[MUSIC] Today is April 1st, 2025. No fooling. I'm Maria Varmazis and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] The FAA has closed to mishap investigations into January 16th launches of SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn. Four. Sierra Space has successfully demonstrated resilient GPS technology for the US Space Force. Three. G-Tide Japan has been contracted by JAXA to conduct a concept study for a robotic arm system intended for use on a pressurized crewed lunar rover. Two. The European Space Agency has released its annual Space Environment Report. One. SpaceX successfully launched Fram-2 to polar orbit. [MUSIC] And our guest today is Gary Gilbert. And Gary authored a book called Space Girl 2, 21 Women Write About Their Careers on Earth in the Space Industry. And his book funds scholarships at the International Space University and he'll be telling us more about that later in the show. [MUSIC] Happy Tuesday everybody. Let's get into today's intel briefing. Last night, the SpaceX Fram-2 mission lifted off from Florida. It was a little touch and go for a while with the weather at the Cape being what it was, but thankfully the Falcon 9 transporting the four-person crew in a dragon capsule took off without a hitch. Fram-2 is the first ever crewed mission in polar orbit. It's carrying a cryptocurrency billionaire and three guests on a days long trip that will orbit directly above Earth's north and south poles. Multi-resident Chen Wang, who made his fortune running Bitcoin mining operations, paid SpaceX an undisclosed sum of money for this trip. Joining him are a trio of other polar exploration enthusiasts, Norwegian film director Yannick Mickelson, Germany-based robotics researcher Rabia Raga, who is Germany's first woman in space by the way, and Australian adventure Eric Phillips. It was an unusual launch from Florida, heading southward to reach its orbital path. The mission will last somewhere between three to five days before returning to Splashdown off the coast of California. Then it's hoped that the Framinates, as they've been nicknamed, will be able to exit the capsule without medical assistance as part of their research into long-term human space travel. We're looking forward to seeing the results of this mission as they're shared in the coming days. The European Space Agency opened the ninth edition of the ESA Space Debris Conference today. The event coincides with the Space Agency releasing its annual Space Environment Report. The results don't shed any new light on the subject, but do reinforce the issue that space debris is an increasing problem in low-Earth orbit. The report states that within certainly heavily populated altitude bands, the density of active objects is now the same order of magnitude as space debris. Wow. ESA says the adherence to space debris mitigation standards is not enough to stop the increase of the number and amount of space debris. The report calls for more active debris removal in Leo, something we believe we will be seeing more of in the coming years. And did you know that intact satellites or rocket bodies are now re-entering the Earth's atmosphere on average more than three times a day? Wow. Yeah, let's hope we don't see more debris raining down on Earth in the years to come. Gitae, Japan has been awarded a contract by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, to conduct a concept study for a robotic arm system intended for use on a pressurized, crewed lunar rover. This rover is part of Japan's contribution to the Artemis program and is designed to enable long-duration human exploration of the moon's polar regions. The study will aim to define the design and specifications for a robotic arm system capable of supporting lunar science operations, primarily during uncrewed periods, while also providing support during crewed missions when needed. The arm will be tasked with performing a range of mission critical operations, including regolith excavation, rock and soil sample collection, unloading, handling and installation of large payloads such as scientific instruments and observation equipment. It will also enable science activities through both remote and autonomous control capabilities. These functions are expected to significantly expand the scope and duration of lunar surface research. Sierra Space has successfully demonstrated resilient GPS technology for the U.S. Space Force. Sierra Space worked in collaboration with General Dynamics mission systems to achieve all GPS navigation signals required for the resilient GPS mission. The technology targets the increased need for more resilient GPS systems that protect the United States against adversarial threats like jamming and spoofing of the current GPS infrastructure. This demo is part of the QuickStartR GPS contract awarded in 2024 by the USSF Space Systems Command to develop design concepts for smaller, more affordable GPS satellites. And the Federal Aviation Administration has closed two mishap reports. The first one was into the SpaceX Starship Flight 7 mishap on January 16th and states that there were no public injuries and one confirmed report of minor vehicle damage in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The FAA oversaw and accepted the findings of the SpaceX lead investigation. The final mishap report cites the probable root cause for the loss of the Starship vehicle was stronger than anticipated vibrations during the flight which led to increased stress on and failure of the hardware in the propulsion system. SpaceX identified 11 corrective actions to prevent a reoccurrence of the event. The FAA verified that SpaceX implemented corrective actions prior to flight 8. And the FAA is overseeing the SpaceX lead investigation of the Starship Flight 8 mishap that occurred later on March 6th. That investigation remains open. A return to flight of the Starship vehicle is based on public safety. SpaceX may not launch Starship again until the FAA accepts the final mishap investigation report or makes a return to flight determination and all other licensing requirements are met. The second mishap investigation just closed was into the Blue Origin New Glenn 1 mishap that also occurred on January 16th. It was a busy day in space if you remember. The FAA oversaw and accepted the findings of the Blue Origin lead investigation. The final mishap report identified the proximate cause of the mishap as an inability of the New Glenn's first stage to restart the engines, preventing a reentry burn from occurring and resulting in the loss of the stage. Blue Origin identified seven corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence of the event. The FAA will verify that Blue Origin implements corrective actions prior to the launch of the New Glenn 2 mission. [Music] And that wraps up today's Top 5 Stories from the Space Industry. Now we have N2K Senior Producer Alice Garouf with the stories that we're also keeping an eye on. Alice? Thanks Maria. We have a slurry of business news that we're keeping an eye on. MDA Space has announced its intention to acquire Israeli company Satix by Communications. Carmen Space and Defense, Ciderspace and SpireGlobal have all shared financial updates. And we couldn't go without mentioning the crew nine interviews that were shared yesterday. They were never abandoned folks. Let's put that story to bed now, shall we? Absolutely yes please. And the reminder that links to all of the stories that Alice has mentioned can be found in the selected reading section of our show notes. And on our website, space.intk.com, just click on this episode title. Hey T-minus crew, if you are just joining us, be sure to follow T-minus Space Daily in your favorite podcast app. Also do us a favor, share the intel with your friends and coworkers. Here's a little challenge for you. By Friday, please show three friends or coworkers this podcast. A growing audience is the most important thing for us and we would love your help as part of the T-minus crew. If you find T-minus useful, please share so other professionals like you can find the show. Thank you so much everybody. It means a lot to me and all of us here at T-minus. [Music] Today's guest is Gary Gilbert. And we met Gary at SpaceCom earlier this year in Florida when he approached us to ask if he could talk about his book on our show. And the book he pitched is raising money to pay for scholarships at ISU, specifically for women. And we could hardly say no to that now could we? So I asked Gary to tell us a little more about himself and how he got involved in the space industry. [Music] I went to the International Space University in 2011, graduated in 2012. And I made friends with one of the women there. And we were able to go to a field trip for a week or so into Russia and see their space program because one of the professors was actually Russian. The lady that I became -- That must have been fascinating. Oh, that was awesome. I've actually been closer to the actual stuff in the Russian one compared to the U.S. one. There was a lady that couldn't go because she had, you know, scholarships and had money but didn't have, you know, enough extra money to go on this trip. And I'm like, there should be a scholarship to help out, you know, situations like that because that was once in a lifetime thing, you know. Yeah, and those trips can be very expensive. Yeah, yep, I completely -- I get it. Yeah, I want to kind of put a pit in you visiting the Russian space program because I would love to hear more about that too. But we'll get to that later because I want to make sure we talk about your book and what is in it. Can you tell me a bit about some of the stories that can be found in there? Well, actually there's several stories. One of them, Sharon, she's the suit technician. She's one of the -- she's the suit technician that helped Mae Jamison who was the first female black astronaut. Yep, yep. And, you know, she was there to, you know, get her suited up, you know, and she tells about how she got into it and, you know, how life changed and that was. Other ladies have run, you know, different organizations, space foundation, stuff like that. Shelly Brunswick, she's one of the ladies and, you know, she's got a new book out called "What's Space Got to Do with It?" and it's an awesome book. It's actually got me more and more focused. But like I said, it's just 21 women who I thought I reached out to via Facebook and linked in and just said, "Hey, I'm trying to put this book together. We're going to use it here to fund a scholarship." And 21 women, you know, gave me their stories. That's amazing. There's a few that are here, you know, nearby within an hour or so of me. And you're in Florida? I'm in Florida. I'm like six miles from the cake. Nice. So it's really nice. But I, you know, I've talked to a couple of them and just, you know, they're great women and I felt that their story should be told. I don't know if you know this, but there's been a, over the last few years, there's been a post on Facebook where Jack Black, the actor, his mother actually worked on the Apollo program. Yeah, I've seen that. And that always blows my mind when I see that. Yeah. I mean, and from what it was saying, there's, you know, she, you know, left work, went and gave birth. And a couple of days later came back and helped solve some of the stuff that needed to be solved for the Apollo program. And just to me, I had this idea. And then I, then I read about and saw the movie hidden figures and I'm just trying to get more and more, like said, girls into STEM, you know, a couple of the ladies I reached out to, but they're, because of their, you know, for whatever reason, they weren't able to contribute their story. But, you know, as the current KSC director, who's now NASA administrator until the, you know, Trump's appointee gets put into office, you know, I can't say it's a passion project. So I really admire also that you are focusing on the kinds of roles that are less, you know, they're not as well known publicly, but they're so important. And they're also, you know, they're not the astronaut path, which I think understandably we all celebrate astronauts, of course, because they're extraordinary people, but most of us cannot be an astronaut. But, you know, the work, the incredible teamwork that goes on to make these space missions happen, there are a lot of careers in there that are viable that a lot of kids, I mean, a lot of adults don't even understand that those, those careers are there and that there's a path into them. And I think it's wonderful that you're focusing, especially on that because these are much more achievable than becoming an astronaut, not to, you know, squash anyone's dreams, but I mean, and also not everyone wants to be an astronaut. Well, one of the ladies is actually quality assurance, you know, you know, and you can look at quality assurance, you know, is that pretty much any, any facility because you always want to make sure that your product works, you know, but when you're sitting there making sure that the, the quality control is top notch, you know, you don't want a say, for example, a satellite or a rocket ship to, to mess up because something wasn't tightened down exactly the right amount of torque. Absolutely. Yep. You know, I don't know, but several years back, and I'd say at least 10 to 15, you know, multi-million dollar satellite fell over its stand because it wasn't tightened down tight enough, you know, and someone didn't do their job or didn't do it well enough, you know, and so everybody, you know, especially when you're looking at a rocket or satellite that goes up into space, it's, it's got to be the best. Absolutely. These, these jobs all matter. Everyone's role is extremely important and they may not be as public, but they all are extraordinarily important and, and, you know, they require a lot of expertise. I think it's really noteworthy that you're highlighting that, so I love that. And I think that also makes your book very unique. So I'm, I think it's fantastic that you've put this together and also for such a fantastic cause to support students at ISU. I think that's just really wonderful. The book came out in October, so there weren't that many sales and it only made a small amount of money, which I'm in the process of getting to the school for last year. Hopefully this year, my goal is to have it in every sixth to twelfth grade school in the United States within a couple of years and overseas. Several of these ladies are from various countries. There's one in New Zealand. There's a couple in Italy, one in Germany. When you were sourcing the people to speak to, were these colleagues, were these students at ISU or how did you find these women? Well, some I, I actually had some connections at ISU and they recommended some people. I also looked at, you know, Facebook and LinkedIn persons. You know, if it had anything to do with space in their profile or they worked a certain place, I reached out to them via messages, cold, you know, cold calling, so to speak. Wow. Yeah. Some of them came back and said, you know, no, I'm not arrested. Others said, yeah, what do you need? And, you know, I asked for 12 to 1500 words in your own words. You know, what's your, what's your story? And like I said, 21 women came back and gave me, gave me their, their stories. That's amazing. Well, I love that you used your network and also did some gum shoe work. That's, I really like that. That's, that is not easy to do, to do those kinds of cold outreach, but I'm glad that you did it because I'm sure you learned some fantastic stories, Gary. So that's really cool. That's great. Gary, while I've got you here, I, I'm also very curious, just anecdotally, to hear about your, your trip to Russia. I have to admit that's just personally fascinating also. Can you tell me a bit about that? Well, the, the main thing though is like, so we got to go, I guess you could say the centrifuge, you know, where they test, you know, going around, around the circle. I actually got to go and be, you know, maybe 25, 30 feet from it, you know, whereas there were other places at the engineering that had some parts of what was going to be or what had been, you know, one of their spaceships, you know, one of their rockets and they were trying, you know, we got to see and actually touch it, you know what I'm saying? And just, you know, I, I, for whatever reason, you know, never worked that close to the rockets and stuff. That must have been, that must have been really incredible. What a unique opportunity at a unique point in time. Oh yeah. Yeah. You know, let me just say this. Seeing Red Square in person was, was awesome. I mean, everything I had been told growing up, you know, about the foreign country, Russia was, was not exactly as I'd been told, if you understand what I'm saying. [Music] We'll be right back. [Music] Welcome back. [Music] The crew on the International Space Station are certainly always very busy, but of course everyone's got to let their hair down now and then. Even if being in low G has your hair sticking straight up, metaphorically, you all know what I mean. Now, if I asked you to guess who was one of the biggest ISS pranksters of all the crew have been aboard, would you also have guessed Chris Hadfield? Because yeah, I certainly would have as well. Now he posted an image of himself looking skeptically at a little green alien friend sitting in his hands on April Fool's Day 2013, saying that a UFO had docked to the station. Ha ha. And actually 2013, that was a good year for April Fool's Day pranks from Hadfield. Got a hand it to him. Earlier that same day, he also posted an image of himself holding what looked to be two grenades. And actually they were air grab sample bottles. But honestly, these grenade-like sample bottles do look awfully similar to the thing in which one shall take out the holy pin, then shall thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shall count, and the number of the counting shall be three. One has to wonder who exactly Hadfield thought was naughty and who should to quote Monty Python's snuffet. We may never know. But if you're thinking, ah, Maria, of all of those pranks, they pale in comparison to the most amazing ISS prank ever. And that would be Tim Peake being chased around by Scott Kelly in a gorilla suit with Kelly springing out of a floating box like a Jack in the Box kids toy. I regret to inform you that that was in fact not an April Fool's Day prank. It was on February 24, 2016. Oh, sadly, it doesn't technically count. But perhaps it can be an honorary April Fool's Day prank in all of our hearts. [MUSIC PLAYING] And that's it for T-Minus for April 1, 2025, brought to you by NTK Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.ntuk.com. We're privileged that NTK and podcasts like T-Minus are part of the daily routine of many of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector, from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies. NTK's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Tre Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben. Peter Kilpe is our publisher, and I am your host, Marie Varmazis. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-Minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] [BLANK_AUDIO]
