SpaceX’s Elon Musk wants the Space Force to become Star Fleet | TheHill – The Hill

Last December, around the time that Congress passed and President TrumpDonald John TrumpThe Hill's Morning Report - Trump takes unexpected step to stem coronavirus Democrats start hinting Sanders should drop out Coronavirus disrupts presidential campaigns MORE signed into law the legislation that created the United States Space Force, SpaceX CEOElon Musk tweeted, Starfleet begins.

Musks tweet was put down to an excess of exuberance. For the foreseeable future, the closest that Space Force personnel will get to war fighting in space will be sitting at consoles controlling satellites and space-based weapons systems. No one is going to stride the bridge of the Starship Enterprise for a very long time.

But it seems that Musk was in earnest. Recently,according to Space.com, he was engaged in a fireside chat at a meeting of the Air Force Associations Air War Symposium taking place in Orlando, Florida. He spoke at length on the need for rapid innovation so that the United States can stay ahead of its nearest rival, China, in dominating the high frontier of space.

In order to really foster the kind of innovation that is needed, Musk stated, We gotta make Star Fleet happen. He went on to suggest that while warp drive and transporters are still a long way away, there could be --big spaceships that can go far places? Definitely. That can be done."

What sort of big spaceships one might ask? It happens that Musk is working on one at a growing facility at Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville. In keeping with the Star Trek theme, the vehicle is called the Starship. It will be a reusable space vehicle, launched into space by a first stage called the Super Heavy. With refueling, the Starship is designed to deliver 100 tons of people and material to the moon or Mars as needed.

Eric Berger at Ars Technica paid a visit to Boca Chica recently.In his account, he describes an operation that is so fast paced that it makes the Apollo race to the moon seem like a leisurely stroll by comparison. Musk is determined to build a fleet of a thousand Starship rockets at a pace of one a week to help fulfill his dream of founding a city on Mars. So far, he is doing that on his own dime, though he would never turn down a contract from NASA or the Space Force, for that matter.

The Starship will be able to do a few other things as well, from providing point-to-point transportation anywhere on Earth to supporting NASAs Project Artemis to establish a base on the moon. Elon MuskElon Reeve MuskHillicon Valley: Biden overtakes Sanders in Facebook ad spending for first time | New HHS rules would give patients access to health data | Twitter flags edited Biden video retweeted by Trump SpaceX's Elon Musk wants the Space Force to become Star Fleet Elon Musk: Panic over the coronavirus is 'dumb' MORE suggests that the reusable rocket ship could form the basis of a real-life Star Fleet.

What would the Space Force do with its own fleet of rocket ships? It might use them to, in the near term, learn to operate in space with a view to executing its mission of defending Americas space assets and, if necessary, striking at those of an enemy such as China or Russia.

NASA and other space agencies use spacecraft for one-off exploration missions. It was true during Apollo, and it will be true, at least initially, when Project Artemis becomes reality. The Space Force could develop rocket ships in the same way as every navy has ocean-going ships. The SpaceX Starship could be the very first ship of space to be used over and over again, a sort of space-faring version of the ocean-going galleon that Francis Drake sailed to explore the Americas and to fight the Spanish.

As the role of the United States and her allies in space evolves and grows, so would the Space Forces mission. Moon bases, asteroid mining facilities, space-based manufacturing and Musks dreamed of Mars settlement will need defending.

The Space Force will be not only a war-fighting service, but also a rescue organization, a peace-keeping force and even a space debris collection group. It may eventually take over space exploration duties from NASA or have the entire space agency folded into it.

To use a slightly altered version of a well-known line:

Space, the final frontier, our continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Not to mention make Elon Musk richer than he already is and make the United States the undisputed superpower on and beyond the Earth for the foreseeable future. A marvelous win-win situation, that.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space and politics, has published a political study of space exploration entitledWhy is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?as well asThe Moon, Mars and Beyond. He blogs atCurmudgeons Corner.

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SpaceX's Elon Musk wants the Space Force to become Star Fleet | TheHill - The Hill

NASA needs astronauts. Do you have what it takes for outer space? – We Are The Mighty

Do some people call you a Space Cowboy? Or do they call you a Gangster of Love?

Well, if they do, have we got the job for you!

NASA recently announced that it is accepting candidates for its next astronaut class. The goal is to have humans on the Moon by 2024 with the next step of setting foot on Mars by the mid-2030s.

Dubbed the Artemis Generation, this new class of space cadets will make up the core of what should be the most historic period of space exploration since the Apollo Program.

"America is closer than any other time in history since the Apollo program to returning astronauts to the Moon. We will send the first woman and next man to the lunar South Pole by 2024, and we need more astronauts to follow suit on the Moon, and then Mars," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "We're looking for talented men and women from diverse backgrounds and every walk of life to join us in this new era of human exploration that begins with the Artemis program to the Moon. If you have always dreamed of being an astronaut, apply now."

The last time NASA took applications, over 18,000 people applied for what would end up being 11 spots.

The odds are against you right?

You may be a genius when it comes to knowing everything during comment wars on Facebook, but to be an astronaut, you have to be educated in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) field with a minimum of a bachelor's degree from an accredited university. (the University of Hard Knocks doesn't count sorry) plus at least three years of proficiency in your field. Advanced degrees go a long way.

If you want to be a pilot (the new Orion might be the new transport for Americans), you must have over 1,000 hours of command pilot experience under your belt.

People usually focus on the science and education portion of being an astronaut without realizing that physical fitness is a major part of being accepted. Astronauts used to be only military men, but with the expansion of applicants into the civilian side, NASA makes sure that everyone that makes it into the interview stage (by this time down to 120 from 18,000) can pass a strenuous physical and medical exam.

It will probably be a bit more complicated than this.

As a civilian, you get paid GS11 to GS14 wages. If you are in the military still, you will get your typical military pay based on your rank and time in service.

If you made it past the initial selection, interviews and physical and medical exams, then you have to go through nearly two years of Astronaut training. What does that entail?

Here are some of the things you will have to learn and show proficiency in:

Candidates must complete military water survival and become SCUBA qualified to prepare them for spacewalk training. Astronaut Candidates must pass a swimming test in their first month of training. They must swim three lengths of a 25-meter pool without stopping, and then swim three lengths of the pool in a flight suit and sneakers. They also have to tread water for 10 minutes wearing a flight suit.

Candidates are exposed to problems associated with high (hyperbaric) and low (hypobaric) atmospheric pressures in the altitude chambers and learn to deal with emergencies associated with these conditions.

Additionally, candidates are given exposure to space flight during training in modified jet aircraft (the Vomit Comet) as it performs maneuvers that produce weightlessness for about 20 seconds. This sequence is repeated up to 40 times in a day.

Finally, Astronaut Candidate Program will require successful completion of the following:

Easy right?

If you think you have what it takes, go to USAJobs and apply!

The deadline is March 31.

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NASA needs astronauts. Do you have what it takes for outer space? - We Are The Mighty

Asteroid mining: NASAs off-world ambitions to trigger a new Space Race – Express.co.uk

Asteroids are rich in natural resources which are dwindling on our planet, so scientists have identified space rocks as a gap in the market. For example, many asteroids are rich in the mineral platinum, which is growing more and more scarce here on Earth.

Platinum is extremely valuable and costs around $1million (686,982) per 1000 cubic centimetres.

To put that into perspective, an asteroid which passed Earth in 2016 which had 3.7trillion worth of platinum.

A new report has now identified up to 9,000 Near Earth Objects (NEOs) which could be ideal candidates to mine for their resources.

Not only could the space rocks be mined, but they could also help with planet colonisation and even to protect Earth from inbound asteroids.

The study from market research firm ReportLinker said: Space exploration is vitally important for our future and offers a new reality that can help us solve problems that we face on Earth, including resource and population pressures, reduced energy supplies, protection of the environment, scientific advances, new manufacturing and production processes, space tourism and settlement.

It is estimated that there are more than 9,000 NEOs; they are classified based on their mineral composition.

It is estimated that almost two asteroids are discovered every day.

Most have resources that can be extracted with the development of advanced spacecraft, fuel and related technologies including communications, remote sensing, approaching and surface operations, sample collection and testing.

Asteroid mining or space mining could help start the colonisation of planets where finding water would be imperative.

READ MORE:Asteroid news: Watch as fireball EXPLODES over Germany

Also, the water (H2O) can be broken down into hydrogen (used as fuel) and oxygen (air to breathe) and water is used to help grow food, as well as protective shield from the harsh rays from the space such as UV, infrared and others.

Also, asteroid mining can help in tackling the incoming asteroids that have the potential to hit Earth.

NASA is expected to launch a probe to asteroid 16 Psyche in 2022, which is 156.5 miles (252km) in diameter and experts estimate that it is worth up to 8,000 quadrillion (8,000,000,000,000,000,000) due to the wealth of rare minerals on it such as platinum.

The space agency is sending the probe to the asteroid in order to study the origins of our solar system, as the space rocks are often the leftover debris from planetary formations.

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Asteroid mining: NASAs off-world ambitions to trigger a new Space Race - Express.co.uk

Asteroids: Asteroid mining may provide the foundation of colonizing other planets – EconoTimes

Many of the worlds natural resources are depleting with a very slim chance of sustainability. As space exploration continues with upcoming missions to the moon and to Mars, scientists are opening up the possibility of asteroid mining as a way to colonize other planets.

Analyzing asteroids that have passed by and or have yet to pass by Earth, scientists found that these rocks are rich in metals and elements that could inevitably solve the gaps in the market. One example would be an asteroid that flew by Earth back in 2016 that was found to have contained over four trillion dollars worth of platinum, which already costs $1 million per cubic centimeter.

A recent report reveals that 9,000 of the Near-Earth Objects identified by space agencies all over the world have the potential to be mined for its resources. Along with its resources, mining asteroids could provide the foundation for planet colonization and perhaps even defend the Earth from more dangerous asteroids and potential asteroid collisions.

According to a study by ReportLinker, space exploration is crucial for the future and can potentially solve many problems that are faced on Earth, from resources to population control, among many other noted issues. They also pointed out how asteroid mining can help start planet colonization, where finding a water source is important.

Upon finding the water source in other planets, The water can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, and water is used to help grow food as well as a protective shield from the harsh rays from space.

Meanwhile, NASAs asteroid trackers recently spotted an asteroid hurtling towards Earth at a speed of 21,000 miles per hour. The scientists predict that it will be arriving in Earths orbit on the 12th of March. Named 2018 GY, this is classified as a Near-Earth Object or NEO that is on a close approach trajectory. This space rock measures between 95 feet to 213 feet in diameter, a little larger than Cinderellas castle at Disneyland at the most but at least as big as a cricket pitch.

It will fortunately only pass by Earth when it arrives, only getting as close as 0.01594 astronomical units. This is equivalent to 2.38 million kilometers away from Earth.

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Asteroids: Asteroid mining may provide the foundation of colonizing other planets - EconoTimes

How Star Trek’s Prime Directive is influencing real-time space law – SYFY WIRE

Michelle Hanlon moved around a lot while growing up. Her parents were part of the Foreign Service, the government agency that formulates and enacts U.S. policy abroad, so she found herself in new places all the time. Despite relocating often, one memory of her childhood remains constant. "We always had Star Trek," Hanlon tells SYFY WIRE. "You know how families have dinner around the table? I remember eating meals in front of Star Trek, watching it no matter where we were."

That connection to Star Trek, in part, inspired Hanlon to create For All Moonkind, a volunteer non-profit with the goal of preserving the Apollo landing sites on the Moon, alongside promoting the general preservation of history and heritage in outer space.

Hanlon, who is a career attorney, has always had an interest in outer space. She didn't study engineering or other sciences while at school, though, so she felt it couldn't be more than a hobby. But after Johann-Dietrich Wrner, the head of the European Space Agency, made an offhand joke about how China may remove the United State's flag from the Apollo moon landing site during a press conference, Hanlon started thinking about space preservation and what would eventually become For All Moonkind. She started the group in 2017 with her husband after returning to school to get a master's degree in space law.

One point Hanlon and For All Moonkind stress is the idea that we can only preserve our history in space if we put the space race behind us and do it together an ideal partially inspired by Star Trek. "I've never felt that I couldn't do what I wanted because of my gender or race because I grew up with Star Trek," Hanlon, who has a Polish father and Chinese mother, says. "The diversity [in] Star Trek was a reflection of my life; I was shocked to not see it when I came back to the U.S."

Hanlon especially looks up to George Takei, who was one of the first Asian actors to play a heroic character on TV as Star Trek's Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu. And she remembers the story of how Martin Luther King Jr. convinced Nichelle Nichols to remain on Star Trek after the actress wanted to leave her role as Communication Officer Lieutenant Uhura. Both are examples of Stark Trek as a progressive melting pot. Stories like those, and the overall diversity of the cast, helped shape her worldview.

That same mindset, where diversity and cooperation will be the only way we'll get further in outer space, has seeped into her work with For All Moonkind. The organization helped get the One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act a law that would see "all U.S. government licenses related to space include requirements preserving the Apollo landing sites" passed in the Senate in July 2019. The bill is currently waiting to go through the House of Representatives, although both Hanlon and other space experts believe it's not a high priority for lawmakers with the election underway.

Hanlon and other volunteers are also working with international governments and organizations to pass a resolution through the United Nations. "We keep reaching people and getting positive feedback, we've gotten a lot of informal support," she says. "People keep saying come back. We count that as a win."

Convincing international governments and groups is one of the primary obstacles For All Moonkind faces in its path to preserving parts of our history in the United States. "If it's framed as something that's overseen or controlled by the U.S., then it'll be a problem," Ram Jakhu, an associate professor of law at McGill University and a space law expert, explains.

Additionally, For All Moonkind is pushing governments to think about what it means to own property in outer space. The Outer Space Treaty act in 1967 prohibited "any government or international entity from claiming property on the moon." It's something that most governments haven't considered due to it "not being a big priority," Hanlon says. "Everyone thinks they have so much time, but it's really around the corner."

"The moon is going to be very crowded soon," she adds, emphasizing that we're going to miss our chance at preservation if we don't take action immediately.

The United Nations is currently focused on the impact of orbital debris, but For All Moonkind is leading the conversation about preservation.

"The real question when you talk about the moon is property," Hanlon says. "You can't own property on the moon." The Outer Space Treaty prohibits any government from claiming property on the moon, and despite growing plans to return to the Moon (and even Mars by 2022) governments have yet to consider what property ownership might look like in space.

While Hanlon and other For All Moonkind volunteers urge governments and space groups from around the world to act, they are trying to spread awareness and approach the problem from other angles. For instance, they're currently compiling an interactive database of all the Apollo landing sites and objects on the moon. They plan to build a site so visitors can learn more about the Apollo missions and For All Moonkind's preservation mission. They don't have a confirmed release date for the site yet.

Over the past 20 years, space exploration has changed from a mostly private endeavor to something that private companies can take part in. It's a big shift from space exploration's origin in the Cold War. "We initially went into space as part of an international competition that was driven by national pride and security," said Robert Pearlman, another For All Moonkind board member and the founder of collectSPACE. But now that there isn't a race to colonize the moon or land a person on Mars first, people such as Pearlman and Hanlon believe space exploration is something that needs to be completed together, cooperatively and not competitively.

For All Moonkind is leading the charge in trying to unite groups from all over the world so they can complete their mission to preserve part of our history in space. They still have a ways to go, but they have no plans to stop. Star Trek, with all of its sci-fi glory, is a small part of how they got to where they are today.

"Star Trek is an inspiration, from a regulatory standpoint," Pearlman says. "The Prime Directive, where you do no harm, is the way we approach the idea that the solar system doesn't belong to anyone. The flag we planted wasn't a symbol that we own it, just that we were there."

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How Star Trek's Prime Directive is influencing real-time space law - SYFY WIRE

Yes the Soviets Built a "Space Cannon" to Fight America During the Cold War – The National Interest

Key point:It is no surprise that during the tense Cold War, Russia put a weapon in space. Both superpowers were interested in militarizing the heavens.

On June 25, 1974, the Salyut 3 space station and its two-cosmonaut crew blasted into space. On the surface, it seemed like just another space exploration mission. TheSalyutswere the Soviet counterpart to America's Skylab, civilian spacecraft designed to conduct experiments, test what happens to the human body during long-duration spaceflight and, incidentally, to garner some Cold War propaganda points.

This first appeared several years ago and is being reposted due to reader interest.

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But though the mission was called Salyut ("Salute"), it was just a cover name. In reality, Salyut 3 was theAlmaz2 military space station.

The mission of theAlmazstations was surveillance, similar to the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory in the1960s. The idea was that a vantage point 170 miles high made for the perfect observation post. America cancelled the MOL, but the Soviets launched threeAlmazspacecraft between 1973 and 1976.

However, there was something different about Salyut 3/Almaz2. It wasn't just a military space station. It was anarmedmilitary space station.Almaz2 was equipped with a small cannon to test whether Soviet spacecraft could protect themselves from American anti-space weapons.

Recommended:A Hypersonic Arms Race is Coming.

Details are sketchy, but some have emerged over time. "According to published accounts, reportedly confirmed by the spacecraft commander,PavelPopovich, the station carried a modified Soviet jet interceptor cannon. It was aNudelman-Rikhter'Vulkan' gun, similar to models installed on the Mig-19, Mig-21 and theSukhoi-7," writes JamesOberg,a leading Western authority on the Soviet space program.

Some sources believe it was a 23-millimeter cannon, while others put the caliber at 30 millimeters. "The gun was fixed along the station's long axis and aimed by turning the station, guided by a sighting screen at the station control post,"Obergwrites. A Wikipedia entry states the cannon had 32 rounds.

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The cannon was apparently test-fired by remote control from the ground, during a period when no cosmonauts were aboard. This means thatAlmazdidfire its weapons, albeit not in anger. "On 24 January 1975 trials of a special system aboard Salyut-3 were carried out with positive results at ranges from3000mto500m," according to anEncyclopediaAstronauticaentry. "These were undoubtedly the reported tests of the on-board 23 mmNudelmannaircraft cannon (other sources say it was aNudelmannNR-30 30 mm gun). Cosmonauts have confirmed that a target satellite was destroyed in the test."

TheAlmaz'scannon was certainly no offensive weapon like the Death Star's planet-buster ray, or the H-bombs that Americans feared would drop on their heads during the panic over Sputnik in the1950s. However, experts differ on how effective it would have been in space combat.

Obergwrites that "at ranges of less than a kilometer it could have been highly effective, as long as it was not fired crosswise to the stations orbital motion, in which case orbital mechanics would have brought the bullets back to the station within one orbit!"

Tony Williams,who has written a history of cannon and machine guns, tellsThe National Interestthat "vibration was certainly a problem, discovered when ground-firing the gun installed on the spacecraft, and meant that the gun was only test-fired in space during unmanned missions. Recoil would need to have been compensated by the spacecraft's steering/propulsion system. Lack of air would not be a problem, but I expect that temperature extremes might have been."

Space warfare expert PaulSzymanskibelieves that it was possible to operate the cannon in space, but there would have been some issues, especially in fire control. "The trajectory of the fired shell would be curved, based on gravity (same as on Earth), so the aiming mechanism would have to account for this, along with the great speeds of theAlmazspacecraft and the target," he tells theThe National Interest. In addition, destroying a high-speed anti-space weapon at close range might have resulted inAlmazbeing hit by fast debris.

The Soviet space cannon was defensive, but what would it have defended against? The fictional U.S. Space Marines in that famous and bizarre scene from the James Bond movie "Moonraker"? Anti-satellite weapons existChina is reportedly developing them while the U.S. destroyed one of its malfunctioning satellites with ananti-ballistic missile in 2006. But the technology is still largely untested.

In any event, one pities the poor cosmonaut who would have tried to gun down a rocket headed toward at five miles per second.

This first appeared several years ago and is being reposted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters

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Yes the Soviets Built a "Space Cannon" to Fight America During the Cold War - The National Interest

Kerbal Space Program 2 heads to space while grounded in science – PCGamesN

Kerbal Space Program has a secret, but its not hard to find it just takes some time. As you fiddle with rocket configurations and fuel payloads, while youre nervously watching the countdown timer on the launchpad, as you adjust an orbital velocity, suddenly it happens: something clicks, and you get it. And once you get it, you just want to see what you can do with it.

The open secret of Kerbal Space program is that it offers players true insight into orbital physics in a way most classrooms cant. The sequel is coming out this year, and while Kerbal Space Program 2 has its sights set on interstellar travel and other feats that are still strictly theoretical, its designers are keen to maintain the originals ability to thrill, awe, and ultimately teach.

The sort of accidentally educational aspect of this game is one of the most beautiful things about it, creative director Nate Simpson says. Its not a capital E educational game, and we dont market it as such, but then you learn some really big, fundamental stuff about the way the universe works which is very rare for a videogame.

For most players, the a-ha moment is when they first understand reallyunderstand how an orbit works.

Everyone knows what an orbit is its when a thing goes around another thing! Michael Cook, executive producer at publisher Private Division, says. But theres a moment when you realise that youre not flying up to get to space, youre flying sidewaysto get to space. And then theres a series of concepts prograde and retrograde where youre essentially changing the dimensions of your orbit by going faster or slower. Theres a moment when everything just switches 90 degrees inside your brain, and youre like, oooh!And suddenly theres this universe of possibilities it all just kind of builds on itself.

But how do you continue teaching fundamental concepts when you move away from practical, applied science and into the theoretical? The developers had a new demo video to show at PAX East, which included footage of planetary colonies, new forms of nuclear propulsion, space-based launch platforms, and ultimately, travel to distant stars. The developers are keenly aware of the issue, and are taking steps to make sure Kerbal Space Program 2 retains the groundedness of the original or at least, most of it.

When the first person sets foot on Mars, I assume their historic statement will include a shout-out to our team

Nate Simpson

Creative director

Obviously, if these were fully solved engineering problems, we would be using them right now, Cook says. But theres not a single engine in this that doesnt have some kind of root in real science.

Since interstellar distances are orders of magnitude larger than those found within a single solar system, Kerbal Space Program 2 is introducing new rocket engines that use novel and theoretical forms of fuel, like metallic hydrogen hydrogen gas that has been compressed to the point that it forms an alkali lattice, which would be an extremely potent fuel.

Most of the engineering challenges with the next gen engines are around cooling, Simpson explains. It turns out that its quite easy to make very violent things happen inside of a rocket nozzle. The trouble is having whatever that is not vaporise the vehicle itself.

Helping the Kerbal Space Program 2 team out is a panel of scientific experts, which includes Dr Uri Shumlak, the associate chair for research at the University of Washingtons Aeronautics and Astronautics department. Theres also Dr Joel Green, an astrophysicist working on the James Webb Space Telescope, who provides the team with guidance on the movement of celestial bodies.

We may spend even more of our time cross-checking this stuff against reality, because so much of it is so, on the face of it, implausible, Cook says.

The PAX East presentation leans heavily into Kerbal Space Program 2s inadvertent comedy: much of what makes its particular approach to science so much fun, after all, is watching things go catastrophically awry. The resulting explosions have received a significant makeover, and the new lighting system makes everything look more dramatic and real the launch sequence the team showed off was particularly stirring.

But the presentation also highlights some of these uncharted frontiers for exploration. Solar arrays spread out across the surface of a distant moon, and elsewhere, an interstellar craft the size of the Empire State Building slips its moorings and moves away from an orbital shipyard against the backdrop of the rings of a gas giant.

Its inspiring to see, even when the ships are crewed by goofy, wide-eyed Kerbals. And that inspiration has proven to be motivating. One person who had lined up to see the PAX demo, Simpson says, told them hed recently accepted a job with SpaceX, and that it had been Kerbal Space Program that had originally gotten him interested in space exploration.

This is a progression that can go very, very far, he said, laughing. When the first person sets foot on Mars, I assume their historic statement will include a shout-out to our team.

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Kerbal Space Program 2 heads to space while grounded in science - PCGamesN

How the moon formed new research – The Conversation US

How the Earth got its moon is a long debated question. The giant impact theory which states that the Moon formed from the a collision between the early Earth and a rocky body called Theia has become the front runner among the explanations. But the details around how this happened are blurry and there are many observations that scientists are still struggling to explain.

Now a new study, published in Nature Geoscience, has shed light on what actually happened by solving one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the crash why the Moon ended up being nearly identical to Earth, rather than Theia, assuming she existed.

According to the giant impact theory, Theia was a body roughly the size of Mars or smaller half the diameter of Earth. It smashed into the developing Earth 4.5 billion years ago. This collision produced enough heat to create magma oceans and ejected a lot of debris into orbit around the Earth, which subsequently coalesced into the Moon.

The theory explains the way and the speed which the Earth and Moon spin around each other. They are tidally locked, which means that the Moon always shows the same side towards Earth as it spins around it. This is why it was such an achievement when the Chinese landed their Chang'e 4 spacecraft on the far side of the Moon in 2019 direct communications with that side are never possible from Earth.

The Moon and the Earth are nearly identical in composition. The differences are that the Moon has less iron and less of the lighter elements such a hydrogen, which are needed to produce water. The giant impact theory explains why. The heavy element iron would have been retained on Earth. And the heat produced during the impact and the ejection into space would have boiled the lighter elements off while the rest of the material of Earth and Theia would have mixed.

Computer models have reproduced the events that led to the formation of the Moon. The models that best fit all of the observations suggest that the Moon should be composed by approximately 80% from the material originating from Theia. So why is the Moon instead suspiciously similar to Earth?

One explanation is that Theia and the early Earth must have had an identical composition to start with. That seems unlikely because every documented planetary body in our solar system has their own unique composition, with slight differences reflecting the distance from the sun where a body formed.

Another explanation is that the mixing of the two bodies was much more thorough than anticipated, leaving a less clear signature of Theia in the Moon. But that is also unlikely, as it would require a much larger impact than the one that actually took place.

Listen to The Conversations podcast series To the moon and beyond to find out what plans there are to use the moon as a staging post for future space exploration.

The new study resolves this dilemma by showing that the Earth and the Moon arent as similar as previously thought. The researchers looked with very high precision at the distribution of isotopes of the element oxygen in rocks returned from the Moon by the Apollo astronauts. In chemistry, any elements atomic nucleus is made up of particles known as protons and neutrons; isotopes of an element have the same number of protons in the nucleus as the regular version, but different numbers of neutrons. In this case, oxygens isotope, O-18, which has eight protons and ten neutrons, is slightly heavier than the much more common than O-16, with its eight protons and eight neutrons.

The study shows that there is a small difference between the Earth and the Moon in their oxygen isotope composition their profiles arent identical after all. What is more, the difference increases when you look at rocks from the Moons mantle, which is a layer below the surface or crust having more lighter oxygen isotopes than the Earth. This is important. The crust is where mixed debris would have ended up, whereas the deep interior would have more bits of Theia.

So Theia and Earth werent identical, and the Moon and the Earth arent identical either. But the results also teach us a bit more about Theia itself.

Because of gravity, one may expect slightly more of the heavier isotopes closer to the Sun. Compared to Earth, Theia must have had more of the lighter oxygen isotopes, which suggests that it would have formed further away from the Sun than the Earth.

With the results from this study the giant impact theory has crossed another hurdle in explaining the formation of our Moon, and we have learned a little more about Theia itself on the way.

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How the moon formed new research - The Conversation US

The Return of Cosmos and Ann Druyan – The Planetary Society

Cosmos: Possible Worlds is the third season of the beautiful, groundbreaking television series helmed by the late Carl Sagans widow and partner, Ann Druyan. Ann returns to tell us about the show and her new companion book of the same name. You might win a hardcover copy in this weeks Whats Up space trivia contest. The equinox edition of The Planetary Report has arrived! Planetary Society Editorial Director Jason Davis provides an overview.

A Planetary Society r-r-r-rubber asteroid and a hardcover copy of Ann Druyans new book, Cosmos: Possible Worlds.

What is the second largest planetary moon in our solar system that orbits retrograde? (Neptunes Triton is by far the largest.)

The winner will be revealed next week.

Rusty Schweickarts EVA call sign during Apollo 9 was Red Rover.

Mat Kaplan: [00:00:00] Cosmos returns, and so does Ann Druyan, this week on Planetary Radio. Welcome, I'm Mat Kaplan of the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our solar system and beyond. Have you seen it? Season three of Cosmos premiered March 9th on the National Geographic channel. This time, it's Cosmos: Possible Worlds, and judging from the first two episodes, some of those worlds will be wonderful places to live. Executive producer, writer, director, and guiding hand for the series, Ann Druyan, visits with us again. She'll also tell us about her just published companion book for the series. It's spectacular, and you'll get the chance to win a copy in this week's, What's Up segment.

A new edition of the Planetary Report also waits for you at planetary.org. Jason Davis will give us a preview in minutes. First, so I'm [00:01:00] proud to announce the long-awaited expansion of Jason's great weekly post, The Downlink. It still opens with mission briefings from around the solar system, but The Downlink now also contains notes from the Planetary Society, like, the announcement of the science communicator position we need to fill. You'll also find a brief What's Up section, and the Wow of the Week, something you just might wanna share. You can sign up to get the newsletter delivered to your inbox for free at planetary.org/connect, or you can view the latest edition at planetary.org/downlink.

And here's a sampling of the news items you'll find inside; Perseverance, that's the new name of what has been known only as the Mars 2020 rover. Congratulations to seventh grade student, Alexander Mather, for submitting the winning nomination and essay. NASA has cleared the wide field infrared survey telescope [00:02:00] for its next stage of development. As you may have heard, on the March space policy edition of our show, the Trump administration's 2021 budget proposal for NASA does not include funding for WFIRST, but it could be restored by Congress.

Psyche, the spacecraft that will make the first visit to a nickel iron asteroid, has a ride; a SpaceX Falcon Heavy will rocket it skyward in 2026. And though their results haven't yet been peer reviewed, a group of researches believes they have, for the first time, found a protein in a meteorite. There's evidence the big molecule is not just earthly contamination, but really did originate, well, some place else. Let's hear it directly now from the Planetary Society's editorial director, Jason Davis.

Jason, welcome back to the show. I- I... Maybe the first thing that we should talk about is, uh, why I'm not having this conversation with Emily Lakdawalla. [00:03:00] She is still very much with the society, no worries, anybody, uh, but there has been a bit of a change in staffing for TPR, so that Emily is, uh, able to, uh, go back to doing some other things. Can you, can you tell us what's up?

Jason Davis: Yeah. Turns out that, uh, editing a magazine is a very full-time position [laughs] ...

Mat Kaplan: [laughs].

Jason Davis: ... for one person, so, uh, it's a little overwhelming, uh, if, to have that as your entire job duty, and then also try to do other things. So, Emily won't be, uh, responsible for editing the magazine as a whole anymore. We now split it up into different parts, and I'll be editing the features. We have some other, uh, staffers who are responsible for some of the internal parts, like the Impact Report. So, yeah, no worries, Emily is still quite around.

Mat Kaplan: Yeah. Big phew, P-H-E-W. And, in fact, she has a contribution or two in this, uh, issue of the magazine, but let's start, maybe, by talking about this main feature. I don't think I've seen anything like this before in, uh, The Planetary Report.

Jason Davis: Yeah. The main feature, [00:04:00] uh, since it is 2020, we're starting a new decade, we thought this would be a good time to take a holistic look at planetary science in general, and talk about what we think is coming down the pipe for the next decade. This roughly coincides with the decadal survey, that's the report that the science community gets together and puts out, under the National Academies of Science, uh, every 10 years. that says, "Hey, here are the main things that we're gonna try to discover in these next 10 years, and we're gonna look at some of the missions that will accomplish those objectives."

Even though the decadal survey technically doesn't come out for another, uh, two years, they're working on it right now. We figured this would be a great idea if we went and talked to scientists representing each major field of planetary science, or maj- each major subgroup, and, uh, ask them to tell us about what cool science they're looking forward to.

Mat Kaplan: So what are these subgroups, and, and there's a piece about each one?

Jason Davis: Yeah. We've got Mercury, even though there's no technical subgroup for Mercury, we didn't want Mercury to feel left out [laughs], so we had [00:05:00] a very, very short piece of Mercury. Uh, we have one for Venus, and of course, there's a Venus exploration group for Venus, so that totally made sense to, to do that one separately. Uh, we've also got a Mars piece, we've got an outer planets piece, and so that just swamps in anywhere from, uh, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and all of their moons, because it's just such a diverse area of the solar system, you know. You have your gas giants, but then you also have these little moons that have complex geology that, uh, is worth exploring in their own right.

And then you also have small bodies, that's asteroids, comets, things like that. Finally, the moon. Can't forget the moon. That's, uh, a big part of NASA's human spaceflight program right now, and also a subgroup. So, yeah, we have all of that representative, uh, in one giant feature article, and I really hope our readers, uh, appreciate it and love it.

Mat Kaplan: And as always, there is much more than, uh, this main feature in the, uh, spring equinox, uh, edition of The Planetary Report. There are a couple of things that really hit me, and, even though they're kinda minor [00:06:00] pieces, you know, we, we have this regular piece, Why I Explore Now, and this time, it features a little essay from somebody that I got to know recently on Planetary Radio.

Jason Davis: Yeah. Uh, we got Sasha Sagan to contribute for this issue, and it's a really nice little story about, uh, her father and mother, and what it was like to grow up in such a science oriented household, and what inspired her to, um, ultimately explore some of this, um, herself. And, of course, yeah, you interviewed her, and she's got her new book out. So it's a really nice little piece, uh, that I hope our members will enjoy.

Mat Kaplan: Pretty good timing for us to mention that piece since her mother is going to be featured in moments on this, uh, this episode of Planetary Radio, uh, Ann Druyan, of course. I had just one other thing I'll mention. Um, the- there's so much more here in the magazine though, including, uh, where you'll find all those spacecraft around the, uh, solar system, that really popular, uh, graphic feature that was instituted by Emily not too long ago. There is something that really is charming to me, and it says something [00:07:00] about, uh, a major anniversary for The Planetary Society. It's this, uh, reproduction of typewritten notes from our founding executive director, Lou Friedman, that he typed up in August of 1979. You know what I'm talking about.

Jason Davis: [laughs] Yeah, yeah. This is super exciting to feature too. We featured this on the website a while back, and we just loved it so much, we wanted to make sure it got in the magazine as well. Uh, all of year long, we're gonna be celebrating the Planetary Society's 40th anniversary, which is pretty wild, uh, when you think about it. We've been around for 40 years now, s- since Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Lou Friedman founded us. And in this issue, we have one of the founding documents reprinted. It's the goals and objectives of what this blank society will be. And when I say blank, it i- it's literally in the document. It says, it starts out by saying ...

Mat Kaplan: [laughs].

Jason Davis: ...the goal of the blank society is to bring together ...

Mat Kaplan: [laughs].

Jason Davis: ...uh, various constituees, uh, constituencies to provide, uh, public opportunity for engagement and support space exploration. So, [00:08:00] they didn't even know what the name was gonna be yet when they wrote this first document. So, um, very cool, and I, I, I hope everyone enjoys that as well.

Mat Kaplan: Well, by the time you hear this, the entire edition, the, this entire issue of The Planetary Report, should be available to everybody at planetary.org. Of course, members of the Planetary Society will receive their beautiful printed copy of the magazine as well. Jason, thanks so much for coming back on to, uh, give us this little preview.

Jason Davis: Thanks so much, Mat, for having me.

Mat Kaplan: That's Jason Davis, the editorial director for The Planetary Society. Ann Druyan's relationship with the Planetary Society goes back nearly as far as her partnership with society co-founder, Carl Sagan. They worked together to create 1980's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which remains the most popular public television series ever in America. Cosmos returned in 2014 under Ann's guidance as Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey, with [00:09:00] Neil deGrasse Tyson as our guide to life, the universe and everything. Now, six years later, Ann and her team are back with the third season, Cosmos: Possible Worlds. She has also launched a beautiful companion book of the same name.

The book and series consider far, far more than space exploration, but we space geeks will find plenty to satisfy us. Consider the cosmic telescope, an instrument that would use the bending of space and light described by Einstein, to reveal the surfaces of exoplanets. You'll see it in the series, along with an awe-inspiring imagining of the launch of thousands of tiny light sails toward a distant star. And then, far larger sails carrying humans across the void, through it all as recognition that humanity stands at a crossroads, with science pointing the best way forward.

I got up early on the morning of March 4th, so that I could catch Ann at the beginning of a full day of media [00:10:00] interviews. As you'll hear, she has promised to return when we can take more time to explore Cosmos, and do so over something better than a telephone connection. Ann Druyan, it is a pleasure and an honor to welcome you back to Planetary Radio. Thanks for joining us.

Ann Druyan: Mat, it's always a pleasure to talk with you. I love our conversations.

Mat Kaplan: [laughs]. That is a very high complement, and it is especially gratifying to be able to talk to you about, um, this latest work, Cosmos: Possible Worlds. Here's a roundabout way of paying i- uh, it a high complement. And I'm talking first now about the TV series, though I'm very happy to say that I have the book in front of me. Since I couldn't make it to your Los Angeles screening of the, uh, the third season, your people were kind enough to let me enjoy the first two episodes online.

Ann Druyan: Wonderful.

Mat Kaplan: [laughs]. Eh, [inaudible 00:10:53] but, oh, yeah, it really was.

Ann Druyan: I'm glad they did.

Mat Kaplan: I connected my iPad to our, our flat screen, [00:11:00] because I thought it really deserved to be seen on a big screen, and I was gonna watch the first episode intending to be on my treadmill as it played, I never pulled myself away from the TV. I stood three feet away ...

Ann Druyan: Oh.

Mat Kaplan: ...from it during the entire show. And then, that night, I watched it again with my equally enchanted wife, uh, and the second episode was just as awe-inspiring. You have accomplished something wonderful here.

Ann Druyan: Well, um, my heart is s- soaring to hear you say that,...

Mat Kaplan: [laughs].

Ann Druyan: ...because, uh, 'cause I've known you such a good long while, and I'm really excited that, that you and your wife enjoyed it. That, that thrills me.

Mat Kaplan: So, the premier of the third season, it's still ahead of us as, as you and I speak now, but the first episode will have aired by the time, uh, this episode of Planetary Radio is heard. Uh, I was looking at the comments about the trailer for the third season on YouTube, they are overwhelmingly positive. Have you seen the one, [00:12:00] there's a guy who said, "I need this science to be in liquid form, so I can inject it straight into my veins."

Ann Druyan: [laughs].

Mat Kaplan: [laughs].

Ann Druyan: Oh. No, I haven't seen that. Thank you for telling me. Wow. How gratifying this is. You know, the series is the work of 987 people, we actually literally counted, in so many countries around the world. The show is going to premier next week, or m- maybe last week of, when this broadcast ... uh, you know, 172 countries around the world, making it a truly global experience. And I can't tell you how so profoundly that moves me, because the dream of Cosmos is to empower absolutely everyone. And I think this is a moment of relatively low human self-esteem.

Mat Kaplan: Mmh.

Ann Druyan: And yet there's so much that we've accomplished that we can be proud of. Cosmos, in each [00:13:00] season, has been f- fused with hope. I hope it's s- rigorous science, no pie in the sky, but I know that we can do this. We can meet these challenges, and it's such a, such a thrill to be able to communicate that hope to such a truly vast audience on earth.

Mat Kaplan: I think you've answered, uh, a question I was going to ask you anyway, which was, your ... Was your focus in both the book, and the new season of the TV series more to provide information or to provide inspiration? I suspect it's the latter.

Ann Druyan: Equally. No, ...

Mat Kaplan: Mm.

Ann Druyan: ...it's two, equally. I think the information itself is empowering and goosebump-raising. I'm not a scientist, I'm just a hunter-gatherer of stories,...

Mat Kaplan: [laughs].

Ann Druyan: ...but I'm asked, you know, to have, uh, you know, to have the opportunity to not only pick the brains of people who know far more than [00:14:00] I do, a panel of very distinguished scientists, but also to vet both the show and the book, have been vetted, so that, you know, when I go awry, you know, they set me straight. So, the information is vital. And, you know, I always say that the ship of the imagination has twin engines of rigor and skepticism, and the engine of imagination and of hope. So, if I looked at the evidence, and I thought it was hopeless, I'd hope I would've be truthful about that, and re- the book would reflect that, and, you know, as dreary and sad as that would be. But, you know, everyone in your audience, every, every single person who can hear my voice and yours, is descended from people who had their backs to the wall countless times. This is why we're all here, because they endured hardships we can't even imagine. [00:15:00] And, I still believe, facing climate change, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, that, if we start taking science to heart, and what the scientists are telling us to heart, and act, we can still have the glorious future that's portrayed in the series, and the book.

Mat Kaplan: There are things in the television series, as well as the book, but it's the TV series, of course, that will probably, uh, receive the most public exposure, which are going to be disturbing to certain segments of, of society. I, I don't think that's anything that's new to you, but it does seem to show a certain level of courage o- on th- the part of National Geographic, and, and Fox, uh, who, uh, have stood behind this, this program over three seasons now.

Ann Druyan: That's absolutely true. And in fact, in the last two seasons, both networks have been my partner. I have produced 26 [00:16:00] hours of Cosmos, and I'm happy to say that there has never been a moment where they asked me to change a word or an idea throughout those 26 scripts. They have been the best of partners, and, uh, I'm really excited about the fact that, um, National Geographic, you know, my mother, and, every time a new issue of the magazine arrived when I was a little girl, my mother was so in love with, with the world, we would turn every page, she would read aloud to me, and we'd read together when I was able. You know, it has an emotional resonance to me that they have been such great partners, and that they are distributing the series in so many countries around the world.

Mat Kaplan: You know, returning to, uh, things like the cosmic calendar, your, your compression of the universe's history into a single year, it's like returning to an old friend. I mean, it takes us back not just t- to [00:17:00] the previous seasons in, in this incarnation of Cosmos, but, but back to the beginning, and your, and your partnership with Carl.

Ann Druyan: Ah. Well, it ... This c- you know, the cosmic calendar was Carl's vision. It was part of his lifelong campaign to make the revelations of science as accessible as possible to all of us. For me, in trying to wrap my brain around, what is 13.8 billion years really, to us [inaudible 00:17:29] to live for 100 years at the most? Carl came up with that. When you see it at a glance, years calendar, and to understand, and it ... Because we know a little bit about what it feels l- what a year feels like, but this vast expanses of time are just completely beyond our capacity to imagine. Uh, it has unrivaled explanatory power. I- I've never found anything that was better, and so, the, the time skips of the cosmic calendar have been subject [00:18:00] to revision since the first Cosmos.

Back then, the scientific consensus was that the universe was 18 billions of years o- old. And so, it's the universe has become younger, but that's the great strengths of science, is that in the face of, of new evidence, science is willing to change its view of the age of the universe or anything, as long as the new evidence is stronger than the evidence we had before.

Mat Kaplan: Speaking of Carl, it's, it's still thrilling to hear his voice joining Neil deGrasse Tyson's at the, at critical junctures in the show. I mean, for those of us who grew up with him, and, and learning from him, and trusting him, it's, it's wonderful to be able to hear it again.

Ann Druyan: There are magical moments in, in the episodes. I thought it was a good idea to weave Carl's voice throughout the series, because that [00:19:00] magnificent voice, and so tender, and yet so truthful, and so, so wise, is that, it's, it's just a- another, adds another dimension to the series. Carl was, in many ways, very ... And he was prophetic. Not that he was, in any way, more or less than a human being, he was just a human being, but, he saw clearly. He used his science to see clearly, and to call attention to the, not only like blooming opportunities and wonders, but also the [inaudible 00:19:38] dangerous. You know, I was, I actually always get a catch in my throat, many times, for tears, when I hear Carl's voice, because, it reminds me of his enormous goodness, and the beauty of his life. And so, it just seemed right to, to have him [00:20:00] with me, um, in the series.

Mat Kaplan: I'll be right back with Ann Druyan and more about Cosmos: Possible Worlds.

Debra Fischer: Hi, I'm Yale astronomer, Debra Fischer. I've spent the last 20 years of my professional life searching for other worlds. Now I've taken on the 100 Earths Project. We want to discover 100 earth-sized exoplanets circling nearby stars. It won't be easy. With your help, The Planetary Society will fund a key component of an exquisitely precise spectrometer. You can learn more and join the search at planetary.org/100earths. Thanks.

Mat Kaplan: There was so much of that, that duality, uh, of vision in both the book and the TV series. I'm, I- I'm thinking of your vision of this spectacular 2039 World's Fair that is in, in both works, in, in print and in the, uh, television series. [laughs] You obviously picked 2039, uh, for a very good reason. Could you talk about that?

Ann Druyan: [00:21:00] Yes. Well, Carl, when Carl and I first got to know each other, he, he told me, and later wrote eloquently, about the fact that his parents, working class, living in a small apartment in Brooklyn, back when Brooklyn wasn't the place he wanted to live, and, um, when he was five years old, they took him to the 1939th New York World's Fair. It was actually Einstein's first words in the opening of the fair that inspired, inspired me to write the series and the book. And I'll save those words, uh, for the show and the reader, but Carl said later that, when he went to the fair, he was very upset because his parents brought a brown bag lunch, they couldn't afford even the fancy, uh, d- uh, dessert, or, or the tchotchkes that were everywhere at the fair, which he desperately wanted, but it was there that he discovered, [00:22:00] if there was such a thing as a future event, that the only way to get to it was science.

And then Neil had a, a, a similar e- experience around the same age. I think he was six, when he was taken to the 1964 World's Fair on the very same site in Queens, that which was right near where I grew up. I was a little bit older than Neil, but I was at that fair almost weekly for that technicolor joy of all the great things we were going to do in cities as in the 1939 World's Fair, cities of the future depicted without any slums, any poverty, everyone would have what they needed. That was very inspiring to me. And so, in imagining a dream of a near future, I wanted to create a New York World Fair of 2039; what that would be like, how we could use [00:23:00] our science with wisdom to solve the f- challenges we, we face, and that how art and science could combine to create a new colossus in New York Harbor. Well, I was very lucky in that I was working with Brandon Braga, and Kyle, oh, Walter, [inaudible 00:23:20] and, um, bunch of brilliant cinematographers and visual effects geniuses.

What happened was, we were able, with a cast of, of hundreds, to create that, that 2039 World's Fair, in which some of the daunting problems that we face now, have been dealt with, and we're ready to move further out into the cosmos.

Mat Kaplan: It really is a, a wonderful vision, and it's a, it, it is in the book as well. There's another scene that I knew I was going to see, because yeah, as you know, I had a delightful conversation with your daughter Sasha, [00:24:00] Sasha Sagan, two conversations actually, about her really touching, and, and very perceptive book, For Small Creatures Such As We. So, I wasn't surprised when she showed up in an episode. Would you describe that scene? It, it must have had special meaning for you.

Ann Druyan: Yes, very special meaning. You know, there's a drawing that Carl made at as an 11 or 12 year old, which is called the evolution of interstellar flight.

Mat Kaplan: Hmm.

Ann Druyan: And he did it in that little apartment in Brooklyn, on, what I imagine is a kind of ragged living room rug. It was the unfolding of our exploration of the cosmos as depicted on the newspaper, um, mastheads and headlines of the future, and how that would unfold as we moved further and further out into the cosmos. Well, Carl had a extraordinary [00:25:00] mother, Rachel, who really was part of, of why he became who you became. And, even though Sasha was born, uh, after Rachel's death, and they never met, Carl and I were, uh, fascinated by the fact that when she started laughing, she had Rachel's unique laugh.

Mat Kaplan: [laughs]

Ann Druyan: And, how could that this happens, you know. It was one of those, uh, you know, astonishing things where you realize that, maybe it's a little more n- nature than nurture than you like to think.

Mat Kaplan: Mmh. [laughs]

Ann Druyan: And, um, and so, when I was imagining that moment when he made that drawing as a child, that drawing which is now in the collection of the Library of Congress of the United States, I imagined Rachel there in the apartment with him, lovingly working on. And, of course, Sasha was the perfect person to play Rachel to bring her back to life. Sasha is not only, uh, [00:26:00] I think, and then I declare my bias as her mother.

Mat Kaplan: [laughs]

Ann Druyan: I couldn't be more proud of her book, which, which just, I think is a tremendous achievement. She is also, it turns out, a really good actress, and she, uh, and an actor are playing Carl's father's, Sam, gets to take little Carl Sagan to the 1939 World's Fair in this series, and, uh, she appears throughout. So, it was wonderful to work with her and to direct her, that was a thrill.

Mat Kaplan: It is a lovely scene in that little Brooklyn apartment. A- and, this is gonna sound a little over the top, but, but I think I can make the case that this is the most beautiful documentary series ever made. And,...

Ann Druyan: Stop.

Mat Kaplan: ...[laughs] I, I wish I had a ... We're, we're gonna run short of time here, I wish I had more time to talk about it, but with you, but, uh, for example, I mean, it almost opens with these two black [00:27:00] holes that are in this, this spiral of, I don't know, [inaudible 00:27:04] probably not a death spiral, um, it's almost a birth spiral, but they are ... You can actually see that they are dragging space and light along with them as they spiral around each other. And I think it's an example that is j- just repeated so many times throughout, uh, what I've seen of the TV series, and in the book as well, of, of how closely related science and art are.

Ann Druyan: Yes. And that brings me back, uh, to Einstein's opening of the New York World's Fair. You know, what he said that rainy night in Queens, to 200,000 people who had gathered to hear him speak, and then to see 10 cosmic rays pull out from the sky, and convert it into the energy that would, at the flick of a switch, be the greatest illumination in history, this is what he said, he said, "If science will ever [00:28:00] fulfill its mission as fully as art, its inner meaning will have to penetrate into the consciousness of the people." That is the dream of Cosmos in every one of its three seasons. And, that is the dream that I hold in my heart for our civilization, that science and art, not at odds with each other, not one looking down on the other, but each working together, these great, these two great powers of humanity, that they will join together to create a future that is not only livable, but thrilling.

And so, that's my inspiration o- for this, is the idea that every one of us will be empowered by having some of this knowledge within, and it will make us better decision makers, better citizens, more able to know when we're being lied to, because we humans are terrible liars. We lie [00:29:00] to each other, we lie to ourselves, our leaders lie to us chronically. We have to be clear eyed at this moment in our history, if we are the link in the chain of generations that comes before us, and that leads to the future, it's up to us to awaken to what the scientists have been telling us for, uh, 70 or 100 years, about our climate, about our environment, about biodiversity. We have to take those things to heart instead of compartmentalizing them into 40 minutes of boredom or terror, a few times a week.

Mat Kaplan: To quote somebody, uh, "The truth will set you free."

Ann Druyan: That's it.

Mat Kaplan: Hmm.

Ann Druyan: That's it.

Mat Kaplan: Here's another scene which, um, listeners to this program are going to love. Uh, there's a happy little girl, she's skipping along, along a field of grass, but it just happens that she's under a vast transparent dome on Mars.

Ann Druyan: Mm-hmm [affirmative].

Mat Kaplan: And, uh, she [00:30:00] Look up, she's skipping, by the way, in reduced gravity, the third, one third G of, uh, of the Martian gravity field.

Ann Druyan: Yep.

Mat Kaplan: And she looks up, and she waves, and there is this great ship that appears to be setting out for the stars.

Ann Druyan: Yes, I love that ship, it had multi-generational interstellar liner, which is, by the way, only, uh, one of the conveyances, one of many conveyances that we imagined...

Mat Kaplan: Mm-hmm [affirmative].

Ann Druyan: ...are into, ju- making our way through the cosmos. And, what I love about that liner, first of all, is I've never seen a spacecraft of the future that looked quite like that one, but also, it's to, i- i- i- it conveys the scale of great undertaking. In this moment of very low human self esteem, it's a reminder of what we can do if we work together, and if we refuse to be manipulated, and to be, you know, uh, in [00:31:00] any way, driven off better paths for our world. So, I love that because, you know, as a child, I've sailed on ocean liners, which, to me then, were cutting edge, and filled with excitement, promise of adventure, promise of new worlds, and that's what we hope the audience will feel when they see that mighty ship making its way to the stars.

Mat Kaplan: I'm gonna use one of my precious minutes, uh, to follow up on something, uh, that I noticed, uh, there, it appeared that that multi-generational ship, it had this strange whirling drive unit at its rear end.

Ann Druyan: Yes.

Mat Kaplan: And, that looked, to me, like an homage to the giant wormhole generator in the film version of a story I loved called Contact.

Ann Druyan: Yes. Well, there were echoes of Contact in that idea. I, uh, I have to give credit to our brilliant, uh, VFX supervisor, [00:32:00] Jeff Balkan, who worked with, I believe it was a VFX house in Australia, one of the many international houses we worked with. I wanted uh, a means of propulsion that made sense, but was unlike any other that we've seen before, and that's what we got, and I loved it. I also love the idea that the ship itself reminds me of a whale fall, at the bones of a whale at the bottom of the sea, in a way.

Mat Kaplan: Yes.

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The Return of Cosmos and Ann Druyan - The Planetary Society

16 Fabulous Events Happening In Southern California This Weekend – LAist

NOTE: Because of the ever-changing COVID-19 situation, events could get canceled or rescheduled. Please check with organizers about the status of an event before you finalize your plans.

Hamilton returns to Hollywood. Kites take to the air in Huntington Beach. And the Elks Lodge opens to ghost hunters.

Through SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22HamiltonHollywood Pantages Theatre 6233 Hollywood Blvd., HollywoodLin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical makes its triumphant return to Los Angeles. For those living under a rock, the production tells the story of America's founding fathers and mothers, including Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became the nation's first treasury secretary.COST: Tickets start at $55; MORE INFO

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 - SATURDAY, APRIL 4Cabaret MacabreZombie Joe's Underground Theatre 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North HollywoodZombie Joe's Underground Theatre presents Brittany DeWeese's dance production with all the sex, gore and thrills you'd expect from ZJU. The cabaret walks the line between arousing and disturbing. Ages 16+.COST: $16; MORE INFO

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 - SUNDAY, JUNE 14We Are Here: Contemporary Art and Asian Voices in Los AngelesUSC Pacific Asia Museum 46 N. Los Robles Ave., PasadenaThe museum opens an exhibition that features the work of seven L.A.-based female contemporary artists of diverse Asian Pacific heritages. These artists draw from their family's experiences as refugees, immigrants and foreign nationals in works that invite viewers to think about their own families' histories. Artists included are Reanne Estrada, Phung Huynh, Ahree Lee, Ann Le, Kaoru Mansour, Mei Xian Qiu and Sichong Xie. COST: $7 - $10, free for 17 and younger; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 - SUNDAY, MARCH 15Peppa Pig at the L.A. ZooLos Angeles Zoo 5333 Zoo Dr., Griffith ParkFamilies can meet Peppa Pig as she visits the zoo this weekend. The visits are free with membership or admission, but require a reservation. The weekend also features storytime with Peppa, craft activities, a kiddie dance party and giveaways. If it rains, the party will move indoors.COST: $17 - $22; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 - SUNDAY, MARCH 15Kite Party 18Huntington Beach Pier 200 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington BeachGo fly a kiteand connect with other kite enthusiasts on the beach. The general public is welcome to watch or fly their own kites outside of the main flying field, which is being reserved for experienced, registered participants. Watch pro demonstrations at random times throughout the day or take sport kite lessons held on the south side of the pier. COST: FREE; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 - SUNDAY, MARCH 15; 12 P.M. - 12 A.M.Burgerama 2020The Echo (and Echoplex) 1822 Sunset Blvd., Echo ParkBurger Records' music fest returns after a five-year hiatus. The all-ages show features The Mummies, Flamin' Groovies, Apache (in the last show ever), Hollywood Stars, Tomorrows Tulips, Cosmonauts and Pearl and the Oysters.COST: $32; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 - SUNDAY, MARCH 15; 3:30 P.M. - 2 A.M.Hollywood Crawl of FameMiniBar Hollywood 6141 Franklin Ave., HollywoodThe bar teams up with Writers' Tears Whiskey for the Fifth Annual Hollywood Crawl of Fame. In advance of St. Patrick's Day, an Irish foot parade will lead guests to cocktail specials at five of Hollywood's finest bars, with a live Irish band following the crawl and a complimentary first round at MiniBar. Attendees can sample Writers' Tears Whiskey and take advantage of $10 drink specials along the route. Ages 21+.COST: $25; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14; 4 - 9 P.M.Soup & Tart: Los AngelesWerkartz 1013 S. Los Angeles St., downtown L.A.The new food and art nonprofit Active Cultures presents an evening of two-minute performances by 50 artists, complemented by food (soup or tarts) by acclaimed chefs like Minh Phan from Porridge + Puffs and Roxana Jullapat of Friends and Family. The art activation takes its inspiration from an event devised by Fluxus-affiliated artist Jean Dupuy in 1974, held at The Kitchen in New York. COST: $20; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14; 7 - 9 P.M.Haunted by History Paranormal Investigation of the Van Nuys Elks LodgeVan Nuys Reseda Elks Lodge 2790 14440 Friar St., Van NuysBizarre Los Angeles presents a night of ghost hunting. Elks Lodge #2790 is supposedly haunted by ghosts; members have claimed to have seen darting shadows, apparitions and poltergeist activity. This night features a paranormal investigation of the Lodge's first and second floor as well as the true tales about the history of the building. The Lodge's haunted bar will be open before the hunt. If you have your own ghost hunting gear, bring it. If not, a few pieces will be available for use. Part of the event proceeds go toward Elks Lodge building preservation.COST: $35; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14; 7 - 9 P.M.Los Angeles Pun-OffSilverlake Independent JCC 1110 Bates Ave., Silver LakeOn Pi Day, celebrate the world of improvised punsthe good, the bad and the downright groan-inducing. The night opens with a noncompetitive showcase of original punning on any topic (two minutes or less) by puntificators. And then punslingers battle each other in lightning rounds of freestyle punning on any given category. At the Pun-Off, remember that the jokes don't have to be funny, they just have to be puns.COST: $20; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14; 7:30 - 9 P.M.AstronomyLos Angeles County Arboretum 301 N. Baldwin Ave., ArcadiaBring a warm blanket and gaze at the stars. Arboretum experts talk about the myths, legends and history of the night sky. Stargaze in the gardens and learn the constellations. Plus hear the kooky history of the area that made Pasadena a mecca for space exploration. This event is weather permitting.COST: $20 - $25; MORE INFO

SATURDAY, MARCH 14; 8 - 10 P.M.Playhouse Celebrity Game Night: Speed CharadesThe Pasadena Playhouse 39 S. El Molino Ave., PasadenaThe Playhouse's big fundraising event of the year features celebrity teams going head-to-head in speed charades. The participants include Jason Alexander, Amy Brenneman, Michele Engemann, Simon Helberg, Sharon Lawrence, Matthew Lillard, Alfred Molina, John C. Reilly, Amber Riley, George Salazar, Sally Struthers and Jon Tenney. COST: Tickets start at $135; MORE INFO

SUNDAY, MARCH 15; 5 - 7 P.M.Schrab Home VideoDynasty Typewriter at The Hayworth 2511 Wilshire Blvd., WestlakeGet ready for a night that mixes clips from VHS tapes with a cable access talk show vibe. Host Rob Schrab talks to artists, actors, comedians, horror icons and odd-balls he admires for a new podcast taping. Ages 18+.COST: $10 - $15; MORE INFO

SUNDAY, MARCH 15; 6 - 10 P.M.Film Noir NightsSegovia Hall at Ace Hotel 929 S. Broadway, downtown L.A.March is Women's History Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. To commemorate both causes, Film Noir Nights LA presents a collection of films written, directed and starring women (and those identifying) of color. Get there early for an opening cocktail hour, followed by screenings and Q&As.COST: $5; MORE INFO

SUNDAY, MARCH 15; 6:30 - 9:30 P.M.Bill Harris Dinner SeriesBottlefish Restaurant 11677 San Vicente Blvd. #200, BrentwoodGuest chefs Jet Tila (The Charleston and Pakpao Thai), Dakota Weiss (Sweetfin Pok), and Ali Tila (cookbook author and pastry chef) join executive chef Ohad Yosef for a collaboration dinner hosted by Billy Harris. Guests enjoy a multicourse, wine-paired dinner, in addition to cocktails, hors-d'oeuvres, chef meet-and-greets and a live auction. The proceeds benefit culinary nonprofits C-CAP Los Angeles and The Trotter Project.COST: $125; MORE INFO

SUNDAY, MARCH 15; 7 - 9:30 P.M.Passover Around the World: A Multimedia ConcertThe Pico Union Project 1153 Valencia St., Pico-UnionThis multimedia concert features Passover songs like "Chad Gadya" and "Who Knows One" in several languages. Listen to songs that are arranged and performed in both traditional and contemporary styles. Musicians include Jewlia Eisenberg and Jeremiah Lockwood (Yiddish), Asher Shasho Levy (Judeo-Arabic) and Chloe Pourmorady (Judeo-Persian, Ladino). The night also includes food samples from global Passover traditions (catered by Got Kosher) as well as an introduction to endangered Jewish languages.COST: $15-$25; MORE INFO

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16 Fabulous Events Happening In Southern California This Weekend - LAist

Uniphi Space Agency Launches the Virtual Astronaut Initiative – AiThority

Virtual Keynotes & Collaborations With Astronauts

Today,uniphi space agency, a division ofuniphi good, LLC, is proud to launch,The Virtual Astronaut, an agency-wide initiative designed specifically to provide world class motivational keynotes and collaborations with Astronauts, all in a virtual setting.

The Virtual Astronautinitiative was developed in response to current events, and as a solution to the increase in postponed or canceled meetings, and for conventions or conferences that will now be held virtually. An expansion of business offerings atuniphi space agency, the program mission is to encourage companies, groups and organizations not to overlook the importance and ability of an external speaker to help engage and motivate teams about internal messaging and directives, and to consider the benefits of booking an Astronaut.

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In these uncertain times, a few things are for sure Astronauts are incredible motivational speakers and appeal to a wide range of audiences, Astronauts and Space are prevalent and celebrated across all aspects of popular culture today, plus we have some historic milestones in space exploration that are about to occur. The traditional meeting and event landscape is changing daily, and will continue to do so, making inspirational, motivational and memorable experiences needed more than ever, notedPresident & CEO,Annie Balliro, As an Astronaut Management Group, it is an honor and privilege to represent these extraordinary trailblazers, icons and heroes. We knew it was critical to do something, and fast, to try to get ahead of this shift in the keynote speaker in-person event based culture and make sure that the marketplace knew that Astronauts are still open for business for keynotes and collaborations, both in-person and now in a virtual setting. In addition to continuing our bookings as usual, our team is ready to innovate and adapt to this new way of doing things. We are also looking forward to some fun activations as part of our upcoming National Astronaut Day onMay 5ththat will help showcase what The Virtual Astronaut is all about.

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Uniphi Space Agency Launches the Virtual Astronaut Initiative - AiThority

LearnSpace Foundation Holds Maiden Space Science And Astronomy Competition In Nigeria – Space in Africa

On Friday, 6th March 2020, at the Women Development Center Calabar, the Learnspace Foundation, a non-governmental organization registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) of Nigeria, hosted the 1st Space Science and Astronomy competition in Cross River State in Nigeria, the theme being: The benefits of space science and astronomy education in Nigeria. The competition was open to students in secondary schools in Calabar.

The President of the Foundation Nelly-Helen Ebruka explained that the Foundation is dedicated to promoting and increasing knowledge and interest in Space through space education in Africa. The Foundation also aims to create opportunities for African students to take an active part in the Space industry.

A trustee of the Foundation Ms Anne Agi while speaking to Space in Africa, noted that the aim of the competition is to promote the interest, involvement and knowledge of space science and astronomy among students by providing a fair and competitive environment for learning, interacting and the understanding of space science and astronomy. She added that the competition further encourages the development of space science as well as strengthen the inclusion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in the curriculum of academic institutions.

A total of ten schools in Calabar were in attendance at the Competition, however, nine schools participated in the competition. These schools were: Lourdes Academy, Berith Academy, Hillcrest High School, St. Patricks College, Christian High School, Government Secondary School Akim, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria Secondary School, Hope Waddell Training Institute and Margaret Ekpo Secondary school.

Participating schools partook in a quiz, poetry and public speaking competition. The quiz segment was open to a total of three participants from each school with Lourdes Academy emerging as the winners, St. Patricks College was the 1st runners up and Hillcrest secondary school placed as the 2nd runners up. These positions were not only determined by their participation in the quiz but also by the cumulative scores obtained during the public speaking portion of the competition.

The poetry competition entitled If I Could Walk On The Moon, was open to only female students, with each school entitled to one participant. All participating schools submitted their written poems and the too 3 were selected to compete orally. The poem presentations, were judged by Mr Augustine Ushie, a co-trustee and founder of the foundation, along with a panel of judges. Miss Agan Grace Ripeh from Lourdes Academy was recognized as the winner; Miss Precious Ali from Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria Secondary School secured the 1st runner up position, while Miss Rosseta Tegan from Christian High School placed as 2nd runner up.

The Competition prizes included plaques, participation certificates, writing materials and cash prizes; the Coaches, Institutions and all participating students were also presented with certificates of participation by a representative of the Director of Schools, Ministry of Education, Cross River State.

The Competition also hosted a lecture segment on the theme of the Competition: The benefits of space science and astronomy education in Nigeria. Papers were presented by Mrs Iroka Chidinma Joy, the Chief Engineer, Engineering and Space Systems Division of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and by Ms Anne Agi.

The Competition was a huge success and the spirit of enthusiasm exhibited by the team and all volunteers was infectious. When Space in Africa spoke to a few of the trustees and volunteers, they expressed delight at being a part of history. Mr Timothy Ogar, head of the Quiz Faculty, stated that he was impressed by the students as it was clear that they studied for the Competition and were knowledgeable on space history and surrounding affairs. He maintained that it was obvious that the aim of the competition had been achieved.

President of the Foundation, Ms Nelly-Helen Ebruka assured that the Competition will be held annually as the Foundation believes that Space education is essential to the development of the society. She sincerely thanked the Foundations team of volunteers.

Following this event, Space in Africa spoke to Ms Nelly-Helen Ebruka, the Founding President, to learn more about the Foundation.

LSF is a non-governmental and non-profit organization registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission Of Nigeria with interest in Space science and Astronomy Education across Africa for the benefit of the community and desired growth of Africa.

It was established in November 2019 after the Team representing Africa at the Manfred Lachs Competition returned from the competition in Washington D.C. Members of the Team came together and agreed to form a Foundation committed to training future leaders all around Nigeria and Africa to become global players in the space industry and to make a positive impact in the society.

The originating members of the team behind its establishment include Nelly-Helen Ebruka-President/Trustee/Co-Founder; Anne Agi, Esq-Trustee/Co-Founder; Augustine Ushie-Trustee/Co-Founder; And Engr. Etim Offiong -Trustee/Co-Founder.Other members of the Board of Trustees include Thankgod Egbe, Joshua Faleti, Timothy Ogar and Abraham Eni.

Our first goal is to become a pan-African organization dedicated to increasing space exploration, innovation and technology on the continent through space science and astronomy education. Secondly to develop an enabling environment for the advancement of STEM and space education and industry in Africa.

The international womens day was recently celebrated globally and it was a period to reflect on the remarkable achievements of women who dared, who gave, who lived for others. In my opinion, young women in STEAM should dedicate more time and energy in developing themselves professionally and personally. The goal should be excellence and nothing short of it. I understand that certain stereotypes about women still exist, in this age however, gender becomes irrelevant if you create the value and make the impact the world needs.

With regards to their prospective activities, the Foundation is open to partnerships, collaborations and sponsorship. With their level of enthusiasm and engagement, support from major stakeholders and players in the space industry and the general community would stimulate an interest in space education not only in Nigeria but the entire continent. Such initiatives have a direct bearing on the human capital development of the future African Space industry and the work of the LearnSpace Foundation is highly commended.

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LearnSpace Foundation Holds Maiden Space Science And Astronomy Competition In Nigeria - Space in Africa

Newsround: Thursday’s headlines and glossary – CBBC Newsround

There's always loads of news happening and Newsround will always help keep you up to date with the bulletin and with news articles stories on the website.

But sometimes you just want a quick pick of what's going on today, why it's important and what all the words mean!

So let's get started with three things you need to know about today, find out what the words mean, then answer the questions at the bottom.

1. Trump travel ban

US President Donald Trump has put a ban on people travelling from parts of Europe to America to try to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.

It affects most mainland European countries but not the UK

Meanwhile Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have a big meeting of his top team today to decide on the next steps for the UK to try to control the virus.

Find out more here

2. Strange Planet

An artist's impression of the ultra-hot planet

An ultra-hot planet where it's believed it rains iron has been observed by researchers using a huge telescope.

The exoplanet is located around 390 light years away.

Known as WASP-76b, the planet has one side which is always facing the star and so is in daylight, but the other side is always in darkness.

Find out more here

3. Rare Harry Potter book

A first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has sold for A LOT of money!

The ultra-rare book went up for auction in Bonhams, on Wednesday 11 March and sold for a whopping 118,812!

It was first printed in 1997, and has a very special message in the front of the book to: "the first person ever to see merit in Harry Potter" from author JK Rowling.

The sale means it is one of the most expensive copies of the book ever sold.

Find out more here

US President: This is the most senior politician in America and one of the most important jobs in the world. They are leader of the United States and adults in the country vote every four years for who they want it to be. The next Presidential election is in November 2020.

Mainland European countries: Most European countries are physically joined together. It's known as mainland Europe. Not all European countries are connected though, for instance the UK and Ireland are separated from their neighbours by the English Channel and the North Sea.

Telescope: When it comes to space exploration, these are giant machines used to look deep into the galaxy. Usually in the shape of a huge dish they allows scientists to record sound and images from far away planets.

Exoplanet: This is the name given to a planet outside our own Solar System which orbits around a different star than our Sun.

First edition copy: This is the name given to the first set of books that an author prints to see if their work will sell in the shops. If it sells well, then more are printed, which become second edition copies, and so on.

Auction: When something goes up for auction it means that if someone wants to buy something, they offer an amount of money which can then either be matched or beaten by someone else who wants to buy it. That contest goes on until all the other buyers have dropped out as the price gets too expensive for them.

How much have you learned?

1. Why has Donald Trump banned visitors from Europe?

2. What is unusual about planet WASP-76b?

3. Why is the Harry Potter book so valuable?

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Newsround: Thursday's headlines and glossary - CBBC Newsround

Hope Mars Mission could change everything we know about the red planet – CNET

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

When the United Arab Emirates' Hope satellite reaches Mars in 2021, it'll be the first probe to offer a full picture of the Martian atmosphere, providing a holistic view of how Mars' climate varies throughout the year. But here on Earth, it may achieve something even more important: providing hope to a younger generation, bringing more women into STEM and promoting collaboration between nations.

There's something else that makes it a first: Hope is the first interplanetary mission led by an Arab, Muslim-majority country.

"The intent was not to put a message or declaration to the world," saysSarah Al Amiri, chair of the UAE Council of Scientists and deputy project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission. "It was, for us, more of an internal reinforcement of what the UAE is about."

The satellite, which launches from Japan in July, will study the connections between the red planet's lower and upper atmosphere and look into what causes the loss of hydrogen and oxygen into space. After achieving its orbit around Mars in February 2021, it'll collect data for two years. There's also an option to extend the mission to 2025.

It's no coincidence Hope will arrive at Mars the year the UAE celebrates its 50th anniversary. The mission is an act of resilience for the young nation. When the UAE announced in 2014 that it would launch the Hope Mars Mission, it was a tumultuous time for the region. Throughout the Middle East, nations were (and many still are) embroiled in anti-government protests and uprisings. Terrorist organizations like ISIS were gaining a stronghold, and recruiting efforts were focused on one particular group: young people.

Sarah Al Amiri

In the region, members of that younger demographic are demanding new opportunities from their governments. The Hope Mars Mission (also called the Emirates Mars Mission) seems like the perfect way to offer that. Ninety percent of team members are 35 and under.

There's also been a boost in space exploration-related jobs throughout the country. Universities have actively recruited faculty for positions related to Mars and planetary science, while the UAE Space Agency, created with this mission, has generated new jobs for overseeing programs within the nation. The Emirati team at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centrehas grown from 70 people in 2015 to more than 200 today.

"From a region that's primarily made up of youth, it was very important for governments and nations to provide opportunities for them and to provide them with a beacon of hope," Al Amiri says. This, combined with the UAE's push to diversify its economy as its oil supply dwindles, made a Mars mission a compelling choice, she says.

The United Arab Emirates' Hope probe aims to give a year-round picture of Mars' atmosphere.

International collaboration is a critical element of the Hope Mars Mission. The UAE is working with the University of Colorado, Boulder; the University of California, Berkeley; and Arizona State University on the mission.

The probe will carry three scientific instruments. First is the Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI), a camera that can capture and send high-resolution images back to Earth. The Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS) will study temperature patterns, ice, water vapor and dust in the atmosphere. And the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) will study the upper atmosphere and traces of hydrogen and oxygen further into space.

Throughout history, international collaborations like this one have given space exploration a leg up, even when political relations between nations were lukewarm. At the height of the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union embarked on the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Mission. This joint space flight became the impetus for future collaborations. And the International Space Station has notably brought together a plethora of nations including the US, Russia, Japan and Canada.

Philip Christensen

Philip Christensen, principal investigator of the EMIRS on the Hope orbiter and professor of geological sciences at Arizona State University, says international cooperation is critical. It not only helps mitigate the challenges and expenses of Mars exploration, but it can advance our understanding of worlds beyond.

"Space has always seemed to be an area where nations could put aside their differences and realize there are ways we can work together, diffuse tensions and learn a little bit more about each other," Christensen says. "Many countries are starting to look at international partnerships as the wave of the future. This is how Mars exploration should be done."

Hope is one of four missions going to Mars this year, in addition to NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission, the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin and China's Mars explorer.

"We see a broader interest in exploration, and the UAE coming up with the Hope mission is just further proof of that," says Frederic Nordlund, head of ESA's external relations department. "Exploration is very relevant for any society interested in lifting up its education, science and technological base, or reorienting its economy toward new sectors."

This mission is on schedule, but that doesn't mean there haven't been challenges along the way. The UAE is a new player in the space game, going from zero space capability to building its own satellites in just over 10 years. But an interplanetary mission like Hope is around five times more complex than Earth observation. To begin with, there are budgetary restrictions. The core cost hasn't yet been shared, but the UAE "didn't get a blank spreadsheet," Al Amiri says.

Then there are mission-specific challenges. Mars is an average of around 140 million miles away, and a mission like this demands high navigational accuracy. The further you get from Earth, the harder it is to make course corrections in time. The probe also has to be highly autonomous, because once it reaches Mars, it'll take about 14 minutes for a radio signal to reach it and another 14 minutes for a response to be recorded.

But it'll be worth it. Mapping Mars' atmosphere, climate and the movement of gases will not only help scientists learn more about the red planet, but help us understand more about our own climate and atmosphere here on Earth, according to Al Amiri.

Hope also offers an opportunity to promote women in STEM. The mission team is 34% women, as well as 50% women in leadership roles. Al Amiri says this reflects a growing interest among women to enter the sciences and a need for the UAE to develop programs that'll allow it to achieve gender parity in STEM.

The Hope mission is just the beginning of the UAE's foray into space. The nation pledged a long-term commitment to planetary and space exploration with its plan to "establish the first inhabitable human settlement in Mars by 2117." That, too, will require international collaboration.

"I would like to think that the exploration of space -- Mars and beyond -- is something that should and will be a collaborative international effort," Christensen says, "and not a competition."

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Hope Mars Mission could change everything we know about the red planet - CNET

‘One Small Step: The Voyages of Apollo’ Presented at Shady Rest on March 24 – TAPinto.net

One Small Step: The Voyages of Apollo at the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood

In a presentation called One Small Step: The Voyages of Apollo, amateur astronomer Alan Witzgall will present a program on the journey of the first manned spaceflight to land on the moon, at the March meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, at the Shady Rest Scotch Hills Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd. (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains.

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Witzgall, past president of Amateur Astronomers, Inc., of Cranford, also will review the missions that followed Apollo 11 and discuss reasons to expand space exploration and return to the moon.

The speaker, who earned a bachelors degree in earth and planetary science from Kean University, is the recording secretary and chair of the Instrument Qualifications Committee for Amateur Astronomers, Inc. In that capacity, he trains the groups members in the use of the telescopes at Sperry Observatory on the campus of Union County College and conducts research in astronomy. Witzgall is a senior optician for ESCO Optics in Oak Ridge, New Jersey.

Founded in 1972, the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood operates thehistoric Osborn Cannonball House in Scotch Plains, while providing guest lectures atits monthly meetings and taking care to preserve some of the historic artifacts andlegends from the areas early days.

The upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation. For further information, please contact Connie Klock at (908) 232-9489.

TAPintoSPF.net is Scotch Plains-Fanwoods only free daily local news source. Sign up for our free daily eNewsletter and Like us on Facebook and Twitter @SPF_TAP.Download the free TAPinto App for iPhone or Android.

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'One Small Step: The Voyages of Apollo' Presented at Shady Rest on March 24 - TAPinto.net

This Week: Mars, Our Mini Moon, and Marina – Eos

When a Mars Simulation Goes Wrong. A crew of hardy pioneers does a practice run for a Mars mission on the slopes of a Hawaiian volcano. What could possibly go wrong?Nancy McGuire, Contract Editor

The Children Are the Future (of Space Exploration).

Ill create a telescope, so then we can see Proxima Centauri, Kepler 452b, and all the planets we want. Jerry Morrison, age 7

Need a tonic for anything getting you down? This brief piece about a first-grader with an infectious, inspiring passion for space, science, and discovery just about brought tears to my eyes.Timothy Oleson, Science Editor

Texas Criminal Trial Highlights Climate Liability for Factories in Floodplains. As the effects of climate change spread and become the new normal, what liability do companies have in preparing for them? A lawsuit in Texas will be litigating just that.Tshawna Byerly, Copy Editor

A New Mini-Moon Was Found Orbiting Earth. There Will Be More.

Say hello to our little friend! Earth has a teeny tiny temporary mini moon. Is it an asteroid? Is it a piece of space junk? Who knows! This small piece ofsomethingwill be sharing our space for just a little bit before moving on. Its the second transitory satellite of Earth weve found, and it probably wont be the last. The first one we saw was around for only 2 years.Kimberly Cartier, Staff Writer

Youth Activists Appeal Ruling That They Cant Sue Government over Climate Change.Youth climate activists hope that judges will overturn a January court ruling and allow them to sue the federal government for failing to act on climate change. Lawyers representing the youths in the case known as Juliana v. United States are filing an appeal to judges in the Ninth Circuit to allow a trial in the case. The lawsuit is one of dozens of efforts worldwide to tackle climate change through the courts.Randy Showstack, Staff Writer

Could Wildfire Ash Feed the Oceans Tiniest Life-Forms? The answer seems to be yes, according to research by a grad student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She and her colleagues added ash from the 2017 Thomas Fire to tanks of naturally occurring marine phytoplankton. These more than doubled in biomass during three seasons of the year, compared with those in control tanks. With wildfires increasing as a result of climate change, nutrients in the oceans could be affected on a global scale.Faith Ishii, Production Manager

Most California Cities Refuse to Retreat from Rising Seas. One Town Wants to Show How Its Done. This story is not only beautifully written, but its also a cheery tale of climate adaptation: A California town is embracing managed retreat. From Rosanna Xias reporting, we learn that the city of Marina forbids seawalls, keeps its beach mostly wild, and has long-term plans about how and when to move infrastructure away from the coast. As the city manager put it, We have a shot to do it right. As many coastal cities waffle about what to do, Marinas clear-eyed approach has us all watching.Jenessa Duncombe, Staff Writer

Shell Is Looking Forward. Few organizations have been paying as much attention to global warming for as long as the companies that have helped cause it, and this devastating article lets you eavesdrop on how those companies (and the geoscientists who work for them) are now planning to profit from divestmentbut, uh, keep drilling while theyre doing it: Were going to get as much out of [oil and gas] for as long as we can. Perhaps the most sobering fact is reported early: Everyone is really nice.Caryl-Sue, Managing Editor

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This Week: Mars, Our Mini Moon, and Marina - Eos

Monday shorts: Syrup ceremony, HIP funding and classroom innovation – The Recorder

Published: 3/8/2020 5:18:23 PM

Here are brief thoughts on recent happenings across Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.

Its obvious to anyone driving around the county that sugaring season is in full swing. Metal sap buckets abound, for those maple sugarers using the charming old-fashioned method, and elsewhere, tubing zig-zags between trees, gathering the sap in a central location with the modern method.

Though it may feel like old news, maple sugarers, state and local officials and others gathered on Friday for a little pomp and circumstance to celebrate the arrival of March, otherwise known as Massachusetts Maple Month. Undersecretary of Environmental Affairs Daniel Sieger led the ceremonial tapping of a maple tree at Sunrise Farms in Colrain and the Lively family showed guests around their operation.

Sugar season is a big deal for everyone, said state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton. It is for my family. And, it will take all of us to support these farms and farmers.

We hope for a successful season for our local maple sugarers. Hopefully, its just as sweet for them as for all of us who enjoy the fruits of their labor on our pancakes, waffles and in the form of sugar on snow.

The Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) is back in business.

The state Senate and House voted to approve another $2 million for the program as part of the states supplemental budget, putting an end to the temporary suspension that went into effect on Feb. 23. Gov. Charlie Baker signed the bill Wednesday.

The program provides an automatic rebate when shoppers use SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps), so they can buy produce from participating local farms. HIP provides those struggling with the ability to stretch their food dollars to buy produce, meats, dairy and more, and it provides farmers the opportunity to sell their products all year long.

Its been great to see so many of my colleagues, advocacy groups, farmers and users of the program recognize the value of making healthy, nutritious foods available to more families and rally in support of HIP, said state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru. This will have a positive impact on the daily lives of many people throughout Franklin County.

Like Mark, were thrilled to see our legislators rally around HIP, which makes all the difference for many of our residents as well as our local farmers. And like Mark, we hope to see the state fully fund HIP in future years, as it has been suspended each year since it began in 2017, though it was originally intended as a year-round program.

Kudos to Ryan Copeland, a sixth-grade teacher at Sunderland Elementary School who is thinking outside the box with his most recent class assignment.

Copeland wanted to bring the traditional school report or essay more into alignment with the way his students interact with information on the internet. So, instead of having his students write a report the traditional way, he is having them present their research by recording a podcast or building a website.

The students have been working on their podcasts for roughly a month, and should be finished at the end of this week. Part of their work has involved interviewing graduate students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst on topics like space exploration, disease and illnesses, mental health as it relates to other illnesses and the criminal justice system, and the use of nuclear weapons.

The questions the kids have developed are amazing, Copeland said.

While, as a newspaper, we have a deep appreciation for the traditional class essay, we also understand the need to evolve with the times and learn new skills. This is such an innovative way for students to showcase their learning, especially during a time when podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. Copelands assignment is not only teaching students about their chosen topics, but also teaching them interviewing skills and technological skills that will no doubt be useful to them.

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Monday shorts: Syrup ceremony, HIP funding and classroom innovation - The Recorder

Petfood Forum 2020: Why should you attend the keynote? – PetfoodIndustry.com

Petfood Forum has had many notable keynote speakers over the years and 2020 is no different. This years keynote is Bonin Bough, host of The Cleveland Hustles on CNBC, author of Txt Me (646) 759-1837 and former C-suite executive at human food companies Mondelz International (formerly Kraft Foods) and PepsiCo. He will present on Hackonomy, explaining how to create value for your business by breaking things.

Bough has had a career as one of the youngest C-suite executives in a Fortune 50 company and has spearheaded some of the industrys largest global marketing campaigns across digital, mobile, television, print and experiential, including the premier of the first ever 3D-printed food product, a customizable, real-time 3D printed Oreo at SXSW (South by Southwest, an annual festival bringing film, interactive media and music together). He oversaw billion-dollar consumer product goods (CPG) brands, including Mondelzs Sour Patch Kids, which became the fastest-growing brand in the world.

During his time as chief media officer at Mondelz, Bough managed over US$3 billion in media spend, making him the seventh-largest media buyer in the world. He has contributed to the rapid growth of other large CPG brands at PepsiCo including Oreo, Cadburys, Pepsi, Gatorade and Frito-Lay.

Bough currently runs Bonin Ventures, a growth accelerator that assists businesses in achieving faster revenue growth.

Boughs keynote will answer the question, how do you create value by breaking things?

Most think that the word hacker sounds negative, but not all hackers are bad, says Bough. Instead, hackers and hack-thinking are the source of a monumental, positive shift in business, technology, startups and culture all over the world. Hackers can create immense value by breaking things, whether its breaking from tradition, process or simply the way weve always done things. A new hacking economy or hackonomy is spreading quickly across industries, from software to hardware, aviation to space exploration. Hacking is even changing less obvious parts of human life, like dating. And, of course, the hackonomy has a huge impact on marketing.

There has been a lot of talk in the pet food industry about millennials and Gen Z and how theyre changing the game when it comes to pet products. Major trends like sustainability and transparency have evolved beyond buzzwords and become imperatives to success. Premium pet foods, once the exclusive properties of specialty outlets, can now be found on grocery store shelves. The way its always been done is obsolete. Do you know if your business is adaptable enough to continue succeeding in the market? Do you need ways to shake things up? Are you wondering how other industries are managing? Do you want a clear explanation of what the baseline collective mindset should be for a market-leading, forward-thinking business?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, well see you at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 28 in Exhibit Hall C.

Petfood Forum 2020 will be held April 2729 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. For more information and to register, go to http://www.PetfoodForumEvents.com.

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Petfood Forum 2020: Why should you attend the keynote? - PetfoodIndustry.com

Explore the Final Frontier in New UM Archives Exhibition – HottyToddy.com

From 18th-century astronomy books and hand-drawn pamphlets depicting visions of interstellar travels to rare 78-rpm recordings of songs about actual astronomical phenomena, all this and more is on display at the University of Mississippis Department of Archives and Special Collections.

The exhibit Space: Exploring the Final Frontier in the Archives, in the Faulkner Room of the J.D. Williams Library, features 16 cases filled with items covering an array of topics. These include the early history of astronomy at the university, music with space themes, primitive artist Howard Finsters space visions, documentation of alleged UFO sightings in Pascagoula, popular science fiction novels and memorabilia from the early days of NASAs space program.

Special Collections possesses a wide variety of material about space, said Leigh McWhite, political papers archivist and associate professor in UM Libraries. Some of the items represent real science, while others are fantastical speculation. Frontiers, such as space, encourage both exploration and imagination.

One of the cases reflects on the history of the universitys two observatories and its collection of historic scientific equipment. As part of this collection, a sextant is on loan from the University Museum. Also displayed are a handwritten thesis, exams and eyewitness accounts made by Ole Miss students and professors of the comets and meteors.

Modern pieces include documents, photographs and promotional materials from NASA regarding its space shuttle program and the International Space Station. Especially captivating is a case centered on the 1973 UFO sightings in south Mississippi.

The Pascagoula abduction occurred when co-workers Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claimed they were abducted by aliens while fishing near Pascagoula, Mississippi, McWhite said. Both men underwent physical examinations and psychological evaluations by officials soon after reporting the event.

As a result, the sighting and abduction are considered one of the most well-documented of the era.

Local newspapers, tabloids, comic books and books demonstrate the widespread media coverage and public interest in the event.

Music-related to space is another facet of the exhibition.

We have fragile 78-rpm records of songs written about historic space phenomena, McWhite said. One such song is Stars Fell on Alabama, a folk phrase which refers to an 1833 meteor shower.

Another musically focused case holds space fantasies such as the Frank Sinatra version of Fly Me to the Moon, which NASA played during the Apollo 10 and 11 missions.

Other items showcased include letters and signed photographs of NASA astronauts John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth,and Fred Haise, a Mississippian who flew to the moon aboard Apollo 13. Framed items include photographs, patches and flags that flew on space shuttle missions taken from the collections of U.S. Sens. Trent Lott, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker.

One case with similar materials is on view on the second floor of the J.D. Williams Library, and another is in the Science Library, housed in the Thad Cochran Research Center. The display in Special Collections will remain up throughout 2020. Several events related to the subject of space are scheduled to coincide with the exhibit.

Special Collections is open to the public at 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, contact Archives and Special Collections at 662-915-1595 or archivesdept@olemiss.edu.

Story by Edwin B. Smith/University Marketing & Communications

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Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmos: Possible Worlds and the Future of Our Own – ExtremeTech

Cosmos: Possible Worlds debuts March 9th on National Geographic. The new 13-episode television series was created by Ann Druyan, who also co-created the original Cosmos with her late husband Carl Sagan. It covers the beginnings of the universe and life on Earth, with a brief refresher of the cosmic calendar that condenses all of this into one year, as seen in 2014s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. But then it quickly branches off into all-new material, including the latest discoveries of planets orbiting other stars and the wonders we might find one day if we ever made it to one. The show also tells poignant stories about the advances and setbacks scientists have faced throughout human history. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and host of the new show, spoke with us about Cosmos and the need for an understanding of science.

Thank you so much for doing the interview with ExtremeTech. Before we get started, when I was in New York, I used to go in the mid-2000s to the Hayden Planetarium to see the awesome Frontiers lectures you hosted.

Yeah, we still have them. Thanks for that support.

Oh, wonderful. I still remember after each guest lecturer finished, you used to step in and say, host privilege and ask the first question before we got to the audience questions.

[laughs] Yeah, my life got so busy, I dont host most of them anymore. I cherish those memories where Id just bust in and ask the first question.

That leads me to our own first question, which is watching these new shows, just like in 2014, I remember how you sounded at the Planetarium, and thats exactly what you sound like in the shows.

Thank you for noticing that, because the part Ive learned from others who are in show business is that people resonate with authenticity. If you know that thats how I am and thats what Im doing, then its not an act. No, its really me. I really feel this way and Im really wide-eyed when I talk about it and all thats real, so thanks for noticing.

So thats the idea, right? To take the viewer, not like with a cold science documentary, to instead take them on the ship with you.

Yeah, otherwise Id just be lecturing. Right? Thats not communicating, so one of the taglines is, come with me.

Right.

Were going to be there together. Heres a little known fact, that back in 2014, where we were figuring out what Id be wearing on the Ship of the Imagination, I made a suggestion. I said to Ann Druyan, who is the secret sauce throughout all of this, I said, why dont I have a little emblem or something on the breast pocket or chevrons or something showing that Im captain of this ship?

She said, no, she doesnt want anything. I said, well, why? And she said, because that puts distance between you and the audience. I said, youre absolutely right. Oh my gosh! Because then Id be captain and youre not, and I went to flight week school and you didnt go. Did you go to the academy? No, but I did.

Whereas if you come with me, then wed take this journey together and that is an important dimension of the show right alongside, of course, the scripting and the visual effects and the music and the set design, is all a way to bring a comfort level to you so that its not just, youre here and the science is there. Its that you realize you are immersed in the science and you like it, and you might want to do something about your circumstances upon having been newly empowered by the show.

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson. Credit: Dan Smith/FOX

In the sixth episode, one of the sequences shows how years ago, different kinds of scientists like geologists, chemists, and physicists might have examined a meteorite in a backyard differently, and how biologists and astronomers of the time may well have walked right on by it. You show how weve learned to connect these things.

One of the DNA strands of Cosmos is how seamlessly it blends the brands of science that we otherwise think of as separate and distinct entities taking at different times of the day with different textbooks in different professors. Nature doesnt think that way. We have biology thriving inside of rocks with chemical environments. This goes on and on and on, and we have to be nimble as we move across those fields. Otherwise, were stuck compartmentalizing knowledge that nature does not.

What was the goal of this new series? Obviously this time its about possible other worlds, but what else?

We need some hope given our current circumstances. This is the most hopeful of the three Cosmos. In fact, personally, I think its the best in every way. That sounds cliche because everybody always says that about their most recent project. I think if you watch enough of the episodes, I think youll agree. Just everyone brought their A-game. Were talking about all the people who typically make high-budget cinema. We brought them on to lend their Not lend, of course they were compensated, but to give of their talents. You combine the power of all of this, we are showing you not only worlds such as exoplanets, thats the first and obvious interpretation of possible worlds from the subtitle, but also worlds within us. Theres the world of the mind, theres the quantum, theres the mycelium thats a network of roots that communicates electrochemically between and among plant species

And you say to yourself, whoa, thats an internet that preceded our internet, but thats a world. So, Cosmos opens peoples eyes to or rather it broadens your concept of a cosmic perspective. What is your view of us now that youve been in space? What is your view of us now that youve learned that bees use mathematics to help each other locate the next destination for the hive? Or that plants use an internet? Or that You just look around us and things that we had ignored so thoroughly because we are so narcissistic about human life and the tree of life, that weve lost track of or maybe never knew what role the rest of this life was playing in the biosphere.

The sequence with the bees is brilliant.

Isnt it? I agree 100 percent.

How did these episodes come together this time? Was it any different than the last time with the way you worked with Ann?

Ann is the secret sauce of all three Cosmos: 1980, 2014, 2020. Her co-writer in 1980 was, of course, Carl Sagan, but also a guy named Steve Soder. Steve Soder reprised his co-authorship in 2014. For 2020, we have Brannon Braga who is one of the long-time writers, producers, and directors of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He knows television. He knows how to arc stories to fit between commercials. The original Cosmos didnt have commercials because it was on PBS. Plus, he actually has a Hugo award for one of the science-fiction stories that he told for Star Talk, so hes also a storyteller. These are all good people doing the right things in exactly the right places.

Ill add, you didnt ask, but Ill add, while my expertise is astrophysics, theres science in it thats not my expertise. So, fortunately, we have committees, we have panels of scientists that have expertise in every place we went and that ensured that the story was stitched together, and that it would have an authentic foundation on what was true.

One might think the show is just about astronomy at first glance, or something about space exploration. Then the more you watch, the more you realize its about all kinds of science and how that reflects what is within us as well as externally something that we study.

Right and I think thats one of the important fingerprints of Cosmos as a series.

Why is this so important, especially today, in 2020?

Because it matters whats true. This series will be an exercise in seeing whats true and how much power that can bring you to enact change that can help not only preserve who and what we are on Earth, but enable us to thrive on Earth. Its a mission statement, if you will, of the show so that by the time youre done, you can feel compelled to create a society that your descendants would be proud of rather than one that your descendants will be embarrassed by.

Youre actually answering some of the questions I was going to ask, but I was going to say, what do you want viewers to come away with? Would that be a good summary?

Yes. By the way, you cant always tell someone theyre wrong if they have dogmatic beliefs, what they think is right, but what you can do is show them other examples of people who wanted an objective truth, but there were dogmatic forces operating against them. So, one of the mediums of the storytelling is animation.

The animated stories tend to be, the historical ones, where you join the plight of someone who struggled to get the government or the society or the people in charge, to struggle to get them to listen and to heed the warning or to follow the advice. Were in the middle of that with the coronavirus. Are people going to listen to scientists or not? If you do, the virus might just sort of wash over in a very light way and never to return. If you dont listen to scientists, then something else is going to happen. This is the cost of inaction, relative to the cost of action.

I think about the times where people didnt listen to scientists throughout history. I think the obvious one is with Copernicus and Galileo, where people clung to the belief that the Earth was at the center of the universe. The story you tell about Vavilov is heartbreaking.

Exactly. The Vavilov, thats the one, you went straight to it. I tear up every time I see that and I think thats going to be I think that episode [the fourth one] is going to be written about just as a force operating on our own understanding of a modern society and what we need to do to have a habitable Earth as we go forward.

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity. Stay tuned for a separate interview Monday with Cosmos creator Ann Druyan.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmos: Possible Worlds and the Future of Our Own - ExtremeTech