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Top secret rocket mission set for Cape Canaveral launch

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Alex Polimeni | Staff Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL – United Launch Alliance will launch the ever-dependable Atlas V rocket, a workhorse of the U.S. intelligence and defense community, just after sunset on Nov. 4.

The 5:54 p.m. launch will be lifting a clandestine mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Designated NROL-101, no details regarding the payload’s purpose or specifications are available to the public. 

The rocket was originally prepared for an Election Day launch. This was delayed due to a faulty environmental control system duct, according to CEO Tory Bruno on Twitter. ECS ducts provide conditioned air to the launch vehicle and spacecraft while awaiting launch.

A similar Atlas V launch in July 2020. The photo shows an Atlas V rocket taking off.
A similar Atlas V launch in July 2020. Photo | Alex Polimeni

According to an NRO press kit, the agency serves as the “eyes and ears,” over the most hostile territories in the world. The existence of the agency, founded in 1961, was only publicly acknowledged in 1992. Current capabilities and operations of this covert agency remain classified. 

“ULA is proud to play a pivotal role in support of our mission partners and national security by keeping our country safe one launch at a time,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of government and commercial programs, in a ULA press release. “We thank our mission partners for their continued trust and teamwork. The NROL-101 mission will be ULA’s 29th mission launched for the National Reconnaissance Office and the 17th NRO mission launched on an Atlas V.”

This Atlas V launch is monumental in ULA’s mission to reduce the costs of launch and begin evolution to their new rocket, Vulcan-Centaur. This mission will be the first to utilize the Utah-built Northrop Grumman GEM-63 solid rocket motors, according to a ULA news release.

ULA uses strap-on solid rocket boosters to increase the Atlas V’s lifting capability. According to ULA CEO Tory Bruno on Twitter, the new boosters are “higher performance,” and “approaching half the cost.” In addition, the new solid rocket boosters are nearly identical to those that will be used on the Vulcan-Centaur rocket, ensuring a crucial system is tested before the first launch in 2021. 

The NROL-101 mission will mark the 86th launch of the Atlas V, along with the 141st launch for ULA, all with 100 percent mission success.

Launch is currently set for 5:54 p.m. EST. The Atlas V will be readily visible along most of Florida’s eastern coast, and will have a contrail from three solid rocket boosters. For Florida Tech students interested in watching the event, Holland Spessard Beach affords a decent view of the launch nearby. At any launch viewing sites, be sure to follow CDC guidelines, and social distance when possible.

Secretive Pentagon space drone ready to launch

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By Alex Polimeni

A clandestine U.S. Space Force space drone is preparing for its launch in mid-May, amid an uncertain world of social distancing and COVID-19 concerns.

The USSF-7 mission consists of the Pentagon’s X-37B reusable space plane, a covert spacecraft built by Boeing, designed to launch vertically and land autonomously like an airplane. 

“The X-37B continues to demonstrate the importance of a reusable space plane,” said Secretary of the Air Force, Barbara Barrett, in a release following the most recent X-37B landing. “Each successive mission advances our nation’s space capabilities.”  

An X-37B mission launches in 2015. Photo// Alex Polimeni

No information regarding X-37B mission parameters or objectives are currently made public by the Air Force. The X-37B has flown five times since its first launch in 2010, according to an Air Force fact sheet. 

“Its objectives include space experimentation, risk reduction and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies that could become key enablers for future space missions,” according to a Boeing press release following an X-37B landing in 2014.

The top of the stubby-winged spaceplane has doors that open in orbit, exposing various experiments to the vacuum of space for extended periods of time. 

The space plane is known to unexpectedly land after hundreds of days in orbit, often waking nearby residents with ear-piercing sonic booms, resembling the sound of gunshots. The X-37B has landed at both the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, on the same runway the Space Shuttle utilized, according to Boeing press releases.

“I woke in the middle of the night to a very loud bang,”  said Jeff Seibert, veteran local space journalist for AmericaSpace.  “I figured that the soap holder in the shower had fallen onto the floor as had happened before, and I went right back to sleep.” 

An X-37B sits on the runway after landing. Photo// Boeing

When Seibert awoke, he thought the bang he heard was a sonic boom. When really it was the space plane, the north end of the shuttle landing facility is only 8.5 miles from his home. 

“This program continues to push the envelope as the world’s only reusable space vehicle,” said Randy Walden, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director.

The sixth X-37B mission will launch into the Florida skies in mid-May, on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V has been the X-37B’s ride to space for a majority of its history, including its first flight in 2010. 

USSF-7 will begin its mission from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the home of Atlas V launch operations. USSF-7 will be the Atlas V’s 84th mission and the 139th United Launch Alliance flight, all with 100 percent mission success.

The launch will be visible throughout the Space Coast; however, due to the unique nature of the pandemic, it is strongly advised that viewers maintain Centers for Disease Control social distancing guidelines. As this Atlas V will be flying with no solid rocket boosters, a plume below the rocket will not be visible. 

Space industry’s reaction to COVID-19

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By Alex Polimeni

As COVID-19 sweeps through the nation, steps are being taken in the space industry to ensure the safety of engineers, technicians, and aerospace experts. 

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as of Mar 28, aerospace and defense industries are considered to be exempt from certain stay-at-home orders. 

The Atlas V launches the first U.S. Space Force mission. Photo// Alex Polimeni

Workers who support national security programs for the U.S. government and Department of Defense, including space and aerospace workers, are considered essential personnel, according to CISA Director Christopher Krebs, in a memo published on the agency’s website. 

However, the exemption is not stopping certain aerospace corporations and agencies from taking action to keep employees safe. According to a NASA news release, Certain NASA facilities are in Stage four, a status that prevents any non-essential employees from being on site.

“Mandatory telework is in effect for NASA personnel at both facilities until further notice. Additionally, all travel is suspended,”said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein.  “These measures are being taken to help slow the transmission of COVID-19 and protect our communities.” 

Yet, certain essential missions continue to proceed, including the Mars 2020 rover, recently named Perseverance. The $2 billion rover must launch within a narrow launch window between July 17 and Aug. 5, or wait nearly two years, according to a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website,Engineers and technicians will continue to prepare the rover for its launch on the Atlas V rocket this summer. 

United Launch Alliance and the U.S. Space Force continues to prepare the USSF-7 mission for launch in mid May, according to a ULA press release. The USSF-7 contains a U.S. Space Force space drone in support of U.S. national security.

Despite the spread of the Coronavirus, ULA successfully launched the U.S. Space Force’s first mission on Mar. 26, marking ULA’s 138th launch. Precautions were already in place such as  the media having to maintain six to 10 feet from other reporters and officials at all times. 

“The success of today’s launch is the culmination of years of dedication, hard work and teamwork with several of our mission partners,” said General John Raymond, General of the U.S. Space Force, in a ULA press release. 

According to General John Raymond, the launch of AEHF-6 was made successful by combined teams from the Space and Missile Systems Center, satellite builders at Lockheed Martin, aircrews from the Air Mobility Command, the 45th Space Wing range, and ULA.

“In the face of COVID-19 we are continuing to provide the capabilities that are critical [to] our American way of life,” Raymond said in a U.S. Space Force press release. “I’m very comfortable that we will continue to provide those capabilities without fail.” 

NASA’s Blueberry

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by Delainee Rust

Growing up, people often bounce from idea to idea about what they are going to be when they grow up. On the other hand, Alyssa Carson, a freshman from Louisiana majoring in astrobiology, always knew she wanted to go to Mars.

As a kid, Carson was constantly involved in space camps. According to her website, Carson has attended NASA space camps seven times, and she was the youngest person ever to graduate from the Advanced Space Academy. These camps provided her with the opportunity to get involved in programs to help pursue her goal further.

Alyssa Carson testing BMW’s i Interaction EASE concept at the Consumer Electronic Show in Jan. Photo// Instagram.com

For example, Carson is a part of  Project Possum, a private citizen science research organization supported by NASA that conducts upper atmosphere research and provides realistic training for students interested in pursuing a career in space exploration. Programs like this encouraged Carson to help younger kids with similar goals to have the same opportunities as her.

This drive led her to create the Blueberry Foundation. Carson said this group started out small, and eventually grew to what it is today.

“I started the Blueberry Foundation as a way to send more kids to space camp because space camp really helped me in figuring out what I wanted to do,” Carson said. 

Attending space camp helped Carson figure out how to achieve her dreams and what area of space she planned to study, an opportunity she wanted to share with other kids. As the foundation has grown, Carson has begun looking for groups of students from other countries to send to space camp.

As a result, the foundation has recently partnered with a group of kids from Mexico City to send them to space camp in the future. 

Though these dreams began at such a young age,  Carson continues to work towards her goal in school today.  Florida Tech is ranked as a tier One university by the National University U.S. News & World Report, making it very popular in its engineering and science programs. One program that caught Carson’s attention, in particular, was the astrobiology program.

According to Florida Tech’s website, it is the first and one of the few universities that have an astrobiology program. This program and the benefit of being on the space coast were among the reasons Carson chose to study at Florida Tech.

To help continue to work toward her goal, Carson said that after she finishes her masters she hopes to continue gaining experience in the astrobiology field and continue working with Project Possum. She remains hopeful that she will one day be selected to go to Mars. 

“I just want to be part of the mission and will help contribute in any way I can,” Carson said.

Op-Ed: What really is the U.S. Space Force?

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by Alex Polimeni

Missile warning, GPS navigation, secured communications, and intelligence gathering; all of these share one commonality— they are essential to America’s national security.

The United States Space Force was formed late last year following increased hostility from other nations in space including China and Russia. 

Space has become an increasingly contested environment. The United States relies on a plethora of defense satellites, spanning through multiple orbits. Orbits thought to be safe and out of reach. However,  anti-satellite weapons have rapidly advanced, and pose an extreme danger to American assets.

According to an NPR report, countries including China, Russia, and India all have demonstrated anti-satellite capabilities through test launches.

The classified NROL-42 mission departed the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Sept. 23, 2017. Photo//Alexander Polimeni

Yet, as most Americans are not aware of these critical space-based assets, they could not even picture life without these unique capabilities. These satellites orbit overhead, in the shadow of the public eye. The satellites of the United States Space Force support every warfighting domain; including land, sea, air and space. 

Daily life is intertwined around satellites owned by the Space Force. All GPS navigation satellites are controlled by the United States Space Force. If GPS satellites were to go offline, the financial system would crash, public navigation would be hindered, the power grid would be affected, military aircraft would have no sense of navigation, and more, according to an article from The Atlantic. Furthermore, GPS guided bombs and missiles would be rendered useless, according to a 60 Minutes interview with Bridger General Bill Cooley, the Commander at the Air Force Research Laboratory located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

In addition to the well-known GPS satellites, America relies on several other constellations, or groups of satellites, to monitor the globe for missile launches, provide secured communications, and more. 

“Our Military Services have created the world’s best space capabilities,”  said Mark Esper, secretary of defense, at a signing in the Pentagon. “Now is the time for the U.S. Space Force to lead our Nation in preparing for emerging threats in an evolving space environment.”  

He added that this new service will help guarantee we are in a position to defend our national interests and outpace potential adversaries. 

Before the United States Space Force, a command within the U.S. Air Force was responsible for the defense of military assets in space. Referred to as “the Air Force Space Command,” in the earliest days, there was no need to defend these satellites, they were safe, and out of reach in orbit. 

As America continued to keep the pace, Russia and China increased aggression in space. The Russians have closely maneuvered military satellites near U.S. commercial satellites. Anti-satellite weapons are within range of nearly all Earth orbits. Space is now a warfighting domain. 

The classified NROL-37 mission departed the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on Jun. 11, 2016. Photo// Alexander Polimeni

“Let me be very clear, we do not want a conflict that extends into space, but one way to keep that from happening is to make sure that we’re prepared for it and [can] fight and win that conflict if it were to occur,” said John Raymond, general of the U.S. Space Force, to the House Armed Services Committee.

A drastic reorganization is underway in the United States space Force, as resources and airmen are moved from AFSPC.

Air Force bases that have had a large space mission will be transferred to the USSF, and be renamed accordingly. The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is planned to be renamed to the “Cape Canaveral Space Force Station” sometime at the end of the month. The Vandenberg Air Force Base, America’s west-coast launch site, will also be renamed, according to an article by Spaceflight Now. 

The USSF will still be under the supervision of the Department of the Air Force, but will be funded separately, and will have a Joint-Chief of Staff directly advising the President, significantly elevating the space mission. 

Space is the next frontier – but also the next battlefield. With America’s reliance on space-based assets, it is paramount that we are ready and willing to counter aggression on orbit. Life would not be the same without these satellites. Without space, it would be akin to going back to pre-industrial warfare. These missions absolutely save lives, so we must be ready to protect our spacecraft at all costs. America’s military-might depends on space. 

NASA launches research programs for students

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NASA announced new resources and funding available to students as the program will be increasing its prevalence of small satellites, and has opened new lines of research for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Last Wednesday, a crowd of students gathered in the Hartley room to enjoy pizza and drinks before embarking on an insightful space exploration lecture led by top leading experts in the field.

Jose Nunez, the former chief of flight technologies branch at Kennedy Space Center, and the current Florida Tech liaison to KSC, presented to hundreds of young space enthusiasts.

Nunez began by describing NASA’s new objective: return to the moon by 2024. After a thorough overview of the mission phases of the Artemis program, Nunez segued to the core of his speech—research opportunities.

According to Nunez, NASA selects research through the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System, NSPIRES.

With this system, NASA posts requests for research proposals to which anyone can make submissions. NSPIRES also includes Research Opportunities in Earth and Space Science, ROSES, which is a broad research request for anything not specifically requested elsewhere.

Furthermore, NASA is looking to use some of the ROSES funding for the CubeSat Launch Initiative.

Through this initiative, students and research organizations can work with NASA to develop cubesats or small satellites, which will conduct astrophysical science research.

The Cubesat Launch Initiative is a much larger program for the development and launch of cubesats on current NASA rockets.

It includes the NASA 2020 small satellite technology partnership.

This program specifically requires the development teams to work directly with NASA and have access to a block of funds set aside for this project.

During his presentation, Nunez outlined the NASA internships.

“Internships have two different flavors,” Nunez said. “One is called a NIFs, a NASA internship fellowship. That is just a one-shot deal. The other is called a pathway. That is the path to become a civil servant.”

Nunez highlighted the value in looking for students that are involved in extracurriculars that boost their skill base in reliance to a career field in aerospace.

Some students, such as Ajeé Watson, attended mostly for the internship information.

“My major is aerospace engineering, and I wanted to hear about good opportunities,” Watson said.

Other students, such as Wesley Howell, attended more for project information.

“We have been in contact with Nunez for senior design,” Howell said. “We wanted to see how we could continue. There are a lot of opportunities for students.” Howell echoed Nunez. “My whole goal is to make you aware of the opportunities. What you do with them is up to you guys.”

Ad Astra review: The space movie that could not

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Official movie poster by Disney.

Coming in with the hopes of another futuristic space epic similar to 2014’s “Interstellar,” “Ad Astra” did little to advance the genre.

This movie focuses too strongly on all the glitz and glam while missing the soul of any well-regarded movie.

This is a slow, treacherous and beautiful film that was at times a spectacle you rarely see in the theater but mostly had me wanting more from the plot.

I’d argue this is an all-time carry by Brad Pitt, similar to LeBron James in the 2018 NBA Finals.

Like James, Pitt was putting on one of his best performances but ultimately lost in the end.

“Ad Astra” sees Roy McBride (Pitt) being sent on a top-secret mission to look for his famous astronaut father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones).

I honestly can’t remember a scene that Pitt isn’t in, keeping consistent with the movies handsome over heart strategy.

I did however really enjoy Pitt in this film.

He did a great job of playing a cool, calm and collected space-veteran who has a deep-rooted conflict that he chooses to bury.

Outside of Pitt, no one else’s performances really stuck out to me, but I don’t think it is the actors’ faults. Jones and Liv Tyler’s character, Eve, were inexplicably underused when it seemed like their relationships with Roy were going to be the heart of the movie.

The director, James Gray, and his team were lazy when it came to the plot of the movie and put too much effort into the special effects and fantastical moments.

It felt as though they thought just haphazardly throwing in some classic relationship problem tropes would be good enough to keep our interest.

However, spoiler warning, it wasn’t. If you’re expecting a movie similar to “Interstellar” or 2015’s “The Martian,” you’re going to have to keep looking.

While the visual effects and artistry are top notch and may be worth the price of admission for some people, this movie lacks the creative story lines and emotion that made the two previously mentioned films successful space adventures.

Student space program opens for the summer

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Florida Tech and the International Space University – Center for Space Entrepreneurship (ISU-CSE) have partnered together to make a summer program for students to learn about the commercial space industry.

The Commercial Space Studies graduate certificate program will be led by Florida Tech’s Aldrin Space Institute (ASI) from June 3 through July 12, with classes located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Shawn Shirshekar, project coordinator at the ASI, said that the institute is trying to encourage students toward space research and flight.

“We want to give students rigorous training and policy training so they become well-rounded to enter the space industry,” Shirshekbar said. “We’re trying to build a multi-disciplined field of graduates.”

Shirshekar described the course activities as an intensive program with lectures, outside traveling in the area and other classroom situations.

The program’s website at isucse.fit.edu lists a 12-credit course of four classes:

  • BUS 5027: Global Commercial Space Program
  • ENM 5201: Space Technology and Systems
  • HUM 5131: Global Space Policy and Law
  • BUS 5025: Technological Entrepreneurship in Space

“This is the first time the program is being offered here [at Florida Tech]”, said Natalie Buczek, an administrative assistant with the ASI. “So we are trying to get the word out to as many people as possible.”

Buczek said this program is directed more towards graduate students, although any student is “welcome to join as long as they put in the effort.”

She also described the program as a mix of space and business classes with entrepreneurship and flight management.

Buczek said that housing will not be offered, but options are being explored.

Shirshekar and Buczek confirmed that the director of the ASI, Andy Aldrin, will be teaching students at the program through lectures.

There is a $20 application fee and complete instructions are on the program’s website.

The cost of tuition for the program will be $14,000.

A $5,000 scholarship application is available with the requirement of sending a statement of qualifications to registration@aldrinspace.institute.

“We want to give everyone a chance to get into the space industry,” Shirshekbar said.

Only 50 students will be admitted into the program with applications due April 30.

Buczek said that about 20-30 spots are still available for applications.