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On This Day in Space! Sept. 17, 1789: Saturn's 'Death Star' moon Mimas discovered
September 17, 2024
On Sept. 17, 1789, the British astronomer William Herschel discovered Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas.
Of course, "Star Wars" wasn't a thing at the time, and no one had ever heard of something called a "Death Star."
But there's no denying that this moon looks just like it.
Anyway, Herschel was a guy who liked to build telescopes and discover things, like the planet Uranus, tiny moons around Jupiter and Saturn, and other stuff out there in space.
Shortly after he invented a huge new kind of reflecting telescope called the Herschelian telescope, he spotted Mimas orbiting Saturn.
Mimas is super tiny with a diameter of less than 250 miles.
It is the smallest known spherical body in space that is held together by self-gravitation.
https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html
=Don't miss the Harvest Moon Supermoon lunar eclipse tonight! Here's what to expect
September 17, 2024
On the evening of Sept. 17, a partial lunar eclipse will turn the moon a murky red-brown color when Earth's shadow descends upon the lunar surface.
The partial lunar eclipse will be visible from most of North America, all of South America, Europe, all but the easternmost parts of Africa, western portions of Asia and Russia, and parts of Antarctica.
The exact timing of the partial lunar eclipse depends on your location and you can use websites like Timeanddate.com to find specific timings based on your location.
For those in the U.S. Eastern Time Zone, the eclipse will reach its darkest phase, with the moon most obscured by Earth's umbra, at approximately 10:44 p.m. EDT on Sept. 17.
In Europe and Africa, the eclipse will occur during the early morning hours of Sept. 18. In London, the peak of the eclipse will be visible around 3:45 a.m. BST on September 18.
If you are unable to watch the lunar eclipse in person you can watch all the action unfold online here on Space.com.
We have rounded up several lunar eclipse livestreams that are showing the Super Harvest Moon on Sept. 17.
In a partial lunar eclipse, only a portion of the moon passes into Earth's shadow, creating the appearance of a hazy "bite" taken out of the lunar surface.
The shadow will darken the side of the moon facing Earth. The size of this "bite" is determined by the alignment of the sun, Earth, and moon.
About 3.5% of the moon's visible surface will be covered by the darkest part of Earth's shadow, the umbra.
The rest of the Full Moon will take on a slightly reddish-brown appearance as the lighter portion of Earth's shadow which doesn't entirely block the sun's light will descend upon a majority of the lunar surface.
The partial lunar eclipse is extra special as it also falls during a "supermoon", the second of four supermoons in a row for 2024.
A supermoon happens when a full moon coincides with the moon's closest point to Earth in its orbit (which is elliptical-shaped).
As a result, the moon appears slightly brighter and larger than usual, although the difference is subtle and hard to detect with the naked eye.
The term supermoon generally refers to a full moon within 90% of its closest approach to Earth.
According to Fred Espanak, eclipse expert and retired NASA astrophysicist, there will be four supermoons in 2024, in August, September, October and November.
Approximately two weeks after the lunar eclipse Earth will experience an annular solar eclipse on Oct. 2.
The dazzling "ring of fire" solar eclipse will be visible over parts of the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina.
You can keep up with all the solar eclipse action with our solar eclipse live blog.
We will also be streaming the eclipse live on Space.com, more details on how to watch online will be released closer to the time.
https://www.space.com/lunar-eclipse-september-harvest-moon-supermoon-what-to-expect
Earth from space: Ghostly figure emerges in Greenland ice after underground lake collapses
September 17, 2024
Scientists were shocked when they discovered a large, ghostly figure that suddenly appeared in satellite images of Greenland 13 years ago.
The icy apparition was created by a depression in the snow-covered surface, which formed when an underground lake located directly beneath the figure collapsed.
The blobby specter, which looked like a shapeless figure waving up at space, was spotted in the Flade Isblink ice cap — a roughly 3,300-square-mile (8,550 square kilometers) ice cap sitting on Greenland's northernmost coastline, deep within the Arctic Circle.
The icy hole was around 2 miles (3 kilometers) long and just over 1 mile (2 km) across its widest point, and was 230 feet (70 meters) deep when it first appeared, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
The spooky structure, which researchers also referred to as "the mitten" due to its glove-like shape, formed at some point between Aug. 16 and Sept. 6, 2011, when the area was obscured by cloud cover in satellite photos.
In a 2015 paper, researchers revealed that the depression appeared when a subglacial lake rapidly drained of water, leaving behind an underground cavern that swiftly collapsed.
At the peak of this draining event, scientists estimated that 7,600 cubic feet (215 cubic meters) of water escaped the lake every second.
This event was "perhaps the first recorded instance of a rapid drainage of a subglacial lake in Greenland," Kelly Brunt, a glaciologist at NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory who was not involved in the study, told NASA's Earth Observatory in 2015.
The majority of similar submerged lakes in the country are considered to be very stable, she added.
Researchers continued to monitor the depression, and in 2022, a follow-up study revealed that the subglacial lake had been slowly refilling since 2012.
By 2021, the floor of the depression had risen by 180 feet (55 m) — rising to 50 feet (15 m) below the surrounding ice — despite a second, smaller draining event in 2019.
Researchers initially believed the majority of the water that reentered the lake came from surface meltwater that trickled down below the ground.
However, calculations later revealed that meltwater could only account for 65% of the water in the lake, meaning some other unknown source of water was also at work.
It is still unclear why the subglacial lake drained so quickly in 2011.
However, researchers suspect that human-caused climate change may have played a role.
Several subglacial lakes in Antarctica have also undergone similar collapses in recent years, and scientists fear that the escaping water could further accelerate ice loss in some areas.
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/arctic/earth-from-space-ghostly-figure-emerges-in-greenland-ice-after-underground-lake-collapses
U.S. military invests $12.5 million in Ursa Major for solid rocket development
September 17, 2024
Ursa Major, a Colorado-based rocket propulsion company, has secured $12.5 million in new funding from the U.S. military to advance the development and production of solid rocket motors, the company announced Sept. 17.
The funding, a joint investment from the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), will be matched by Ursa Major, bringing the total investment to $25 million.
The company said the new investment will support the design, manufacture, and testing of a solid rocket motor prototype for the U.S. Navy.
Ursa Major is already working on solid rocket motors for the Navy under a separate award.
The Pentagon’s move comes as it seeks to diversify its supplier base amid concerns about overreliance on a shrinking pool of domestic suppliers for solid rocket motors.
Ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have strained existing production capacity, particularly for tactical solid rocket motors.
“We are proud to work with OSC on their mandate for expanding the defense industrial base by bringing new innovations into the DoD ecosystem,” said Dan Jablonsky, chief executive of Ursa Major.
Jablonsky highlighted the company’s new manufacturing approach called Lynx, which leverages 3D printing technology to enhance the production of solid rocket motors, aiming for a faster, more cost-effective, and scalable process compared to traditional methods.
The OSC, established in 2022 and formally enacted by Congress in 2024, has authorities to issue loans and loan guarantees.
It aims to leverage U.S. capital markets to increase private investment in technologies vital to the Department of Defense’s needs, including those that may not attract sufficient private funding through traditional procurement methods.
Ursa Major has also secured several contracts from the U.S. Air Force for propulsion technology.
https://spacenews.com/u-s-military-invests-12-5-million-in-ursa-major-for-solid-rocket-development/
Software fix planned to correct Ariane 6 upper stage issue
September 16, 2024
European officials say a software change should correct a problem on the inaugural Ariane 6 launch in July that prevented the rocket’s upper stage from performing a final maneuver.
The Ariane 6 task force, which includes the European Space Agency, French space agency CNES, ArianeGroup and Arianespace, said in a joint statement Sept. 16 that a review of the data collected during the July 9 inaugural launch found “no showstoppers” for a second mission, currently scheduled for the end of this year.
That inaugural launch was not perfect, though, as the Vinci engine in the rocket’s upper stage failed to reignite for a final burn to deorbit the stage.
The stage’s auxiliary propulsion unit (APU) did not start up during a long coast phase, which prevented the Vinci engine from performing that final burn at the end of the mission, leaving the stage in low Earth orbit.
In its statement, the task force said that one temperature measurement exceeded a limit, triggering a shutdown of the APU.
Engineers will implement a software change to adjust the chill-down of the APU “to improve ignition conditions and solve the identified anomaly.”
That will not require any changes to vehicle hardware itself. The software change will be implemented before the next Ariane 6 launch, of the French military’s CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite, said Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, during a Sept. 16 briefing held in conjunction with World Space Business Week here.
“We could have done the second flight without correcting it,” he said, since the mission does not require multiple burns of the Vinci engine to place the satellite in its planned orbit.
“But we want to deorbit the second stage during this second flight, and to deorbit the upper stage we need to correct what has happened.”
He added that the software change needed to fix the problem should be “quite easy” to implement.
The task force statement mentioned a “few unexpected behaviors” with the inaugural launch but didn’t elaborate on those issues and any changes needed for the second launch.
Israël said Arianespace is still planning to conduct the second Ariane 6 launch by the end of the year, weeks after the return to flight of the Vega C rocket currently planned for late November or early December, even with the APU software change.
“We will see if we match this objective in the coming weeks and months,” he said of the schedule.
https://spacenews.com/software-fix-planned-to-correct-ariane-6-upper-stage-issue/
Space Force awards $45 million to universities for propulsion and power research
September 16, 2024
The U.S. Space Force awarded nearly $45 million to the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan to spearhead advanced research in space power and propulsion.
These universities will lead the third Space Strategic Technology Institute, part of the Space Force’s University Consortium initiative.
The program, which is also supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory, aims to foster academic research aligned with the strategic needs of the Space Force.
“This research will enable game-changing space power and propulsion technology transition to the Department of Defense,” the Space Force said in its announcement of the contracts.
Critical technologies
Under the latest round of contracts, the University of Michigan will receive $34.9 million, while RIT will be awarded $9.9 million.
Both institutions will lead teams of academic and industry partners to explore innovations in solar cell technology, thruster technology, and novel power approaches.
The Space Force’s University Consortium in earlier phases awarded $6.4 million to the University of Colorado Boulder and Virginia Polytechnic Institute for the first Space Strategic Technology Institute, focusing on space domain awareness.
Another $49.1 million was allocated to the University of Cincinnati and Texas A&M University for research in space access, mobility, and logistics under the second institute.
Space Force leaders said these investments serve a dual purpose: addressing technical challenges in the space domain while also cultivating a skilled workforce in the space sector.
https://spacenews.com/space-force-awards-45-million-to-universities-for-propulsion-and-power-research/
France kicks off space surveillance program for LEO
September 17, 2024
The French Defense Innovation Agency and armament agency DGA unveiled a low-Earth orbit space surveillance program at the Space Defense and Security Summit here.
French startup U-space will work with multinational missile supplier MBDA to develop a pair of satellites to demonstrate spacecraft detection, characterization and targeting.
The program, known as Toutatis, includes a 12-unit “Spotter” cubesat and a smaller target cubesat.
No launch has yet been announced but the satellites are likely to reach orbit in couple of years.
Active Defense
France seeks an “active defense capability” for space assets, said Eva Portier, DGA deputy for space.
A video showed the “Spotter” satellite detecting the target, sharing imagery with a ground-based tactical operations center and dazzling the target with a laser.
The DGA is committed to protecting space assets within 36,000 kilometers of Earth, Portier said.
First, it’s essential to better understand what’s happening in space, said Maj. Gen. Philippe Adam, French Space Command leader.
France already is working on surveillance in geosynchronous orbit through a program called Yoda.
Two small satellites being built by Hemeria are equipped with cameras from the French space agency CNES to investigate space-based threats.
France’s annual military space exercise, AsterX, continues to underscore the need for improved situational awareness in low-Earth orbit.
The Toutatis program shows how France will take advantage of the NewSpace sector to fill technological gaps, said Maj. Gen. Patrick Aufort, Defense Innovation Agency director.
https://spacenews.com/france-kicks-off-space-surveillance-program-for-leo/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3907093/kendall-highlights-accomplishments-urgency-to-finish-transitioning-to-great-pow/
Kendall highlights accomplishments, urgency to finish transitioning to Great Power Competition
Sept. 16, 2024
Conceding that his future as secretary is connected to the outcome of November’s election, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall used a high-profile keynote address Sept. 16 to highlight achievements modernizing and reshaping the Air Force and Space Force while also emphasizing unfinished work and the urgency driving it.
“What I’m not doing today is a farewell address,” Kendall emphasized out of the gate, while noting that an election is fast approaching, and he serves at the pleasure of the president.
“My hope is that I will have the opportunity to continue to serve, but if not, you can be certain that I will be working as hard as I can for as long as I can to prepare the Department of the Air Force for a conflict that is not inevitable, but may be becoming more likely over time,” he said, repeating a line he has repeatedly voiced since becoming the Department’s highest ranking civilian leader.
Kendall’s remarks came during a keynote at the annual conference sponsored by the Air and Space Forces Association.
With that context, Kendall spoke at length on his now familiar priorities and analysis for how the Department is pushing forward to properly position itself to meet modern-day adversaries such as the People’s Republic of China.
“China continues to push boundaries of acceptable behavior with aggressive actions directed toward its neighbors,” he said, again repeating a familiar refrain.
“I have instructed our briefers to stop referring to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army as a ‘future’, or ‘emerging’, or ‘potential’ threat. … It is a serious threat today,” he said.
Kendall focused attention on China’s ambitions and advances.
That government, he said, “continues to invest heavily in capabilities, organizations and operational concepts designed specifically to defeat the ability of the United States and its allies to project power in the Western Pacific.”
That effort extends into space where China is boosting its “space order of battle” as well as its “counter air capability,” its prowess in cyber operations and increasing the size of its nuclear forces.
“We can expect all these trends to continue,” he said.
Threats remain in the Middle East, he said, as well as from Russia.
Despite being mired in its invasion of Ukraine, Kendall offered a warning and a dose of optimism: “Regardless of when, if, or how this war ends, Russia is likely to remain an acute threat,” he said.
“But while Russia will be weakened from years of war, NATO will be even more resilient.”
To show what that means in real life, Kendall noted a recent agreement with Norway “to share the costs of integrating the Norwegian joint strike missile on the F-35.
This will significantly enhance our maritime strike capability and that of our Norwegian, Canadian and Australian allies,” he said, adding, “This is integrated by design in action.”
Kendall spent the balance of his 35-minute speech on the ambitious efforts to dramatically reshape, retool and re-train the Air Force and Space Force to confront and, if necessary, prevail in today’s environment.
Most prominently, he spoke about his signature initiatives – the seven Operational Imperatives and Reoptimizing for Great Power Competition.
Together those initiative are among the largest, most comprehensive shifts in a generation for how the services operate, train and posture themselves in defense of the country and its interests.
On all fronts Kendall said progress has been made but much more work lies ahead.
On “space order of battle,” one of Kendall’s main focuses, “we have started work on several distributed and resilient constellations to replace our vulnerable existing systems and to acquire new capabilities needed for great power conflict.”
Also in space, “We have received Quick Start authority to field additional low-cost GPS satellites to increase the resilience of the GPS system and have initiated that program.
In the counterspace area, we are making good progress with a range of systems that at this point are still classified.”
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There has been progress on updating command and control, battle management systems to meet the need of today’s threats.
“The Air Force and Space Force’s modernized C3BM systems are taking shape, and early components have achieved initial operational capability,” he said. “Maj. Gen. (Luke) Cropsey and his team spearheading this effort have been in place for roughly two years now, and their impact is becoming more visible, for both Air Force and Space Force advanced battle management.”
Progress on the next generation long-range bomber, the B-21 Raider, “continues to make good progress in the flight test program.”
Other important, new platforms are also progressing. “The overall family of systems, comprising Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCAs, the NGAD platform, and other associated programs, is moving forward aggressively,” he said.
“We are going full speed ahead on the first increment of CCAs.”
Kendall conceded that the ambitious NGAD program, which is focusing on designing and building state-of-the-art 6th generation “family of aircraft,” is being reviewed and reconfigured to meet technological and budget constraints.
“If we are ever going to make a change in the NGAD platform’s requirements, now is the time to do so, before the next major contractual commitment of resources and the commitment to proceed to production,” he said.
He also made clear the desire to push forward with the program’s central goal. “One thing I would like to make very clear,” Kendall said.
“We are not walking away from the core United States Air Force function of providing air superiority.”
He mentioned continued work and differing levels of success in developing a new generation of tanker, updating base defense to cope with the “full range of threats, cruise, ballistic and hypersonic.”
Similar progress can be measure on the far-reaching effort announced in February to “Reoptimize for Great Power Competition,” which is known by the short-hand, GPC.
“The short version of our progress on the 24 (GPC) decisions that we announced is that all of the actions required are well underway.
A few are slightly late to the original schedule, but overall progress is excellent, and nothing is far enough off track to cause major concern,” Kendall said.
Even with the progress, Kendall laid down a blunt and clear warning to anyone thinking of slowing future progress because of “territorial” concerns.
“We don’t have time for petty parochial interests or arguments about turf,” he said.
He also repeated a warning to Congress that he has made often in past years.
“The subject that I worry about the most, the adequacy of our resources,” he said, making that statement amid uncertainty if Congress would be able to agree on a temporary budget to keep the federal government operating beyond the September 30 end of the fiscal year.
Kendall praised the White House and Congress for the support to date but was direct about the needs going forward.
“As I look out at our needs going forward, it is clear to me that more resources will be required,” he said.
Despite all the change, challenges and new thinking, Kendall noted that one constant remains.
“I would be remiss indeed if I didn’t spend a few minutes talking about our most critical asset, our people. You are simply awesome.
You make me grateful to be part of this team every day,” he said.
“My promise to you is that whatever time I have left in public service, that I will spend it working as hard as I can to get the Department of the Air Force the resources it needs to successfully deter, and if needed achieve victory,” Kendall said.
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