Short Takes – 1-27-25

Zones, Conduits, and What They Mean. SCADAMag.Infracritical.com article. Another great article from Jake Brodsky. Pull quote: “I can hear the screams of protest coming from Project Managers and Network Engineers right now. Yes, this is more expensive, not to mention difficult to monitor and manage. BUT: Physical network design should follow and support the physical plant design, including failure modes. We should design for the possibility of failure and for the ability to maintain and test the conduit communications path.”

New Mailing Standards for Hazardous Materials Outer Packaging and Nonregulated Toxic Materials. Federal Register US Postal Service final rule. Summary: “The Postal Service is amending Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail (Pub 52 or Publication 52) by adding new section 131 to require specific outer packaging when mailing most hazardous materials (HAZMAT) or dangerous goods (DG), to remove quantity restrictions for nonregulated toxic materials, and to remove the telephone number requirement from the lithium battery mark.” Effective date January 27^th, 2025.

With successful New Glenn flight, Blue Origin may finally be turning the corner. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “"If you can drive your manufacturing costs low enough in rate manufacturing—if you ever get to a really well-oiled machine that makes the machine—it's possible that, because of the performance increase that you get with an expendable upper stage, that could be the right solution for a long time," Bezos said. "So we're going to try to make the expendable upper stage so cheap to manufacture that a reusable stage can never compete with it. And we're going to try to make the reusable stage so operable that an expendable stage can never compete with it."”

Space venture firm predicts industry shakeup. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “The report highlights increasing defense spending as a crucial factor shaping the industry’s future. Mounting concerns over China’s space capabilities, particularly its BeiDou navigation system’s growing influence, are driving U.S. initiatives like the adoption of alternative positioning, navigation and timing systems offered by commercial firms, and the Resilient Global Positioning Systems (R-GPS) program, which aims to strengthen GPS infrastructure through commercial partnerships.”

Electric spacecraft propulsion may soon take a leap, thanks to new supercomputer. Space.com article. Pull quote: “Now that scientists better understand the behavior of the electrons in the ion plume, they can incorporate this into designs for future electric propulsion engines, looking for ways to limit the back-scatter, or perhaps confine the electrons more to the core of the beam. Ultimately, this could help missions powered by electric propulsion to fly farther and for longer, pushed by the gentle blue breeze of its ion plume.”

Blue Ghost moon lander sees Earth as a 'blue marble' from orbit (photo). Space.com article. Pull quote: “Blue Ghost launched on the "Ghost Riders in the Sky" mission on Jan. 15 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The lander is currently orbiting Earth, and will continue to do so for about two more weeks before it performs an engine burn that will take it on a four-day journey to the moon. Firefly Aerospace's lander will then perform another burn to insert itself into orbit around the moon, where it will spend 16 days before descending to the lunar surface.”