SPACE NEWZ

Iran launches three satellites into orbit, further heightening tensions with West

Iran on Sunday said it simultaneously launched three satellites into orbit, nearly a week after the launch of a research satellite by the Revolutionary Guards drew Western criticism.

Issued on: 28/01/2024

This photo released by the Iranian Defense Ministry on January 28, 2024 claims to show a satellite carrier being launched at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province. 

AP
By:NEWS WIRES
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"Three Iranian satellites have been successfully launched into orbit for the first time," state TV reported.

The satellites were carried by the two-stage Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carrier and were launched into a minimum orbit of 450 kilometres (280 miles), it added.

The Mahda satellite, which weighs around 32 kilogrammes and was developed by Iran's Space Agency, is designed to test advanced satellite subsystems, the official IRNA news agency said.

The other two, Kayhan 2 and Hatef, weigh under 10 kilogrammes each and are aimed to test space-based positioning technology and narrowband communication, IRNA added.

Last week, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent the research satellite Soraya into space.

Britain, France, and Germany condemned that launch in a statement rejected by Iran as "interventionist".

Western governments including the United States have repeatedly warned Iran against such launches, saying the same technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.

Iran has countered that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defence purposes only.

The Islamic republic has struggled with several satellite launch failures in the past.

The successful launch of its first military satellite into orbit, Nour-1, in April 2020 drew a sharp rebuke from the United States.

Tehran has been under crippling US sanctions since Washington's 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal which granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear activities designed to prevent it from developing an atomic warhead.

Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons capability, insisting that its activities are entirely peaceful.

(AFP)

Did Lockheed Martin Just Delay America's Return to the Moon?

Rich Smith, The Motley Fool
Sun, January 28, 2024

Five years ago, then-President Donald Trump promised to put Americans back on the moon by 2024. Five years later, American astronauts are still cooling their heels down here on Earth. Although Artemis I successfully took off and flew to the moon in 2022, it didn't land on the moon, and there were no astronauts on board.

Now it looks like we'll need to wait until 2026 (at the earliest) before we can land on the moon.

Image source: Getty Images.

When are we back on the moon, NASA?

So what's the hold up? First and foremost, it's a question of getting the several parts needed for a moon landing in place: a Lunar Gateway space station in orbit around the moon, an Orion space capsule with astronauts to dock with it, and a SpaceX-built Human Landing System (HLS) to carry those astronauts down to the moon and then back up to the Gateway.

Also needed before a moon landing can happen: Testing.

Several pieces of the whole apparatus need to be tested before the moon landing can happen. SpaceX must prove its Starship can get to orbit and then to the moon. HLS will need to prove it can land on the moon and launch itself back up to the Gateway. And an Artemis II mission will need to be flown -- with astronauts on board this time -- to the moon and back to Earth.

Simply put, there's a lot of work that still needs to be done for Project Artemis to work. Too much work to accomplish a moon landing this year, or even next year, at the rate things are progressing. Recognizing this, NASA finally gave in earlier this month and admitted "we must be realistic."

A 2024 moon landing isn't going to happen. Nor a landing in 2025. And so NASA is moving the goalposts out to 2026.
A new lunar calendar

As NASA associate administrator Jim Free described earlier this month, the new plan is to shift Artemis II (the crewed mission to circle the moon and land back on Earth) out one year, to 2025, and Artemis III (the crewed mission to land on the moon and then come back to Earth) to 2026. A fourth crewed mission, Artemis IV, will return to the moon for a second landing in 2028.

Free explained that, in addition to all the other issues noted above, NASA also needs to practice fuel transfers in orbit (to gas up Starship for its trip from Earth orbit to the moon). A NASA contractor also needs more time to develop next-generation space suits for the astronauts. Finally, and most worrisome, are issues with the Orion spaceship that Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) built to carry astronauts from Earth to the Lunar Gateway and then back from the Gateway to land on Earth.
The trouble with Orion

Returning to Earth after the Artemis I flight, Lockheed Martin's Orion space capsule lost part of its heat shield during reentry. NASA spent much of 2023 trying to discover "a root cause" to the heat shield's issues and hasn't figured out a fix just yet.

Additional issues were noted with batteries in the space capsule's abort system, as well as design flaws in circuitry controlling motor valves in the spacecraft. Curiously, Ars Technica reported this valve circuitry is the "pacing issue" determining when Orion is ready to fly for Artemis II. But anything related to heat shields raises echoes of the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when a damaged heat shield doomed the spacecraft upon reentry.

What it means to investors

Right now, that means that Lockheed Martin is primarily responsible for delaying Artemis II and by extension Artemis III, thus postponing America's return to the moon. But these may not be the only delays investors need to worry about when figuring when future spaceflights will launch and when the tens of billions of dollars of expected future revenues will roll in.

After Orion's problems are fixed, attention should shift to SpaceX, its Super Heavy booster rocket, and its Starship spacecraft. Can SpaceX get Starship into orbit without blowing up? Can it figure out the mechanics of orbital fuel storage and refueling? Can it launch enough times to get enough fuel in orbit to tank up not one but two separate HLS landers for their trips to the moon?

And can it do all of the above in time for a 2026 moon landing?

So far, SpaceX is saying it can do all of this, and NASA takes SpaceX at its word. If the company succeeds, it will win the honor of landing astronauts on the moon for the first time in a half century and increase its technological lead over the rest of the space industry. It will also open the floodgates for contracts to flow to a whole host of space companies involved in Project Artemis.

Despite the delays, it's only a matter of time.

NASA Curious Whether Astronauts Will See Strange Flashes of Light on the Moon

Victor Tangermann
Sat, January 27, 2024 


Moon Flash

During NASA's Apollo 17 mission just over half a century ago, astronauts saw strange flashes of light while orbiting the Moon.

"Hey, I just saw a flash on the lunar surface!" astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the twelfth person to set foot on the Moon, told support crew member Gordon Fullerton.

"It was a bright little flash right out there near that crater," Schmitt added. "Then there is another one north of it. Fairly sharp one north of it is where there was just a pin prick of light."

While scientists have long speculated that the flashes could have been the result of meteors raining down on the Moon or cosmic rays hitting the crew's eyes, we have yet to capture direct evidence of them — something the scientific community is hoping will change during NASA's crewed Artemis 2 mission around the Moon.

Photo Opp

As Space.com reports, the space agency is working on coming up with photography assignments for the crew of four, which will be sent into a lunar orbit before making their long return inside an Orion spacecraft sometime next year (if everything goes according to plan.)

"We have been working with the Artemis 2 crew to identify imaging and observation targets/plans for them during their journey to and from the moon," Artemis 3 project scientist Noah Petro told Space.com.

According to the report, around five ping-pong ball-sized meteoroids impact the lunar surface every hour. Fortunately, the probability of one of these particles striking an astronaut are exceedingly slim.

While Apollo 17 astronauts didn't manage to capture these pricks of light, which last a fraction of a second, that could soon change. NASA Meteoroid Environments Office lead William Cooke told Space.com that "you would need a video camera to record them. The odds of catching a flash in a short exposure still image are vanishingly small."

"While we don't expect the crews to photograph any flashes," Petro told the publication, "their photos and descriptions of the surface and lunar environment will be an important addition to lunar science."

And perhaps astronauts during Artemis 3, NASA's official return to the lunar surface, will finally be able to catch these strange flashes on tape as well.

More on Artemis: Congress Terrified China Will Beat the United States to the Moon

'Trainwreck' galaxy reflects the aftermath of a violent galactic collision (image)

Robert Lea
Sat, January 27, 2024 

The twisted galactic disk of NGC 4753 as seen by the Gemini South Telescope.

A team of astronomers became a crew of cosmic crash scene investigators while studying wreckage left behind by two galaxies that smashed into one another over 1 billion years ago.

The scientists used the Gemini South Telescope to investigate the twisted galactic disk of the galaxy NGC 4753, located around 60 million light-years from Earth, seeing it in more detail than ever before. The team paid particular attention to a complex network of dust tracks that appear to twist around the heart, or galactic nucleus, of NGC 4753.

Galaxies come in four main shapes: Lenticular, elliptical, irregular and spiral, like the Milky Way. While NGC 4753 is classified as a lenticular galaxy, however, the merger with a smaller dwarf galaxy 1.3 billion years ago has left its disk of stars and dust with a twisted shape that fits it into the aptly named subclass of "peculiar" galaxies.

"Galaxies that gobble up another galaxy often look like train wrecks, and this is a train-wreck galaxy," Tom Steiman-Cameron, team leader and a senior research scientist at Indiana University, said in a statement.

Related: Astronomers accidentally discover 'dark' primordial galaxy with no visible stars

NGC 4753 was first discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel in 1784; it's located in the constellation of Virgo. The galaxy is situated in the NGC 4753 Group of galaxies which, in turn, is part of the Virgo II cloud of 100 galaxy clusters that sits on the southern edge of the Virgo supercluster of galaxies.

The twisted dust lanes of NGC 4753 have long been a source of fascination for astronomers. In 1992, a team of scientists, also led by Steiman-Cameron, determined that this mystifying feature is the result of a lenticular galaxy colliding with a gas-rich dwarf galaxy.

Such a collision would have injected the lenticular galaxy with a massive amount of gas, triggering bouts of intense star formation called "starbursts" and filling NGC 4753 with vast amounts of dust.

As the dwarf galaxy mixed into the larger lenticular galaxy with its stars spiraling toward its galactic center, the accumulated dust spread would've spread out into a disk-like structure.

A fascinating phenomenon called "differential precession," caused by the angle at which the two galaxies collided, would have then taken over to wind the dust into a more intriguing shape.

The easier way to picture precession is to think of a child's spinning top. Imagine what it would look like if you set it spinning, then viewed it aerially. As the top slows and loses momentum, the top of the top — for lack of a better word — would start to wobble, and its angle of orientation would changes. That's a simple precession analog.

The precession experienced by NGC 4753 is called "differential" because it varied across the galaxy according to its distance from the galactic nucleus. It would've been faster at the heart of the galaxy and slower at its edges. This galactic wobble, scientists say, had twisted up the dust into the twirling lanes we see today.

"For a long time, nobody knew what to make of this peculiar galaxy," Steiman-Cameron said. "But by starting with the idea of accreted material smeared out into a disk and then analyzing the three-dimensional geometry, the mystery was solved. It's now incredibly exciting to see this highly-detailed image by Gemini South 30 years later."

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Steiman-Cameron also points out that, though the trainwreck galaxy NGC 4753 appears to be unique, this may be the result of the angle at which astronomers view it from Earth. He added that if this peculiar lenticular galaxy was viewed from above, it would likely appear like any other spiral galaxy.

This means that the incredible and fascinating features may not be rare so to speak, but merely accessible to us thanks to our unique edge-on perspective from Eart

Space shuttle Endeavour soaring into place at final museum home

Rong-Gong Lin II
Sat, January 27, 2024 

The space shuttle Endeavour is wrapped in protective shrink wrap and is parked next to its external fuel tanks as it awaits being lifted by a 450-foot crane and placed next to its fuel tanks next week at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Barring weather delays, the space shuttle Endeavour will undergo its final, historic lift starting Monday night, a maneuver no other retired orbiter has undergone.

Plans for the coming move — setting into place the crown jewel of the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center — have been in the works for more than a decade. First, a pair of cranes will hoist the shuttle from a horizontal position to a vertical one; the spacecraft will be attached to a sling, a large metal frame that'll support it during the move. An 11-story crane will lift the tail of Endeavour, while a 40-story crawler crane — about the height of City Hall — will lift the nose.

Once the shuttle is pointed toward the stars, the shorter crane will be disconnected, leaving the taller crane to gently swing the orbiter to its final position and lowering it to be affixed with the giant orange external tank. The external tank is attached to twin solid rocket boosters, which are connected to the exhibit's foundation.

Once complete — and the rest of the museum is constructed in the coming years — L.A. will be home to the only retired space shuttle displayed in a full-stack arrangement as if ready for launch.

A 2012 file photo shows the space shuttle Endeavor on L.A. streets en route to the California Science Center. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

There will be two parts to the move. The first — the so-called "soft mate" — is scheduled to begin around 10 p.m. Monday and could take hours.

"That's the part of lifting it into the building and getting it close to the orbiter," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president of the California Science Center.

The second part will be to "capture" Endeavour to the external tank.

"It is extremely sensitive to get it in exactly the right position," Rudolph said. "It puts all the attached hardware in the right place on the orbiter. And several of the pieces inside the orbiter that it attaches to are very fragile, so they will do this very slowly."

Once that is done, everything will still need to be tightened, Rudolph said, but the move will effectively be complete. It's believed that by Thursday, everything will be "hard mated, meaning everything will be torqued, bolted as it will be forever. And the sling will come off, and we'll say, 'Done,' " he said.

The schedule could change because of weather, as strong winds would force a postponement of the move.

Read more: Space shuttle Endeavour makes one more voyage to its final destination at a new space center

Nothing should change after that until the museum opens the payload bay doors in a few years when Endeavour is ready for public display, Rudolph said.

There are different challenges lifting the shuttle than the external tank, which was completed earlier this month. The tank is so large that, as it was lowered, there was less than an inch of space between it and the solid rocket boosters.

With the Endeavour orbiter — the last space shuttle ever built — crews will need to maneuver an object with a 78-foot wingspan and get "everything absolutely level and aligned properly, and extremely gently," Rudolph said.

"There are a few places where there's some challenging parts in the lowering of it because of the tight fit with the wings and vertical stabilizer," he said. "And then the challenge is actually bringing the orbiter — 'capturing it' — at the three attach points."

Because Endeavour is essentially a glider with a massive wingspan, it'll be difficult to guide it down if there are strong winds.

"Wind and wings don't go well on a crane," Rudolph said.

"This has never been done like this before, with cranes and outside and at a construction site," he said.

When the shuttle was stacked with its external tank and solid rocket boosters at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the assembly was done inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building — one of the largest by volume in the world, rising more than 50 stories and equipped with plenty of cranes and platforms from which to work.

Read more: Mission accomplished: Space shuttle Endeavour's giant orange fuel tank moved into viewing spot in L.A.

Beginning Monday night, the space shuttle Endeavour will be lifted by a 450-foot crane and placed next to its fuel tanks. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

In Los Angeles, crews have had to painstakingly build up, take down and reformat scaffolding to enable them to make the proper connections.

There have been last-minute changes too. During the arrival of the external tank, there were times when the crew "had to scurry up and remove some scaffolding pieces and reconfigure it while we were doing the lowering," Rudolph said.

The main lift of the orbiter is likely to take one night. By contrast, the external tank lift took two nights. The first was delayed by winds, although crews were able to begin the lift before stopping work mid-morning. On the second night, the tank was able to be lowered further, in between the solid rocket boosters.

Officials hope to livestream the latest lift. A livestream for raising the external tank was scrapped because of technical difficulties, and officials are working to iron out those problems ahead of Monday's orbiter move.

Read more: A successful liftoff: Space shuttle Endeavour's rockets are installed

A veteran of 25 space trips from 1992 to 2011, Endeavour made its last flight in 2012, ending a cross-country journey at Los Angeles International Airport before undertaking a three-day trek along city streets to the California Science Center. For 11 years, Endeavour was displayed in a temporary hangar, the Samuel Oschin Pavilion, as the museum worked on a permanent home. Endeavour was taken off display Dec. 31.

The full-stack configuration is so tall that the new museum will rise 20 stories to make room for it.

To keep views unobstructed, the building has been engineered with no vertical supports except its walls. It will feature a a diagonal grid developed by engineering firm Arup and covered by a stainless-steel facade. Such "diagrids" have been used in other tall buildings, including the 46-story Hearst Tower in New York City, the iconic 40-story ovular Gherkin skyscraper in London and a section of the egg-shaped London City Hall.

Once the shuttle full stack is in place, the rest of the museum will be built around it. It could be a few years before it is open to the public, given the construction schedule and additional time needed to install exhibits.

NASA orbiter spies Japan's struggling SLIM moon lander on lunar surface (photo)

Brett Tingley
Fri, January 26, 2024 

A small white dot on the surface of the moon.


A NASA orbiter caught sight of Japan's SLIM moon lander on the lunar surface after its historic touchdown.

SLIM, or the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, is operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It touched down on the moon in a precision landing on Jan. 19, making Japan the fifth country to make a soft landing on the lunar surface behind India, China, the United States and Russia (then the Soviet Union).

From its orbit 50 miles (80 km) above the moon's surface, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was able to see SLIM resting at its landing site. "Bright streaks on the left side of the image are rocky material ejected from the nearby, relatively young Shioli crater," NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, which manages LRO, wrote in a statement.

Related: Japan's SLIM moon lander photographed on the lunar surface — on its nose (image)

NASA's images show SLIM's landing site both before and after the probe's touchdown. One of the images, seen below, is a composite that removes features that are the same in both the before-landing and after-landing images. In turn, it allows us to see changes in reflectance on the lunar surface, caused by the lander's engine exhaust, to stand out.


the grey surface of the moon with a white circle indicating where a lunar lander's engine blew away dust

SLIM accomplished its main goal of landing at a chosen site with near-pinpoint accuracy, touching down within 328 feet (100 meters) of its target despite ending up upside down due to an engine failure during descent.

an animation showing the grey surface of the moon before and after a small speck appears

Because of its orientation, SLIM is unable to use its solar panels to generate electricity, meaning the probe is relying fully on its battery. On Monday (Jan. 21), the lander's battery dipped to 12% capacity, triggering a power down "to avoid being unable to restart for a recovery operation due to over-discharge," SLIM team members stated on X.

SLIM as seen by LEV-2 on the moon after landing on its nose

— 'We proved that you can land wherever you want.' Japan's SLIM moon probe nailed precise lunar landing, JAXA says

— Why Chandrayaan-3 landed near the moon's south pole — and why everyone else wants to get there too

— Not dead yet: Japan prepares for possible recovery of SLIM moon lander

Nevertheless, JAXA scientists are hopeful that, if sunlight shines on the lander from the lunar west, SLIM's solar panels might be able to absorb enough sunshine to generate power and recover.

It's not all bad news, though. In addition to sticking its landing, SLIM was able to deploy two mini-rovers it carried to the moon, called EV-1 ("Lunar Excursion Vehicle" 1) and LEV-2. Both are operating as planned, and the ball-like LEV-2 was even able to snap a picture of its upside-down host.

Video appears to show Ukraine's new 'Ironclad' drone vehicle machine-gunning a Russian outpost

Nathan Rennolds
Updated Sun, January 28, 2024 


Video footage shows Ukraine's new "Ironclad" combat drone in action.


It portrays the vehicle firing its M2 machine gun on a Russian outpost.


The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense shared the video on X, formerly Twitter.

Video footage released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense earlier this month appears to show Ukraine's new "Ironclad" combat drone vehicle in action against Russian forces.

The video, which the ministry shared on X, formerly Twitter, bears the insignia of Ukraine's 5th Separate Assault Brigade, and it appears to show the remotely controlled drone firing its M2 machine gun on a Russian outpost.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, said in a Facebook post in September that the military was using the drone to "assault enemy positions, conduct reconnaissance and provide fire support to the military."

"This is a revolutionary product from Ukrainian engineers at Roboneers that changes the way warfare is conducted and helps save the most valuable thing - the lives of our military," Fedorov said.

He continued that the drone can hit speeds of more than 12 mph and comes with a Shablya M2 machine-gun turret, adding that it also had "an armored shell that protects it from small arms."

Screenshot from the video.Ukrainian Ministry of Defense

The Shablya system is a remotely operated "combat platform" designed to be attached to certain vehicles or objects, the manufacturer, Roboneers, says on its website.

The manufacturer says the system can rotate 360 degrees and detect human-sized targets up to 1,800 meters, or around 5,900 feet, away. It also features a thermal-imaging camera.

The prevalent use of drones and technological advances has marked the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly turned to Iranian-made Shahed "kamikaze" drones in its attacks on Ukraine.

Ukraine has also looked to develop drones that can attack enemy positions from land and sea.

In July, Ukraine unveiled a new sea drone designed to limit the Russian fleet's operations in the Black Sea to CNN. The report said the drone was packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and could hit targets 500 miles away.

One video shared on X also highlighted how Ukrainian soldiers were building their own "kamikaze" ground drones, with the footage appearing to show a vehicle strapped with 55 pounds of explosives traveling through over "4 km of enemy-controlled territory" to take out a road bridge.

But drone warfare has arguably ground the war to a halt, especially along the eastern front and the Dnipro River, where fighting has been particularly fierce in recent months.

"Nobody really knows how to advance right now. Everything gets smashed up by drones and artillery," Gleb Molchanov, a Ukrainian drone operator, told The Guardian.

"It's a war of armor against projectiles. At the moment, projectiles are winning," he added.



ECOCIDE

Ukraine appears to be attacking Russia's oil-and-gas industry with small, cheap drones that can bypass its air defenses

Alia Shoaib
Updated Sun, January 28, 2024 


Firefighters extinguish oil tanks at a storage facility in the Bryansk Region in Russia on January 19, 2024.Russian Emergencies Ministry/Reuters

Oil and gas facilities in Russia have caught fire in recent weeks following suspected drone attacks.


Ukraine appears to be targeting energy infrastructure to hamper Russian supply lines.


Russia's air-defense systems have proven to be less effective against small drones.

Ukraine appears to be targeting Russia's oil-and-gas industry with small, cheap drones as it seeks to disrupt Russian supply lines.

Fires have broken out at several Russian energy-infrastructure locations over the past few weeks following suspected drone strikes, including at a Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse, a Rosneft storage facility in Klintsy, and Novatek's Baltic Sea Ust-Luga terminal.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show fires at facilities in Tuapse and Klintsy.

Ukraine is likely targeting the facilities to disrupt Russia's military operations.

"Strikes on oil depots and oil storage facilities disrupt logistics routes and slow down combat operations," Olena Lapenko, an energy security expert at the Ukrainian think tank DiXi Group, told The New York Times.

"Disruption of these supplies, which are like blood for the human body, is part of a wider strategy to counter Russia on the battlefield," Lapenko added.

The strikes also aim to damage a lucrative industry that the West's economic sanctions have not badly hampered. Lapenko told The Times that Moscow had made more than $400 billion from oil exports since the war started in February 2022.

But the attack on the Baltic Ust-Luga terminal and bad weather in the region have helped disrupt Russia's seaborne crude shipments, which fell to their lowest rate in almost two months, Bloomberg reported.

If the attack is confirmed to have been carried out by Ukraine, it would show Kyiv can hit targets deeper inside Russian territory than usual with what are thought to be domestically produced drones, Reuters reported.

To add insult to injury, a military source claimed that Ukraine sent a drone flying over President Vladimir Putin's palace during an attack on a St. Petersburg oil depot.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his purported secret palace in Valdai, Russia.Getty Images, Navalny.com

En route, one of the drones that flew 775 miles into Russian airspace traveled over one of Putin's palaces in Valdai, an unnamed special-services source told the Ukrainian news agency RBC.

The vast woodland complex, next to Lake Valdai, halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, is one of Putin's favorite boltholes.
Why Ukraine can embarrass Russia's air-defense systems

Russia's air-defense systems have proven to be less effective against small drones because they struggle to detect them.

"Russia boasted of having layered defenses before the war, the sensor electronic warfare, different missile batteries, kinetic batteries, radars, that can sort of identify and interdict the threat," Samuel Bendett, an analyst and expert in unmanned and robotic military systems at the Center for Naval Analyses, previously told Business Insider.

But "most of these defenses were built to identify and destroy larger targets like missiles, helicopters, aircraft. Many were not really geared towards identifying much smaller UAVs," or unnamed aerial vehicles, he added.
'Bringing the detonator'

Ukrainian soldiers build homemade drones.Ignacio Marin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Forbes noted that Ukraine's effective approach reflected a drone-warfare strategy of "bringing the detonator," or the tactic of using small amounts of drone-carried explosives to detonate larger amounts of explosive materials in or on the targets, which are often aircraft, vehicles, fuels, and ammunition dumps.

T.X. Hammes, a research fellow at the National Defense University, wrote that small, low-cost drones with a minimal bomb load could wreak havoc if used against flammable targets.

"Even a few ounces of explosives delivered directly to the target can initiate the secondary explosion that will destroy the target," Hammes wrote.

Ukrainian forces are using 'flocks' of FPV drones led by 'queen' drone to attack Russian positions, soldier says

Rebecca Rommen
Sat, January 27, 2024 

Ukrainian forces are using "flocks" of FPV drones led by "queen" drones, a Russian soldier said.

It may allow smaller drones to land and conserve battery power.

FPV drones have been particularly crucial to Ukraine's war effort.

Ukrainian forces are using "flocks" of FPV (first-person-view) drones led by "queen" drones to attack Russian positions, a Russian serviceman said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia.



In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, by a military blogger, the soldier described an encounter with a swarm of drones led by a "repeater drone queen."

He said Ukrainian forces sent a "large wing with a repeater" that broadcasted a signal to a group of smaller FPV drones flying underneath it.

These then dropped onto Russian positions, he added.

"A flock of around 10—the Queen is somewhere above at a high altitude in a small detection range. It brings the flock of drones, which then descend onto positions and start working," he said.

Izvestia correspondent Dmitry Zimenkin, who interviewed the soldier, said the tactic allowed Ukrainian drone operators to "land and wait" with their smaller drones, "saving batteries," Newsweek reported.

"When a large mother drone spots targets, the kamikazes take off, sometimes several meters from the target, and attack. If the Queen is eliminated, then her entire flock can be neutralized," Zimenkin said, per Newsweek.

FPV drones have been used by both Russian and Ukrainian forces since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and they have proved to be an effective and low-cost weapon.

They have been particularly crucial to Ukraine's war effort, enabling Ukrainian drone squads to attack deep into Russian territory while helping to limit losses to their ground forces.

But drone warfare has meant both sides are struggling to make any advances, Gleb Molchanov, a Ukrainian drone operator, told The Guardian.

"It's a war of armor against projectiles. At the moment, projectiles are winning," he added.

Germany electricity grid deficiencies leading to wasted power

DPA
Sun, January 28, 2024

Wind turbines rotate in a wind field at Hauke-Haien-Koog on the North Sea coast. Axel Heimken/dpa

Germany's North Sea wind turbines are unable to deliver all the power they could produce to where it is needed most in the south of the country, grid operator Tennet told dpa on Sunday.

Grid bottlenecks led to a decline in power transmitted to 19.24 terawatt-hours (TWh) over the course of 2023, some 9% down on the year. The figure is equivalent to demand from around 6 million households.

"Owing to the continuing numerous bottlenecks in the electrical grid on land, the [power from] large windfarms in the North Sea increasingly has to be scaled back," Tennet chief executive Tim Meyerjürgens said.

Another factor is that there are hardly any large conventional power stations in northern Germany that can reduce their output instead, he noted. "This affects not only the electricity feed-in quantities, but also hits price setting," Meyerjürgens said.

He called for greater urgency in expanding the grid, with the construction of major so-called "electricity highways."

Tennet put total onshore and offshore wind power generation at 148.97 TWh in 2023, up 26.18 TWh on the 2022 figure. Power generated on the North Sea fell back by some four percentage points to 13% of the total.

Baltic Sea wind turbines, which fall into the part of the grid operated by the company 50 Hertz, generated 4.17 TWh last year, 0.55 TWh more than in 2022.

North Sea windfarm potential output rose by 70 megawatts (MW) last year to 7,106 MW, with the highest feed-in of 6,491 MW recorded on April 1.

By contrast, Tennet's North Sea output off the Dutch coast saw potential output rise 3,220 MW to 5,622 MW, with 11.54 TWh transmitted over the year. The figure was 3.63 TWh more than in 2022, as the commissioning of grid connections and the increased number of wind turbines took effect.

German economists and companies in the sector predict that billions of euros will be needed over the years ahead to stabilize the grid. They point to delays in expanding the grid and lack of renewable generation in the south of the country where many major industries are based.

These factors demand costly "grid bottleneck management," they say.

While no figures are available for 2023 as a whole, the Federal Network Agency put costs for the first half at more than €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion). The figure for 2022 came in at €4.2 billion, caused in part by a rise in the natural gas price.

Tennet predicts that it will be 10 years before interventions – known as redispatching – to stabilize the grid can be cut to a minimum.

As a result of the imbalance between the north and the south of Germany, conventional power stations powered by fossil fuels in the south have to be used, producing power that is much more expensive than that produced by renewables in the north.

A Federal Network Agency spokesman said almost 3% of renewable power went to waste in 2022.

"While the costs for redispatching are expenditure that is lost and have no economic benefit, investment in power infrastructure will pay off over the long term," a Tennet spokeswoman said.

This state is quickly becoming America's clean energy paradise. Here's how it's happening.

Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Updated Sun, January 28, 2024 

The Plus Power Kapolei Energy Storage facility, located on eight acres of land in Kapolei on Oahu 20 miles west of Honolulu. The battery helped replace the island’s coal-fired plant which closed in 2022. It was turned on just before Christmas of 2023 and fully operation in January 2024.


Americans don’t have to imagine what it’s like to live someplace that’s aggressively switching to 100% clean energy, where one in three people has rooftop solar, 15% of new cars are electric and giant batteries store energy for use when the sun goes down.

They just have to go to Hawaii.

Hawaii pledged to be “Coal free by ’23,” and state law mandates 100% clean energy in just 21 years. Attaining that goal came closer las


t month when an enormous 185-megawatt battery near Honolulu hummed into full operation.

“If you’ve been to Hawaii, you’ve seen a renewable future – and it’s paradise,” said Jeff Mikulina director of the Hawai'i Climate Coalition and a board member of the Blue Planet Foundation.

The Kapolei Energy Storage facility is tucked away in eight acres of industrial land about 20 miles west of Honolulu. More than anything it looks like 158 white storage sheds, each about the size of a shipping container, neatly lined up on concrete pads.

These lithium iron phosphate batteries can hold 185 megawatts of power or 565 megawatt hours of energy, enough to supply electricity to 17% of the island of O’ahu for three hours at peak load or six hours at half load, said Brandon Keefe, executive chairman of Plus Power, the Texas-based company that built the Kapolei battery.

These kinds of grid-scale energy storage systems are becoming increasingly common in the U.S., and are critical to shifting to ever-higher percentages of wind and solar power. But Hawaii is in a class by itself.

“This system is larger as a percentage of the electricity system than any other battery in the world,” said Colton Ching, Hawaiian Electric's senior vice president of planning and technology. The utility provides electricity to 95% of the state's residents.

The Waikoloa Solar project on island of Hawaii on the Kona coast, which opened in April of 2023. It is the largest solar + storage facility on Hawaii Island, providing just over 7% of the island's energy needs at a wholesale price of 9¢ per kilowatt hour, far less than the retail rate of 44¢.

Hawaii is different when it comes to energy

Hawaii is blessed with an abundance of wind, sun and geothermal power but doesn’t have a drop of fossil fuel. Instead, every 10 days or so an oil supertanker arrives at a refinery near the Honolulu port, producing almost 80% of the state’s energy, said Mikulina.

Almost all that oil comes from as much as 6,000 miles away, primarily from Libya and Argentina, making energy in Hawaii expensive and prone to both weather and geopolitical disruption.

“We’re one supertanker away from becoming Amish,” he said. “We have a 25-day oil supply in storage.”

Now, Hawaii’s energy is coming home, which the state believes will provide stability, cheaper prices and a greener environment.

Each of Hawaii’s six main islands has its own electrical grid, not connected to any other island. The state already gets 32% of its energy from renewables. Today 6.25% of Hawaii’s electricity comes from its seven wind farms. On the Big Island of Hawaii, about 30% of energy comes from geothermal from a plant that gets heat from near the Kilauea volcano that erupted in September.

It’s also got a growing number of electric vehicles. Last year, 15% of new vehicle sales in Hawaii were electric.

It makes sense, said Mikulina. “Gas is expensive and we don’t have to drive very far, so the biggest hurdles of cost and range anxiety aren’t here,” he said.

But what makes the state stand out is solar power – especially where it comes from.

In 2022 Hawaii hit upon an innovative plan to make up for the shutdown of its last coal plant. State regulators created the Battery Bonus program, which subsidized households to add rooftop solar and battery storage.

In exchange, the household feeds electricity back into the grid for two hours sometime between 6 and 8:30 pm, when the sun has gone down and Hawaii needs power.

By the end of 2023, the island of Oahu enrolled 40 megawatts of power and Maui had added 6.29 megawatts.

There’s some controversy over new rules created for 2024 which are more complex and less favorable to customers, and the island’s solar industry has asked the state Public Utilities Commission to reconsider.

The state also has a number of utility-scale solar farms. The largest on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Waikoloa solar plus storage project, plugged in last year and now supplies more than 7% of the island's electricity. “It’s in the middle of a lava field, and already it’s lowering people’s bills by at least $5 a month," said Mikulina.

But the remarkable thing about Hawaii when it comes to sun is how many households have solar. A record 37% of Hawaiian homes have rooftop solar, which accounts for an impressive 44% of the state's renewable energy.

The only place in the world that’s even remotely close to that is Australia, where 26% of that nation island's energy comes from solar panels on people’s roofs.

“We talk to those guys a lot. They have very similar challenges to us,” said Ching.

Hawaii is proud of the amount of renewable energy it has now. But to fulfill its state mandate, it’s going to need a lot more, quickly.

That’s where batteries come in.

Why you need a big battery

Three kinds of carbon-neutral power produce 24 hours a day – nuclear, hydroelectric and geothermal. But all are politically difficult to expand, which means wind and solar are the go-tos to meet the nation’s energy goals.

As detractors frequently point out, the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Grid-scale batteries help even things out. When there’s more energy coming from wind and solar than can be used, the batteries are charged up, then they discharge when the wind slows or the sun goes down.

These batteries store so much energy they can bridge the gap between when energy from solar goes off the grid at sunset and when everyone finally turns out the lights to go to bed.

But Hawaii is in a class by itself. It has so much solar it can’t always use all the energy those 200,000 or so homes with solar panels provide the grid. When that happens, grid operators have to shut off either utility scale wind or solar, called “curtailment,” to keep things even.

With the new Kapolei battery, the island of Oahu will be able to add 10% more solar power without having to worry it will overload the system.

Close-up of the Plus Power Kapolei Energy Storage, located on eight acres of land in Kapolei on the island of Oahu about 20 miles west of Honolulu. The 185-megawatt battery storage project is part of Hawaiian Electric’s shift to 100% green energy, as mandated by state law by 2045.
Grid services help going renewable

The Kapolei Energy Storage facility doesn’t just store lots of energy, it also does some complicated and critical things that help with the state’s goal of going 100% renewable – things more batteries on the mainland will be doing in the coming years.

Think of an electric grid as a teeter-totter. On one end you’ve got energy coming in, on the other energy going out. If the in and out aren’t perfectly balanced, the system becomes unstable and can collapse.

“When you flip on a light switch a power plant somewhere is working a little harder,” said Keefe.

For the last 120 or so years, electric power grids have relied on fossil fuel plants whose operators constantly monitor the need for energy, powering up or down to keep the frequency of the system in balance. That first line of defense is called frequency regulation.

If frequency imbalances grow, the second line of defense is either speeding up or slowing down the already-spinning turbines in the plants – a process called inertia – to generate more electricity and fill the frequency imbalance.

The Kapolei Energy Storage facility can do both, providing what's known as "synthetic inertia."

“In 250 milliseconds, a little slower than a blink of an eye, we can race up and fill major gaps in the system,” Keefe said.

These kinds of batteries will allow Hawaii to eventually get rid of all its fossil fuel plants, said Ching.

Eventually, the one Achilles' Heel to the state's green dreams will be the amount of aviation fuel required to bring the visitors who fuel its economy. Changing that will require advances in sustainable aviation fuel.
The last state will be first into a green future

For tourists, nothing will change. The air will remain balmy, the ocean refreshing, the resorts enticing.

Hawaii will be a case study for the rest of the nation, said Mikulina. “We can be a living laboratory for what’s possible for clean energy.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY

New report reveals promising shift occurring in various markets around the globe: ‘A number to get excited about’

Jeremiah Budin
Sat, January 27, 2024 

New report reveals promising shift occurring in various markets around the globe: ‘A number to get excited about’


Clean energy capacity continued to grow worldwide in 2023, a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency laid out.

The encouraging report showed that world governments are continuing to expand their solar, wind, and electric battery operations in hopes of eventually moving away from dirty-energy sources such as coal, oil, and gas, as detailed by the Los Angeles Times.

Though the various clean-energy industries faced some challenges in 2023 — including high interest rates, inflation, and high cost of building materials — it was still a record year for growth.

Solar energy led the charge, according to IRENA’s report, as China, Europe, and the United States installed more solar arrays in 2023 than in any year previously. This was helped along by the fact that, for a majority of countries, solar is now the cheapest form of electricity, in addition to being clean and renewable.

In the U.S., much of the solar capacity added was thanks to incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act.

“We have seen the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act in terms of fueling investments. … More than 60 solar manufacturing facilities were announced over the past year,” Abigail Ross Hopper, the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, told the Times.

Wind faced more challenges over the past year than solar did, as high costs forced some developers to cancel or delay projects. However, the future is still bright for wind energy projects — particularly offshore wind. The U.S. has multiple such projects in development.

“We’re talking about 2023 essentially as a lower performance year [in terms of wind], but in the grand scheme of things, 8 to 9 gigawatts is still a number to get excited about. It’s a lot of new clean energy that’s being added to the grid,” The American Clean Power Association vice president for research and analytics John Hensley said.

Battery production also grew in 2023, pointing to good things for the electric vehicle industry.

“The battery cost is now on that trajectory that most Americans will be able to afford an EV,” Paul Braun, a University of Illinois professor of materials science and engineering, told the Times.

Liquefied Natural Gas: What to know about LNG and Biden's decision to delay gas export proposals


MATTHEW DALY
Fri, January 26, 2024 


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it is delaying consideration of new natural gas export terminals i n the United States, even as gas shipments to Europe and Asia have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The decision by President Joe Biden, announced as the 2024 presidential election year kicks off, aligns the Democratic president with environmentalists who fear the huge increase in exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is locking in potentially catastrophic planet-warming emissions when Biden has pledged to cut climate pollution in half by 2030.

Industry groups and Republicans condemned the pause as a “win for Russia,” while environmentalists cheered it as a way to address climate change and counter Biden’s approval of the huge Willow oil project in Alaska last year.

What is LNG and why does it matter?

LNG is short for liquefied natural gas and occurs when gas is cooled to about –260° F (–162° C), changing it into a liquid that can be stored and shipped safely aboard specially designed vessels to destinations around the globe. Upon arrival, the gas is reheated to return it to a gaseous state and transported by pipeline to distribution companies, industrial consumers and power plants.

Natural gas is used to heat homes and businesses, and is often produced in the United States through a technique known as fracking that has unlocked vast supplies underneath the ground. U.S. gas exports rose sharply after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the Biden administration has celebrated the delivery of U.S. gas to Europe and Asia as a key geopolitical weapon against Russian President Vladimir Putin, allowing U.S. allies to use gas without relying on Russia.

Why did Biden delay consideration of LNG export terminals?

The decision is complicated because Biden has praised U.S. exports in the past. But he has faced strong criticism from environmental groups who worry about the rapid expansion of LNG exports in recent years and question Biden's commitment to phasing out fossil fuels such as oil and gas. U.S. oil production has surged since Biden took office.

U.S. LNG capacity has doubled in recent years and is set to double again under projects already approved, the White House said. Current methods the Energy Department uses to evaluate LNG projects don’t adequately account for potential cost hikes for American consumers and manufacturers or the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, officials said.

"There’s a long runway here (for LNG projects) and we’re taking a step back and thinking, okay, let’s take a hard look before that runway continues to build out,'' said White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi.

What does Biden's action do?

The pause will allow officials to update the way the Energy Department analyzes LNG proposals to "avoid export authorizations that diminish our domestic energy availability, weaken our security or undermine our economy'' or the environment, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

The pause will have no immediate effect on U.S. gas supplies to Europe or Asia, she said. Seven LNG terminals are currently operating in the U.S., mostly in Louisiana and Texas, with up to five more expected to come online in the next few years. Biden's action would not affect those projects, but could delay a dozen or more LNG projects that are pending or in various stages of planning. That includes the Calcasieu Pass 2 project, or CP2, along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. If built, CP2 would be the largest export terminal in the United States.

“Let me be clear. The U.S. is already the number one exporter of LNG, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to support our allies and partners around the world,″ Zaidi said Friday.

If necessary, the Energy Department can allow exceptions for national security needs, he and Granholm said.

How long will the pause last?

Granholm and other officials declined to say how long the permitting pause will last, but said officials will study how proposed LNG projects will affect the environment, the economy and national security, a process that will take "some months." A public comment period after that will likely delay any decisions on pending LNG projects until after the November election.

What do climate activists and Democrats say about Biden's action?

Environmentalists hailed Biden's decision, saying LNG exports not only pollute communities and add to the climate crisis but also raise energy prices for U.S. families and businesses.

Abigail Dillen, president of the environmental group Earthjustice, called on the Biden administration to follow through on its commitments to climate action and environmental justice ”and stop dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure'' such as LNG terminals. Most such facilities are located in the South in communities of color and low-income areas “that are already overburdened by fossil fuel pollution and are on the frontlines of climate change,″ she said.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called Biden’s action a “much-needed move to protect American communities from export-driven pollution and profiteering.”

What do industry groups and Republicans say?

The American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, called Biden’s action "a win for Russia and a loss for American allies, U.S. jobs and global climate progress.''

Mike Sommers, API’s president and CEO, said no review is needed to "understand the clear benefits of U.S. LNG (exports) for stabilizing global energy markets, supporting thousands of American jobs and reducing emissions around the world by transitioning countries toward cleaner fuels″ and away from coal.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, called the move “foolish” and said it could increase global reliance on Russian and Iranian energy at a time when "our allies in Europe are increasingly relying on us to keep their lights and their heat running.''

What impact could Biden's decision have on the 2024 presidential race?

Biden is hoping the decision helps him win back young voters disenchanted by his administration's approval of the massive Willow oil project and his support for Israel's continued military offensive in Gaza following the deadly attack by Hamas in October.

“We will heed the calls of young people and frontline communities who are using their voices to demand action from those with the power to act,″ the president said in announcing the pause.

A single proposed LNG export terminal in Louisiana would produce about 20 times the greenhouse gas emissions of Willow, activists say.

“Biden wants young people, who care about climate above all, in his corner. They were angry about his dumb approval of the Willow oil project,″ said environmental activist Bill McKibben.

Republicans portray Biden as pushing a Green New Deal that they consider radical and even un-American. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner in 2024, has said he will seek to reestablish U.S. energy “dominance” and says one of his first actions, if returned to office, is to "drill, dill drill.''

A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign said Biden had “once again caved to the radical demands of the environmental extremists in his administration.” The decision to block approval of new LNG export facilities “is one more disastrous self-inflicted wound that will further undermine America’s economic and national security,″ said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

Ocean exploration company believes it may have found Amelia Earhart's wrecked plane: 'We're all hopeful'

Andrea Vacchiano
Sun, January 28, 2024 


A South Carolina-based ocean exploration company says it may have found the airplane that Amelia Earhart flew on her ill-fated 1937 expedition.

Deep Sea Vision CEO Tony Romeo said he believes that the airplane-shaped object that his company captured in a sonar image is Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra.

Earhart was trying to become the first woman to successfully complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe when she disappeared on July 2, 1937. She was last seen in Papua New Guinea and disappeared near Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean.


ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JANUARY 11, 1935, AMELIA EARHART IS FIRST AVIATOR TO FLY SOLO, HAWAII TO CALIFORNIA

The aviator was declared dead in absentia on Jan. 5, 1939.

"We think it could be her plane," Romeo told local outlet The Post and Courier.

"[But] I’m not saying we definitely found her."

National Air and Space Museum curator Dorothy Cochrane told the Wall Street Journal that the location where the pictures were taken is "about right."

RARE AMELIA EARHART FOOTAGE SURFACES IN TEXAS

"It was one of the great mysteries of the 20th century and still now into the 21st century," Cochrane said.

"We’re all hopeful that the mystery will be solved."

The image of the object was taken in the Pacific Ocean.

In an interview with the WSJ, Romeo said he plans to return to get clearer pictures of the unknown object.

"This is maybe the most exciting thing I’ll ever do in my life," he said. "I feel like a 10-year-old going on a treasure hunt."

AMELIA EARHART: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE AVIATION PIONEER

Earhart's disappearance has perplexed Americans for decades. Ocean exploration firm Nauticos launched three expeditions to find her plane between 2002 and 2017, and came up with nothing.

Romeo, whose company used a $9 million drone to search 6,000 miles of the Pacific, said he is "optimistic" about the sonar image.

"It’s almost a perfect riddle," Romeo said to the Post and Courier.

"There’s just enough information to pull you in. [And] just enough bits of information that aren’t there to draw you in even more."

The CEO of Deep Sea Vision says he plans to return to get clearer pictures of the unknown object.

Fox News Digital reached out to Deep Sea Vision for comment.

A former US Air Force officer spent $11 million searching for Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane — and may have found it

Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert,Rebecca Rommen
Sat, January 27, 2024 at 9:58 PM MST·7 min read

A former US Air Force officer spent $11 million searching for Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane — and may have found it


Amelia Earhart seated atop the cockpit of the twin-motored, all-metal, Lockheed-Elecktra monoplane, is pictured adjacent to a sonar image of what researchers believe may be the wreckage of her ill-fated flight.Getty Images/Deep Sea Vision

Tony Romeo believes he's discovered Amelia Earhart's long-lost aircraft.


Romeo told BI he captured an image of an aircraft-shaped object on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.


Experts say the location seems roughly correct but clearer images are needed.

A pilot and former US Air Force intelligence officer believes an image he captured using sonar on a high-tech unmanned submersible may have finally answered one of America's most baffling mysteries: What caused the disappearance of iconic pilot Amelia Earhart at the height of her fame?

Tony Romeo is one of a long line of researchers and hobbyists to have taken up the search for Earhart's distinctive Lockheed 10-E Electra plane, which disappeared over the Pacific Ocean along with its famous pilot and navigator Fred Noonan during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in July of 1937.

Amelia Earhart, 40, stands next to a Lockheed Electra 10E, before her last flight in 1937 from Oakland, California.AP Photo

The mystery surrounding Earhart's disappearance has long puzzled researchers and spurred conspiracy theories over the years, from the Japanese taking her prisoner to her being a government spy.


But Romeo, a former real estate investor who sold commercial properties to raise the $11 million needed to begin funding the search, returned in December from a roughly 100-day voyage at sea with a sonar image that he believes shows the lost plane in the ocean's depths.
A high-tech search at sea

His expedition, which was carried out using a $9 million high-tech unmanned submersible "Hugin" drone manufactured by the Norwegian company Kongsberg, and a research crew of 16, started last September in Tarawa, Kiribati, covering 5,200 square miles of the ocean floor, The Wall Street Journal reported.

It was a dream Romeo had for years before making it a reality.

"This has been a story that's always intrigued me, and all the things in my life kind of collided at the right moment," Romeo, whose father and brothers are also pilots, told Business Insider. "I was getting out of real estate and looking for a new project so even though I really started about 18 months ago, this was something I've been thinking and researching for a long time."

Amelia Earhart took off from the airport in her £10,000 Flying Laboratory for Honolulu on the first leg of her round-the-world flight.AP Photo

Roughly a month into the trip, the team captured a sonar image of the plane-shaped object about 100 miles from Howland Island — but didn't discover the image in the submersible's data until the 90th day of the voyage, making it impractical to turn back to get a closer look.

Experts have shown interest in the finding, with Dorothy Cochrane, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, telling The Journal that the reported location where the image was taken was just about right, geographically, compared to where Earhart's flight is believed to have gone down.

A map of where Earhart's plane is believed to have gone missing along her presumed flight path.Google Maps

But others say they need clearer views and more details, such as the plane's serial number.

"Until you physically take a look at this, there's no way to say for sure what that is," Andrew Pietruszka, an underwater archaeologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told The Journal.

Romeo, who said the search may be "the most exciting thing I'll ever do in my life," added that he planned to return to the area to try to capture better images using autonomous or robotic submersibles equipped with cameras and sonar to get closer to the object, which rests more than 16,500 feet beneath the surface.

Romeo told BI that if it's not Earhart's plane, the object he found could be a different missing aircraft lost in the Pacific or — less interestingly, perhaps — another manmade object that fell off a shipping container. But as of now, he's feeling confident he's made a groundbreaking discovery due to the distinctive shape of the fuselage, tail, and wings.

Romeo and his company, Deep Sea Vision, discovered an object of similar size and shape to Amelia Earhart's iconic plane, deep in the Pacific Ocean.Deep Sea Vision

"The next step is confirmation — we've gotta go back out with different sorts of sensors and really photograph it well and take a look at how the artifact is sitting on the seabed," Romeo told BI. "Once that step is done, lots of people will be involved. The Smithsonian, the family, there'll be some investors involved because it'll be an expensive operation, but then we're thinking: 'How do we lift the plane? How do we salvage it?'"

He added: "I don't think we're there yet. But I do think Americans want to see this in the Smithsonian; that's where it belongs. Not the bottom of the ocean."
A decadeslong mystery

Hopeful explorers have pumped millions of dollars into expeditions to find Earhart's lost plane over the years, but her last known location has made the searches difficult.

"It's very deep water, and the area that she could've possibly been in is huge," Tom Dettweiler, a sonar expert, told The Journal.

One team who searched for Earhart's aircraft in 2009 said on X, formerly Twitter, that following its 2,500-square-mile search near Howland Island, close to where Romeo conducted his search, it was only "confident" that they knew where the aviator "isn't."



Earhart, who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and the US, was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939, two years after she vanished. But her legacy has lived on and she continues to fascinate people worldwide.

"It was one of the great mysteries of the 20th century and still now into the 21st century," Cochrane told The Journal. "We're all hopeful that the mystery will be solved."
The dateline theory

Romeo believes he's taken a massive step toward answering vital questions surrounding the famous pilot's disappearance after scouring decades of clues and potential leads to her location, including the "dateline theory."

The theory, which Romeo relied on partly to guide his search, suggests that when Earhart crossed over the international dateline during her 20-hour flight, her navigation system became inaccurate and misdirected her by about 60 miles, potentially leading to a tragic end.

American aviatrix Amelia Earhart is welcomed with a string of leis around her neck shortly after landing in Honolulu, Hawaii, after a speedy flight from Oakland, California, on March 18, 1936. AP Photo

Once he has confirmation that he's found Earhart's plane, hopefully during another voyage planned for later this year, Romeo says the company he has created as part of the search will continue trying to solve other mysteries held in the ocean.

"There's lots of cool stuff in the Pacific — WWII aircraft and flight MH370 are still out there, and maybe we can make a run at that at some point," Romeo told BI. "I'm not announcing yet that we are, but I'd love to collaborate with other folks on other projects since we've got the state-of-the-art equipment. There's only a couple of these in the world and finding these things out is in demand."

World's largest cruise ship sets sail, bringing concerns about methane emissions

Sat, January 27, 2024
By Doyinsola Oladipo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The world's largest cruise ship is set for its maiden voyage on Saturday, but environmental groups are concerned that the liquefied natural gas-powered vessel - and other giant cruise liners to follow - will leak harmful methane into the atmosphere.

Royal Caribbean International's Icon of the Seas sets sail from Miami with capacity for 8,000 passengers across 20 decks, taking advantage of the surging popularity of cruises.

The ship is built to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns more cleanly than traditional marine fuel but poses greater risks for methane emissions. Environmental groups say methane leakage from the ship's engines is an unacceptable risk to the climate because of its short-term harmful effects.

"It's a step in the wrong direction," said Bryan Comer, director of the Marine Program at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), an environmental policy think tank.

"We would estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits over 120% more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil," he said.

In terms of warming effects, methane is 80 times worse over 20 years than carbon dioxide, making cutting those emissions key to holding down global temperature warming.

Cruise ships like Icon of the Seas use low-pressure, dual-fuel engines that leak methane into the atmosphere during the combustion process, known as "methane slip," according to industry experts. There are two other engines used on bulk carriers or container ships that emit less methane but they are too tall to fit in a cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean says its new ship is 24% more efficient when it comes to carbon emissions than required by global shipping regulator the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

LNG emits fewer greenhouse gases than very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) that powers most of the global shipping fleet, said Steve Esau, chief operating officer of Sea-LNG, a industry advocacy organization.

Cruise engines convert natural gas into power in a cylinder, where it is "important to make sure that all the natural gas is converted to energy," said Juha Kytölä, director of R&D and Engineering at Wärtsilä, which developed the cruise ship's engines.

What is not converted can escape during the combustion process into the atmosphere, he said, adding that Wärtsilä's natural gas engine technology emits 90% less methane than it did 20 to 30 years ago.

Cruise ship engines have an estimated methane slip of 6.4% on average, according to 2024 research funded by the ICCT and other partners. The IMO assumes methane slip at 3.5%.

"Methane is coming under more scrutiny," said Anna Barford, Canada shipping campaigner at Stand Earth, a nonprofit organization, noting that the IMO last summer said its efforts to cut greenhouse gases includes addressing methane emissions.

Of the 54 ships on order from January 2024 to December 2028, 63% are expected to be powered by LNG, according to the Cruise Line International Association. Currently, about 6% of the 300 cruise ships sailing are fueled by LNG.

Newer cruise ships are being designed to run on traditional marine gas oil, LNG or alternatives like bio-LNG that only account for a fraction of U.S. fuel consumption.

Royal Caribbean will use different fuels as the market evolves, said Nick Rose, the company's vice president of environmental, social, and governance.

"LNG is one piece of our actual strategy," he said.

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Mark Porter)


Icon of the Seas: World's largest cruise ship sets sail from Miami
BBC
Sun, January 28, 2024 at 7:51 AM MST·3 min read
22


The world's largest cruise ship has set sail from Miami, Florida, on its maiden voyage, but there are concerns about the vessel's methane emissions.

The 365m-long (1,197 ft) Icon of the Seas has 20 decks and can house a maximum of 7,600 passengers. It is owned by Royal Caribbean Group.

The vessel is going on a seven-day island-hopping voyage in the Caribbean.

Environmentalists warn the liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship will leak harmful methane into the air.

Built at a shipyard in Turku, Finland, the Bahamas-registered ship has seven swimming pools and six water slides.

It cost $2bn (£1.6bn) to build and also has more than 40 restaurants, bars and lounges.

The cruise ship boasts seven swimming pools, many bars and restaurants and a funfair on the top deck

Although LNG burns more cleanly than traditional marine fuels such as fuel oil, there is a risk that some gas escapes, causing methane to leak into the atmosphere.

Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

"It's a step in the wrong direction," Bryan Comer, director of the Marine Programme at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

"We would estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits over 120% more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil," he said.

Earlier this week, the ICCT released a report arguing that methane emissions from LNG-fuelled ships were higher than current regulations assumed.

A sculpture of a swimmer hangs above an internal courtyard - known as "Central Park" on the ship

A powerful greenhouse gas, methane in the atmosphere traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over 20 years. Cutting these emissions is seen as crucial to slowing down global warming.

Royal Caribbean says the Icon of the Seas is 24% more energy efficient than required by the International Maritime Organization for modern ships. The company plans to introduce a net-zero ship by 2035.

The cruise industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of tourism, with young people in particular interested in cruise holidays, according to the trade body Cruise Lines International Association.

It said that the cruise industry contributed $75bn (£59bn) to the global economy in 2021.

The onboard water park is dubbed "Thrill Island"

On Thursday, Argentina's World Cup winning captain Lionel Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami, took part in the ship's naming ceremony.

He was seen placing a football on a specially built stand to trigger the traditional "good luck" breaking of a champagne bottle against the vessel's bow.
Quick facts about the Icon of the Seas

The Icon of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world, weighing 250,800 tonnes with a length of nearly 365 meters (1,198 ft). That's about five times larger than the Titanic

The ship itself cost Royal Caribbean International a hefty price of €1.65bn ($1.79bn; £1.41bn) to build and acquire

Tickets range from $1,723 to $2,639 per person, according to Royal Caribbean's website. A high-season cruise around Christmas will set you back $5,124 per person

Its maiden voyage will stop in Saint Kitts and Nevis and Charlotte Amalie in the US Virgin Islands.

World's largest cruise ship ready to set sail from Miami in maiden passenger voyage

Mike Heuer
Sat, January 27, 2024 

Cruise line Royal Caribbean's 1,198-foot Icon of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship and was scheduled to set sail from Miami on its first passenger voyage on Saturday. File Photo provided by Royal Caribbean


Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Royal Caribbean's 1,198-foot-long Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship with a gross tonnage of 250,800, was ready to set sail on its maiden passenger voyage from Miami on Saturday.

It was scheduled to depart from Miami at 5 p.m. ET on a seven-day, round-trip voyage to the Eastern Caribbean.

Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi officially christened the ship on Tuesday. It features 20 decks and can hold about 10,000 passengers and crew, according to the cruise line.

The $2 billion Icon of the Seas was built in Turku, Finland, and earlier this month sailed to the Port of Miami to prepare for its first voyage with passengers.

The 20-deck ship has a curved parabolic bow that reduces waves and makes the vessel more stable and uses liquid natural gas to fuel its engines. More than 90% of its freshwater supply is produced using a reverse-osmosis system, and a microwave-assisted pyrolysis system converts waste into energy to help power the ship.

The vessel features several performance theaters, more than 40 bars, restaurants and lounges, and special cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks that were created for the Icon of the Seas, USA Today reported. It also has a water park and several designated "neighborhoods" for passengers of different age groups, including an adults-only area.

Some of the Icon of the Seas' superlatives include the world's largest water park at sea, the first cantilevered infinity pool at sea, the largest ice arena at sea and the largest swimming pool at sea.

The Icon of the Seas gives Royal Caribbean the world's two largest cruise ships. Royal Caribbean launched the Wonder of the Seas in 2022, which measures 1,188 feet in length and has a gross tonnage of 235,600.

The Icon of the Seas debuts the newest class of cruise ship for Royal Caribbean.

Watch: World’s largest cruise ship sets sail from Miami

Billal Rahman
Sat, January 27, 2024 

Watch as the Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas embarks on its maiden voyage from Miami on Saturday, 27 January.

The 1,198-foot (365-meter) vessel is the world’s largest cruise ship and has 20 decks with a maximum capacity of 10,000 people.

The ship, which comes with a 55ft indoor waterfall, is longer than the Eiffel Tower and called the “biggest, baddest ship on the planet” by Royal Caribbean president Jason Liberty.

But the ship has been ridiculed on social media, having been described as a “human lasagne.”

Despite running on the “cleanest-burning marine fuel” Royal Caribbean came in second place on Friends of the Earth’s list of polluters in the cruise industry in 2022, leading to climate activists to accuse the company of greenwashing.

The company claimed the “eco-friendly” vessel is built to run on electricity supplied from shore when it is docked, which is a more environmentally sustainable alternative to running highly polluting generators.

The ship’s departure follows several European cities, such as Venice, Barcelona, and Amsterdam, introducing restrictions on cruise ships in their ports to curb their environmental impact.

Disturbing report reveals ‘horrifying’ effect of Texas border wall: ‘Proof that border barriers are deathtraps’

Leslie Sattler
Fri, January 26, 2024

Over 100 frogs, snakes, spiders, and more burned alive last summer after raging wildfires swept through southern Texas, according to the Guardian.

These creatures likely could have escaped if not obstructed by a long stretch of concrete border wall.

What happened?

According to a statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and cited by myRGV.com, the fire on Aug. 10 was believed to have been started by a human.

“Firefighters responding to the scene determined that the fire impacted an area approximately 960 acres in size,” the statement read.

While the concrete border wall is believed to have stopped the fire from spreading into the city of Granjeno, as Hidalgo County Fire Marshal Homero Garza told myRGV.com, it is also believed to have kept over 100 animals from escaping, according to the Guardian.

The animals killed included frogs (most likely native Rio Grande leopard frogs), cane toads, shrews, tarantula spiders, a yellow-billed cuckoo, a groove-billed ani cuckoo, and several snakes, including Mexican racers, checkered garters, and Texas patch-nosed serpents, the Guardian reported.

Why is this concerning?

As rising global temperatures trigger more extreme weather events like drought and wildfires — which recently led to a North American squirrel species becoming endangered — barriers that block animals’ ability to flee to safety can further threaten local ecosystems.

Constructing walls, fences, and barriers along animal migration paths severs access to food, water, and mates for local wildlife. It also traps animals during disasters like floods or fires. As climate impacts intensify, survival could hinge on the ability to escape quickly.

“This horrifying account of animals being burnt alive while trapped by the border wall is just the latest proof that border barriers are deathtraps for wildlife,” said Laiken Jordahl, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, to the Guardian.

“We are fearful that this will only become a more common story as climate change progresses,” Jordahl added.

What can be done about it?

One way to respond to such incidents is to call on elected representatives to safeguard wildlife protections like the Endangered Species Act along the border.

Avoiding habits and products that exacerbate rising temperatures and their effects — like meat and dairy and single-use plastics — can help, as can conserving water and growing native plants to ease drought conditions.

Transforming daily habits creates ripples of change. Together, our choices can reshape the future.