>BASICALLY THE MOON WAS PUT HERE
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
July 29, 2024
Milky Way over Uluru
What's happening above Uluru? A United Nations World Heritage Site, Uluru is an extraordinary 350-meter high mountain in central Australia that rises sharply from nearly flat surroundings. Composed of sandstone, Uluru has slowly formed over the past 300 million years as softer rock eroded away. The Uluru region has been a home to humans for over 22,000 years. Recorded last month, the starry sky above Uluru includes the central band of our Milky Way galaxy, complete with complex dark filaments of dust, bright red emission nebulas, and billions of stars.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Aurora alert: Strong geomagnetic storm could spark northern lights at mid-latitudes across US and Europe
July 29, 2024
Strong solar activity has prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) to issue a geomagnetic storm warning for July 30.
If the predicted G3 conditions are reached, auroras could be visible across mid-latitudes around 50°. Previous geomagnetic storms at this magnitude have triggered auroras as low as Illinois and Oregon, according to NOAA SPWC.
The culprit? A series of powerful M-class solar flares released from the sun over the weekend that were accompanied by several plumes of plasma and magnetic field known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
And Earth is in the firing line.
The first two CMEs released merged and formed what is known as a "cannibal CME" which is effectively clearing a path for at least two additional CMEs that are trailing behind it, according to Spaceweather.com. T
he arrival window for the CMEs is predicted for July 30 through to early Aug. 1, but there is a level of uncertainty about the exact timings.
CMEs carry electrically charged atoms called ions. When CMEs collide with Earth's magnetosphere, they can trigger geomagnetic storms.
During these storms, the ions interact with gases in Earth's atmosphere, releasing energy as light. This phenomenon is known as the northern lights, or aurora borealis, in the Northern Hemisphere, and the southern lights, or aurora australis, in the Southern Hemisphere.
Geomagnetic storms are classified by NOAA using a G-scale to measure the intensity of geomagnetic storms. They range from G5, the most extreme class to G1 minor class storms.
The recent geomagnetic storm watch issued by NOAA is currently classified as a G3-class for July 30, with G2 periods expected on July 31.
Current forecasts predict G3 geomagnetic storm conditions may arrive on July 30, though the exact timings are uncertain.
Similar to Earth's weather, space weather is unpredictable and challenging to forecast. While geomagnetic storm warnings of this level are uncommon, they can still sometimes fizzle to nothing.
Sara Housseal, a space weather forecaster, took to X to convey the importance of taking any timings very lightly.
"With numerous CMEs in play, it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to determine specifics with timing," Housseal wrote.
As we approach July 30, space weather forecasters will better understand whether and when to expect the CME's arrival.
If you want to keep a watchful eye on the space weather conditions and know when (and where) to look out for auroras, I recommend downloading a space weather app that will let you know the predicted conditions based on your location.
I use an app called "My Aurora Forecast & Alerts" available on iOS and Android. But any similar app should do the job. I then couple this with the Space Weather Live app available on iOS and Android.
This app is great as it gives you more of an insight into whether the space weather conditions are looking promising for aurora activity.
Though the upcoming solar storm may not be as intense as May's solar storm that sparked global auroras, it could still put on quite the show.
"It may not be as intense as the Gannon Storm back on May 10, but this compression of multiple back-to-back storms has at least G3 if not G4-level potential," space weather physicist Tamitha Skov wrote in a post on X.
Only time will tell as to whether this G3 storm prediction manifests into anything close to the May superstorm.
So for now, keep your eyes fixed on the current space weather forecasts and make sure those camera batteries are charged!
https://www.space.com/aurora-alert-northern-lights-july-mid-latitudes-us-europe-cannibal-cme
Boeing and Lockheed Martin Crush SpaceX in Latest Space Force Awards
Jul 29, 2024 at 5:32AM
Just because SpaceX has the world's cheapest rocket prices doesn't mean it will win all the contracts.
Is the U.S. Space Force playing favorites in space?
In 2022 and 2023, SpaceNews reports that the United States Space Force (USSF) awarded 60% of its National Security Space Launch Phase 2 (NSSL2) rocket contracts to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) joint venture of Boeing (BA -0.49%) and Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.48%).
SpaceX, which charges significantly less per launch than does ULA, was nevertheless awarded only 40% of the work.
In 2024, the numbers shifted even more heavily in ULA's favor.
$1.1 billion for me, $661 million for thee
On Friday last week, the Department of Defense announced its latest batch of NSSL2 contract awards, and the results were surprising. Despite charging more for its launches, ULA (technically, United Launch Services, a subsidiary of ULA) was awarded $1.1 billion in additional funding to cover an unspecified number of launches from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2027. SpaceX, despite charging less for its launches, was awarded only $661 million in new funding for the same period.
In total, ULA raked in 62.5% of the awards. SpaceX got only 37.5%.
Doesn't quite sound fair, does it? And yet, here's something that you may not have noticed just from reading the contract award announced last week (which I covered here on X).
When you add up all the NSSL2 contracts awarded over the 2022 to 2027 period, the amounts of work awarded to ULA and SpaceX come out much closer to equal: $4.5 billion for ULA, and $4 billion to SpaceX, such that the money is being split closer to 53% to 47%.
And I don't think that's an accident.
Consider: If Space Force awarded contracts solely based on the prices its contractors charge, SpaceX would logically win all the work available.
Its prices, after all, are cheaper than ULA's. If Space Force wants to get the best value for our tax dollars, awarding all the work to the lowest-cost provider SpaceX would be the way to do that. Nor is capacity an issue.
SpaceX conducted a staggering 98 rocket launches last year, after all, and is aiming for 144 in 2024.
It's got more than enough rockets to launch anything Space Force wants it to.
Problem is, if Space Force did give SpaceX all of its work, ULA would immediately go bankrupt. Unlike SpaceX, ULA doesn't have a commercial rocket launch business (it's tried to break into the commercial sector, but failed).
Lacking revenue from government work – or even lacking sufficient government revenue to cover its costs, there would be no way for ULA to remain in business.
And if ULA goes out of business, there would be no one else around to bid against SpaceX – and with no competition, SpaceX would be free to charge monopoly prices on its rocket launches.
And so you see the government's dilemma. In order to ensure low prices, Space Force needs to maintain competition in space launch.
But doing so requires that Space Force overpay on at least some of its launch contracts, so as to keep SpaceX's biggest competitor alive and healthy.
And why is this important for investors?
Because now that NSSL2 is wrapping up, it's already time to start thinking about NSSL3 – phase 3 of the National Security Space Launch program. NSSL3, you see, kicked off last month when the Pentagon announced that ULA, SpaceX, and a third space company, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, have all qualified to bid on a new set of launch contracts.
Running through mid-2029, NSSL3 is expected to see the awarding of some 90 launch contracts.
And with the goal of maintaining (or even better, expanding) competition still paramount, it's very likely that these contracts, too, will be awarded not necessarily to the lowest bidder(s), but also with an eye to spreading work around among multiple contractors, so as to enhance long-term competition in the space sector.
This will be especially important to Blue Origin, which doesn't yet have a rocket capable of launching satellites to orbit, but is bidding in hopes its New Glenn rocket will soon fill that role. For ULA's owners, too, this is good news.
As we saw in Lockheed Martin's Q2 earnings report, one effect of Space Force's policy has been to improve profit margins 11%, even as revenue grew only 1%, helping to boost operating profit margins to 10% in the first half of 2024 (versus less than 9% in 2023, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data).
There's even some good news in all of this for SpaceX, because with Space Force apparently happy to pay higher prices for ULA launches, SpaceX has found room to raise its own prices, too.
That's something to keep in mind as we all wait around hoping to see a SpaceX stock initial public offering (IPO) someday.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/07/29/boeing-and-lockheed-martin-crush-spacex-in-latest/
ULA Atlas V rocket launch, secretive mission for Space Force: When is liftoff from Cape Canaveral?
Updated 4:58 a.m. ET
Get your coffee or favorite caffeinated drink ready − an early morning rocket launch is scheduled for liftoff.
United Launch Alliance will launch an Atlas V rocket at 6:45 a.m. EDT Tuesday, July 30, from Cape Canaveral for the Space Force’s Space Systems Command.
This will mark the final national security mission for the Atlas family of rockets.
The USSF-51 mission is a secret payload for the Space Force.
While it is the final national security payload the rocket will carry, this will not be the final Atlas V launch, as there are more to come before the rocket is officially retired.
The ULA Vulcan rocket will replace the now-retired Delta IV and Atlas V rockets.
Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover, it should be visible from the Space Coast. And minutes after liftoff, there’s typically a rumble.
Below are suggestions on where to watch the launch from this area, a real-time weather radar to check for rainy conditions and other things to know.
If there are any changes to this launch, this story will be updated.
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2024/07/29/florida-rocket-launch-canaveral-kennedy-space-when/74583870007/
Has anyone seen him and Dan Scavino in the same room?
At least five countries want Malaysia to be ASEAN space agency, Senate told
29-07- 2024 03:44 PM
t least five or six countries have asked Malaysia to become an ASEAN space agency, the Senate was told today.
In fact, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said those countries also wanted Malaysia to be the satellite launch centre even though the establishment of ASEAN space agency is still in the planning stage.
“We (the government) have not yet chosen the state or the place (where the establishment of this space agency) will be, but we will discuss it with the relevant ministries and agencies before it is brought to the Cabinet to decide,” he said in reply to Senator Datuk Lim Pay Hen during Question Time.
Lim had wanted to know whether the government would consider the proposed establishment of the ASEAN space agency, which was discussed at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition last year, when it takes over the ASEAN chairmanship in 2025.
FIVE years ago, President and CEO of Axelspace Japan Nakamura Yuya was quoted as saying that ASEAN member countries should work together to establish the space agency because it may help reduce costs and resources that are often among the obstacles to any space-related project.
To a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Dr Arman Azha Abu Hanifah on whether the presence of ASEAN countries in BRICS will also be discussed during the ASEAN Summit next year, Mohamad said it depends on the member countries involved.
The minister, however, did not deny that the new economic bloc was the best platform for Malaysia to speak out, considering the population and gross domestic product (GDP) value of its member countries is greater than ASEAN’s.
“BRICS is an informal bloc that does not require us (Malaysia) to deal with any ‘treaty’.
We see a bloc that can be a good platform for the country because the population of the member countries is more than two billion with a GDP that is bigger than ASEAN’s.
“That’s why Malaysia has expressed interest in joining BRICS if application for new membership is open,” he said.
BRICS was established in 2009 as a cooperation platform for emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China with South Africa, hence the acronym, but Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were admitted as new members earlier this year.
https://thesun.my/local-news/at-least-five-countries-want-malaysia-to-be-asean-space-agency-senate-told-MM12789432
New vice chair selected for DAF Scientific Advisory Board
July 29, 2024
Dr. Lara Schmidt has been appointed the vice chair of the Department of the Air Force’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Members of the SAB include individuals who are experts in science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process and other matters of special interest to the DAF.
Established in 1944, the advisory board provides independent advice to DAF leadership on matters of science and technology relating to the Air Force and Space Force mission.
Board members offer their time to benefit the DAF and the nation by identifying applications of technology that can improve or enable new capabilities for the Air Force and Space Force.
As vice chair, Schmidt will assist in the overall direction and effectiveness of the board, focusing on conducting studies on topics deemed critical by the Secretary of the Air Force, recommending applications of technology and providing independent reviews of the quality and relevance of the DAF science and technology programs.
Prior to her new position, Schmidt served as the associate general manager of the Aerospace Corporation’s Communications and Navigations Capabilities Division and has been a member of the SAB since 2016.
To learn more about the Department of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, visit here.
https://www.scientificadvisoryboard.af.mil/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3852428/new-vice-chair-selected-for-daf-scientific-advisory-board/