Space Stories: Nancy Roman Ahead of Schedule, ISS Leak Still a Problem, and US Grant Process Worries Space Scientists

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Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. (NASA)

Here are some recent space-related stories.

—Techspot: “NASA’s Roman Space Telescope is Launching August 30, Eight Months Ahead of Schedule“

NASA is planning to launch its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30, a full eight months ahead of schedule and even earlier than the space agency’s previous target of September. Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are in the process of packing the telescope for its journey to Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this month. Upon arrival, it’ll go to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to undergo a full post-travel inspection.

—Space News: “Astronauts Briefly Shelter in Dragon During ISS Leak Repair“

NASA instructed astronauts on the International Space Station to briefly shelter in a Dragon spacecraft June 5 as cosmonauts attempted to repair an air leak in a Russian module. Shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern, NASA Mission Control in Houston instructed the four members of Crew-12, the Crew Dragon mission that has been at the station since February, to shelter in that spacecraft. Joining them was NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who flew to the ISS last November on a Soyuz spacecraft.The move was prompted by a decision by Roscosmos to have cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev attempt to repair an air leak in a portion of the Zvezda service module known as PrK. That is a vestibule that links a docking port with the rest of the module and has had a long-running, but small, air leak.

—Sky & Telescope: “Proposed U.S. Grant Funding Rules Spark Worry, Backlash in Astronomy“

On Friday, May 29th, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a 412-page document rewriting how federal grants should be issued and overseen across all agencies. The changes to the procedures, which were previously altered in 2024 to make the grants process clearer, were sweeping, touching on areas from international collaboration to academic publication costs. But the through line is made explicit: to align federal grant-making with “administration policies and priorities set by the President.” Immediately, it has sparked backlash from astronomers and planetary scientists, who see grave challenges for science if the rules come to fruition.

Note: Here is the podcast version of this post.

The Next Space Race May Blind Astronomers and the Rest of Us

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Pixabay

While most of the attention regarding the space race with China revolves around the Moon at the moment, another space race is brewing that will become a big problem for astronomers if the race is successful. This second race is one to place data centers into orbit.

Over the years, astronomers have been expressing concerns about the impact that thousands of satellites on ground-based telescope. However, that is nothing compared to the number of data center satellites being planned for the future. SpaceX has already requested permission from the Federal Communications Commission for at least one million data center satellites. And other US companies such as Google with its Project Suncatcher, as well as the Chinese with similar investments, have their own plans to toss data centers into orbit.

We are fast-tracking ourselves towards the world of Disney’s WALL-E where we have polluted the night sky beyond recognition. Is this really necessary? Do we have other options?

Fortunately, we do, including Google’s planned data center in Texas, which will power itself from renewable energy. Another example is China’s efforts to put data centers in the ocean. Like the night sky, the ocean is a big place with a lot of possibilities if done right.

AI has already brought up enough concerns pertaining to childhood health, jobs for new graduates, and even a real armed Skynet determining its own targets. Do we really need to also surround the planet with more than a million satellites feeding into this questionable new world?

It may be time to take some of these decisions away from the stock market and ponder them for a few a little longer. Even Elon Musk was expressing such concerns in 2023. He signed a letter from the Future of Humanity Institute that stated:

Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders.

That was a smart idea then, and it makes even more sense today before we go crazy spending billions, if not trillions, or dollars on a new space race that re-energizes a questionable technology while blotting out the night sky for those who are willing to look outside of our planetary bubble to learn from the universe.

It was B. F. Skinner who said:

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.

Sci-Fi Stories: Grogu Goes Down, Spielberg’s Summer of Nonfiction Science Fiction, and Star City Shines

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Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Here are a few sci-fi stories of interest.

—Forbes: “‘Mandalorian And Grogu’ Tumbles Out Of Top 5 After 61% Drop At Box Office“

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” is struggling at the box office, dropping 61% in its third weekend and falling out of the domestic top five. The Jon Favreau-directed film had a soft opening, earning $98 million over Memorial Day, less than 2018’s Solo, and suffered a 69% second-weekend drop. Now projected for $9.5 million, its domestic total nears $155.3 million against a $165 million production budget. It faces stiff competition from new releases like “Scary Movie” and “Masters of the Universe.” Furthermore, low-budget indie hits like A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession” are outperforming it, alongside a strong $22.1 million debut from YouTube’s “The Amazing Digital Circus.”

—Associated Press: “Steven Spielberg on His Faith in Alien Life, the Future of the Movies and the Power of Empathy“

“It’s my first film that will be considered science fiction that I do not consider to be science fiction,” Spielberg said in a recent interview. “It’s much more reflective of the world as it is evolving and discoveries that are being made as we speak.” Spielberg, at 79, is trying to revive and reconsider the alien wonder that’s long lingered in his mind, from “E.T.” to “War of the Worlds.” “Disclosure Day,” Spielberg’s first summer movie in a decade, is already being hailed as one of his best in years. But this time, Spielberg is testing whether he can conjure some of his trademark movie magic less with imagination than with conviction.

—Variety: “Apple TV’s ‘For All Mankind’ Spinoff ‘Star City’ Is a Flawless Alt-History Thriller: TV Review“

While the talk of space, science and ships orbits surround the narrative, “Star City” is riveting because of its characters. For fear of sabotage, death or something even worse, no one in Star City can reveal who they truly are. Instead, the audience is offered glimmers of the truth here and there, which act as puzzle pieces throughout the eight-episode first season. (Critics received five for review.) Cloaked in a gloomy gray tone coloring for a prison-like setting, “Star City” creators unveil not simply a stifling world, but one on the verge of consuming itself and its genius with tyranny and ghastly rigidity.

Space Quote: One Less Sentry Watching Mars

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Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars. (NASA/Goddard/University of Colorado/Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics)

“The MAVEN mission has truly advanced our understanding of the Martian atmosphere and evolution. This dataset has had a tremendous impact on the field…Our science team is exceptionally proud of all of these amazing discoveries.”

–Comment by Shannon Curry, MAVEN’s principal investigator and a researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, regarding the official end of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution’s (MAVEN) 11-year mission. NASA lost contact with the spacecraft last December. You can read more about MAVEN’s accomplishments over the years at this NASA site.

Pic of the Week: Saturn at Night

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Image (Credit): View of Saturn provided by the Cassini spacecraft. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute, Mindaugas Macijauskas)

This week’s image of Saturn comes from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which orbited the planet for 13 years. Even after seeing so many images of Saturn, the spacecraft continued to surprise us with new and unique views.

Here is a little more about the image from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Telescopic views of Saturn and its beautiful rings often make it the star of star parties. But this stunning view of the outer gas gaint planet’s rings and night side just isn’t possible from telescopes in the vicinity of planet Earth. Peering out from the inner Solar System they can only bring Saturn’s day side into view. In fact, this image of Saturn’s slender sunlit crescent with the planet’s night shadow cast across its broad and complex ring system was captured by the robot spacecraft Cassini. After a seven year long journey from planet Earth, Cassini called Saturn orbit home for 13 years (from 2004 – 2017) before it was directed to dive into the atmosphere of the gas giant on September 15, 2017. This magnificent mosaic is composed of frames recorded by Cassini’s wide-angle camera only two days before its grand final plunge. And Saturn’s night will not be seen again until another spaceship from Earth calls.