It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Study investigates sustainable urban mobility in Berlin and 18 other European cities
by Birgit Holthaus, Climate Change Center Berlin Brandenburg
Climate-friendly urban planning should reduce car traffic through more residential \development in the city center. Credit: Philipp Arnoldt
In the quest for sustainable urban living, understanding the complex relationships between urban form and mobility behavior is crucial. A recent study published in Transportation Research Part D by Dr. Peter Berrill and colleagues sheds light on this issue by examining the intricate associations between urban form, car ownership, and travel behavior across Berlin and 18 further European cities.
At the heart of their findings is the importance of residential proximity to the city center. The study illustrates that living closer to the city center is associated with significant reduction of car ownership, trip distances, and the preference for car use over other modes of transportation. Such reductions can in some cases be non-linear, such as the exponential decrease in car ownership beyond 6 km from the city center in Berlin.
The research also identifies demographic groups that exhibit different mobility patterns. Factors such as household income, household size are important for car ownership, while age and gender can be influential on mode choice. Trips accompanying children are far more likely to be by car than trips with other purposes, demonstrating that certain demographic groups may require additional support to transition towards more sustainable mobility options, and emphasizing the need for targeted policy interventions.
Substantial differences by geography are also observed—biking makes up a much higher mode shares in Germany cities than cities in France, or in Vienna or Madrid. Car ownership and use meanwhile tends to be lower in larger cities. By recognizing the critical role of urban form in influencing mobility choices, cities can implement targeted interventions promoting sustainable mobility.
Policies that encourage residential development closer to city centers, coupled with enhancements in public transportation and active travel infrastructure, can significantly reduce reliance on personal vehicles and associated environmental impacts.
By adopting data-driven and evidence-based urban planning practices informed by such research, cities can make significant strides toward sustainability, improved public health, and higher quality of life for their residents.
More information: Peter Berrill et al, Comparing urban form influences on travel distance, car ownership, and mode choice, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2024.104087
Unlocking the ocean's secrets: Next-gen tech for precision seafloor mapping
by TranSpread
The basic principle of acoustic positioning with the white ship icon indicating the positions of the survey ship at different time. Credit: Satellite Navigation (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s43020-023-00124-3
The exploration of oceanic resources through seismic methods necessitates precise seafloor geophone positioning. Traditional techniques, however, grapple with issues such as the influence of outliers, suboptimal use of precise observations, and the inefficiency of real-time data processing. These challenges undermine the accuracy and effectiveness of seismic exploration, hindering the ability to precisely locate underwater petroleum and natural gas reserves.
A recently published study in the journal Satellite Navigation introduces a real-time acoustic positioning technique, significantly enhancing the precision of mapping the ocean floor for seismic studies. This cutting-edge strategy surmounts previous barriers in accurately positioning seafloor geophones.
The research introduces a real-time acoustic positioning system that fundamentally transforms the accuracy of seismic exploration on the ocean floor. By integrating advanced techniques such as sequential adjustment and Baarda's outlier detection, the method refines the process of analyzing acoustic observations. It groups these observations to construct precise intra-group positioning models, subsequently synthesizing these models to enhance overall positioning accuracy.
This approach has been shown to dramatically improve the precision of seafloor geophone positioning, transitioning from meter-level errors to decimeter-level, and in some cases, achieving centimeter-level accuracy.
The validation of this method involved comprehensive simulations along with practical field experiments conducted in the Bohai Sea, which confirmed its effectiveness in eliminating outliers and maximizing the utility of high-quality observations. This enhancement in positioning accuracy directly translates to improved reliability and efficiency in mapping the ocean floor for the exploration of underwater petroleum and natural gas resources.
The flow chart of the SQ acoustic positioning method. Credit: Satellite Navigation (2024).DOI: 10.1186/s43020-023-00124-3
Jinye Ma, alongside Shouchuan Fang and Jianhu Zhao, said, "Our method significantly improves positioning accuracy, reducing errors from meters to decimeters, and if the sound velocity profile exists, it can achieve centimeter-level positioning precision."
This method further improves the positioning accuracy of seafloor geophone on the basis of previous studies, provides a new idea for the development of marine navigation and positioning software in China, and is expected to improve the efficiency and accuracy of ocean bottom seismic exploration.
More information: Jinye Ma et al, A rigorous real-time acoustic positioning method for ocean bottom seismic exploration, Satellite Navigation (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s43020-023-00124-3
A small drone was flown inside a damaged reactor at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday to examine molten fuel debris.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant experienced a meltdown in three reactors following a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in March 2011. About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors.
A drone small enough to fit in one's hand flew inside one of the damaged reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Wednesday in hopes it can examine some of the molten fuel debris in areas where earlier robots failed to reach.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings also began releasing the fourth batch of the plant’s treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the sea Wednesday. The government and TEPCO, the plant's operator, say the water is safe and the process is being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but the discharges have faced strong opposition by fishing groups and a Chinese ban on Japanese seafood.
A magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant's power supply and cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt down. The government and TEPCO plan to remove the massive amount of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel that remains inside each reactor — a daunting decommissioning process that's been delayed for years and mired by technical hurdles and a lack of data.
To help on data, a fleet of four drones were set to fly one at a time into the hardest-hit No. 1 reactor’s primary containment vessel. TEPCO plans to probe a new area Thursday.
This aerial view shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northern Japan, on Aug. 24, 2023. A drone small enough to fit in one's hand flew inside one of the damaged reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday in hopes it can examine some of the molten fuel debris in areas where earlier robots failed to reach. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
TEPCO has sent a number of probes — including a crawling robot and an underwater vehicle — inside each reactor but was hindered by debris, high radiation and the inability to navigate through the rubble, though they were able to gather some data. In 2015, the first robot to go inside got stuck on a grate.
Wednesday’s drone flight comes after months of preparations that began in July at a nearby mock facility.
The drones, each weighing 185 grams (6.5 ounces), are highly maneuverable and their blades hardly stir up dust, making them a popular model for factory safety checks. Each carries a front-loaded high-definition camera to send live video and higher-quality images to an operating room.
In part due to battery life, the drone investigation inside a reactor is limited to a 5-minute flight.
TEPCO officials said they plan to use the new data to develop technology for future probes as well as a process to remove the melted fuel from the reactor. The data will also be used in the investigation of how the 2011 meltdown occurred.
On Wednesday, two drones inspected the area around the exterior of the main structural support in the vessel, called the pedestal. Based on the images they transmitted, TEPCO officials decided to send the other two in Thursday.
The pedestal is directly under the reactor’s core. Officials hope to film the core’s bottom to find out how overheated fuel dripped there in 2011.
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year cleanup target set by the government and TEPCO is overly optimistic. The damage in each reactor is different, and plans need to accommodate their conditions. JAPAN TO RELEASE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR WASTEWATER INTO OCEAN ON THURSDAY
TEPCO's goal is to remove a small amount of melted debris from the least-damaged No. 2 reactor as a test case by the end of March by using a giant robotic arm. It was forced to delay due to difficulty removing a deposit blocking its entry.
As in the past three rounds of wastewater discharges which started in August, TEPCO plans to release 7,800 metric tons of the treated water through mid-March after diluting it with massive amounts of seawater and sampling it to make sure radioactivity is far below international standards.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday accused Japan of risking the whole world with "nuclear-contaminated water" and demanded it stop "this wrongdoing." Mao urged Japan to cooperate in an independent monitoring system with neighboring countries and other stakeholders.
Rahm Emanuel eats Fukushima fish amid nuclear wastewater panic U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visited a Fukushima coastal city to support the local fishing industry after China and South Korea raised the alarm over water discharge began from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. (SOURCE: Reuters)
UK Whipsnade Zoo: Newborn monkey a 'sign of hope' for species
By Rachael McMenemy & PA Media
BBC News, Bedfordshire
Whipsnade Zoo/PA Media
The bright orange baby Francois' langur has been called a "ray of sunshine" by zookeepers
The birth of a monkey at a zoo has been hailed as a "sign of hope" for its endangered species.
The baby Francois' langur was born on 17 February at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire.
Zookeeper Amanda Robinson said the team was ecstatic when they saw mother Lulu cradling her bright orange baby.
Ms Robinson said the newborn was a "ray of sunshine" amid "plummeting" numbers of the primates in the wild.
She said the bright colour made it easier for keepers and visitors to spot the new addition.
"It's believed the babies are born with bright orange locks so that parents can easily spot the youngster when they're being cared for by the troop," she said.
"Over time this hair will fade to black."
The birth brings the number of Francois' langurs at Whipsnade Zoo to five.
Its gender is not known yet as the mother is naturally "keeping baby very close", the zoo said.
Whipsnade Zoo/PA Media
It is estimated only 2,000 of the species are left in the wild Native to China and northern Vietnam, Francois' langurs are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened species. Their numbers have continued to fall in the wild, which makes the birth internationally important. 'Ray of sunshine'
The infant was born as part of a European Endangered Species Breeding Programme, an internationally coordinated conservation initiative aimed at boosting the numbers of species that are threatened in the wild.
"Sadly, in the wild the number of Francois' langurs are plummeting, so this newborn really is a ray of sunshine and a sign of hope for the species," Ms Robinson said. It is estimated there are only 2,000 left in the wild as the species faces threats from illegal hunting for their meat and for traditional medicinal purposes.
At the Francois' langurs habitat, big sister Nguyen has also been taking care of the newborn, sharing parenting responsibilities with Lulu and father Wang.
"Nguyen has been staying close to her mum Lulu and giving her a break when she needs to eat or drink," Ms Robinson said.
"She's been treating the newborn like it's her own baby, which is exactly what you'd see in the wild - it shows the eight-year-old has picked up great skills from the older members of the troop."
Orange is the new black! Adorable monkey with bright ginger fur is born at a zoo in Bedfordshire - despite both its parents being monochromatic
Whipsnade Zoo is now home to a one-week-old François' langur monkey
Infants are born with shocking orange hair, but turn black with age
A baby monkey sporting bright orange fur and described by keepers as a 'ray of sunshine' has been born at a conservation zoo in Bedfordshire.
Whipsnade Zoo is now home to a one-week-old François' langur, who was born to mother Lulu and father Wang in the early hours of February 17.
In contrast to the adult François' langurs monochromatic coats, infants are born with shocking orange hair, with pictures showing the flame-coloured newborn cuddling into its mother's dark black fur.
The monkey's birth has been described as a 'sign of hope' for its endangered species.
A baby monkey sporting bright orange fur and described by keepers as a 'ray of sunshine' has been born at a conservation zoo in Bedfordshire
In contrast to the adult François' langurs monochromatic coats, infants are born with shocking orange hair, with pictures showing the flame-coloured newborn cuddling into its mother's dark black fur
Whipsnade zookeeper Amanda Robinson said the team were ecstatic when they saw Lulu cradling her bright orange baby.
'It's believed the babies are born with bright orange locks so that parents can easily spot the youngster when they're being cared for by the troop,' she said.
'Over time this hair will fade to black.
'The bright orange hair certainly makes it easier for keepers and visitors to spot the new addition!'
Native to China and northern Vietnam, François' langurs are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species and their numbers have continued to fall in the wild, making the recent birth internationally important.
'Sadly, in the wild the number of François' langurs are plummeting, so this newborn really is a ray of sunshine and a sign of hope for the species,' Ms Robinson said.
Whipsnade zookeeper Amanda Robinson said the team were ecstatic when they saw Lulu cradling her bright orange baby Native to China and northern Vietnam, François' langurs are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species and their numbers have continued to fall in the wild, making the recent birth internationally important
Conservationists estimate there are only 2,000 of these primates left in the wild
At the François' langurs habitat, big sister Nguyen has also been taking care of the newborn, keen to share parenting responsibilities with mother Lulu.
'Nguyen has been staying close to her mum Lulu and giving her a break when she needs to eat or drink,' Ms Robinson said.
'She's been treating the newborn like it's her own baby, which is exactly what you'd see in the wild – it shows the eight-year-old has picked up great skills from the older members of the troop.'
The infant was born as part of a European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP), an internationally coordinated conservation initiative which aims to boost the numbers of species that are threatened in the wild.
Conservationists estimate there are only 2,000 of these primates left in the wild as the species faces threats from illegal hunting for their meat and for traditional medicinal purposes.
– The langur troop can be found at Whipsnade Zoo's new Monkey Forest which opens to the public on March 29.
Researchers develop novel method to photosynthesize hydrogen peroxide using water and air
A newly designed hexavalent covalent organic framework (COF) material that mimics photosynthesis. Credit: National University of Singapore
Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a microporous covalent organic framework with dense donor–acceptor lattices and engineered linkages for the efficient and clean production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) through the photosynthesis process with water and air
Traditional industrial production of H2O2 via the anthraquinone process using hydrogen and oxygen is highly energy-intensive. This approach employs toxic solvents and expensive noble-metal catalysts and generates substantial waste from side reactions.
In contrast, photocatalytic production of H2O2 from oxygen and water offers an energy-efficient, mild, and clean route. Most importantly, it addresses the common drawbacks of existing photocatalytic systems, such as low activity, heavy use of additional alcohol sacrificial donors, and the necessity for pure oxygen gas input.
A research team led by Professor Jiang Donglin from the NUS Department of Chemistry has developed a new type of photocatalyst for the efficient artificial photosynthesis of H2O2 from water and air. The researchers constructed hexavalent covalent organic frameworks (COFs) in which the skeleton is designed to be donor-acceptor π columns for high-rate photo-induced charge generation and catalytic active sites.
In parallel, the pore is engineered with hydraulically sensitive trigonal microporous channels for immediate delivery of reactants water and oxygen. As a result, these hexavalent COFs produce H2O2 spontaneously and efficiently from water and atmospheric air when exposed to visible light in both batch and flow reactors.
Under laboratory conditions, the COFs demonstrate a quantum efficiency of 17.5 percent under visible light at 420 nm in batch reactors. This system can be developed to construct self-cleaning surfaces and for disinfection treatments.
The research findings were published in Nature Catalysis.
Prof Jiang said, "In this work, we successfully addressed a key and common issue in photocatalysts, electrocatalysts, and heterogeneous catalysts, which is the efficient supply of charges and mass to catalytic sites. Our focus on precise structural design at the atomic level to explore both the skeletons and pores of COFs has led to the creation of an artificial photosynthesis system for H2O2 production, achieving unprecedented photocatalytic efficiency."
More information: Ruoyang Liu et al, Linkage-engineered donor–acceptor covalent organic frameworks for optimal photosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide from water and air, Nature Catalysis (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41929-023-01102-3
WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab says it could launch its first Neutron rocket before the end of the year as it outlines a long-term vision for the company that involves its own satellite constellation.
In a Feb. 27 earnings call to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and 2023 financial results, Rocket Lab executives said development of its Neutron medium-lift reusable rocket was on schedule and budget, with a goal of a first launch before the end of the year.
“Right now, we have a schedule that closes for a launch by the end of the year,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said of Neutron. “But, we’ve got a lot of testing to get through.”
In the call, he outlined the progress the company was making on various components of Neutron, such as avionics and structures, as well as construction of Neutron’s launch pad, Launch Complex 3 on Wallops Island, Virginia. However, the company has yet to start hot-fire tests of the Archimedes engine that will power Neutron.
Beck said Rocket Lab was completing a test stand for Archimedes at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, allowing it “to support an engine by the end of March,” but did not disclose when the company expected to start firing the engine on the stand.
Those tests, when they do begin, will provide some clarity on the schedule for Neutron. “We’ll know more about how close to the schedule and timeline we are once Archimedes breathes fire and we complete a couple of other major tests,” Beck said.
An industry source, speaking on background, described a schedule of less than nine months from first engine hot-fire to first launch as “exceedingly optimistic,” citing development timelines for other vehicle programs where it can take years from first engine test to first launch. Later in the call, Adam Spice, Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer, acknowledged a Neutron launch by the end of the year was a “green-light schedule” where there are no problems in the vehicle’s development.
One reason the company is pushing to get Neutron launched before the end of the year is to ensure that it can be eligible for the first Lane 1 awards under the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Phase 3 contracts.
“Why we’re pushing so hard to get a vehicle launched this year is that that is a gating onramp to Lane 1,” he said, adding there will be additional onramps in subsequent years. “This is the reason why so many engineers are sleeping under their desks at the moment, to just push so hard to try to get that vehicle to the pad.”
Completing Neutron will also allow the company to reduce its capital expenditures and move towards profitability. Spice said the company estimated in 2021 spending $250 million to $300 million on Neutron and having it ready in 2024. “We are remarkably intact on the estimates we put in place at the time,” he said.
The company reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $29 million for the fourth quarter and nearly $91 million for 2023, but capital expenditures will drop off once Neutron is compete, he said. “Not too long after that, we really should be in the phase of where we could be looking down the line of sight to adjusted EBITDA positivity,” Spice said. Constellation vision
The company used the earnings report to also announce a new lineup of spacecraft buses. The company had previously developed several different kinds, all under the Photon name, but is now offering four distinct vehicles:Photon, the original bus designed for small spacecraft missions in low Earth orbit; Lightning, a larger bus based on the ones it is developing for Globalstar and the Space Development Agency;
Beck said in the earnings call that the company has orders for all four classes of buses, with a backlog of more than 40 spacecraft overall.
However, in the call Beck took pains to emphasize a long-term vision for the company that goes beyond simply building and launching spacecraft to ultimately operating its own.
“The end goal here is not just to be a bus provider or even a prime, it’s to ultimately have our own constellation in orbit, providing services, because that’s where we ultimately think this all goes,” he said. “Everything we do is within that kind of vision.”
That is driven by the much larger total addressable market, or TAM, for space services. While launch has a TAM of $10 billion to $15 billion, he said, and satellites $20 billion to $30 billion, “services in space is a $320 billion TAM.”
That approach, he said, is driving the company’s investments in space systems and Neutron. “In part, the reason why we’re developing Neutron is so we have our own keys to space” for a future constellation, he said. “If you want to be competitive in there, then you have to own your own rocket and build your own satellites.”
He cited as an example SpaceX, which builds its own Starlink satellites and launches them on its own rockets. “It’s very difficult to compete with that unless you have your own ability to mass-manufacture satellites using your own components, and your own ability to launch those said satellites,” he said. “We’re just marching very methodically towards that, step after step.”
Beck declined to offer a timeline for Rocket Lab’s own constellation or even what services it would offer. “When we look to jump into that larger TAM, we’ll have a very disruptive way of going in there and executing and providing that service.”
First, though, was building the “foundations” of that future constellation, particularly Neutron. “Really, all focus is on Neutron. All efforts are on Neutron because Neutron is critical to execute that business model, but it’s also critical for other parts of the business,” he said. “Our strong focus is getting Neutron to the pad because, without Neutron on the pad, it makes it difficult to be hugely disruptive in the services market.”
Solar flares: U-M experts highlight gaps preventing accurate predictions of impacts around Earth
Newswise— The recent spike of activity from the sun occurred during what NASA has dubbed the Heliophysics Big Year—a celebration of solar science centered on the April 8 total eclipse, the last that will be visible from the continental U.S. for 20 years.
University of Michigan experts on space weather and solar physics are available to discuss how well the impacts of such flares on Earth can be predicted and what is needed to improve those predictions.
U-M has had a leading role in developing the models currently used by the national Space Weather Prediction Center to provide regional space weather forecasts for Earth and its surroundings, and the university now leads the NASA-funded $9.7-million Center for All-Clear Solar Energetic Particle Forecast, or CLEAR Center, which aims to forecast harmful solar particle radiation across the solar system.
Last week, the sun emitted three solar flares that reached X class—the highest on NASA and NOAA intensity scales. While disruptions on Earth were minimal, the sun is in a particularly active phase of its 11-year cycle of fluctuating activity.
Solar flares are emissions of radio waves, light, X-rays and gamma rays at the surface of the sun that are often preceded by potentially dangerous eruptions of highly energized streams of plasma particles, called solar energetic particle events, and clouds of plasma and magnetic fields, called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.
These events can deliver lethal doses of radiation to astronauts working in space, damage the electronics on satellites, disrupt radio and GPS communications on Earth, and cause large power outages on the ground. However, we still don't fully understand when any particular solar flare at the sun can and will disrupt life on Earth.
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti is an assistant research scientist of climate and space sciences and engineering who studies how CMEs change on their way to Earth, potentially impacting their shape, intensity and likelihood of disrupting technology on Earth.
"A day after the incident, NASA and NOAA still could not verify whether there was a coronal mass ejection associated with the X-class flares," he said. "This is a reminder that we are ill-equipped to detect CMEs and see how they travel through the solar system.
"We currently have the know-how to vastly improve our solar activity detection and prediction capabilities, but we need Congress to approve funding to develop more advanced infrastructure for real-time monitoring of space weather."
Justin Kasper, professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, is the principal investigator of SunRISE, a NASA mission that aims to get more advanced intel on when harmful radiation from the sun might hit Earth.
"This particular flare wasn't a particularly disruptive event. It only impacted some daytime radio transmission," he said. "The rankings that people are talking about refer to how bright the flare is in the x-ray, but that is only one part of how solar activity can hurt us. If a flare creates high-energy particle radiation, that radiation needs to get to Earth to have an impact. If the flare is pointed away from Earth, it can take hours to days for the radiation to reach us. CMEs move slower and take days to reach us. So far, there's no sign of danger."
Right before the satellites at Earth detect energetic particles or CMEs, they always detect a very intense radio burst, suggesting that they could be a good early warning signal that a potentially disruptive event is approaching Earth. However, sometimes Earth gets a radio signal from the sun when no eruptions reach Earth. Kasper wants to test if this is due to an inconsistency in the sun's radio emissions or if it's only a matter of how the CME is oriented.
"Maybe the times we see the radio bursts without getting the solar-particle radiation is because the CME or solar particle event was pointed away from Earth," he said. "We want SunRISE to image what part of these eruptions are making those radio bursts so we can understand why the storms make those radio bursts and how they line up with Earth."
Even if we can see when a CME could hit Earth, it's hard to know if the CME will have any impact upon its arrival, Kasper said.
The first successful moon landing of a private lander, Odysseus, last week came a month after Japan and six months after India touched down on Earth's natural satellite.
As more states and private companies reach the moon, some experts say, adequate legal framework and international agreements may be needed to avoid conflicts.
"Many hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested over the last several decades with the hope that the moon will turn out to be a resource for commercial activity, commercial development of the minerals and the water ice on the moon," says Anthony Grayling, a British philosopher and founder of New College of the Humanities in London. NCH finalized its merger with Northeastern in 2019.
"Exploration of new frontiers will produce new ways of imagining, new challenges, new technologies that can be of tremendous utility," says Grayling, who moderated a fireside chat Monday that was part of Northeastern's "Thinking the Future" series and recently published a book, "Who Owns the Moon? In Defence of Humanity's Common Interests in Space."
Commercialization can also create friction and rivalries between different parties, he says, that can lead to potential conflicts.
However, Mai'a Cross, dean's professor of political science, international affairs and diplomacy and director of the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures at Northeastern, does not see companies or states taking advantage of the lack of regulations and starting something conflictual.
"The reason is because we have international norms and we have space diplomacy going on," says Cross, who was on the panel Monday.
Historically, interaction of humans in space, she says, has been highly cooperative and peaceful.
Space is a really difficult and expensive area to operate in, she says. The Artemis accords, for example, support creation of notifications and coordination zones, because landing two objects within a kilometer of each other can cause significant damage.
"It makes much more sense for us to continue this track record of a peaceful presence and cooperation in space," Cross says.
The example of Odysseus, created by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, shows that private companies can benefit from cooperative missions with such state entities as NASA, and as businesses progress into space they will be interested in protecting and growing their profits rather than getting involved in conflicts.
"They're more worried about safety and the ways in which they can operate," Cross says.
Michelle Hanlon, co-director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law and its Center for Air and Space Law who participated in the panel discussion, says that although there might be a robust framework for exploration of outer space, a stronger, specific and more detailed framework is required for activities on the moon.
She says the landscape of legal regulations of any activities on the moon is untouched, but she does not see any new treaty being signed anytime soon in the current political climate around the globe.
The Outer Space Treaty, a multilateral agreement signed in 1967, provides some guidelines, Hanlon says, rooted in the principles of free exploration and use of the celestial bodies exclusively for peaceful purposes.
Under current agreements nobody can claim territory on the moon by sovereignty, user occupation or other reasons. The treaty also stipulates that no nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction can be brought to outer space.
Cross does agree that there is a big risk and the world is at a critical juncture in terms of whether space might become weaponized. But so far, she says, governments have prevented weaponization of space from happening.
"It has almost reached the level of taboo," she says. "I do think that militaries will plan for worst case scenarios, such as a potential arms race in space, but this doesn't mean that it will happen."
In an ideal world, Cross says, there would be an international organization, a global space agency, that would enable everyone to share all of the resources and discoveries that come from space exploration.
For now, space diplomacy regulates the ongoing dialogue, Cross says, which involves communication, transparency and persuasion.
"If you're worried that an actor is taking something too far, diplomacy is a process where you actually try to curtail some of these misunderstandings that lead to self-fulfilling prophecies," she says.
The U.S. has been building up allies around the Artemis accords, a non-binding multilateral agreement to return humans to the moon by 2026, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to Mars and beyond, signed by 36 countries but not Russia and China.
Russia and China have joined forces to build the International Lunar Research Station on the moon, welcoming several other countries that are not part of the Artemis accords into their alliance.
A controlled landing of a spacecraft on the lunar surface without significant damage to either the lander or the scientific instruments it carried, i.e. soft landing, is still a true challenge. Only five countries have been able to soft-land on the moon in the last 60 years: the United States, Russia (USSR), China, India and Japan. The moon has gravity but no atmosphere, which makes a gradual descent challenging because a spacecraft landing is entirely dependent on engines and not parachutes.
India's successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consisting of a lander and a rover on the moon in August broke the stronghold of Russia, China and the U.S., Hanlon says, and opened access to space to everyone at lesser cost.
"The achievement of India was fantastic, not only because it heralded the entry of a new major space actor, but also because it inspired all of the young people and the citizens of India to think about science and space," Cross says.
Humans should cooperate and engage in adventures, she says, push boundaries and get new knowledge from exploration together.
"Seeing Earth from space, it's fragile," Cross says. "We all live there. That's our only home."
Mai’a Cross, dean’s professor of political science, international affairs and diplomacy, director of the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures at Northeastern University. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
When Pittsburgh-based company Astrobiotic Technology launched its fuel-efficient, NASA-backed flight to the moon, hopes were high that it would be the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years. But a fuel leak resulted in the company pulling the plug on the landing and in NASA delaying its plans to return humans to the surface of the moon by a year as part of its Artemis program.
The failure of Astrobiotic's landing is a reminder that even though space exploration is now spearheaded by companies, not countries, the challenges of space travel remain the same. But Mai'a Cross, dean's professor of political science, international affairs and diplomacy, director of the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures at Northeastern University, says it should also show the public how important space diplomacy is in what she says is a Wild West age of corporate moon launches.
"The fact that basically around half of the attempts to land a rover on the moon fail and yet people persist and try to achieve it, that something as straightforward as that is still challenging to achieve, it makes much more sense to cooperate than to try to weaponize and fight wars in space," Cross says.
When Cross sees a company like Astrobiotic launching its Peregrine lander, she sees the dual-edged nature of the current corporate-led space age.
There are clear reasons why the U.S. hasn't sent humans back to the moon in more than 50 years. It's not only technically challenging and expensive but risky. Infamous space shuttle disasters like Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 "changed the national mood and the willingness of U.S. presidents to put a lot of funding into NASA," Cross says. Operations shifted to non-human, robotic missions, which have continued "in a robust way" over the last couple of decades.
But the shift to private companies leading the way in space exploration has opened the doors for a flurry of innovation and the potential for sending humans back to the moon, Cross says, even as it creates regulatory challenges for governments around the world.
"It was really with the advent of the reusable rocket that SpaceX managed to create that opened up the landscape for thinking about sending humans back into space," Cross says. "So much of this has been so dependent on specific political leaders who are interested or not interested in space exploration, but once the private companies started really creating an ecosystem of their own and space travel became dramatically cheaper, this idea of going back to the moon became prominent."
About 80% of the space economy is now dominated by companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. Even though many of these companies receive funding from government agencies like NASA, governments don't have to rely on taxpayer dollars as much to fund space missions and can leverage innovative technologies created by companies that now have financial incentives to invest in space tech.
The involvement of the private sector also helps open the doors for more diplomatic conversations about the future of humanity in space. It makes Cross "cautiously optimistic" that the competitive, sometimes militaristic space race rhetoric won't dominate international discourse.
"When you see the most exciting, latest advancements, they are all cooperative," Cross says. "They increasingly involve private companies, and private companies don't want a war in space—they want profit out of space technologies."
"Space is such a difficult domain to exist in and take advantage of that it makes much more sense for countries of the world to cooperate in trying to explore further rather than to compete," Cross adds.
While space exploration wouldn't be where it is without corporations innovating, Cross says more companies attempting to launch to the moon and beyond complicates space diplomacy in key ways.
There is very little regulation when it comes to corporate space exploration. When the Outer Space Treaty was originally drafted by the United Nations in the 1960s, there was little indication that companies, not countries, would be charting the moon and stars.
"One of the issues that emerges is that private companies see space exploration as profitable because they can mine certain resources in space that are very rare on Earth, but the spirit of the original Outer Space Treaty was that you can't have ownership of anything in space," Cross says. "Now you have a situation where, if anything, the regulation points to private companies not being able to mine in outer space, but if we're going to have this space age that also benefits governments, they need to be able to do that to some extent."
To date, the Artemis Accords are the most serious effort to resolve diplomatic complications like this. If NASA wants Artemis launches, like Peregrine, to both get off the ground and succeed in the long term, Cross says the path forward might involve giving private companies a seat at the table—and not just when it comes to exploring space.
"Increasingly, governments are realizing that they need to bring private actors into the room as well when they're talking about the future of space and norms and regulations that need to emerge out of that," Cross says.
This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu.]
The Last Transmission Of Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, The “Man Who Fell From Space”
It's possible Komarov went into space knowing he would not return. Everyone on the ground knew he would not.
JAMES FELTON Senior Staff Writer Edited by Katy Evans A plaque on the Moon commemorating fallen astronauts and cosmonauts, including Komarov. Image credit: Public domain via NASA/Wikimedia Commons.
In 1967, the Soviet Union celebrated its 50th anniversary. As well as events on the ground, part of these celebrations involved a stunt to be carried out in space, which ultimately ended in the unnecessary death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, who became known as "the man who fell from space".
The plan was to send two spacecraft into orbit. Soyuz 1, containing Komarov, would launch first, and wait for a day for the arrival of the unimaginatively named Soyuz 2. The ships would then meet, and Komarov would do a spacewalk, crawling out of his own craft and into Soyuz 2. One of the two cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 2 would then enter Soyuz 1 before both ships departed for Earth.
There are claims – though heavily disputed – that months before the planned launch it became apparent that it would not go well. According to the book Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, when Yuri Gagarin and other senior technicians inspected the craft, they found 203 structural problems, some of which would make it dangerous were the craft to be sent into space.
A 10-page memo was reportedly made listing the faults. Nobody, possibly for fear of adding their own name to the future death toll of the mission, would take the memo to leader Leonid Brezhnev.
According to the authors of Starman, who interviewed Venyamin Russayev, the KGB agent assigned to mind Gagarin, Komarov's friends attempted to convince him to refuse to fly the craft, figuring that the consequences of that would be less severe than assured death (although, according to space historians, Russayev could have been exaggerating his accounts). However, Komarov knew that if he were to pull out, they would send his friend Gagarin. Komarov refused to pull out, knowing that it likely meant his death.
Instead, Komarov plotted a minor act of revenge on the people who were sending him to his death. He reportedly requested that should anything go wrong, he have an open-casket funeral.
On launch day, Gagarin did not act according to usual protocol, demanding a pressure suit before going down to the launchpad to talk with Komarov. It's possible he was trying to delay the launch enough to get it canceled, but if that was his plan it didn't work. Komarov was launched and made it to space inside the craft. Once there, however, things quickly went wrong when one of the solar panels failed to open, leaving his craft with little power.
The space agency ordered his descent, but his capsule began to spin. He had no way to control his altitude and couldn't get the spacecraft's bottom to face the ground, which meant the landing rockets couldn't cushion the landing. Instead, he tumbled straight down and slammed into the ground with the force of a 2.8-ton meteorite.
According to Starman, Komarov's final words were picked up by US radio outposts in Turkey, saying "This devil ship! Nothing I lay my hands on works properly," as well as letting out cries of rage as he fell to his death.
Official Soviet transcripts, though not to be taken at face value, report that Komarov's last words were: "I feel excellent, everything's in order," before adding "Thank you for transmitting all of that. [Separation] occurred."
According to this version of events, Komarov fell to his death as ground control attempted to reestablish contact.
"Rubin, this is Zarya, how do you hear me? Over," the transcript reads. "Rubin, this is Zarya, how do you hear me? Over. This is Zarya, how do you hear me? Over."
Listen to the Universe: New NASA Sonifications and Documentary
Lee Mohon FEB 28, 2024
Three new sonifications of images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have been released in conjunction with a new documentary about the project that makes its debut on the NASA+ streaming platform.
Sonification is the process of translating data into sounds. In the case of Chandra and other telescopes, scientific data are collected from space as digital signals that are commonly turned into visual imagery. The sonification project takes these data through another step of mapping the information into sound.
The three new sonifications feature different objects observed by NASA telescopes.
The first is MSH 11-52, a supernova remnant blowing a spectacular cloud of energized particles resembling the shape of a human hand, seen in data from Chandra, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), and ground-based optical data.
M74 is a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way and this sonification combines data taken with NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes as well as X-rays from Chandra.
The third object in this new sonification trio is nicknamed the Jellyfish Nebula, also known as IC 443. These data include X-rays from Chandra and the now-retired German ROSAT mission as well as radio data from NSF’s Very Large Array and optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey.
The new documentary, “Listen to the Universe,” now available on NASA+ (https://plus.nasa.gov/) explores how these sonifications are created and profiles the team that makes them possible.
Started in 2020, the NASA sonification project built off of other Chandra projects aimed at reaching blind and visually-impaired audiences. It has since shown to be meaningful to that community but also impacts much wider audiences, finding listeners through traditional and social media around the world.
“We are so excited to partner with NASA+, along with her collaborators at SYSTEMS Sounds, to help tell the story about NASA’s sonification project,” said Kimberly Arcand, Chandra’s Visualization and Emerging Technology Scientist, who leads the sonification efforts. “It’s wonderful to see how this project has grown and reached so many people.”
NASA+ is the agency’s new streaming platform, delivering video and other content about NASA to the public whenever and wherever they want to access it. The on-demand streaming service is available to download on most major platforms via the NASA App on iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices, as well as streaming media players Roku and Apple TV.
“Sonifications add a new dimension to stunning space imagery, and make those images accessible to the blind and low-vision community for the first time,” said Liz Landau, who leads multimedia efforts for NASA’s Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, Washington, and oversaw production of the “Listen to the Universe” documentary. “I was honored to help tell the story of how Dr. Arcand and the System Sounds team make these unique sonic experiences and the broad impact those sonifications have had.”
More information about the NASA sonification project through Chandra, which is made in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning, can be found athttps://chandra.si.edu/sound/
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
