TOXIC DEBRIS AND PARTICULATEParsing the  aftermath of SpaceX's explosive Starship flight test

• Jacob Knutson

Apr 28, 2023 - Science

A person walking through a debris field in front of SpaceX's Starship launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 22. Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Before SpaceX's Starship exploded above Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, it spread debris for miles and caused the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground the program to determine what went wrong during the test.

Why it matters: While these types of FAA safety investigations are standard for launches that don't go according to plan, this one could delay future Starship flight tests, which may have cascading effects on SpaceX and its partners, including NASA.

• NASA is relying on Starship's success, as it selected SpaceX to develop a lunar lander variant of the spacecraft to carry two American astronauts to the moon and back as part of Artemis III, which is currently set for late 2025.

Details: The FAA said in an April 20 statement that an "anomaly" occurred during the vehicle's ascent and before the Super Heavy booster was supposed to separate from the Starship spacecraft, forcing SpaceX to trigger the vehicle to explode shortly after liftoff.

• Starship returning to flight will depend on the FAA confirming "that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," the administration said.
• Video taken during the launch and subsequent photos showed that the rocket punched a crater through its launch pad, which generated a massive cloud of dust and threw large chunks of debris far from the launch site.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), after its damage assessment of the launch, said concrete chunks, stainless steel sheets, metal and other objects were hurled "thousands of feet away" from the launch pad, while a cloud of pulverized concrete "deposited material up to 6.5 miles northwest" of the site.

• FWS told Axios in a statement its staff members found pieces of debris spread across approximately 385 acres of SpaceX property and Boca Chica State Park, which is leased by the service as part of the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge.
• It said no debris was found on refuge lands and no dead birds or wildlife had been reported, but the launch did ignite a 3.5-acre fire south of the pad site on state park land.
• Residents of Port Isabel, a town six miles northwest of the launch site, told the New York Times that at least one window shattered during the launch, while a granular dust coated vehicles and buildings as the debris cloud passed over the city.

What they're saying: After the launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said a water-cooled steel plate the company is developing to reinforce the Starship launch pad was not ready in time for April 20 launch.

• He said the company, based on previous static fires with the Super Heavy booster, expected that the concrete pad would survive at least one launch and decided to proceed with the test.
• "Still early in analysis, but the force of the engines when they throttled up may have shattered the concrete, rather than simply eroding it. The engines were only at half thrust for the static fire test," Musk said.
• The launch pad's destruction may have also contributed to engine failure during the test, as several of the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines had malfunctioned on the ascent.

The big picture: Though Musk said SpaceX could be ready to launch Starship again "in 1 to 2 months," FAA mishap investigations can take longer.

• For example, the administration's investigation into Blue Origin's failed New Shepard uncrewed launch in September 2022 has been ongoing for more than seven months, though the company expects the rocket to return to flight by the end of 2023, according to Reuters.

Between the lines: Tolerating risk and learning from failures have been central to SpaceX's development process, but too much risk and unexpected blunders may raise safety concerns that the company will have to resolve with federal regulators.

Go deeper: Japan's ispace appears to have failed to land on the Moon

ESA's Jupiter-bound Juice spacecraft has a sticky problem with its radar

Time to shake, rattle, and roll the probe to remove pesky antenna pin

Katyanna Quach
Sat 29 Apr 2023

A tiny pin stuck in place on ESA's Juice spacecraft may be preventing engineers from unfurling its 16-metre-long antenna as it zooms toward Jupiter.

Launched two weeks ago, the probe just started its eight-year voyage to the largest planet in our Solar System to take a closer look at the Jovian moons first spotted by Galileo Galilei: Europa, Callisto, Ganymede, and Io.

Juice won't begin its scientific observations until it gets much closer to its target, the Jupiter system, in around 2031, and is right now unpacking hardware previously stowed away for launch. But controllers are having trouble extending its Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) antenna, an instrument designed to analyze the Jovian moons' surfaces and examine what might lie beneath it.

Astronomers are particularly interested in finding any hidden liquid oceans flowing beneath the icy crusts of Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. RIME was designed to probe up to nine kilometers below the surface and see if the theories of vast undersea resources are accurate and how useful they could be.

"Juice's ice-penetrating RIME antenna has not yet been deployed as planned," ESA said in a statement. "During the first week of commissioning, an issue arose with the 16-metre-long RIME antenna, which is preventing it from being released from its mounting bracket."

Engineers believe the issue might be due to a small pin that's got stuck and is hindering the antenna from expanding fully. It's estimated that this pin needs to be shifted just a few millimetres to fix the issue

.ESA's Juice blasts off to squeeze secrets from Jupiter's moons
Launching soon: ESA's Juice to probe Jupiter's moons for signs of possible life
The Register gets up close and personal with ESA's JUICE spacecraft
Juno what? Jupiter's Great Red Spot is much deeper than originally thought

The RIME antenna is currently only extended a third of its full length, according to an image snapped by a camera onboard the spacecraft.

RIME still trying to deploy ... Source: ESA

Mission control is planning to execute an engine burn and rotate Juice in a bid to jostle its components around and warm up RIME to encourage the pin to shake loose.

"Juice is otherwise performing excellently after the successful deployment and operation of its mission-critical solar arrays and medium gain antenna, as well as its 10.6-m magnetometer boom," ESA confirmed.

The Euro space agency said it has a lot of time to fix the antenna's issue since the spacecraft still has two months of planned commissioning left. Juice is set to arrive at Jupiter in the next decade, and begin exploring its moons over the following four years; the mission is expected to last until 2035. ®

UK

Members of the PCS take industrial strike today in an ongoing dispute surrounding pay, pensions and compensation within HMRC

Staff in HMRC have walked out today in a bid to see a pay increase which will match the rate of inflation.

By Sophie Lewis
Published 28th Apr 2023

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) are taking part in industrial action across the country today in an ongoing dispute regarding pay, pensions and compensation.

Like many of the other strikes that have been taking place across different industries, the main issue that members of the unions are fighting for is the rate of pay not increasing accordingly to the rate of inflation.

The PCS is one of the biggest unions in the UK and predominantly works alongside civil servants who work within the government or other public bodies.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union are taking a stand across the country to achieve a pay increase that matches the rate of inflation. Pictured: Union members at the Portsmouth branch of HMRC, located at Lynx House.

Staff members at the Portsmouth branch of HMRC, based at Lynx House, were stood united on the picket line outside their workplace this morning to show that they are not backing down

Dave Hansford, PCS branch chair for Portsmouth, said: ‘There are pickets at all of the revenue buildings today and it is a national campaign around our pay, pensions and compensations.

‘Obviously the climate we have is all due to the rate of inflation which is about 10 per cent so we are looking for that and also with our pensions, we are over-paying to the civil service scheme by about two per cent since about 2019 so we are looking for the government to stop that.

‘It is a sad state of affairs and next year it may be the same thing – We do collections for local food banks here and I am pretty sure that some of the younger and lone workers have to get some food from the food banks and I think that is shameful in a country as rich as ours.’

Dave also said that it is poor that some staff were receiving such a low wage that they had to have a pay increase to meet the minimum wage rate.

PCS General secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘Our members are not backing down in this dispute. Ministers need to take notice that we’re escalating our action and they need to resolve the dispute by putting money on the table.’

UK
Nurses have worked ‘tirelessly’ to ensure strike is safe for patients, says RCN

General secretary of the Royal College of Nursing Pat Cullen speaks to media outside BBC Broadcasting House in London

 (Lucy North/PA)

By Luke O'Reilly, PA
Today at 04:35

Nurses have worked “tirelessly” with NHS England to make sure their strike is safe for patients, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said.

The RCN will hold industrial action from 8pm on Sunday until 11.59pm on Monday after voting to reject the latest Government offer.

The union initially said it would not agree to derogations – broad areas of care where staffing is guaranteed despite industrial action – but granted some exemptions on Friday in an apparent U-turn.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is among organisations where nurses have agreed to derogations after it voiced “serious concerns” about patient safety during the walkout.





The hospital said it was “incredibly grateful” to RCN members for offering assurances but took the decision not to stand down a “business continuity incident” it had previously declared until it was confident it could staff its services over the strike.

On Sunday, RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said there are national exemptions in place for “those really acute urgent services”.

Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Ms Cullen said: “There are national exemptions in place for a range of services, for emergency departments, for intensive care units, for neonatal units, paediatric intensive care units, those really acute urgent services.

“We have put national exemptions in place, we’ve worked tirelessly with NHS England.

“In fact, it was the Royal College of Nursing who contacted NHS England to ask for a process to be put in place so that we make sure that the strike was safe for our patients.”

She said the strike was going ahead because staffing shortages are putting patients’ lives at risk.

“They’re going on strike because patients’ lives are being put at risk every single day,” Ms Cullen said.

“And why? Because we have tens of thousands of vacant nursing posts.”

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said there are national exemptions in place for ‘those really acute urgent services’ (PA) — © Jeff

Transport Secretary Mark Harper urged the RCN to accept the pay offer for its members.Mr Harper said: “I would urge them to think again and to do what the other trade unions in the health service have done, which is to accept what I think is a fair and reasonable pay offer, reflecting the value that we do place on hardworking NHS

NHS England is urging the public to use the health service wisely.

It said emergency and urgent care would remain the priority, with people asked to use other services such as pharmacies and 111 where possible.

Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and are the biggest proportion of the health service workforce.

NHS England warned that staffing levels for some areas of the country will be “exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days”.

It added the number of rescheduled appointments due to strike action is set to hit half a million next week.

A High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the RCN strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned, meaning it will now end just before midnight on Monday.

NHS strikes: Nurses will go on strike in England today

Published

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,

Nurses protest over pay

Thousands of nurses in England will not go to work later today, as they begin their latest round of strikes.

Nurses in half of England's hospitals will go on strike from 8pm tonight until the end of bank holiday Monday - with NHS bosses warning of significant disruption.

The protests are part of a series of strikes by NHS staff in recent months. They want more pay to help with the cost of living crisis.

More on this story

Biggest-ever round of NHS strikes begin

What is a strike and why do they happen?

What is a trade union?

What is the 'cost of living' crisis?

The strike is being held by nurses who are members of the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) union,

It was originally supposed to last until Tuesday evening, but the government said this was illegal. The High Court agreed, and so the strike has been cut short.

Half of nurses in England's hospitals, mental health and community services will be participating in the walk out.

It will be the first time that some services like intensive care will be affected - this is the department in a hospital where people are treated if they're seriously ill, or if they're recovering from surgery.

What is a union?

• A trade union is an association of workers that wants to make things better in their workplace
• They speak for their members over all important parts of their job, like wages and working hours

IMAGE SOURCE,EPA

Image caption,

General Secretary of the Royal College of Nurses Pat Cullen with nurses outside the High Court in London

Government Health Secretary Steve Barclay has called the latest walkout "disappointing" and accused the RCN of risking patient safety.

General secretary of the RCN Pat Cullen said they regret taking further action, but that "nursing staff are looking for a fair settlement that shows the government values and understands their profession".

The NHS is advising people who are seriously ill or injured to call 999 as usual, or 111 if it's not urgent.

Why are the nurses striking?

Members of the Royal College of Nursing - the biggest nursing union in the country - voted for this strike action because they do not think they're getting paid enough.

Members of Unite, one of the smaller health unions, will also be taking some action on Monday.

They're demanding a better pay deal from the government not only to keep up with the current cost of living crisis, but also to attract more people into nursing, to help with understaffing.

The government has offered a 5% pay rise for 2023-24 and a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up last year's salary, depending on how senior they are, but the RCN say this isn't enough.

Nurses have already walked out twice this year - on 6 and 7 February and on 18 and 19 January.

The RCN has said it will ask members about further strike action once this walkout is over.

GMB union votes to accept NHS pay offer after Unite rejects government deal

After polling its members, including ambulance workers and other NHS staff, 56% voted in favour of the latest deal from the government.

Jennifer Scott
Politics Reporter @NifS
Friday 28 April 2023 

 UK



National secretary of GMB says new pay offer wouldn't have happened without industrial action

Members of the GMB union have voted to accept the government's pay offer for NHS staff.

The union balloted its members - who include ambulance workers and other NHS staff - and 56% voted in favour of the deal, which would give NHS workers a one-off payment of between £1,250 and £2,000 and a 5% pay rise for the coming year.

Members of the largest NHS union, Unison, have already voted to accept the offer, but earlier today, Unite rejected it by a vote of 52% to 48%.

The Royal College of Nursing has also turned down the deal and is planning additional strikes this weekend - though the length of the walkout was curtailed after the government took them to court.

Earlier today, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the well-known children's hospital, declared a "business continuity incident" ahead of the action, saying it had "serious concerns over safely staffing the hospital" during the strikes.

Health secretary Steve Barclay said the acceptance of the deal by Unison and the GMB "demonstrates it is a fair and reasonable proposal that can bring this dispute to an end".

'More needs to be done'

The national secretary of GMB, Rachel Harrison, said the new pay offer wouldn't have happened without the industrial action that had taken place over recent months.

"Our members recognise that progress has been made - from the government originally offering nothing, health workers will be thousands of pounds better off," she added.

"It also meets a key GMB demand of a huge pay uplift for the lowest paid, lifting them above the Real Living Wage.

"But so much more needs to be done for workers if we are all to get the NHS we need."
 NHS have not choice but to take further action after latest pay deal was rejected, says Unite

Unite union on rejection: 'We now have absolutely no choice.'

Ms Harrison said the GMB would now vote to accept the offer at a meeting of the NHS Staff Council next week.

But she did call for further action for its ambulance worker members "starting by addressing their retirement and unsocial hours enhancements concerns".

She added: "Today is just one step in the battle to restore NHS workers' decade of lost earnings.

"GMB will continue this fight, so that the NHS and ambulance workers, who serve and care for the public, finally get the fair deal they deserve."

Mr Barclay said: "I've always said I want a fair resolution that recognises the outstanding job of NHS staff and also protects the government's commitment to halve inflation - and I'm hopeful the NHS Staff Council accepts our offer when they meet next week."

Teacher strikes

Elsewhere, the National Education Union confirmed on Friday that it would be balloting its members again over whether they wanted to stage further walkouts over pay and conditions.

The government had offered teachers a £1,000 payment for the current school year - on top of an average 5.4% rise last September - plus an average 4.5% rise next year.

But it was roundly rejected by the union's members who called the offer "insulting" and said between 42% and 58% of schools would have to make cuts to afford it.

Four education unions could now come together to see both teachers and head teachers coordinate strike action later in the year if the government doesn't move.

Joint general secretary of the NEU Dr May Bousted aimed her attacks at education secretary Gillian Keegan

The NEU's joint general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, has written to education secretary Gillian Keegan to warn about possible joint action.

She said: "This action should be entirely unnecessary. Despite both the governments in Wales and Scotland reaching a settlement, Gillian Keegan has wilfully washed her hands of anything to do with the dispute for a fully funded pay rise for teachers in England.

"The secretary of state who remains, by some distance, the biggest obstacle to getting a sensible resolution, needs to address this issue head-on and come to the negotiating table with all the education unions.

"This wilful lack of engagement will be something that parents and teachers will not forget."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "For unions to coordinate strike action with the aim of causing maximum disruption to schools is unreasonable and disproportionate, especially given the impact the pandemic has already had on their learning.

"Children's education has always been our absolute priority and they should be in classrooms where they belong.

"We have made a fair and reasonable teacher pay offer to the unions, which recognises teachers' hard work and commitment as well as delivering at additional £2bn in funding for schools, which they asked for."

European Airline Flight Cancellations Increase By 65%

BY LUKE BODELL

Europe was the worst-affected global region for cancelations by some distance.

European flight cancelations shot up in March as airlines faced a sharp rise in striking action from aviation workers. Over 14,000 flights were canceled during the month, with almost every global region suffering a rise in cancelations.

European aviation strike fallout

According to Cirium data, Europe saw 14,405 flights scrapped in March, a 65% increase on February's total of 8,713. Europe was by far the largest regional jump in a month that saw global cancelations rise to over 72,900, a 20% increase on the 60,780 in February.

As quoted by Irish Times, Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen attributed the region's struggles to "a number of last-minute air traffic control and airport strikes," particularly the air traffic control (ATC) strikes in France that have impacted over 50 days in 2023 alone, a ten-fold rise on all of 2022. German aviation has also suffered its fair share of industrial action this year, including huge transport network strikes towards the end of March.

Ryanair has said the French ATC strikes alone have caused it to cancel over 3,700 flights, impacting around 660,000 passengers, while easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren believes up to 10 million passengers overall have been affected by the strikes so far.

The domestic situation has become a wider headache for European airspace, as a significant number of flights need to pass over French territory on their optimal routings. Data from eurocontrol reveals 15% of flights to/from Spain were impacted between March 1st and April 9th, while Germany, Italy and the UK experienced disruption to 6-8% of flights, due to the French airspace situation.

Cancelations up everywhere except North America

Cirium's report revealed that four of five major geographic regions - Middle East & Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Europe - experienced a rise in cancelations in March, with North America bucking the trend after recording a 16% reduction.


A worrying trend

French air traffic control recently announced a strike on the upcoming Labour Day public holiday on May 1st. Authorities have warned of disruption from Sunday, April 30th to the morning of Tuesday, May 2nd, and are requesting around 33% of flights be cut on May 1st.

It won't just be flights originating from or destined for France impacted, with delays and possible cancelations expected for flights passing over the country. According to Euronews, French airspace sees around 3,700 commercial overflights and around 3,300 takeoffs and landings on a regular day.

With last-minute strikes continuing to impact German airports, European travelers will keep an eye on a concerning rise in cancelations as the summer travel rush approaches.