The Space Edition: We discuss Intuitive Machines lands on the moon, NASA looking for simulated Mars volunteers, Varda Space returns samples to Earth, former Disney star Bridgit Mendler launches space startup, the East Coast is sinking, and Blue Origin may acquire ULA. 

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SETI Institute Receives $200 Million Dollar Donation!

Return To The Moon

Do you know how far the space industry in the U.S. has come? Let me share with you.

It’s been over 50 years since a U.S. government spacecraft has landed on the moon.

50 years!

But on Thursday, February 22, 2024 a privately funded spacecraft from the private company Intuitive Machines landed successfully on the surface of the moon.

I say “private” company, because they aren’t a government agency, but the company is actually publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticket symbol LUNR. Intuitive Machines began trading on Nasdaq on February 13, 2023 after merging with a SPAC named Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. that already traded on the Nasdaq.

This is a big deal because recent government moon missions haven’t fared as lucky in recent months.

First there was Russia’s first lunar mission in decades last August 22, 2023 that crashed into the moon, then we had India who successfully landed on the moon on August 23, 2024 with their spacecraft and small rover but when it got too cold both the lander and rover froze to death and never woke up again, then Japan “landed” (and I say that with sarcasm) on January 19, 2024 but didn’t stick the landing and fell over resulting in the spacecraft not receiving all of the solar energy it needed.

The Odysseus mission wasn’t without its own drama. Just before the spacecraft made its descent to the moon a crucial piece of the vehicle's navigation equipment stopped working.

In came NASA to the rescue by reconfiguring an experimental instrument they were flying on board Odysseus, that could be swapped in to make up for the malfunctioning equipment. They were successfully able to land the spacecraft using two lasers that are part of NASA's Navigation Doppler Lidar payload.

Yeah NASA!

As of the time of writing this post officials from Intuitive Machines are still awaiting the spacecraft Odysseus’ first images to be transmitted from the surface of the moon, but they did release a pretty sweet shot of the spacecraft’s landing approach.

Odysseus becomes first US spacecraft to land on moon in over 50 years

NASA

Have a lot of time on your hands and want to earn a little money with a side hustle?

Well NASA has a job for you!

NASA has begun accepting applications for people interested in participating in their next simulated one-year Mars surface mission. The ground-based mission is called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog), and is scheduled to kick off in spring 2025.

The odds are kinda stacked against applicants, with NASA only selecting a four-person crew who will live and work inside a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The crew will perform simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercise, and crop growth.

If you are a U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are a healthy, motivated, non-smoker, aged 30-55 years old, and proficient in English, who has a strong desire for unique, rewarding adventures and interest in contributing to NASA’s work to prepare for the first human journey to Mars, then this is the mission for you!

Martians Wanted: NASA Opens Call for Simulated Year Long Mars Mission

Spacecraft

A few months ago on October 25, 2023 I wrote about Varda Space Industries, and how after successfully launching their spacecraft they were trying to get all of the proper government sign offs to return their spacecraft and its cargo to Earth, but the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. The Federal Aviation Administration rejected Varda Space Industries’ application in September 2023.

Now fast forward a few months and Varda Space Industries has successful landed their Winnebago-1 capsule in the Utah desert on February 21, 2024 after the The Federal Aviation Administration approved the reentry on February 15, 2024.

Varda Space Industries’ spacecraft contains a module for in-space manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs that were grown on orbit during the missions eight months in space.

For its first mission Varda Space Industries’ Winnebago-1 manufactured crystals of the drug Ritonavir, which is used to treat HIV/AIDS.

Varda Space Industries has raised $55.7 million dollars in funding over 7 rounds. In March of 2023 they secured $60 million from the U.S. Air Force to test components and subsystems in a real flight environment.

For its next mission Varda Space Industries plans to land their spacecraft in Australia in order to avoid all the drama they’ve just gone through with U.S. regulators including the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. The Federal Aviation Administration.

This is sad, because once again government bureaucracy is getting in the way of innovation, and forcing a U.S. company to head offshore to do business, resulting in not only lost revenue but inevitable brain drain.

Varda Space, Rocket Lab nail first-of-its-kind spacecraft landing in Utah

Stars

Who knew being a Disney star really was rocket science.

A former Disney actress and singer, Bridgit Mendler, has launched a new satellite startup called Northwood Space that is changing how satellite data reaches the ground.

Bridgit Mendler’s Disney credits include movies such as “Good Luck Charlie,” “Wizards of Waverly Place”, and “The Clique”.

On top of his acting talents, Bridgit Mendler is also a genius!

She earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Anthropology from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, then attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she received a Masters (MS) in Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, and then got her Ph. D. from MIT's Center for Constructive Communications and Social Machines group. In 2024 she received her law degree (JD) from the Harvard Law School.

In January of 2023 Bridgit Mendler co-founded the satellite startup Northwood Space along with her husband Griffin Cleverly who is the startup’s chief technology officer, and Shaurya Luthra who is the Head of Software at the satellite startup.

The company is crushing it lately, having raised $6 million in initial funding raised from investors including Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz and Also Capital.

The stars truly are the limits for this former Disney star turned entrepreneur.

Disney star Bridgit Mendler launches satellite startup Northwood Space

Earth Science

The United States is sinking, well more accurately just the East Coast.

Should those of us living on the East Coast (the right coast IMO) be worried?

Probably not, unless you can detect the earth subsiding by 1 to 2 millimeters each year.

A team funded by NASA at the “Virginia Tech's Earth Observation and Innovation (EOI) Lab found that the land under major cities including New York, Baltimore, and Norfolk, Virginia sank by 1 to 2 millimeters each year between 2007 and 2020.” according to a report in Newsweek.

According to Leonard Ohenhen, a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech and one of the paper's authors said that “between 2,000 to 74,000 square kilometers of land area, which is home to 1.2 to 14 million people and 476,000 to 6.3 million properties, are sinking at a rate of 1 to 2 millimeters per year.” and that "This sinking land affects more than half of the infrastructure in several major cities, putting them at an increased risk of flooding and other coastal hazards," he said.

For context, 1 millimeter is equal to 0.0393701 inches, so yea, I’m not stressing this news very much.

But if you extrapolate that over the next 100 years that means the East Coast of the United States could shrink by between 3.9 - 7.87 inches. That would be enough for me to worry, if I thought I’d live another 100 years.

NASA Images Show Where US East Coast Is Sinking

Acquisitions

It turns out there was an incredibly short line of companies interested in buying United Launch Alliance.

Three to be exact, but now there is only 1.

Originally Blue Origin, Cerberus which is a large private equity firm, and an unnamed well-capitalized aerospace firm that is interested in increasing its space portfolio but not interested enough to come out and publicly reveal their interest.

Now Blue Origin is the only one left in the running to buy United Launch Alliance.

An acquisition by Jeff Bezo’s company Blue Origin would enable them to win a greater market share of the rocket launch industry in the U.S., which could provide some much needed competition to SpaceX, but could also draw the ire of the Federal Trade Commission at the thought of reducing competition in the launch market.

Blue Origin has emerged as the likely buyer for United Launch Alliance

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So much news, so little time. Until tomorrow we’re signing out.

— Chris