch in July or August. The Starship program is planned to eventually serve as a launch vehicle for missions going to the moon, mars and beyond in the coming decade. The last few months have shown the program in a kind of gridlock pending an environmental assessment by the FAA.

https://www.space.com/starship-super-heavy-rocket-launch-pad-move-june-2022-photos

5 US military’s mysterious X-37B space plane zooms toward orbital record

by Leonard David, June 30

The robotic space-plane, which was the first launched by the US Space Force in May 2020, is set to break its own mission duration record in the coming days. As of today ( updated July 5 2022), the system has been in orbit for 779 days. This comes 1 day short of the previous 780 day mission conducted by the X37-B. It is unknown when the ongoing mission will end. The US Department of the Air Force has X37-B has publicly.

https://www.space.com/x-37b-military-space-plane-nears-mission-duration-record

Image Credits: L’usine Nouvelle (Boeing)

6 A success for the launch of the CAPSTONE satellite of the Artemis program towards the Moon

by Massimo Luciani, June 28

The cubesat-class system was launched recently with an intent to test, among other things, the orbital regime planned for NASA’s Lunar gateway. In testing this regime, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) will hopefully be able to identify any unexpected issues that could arise for the unprecedented lunar space station. . This launch represents just a small part of the ambitious Artemis project. Establishing a permanent lunar space station would be a huge leap in space development, but it also involves a lack of precedence that precludes an overly high dependence on simulations for mission design. Thus, NASA has begun real world testing with CAPSTONE.

https://english.tachyonbeam.com/2022/06/28/a-success-for-the-launch-of-the-capstone-satellite-of-the-artemis-program-towards-the-moon/

7 U.K. government announces new space sustainability measures

by Jeff Foust, June 25

The “Plan for Space Sustainability,” was recently announced by the U.K. Minister for Science, research and innovation. The initiative includes a policy package which outlines a system of incentives for commercial space enterprises considering operation in the United Kingdom. The plan is based upon four elements: the first is to “Lead in global regulatory standards for orbital activities.” The second is to work with international and supra-governmental partners like the United Nations on space sustainability. The third element is to develop so called “simple, accurate metrics” by which to evaluate the sustainability of the various activities involved in space operations. The fourth part involves “funding for an active debris removal program.” Rather than a crackdown, the effort seems to be an attempt at resolving environmental and spacefaring interests in order to allow space for both.

https://spacenews.com/u-k-government-announces-new-space-sustainability-measures/

Space Renaissance International and partners

8 SRI to hold a workshop at UN, in September, together with ACES Worldwide

The workshop will include two panels: 1) on Space Safety, chaired by Prof. Joe Pelton (ACES WW) 2) on Science, Civilian Space Development and Exploration, chaired by Prof. Bernard Foing (SRI, President)

9 The Space Renaissance Art & Science Festival will take place, at the Archenhold Observatory in Berlin, from 7 to 9 of July

Several keynote speakers will take part, bringing their view about kicking-off civilian space development before 2030. With others: Giuseppe Reibaldi (Moon Village), Bob Zubrin (Mars Society), Jan Woerner (former Director General of ESA), Michelle Hanlon (President of the National Space Society), Helga Zepp-LaRoche, Schiller Institute. Register for free to attend in presence or virtually: https://spacerenaissance.space/register-to-the-space-renaissance-festival-berlin-2022/

See the full programme of the Festival: https://spacerenaissance.space/space-renaissance-festival-berlin/

10 SRI representatives to chair relevant workshops for International Space University at Oeiras (Lisbon, Portugal)

Adriano Autino, SRI Founder and Ambassador, will chair a workshop on Civilian Space Development for ISU Space Studies Program (SSP22) students the July 12^nd at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) Taguspark Campus, Oeiras, Lisbona Portugal. The students will be required to simulate the drafting of Statements of Work for hypothetical Call For Tenders on several projects in the geo-lunar space. Prof. Bernard Foing, SRI President, will also chair relevant workshops in the frame of the SSP22 initiative, taking place at Oeiras from June 27 to August 27.

11 SRI to participate to the Celebration of the 800 years anniversary of the Padova University, from 7 to 9 of September

Prof. Bernard Foing and Adriano Autino will participate to the organization of the space day of the event — 800 Years of Space at the University of Padua — the 9 of September. Autino will chair the Session on Humanities and Art in Space, while Prof. Foing will talk about the Space Renaissance Art chapter, the ArtMoonMars program and the ITACCUS projects bridging Space and Arts.

12 The Space Renaissance TV moves its first steps

A permanent window directly connected to the Space Renaissance YouTube channel is now visible on the Space Renaissance website, this page: https://spacerenaissance.space/space-renaissance-tv/

Such page will broadcast any livestream going on live on the channel.

Possible evolution includes an index of all podcasts, sorted by categories, likely organized in a new dedicated website to come.

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Jun

2022

Space Renaissance News: Aldo Spadoni’s lecture on Space Art

“Art moves you before you understand why.”

-Donald Anderson.

As members or supporters of SRI, you will recall the history seeded in the name of our organization. This namesake, the original Renaissance, is often described as a period of explosive cultural growth that spread throughout Europe over the course of several centuries. Collaboration between artists, thinkers, builders, and generous benefactors during the Renaissance left humanity with gifts of indescribable value. And many of the most oft-cited of these gifts come in the form of art. Art defined the old Renaissance, so we imagine you may want to know: How exactly does art play a role in the Space Renaissance?

Our guest speaker this last Monday June 6, sought to provide help in answering this very question, by his beautiful lecture “Exploring the Boundaries of Art, Design, Aerospace Engineering & Popular Culture”. See it on the Space Renaissance Youtube channel.

Aldo Spadoni, an aerospace engineer and self-taught artist, honored the Space Renaissance community by giving a talk on the role of art in advancing space exploration. Spadoni has decades of professional experience working as both a NASA engineer and as an artistic/technical consultant for the entertainment industry. The list of cinema projects alone to which he has contributed as an advisor include Iron man I (and II), Apollo 13, Supernova, and Stealth.

Mr. Spadoni spoke about the origins and roles of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (the IAAA). The association, of which he is currently the President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was founded in 1982 by a small group of artists with experience and interest in both space-related STEM fields and art. Now numbering nearly 200 members, the group seeks to provide a collaborative platform and incubator of sorts to the artists of today who render images of space and the human exploration of it. They organize workshops, exhibits and projects to promote space art because, as is written on their website, “the mind of the human artist can go where a camera cannot (yet!).”

How do these efforts drive the space exploration movement forward?

Space art, claims Spadoni, helps us to “envision the unseen.” By this he means two things: the first is that art can literally help us to envision the possibilities of space travel. The second is that it can be a useful way to communicate things that resist understanding (unseen..in a. When well crafted, art can lead its audience to develop a better handle on complex ideas that might otherwise be closed to them. Art can tell stories. Art can ask its own questions and provide its own answers. Art often gives a clear form to things which struggle to be understood without it. In this way, as Spadoni shows, the hugely complex engineering projects required by space exploration can find a communicative voice through men and women of artistic talent.

Scientific efforts can be notoriously difficult to explain to the layperson, but as Spadoni showed us, even something with a mission as abstract as the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) can be artistically presented in a coherent, compelling way. It seems that the role of art for advancing space exploration then, is in part to bridge the gaps between scientific experts and the layman in a field that can sometimes have trouble “selling itself.” Space Artists like Spadoni are, in this way, agents of synergy between engineers pioneering new technology and the rest of the world.

For those who seek to advocate for more widely pursued global space expansion, it may be helpful not just to see space exploration as a mission, but as a movement. When we make this analytical shift, the role of art becomes clearer. Human social movements do not happen without an inspirational and sustaining source, without some catalyst which sets the roots of the movement in the minds of those who interact with it. Art has continually proven itself as a useful and maybe necessary element of this catalytic force. Thus for the space exploration movement, Spadoni shows us, humankind may need art just as much as it needs astronautics.

Thank you all for your time and investment in SRI!

See you next time,

Cole Armagost, SRI Editorial Staff

Want to comment this letter?

Join the Space Renaissance Open Forum: https://groups.google.com/g/sri-open-forum

Participate to the Space Renaissance Art & Science Festival

at Archenold Observatory, in Berlin 7-9 July 2022

https://spacerenaissance.space/space-renaissance-art-science-festival-berlin-7-9-july-2022/

Want to work with us, for peace and civilian space development?

Join the SRI Crew, come on leading the Space Renaissance!

https://spacerenaissance.space/membership/international-membership-registration/

Want to be a Space Renaissance Ambassador?

Subscribe to the Space Renaissance Ambassadors Training Course

https://academy.spacerenaissance.space/space-renaissance-ambassadors-education-programme/

https://spacerenaissance.space/subscription-to-space-renaissance-ambassadors-course/

Also download a pdf copy of this article

Jun

2022

Space Renaissance News: Starship 24 ready to fly to orbit!

Space News from Planet Earth

The Space X Starship 24 prototype is going through the preliminary test campaign, in view of the first launch to orbit, that should take place within the month of June. FAA recently gave 13 June as the date to release its clearance to the launch of the first fully reusable space vehicle from the Boca Chica Starbase. Rumors say this could be the right time, after so many delays, since 2021, when Elon Musk said Starship was ready to fly to orbit. However, even if the launch from Boca Chica would be cleared, as we hope, Space X is moving to develop a launch site at Cape Canaveral, where the environmental issues are not that critical. We have to care about environmental impact, however the consolidation of the first 100% reusable orbital vehicle is paramount important for overall costs reduction and for the kicking off of Civilian Space Development. Therefore we very much hope that this first crucial test will be possible from the Starbase, where it is ready to go. Crossing fingers!

The 4 of June, Blue Origin successfully completed its fifth human spaceflight and the 21st flight for the New Shepard program. The astronaut crew included: Evan Dick, Katya Echazarreta, Hamish Harding, Victor Correa Hespanha, Jaison Robinson, and Victor Vescovo. Blue Origin is walking briskly on the road of space tourism. Carrying civilians to space is a key challenge. The Bezos’s company already demonstrated to be able to transport elder people to suborbital altitude without damages to their health. It means that acceleration is smooth enough, and the ergonomic conditions onboard are suitable for people who didn’t go through a hard astronautic training. We’re eager to see the next steps, also by the other dealers, Virgin Galactic and Space X.
May 31, Sierra Space announced a strategic partnership with aerospace manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems for production of cargo modules for its Dream Chaser vehicles. The companies said they signed a letter of intent under which Spirit will assist in the development and production of Shooting Star, the cargo module attached to the aft end of the Dream Chaser lifting body vehicle. That module will support future cargo missions to the International Space Station under Sierra Space’s contract with NASA, and for other applications. Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane is a multi-mission space utility vehicle designed to transport crew and cargo to low Earth orbit (LEO) destinations such as the International Space Station. Dream Chaser was selected by NASA to provide cargo delivery, return and disposal service for the space station under the Commercial Resupply Service 2 (CRS-2) contract. The Dream Chaser Tenacity™ spaceplane will be the first vehicle in our Dream Chaser fleet of orbital vehicles. Dream Chaser will provide a minimum of six cargo missions to and from the space station carrying critical supplies like food, water, and science experiments, returning to Earth with a gentle runway landing.
About one week ago, Stratolaunch revealed its first hypersonic design for high-altitude flights. The Talon-A test vehicle will eventually drop from the biggest airplane ever built, known as the Roc, that already has made 5 flights. The Mojave, California-based company announced that it has structurally completed the Talon-A test vehicle, known as TA-0. A future flight of Roc will release TA-0, which is unpowered, to assess Roc’s systems. “After completing TA-0 separation testing, the company will transition to flying its first hypersonic test vehicle, TA-1,” Stratolaunch stated. “The team has also started fabrication of a third vehicle, TA-2, the first fully reusable hypersonic test vehicle,” Stratolaunch representatives added.
NASA selects Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to build next-generation spacesuits for Artemis moon program and other ISS mission. The next-generation spacesuits these spacesuits will be also worn by crew members on the ISS. Notably, Axiom Space had also organized commercial flights to the ISS. NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission will be the agency’s first big step toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Formerly known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), Artemis 1 will be the first test flight of the agency’s new Space Launch System megarocket and the Orion crew capsule. The SLS rocket will launch the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on an approximately 26-day mission, during which it will spend six days orbiting the moon before returning to Earth. After some reparations to SLS required by the first tests, Artemis 1 is now scheduled to launch in August 2022.

Space Renaissance & Partners, Events and Activities

The Space Renaissance Art & Science Festival will be held in Berlin, from 7 to 9 of July 2022. The 3 days conference will host several artists and experts of space matters and programs from Europe, US and other Countries. And, of course, a large representation of the German space community. The program includes both English language and German language Panels. Some speakers will be physically present, while others will present virtually. The location is the historic Archenhold Observatory of Berlin, generously offering the rooms and the systems for the development of the Festival. On the SRI website it is possible to see the whole programme and to register for free.
The Space Renaissance Academy has kicked-off the SRI Ambassadors High Level Training Course. The Calendar of the lectures in 2022 is now published on the SR Academy website spacerenaissance.space, where it is also possible to register to attend the lectures. Registration is free for SRI members, while we ask for a free donation by non members. The first lecture, to be given June 26^th, is “Utopian thinkers and Space Philosophy”.
SRI has kicked-off its internship programme. Already 3 conventions were signed with universities, to allow our interns to get credits by this activity. They are already helping in the frame of the SR Academy, to build our lectures, and to search world-wide literature for adding references to our works (papers, presentations, projects). The Statement of Work for the available internship roles is published on the SRI website, where it is also possible to apply for the open positions.
Nancy Wolfson gave a speech to ISDC 2022, May 28^th, representing our President Prof. Bernard Foing, who was invited by Michell Hanlon, the actual President of NSS.
SRI and ACES World Wide are working to organize a special workshop at UN session of September 2022, on the theme of space safety and space science & exploration sustainability. More info to come.
SRI president B. Foing attended IAF GLEC conference on space emerging countries in Quito Ecuador 1–20 May, as panelist about Exploration ecosystem, and as moderator of panel on Latino american culture in space. Prof. Foing organised and co-chaired sessions at EGU European Geoscience Union Vienna four sessions co-sponsored by EMM/ILEWG on 25-27 May: Analogue research, open session on planetary instrumentation, Lunar science and exploration, open session on Earth Atmosphere, land and ocean.
Foing also reports about EuroMoonMars, holding a EuroMoonMars Results Open Virtual Workshop on Monday 6 June 15-18h CEST
SRI president B Foing attended a SGAC Space Generation event at ISU Strasbourg on 4 June with 200 attendees, where he discussed collaborative opportunities with SRI and EuroMoonMars.
SRI president B Foing is also attending a top level event “Objectif Lune” organised by CNES:ANRT at Paris Musée d’Histoire Naturelle on 7 June evening

06 June 2022

Bernard Foing, SRI, President

Adriano V. Autino, SRI Founder, SRI Ambassador

Want to comment this letter?

Join the Space Renaissance Open Forum: https://groups.google.com/g/sri-open-forum

Want to work with us, for peace and civilian space development?

Join the SRI Crew, come on leading the Space Renaissance!

https://spacerenaissance.space/membership/international-membership-registration/

Want to be a Space Renaissance Ambassador?

Subscribe to the Space Renaissance Ambassadors Training Course

https://academy.spacerenaissance.space/space-renaissance-ambassadors-education-programme/

https://spacerenaissance.space/subscription-to-space-renaissance-ambassadors-course/

Also download this article in pdf format

Mar

2022

Why civilian space development is key today, for us humans, to overcome the global crisis

The crisis of Cuba in 1962 – mentioned in the Lord Rees’s book “Our Final Hour” (2003) — was the event that brought us closest to a nuclear war. According to the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., one of Kennedy’s counselors, at that time: “This was not only the most dangerous moment of the Cold War. It was the most dangerous moment in human history. Never before had two contending powers possessed between them the technical capacity to blow up the world. Fortunately, Kennedy and Khrushchev were leaders of restraint and sobriety; otherwise, we probably wouldn’t be here today.”

I believe this is the main argument to respond to the nowadays under-estimators of the current war in Ukraine, and its effects on global economy, space policy and destiny of civilization at large. In addition to the Schlesinger Jr.’s statement, nowadays we have several leaders which are all but restraint and sober. First of all the new Zar, grown up in the paranoid environment of KGB. Yet we have other recent cases, in the western world too. Moving beyond the obvious condemn of the absurd invasion of Ukraine, suffocating any possibility for people to decide whether they want to be Ukrainian or Russian, the danger for civilization is extremely high, indeed. The availability of thousands of nuclear warheads in the hand of psychopathic leaders makes a WWIII extremely much more dangerous than the previous world wars, the very likely trigger of a global civilization implosion.

Relying on wars to solve conflicts and to relaunch economy through destruction was always a wrong way, yet nowadays is a total nonsense. It is not superfluous to restate this, since we perfectly know that, among Earthers, many secretely plauded to Covid19 pandemic as a “natural” agent to reduce population – the thought runs back to Nicolò Machiavelli, who plauded the pest, as a “purge” of society. The absurdity of such concept should be clear: a pandemic kills both bad and good people, useless and useful, including many which could offer solutions to thousands of shared small and big problems. And now such fellows of Armageddon, publicly sad for thousands deaths and million refugees, secretely plaud to the war, as another knight of Apocalypse, to “moderate” human growth.

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Nov

2021

Space Renaissance 2021: Highlights and Perspectives, and a Special Invitation

As we are progressing towards the end 2021, let’s summarize what we did and where we are for Space Renaissance International. It was a quite intense and fruitful year.

A first Key Performance Indicator is membership: we have grown more than 110% in membership since November 2020, but we need more registrations, and partnerships!

Since November 2020 to June 2021 we held 6 webinars in preparation of SRIC3, the 3^rd SRI World Congress, with many panelists, top experts of space themes, e.g., among others: Patrick Collins, Sam Coniglio, Andreas Bergweiler, Al Globus, Rino Russo, Tommaso Sgobba, Jonathan Tate, Luigina Feretti, Stefano Antonetti, Joe Pelton, Michelle Hanlon, Rick Tumlinson, Bernard Foing, Thomas Matula, Shaun Moss, Jerry Stone, Susan Jewell, Dan Cottita, Bruce MacKenzie, Isaac Arthur, Howard Bloom, Bart Womack, Giorgia Pontetti, Enrico Feoli, Alessandro Sciaraffa, Emanuele Pensavalle, The Cometan, Giulio Prisco, Alberto Cavallo, Tsvi Bisk, Steven Wolfe, Paul Ziolo.

On 18-19 March 2021, SRI was main partner in organizing GALIX Inaugural congress to EuroMoonMars Earth Space Innovation EMMESI Leiden/Hybrid workshop. SRI will be partner in GALIX 2022/EMMESI workshop planned on 14-17 March 2022.

End of June we held the 3^rd SRI World Congress “The Civilian Space Development”, 5 days of intense discussion, 70 papers presented, a final resolution and two theses documents discussed and voted. The Congress elected the new President, Prof. Bernard Foing, and the new Board of Directors, that will lead our association during next five years, towards 2025.

The Congress was a great success, with 10 keynote speakers and more than 1000 attendees over the 5 days. Among the keynote speakers we had: Jan Wörner, Rick Tumlinson, Michelle Hanlon, Bob Zubrin, Gary Barnhard, Susan Ip-Jewell.

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