Monthly Archives: June 2022

When Vicky Lea started as director of aerospace and aviation for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (EDC) more than a decade ago, she was tasked with growing the citysand, by extension, the statesaerospace economy. It seemed like an easy enough gig. After all, the state was already home to major space defense installations, massive corporations competing for NASA contracts, and universities with storied histories of extraterrestrial research. The Space Foundation in Colorado Springs had even been hosting the annual Space Symposium, one of the largest gatherings of industry professionals in the world, since 1984. But when she headed to that event to promote the state as a significant aerospace center, the most common reaction she got from attendees from outside of Colorado was puzzlement. The recognition just wasnt there, she says. Fast-forward to the most recent symposium, and things have changed dramatically. Lea says the new message from conferencegoers is this: We are considering relocating our business, and weve been told that Colorado is where we should be looking.

That shift isnt only due to Leas tireless recruitment efforts. The industry is undergoing rapid and profound change globally, and Colorado is reaping the benefits. Aerospace has very much moved out of the era of the military and NASA, says Jeffrey Forrest, chair of Metropolitan State University of Denvers aviation and aerospace science department. Instead, the industry is rocketing into whats been dubbed NewSpace, where travel beyond Earths atmosphere is driven by private companies rather than giant Apollo-style government initiatives. Hundreds of firms, large and small, are racing to carve out an economic niche, ranging from relatively mundane endeavors such as communications infrastructure to science-fiction-worthy orbiting film studios.

The pace is reminiscent of the 1800s gold rush, experts say, and much as it was during that frenzy, Colorado is in a special position to take advantage of the predicted boom times. The state has a unique aerospace ecosystem that dates back to the late 1940sa decade before NASA was foundedwhen University of Colorado Boulder physicists slapped scientific equipment atop captured German rockets from World War II to research Earths upper atmosphere. Shortly after that, the military began establishing a strong presence in the state in part because early Soviet missiles couldnt reach the continental interior, and aerospace companies set up shop here to take advantage of both the talent being produced by nearby universities and the militarys colossal defense budgets. You have to look in amazement at how many like-minded people gravitated together, says Dan Baker, the director of CU Boulders renowned Laboratory for Atmosphere and Space Physics (LASP). You got on a positive feedback loop, and things built to an extremely strong level.

Today, there are 300 aerospace companies in the state employing some 34,750 people, according to the Metro Denver EDC. And those numbers are only growing: Lockheed Martin Space, a Colorado-based division of the giant defense contractor, had more than a thousand open positions in the state in April. All of that together means Colorado is second only to California for the size of its commercial aerospace industry and first on a per capita basis.

Yet most Coloradans outside the industry have little idea of its scope or impact. Some call this the Space Paradox. Space is more important to our daily lives than ever, says Joe Rice, director of government affairs for Lockheed Martin Space, but we tend to realize it less. Space exploration has become so commonplace, he says, that its lost the grandeur of the Apollo era. But theres a new space race happening right now, and from Earth to orbit to the moon, Mars, and beyond, Colorado has a head start.

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There's a New Commercial Space Race Happening, and Colorado Wants to Win It - 5280 - 5280 | The Denver Magazine

Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin recently said that Moscow and Beijing were very close to signing the agreement on creating the joint Lunar Station.

We are now almost ready to sign an intergovernmental agreement on creating a lunar research base with China, Rogozin said in an interview with the state-owned Rossiya 24 TV channel.

As EurAsian Times has reported earlier, China and Russia are leading the opposition to the US-led space block, called the Artemis Accords, consisting of 19 countries, which aims to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2025 and establish a governing framework for exploring and mining for natural resources, on Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The mission intends to build a research station on the Moons south pole with a supporting research station orbiting the Moon, called the Lunar Gateway.

As part of that program, an uncrewed mission to Moon, Artemis 1, is planned to be launched as early as July 2022.

China and Russia are promoting their own International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) as an alternative to the US-led Artemis program.

This joint Sino-Russian mission aims to build a Moon base and install a space station in the lunar orbit. The station is planned to be a state-of-art experimental research facility created on the surface or in the orbit of the Moon.

Last June, Roscosmos and China National Space Administration (CNSA) presented a roadmap for the ILRS during the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2021).

According to the roadmap, divided into three phases, five facilities and nine modules are planned for the station to support long and short missions to the Moons surface and orbit. The construction of the station is expected to be completed by 2035.

These facilities include a CisLunar Transport Facility to support round-trip transfer between Earth and the Moon, lunar orbiting, soft landing, a take-off on the lunar surface, and re-entry to Earth.

On the surface, a long-term support facility will feature a command center, energy and supply modules, and thermal management. The lunar transport and operation facility will help modules move the surface and support excavation or sampling.

The other two are the lunar scientific facility for in-orbit and surface experiments and the ground support and application facility.

As for the modules, the designs reportedly include a hopping robot and smart mini-rovers that would move around the Moons surface.

The station is planned to be built in three phases, with the first phase involving six missions, including Chinas Change-4, 6, and 7 missions and Russias Luna 25, 26, and 27. The first phase involves gathering data and verifying high-precision soft-landings which is supposed to last till 2025.

The Change-4 (CE-4) mission delivered a landing platform and a rover named Yutu-2 to the Moons far side in January 2019, marking the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon by any country.

Yutu-2 landed in Von Krmn crater, in the Moons South Pole-Aitken basin, in January 2019. The CE-4s purpose is to explore the areas geology. The CE-6 and CE-7 are expected to be launched around 2025.

The CE-6 is supposed to bring back to Earth lunar samples with a mass of up to 2 kilograms, and CE-7 will be tasked with landing on the lunar South Pole and detecting local natural resources.

CE-7 is comprised of five separate spacecraft, namely an orbiter, lander, rover, hopping probe, and a polar relay satellite.

Meanwhile, Russia also plans to launch its Luna-25 mission in August 2022, thereby reactivating the Soviet-era series of robotic lunar missions that ended decades ago. The last in the series was Luna 24, which sent about 6 ounces (170 grams) of moon material back to Earth in 1976.

The Luna-25 moon probe will launch atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage from the Vostochny spaceport in the far eastern region of Amur. The probes primary destination for landing is the Moons South Polar region, specifically, a spot north of the Boguslavsky Crater.

According to Russias rocket design bureau, NPO Lavochkin has constructed the Luna 25s lander. There are three main tasks for this mission: to develop soft-landing technology; study the internal structure and exploration of natural resources, including water, in the circumpolar region of the Moon; and investigate the effects of cosmic rays and electromagnetic radiation on the Moons surface.

In addition, Luna 25 is also supposed to use a suite of sensors onboard to study the lunar topside and dust particles in the Moons exosphere.

Luna 25 also had a camera called Pilot-D, a demonstrator terrain relative navigation system, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). However, following Russias invasion of Ukraine, ESA announced its decision in April to discontinue cooperation on Russias Luna series of robotic moon missions. Now Pilot-D will not be a part of the Luna 25 mission.

While the Luna 26 and Luna 27, which were earlier scheduled to launch in 2024 and 2025, respectively, will also be postponed, announced chief of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, shortly after ESA discontinued its cooperation.

Following the completion of the first phase in 2025, which may get delayed considering the possible postponement of Luna 26 and Luna 27, phase two called the construction phase, will begin in 2026, and this is supposed to go on till 2035.

The construction phase will be divided into two sub-stages, the initial one from 2026 to 2030, which will involve technology verification, sample return, massive cargo delivery, and the start of joint operations. Two missions are planned during this period, the Chinese CE-8 and the Russian Luna-28.

Stage two of the second phase will take place from 2030 to 2035 and involve completing the in-orbit and lunar surface infrastructure for energy, communication, actual resource utilization, and other technologies.

Five joint missions are planned for this sub-stage, named ILRS-1 through 5 and Russian super heavy-lift launch vehicles are listed to launch the mission.

Phase three will see the start of crewed landings after 2036, when the ILRS has been mostly completed and humans can conduct research and exploration.

Meanwhile, China and Russia are looking to add more nations to ILRS and there have been reports of negotiations with the ESA, Thailand, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. However, as the ESA has backed out of Russias Luna series of moon missions over the Ukraine war, the project will probably be much less appealing to other nations.

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Lunar Research Station: Russia, China Almost Ready To Ink Pact On Moon Base That Will Rival Artemis Accords Rogozin - EurAsian Times

Today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Vice President Kamala Harris met at the White House and jointlyreaffirmed the strong anddeeprelationshipbetween the United States and New Zealand, based on shared values, people-to-people ties, and cooperation across a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global challenges.

The Prime Minister and the Vice President welcomed the completion ofnegotiations onthe bilateral Space Framework Agreement, which will be the foundation of our already robust civil space cooperation in the years ahead. The Framework will underpin the two nations cooperation including in: space science, earth science, sustainability, education, and technology. The Prime Minister and the Vice President reviewed the growingspace partnership between the United States and New Zealand,including in supporting space exploration and taking action on climate change. They looked forward to future exchanges between the two countries.

The Prime Minister and the Vice President agreed on the importance of establishing and upholding international rules and norms to promote the peaceful, sustainable, and responsible use of outer space. They agreed that our two nations will work together to uphold and strengthen a rules-based international order for space and that we will work constructively with commercial industry, allies, and partners, and through multilateral fora to support the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of space activities.

The Prime Minister and the Vice President discussedmutual efforts to combat violentextremismand radicalisation. They condemned recent mass shootings in the United States, including in Buffalo, Laguna Woods, and Uvalde, and agreed that we all must stand up against hate and violence.

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Joint Readout of Meeting Between Prime Minister Ardern and Vice President Harris - The White House

If you wouldve told me in 1972 that we wouldnt be back to the moon for 50 years, says Jack Burns, a professor of astrophysics at CU Boulder, I would have said you are full of you-know-what. Burns has a special interest in moon landings beyond being a child of the Apollo age. Hes director of the Network for Exploration and Space Science, a multiuniversity organization dedicated to developing advanced science on the moon.

Burns also served on former President Donald Trumps NASA transition team, which laid the groundwork for Artemis, the NASA mission that aims to not only return astronauts to Earths only natural satellite but also eventually establish long-term habitation there. Ive been working on this for 38 years, he says. This is the third iteration of us going back to the moon, but it looks like this one is actually going to stick. In fact, NASA hopes for boots on the groundincluding the first woman and first person of colorstarting in 2025.

What took so long? Its not just delays and red tape, although theres been plenty of both. We simply didnt have the means until recently, Burns says. Apollo-era technology barely let us poke our heads around, and its only in the past few years, thanks in large part to the NewSpace economy, that weve developed the capability to live and work on the moon, which gives us more reason to return than simply taking a few small steps.

NASA isnt the only agency planning to shop for prime lunar real estate. The Chinese government says it could land its own astronauts by 2030. Plus, plenty of private companies have their sights set on unmanned operations ranging from mining water to testing communications networks.

This renewed excitement could jump-start what industry insiders call the cislunar economy. Its beyond just visiting for visitings sake. Its looking at how you can leverage resources, says Vicky Lea, director of aerospace and aviation for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (EDC). It combines space exploration with commercial opportunity. More than 180 Colorado companies have a hand in Artemis, and while its practically impossible to know how many are working on private commercial missions, a few locals are playing key roles in our return to the moon.

Project: Orion spacecraft

Lockheed Martin Space designed the crew capsule for Orion, Americas new ride to the moon, which is 30 percent bigger than Apollo, fits four, features a unisex toilet and a radiation shelter, and could even include a specialized version of Amazons Alexa for voice-accessible flight data.

Project: Gateway

Orion wont land directly on the surface. Instead, it will dock in lunar orbit with Gateway, an outpost that will serve as a communication hub and staging area for surface exploration. Westminster-based Maxar is building a unique propulsion unit for the station that uses electricity to accelerate jets of ionized atoms as opposed to traditional chemical propellants.

Project: Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE)

Gateway will circle just 1,000 miles above the moons south pole before swinging more than 40,000 miles above the north pole and back again. The unique vertical orbit will provide unobstructed views ofand communications withEarth and should require minimal energy to maintain. But to make sure, NASA contracted with Westminsters Advanced Space, an astrodynamics firm specializing in designing orbits, to test it with this microwave-oven-size satellite.

Project: Moon buggy 2.0

Eventually, NASA plans to establish a basecamp near the moons south pole, and once it does, its going to need some wheels. To that end, it put out a call for candidates last year, spurring Lockheed to pair up with General Motors to compete against other teams, including partners Northrop Grumman and Lunar Outpost, a space robotics startup in Golden. The requirements? An electric moon buggy capable of carrying 1,764 pounds of payload 12 miles on a single charge across the moons pockmarked polar region. Oh, and it has to be drivable by remote control, too.

Lunar Outposts The Price Is Right bid for a NASA contract will establish how we buy and sell resources in space.

In December 2020, Golden-based Lunar Outpost made national headlines for what seemed like a really, really bad business deal. NASA announced it had signed four commercial contracts to collect moon dust from the lunar surface, but where the other three agreements were for between $5,000 and $15,000already paltry amountsLunar Outpost bid a single dollar. That was probably the smartest marketing move weve ever done, because the story got picked up all over, says co-founder and COO Julian Cyrus. The dollar isnt really anything, but it is establishing the legal and procedural framework for purchasing space resources. Which was NASAs plan all along.

Still, it currently costs more than $1 million per kilogram (thats 2.2 pounds for us Americans) to land on the moon, so Lunar Outpost paired the resource-collection mission with another it already had in the worksone that pays a lot better. Its Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), a rover the size of a small dog, could touch down near the moons south pole as early as this winter to help test a 4G/LTE communications network. And because its a private mission instead of a public one, Lunar Outpost can make money on the side by selling any valuable data it collects to third partiesespecially companies interested in following in MAPPs wheel prints and collecting lunar resources. That will be an essential step for future exploration, Cyrus says. Throughout human history, if you want to explore a new area, you dont bring everything with you, he says. You have to live off the land, and its going to be the same in space.

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Meet the Colorado Companies Working to Get Us Back to the Moon - 5280 - 5280 | The Denver Magazine

Elon Musk, who is often in the news for his tweets and bold business moves, has again made headlines. This time for something the Tesla CEO said nearly a decade ago.

On Tuesday, a Twitter user who goes by the handle @steinkobbe shared a tweet that linked to an interview that Elon Musk gave in December 2011. In the interview, the Tesla CEO had claimed that SpaceX, his spacecraft engineering company, will be able to send humans to Mars in 10 years.

The video interview was taken by journalist Alan Murray for theWall Street Journal. While talking about SpaceX, Murray asked Musk, When are you going to put your first man or woman on other planets?. To this Musk said, We are going all the way to Mars. Best case in 10 years, worse case 10 to 15 years.

Almost a decade later, this interview is going viral. Commenting on the video, a YouTube user wrote, 10 years have passed, hows that going Elon?.

Talking about Musks ambitious time estimate, a Twitter user wrote, I guess thats just billionaires version of engineers this feature will take me 3-4 days to implement.

On social media, many people criticised Musk and other billionaires like Jeff Bezos for spending millions of dollars on space exploration projects when that money can be used to solve real-world problems. However, some defended Musk and appreciated the groundbreaking results that SpaceX has achieved in recent years.

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Elon Musk talked about putting humans on Mars in 2011, netizens ask for an update - The Indian Express

Pick of the weekMs MarvelPower of dreams Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

In this charming new series, Kamala Khan (the excellent Iman Vellani) is a Marvel stan in love with Captain Marvel and the Avengers. What would be her dream? Acquiring superpowers of her own. But be careful what you wish for ... Kamala finds her grandmothers old bangles, which enable her to manipulate cosmic energy. Her problems are just beginning: she has to negotiate high school as a Muslim American and, of course, use her powers wisely. Its as much a show about the pleasures and pitfalls of fantasy and fandom as it is about superheroes and, as such, anyone who has ever sought refuge from reality in anything from a football team to a favourite pop star will relate. Phil HarrisonDisney+, from Wednesday 8 June

We are four uncompromised vessels for genius, says Wickie (Rene Elise Goldsberry). As Meredith Scardinos comedy returns, the titular comeback-queen girl band are in album mode. Their second lease of life continues to bear fruit but middle age threatens to spoil the party. When Gloria (Paula Pell) injures herself attempting a knee drop, she launches an extensive raid on the medicine cabinet. Cue an unusually fiery podcast appearance in which she turns into Liam Gallagher (Were the best band in the world and whoever says otherwise is jealous and senile). It overflows with zippy one-liners and comic chemistry. Peacock/Now, from Monday 6 June

Equal parts standup showcase and insight into the fevered egos of the people behind it, Katherine Ryans new show lurches between the glamour of the full house and the claustrophobia of the cramped dressing room. Or at least, this dressing room is cramped, containing at various points Sara Pascoe, Judi Love, Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand, Nish Kumar and basically everyone in modern British comedy who isnt Stewart Lee. Ryan proceeds to gently interrogates them all in her customarily friendly but snarky style. Amazon Prime Video, from Thursday 9 June

Nature is shorn of any semblance of grit and presented as a twee Instagram tableau in this new kids series. From the makers of Topsy and Tim and Teletubbies, Lovely Little Farm is precisely that a sepia-tinged homestead in which a family lives, surrounded by anthropomorphic CGI animals. Jill and Jacky are the children at the heart of the action, looking after lambs and chickens as Mum and Dad prepare for a new human arrival. Its so cutesy it becomes almost sinister. Let the nightmares about talking goats commence Apple TV+, from Friday 10 June

At any given time theres always a window for at least one steamy, vampire-themed TV melodrama. This one trades in multiple archetypes: a forbidden relationship that is biracial and same-sex, but also between a teenage vampire Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) and the daughter of a vampire hunter Calliope (Imani Lewis). Juliette whose parents are steering her towards her first kill, much as we might coax children towards GCSEs has fallen for the girl theyd earmarked as a likely victim. Basically, Romeo and Juliet with added fangs. Netflix, from Friday 10 June

Season one of this brash, warm comedy in which jaded Vegas comic Deborah Vance is forced to work with young writer Ava Daniels was a sleeper hit thanks to the witty writing and obvious chemistry between leads Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. This time, god help them, they have to go on the road. Hilarious culture clashes ensue, over everything from the meaning of comedy to the correct storage of kombucha. And, at the heart of it all, one of the funniest and most convincing odd-couple friendships in recent TV history. Amazon Prime Video, from Friday 10 June

Some say private citizens have no business in space exploration. I emphatically disagree. Two decades on from the moon landings, this counterfactual space-race drama has reached the era of entrepreneurialism. As series three begins, Edi Gathegi joins the cast as Dev Ayesa a sort of prototype Elon Musk with his sights set very high indeed. And so, a three-way race to Mars begins. Ronald D Moores (Battlestar Galactica, Helix) show was among Apples first slate of dramas even if its been slightly eclipsed by their output since then, its still solid enough fare. Apple TV+, from Friday 10 June

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Ms Marvel to Hacks: the seven best shows to stream this week - The Guardian