Daily Archives: June 7, 2017

Space: the final frontier. Outer space has been in the news a lot recently. The recent discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1in February excited many people at the possibility to explore further into space. Whats more, different companies have been conducting successful experiments tolaunch commercial flights tospace. Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Elon Musks SpaceX have both been conducting successful tests of their burgeoning passenger spaceships.

The allure of space goes beyond the human need to explore new places and see new sights. The financial gain could be huge as well. There are asteroids full of valuable elements, such as platinum. According to a 98-page client memo, Goldman Sachs said that a craft could be built for $2.6 billion and could extract anywhere from $25 to $50 billion worth of platinum from an asteroid.

Of course this raises many issues, one of which is the risk of inundating the market with platinum and tanking its value.

via GIPHY

Another potential issueis the Outer Space Treaty,drafted in 1967 by the U.S. and the USSR. The countries main fear was nuclear weapons being put in space, but the treaty laid the groundwork for space exploration. Essentially what the treaty established was that the act of space exploration should be used to benefit humankind. In fact, one line of the treaty explicitly says:

Believing that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development

When the treaty was signed, national governments, and not private companies,had the capital available to venture into space exploration. In 2017, the economic landscape is a bit different. If Goldman Sachs wants to send itsown personal spaceship to an asteroid to mine it for platinum, will theprofits be used for the benefit of all peoples as the treaty would require?

Article VI of the treaty, the only article that addresses non-governmental entities, says that the nation the private entity is located in would have to police its actions. It states:

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty

The U.S. would have to ensure that Goldman Sachs use the profits of itsmining to benefit all peoples.

Space, as of right now, is technically res communis, or common territory, like a park or the high sea. Unfortunately, what you can and cannot do there is not as clearly defined as it is in these territories. The treaty prohibits national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, so does that mean that no one can build a hotel on Mars? And what about that gold mine (well, platinum mine) in the asteroid? Does Goldman Sachs even have the right to mine it, even if itcan get there?

For now, space is a legal gray area. We have a long way to go before we become like The Jetsons or Zenon. But its still fun to think that one day we could get there.

via GIPHY

Anne Grae Martin is a member of the class of 2017 University of Delaware. She is majoring in English Professional Writing and minoring in French and Spanish. When shes not writing for Law Street, Anne Grae loves doing yoga, cooking, and correcting her friends grammar mistakes. Contact Anne Grae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

Read this article:

Space Exploration: Can Private Companies Operate in Space? - Law Street Media (blog)

A new trailer for the upcoming indie game Outreach, where you explore an abandoned Russian space station during the cold war, received its first gameplay trailer on Tuesday, giving us a look at what to expect from the graphics and some of the things youll be doing in the game.

Playing as a Russian astronaut named Alexy, youll explore a secret space station built by the Russians in the 1980s to try to discover what happened to the crew. Youll be working on computers trying to get them back online, and talking with ground control back home.

Check out the Initial Gameplay Trailer below:

Outreach was announced back in 2015, and has slowly made its way onto the scene using some high quality, live action trailers meant to portray the tone that they are going for. You can check them all out at developer Pixel Spills YouTube channel. Outreach is to be released sometime later this year on Steam.

Read more from the original source:

Space Exploration Game 'Outreach' Receives First Gameplay Trailer ... - Hardcore Gamer

"Anything is possible if we have the courage to lead," Vice President Mike Pence said. | AP Photo

By Negassi Tesfamichael

06/07/2017 03:54 PM EDT

The Trump administration will ensure that America leads in space exploration, and the "world will marvel," Vice President Mike Pence told a group of new astronaut candidates Wednesday.

The vice president addressed a group of 12 candidates selected as NASA's astronaut class of 2017 at Johnson Space Center in Houston Wednesday, which happened to be his birthday. Pence was accompanied by several Republican lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Story Continued Below

"Under our administration, NASA will have the resources and support you need to continue to make history to advance American leadership to the boundless frontier of space," Pence said. "Under Donald Trump, America will lead in space once again and the world will marvel."

The White House has its work cut out for it. No nominee has been named for three key posts at NASA, including administrator. Acting administrator Robert Lightfoot attended the ceremony.

Pence also noted the administration will soon re-launch the National Space Council, a group of advisers to the president regarding space policy, which the vice president will chair.

A daily speed read on transportation and infrastructure in your inbox.

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The council was created in 1989 under President George H.W. Bush but was disbanded in 1993 after infighting within the group. Its functions had since been absorbed by the National Science and Technology Council, but President Barack Obama had also pledged to reboot the group.

Pence first mentioned that Trump would re-start the National Space Council during a signing ceremony at the White House on March 21, but it has not yet formed.

The president's 2018 fiscal budget requested $19.1 million for NASA, a 0.1 percent decrease from the current level. Lightfoot noted when the budget proposal was released that several missions would be discontinued under it along with NASA's Office of Education, but he called it "a very positive budget."

Pence touted the role of the private sector in space exploration, saying that the country "must have the courage to find answers where we haven't found them."

"Anything is possible if we have the courage to lead," Pence said.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

The rest is here:

Pence: America will lead in space and 'world will marvel' - Politico

By Irene Klotz | CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. 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 LaunchAlliance Atlas 5 rockets. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N).

"SpaceX will be sending the next Air Force payload up into space in August," Wilson said during webcast testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. She later specified that the payload would be one of the Air Force's two X-37Bspaceplanes.

Launch contracts are usually announced about two years before a flight but the Air Force did not disclose the X-37B contract until Tuesday, a mere two months before the flight. The Air Force declined to say when the contract was awarded or provide other details.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell declined to comment.

SpaceX's first publicly disclosed launch contract for the Air Force was awarded last year for a next-generation Global Positioning System satellite flight in 2018. A second GPS launch contract was awarded in March. The contracts are valued at $83million and $96.5 million, respectively.

In May 2016, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office disclosed it had hired SpaceX to launch a spy satellite aboard a Falcon 9. The mission, which was arranged through an intermediary, Ball Aerospace, took place last month.

SpaceX is owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Musk, who is also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis)

CHIRPAN, Bulgaria A team of excavators in Bulgaria has resumed a search for fossils of an ape-like creature which may be the oldest-known direct ancestor of man and whose discovery has challenged the central hypothesis that humankind originated in Africa.

LONDON Drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol is linked to changes in brain structure and an increased risk of worsening brain function, scientists said on Tuesday.

Read the rest here:

SpaceX wins launch of US Air Force X-37B space plane - Reuters

Edvard Pettersson and Jason Booth

June 7, 2017, 1:41 PM EDT June 7, 2017, 2:37 PM EDT

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. persuaded a jury to reject a former technicians claim he was fired for telling supervisors he thought test protocols werent followed and results were falsified.

Jurors in Los Angeles state court on Wednesday agreed with the rocket builder that Jason Blasdell was terminated in 2014 because of his poor job performance and not in retaliation for his taking his concern about improper testing procedures as high as Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk. He was seeking as much as $6 million in damages.

Blasdell sued Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX two years after he was fired. He had worked at the private company for more than three years, testing avionic components of Falcon 9 launch vehicles and the Dragon spacecraft, according to his complaint.

He claimed technicians were pressured by their managers not to follow written procedures for testing rocket parts and to report the parts had passed the tests even if the protocols hadnt been followed. Blasdell said he pointed out the deviations from testing protocols to his supervisors, the companys chief operating officer, and eventually to Musk.

SpaceX countered that Blasdell barraged his supervisors with rude, disrespectful and unprofessional emails about what he thought were inefficient testing and documentation procedures.

He never once complained that any laws were broken at the testing laboratory, which is a prerequisite for his claim that he was wrongfully terminated, according to SpaceX. He was fired because he had become disruptive and his co-workers were concerned about their safety, the company said.

We are pleased that we were cleared of the allegations that were clearly false,SpaceXs lawyer, Lynne Hermle, said after the verdict.

A lawyer for Blasdell,Anthony Nguyen, declined to comment on the verdict, as did jurors.

During the trial, Blasdell testified that he witnessed one of his managers demonstrate a test on a type of coaxial cable differently than it was described in the test procedure.

I suggested that he was not performing it as the written instructions told him to, but I also told him that in honesty the way he set it up I felt was the best version of the test that I had seen anyone perform, but it still didnt match the written instruction," Blasdell said under cross-examination by Hermle.

Hermle said in her closing statement that Blasdells main complaint was that the tests werent clear to him. Whereas other experienced technicians completed six to seven tests a day, Blasdell only managed one, she said.

"He couldnt accept that other technicians could complete tests as written," Hermle told the jurors. "If he couldnt do it, they wouldnt be able either and the results would have to be falsified."

Hermle said it wasnt until after Blasdell was fired that he claimed tests were falsified, which is a federal crime if rocket parts are involved.

SpaceX said in court filings that its test procedures arent static and that they are constantly revised and refined based on feedback from technicians and engineers. Technicians perform shock, thermal and vibration tests on component according to written procedures and they are expected to provide feedback, including proposed changes, to the responsible engineers, the company said.

An attorney for Blasdell, Carney Shegerian, said in his closing statement that his client isnt the lunatic that he was portrayed as by SpaceX. Blasdell won the companys Kick Ass" award for showing initiative the year before he got fired, Shegerian said.

The case in Blasdell v. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., BC615112, Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Read more:

SpaceX Defeats Technician's Wrongful Firing Case at Trial - Bloomberg