One of the three 5m radio antennas deployed from the Dutch-Chinese radio telescope housed on the Chang’e 4 relay satellite on the far side of the Moon. Credit: Marc Klein Wolt / Radboud University.

Welcome to The Space Resource monthly newsletter for November 2019. ESA secures record budget, Hayabusa2 on the way home, and new heavy payload providers join NASA CLPS. We welcome all story ideas, so please contact us or reply to this email with any ideas. If you are not already subscribed to this newsletter, please consider subscribing here.

Asteroids

Hayabusa2 returning to Earth after 17 month study of asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese space agency (JAXA) executed the mission flawlessly, which included collecting two samples from the asteroid’s surface. Hayabusa2 will deploy the sample-return capsule into Earth’s atmosphere in December 2020. Link.

LISA pathfinder detected grain-sized micrometeoroids while studying gravitational waves. NASA scientists used LISA’s incredible sensitivity to detect the grain sized dust shed by asteroids and comets. Although small, they reached speeds of 40,000 mph. These findings will be used to better understand planet formation and impact risks for spacecraft. Link.

Cislunar

SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites. This launch was noteworthy for a few reasons: this was the first Falcon 9 to fly a fourth mission; this was the first reflight of a fairing; and it was the heaviest payload SpaceX has flown to date. Currently, there are 122 Starlink satellites in orbit, with several hundred being required for minor coverage of Earth.

Nanoracks working to perform first demo of cutting structural metal in space. Using friction milling, Nanoracks will cut through three types of metal that are representative of the types used for rocket upper stages. The idea being that instead of letting upper stages burn-up on reentry, we can reuse them for in-orbit habitats or fuel storage. This demonstration mission will occur towards the end of 2020 after all primary payloads are deployed. Link.

Long duration spaceflight sometimes caused reverse blood flow in the jugular vein. Studies performed on 11 astronauts found instances of blood stagnation and reverse blood flow at the left jugular vein. The researchers suggest the reversed blood flow was likely due to organs in the chest shifting positions, something unique to free-fall. Link.

Microgravity may also cause a leaky gut. Researchers found that microgravity disrupts the functioning of the epithelial barrier of our intestines. The epithelial cells act as a barrier to prevent microorganisms from invading our bodies. This greatly increases the risk of infections and chronic inflammatory conditions (celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes, and liver disease). Additionally, the degraded condition of the cells persisted up to 14 days after gravity returned. We need vastly more research of the health impact of variable gravity on humans. Link.

Hopefully you are still feeling well enough for the cookies astronauts baked for the first time aboard the ISS. Although they were unable to eat them because scientists needed to study them on Earth. Baking in orbit is surprisingly unique because of the lack of convection currents in the oven. Special heating elements must be used to ensure uniform heating.

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General

European Space Agency secures a record 14.4 billion euro budget. Covering a five year period, this is a four billion euro increase from the previous spending period. Jan Woerner, the ESA Director General, has been pushing for an increased budget to allow ESA the ability to strive for more ambitious goals. ESA stated its continued commitment to the Gateway project, along with wanting to send European astronauts to the Moon for the first time.

SpaceX Starship Mk1 suffered catastrophic overpressure event during testing at Boca Chica, Texas. Elon Musk has stated that the early prototype will be scrapped. They will rebuild the vehicle with all of the design improvements developed over the past year.

Moon

NASA developed paint shows promise at reducing lunar dust buildup. One of the largest risks of all lunar surface missions is dealing with the razor-sharp lunar dust. Through the interactions with solar wind, lunar dust develops an electrical charge that is attracted to landers, rovers, and spacesuits. While studying how to dissipate electrical charges on spacecraft while flying through plasma fields, NASA scientists discovered an super-thin film of indium tin oxide may be effective at minimizing electrical charge on lunar systems, which will prevent lunar dust buildup. More testing is being performed, but this technology can play a huge role in making lunar systems more robust. Link.

NASA opens sealed Apollo samples for the first time in over 40 years. The two tubes of regolith were collected on Apollo 17 by astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison “Jack” Schmitt. These samples were unopened as part of NASA’s Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) initiative. In addition to saving unopened samples for study using tools not available when the samples were first returned to Earth, ANGSA allows next-gen scientists the ability to study fresh samples. These samples will help scientists better understand lunar landslides and how volatile reservoirs develop and evolve, both of which are critical for developing propellant processing architectures on the Moon.

SpaceX and Blue Origin join NASA CLPS, offering heavy payloads to the Moon. NASA recently announced that five new companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, are eligible to bid for providing payload delivery to the lunar surface via the CLPS initiative. Instead of a few kilograms delivered, the new firms offer multiple tons delivered. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander will deliver between 3.6 and 6.5 metric tons, while SpaceX will use Starship to deliver up to 100 metric tons. Space resource missions will require large payload landers, so these new heavy payload providers open the doors for worthwhile demonstration mission architectures. Link.

Dutch-Chinese radio telescope deployed on Chang’e 4 relay satellite. After waiting over a year since arriving, the Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) was able to partly deploy its three 5-meter long monopole antennas. Unexpected force required to extend the antennas caused the team to restrict the deployment, which will limit the sensitivity of the telescope. These antennas will have an optimal sensitivity range between 1 and 80 Mhz, ideal for studying very early life of the universe (the Dark Ages and Cosmic Dawn). The Earth’s atmosphere blocks many frequencies in this range, plus human-produced interference drowns out low intensity signals. This telescope has the potential to be used as part of a larger VLBI in conjunction with ground based telescopes and future lunar telescopes. This mission is significant as a precursor for follow on radio telescopes also deployed on the farside of the Moon, which the Chinese are planning for. Link.

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