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Master of Iranian Shadow Tanker Disappears Days Before Indonesian Trial

Arman 114 (left) was discovered conducting an illegal oil transfer to another shadow tanker in June 2023 (Bakamla)

PUBLISHED JUL 1, 2024 12:48 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A court in Batam, Indonesia has delayed the trial and reading of the verdict in a case of a tanker that was caught conducting an illegal ship-to-ship oil transfer and charged with causing pollution after the master of the vessel disappeared five days before the court was scheduled to convene. It is the latest turn in a case that started over a year ago and even still the ownership of the tanker remains unclear.

The master of the tanker Arman 114 (300,579 dwt), Mahmoud Abdelaziz Mohamed Hatiba (age 43 and believed to be an Egyptian citizen) was facing the possibility of seven years in prison and a fine of more than $305,000. If he failed to pay the fine, a further six months in jail would have been added to his sentence. Prosecutors are also asking the court to seize the crude oil tanker and auction it off along with the cargo aboard. Initial reports in 2023 said there were more than 272,000 metric tons of crude oil aboard although later reports say it is just under 167,000 metric tons of light crude oil.

Several entities presented themselves to the court claiming to be the order of the tanker while the Iranian Embassy in Jakarta has denied ownership and said the vessel is owned by an Iranian citizen. The Arman 114, built in 1997, has repeatedly appeared on watch lists from various organizations accused of being used to smuggle Iranian oil. The ship is believed to be registered in Iran but it has not undergone inspections according to the databases in years and its management and insurance are unknown.

In June 2023, the Indonesian Coast Guard discovered the vessel at anchor with a second tanker displaying the name S Tinos and reporting to be registered in Cameroon. However, the ship was using the identity of a tanker that had been scrapped five years earlier. Neither ship was displaying a flag or transmitting accurate AIS data. The Arman 114 was displaying a position in the Red Sea at the time.

When the ships were discovered, reports suggest they attempted to flee and the Malaysians assisted the Indonesian authorities in stopping the Arman 114. The ship was detained with a total of 29 people aboard, including the wife and child of the security officer. The crew was reported to be from Iran and Egypt. They were also being detained in Batam with reports that they had come ashore without proper paperwork.

Three months after the vessels were discovered, Indonesian prosecutors in October 2023 added charges of dumping waste. Reports said they tested oil found in the water and determined it came from the Arman 114. Some reports are saying the captain had ordered the crew to dump oily water overboard.

Shortly before the hearing scheduled for last week, the Attorney General’s Office confirmed it had a visit from the Iranian Embassy requesting the ship and its cargo be released. Iranian officials denied ownership of the tanker or the cargo aboard.

The court went into recess after the master failed to report for the hearing and is now due to reconvene on July 4. The court has ordered if the master can be located that he should be detained while prosecutors are pressing for the court to proceed with the seizure of the vessel and its cargo. It is unclear if any of the other crewmembers might face charges for the transfer, pollution, and attempts to display a false identity and flee from authorities.

The climate crisis is here, but climate disinformation still isn’t a priority for tech companies

BLOG | JUNE 27, 2024


Climate disinformation is slipping through the gaps in tech companies' content moderation policies, helping to fan the flames of climate denial.

For policymakers and tech companies steeped in the challenge of preventing online harms (from child safety to financial fraud), climate disinformation often doesn’t make the cut. It falls mostly outside the scope of legislation, such as the EU Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act, and receives less attention in tech platforms’ content policies than other forms of harm.

After all, isn’t climate conversation just online debate and reasonable disagreement? Science contains inherent uncertainties, and discussing policy trade-offs involves value judgements that can’t be fact-checked. This means that climate disinformation is often easier for companies not to tackle, rather than be accused of censoring free speech.

But climate disinformation isn’t just people disagreeing about the concept of net zero. Rather, it is a whole ecosystem that covertly undermines action on the climate crisis.

This disordered ecosystem includes pseudoscience, junk news, propaganda, misrepresented data, inauthentic behaviour, the stoking of division and hate, campaigns to undermine and discredit climate defenders, and conspiracies.

This increases the political cost of climate action and political cover for inaction. This is an especial risk in 2024, when elections across the world will determine the future of climate action, and environmental issues are already a divisive issue across constituencies.

It also enables climate doubts, fears or uncertainty to be leveraged for other more unscrupulous ends.

We don’t only see citizens engaging in bona fide debates about climate online. Powerful political and economic actors exploit the possibilities of online communication for their own benefit to promote a particular social or political agenda, for financial gain or to escape accountability.

Our climate conversation should be driven by the public interest, not vested interests.

How Global Witness is responding

In this crucial year, Global Witness has established a new Climate Disinformation Unit. Supported by the Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation, the Unit will pilot investigations into how disinformation is used to undermine climate action by powerful actors, and how tech companies enable and incentivise this.

This work is part of Global Witness’ commitment to tackling digital threats that undermine our collective ability to act on the climate emergency.

Our aim is to identify and disrupt the systems that allow climate disinformation to be impactful and profitable.

Tackling climate disinformation does not mean shutting down democratic debate. It means the opposite: people able to discuss the realities of the climate crisis and climate policies without distortion; those affected free to speak out without fear of persecution, harassment or reprisal; those contributing to the climate crisis held to account; and institutions better able to grapple with the challenge of the climate emergency.


DZMITRY KLIAPITSKI / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Case Study: The Epoch Times promotes climate denial

Our first investigation, published earlier this month, found that The Epoch Times, a conservative media outlet with a history of promoting conspiracy theories, was targeting people in the UK with adverts on Facebook and Instagram that deny the existence of climate change and question its severity.

These adverts included false claims that "Arctic ice is not melting" and that "higher CO2 levels are not a problem," and were shown to Meta platform users more than a million times.

As a result of our investigation, Meta blocked Epoch Times London’s ability to post adverts for repeatedly violating their ads policies.

We are glad that Meta responded so quickly and took this step to reduce the Epoch Times’ ability to profit from climate disinformation – particularly in a UK election year. However, this investigation highlights fundamental flaws in Meta’s ad review processes.

Gaps in Meta’s processes for identifying violating content

Meta’s ad policies or community standards do not prohibit climate disinformation per se. However, if (as for other forms of misinformation) that content has been debunked by Meta’s independent fact-checking partners, it is prohibited in ads.

One of the ads we investigated linked to an article that has been debunked. The Epoch Times article claiming that Arctic ice is not melting, a claim quoted in the ad text, was debunked by Climate Feedback in March 2024.

Climate Feedback is part of Science Feedback, one of Facebook’s third-party fact-checkers since 2019. However, Meta still allowed versions of this ad to continue to run into April.

No content moderation system is, or could be expected to be, perfect. However, The Epoch Times was already banned from advertising by Facebook in the US. The Epoch Times London page should have been detected as related to The Epoch Times, given that the adverts directed users to the Epoch Times website.

Identifying climate disinformation is not a priority

Although Epoch Times London was banned from advertising on Meta following our investigation, this was for repeated violation of its ads policies, rather than because climate disinformation per se is not permitted. For climate disinformation content to be prohibited in ads, that content must have been specifically fact-checked by a Meta partner fact-checker.

In organic posts, misinformation that does not threaten imminent harm or political processes directly is not prohibited on Meta. Instead, Meta policy says viral content is fact-checked, labelled and its distribution reduced if it is false.

The problem is that not every single piece of content can be fact-checked and climate does not appear to be a fact-checking priority. It is not on Meta’s list of issues that fact-checkers should prioritise, nor is it mentioned as a category where Meta uses keyword detection to proactively group content for fact-checkers to review.

This threatens to become a vicious cycle. In an ecosystem where mitigations depend on content having been fact-checked by official Meta partners, if climate content is not prioritised for fact-checking review, it is less likely to be checked, and so less likely to be prohibited in ads.

This could mean that when users see climate disinformation it is less likely to be labelled as such, and so users may be less aware themselves to flag similar content for review.

This, in turn, would make climate disinformation less likely again to be selected for fact-checking review – not because of any deliberate permissiveness for this kind of content, but simply because it has not been prioritised within a constrained system.

How tech companies can crack down on climate disinformation

Meta could address these challenges by:

Investing more resources in fact-checking to tackle resource constraints around prioritising climate disinformation

Incorporating signals from International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) signatory fact-checkers, outside of Meta’s official partners, into how content is surfaced for review and labelled

Adding the climate crisis to the list of issues that fact-checkers should prioritise

Adding the climate crisis to the list of categories that Meta uses to group content for fact-checkers

Publishing metrics on the efficacy of their systems and processes for enforcing their policies on climate disinformation

We are also calling on tech companies to disrupt the ways in which climate disinformation (in its many guises beyond straightforward climate denial) can be used on their services for profit – in particular through monetisation or advertising.

Companies that are acting as the custodians of our communication and information spaces – and profiting massively along the way – need to develop more concerted responses to climate disinformation and prevent bad actors from exploiting our online information ecosystems.

For more information on the work of the Climate Disinformation Unit, or to discuss potential collaborations, please contact Ellen Judson or Guy Porter.

On Day of the Seafarer, IMO Emphasizes Safety and Security

Image courtesy AMSOL

PUBLISHED JUN 24, 2024 8:42 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Each year on June 25, the global maritime community pauses to celebrate seafarers, who deliver 90 percent of all international trade. Seafarers work around the clock in a challenging industrial environment, and they leave their families for up to a year at a time in pursuit of their career. They give up the regular working hours and amenities that their shoreside peers are used to, receiving in return a better paycheck and the opportunity to travel. Without the two million men and women who work at sea, the maritime industry would not exist, and the global economy would lose steam. 

"Seafarers from across the globe provide a vital source of income to their families back home, while on long voyages at sea.  Let us together salute them for their essential work and support their safety," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a statement. "Without them, the world would not be able to transport the large quantities of commodities that societies require to survive."

Guterres also called for an end to the "grave threats" that seafarers face near the Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, where hijackings and Houthi missile attacks have endangered the lives of dozens since last fall. The IMO says that four seafarers have died in Houthi strikes, and many others have been injured. 

"Attacks on international shipping routes and acts of piracy are unacceptable," he said. "Ships and seafarers must not be held hostage and hijacked. Seafarers should not be collateral victims in wider geopolitical conflicts."

IMO also called for the immediate release of the crew of the car carrier Galaxy Leader, who have been held captive by Houthi forces for more than eight months. 

Safety in focus

The IMO has dedicated this year's Day of the Seafarer to the theme of safety. To raise awareness, IMO has launched a social media hashtag campaign focusing on safety at sea, and seafarers are invited to share photos and tips with the tag #SafetyTipsAtSea on the social network of their preference. 

The organization shared a sample tip from Filipino seafarer Yrhen Bernard Sabanal Balinis, who emphasized good communication. "Whether it be anchoring, pilot boarding, or mooring, the officers need keen situational awareness to ensure that things are running safely," advised Balinis. "But effective shipboard communication is not only limited to those. Is a crewmate feeling down, homesick, or anxious? . . . Tactful communication plays an instrumental role in seafarers' psychological safety."

Looking to the future, Rene Kofod-Olsen - CEO of the world's largest third-party shipmanager, V.Group - called for preparing seafarers for the next generation of fuels and technologies. 

"We must keep developing them with an eye on what comes next. Complexity in our industry is increasing, and the challenges of decarbonization and digitalization will need more training and upskilling to manage properly," said Kofod-Olsen. "We must do this while keeping seafarer safety at the front of our minds, and be uncompromising in the standards that we set across the whole maritime value chain."

ITF Says Flag States Must Instruct Ships to Divert from Red Sea for Safety

Crewmembers of the Tutor were airlifted from their disabled ship by French and American forces (FFEAU.ALINDIEN of X)

PUBLISHED JUN 25, 2024 1:20 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Marking the Day of the Seafarer, the International Transport Workers’ Federation speaking on behalf of seafarers’ unions globally is urging the international community to reflect on the invaluable contribution of seafarers to the global economy. In the face of the latest escalation from the Houthis attacking ships in the Red Sea region, the ITF is saying that flag states “which are responsible for assuring a safe working environment for seafarers on their vessels, must instruct companies to divert their ships.”

The unions have repeatedly condemned the attacks and called for action. Now in a strongly worded statement, they are demanding immediate action to ensure the safety of seafarers in the Red Sea. They contend the actions, to date, have been lacking and could have prevented the unnecessary deaths of seafarers.

“While we appreciate expressions of solidarity and condemnation, words are not enough. The ITF demands urgent, concrete action to guarantee the safety and security of seafarers,” they write.

“Seafarers are not commodities but the backbone of the global supply chain. Their lives should not be risked for profit, nor should they have to perform their duties under the constant threat of violence or harm.”

The ITF reminds that four seafarers have lost their lives since the attacks started late in 2023. Three seafarers were killed in March when the True Confidence was attacked and fires began on the vessel. The remaining crew was forced to abandon ship. This month, the Houthis attacked the Tutor, and one seafarer was lost before the crew was forced to also abandon that vessel. Last weekend, there were reports that another bulker had also been abandoned marking the fourth vessel where the crews had to leave their ships after being attacked. Two ships are known to have sunk due to the attacks.

The official accounts cite one crewmember on the bulker Verbena that was severely injured and required a medical airlift by the military forces and a life-saving operation. There is no official tally, but there have been reports of lesser injuries to crewmembers in the attacks, which the Houthis assert now number over 150 vessels targeted.

On the Day of the Seafarer, the ITF is also calling for the safe return of the crews from the car carrier Galaxy Leader, which has been detained in Yemen since November 2023. The shipping company recently highlighted that the crew is not part of the conflict and should be released. The ITF also reminds that the MSC Aries is being held in Iran.

The unions are saying governments must do more while shipping companies must also demonstrate their commitment to their seafarers by diverting from the region. While saying flag states must instruct ships to divert, they said “flags of convenience” must not rely solely on the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union navies for protection.

After the attack on the Tutor, the Philippines said it would be exploring steps to further enhance the safety of seafarers. The Philippines which is a large source of crewmembers, earlier in the year ruled that its citizens could not work on cruise or passenger ships sailing in the Red Sea region. Officials said that was due to the number of crew on those ships and that they were exploring similar restrictions for their citizens after the recent Houthi escalation.

Survey: Decarbonization Adds to Seafarers' Workload, Fatigue, and Stress

Survey says decarbonization efforts are impact seafarers' well-being (file photo)

PUBLISHED JUN 25, 2024 4:25 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

One of the themes being highlighted on this the Day of the Seafarer as declared by the International Maritime Organization are the challenges and contributions of the profession. The charitable organization ISWAN (International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network) is highlighting that the drive to decarbonization is having an overlooked yet substantial impact on the workload, fatigue, and stress levels at sea.

As governments impose regulations and companies explore ways to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, seafarers seem to be forgotten in the larger scheme of things reports the charity. Believing that there has been comparatively little focus on the impact that the rapid pace of change is having on seafarers’ well-being and job satisfaction, ISWAN undertook a survey sponsored by The Shipowners’ Club. It includes responses from 400 seafarers of 29 nationalities as well as 55 responses from shore-based staff. 

Slightly over half of the respondents, 53.8 percent, reported that the changes brought about by decarbonization were having a negative impact on their workload. Further, 44 percent of seafarers highlighted an increase in levels of stress, while 40 percent reported increased levels of fatigue. 

The survey also revealed that a third of seafarers (32.8 percent) also have increased their fears about potential criminalization. They highlighted the complexity of current reporting regimes saying it is leading to greater risks of an inadvertent error.

Engineers are bearing the brunt of the negative impacts on their wellbeing. Over a third (34.4 percent) of engineer respondents are reporting a negative impact on their mental health, while a quarter (25.3 percent) of deck officers also cited mental health concerns. For the engineers, the workload and stress levels associated with requirements to switch frequently between different fuel types is taking a toll on their mental wellbeing. Engineers without a fixed trading pattern are reporting the worst impact.

“Only too often, seafarers tell us that they feel their well-being is overlooked in favor of commercial imperatives or regulatory requirements,” said Simon Grainge, ISWAN Chief Executive. “By engaging with their concerns about decarbonization, maritime employers have the opportunity to empower seafarers to be proponents and drivers of the journey towards zero carbon, rather than this becoming another factor that risks driving them out of the sector.”

ISWAN contends that while seafarers and shore-based staff are willing to be active contributors to the zero-carbon transition, they need to be proactively included in the efforts. For this reason, the charity put forth recommendations for maritime companies that guarantee the well-being of seafarers is elevated from the periphery to the frontline.

The recommendations include acknowledging and addressing the impact of decarbonization on workloads and factoring it into crew sizes, recognizing the psychological impacts of rapid change and technostress, and incorporating them into health and wellbeing training. They recommend fostering a culture of both physical and psychological safety for seafarers.

Indian Authorities Warn Seafarers of "Deceitful" Recruiters and Scammers

An abandoned seafarer swims back to his derelict vessel (ITF)

PUBLISHED JUN 25, 2024 8:00 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

India's shipping ministry is warning seafarers to avoid unscrupulous operators and recruiters who abandon mariners at overseas ports. The practice of seafarer abandonment has been growing, according to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), and the directorate's guidance is intended to help mariners secure their rights if and when their employer stops paying their wages. 

As a starting point, the directorate advises new seafarers to check up on the reputation of an employer or manning agency before signing on for a position, and to carefully review the terms of their employment contract. "[The] market is flooded with various scam agents," the agency said. "New joiners have very little knowledge about the maritime industry, and they easily fall prey to agents."

If the crew does run into a problem with wage payment, the directorate advises notifying Indian authorities right away, then starting the process to get the ship's P&I insurer to cover the shipowner's debts using their MLC financial security coverage. 

?If the owner or agent does not respond to inquiries about unpaid wages, and abandons the vessel to its fate, the directorate advises seafarers to get the ship arrested and sold in order to cover the owner's debts, just like an unpaid bunker broker or banker would - not as a last resort, but immediately. 

"Seafarers are not paid for wages, food, accommodation, drinking water supplies, fuel for survival and medical care then seafarer should immediately approach their seafarers trade union or Indian embassy or Indian consulate or welfare organizations to arrange for a local lawyer to enforce their rights under maritime lien," the directorate advised. 

The notice includes a list of legitimate maritime academies and advises new entrants in the industry to avoid uncertified, uncredentialed maritime schools, which may be fraudulent. 

"This notice is seen as a beneficial step towards safeguarding the rights and well being of seafarers and ensuring the integrity of the maritime recruitment process. It will not only serve as a guide for current seafarers but will also be of great help to new seafarers who are looking to apply for recruitment in the maritime industry," said Frank Viegas, president of the Goan Seamen Association of India (GSAI). 

Last month, the directorate also issued an urgent warning about another unscrupulous practice: a scam that preys on seafarers' families. The agency has received multiple reports of a fraudulent scheme that targets the family members of seafarers while they are away: the fraudsters contact the family via phone or email and say that the crewmember has been involved in illegal activity, and demand money from the family in exchange for the seafarer's "release." (In reality, the seafarer is simply away at work, and the scammer makes off with the money.) The directorate urged seafarers and their families to be sure to verify the identity of the caller, and not to transfer any money to anyone without first validating their request. 

"There have been incidents involving individuals falsely claiming to be associated with seafarers onboard vessels or pretending to be as from law enforcing authorities such as Customs, State Police Departments, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Immigration Officials and Govt. officials from Ministry etc., and soliciting money from their family members under fraudulent pretences," warned Indian Deputy Director General of Shipping Capt. Daniel J Joseph. "These claims are generally false and are designed to deceive and exploit unsuspecting family members."

Maritime Charities Help Ensure Better Working Lives at Sea for Seafarers

Stella Maris CEO Tim Hill and The Seafarers' Charity Chief Executive Deborah Layde

PUBLISHED JUN 24, 2024 11:41 AM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

[By: Stella Maris]

Hundreds of thousands of seafarers and fishers in the UK and other parts of the world have benefited from practical, pastoral and spiritual support provided by global ship visiting network Stella Maris over the past 10 years, thanks to over £1 million in grant funding provided by The Seafarers’ Charity over that period. The Seafarers’ Charity’s sustained grant funding over the last ten years has enabled Stella Maris to help ensure better and safer working lives at sea for seafarers and fishers.

Through its global network of over 200 port chaplains and more than 800 volunteers, Stella Maris is present in 353 ports in 57 countries, and collectively they undertake up to 70,000 ship visits globally each year. The Stella Maris teams provide fishers and seafarers with a listening ear, practical assistance, warm clothing, reading materials, transportation into towns, faith materials, and communication tools for contacting family and friends back home.

Unrestricted core funding provided by The Seafarers’ Charity over the last decade has enabled Stella Maris to continue carrying out vital daily ship visits, offering friendship, advice and timely support to seafarers and fishers faced with challenges whilst working at sea. Some of these challenges have included: abandonment, modern slavery, non-payment of wages, hospitalisation and deaths at sea or back home.

As a recent example, an Indian crew abandoned in Troon, Scotland had not received their wages for several months. The local Stella Maris chaplain, Deacon Joe O’Donnell, visited and provided them with free mobile phone SIM cards, food, clothing and transport into town. The uncertainty of having no income put them under huge mental strain, so Stella Maris offered them pastoral support and reassurance. Following this intervention, the crew were eventually paid and they were able to return home.

Grants from The Seafarers’ Charity have also supported the growth and development of Stella Maris’ activities in South Africa and Kenya during this period. In Kenya, this has enabled the growth of Stella Maris Kenya from one port chaplain and three volunteers to a team of one port chaplain, three staff members, and 30 volunteers, greatly increasing the number of ships visited and seafarers helped. The funding has also helped Stella Maris Kenya to support over 8,000 seafarers, fishers and their families through access to training, educational programmes and counselling support.

Tim Hill MBE, CEO at Stella Maris said: “None of our work is possible without that unrestricted core funding provided by The Seafarers’ Charity. Who would pay Deacon Joe’s salary, the fuel for his car, his personal protective equipment? Core funding isn’t glamorous, it’s not aligned to a specific project or deliverable, but here in the UK it is essential to enable my 22 chaplains and 80 volunteers to carry out their duties, so we are very grateful to The Seafarers’ Charity for their visionary and flexible funding approach.” He also added that “we are delighted to receive restricted funding grants that have supported our growth in Kenya and South Africa.”

Deborah Layde, Chief Executive at The Seafarers’ Charity added: “The Seafarers’ Charity is proud to support Stella Maris’ crucial role on the frontline delivering much needed welfare support to visiting seafarers. While their work in port is very visible, less visible, but just as essential, are the hidden core running costs of an organisation. Our funding of essential running costs means Stella Maris can focus on what they do best - helping seafarers. Thereby enabling them to pay their bills and deliver on their mission in the most effective and sustainable manner over the long-term. We encourage all funders and donors who want to support seafarers to consider contributing to the essential core costs of maritime welfare charities. Funding core costs may not be sexy or exciting and you can’t stick your logo on it, but it is a critical source of funding which enables a maritime charity such as Stella Maris to get on with helping seafarers to enjoy better working lives at sea.”

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

SPACE

Telltale greenhouse gases could signal alien activity

Detecting intelligent life that’s light years away

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

 

IMAGE: 

ARTIST'S CONCEPT OF AN EXOPLANET IN THE PROCESS OF BEING TERRAFORMED.

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CREDIT: THIBAUT ROGER/UNIVERSITY OF BERN

If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we’d be able to tell. A new UC Riverside study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would be giveaways of a terraformed planet.

A terraformed planet has been artificially made hospitable for life. The gases described in the study would be detectable even at relatively low concentrations in the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system using existing technology. This could include the James Webb Space Telescope, or a future European-led space telescope concept.

And while such pollutant gases must be controlled on Earth to prevent harmful climate effects, there are reasons they might be used intentionally on an exoplanet. 

“For us, these gases are bad because we don’t want to increase warming. But they’d be good for a civilization that perhaps wanted to forestall an impending ice age or terraform an otherwise-uninhabitable planet in their system, as humans have proposed for Mars,” said UCR astrobiologist and lead study author Edward Schwieterman.

Since these gases are not known to occur in significant quantities in nature, they must be manufactured. Finding them, therefore, would be a sign of intelligent, technology-using life forms. Such signs are called technosignatures.

The five gases proposed by the researchers are used on Earth in industrial applications such as making computer chips. They include fluorinated versions of methane, ethane, and propane, along with gases made of nitrogen and fluorine or sulfur and fluorine. A new Astrophysical Journal paper details their merits as terraforming gases.

One advantage is that they are incredibly effective greenhouse gases. Sulfur hexafluoride, for example, has 23,500 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. A relatively small amount could heat a freezing planet to the point where liquid water could persist on its surface.

Another advantage of the proposed gases — at least from an alien point of view — is that they are exceptionally long-lived and would persist in an Earth-like atmosphere for up to 50,000 years. “They wouldn’t need to be replenished too often for a hospitable climate to be maintained,” Schwieterman said. 

Others have proposed refrigerant chemicals, like CFCs, as technosignature gases because they are almost exclusively artificial and visible in Earth’s atmosphere. However, CFCs may not be advantageous because they destroy the ozone layer, unlike the fully fluorinated gases discussed in the new paper, which are chemically inert. 

“If another civilization had an oxygen-rich atmosphere, they’d also have an ozone layer they’d want to protect,” Schwieterman said. “CFCs would be broken apart in the ozone layer even as they catalyzed its destruction.”

As they’re more easily broken apart, CFCs are also short-lived, making them harder to detect.

Finally, the fluorinated gases have to absorb infrared radiation to have an impact on the climate. That absorption produces a corresponding infrared signature that could be detectable with space-based telescopes. With current or planned technology, scientists could detect these chemicals in certain nearby exoplanetary systems. 

“With an atmosphere like Earth’s, only one out of every million molecules could be one of these gases, and it would be potentially detectable,” Schwieterman said. “That gas concentration would also be sufficient to modify the climate.”

To arrive at this calculation, the researchers simulated a planet in the TRAPPIST-1 system, about 40 light-years away from Earth. They chose this system, which contains seven known rocky planets, because it is one of the most studied planetary systems aside from our own. It is also a realistic target for existing space-based telescopes to examine. 

The group also considered the European LIFE mission’s ability to detect the fluorinated gases. The LIFE mission would be able to directly image planets using infrared light, allowing it to target more exoplanets than the Webb telescope, which looks at planets as they pass in front of their stars.

This work was done in collaboration with Daniel Angerhausen at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology/PlanetS, and with researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, and Paris University. 

While the researchers cannot quantify the likelihood of finding these gases in the near future, they are confident that — if they are present — it is entirely possible to detect them during currently planned missions to characterize planetary atmospheres.

“You wouldn’t need extra effort to look for these technosignatures, if your telescope is already characterizing the planet for other reasons,” said Schwieterman. “And it would be jaw-droppingly amazing to find them.”

Other members of the research team echo not only enthusiasm for the potential of finding signs of intelligent life, but also for how much closer current technology has brought us to that goal.

 “Our thought experiment shows how powerful our next-generation telescopes will be. We are the first generation in history that has the technology to systematically look for life and intelligence in our galactic neighborhood,” added Angerhausen.

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JOURNAL

The Astrophysical Journal

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/ad4ce8 

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Jun-2024

China's Chang'e-6 mission successfully returns to Earth with historic moon samples


The return capsule of the Chang'e-6 probe lands in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Tuesday.The returner of the Chang'e-6 probe touched down on Earth on Tuesday, bringing back the world's first samples collected from the moon's far side. 

Photo by Lian Zhen/Xinhua/EPA-EFE/XINHUA

June 25 (UPI) -- China's Chang'e-6 mission successfully returned to Earth early Tuesday, bringing with it the first-ever samples retrieved from the far side of the moon.

The Chang'e-6 return capsule successfully landed in the Siziwang Banner area of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 2:07 p.m. local time, the China National Space Administration said in a statement.

"This marks the complete success of the Chang'e-6 mission of the lunar exploration program, achieving the world's first sample return from the far side of the moon," it said.

With the touchdown ends Chang'e-6's nearly two-month mission to space.

The probe consisting of an orbiter, lander, ascender and returner launched May 3 from China with a final destination of the far side of the moon, where it landed June 2.

Though only on the moon's surface for a few days days, the probe collected samples from a crater known as the Pole-Aitken basin before departing the lunar surface on June 4 for home.

At about 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, the return capsule successfully separated from the orbiter at an altitude of approximately 3,106 miles above the south Atlantic Ocean and entered the Earth's atmosphere about 20 minutes later.

According to the space agency, the capsule then "bounced back" out of the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean as part of an "initial aerodynamic deceleration" before re-entering the atmosphere when he performed a second deceleration maneuver.

When about 12 miles above ground the capsule moved to parachute deployment, which occurred as it was 6 miles from landing.

Prior to landing Tuesday, the space agency sent out a press release announcing Chang'e-6's scheduled return, stating it was coming with "a precious 'gift' from the back of the moon."

President Xi Jinping has extended his congratulations on the success of the mission, state-owned Xinhua reported.

"The Chang'e-6 mission represents a significant milestone in the history of human lunar exploration, and it will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of lunar evolution," Yang Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy for Sciences, told the state-owned news agency in a separate report.

"New samples will inevitably lead to new discoveries."

China is the only nation to visit the far side of the moon, with Chang'e 6 being its second visit following the Chang'e 4 mission in 2019.

Chinese probe returns to Earth with samples from far side of the Moon

Agence France-Presse
June 25, 2024

This handout photo taken on June 3, 2024 and released on June 4, 2024 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows the ascender and lander captured by China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe after it landed on the moon. 

© China National Space Administration via AFP

A Chinese probe carrying samples from the far side of the Moon returned to Earth on Tuesday, capping a technically complex 53-day mission heralded as a world first.

The landing module of the Chang'e-6 spacecraft touched down at a predetermined site in Inner Mongolia at 2:07 pm (0607 GMT), the China National Space Administration said, hailing the mission a "complete success".

It comes bearing soil and rocks from the side of the Moon facing away from Earth, a poorly understood region that scientists say holds great research promise because its rugged features are less smoothed over by ancient lava flows than the near side.

That means the materials harvested there may help us to better understand how the Moon formed and how it has evolved over time.

China's space agency said the probe was "functioning normally, signaling that the Chang'e-6 lunar exploration mission was a complete success".

President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message that the "outstanding contributions" of the mission command "will be remembered forever by the motherland and the people", state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Chang'e-6 blasted off from a space centre on the island province of Hainan on May 3 and descended into the Moon's immense South Pole-Aitken Basin almost exactly a month later.

It used a drill and robotic arm to scoop up samples, snapped some shots of the pockmarked surface and planted a Chinese flag made from basalt in the grey soil.

On June 4, the probe made the first ever successful launch from the far side in what Xinhua called "an unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration history".

National pride, misinformation

China's burgeoning space exploits are a point of pride for the government, and state media outlets launched rolling coverage of the imminent landing on Tuesday morning.

Live images of the landing site showed workers approaching the landing capsule as several helicopters sat nearby on a broad patch of flat grassland.

One worker planted a Chinese flag next to the capsule, enthusiastically unfurling it into the wind.

Xinhua reported Monday that local farmers and animal herders had been evacuated from the area ahead of the touchdown.

"We hope that our country's space exploration will continue to advance and that our nation will become stronger," Uljii, a local herdsman, told Xinhua.

But the mission has also sparked a torrent of online misinformation, with some users of the Weibo social media platform seizing on the unfurling of the Chinese flag to push the false claim that Washington faked the Apollo Moon landings, AFP Fact Check found.
Space dream

Plans for China's "space dream" have shifted into high gear under Xi.

Beijing has poured huge resources into its space program over the past decade, targeting ambitious undertakings in an effort to catch up to traditional space powers the United States and Russia.

It has built a space station, landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and become only the third country to send astronauts into orbit.

But the United States has warned that China's space program masks military objectives and an effort to establish dominance in space.


China aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and plans to eventually build a base on the lunar surface.

The United States also plans to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2026 with its Artemis 3 mission.

(AFP)

U.S. to launch satellite to better prepare for space weather
Agence France-Presse
June 25, 2024 12:56PM ET

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is set to carry the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U into orbit from Florida (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP)

The United States is aiming Tuesday to launch a new satellite expected to significantly improve forecasts of solar flares and coronal mass ejections -- huge plasma bubbles that can crash into Earth, disrupting power grids and communications.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is set to carry the satellite into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, though weather so far appears unfavorable for the two-hour launch window opening at 5:16 pm (2016 GMT).

The GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission is a collaboration between the space agency NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA).

It will be the fourth and final in the GOES-R series of satellites that have tracked hurricanes and tornadoes, monitored climate and sea surface temperature, air quality and even meteor detections since 2016.

Orbiting 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above the equator, the satellites match the speed of Earth's rotation in order to hold their positions over specific regions and provide continuous coverage.

They "are an indispensable tool for protecting the United States and the one billion people who live and work in the Americas," Pam Sullivan, of NOAA said in a press conference.

GOES-U is the first of the four to include a coronagraph, called the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1). Coronagraphs block the Sun's disk and allow observation of its outermost layer, called the corona.

"That allows us to observe large explosions off the sun, called coronal mass ejections that can hurtle billions of tons of matter at millions of miles per hour towards Earth," said Elsayed Talaat, in charge of space weather observations at NOAA.

The ejections, known as CMEs, can disrupt Earth's magnetic field, causing satellites, energy infrastructure, and navigation systems to go down. Collecting space weather data allows authorities to issue warnings one to four days in advance.

In early May, the planet experienced its first level 5 geomagnetic storm in two decades, the highest rating on the scale, which unleashed spectacular auroras worldwide.

With the new coronagraph, the speed and direction of this event could have been better understood from the start, said Talaat.

Major disruptions weren't felt, but some farmers "reported being unable to plant their crops because the precision GPS relied upon by their equipment had malfunctioned," he said.

For the first time, the United States will have a coronagraph observing the solar corona almost continuously, with the CCOR-1 taking readings every 30 minutes.

Currently, such observations are received with a delay of up to eight hours. They are carried out by a satellite launched in 1995, which should cease operating within two years.

"Once operational CCOR-1 will mark a new chapter in space weather observations," said Talaat.

"Although the sun is no more active than in previous generations, our society has changed, and we are more sensitive than ever to the sun's changing mood."

Family sues NASA after ISS space junk crashed through their roof in March

By Brian Lada,

Accuweather.com
JUNE 24, 2024 

A Naples, Fla., family has filed a lawsuit against NASA following an extraordinary incident on March 8, when debris from the International Space Station plummeted from the sky and smashed through their roof, causing significant damage while a family member was inside.

"They are grateful that no one sustained physical injuries from this incident, but a 'near miss' situation such as this could have been catastrophic," said Mica Nguyen Worthy, a partner of the law firm Cranfill Sumner LLP who is representing Alejandro Otero and his family. "My clients are seeking adequate compensation to account for the stress and impact that this event had on their lives."

An external pallet packed with old nickel-hydrogen batteries is pictured shortly after mission controllers in Houston commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release it into space on March 11, 2021. 

Image courtesy of NASA

The space junk was originally a 5,800-pound pallet containing old batteries that were discarded from the International Space Station on March 11, 2021. Shortly after, NASA said the object would "orbit Earth between two to four years before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere."

Nearly three years to the date, it entered Earth's atmosphere, and a piece of debris survived the fiery descent, eventually crashing into the Florida house.

NASA analyzed the debris and confirmed it was part of the space junk released from the ISS in March 2021.

The object was a fraction of its original size, measuring just 4 inches long and weighing 1.6 pounds, but was big enough to smash a large hole in the roof and damage the house.

Recovered stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount International Space Station batteries on a cargo pallet. The stanchion survived re-entry through Earth&rsquos atmosphere on March 8, 2024, and impacted a home in Naples, Florida.

 Image courtesy of NASA

NASA said an investigation is underway to determine how the debris survived the journey through Earth's atmosphere and will work to mitigate the risk in the future-something that has become a bigger issue recently.

"Space debris is a real and serious issue because of the increase in space traffic in recent years," Worthy said. NASA has six months to respond to the claims.

NASA calls off spacewalk for second time this month


Image of the International Space Station taken on July 10, 2011. A spacewalk was canceled at the ISS on Monday. \

File Photo by NASA/UPI | License Photo

June 24 (UPI) -- NASA canceled a spacewalk for the second time this month on Monday after reporting a coolant leak on the umbilical unit on one of the astronaut's spacesuits.

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson reported the leak on the suit's servicing and cooling umbilical unit, or SCU, just before she and Mike Barratt were set to walk outside the International Space Station at about 8:52 a.m., EDT. Both astronauts had already turned on the internal power to their suits for what had been expected to be a 6.5-hour spacewalk.

NASA said Dyson and Barrat had opened the hatch to the space station's Quest airlock before reporting the water-leakage issue.

"The crew is working with ground controllers to repressurize the crew lock section of the airlock before returning inside the station's equipment lock," NASA said in its blog.

The astronauts returned inside the main space station in about an hour.

"I could see the ice crystals were flowing out there, and then, just like a snow machine, there was ice forming at that port on the SCU," Dyson told NASA's mission control, according to Space.com.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore added on the NASA livestream,"It was a pretty impressive snowstorm."

On June 13, NASA called off a spacewalk with Dyson and astronaut Mike Dominick when one of them experienced discomfort. NASA did not say which astronaut experienced the discomfort or give details about the issue.

The astronauts on that walk had expected to scrape microorganisms from the outside of the ISS to study for the possible origins of life.

NASA pushes Starliner return to July

By Ehren Wynder

Boeing Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have stayed aboard the International Space Station nearly two weeks longer than scheduled, but they haven't overstayed their welcome. NASA Screengrab/UPI | License Photo

June 22 (UPI) -- After numerous delays, NASA said Friday that the Starliner crew would return to Earth in July

The agency said in a blog post that it delayed Starliner's Tuesday departure from the International Space Station so it doesn't conflict with a series of planned ISS spacewalks.

The extra time also would afford Starliner astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams more time to review the spacecraft's propulsions systems, according to the agency.

Wilmore and Williams have been on board the ISS for almost three weeks. The two were set to complete a full assessment of the spacecraft while docked to the ISS in less than a week, but mechanical issues and the need to collect more data lengthened their stay.

The astronauts, however, are no strangers to delays. Boeing's first crewed Starliner test flight finally got off the ground on June 5 after concerns such as helium system leaks pushed back the launch date multiple times.

"We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," said NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich. "We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking.

Stich added that, given the duration of the mission, NASA will complete an agency-level review of the mission. NASA said it will share the details on the review at a later media briefing.

Wilmore and Williams are not overstaying their welcome, as there are plenty of supplies on board, and the ISS's schedule is fairly open through mid-August. The two also have contributed to regular station maintenance, scientific research and spacewalks .

"The crew's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and they know that every bit of learning we do on the Crew Flight Test will improve and sharpen our experience for future crews," said Mark Nappi, Boeing vice president and Starliner program manager.

Mission managers are considering the dates for future return missions to the ISS after two planned space walks on Monday and July 2.

If all goes well, Boeing will have completed its first successful crewed mission for NASA, but the company has a long way to go to catch up with competitor and fellow NASA contractor SpaceX, which so far has completed 13 crewed missions.

SpaceX, meanwhile has back-to-back Starlink satellite launches set for 1:15 p.m. in Florida and 11:45 p.m. EDT Sunday in California. The former launch from Florida was delayed after a T-0 abort on June 14.