According toTeach For America(TFA), in the U.S., only one in two students living in poverty will graduate from high school, and those who do will leave high school at an eighth grade skill level and only 8% will graduate from college by the age of 24.

We know right now that the problem in America is that all children do not have the privilege of getting an excellent education, Bailey said. Were not preparing all of our children to be learners in a 21st century world.

10th anniversary

In 2010, community members from the Black Belt believed that the TFA program could increase the educational opportunity for students in their districts and invited the organization into the state.

According to Bailey, thats the first step.

If the community thinks we can be a partner that adds value to what theyre trying to accomplish with the children, well engage in the conversation to understand the challenges and partner to serve students and schools with the greatest need, Bailey said.

Need is defined loosely by the percent of students who are economically disadvantaged, receiving free and reduced lunch, and student performance scores.

Weve observed correlation between high poverty systems and student achievement, Bailey said. If you have an economically disinvested community usually not too far along the line, youll see disinvestment in the education system as well.

Teach For America, an AmeriCorps designated nonprofit, believes that teaching is an act of leadership. Therefore, the program identifies graduates from a diverse list of universities around the country that have a strong commitment to learning, an appreciation for the potential of all children, and a desire to create meaningful change in the education system, to strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.

We think that the very best teachers exhibit behaviors and make decisions that are consistent with any high performing leader in any other context, Bailey said. They have to build trust with different groups of people, use data to inform the decisions they make, set bold goals in partnership with others, and invest and organize others in working toward accomplishing those.

Corps members are asked to make a lifelong commitment to expanding opportunity, beginning with two years of teaching in some of the highest-need schools. According to TFA, during this time, members will gain firsthand experience of the assets and challenges in their communities, as well as the institutional barriers that limit access to opportunity developing the skills and a mindset to effect change as a lifelong systems-change leader. Informed and inspired by their students, many corps members continue teaching, while others pursue leadership roles in schools and school systems or launch careers in fields that shape educational access and opportunity.

The key distinction with TFA, is that while youre learning the leadership philosophy, multi-adaptive and technical skills teachers need, youre assigned a coach that is making sure youre codifying all of that learning and putting it into practice over the two years, Bailey said.

Since 2010, over 500 active and alumni members have contributed to meaningful work in Alabama, reaching over 80,000 students. There are over 150 teachers currently working in Alabama classrooms today.

As we go into our 10th year, it is impressive that we have current corps members who were previously taught by Alabama corps members when they were students, Bailey said. Theyre all brilliant and very talented and deeply committed towards devoting the next two years to creating the same opportunities and delivering the same kind of educational experience that has so deeply shaped their own lives.

Leading Alabama

Bailey is an example of the mission in action.

I stumbled across Teach For America at Hampton University, Bailey said. I never had an interest in teaching. Bailey had been on track to be a cardiac surgeon, his lifelong dream, when he sat in on an informational session for TFA his senior year.

The recruiter used terms and language that gave voice to experiences I had as a child, Bailey said. There were distinct differences between the education I received and the experiences I was having, compared to cousins, teammates and friends from church, but we only lived 5-10 minutes away.

According to Bailey, that informational session gave him the language to understand the policies and practices that structured the inequality he witnessed and experienced.

She was talking about the population of people who dont get the access to quality education people who look just like me, Bailey continued.

Since Hampton University is a private, historically black university, the session attendees were all black college students.

A significant minority of people in our community make it to that level, Bailey said. We have to be the people on the front line creating a different reality for people that right now, just because of where they were born, will never get the opportunity to sit in the seat were sitting in.

Determined to make a difference, Bailey joined the Metro Atlanta TFA corps in 2009. He advanced within the organization, teaching for three years, serving as a corps coach to new teachers for two years, and then managing the middle school and high school student achievement strategy for two years.

In August 2019, Bailey was named executive director for Alabamas TFA program.

In the years since his teaching experience, Bailey had been in touch with former students who are now part of the TFA program.

Its surreal. Youre making an impact and planting a seed for that child and creating a base of people who are committed to justice and equity for their life, Bailey said.

A future for the state

While there has been a lot of progress in education in Alabama, there are still measurable differences in outcomes drawn along very clear lines, Bailey said. Those who have opportunity and access to credible education, and those who dont.

We have to make sure equity is at the center of how we evaluate progress, Bailey continued. It has to be the driver for all the decisions we make and how we evaluate success. We should adequately resource and support people in communities based on the challenges specific to each community

For the 2020-2021 session, TFA-AL has active partnerships with the Birmingham City Schools, Jefferson County Public Schools, Perry County Public Schools, Hale County, and Selma City Schools, supported by grants, state and federal funding, as well as corporate nonprofit contributions.

The Alabama Power Foundation has provided grant support for Teach For America since the programs inception.

By immersing themselves in the communities in which they serve, Teach for America teachers are solving the problems of inequities in education that exist even beyond the classroom, said Myla Calhoun, president of theAlabama Power Foundation. It is inspiring to witness this transformative work and the measurable outcomes they have created by providing access to quality education for students in Alabama.

Bailey said much progress has been made in the past 10 years.

In the previous school year, one in five students in Birmingham City Schools were taught by TFA-AL teachers. On average, our secondary students increased their ACT scores by 2.39 points, and our elementary students saw gains of 1.2 years of reading growth in a single year, he said.

Over the next decade, Bailey hopes to see twice as many kids achieve key educational milestones, while developing a path toward economic mobility. Twice may not be as much as we can accomplish. Thats just the baseline.

To help accomplish this goal, Bailey has devised a local strategy to augment the national program, which includes actively recruiting high-quality leaders from historically black colleges and universities that do not receive national support, developing an effective digital coaching and mentoring program for teachers during the COVID pandemic, reaching out to veteran teachers who have roots in Alabama and encouraging them to return, and partnering deeply to align strategies with those of the district and school sites where TFA-AL works.

We want to bring as many people as possible into this work, Bailey said. To build a diverse coalition of people who believe education inequality is solvable and theyre willing to bring their own friends in, mobilize around policy, and hold our state, our system and everyone in the work of education accountable for delivering an education our students deserve.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)

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Alabama rocket builder Bruno: Space exploration 'will help us to alleviate poverty here on Earth' - Yellowhammer News

03 September 2020, Brandenburg, Grnheide: Elon Musk, head of Tesla, stands on the construction site ... [+] of the Tesla Gigafactory. In Grnheide near Berlin. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)

At the end of August, via a live webcast, Elon Musk updated the world on the progress of Neuralink, the brain-computer interface company he founded back in 2016.

Maverick technologist Musk, who is also CEO of cutting-edge electric automobile manufacturer Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX, outlined a bold vision for the future of humanity.

Musks world of tomorrow is one in which cybernetically augmented super-humans are, not just able to overcome the scourge of disease and disability, but wholly transcend their physical form via direct integration with machines and technology.

To use Musks own words, Neuralinks implantable device is like a Fitbit in your skull. Comprised of super-thin threads that carry electrodes, the technology is intended to facilitate high throughput communication to external computers and, potentially, secondary links placed elsewhere in the body.

Neuralink brain implant for connecting humans and machines

Neuralink is certainly no gimmick either. The company already employs over 100 people and is looking to rapidly expand its workforce.

Musk has also sunk $100 million of his own capital into the venture. He additionally revealed that, this past July, Neuralink received Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which can assist in expediting the regulatory process.

Disabled people are likely to have had their attention piqued by Musk reiterating that, in the first instance, Neuralink would be looking to solve important brain and spine problems.

In fact, throughout the presentation, several chronic and life-limiting conditions were cited as being potentially treatable by Neuralink ranging from blindness, spinal cord injuries, memory loss, brain damage and even depression.

The companys first round of clinical trials will focus on patients with spinal cord injuries.

For disabled people watching on, this may sound like a compelling narrative, or, at the very least, something fresh and innovative in comparison to the dry mathematical data and medical jargon filling the professional journals.

Musks multi-billionaire status and media persona as a star-gazing pioneer pushing the boundaries of science certainly plays into this.

What is perhaps more tantalizing is that it is abundantly clear that Musks ambitions for Neuralink go well beyond just helping disabled people.

Elon Musk has gone on the record multiple times to convey his concerns on the threat to humanity posed by artificial intelligence.

He sees a future in which AI outpaces human beings and can no longer be held in check and has described the technology as being a greater threat to human survival than that posed by nuclear weapons.

Neuralink is, in essence, borne of Musks transhumanist ambition to maintain the whip hand over super-intelligent machines and AI.

On a species level, its important to figure out how we coexist with advanced AI, achieving some AI symbiosis, Musk said during the presentation, such that the future of the world is controlled by the combined will of the people of the earth. That might be the most important thing that a device like this achieves.

Notwithstanding the imminent rise of the cyborgs, there are, naturally, more short-term commercial opportunities ripe for exploitation.

Ultimately, who wouldnt want to be able to stream music directly into their head, or control immersive virtual video games purely by the power of their thoughts?

Futuristic woman with pink goggles and glowing interactive tattoos crouches on floor

It is this meshing of the technology with wider commercial, or indeed, existential applications, that makes it utterly compelling for those living with physical impairments.

After all, neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons and motor neuron disease are all so very niche.

Yes, they all involve the brain but their causes and mechanisms of action are unique and different. Research for these conditions is, therefore, highly specialized and undertaken at a slow pace within academic silos, all competing with each other for scarce resources.

Any new technology, particularly one propelled by wider, mass-market ambitions and finance, instantly becomes an extremely seductive proposition.

It should, at this stage, be noted that research on BMIs (brain-machine Interfaces) dates back to the 1970s. Early demonstrations involved patients with external electrodes moving an on-screen cursor. More recently, BMIs have been deployed by researchers to actuate the movement of mechanical arms, small vehicles and even wheelchairs.

With respect to its reception from the neuroscience community, Neurolink has, so far, received mixed reviews.

The companys major breakthrough appears to relate to the number of electrodes engaged (10x more than any other device) allowing for unprecedented levels of data and throughput.

According to University of Toronto neuroscience research fellow Graeme Moffat, Neuralink's hardware is "order of magnitude leaps" beyond any competitor in relation to size, portability, power consumption and wireless capabilities.

Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology at California Institute of Technology describedNeuralink's announcement as "tremendously exciting" and "a huge technical achievement."

Neuralink has also innovated in the development of a surgical robot to implement the insertion of tiny wires comprising the width of a human hair. The long-term aim is for the surgery to be carried out as a non-invasive day procedure, much like LASIK eye surgery is undertaken today.

Some scientists have poured scorn on Neuralinks theoretical underpinning, particularly in relation to emulating higher-level brain functions, such as recording thoughts or memories.

According to Loren Frank, a neuroscientist at UCSF and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the simplistic conflation of thoughts and memories with the electrical emissions that occur alongside them, represents a failure of knowledge of biology.

After all, a consistent theory of human consciousness is not yet within the domain of scientific consensus.

Andrew Jackson, Professor of Neural Interfaces at Newcastle University, summarized Musks presentation and Neuralinks progress to date as solid engineering but mediocre neuroscience.

Nevertheless, those interested in Neuralink for its medical applications should not be disheartened.

Mediating motor functions, though replete with significant challenges, is certainly not as tough an ask as deciphering thoughts and memories.

It is the former that people with disabilities will be most interested in and Steven Chase of Carnegie Mellons Neuroscience Institute confirmed, The biggest thing these patients want is independence; this technology has the potential to offer them that.

So, while hope exists that a mainstream device for controlling electrical signals in the brain could indeed represent a new treatment frontier and modality for debilitating neurological conditions, less certainty prevails over the timeline.

This is, after all, the same Elon Musk who predicted there would be one million fully autonomous vehicles on the road by the end of 2020.

People living with long-term health conditions know, perhaps more so than any other segment of society, that the road to meaningful medical advancement is often a long and winding one.

Research is fragmented for no reason other than it is innately complex. The mechanism of action of a single drug, gene, or protein for a specific disease can represent one research teams lifes work.

At the same time, even for those living with the most complex of disabilities, notions of there one day being a cure or a fix remain the ultimate tantalizing taboo.

Weve all been brought up to believe that technology gets better, that doctors eventually learn to fix what was once unfixable.

The question is less one of whether it will happen, and more one of when, and which generation will be alive to benefit.

Ultimately, Generation Fixed may not have been born yet but those of us who are around today may be witnessing the emergence of a technology that will, one day, make disability elimination a reality and not just science fiction.

However, conquering the secret frontier of the human brain is likely to be a mission that Musk might well reflect, when he himself is old and frail, proved more of a challenge than even venturing forth into the stars and outer space.

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Will Elon Musks Neuralink Wipe Disability Off The Face Of The Earth? - Forbes

For the first time ever andas Canada workstorepositionitself in thecrowded global space race the federal government has taskeda woman tolead the Canadian Space Agency.

The Government of Canada announced today that Lisa Campbellwill replace Sylvain Laporteas president of the CSA. The news release announcing her appointment noted thatnew appointments to key agencies and departments "respectthe principle of diversity."

"One thing I have learned through my career is you'vegot to dream big and you've got toreach for your own stars. So I tried to do that throughout my career," Campbell toldCBC News."I am humbled and honoured by this opportunity."

Campbell takes over theCSA as Canada charts a new course in space exploration, in part througha partnership with the international community on a new lunar program.

Canada is working with other countries to build a space station intended toorbit the moon the Lunar Gateway project. The station is being billedas botha laboratory and, as the CSA puts it,"a stepping stone" for future missions to Mars. One of Canada's contributions to the U.S.-led mission will be an artificial intelligence-based robotic system, the Canadarm3.

In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed $2.05 billion over 24 years toward Canada's space program and $150 million over five years toward the Lunar Gateway.

Campbell comes to the CSA from a stint asassociate deputy minister for Veterans Affairs Canadaand, before that,as an assistantdeputy minister of defence and marine procurement.

Watch | Campbell excited by timing of her appointment

"Lisa Campbell has worked tirelessly in the service of Canadians throughout her career and has the experience and abilities to move the Agency forward on future explorations," saidInnovation, Science and IndustryMinisterNavdeep Bainsin the news release.

Watch | CBC News: Canada joins Lunar Gateway moon mission (2019)

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Lisa Campbell becomes the first woman to head the Canadian Space Agency - CBC.ca

At the same time, the company is positive the eco-friendly fuel will reduce Skyrora's carbon footprint, as well as that of the aviation industry.

Volodymyr Levykin, CEO of Skyrora said: "This came as a great surprise during our short visit to Iceland and Im delighted that in addition to our successful rocket launch, Skyrora also received the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize award in Iceland, the worlds second-most highly performing country in environmental issues.

"Global climate change is extremely important for everybody at Skyrora and we see it as our mission and duty to be as environmentally conscious as possible.

"Receiving the Leif Erikson award during our seven-day trip to Iceland goes to show how much potential Ecosene has, not only for the company but for the future of the global space industry."

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Space Race victory for UK: Britain leads the way with prestigious 'Exploration Award' - Daily Express

In 2015, Russian-American billionaire Yuri Milner established Breakthrough Initiatives, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing space exploration. Central to this effort is Breakthrough Listen, a ten-year international research program dedicated to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and the largest and most sophisticated effort to find intelligent life beyond Earth to date.

In the past five years, the project has made two major data releases (in the June of 2019 and February of 2020) and announced that it found no signs of alien transmissions from the 1,327 nearest star systems. But thanks to an analytical breakthrough recently proposed by researchers from the University of Manchester, it looks as though Breakthrough Listens search efforts could be expanded by a factor of more than 200!

The research was conducted by Bart S. Wlodarczyk-Sroka, a postgraduate student at the University of Manchesters Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics; Michael Garrett, a professor of radio astronomy at Leiden University; and A. P. V. Siemion, the director of the UC Berkeley SETI Research Center. Their results were published in the Sept. 1st issue of The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Their team began by using data from the ESAs Gaiaspacecraft, which has spent nearly seven years cataloging the positions, distances, and motions of over 1 billion stars and astronomical objects. From this data, they selected additional stars that fell within Breakthrough Listens field of view, extending its reach to include stars that are up to 33,000 light-years away from Earth.

This expanded the projects original sample by a factor of over 217, from 1,327 nearby stars to 288,315! From this vastly larger analytical sample, the research team was able to place new constraints on the potential number of extraterrestrial radio transmitters within 33,000 light-years what SETI researchers refer to as Continuous Waveform Transmitter Rate Figures of Merit (CWTFM).

Ultimately, they found that withing 50 parsecs (163 light-years) of Earth, roughly 0.066% of stellar systems had the potential of hosting an advanced civilization capable of communicating with advanced radio technology. Within 200 parsecs (652 light-years), that number dropped to about 0.04%, reaching steadily lower the farther out they looked. As Wlodarczyk-Sroka explained in a University of Manchester press release:

Our results help to put meaningful limits on the prevalence of transmitters comparable to what we ourselves can build using twenty first century technology. We now know that fewer than one in 1600 stars closer than about 330 light years host transmitters just a few times more powerful than the strongest radar we have here on Earth. Inhabited worlds with much more powerful transmitters than we can currently produce must be rarer still.

This reanalysis of existing data represents a new milestone in the history of SETI. In addition to improving the constraints on nearby stars, this study also provides the first limits for more distant stars. Naturally, they stressed that any civilizations inhabiting the outer limits of the galaxy would need even more powerful radio transmitters to be detectable.

Another important takeaway from this study is the way it considered objects that lie within the range of a telescopes field of view rather than just the target object which is something that SETI researchers dont usually take into account. According to Garret, this that has all changed thanks to the Gaia mission:

Knowing the locations and distances to these additional sources, greatly improves our ability to constrain the prevalence of extraterrestrial intelligence in our own galaxy and beyond. We expect future SETI surveys to also make good use of this approach.

Thanks to these efforts, SETI researchers now have the best limits ever produced on the prevalence of artificial radio signals in our galaxy. Granted, these results cannot place constraints on the prevalence of life itself within our local area of the galaxy. They do, however, help in narrowing the search for what is considered to be the most likely evidence of technological activity (aka. technosignatures).

In another development, Breakthrough Listen announced last year that it was teaming up with scientists from NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. As per their agreement, Breakthrough Listen would be dedicating observation time with its telescopes to conduct follow-up surveys of the many new exoplanets TESS has confirmed to search for technosignatures.

More recently, Breakthrough Listen announced the release of their Exotica catalog, a diverse list of objects that create or are typically found in extreme environments. This catalog is now available to any and all amateur SETI researchers or citizen scientists who wish to look for signs of alien activity in what are considered to be the less-likely locales for life.

With next-generation telescopes like the James Webb and Roman Space Telescope taking to space in the next few years, astronomers anticipate another explosion in the number of exoplanets that are available for study. With ground-based observatories like the ESOs Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) also becoming operational, they also anticipate being able to characterize exoplanet atmospheres like never before.

Combined with improved estimates on their likelihood and a wider assortment of technosignatures to work with, the search for intelligence is drawing closer and closer to resolving Fermis Paradox!

Further Reading: University of Manchester, MNRAS

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Extraterrestrial Hunters Figure Out a Way to Expand Their Search for Signals by a Factor of 200 - Universe Today

The Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket 2020 report includes the market strategy, market orientation, expert opinion and knowledgeable information. The Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyIndustry Report is an in-depth study analyzing the current state of the Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket. It provides a brief overview of the market focusing on definitions, classifications, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, market segmentation, end-use applications and industry chain analysis. The study on Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket provides analysis of market covering the industry trends, recent developments in the market and competitive landscape.

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Market Dynamics

The report devised on global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarketincludes a section focused solely on the dynamics that are impacting the growth of the global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarket over the forecast period of 2020to 2026. These market dynamics include both, market drivers that are promoting the growth of the market, along with market restraints that are poised to challenge and slow down such growth. This study aims at providing insight into the market landscape and factors that pose a heavy influence in the functioning of the same.

It takes into account the CAGR, value, volume, revenue, production, consumption, sales, manufacturing cost, prices, and other key factors related to the global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarket. All findings and data on the global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarket provided in the report are calculated, gathered, and verified using advanced and reliable primary and secondary research sources. The regional analysis offered in the report will help you to identify key opportunities of the global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarket available in different regions and countries.

Major Companies Includedin the global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarket coveredAirbus S.A.S, Astrobotic, Axiom Space, Bradford, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Masten Space Systems, MAXAR Technologies Inc., Nanoracks LLC, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Planetary Resources, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), and Thales Group

Research Methodology

The research methodology adopted for this report includes market research tools such as Porters Five Forces Model and an in-depth SWOT analysis to analyse this market during the projected assessment period, based on historical market research data, and enable the target audience for this study, to make better and more informed decisions with regard to this market.

Market Segmentation

The global Deep Space Exploration and Technologymarkethas been segmented and analyzed on the basis of various aspects including type, component, applications, end-users, and region, among many others. This segmentation has aided researchers to evaluate the relationship between specific segmental growth and market growth. The detailed regional analysis has been conducted for North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The study objectives of this report are:To study and forecast the market size of Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket in global Industry.To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, end use and region.To analyze and compare the market status and forecast among global major regions.To analyze the global key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.

To Browse the Full Report https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/reports/global-deep-space-exploration-and-technology-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026?utm_source=themarketchronicles&utm_medium=15

Major Points in Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Introduction

Definition

Scope of the Study

Research Objective

Market Structure

Assumptions And Limitations

Research Methodology

Market Dynamics

Overview

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Market Factor

Analysis

Porters Five Forces Model

Value Chain Analysis

Investment Opportunities

Price Analysis

Global Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket, By Product

Global Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket, By End Users

Global Deep Space Exploration and TechnologyMarket, By Region

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles

Appendix

About us

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Latest Trends in Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market 2020, In-depth Analysis Considering Impact of Covid -19 on Share, Size and Future...

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) NASA awarded three universities in New Mexico grant money to support underrepresented students in STEM fields. The University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University received funding through NASAs Minority University Research and Education Project while NMSU and Navajo Technical University also received research grants for space technology research.

The funds were announced by U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Lujan, Deb Haaland, and Xochitl Torres Small in a press release. The combined $2,288,000 in grant funding was awarded as the following:

NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Awards

Cooperative Agreements for Research Development Programs

NMSU was awarded $750,000 for its Next Generation Additive Manufacturing for Space Applications project.

Planning Grants to Support Space Technology Opportunities

NASAs MUREP Space Technology Artemis Research has awarded funds to 15 universities for 16 projects that will support NASAs advancement of technology needed for its Artemis program that aims to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024. NMSU in partnership with San Diego State University has been awarded $604,000 for the MUREP Advancing Regolith-Related Technologies and Education project. Navajo Technical University received $604,000 for its Micro-Gravity Additive Manufacturing of Metals project.

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$2.3M in space exploration grants awarded to 3 New Mexico universities - KRQE News 13

AMAC: Dr. Aldrin, it is a pleasure to hear your views. Last year, you celebrated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11s historic moon landing, and this year you turned 90, and you seem to be as high-energy as ever, still focused on human space exploration and concerned about Americas future in space. Can you elaborate on your hopes for the future?

Aldrin: I am still focused on Americas leadership in space because I think it matters, for reasons tied to national security and destiny of our species. I am on the Presidents Space Council and offer ideas when asked. Generally, we need to get the right architecture for efficient moon missions and then move on to Mars. We also need to start thinking less about one-off visits and more about permanence, exploring in depth, reaching outward to create a sustained human presence. Sending people out to look around, then return and write books or give speeches seems like something we have done. The time is now to start thinking about permanence, since technologies exist now that did not in 1969.

AMAC: When you went to the moon, you and Neil Armstrong left a plaque that read We Came in Peace for All Mankind. Do you have any reflections on that now?

Aldrin: Yes, I do. We did come in peace for all humankind. America is an exceptional nation and while we defend our liberties, we want the world to be at peace here and out there. We beat the Soviets head-to-head, which may have accelerated the Cold Wars end, and we opened a door to dtente in space with the Apollo-Soyuz program. In any event, we believed in peace and competition, the competition of ideas, which is still going on today. You know, the 1960s were unsettled times, a bit like now, yet the Apollo program showed that with focus and good intent, we Americans can come together and do extraordinary, almost unimaginable things. We must never lose that character trait. We must also never lose the will to explore. Humans must explore or expire.

AMAC: That brings us to recent events. I know you track space-based developments closely and probably watched the recent SpaceX launch.

Aldrin: Yes, I did watch that launch and docking with excitement. The two-man Dragon crew left from pad 39A, the same one Mike, Neil, and I left from for the moon, so that was exciting. America should be launching Americans on American rockets from American soil, and I am glad we are.

AMAC: What does that launch mean for Americas future in space?

Aldrin: It means we are back in the business of launching humans into space, which is a good thing, perhaps overdue. But it also reminds us that we must move beyond Earths orbit back into the heavens. Our destiny is not to orbit but to explore. Our mission cannot be to stay where we have been but must be centered on constantly reaching outward, learning, growing, exploring.

AMAC: Are you optimistic about our spacefaring future as a nation?

Aldrin: Of course. Americas future in space is bright, never more than now. But we do need to get on with it. When we left for the moon, America had already launched 19 manned missions. We just need to readjust our sights, start aiming higher. Next should be humans on the moon, then in short order manned missions to Mars. Getting to Mars will be hard work refining launch trajectories, re-entry speeds, radiation protection; assuring human life support for the duration but if these are lofty goals, they are achievable. Arguably, they are more attainable than our moon mission seemed to many when President Kennedy put us on that track in 1961. Remember, we had not gotten a man into orbit at that time.

AMAC: What do you think draws humans into space? What causes us to imagine a future of humans living in space, on the moon or Mars, if you have ever reflected on the question?

Aldrin: Putting geopolitics and national security to the side although both matter we humans are born explorers. We first learn to walk and yearn to go somewhere, then to run, cycle, and drive always with a destination in sight. Some of us learned to fly, and in that group, some flew spaceships into orbit. A few became lunar module pilots, taking a spacecraft down to the moon from lunar orbit at which point we used our walking skills again. But to put it simply, we humans are curious: we wonder, so we wander. We explore. The universe is vast, but the next steps seem clear. The truth is that humankind loves to explore, needs to explore, and now has the technology, accumulated history in space, and power to explore.

AMAC: You are a visionary and explorer, comfortable with risks, somehow able to manage fear, a dreamer and doer. After West Point, combat missions over Korea, and a PhD from MIT in astronautical engineering, you flew with Jim Lovell on Gemini 12 and then to the moon on Apollo 11. You have experienced things no one on Earth has, or only very few. Let me take you back in time. If you will indulge me, I have a couple of questions about that incredible trip out to the moon. What was sitting in the rocket at launch like?

Aldrin: It was exciting. As countdown proceeded, we were glad we did not have to start over. The launch went smoothly. Nothing unexpected happened. We actually did not know exactly when we had left the ground, except from the instruments we were watching and voice communications. From the instruments, we could see our rate of climb and altitude changing, but we were comfortable in our seats. We sort of looked at each other and thought, We must be on our way, whats next?

AMAC: What went through your mind when you landed on the moon?

Aldrin: As we approached the moon, we leveled off and kept moving down and forward to land. We knew we were continuing to burn fuel. We knew what we had, and then we heard 30 seconds left. So, it was nice to finally touch down. We saw our shadow cast in front of us as we landed, something we never saw in the simulator. That was new. I saw dust creating a haze, not particles but a haze from the engine pushing dust up. The light turned on, I announced contact light, engine stop. We were happy to have landed. I guess Neil and I smiled.

AMAC: Did you think about home while you were flying to the moon or on the moon?

Aldrin: While others thought about what we were doing, we were very concentrated on being on the moon. As Neil climbed down the ladder, mission control told us they were getting an image, but it was upside down. They fixed that, and soon we were both out of the lunar module and on the surface. Neil called it one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, and the moon looked to me like magnificent desolation. But on the moon, we had jobs to do. We had experiments to set out, and so we concentrated on that more than anything else. As for thinking about all those watching, we really did not think much about that. We were focused on mission control. They were the people we had to think about most.

Of course, it was exciting. Neil decided where to put the camera, and I got out two experiments and carried them. We were focused on the experiments, making sure they were level, pointed toward the sun. One experiment involved a sort of level with a small BB settling in the center of a cone. In one-sixth gravity, the BB kept going around and around. I stepped away, did other work, and then came back to find the BB centered and the experiment level. On the moon, a leveling device does not give level right away!

AMAC: Did you have any special thoughts as you returned, and at splashdown time?

Aldrin: We were glad to be coming home. There is only one Earth. On splashdown, we had to throw a switch to release the parachutes, only it was a bit bumpy, so we tipped over before we could release the parachutes, then the balloons tipped us right side up again. It was good to be back, to see and talk with family. People often remember the photo of us at a window in the containment trailer. Funny story. When they played the national anthem, we wanted to stand up but to be at the window, we had to kneel. We certainly were glad to be back home in America. Even this many years later, it was a privilege to have been on that first mission to the lunar surface, an honor to have worked with so many good and dedicated people and to have left footprints there. Sometimes, I marvel that we went to the moon. I think, it is time for the next generation to aim high, carry the mission forward, and put new prints up there, and on Mars.

AMAC: Thank you so much for this time and your candor. You are truly the living definition of an American hero, and I think I can say everyone at AMAC, in America, and around the world feels that way. For being who you are, for loving this country, for taking risks for a high purpose, and for leaving that plaque on the moon which honors the American spirit and all of us thank you.

Robert Charles is the national spokesman for the 2.1 million member Association of Mature American Citizens. He is a former assistant secretary of state for President George W. Bush, former naval intelligence officer and litigator. Charles served in the Reagan and Bush 41 White Houses, as congressional counsel for five years, and wrote Narcotics and Terrorism (2003) and Eagles and Evergreens (2018), the latter on WWII vets in a Maine town.

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Reflections on America, space exploration, moon walking | News - MyEasternShoreMD

Students at the University of Central Florida have the opportunity to observe a historic NASA mission and get an inside look at what it takes conduct research in space through a virtual class this semester.

Students enrolled in the universitys Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites class this semester will get a behind-the-scenes look at NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission which will attempt to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu, which orbits the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The class will provide students an opportunity to learn about concepts like data collection and exploration in space and to learn about what it takes to be a part of a NASA mission, including how scientists collaborate, argue and resolve disagreements, according to UCF physics professor Humberto Campins, a member of the NASA team tasked with recovering the asteroid sample.

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, mission was launched in September 2016 and the spacecraft reached Bennu in 2018. Now NASA scientists are getting ready to collect an asteroid sample in October.

The mission, if successful, will help scientists better understand how planets formed and how life began in the solar system, according to NASA. Data will also help scientists understand the nature of asteroids that could potentially hit Earth. (Bennu has a 1-in-2,700 chance of hitting Earth between 2175 and 2199, according to NASA.)

Although teaching during the pandemic has brought about challenges for professors and students, Campins said this class creates a unique opportunity for students to immerse themselves in a real space mission and gain important insight into the realities of space exploration and research.

Because I can teach remotely [during the pandemic], it provided me a golden opportunity for my students to live a NASA mission with me, Campins said in a press release. Theyll get to hear about it all.

Students will hear about the mission in real time, analyze data collected by the spacecraft and discuss peer-reviewed papers on the observations the spacecraft has made so far. They will also get to go on a virtual tour of mission control, which is not open to the public.

My students are going to be among the first who will get to digest and discuss what we are publishing, Campins said. For scientists, it doesnt get better than this and I hope my students get a taste for it and continue to pursue it.

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UCF students to go behind the scenes of live NASA asteroid mission - EdScoop News

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Insert after fourth paragraph: Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to AMERGINT Technology Holdings. BofA Securities acted as financial advisor.

The updated release reads:

AMERGINT TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES SPACE-BASED OPTICS BUSINESS TO BE RENAMED DANBURY MISSION TECHNOLOGIES

Leading provider of software-defined technology for military, intelligence and commercial space expands capabilities for building a generational asset focused on delivering high-performance national security space technologies

AMERGINT Technologies Holdings, Inc. (ATH) today announced it has completed the acquisition of Raytheon Technologies electro-optics technology business headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, which will be renamed Danbury Mission Technologies (Danbury). Previously a division of Raytheon Technologies Collins Aerospace unit, Danbury is a leading technology provider of electro-optical systems for national security space missions and defense survivability needs. With the addition of Danburys preeminent capabilities, AMERGINT furthers its mission to deliver next-generation solutions to manage the capture, processing, transport and exploitation of vital mission information to support the nations decision makers and warfighters.

We are extremely proud to welcome the Danbury team, says Larry Hill, CEO of AMERGINT Technology Holdings. Renowned for designing, developing and producing optical systems that have enabled the U.S. to observe Earth from space, Danbury Mission Technologies has been integral in supporting national security space programs designed to protect U.S. interests. Combining our expertise, we are empowered to build a generational asset that focuses on delivering high-performance national security space technologies for the present and future.

For decades, high-performance optical systems have been central to helping the U.S. achieve its national security and space exploration objectives, with technological contributions from private sector partnerships essential.

We look forward to working with government and industry leaders to continue to deliver advanced solutions that support the cutting edge in the space and defense mission areas, says Andreas Nonnenmacher, President of Danbury Mission Technologies, who will concurrently assume responsibilities as President of ATH. Joining a leading provider of software-defined technology for military, intelligence and commercial applications, Danbury becomes a key part of a greater force that will create some of the most exciting and potentially game-changing opportunities ever seen for advancing U.S. capabilities.

Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to AMERGINT Technology Holdings. BofA Securities acted as financial advisor.

For more information, visit: http://www.amergint.com.

About AMERGINT Technologies Inc.

AMERGINT Technologies is an essential and trusted partner in the evolution of the Space and Defense Industries by focusing on mission-critical communication and data paths through the capture, processing, transport and exploitation of vital mission data. Visit: http://www.amergint.com.

About Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. With 195,000 employees and four industry-leading businesses Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense the company delivers solutions that push the boundaries in avionics, cybersecurity, directed energy, electric propulsion, hypersonics, and quantum physics. The company, formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses, is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

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INSERTING and REPLACING AMERGINT Technology Holdings Completes Acquisition of Raytheon Technologies' Space-based Optics Business to Be Renamed Danbury...

By Alice Gorman, Flinders University

Everyone is planning to return to the Moon. At least 10 missions by half a dozen nations are scheduled before the end of 2021, and thats only the beginning.

Even though there are international treaties governing outer space, ambiguity remains about how individuals, nations and corporations can use lunar resources.

In all of this, the Moon is seen as an inert object with no value in its own right.

But should we treat this celestial object, which has been part of the culture of every hominin for millions of years, as just another resource.

In April 2020, US president Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on the use of off-Earth resources which made clear his governments stance towards mining on the Moon and other celestial bodies:

Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space.

Lunar resources include helium-3 (a possible clean energy source), rare earth elements (used in electronics) and water ice. Located in shadowed craters at the poles, water ice could be used to make fuel for lunar industries and to take the next step on to Mars.

As a thought experiment in how we might regulate lunar exploitation, some have asked whether the Moon should be granted legal personhood, which would give it the right to enter into contracts, own property, and sue other persons.

Legal personhood is already extended to many non-human entities: certain rivers, deities in some parts of India, and corporations worldwide. Environmental features cant speak for themselves, so trustees are appointed to act on their behalf, as is the case for the Whanganui River in New Zealand. One proposal is to apply the New Zealand model to the Moon.

As a space archaeologist, I study artefacts and places associated with space exploration in the 20th and 21st centuries. Previously, I worked with Indigenous communities to mitigate damage to heritage sites caused by mining. So I have a keen interest in what mining means for human heritage on the Moon.

Places like Tranquility Base, where humans first landed on the Moon in 1969, could be considered heritage for the entire species. There are more than 100 artefacts left at Tranquility Base, including a television camera, experiment packages, and Buzz Aldrins space boots.

Objects like this are full of meaning and memory. But these objects not just made by humans they also shape human behaviour in their own right. Its in this context that I want to consider two aspects of lunar personhood: memory and agency.

Can we support the legal concept of personhood for the Moon with actual features of personhood?

The 17th-century philosopher John Locke argued that memory was a key feature of personhood. Its now acceptable to attribute memory to environmental features on Earth, like the oceans.

There are many different types of memory, of course think of memory foam, a space-age spin-off with terrestrial applications.

One reason scientists want to study the Moon is to retrieve the memory of how it formed after separating from Earth billions of years ago.

This memory is encoded in geological features like craters and lava fields, and the regions at the lunar poles where shadows two billion years old preserve precious water ice.

These are like archives storing information about past events. The most recent layer of memory records 60 years of human interventions, sitting lightly on the surface. This belongs to human heritage and memory, but it is now lunar memory too.

The international Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) maintains the Planetary Protection Policy. This policy aims to prevent harm to potential life on other planets and moons. The Moon requires little protection because it is considered a dead world.

Recently, social media went wild with a story that self-described TikTok witches had hexed the Moon. More experienced WitchTokkers reacted with fury at their hubris in meddling with powers they didnt understand.

Despite its apparent irrationality, there was something delightful about this story. It showed how the Moon is thought to interact with human life on its own terms. The witches took the Moon seriously as an agent in human affairs.

When humans return to the Moon, they will not find it a dead world. It is a very active landscape shaped by dust, shadows and light.

The Moon reacts to human disturbance by mobilising dust that irritates lungs, breaks down seals and prevents equipment from working. This is neither passive nor hostile just the Moon being itself.

Australian philosopher Val Plumwood would see the Moon as a co-participant in human affairs, rather than formless, dead matter:

When the others agency is treated as background or denied, we give the other less credit than it is due. We can easily come to take for granted what they provide for us, and to starve them of the resources they need to survive.

So this leaves me with a question: if the Moon is a legal person, what does it need from us to sustain its memory and agency? How can we achieve what Plumwood calls a mutual flourishing?

The answers might lie in our attitudes.

We could abandon the idea that our moral obligations only cover living ecologies. We should consider the Moon as an entity beyond the resources it might hold for humans to use.

In practice, this might mean trustees would determine how much of the water ice deposits or other geological features can be used, or set conditions on activities which alter the qualities of the Moon irreversibly.

The record of human activities we leave on the Moon should reflect respect, as we are contributing to what it remembers. In this sense, the TikTok witches had the right idea.

This article is based on a presentation at a Moon Village Association public forum organised by the Office of Other Spaces, Catapult UK and the Space Junk Podcast, and supported by Inspiring NSW and the Hunter Innovation and Science Hub.

Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Can the Moon be a person? - Cosmos

ABU DHABI--US and Israeli delegations left Abu Dhabi Tuesday after a historic visit to discuss future ties between the UAE and the Jewish state following their American-brokered deal to fully normalise relations.

The United Arab Emirates and Israel are expected to sign the agreement Israels first with a Gulf nation and only its third with an Arab state at the White House in coming weeks.

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trumps son-in-law and White House adviser, led the delegation that arrived in the Emirati capital Monday on the first ever direct commercial flight from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

The Israeli press celebrated the historic flight, which was also allowed to cross the airspace of Saudi Arabia.

The flight of peace ran the front-page headline of top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily, which said in a commentary that no matter how we look at it this is a fascinating historic event.

Kushner visited a UAE air base Tuesday where the US operates F-35 stealth fighter jets coveted by Abu Dhabi the thorniest issue in the Emirates newly established ties with Israel.

Israel has denied reports that the deal hinges on the sale of US F-35s to the UAE, with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saying he opposes a move that could reduce its strategic edge in the region.

Kushner said Monday that the US could maintain that edge while also advancing our military relationship with the United Arab Emirates and that the issue would be discussed further in coming weeks.

US, Israeli and UAE officials said they discussed cooperation in investment, finance, health, space exploration, civil aviation, foreign policy and tourism and culture.

The result will be broad cooperation between two of the regions most innovative and dynamic economies, the trio said in a statement.

The national security advisers, Israels Meir Ben-Shabbat and the UAEs Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, joined Kushner for the talks on cooperation between the two highly developed Middle East economies.

The jet of Israeli carrier El Al had the word peace written on the cockpit in Arabic, English and Hebrew.

The UAE is only the third Arab nation to normalise ties with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.

Its ally Saudi Arabia has said it will not normalise relations until Israel agrees on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, in keeping with the decades-old Arab Peace Plan.

Under the normalisation agreement with the UAE, Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexations in the occupied West Bank even if Netanyahu has insisted the plans remain on the table.

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US, Israeli delegations leave UAE after discussing broader cooperation - The Arab Weekly

NASA commemorated the 100th anniversary of when some American women won the right to vote by celebrating today's female pioneers, who are spreading their wings far into space.

NASA held a special event on Wednesday (Aug. 27) 100 years to the day after the passage of the 19th Amendment called "Past, Present and Future of Women in Space," featuring four women who have made their mark in the space program. The program, which also included questions and comments from numerous other prominent women in space, was broadcast live on NASA TV and is available on YouTube.

"We're working towards diversity and inclusion for women," Christyl Johnson, who manages the research and development portfolio for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said during the event. "That makes this place a wonderful place to be."

Related: Women in space: A gallery of firsts

Recent female milestones at the agency include the first all-woman spacewalk by Jessica Meir and Christina Koch last year, the longest single stay in space by a woman at 328 days (Koch, 2019-2020) and the first woman to command the International Space Station twice (Peggy Whitson in 2016).

Another milestone may be coming soon: Jeanette Epps was just named to a commercial crew flight on a Boeing spacecraft this week after being removed from another International Space Station mission in 2018 for reasons NASA never disclosed. She will likely become the first female Black astronaut to complete a long-duration mission.

The panelists not only honored the past of female space exploration but also looked forward to the future which could include the first woman to walk on the moon during the planned Artemis program moon landing of 2024. The participants spoke about their mentors in astronomy and engineering and talked about the key role women play in large teams exploring space.

Clara Ma named NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in 2009, when she was only in sixth grade. As of 2019, she graduated from Yale University with a degree in physics, according to NASA, and is working on a masters degree in science, technology and environmental policy at the University of Cambridge in the U.K.

Ma spoke briefly about NASA's recently launched Perseverance rover, which will search for signs of Martian life beginning in 2021 and build on Curiosity's ongoing mission focusing on Martian habitability.

She said that NASA gave her opportunities she never could have imagined while a young student. "I started out as a very shy, very antisocial girl," Ma said, but when thrust into media interviews about her winning essay on Curiosity, she discovered her opinions were valued. "I didn't feel like I had a voice worth listening to [at first], and NASA changed all that."

Ma always had been interested in how to address global warming, and said that working at NASA periodically in the past few years gave her the confidence and tools to pursue her interest. "The most important thing we need to do, and NASA needs to do, is keep exploring and keep doing so in an inclusive way."

Black astronaut Stephanie Wilson is a three-time space shuttle veteran, having flown on STS-121 in 2006, STS-120 in 2007 and STS-131 in 2010. She has held numerous management positions at NASA while still serving as an astronaut. She said she had a lot of ideas, growing up, about what she wanted to do.

"I had a conflict between science and engineering," she recalled, saying she was really interested in design as well. Aerospace engineering allowed her to combine both interests, and flying aboard a spacecraft after helping design them was "icing on the cake."

The first woman launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, said that the ratification of the 19th Amendment not only gave many American women the right to vote, but "it enabled the path that eventually all of us were able to walk down."

Blackwell-Thompson said that if women's suffrage had not occurred, "I doubt seriously I would be in a position to be a launch director today." She grew up in rural South Carolina, she said, and never would have imagined being in this position of leadership and mentorship to others. "Having this role what it says to young people is, don't limit your expectations, don't limit your goals, because anything is possible."

Kathy Lueders, who a few weeks ago became the first woman chosen to lead NASA's human exploration program, also delivered a video statement. "There have been a lot of people that have reached down and pulled me up, and are the reason I'm here today," she said. "Why is this important? This is important because we have big problems. That's why we're here to solve big problems."

NASA women's pioneering efforts go back to the very roots of the human spaceflight program. Black female mathematicians helped plot spacecraft trajectories in the 1960s, with their careers mostly unknown until the book "Hidden Figures" was released in 2016 and turned into a popular Hollywood movie the following year. Earlier this summer, NASA renamed its headquarters building after Mary W. Jackson, the first Black female engineer to work at the agency.

The first American woman (Sally Ride) did not fly in space until 1983, more than 20 years after the first American man, although a group of women informally known as the Mercury 13 fought for consideration in the astronaut program in the 1960s. (The first woman in space overall was the Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova, who reached orbit in June 1963.) Ride was also the first known LGBTQ astronaut in space, although that information was not public until after her death in 2012.

While men still predominate in space, women continue to reach milestones worth celebrating. A few such moments include the first female American spacewalk by Kathryn D. Sullivan in 1984, the first Black female in space (Mae Jemison) in 1992 and the largest number of women in orbit at the same time (four) during space shuttle mission STS-131 in 2010. Whitson became the first woman to command the ISS in 2008, and Eileen Collins the first woman space shuttle commander in 1999.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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NASA event marks 100th anniversary of women's voting rights - Space.com

If there is one thing you should know about me, its that I love space. I love everything from the stars to the theory of relativity. I find it fascinating and mind-boggling all at the same time. There is so much to discover when it comes to the cosmos.

One day, while packing up to move back into Saint Marys, I looked at my phone and saw an email from NASA (because Im a nerd and signed up to get monthly update emails) and it said that you can put your name on the next Mars rover that they will be sending up in 2026 and will land on Mars in 2028. Now, I know that is a long time to wait, but spots fill up fast! So I quickly signed my family up and sent the link to all my friends. I then began to think about how 10.9 million names would actually be sent up to Mars. So I did some research.

After a few Google searches, I found the answer. According to NASA, The names will be stenciled by an electron beam onto three fingernail-sized silicon chips, along with the essays of the finalists in NASAs Name the Rover contest. After reading this, I was in shock that my name and the names of my family and friends would be actually engraved onto the Mars rover that will be launching in 2026.

The intended mission for this Mars rover is that it will land on Mars and deposit a fetch rover, which will collect samples of the Red Planet and place them into a rocket, which will launch from Mars and land here on earth. When this happens, itll be the first time in human history that something else is launched off of another planet in the solar system to Earth. This rover will be designed to continue the work and research of the rover Perseverance that was sent up this past July. Perseverance is well on its way to Mars and will land there on Feb. 18, 2021 to seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples to return to Earth. This rover will last at least one Mars year, which is about 687 Earth days. If you click the link and scroll to the bottom of the page, you can actually keep up with its voyage to Mars.

There are plenty of spots left for people to put their name on Mars, and I would recommend you share it with your friends and family. Its not everyday youre able to say that your name is actually engraved on a Mars rover. I know its just a name and this rover wont be landing until 2028 its a long time to wait but it wouldnt surprise me if in our lifetime or our childrens lifetime, humans send a person to Mars. At the rate technology is advancing and space exploration is being privatized with amounts of money we cant even comprehend, putting a person on Mars isnt out of the question.

There is a part of me that thinks maybe we should leave Mars untouched and just leave it to the rovers to collect data for us. Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to overstay our welcome and before you know it, we could pollute Mars just like we have polluted Earth. But thats not what this article is about.

I encourage you to sign your name on the next Mars rover and definitely sign up for the monthly NASA newsletter. There is always something to discover in the universe. And who knows, maybe aliens will find our space junk we have left on planets and read your name.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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Want your name on the next Mars rover? - Observer Online

The future is female on the sci-fi drama Away, starring Academy Award winner Hilary Swank as Emma Green, commander of a three-year Mars expedition that separates her from husband Matt, a mission control engineer (Josh Charles) and theirdaughter (Talitha Eliana Bateman).

The tale veers between her crisis-plagued spaceship and the multinational crew's loved ones on Earth. "There's the grandeur and gravitas of space, but also a deeply personal family story," says executive producer Jason Katims (Parenthood).

Swank (above) briefs us on the wild ride.

Are you fascinated by space?

Hilary Swank:I wanted to be an astronaut before I [became] an actor. I love space exploration: looking back down at Earth, seeing how beautiful it is, how we're all connected and there are no [national] borders.

(Diyah Pera/Netflix)

Emma faces some crew dissent. What's her leadership style?

She's a Navy pilot, so usually she'd be military-tough, leading with an iron fist. I like this script because she shows her vulnerability, which is not a weakness. She connects with the others because they're all missing their families.

How did you perform the zero-gravity scenes?

We're on wires connected to the lowest parts of our hips. You squeeze your glutes to go forward, abs to go back.

Some of the most intense emotional moments are when Emma is alone in her quarters, talking to family via phone or video. Was the other actor really on the other end of the call?

Yes, via iPad or phone. Josh would be home in New York City, driving with his kids and pull off to the side of the road and do a scene with me.

Would you personally sign up for a Mars mission?

Not if it took three years, but [I'd go to] the moon, a hundred percent!

Away, Series Premiere, Friday, September 4, Netflix

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Hilary Swank Takes Us Inside the Space Scenes of Netflix's 'Away' - TV Insider

Words by Frank Millard

The requirements for the radiation testing of electronics and other equipment on space vehicles is changing as the space sector expands.

The exposure of spacecraft and their components to solar and cosmic radiation has posed considerable and complex problems as space exploration has progressed and matured. However, the technology to turn outer space into a safer environment for humans and machines is continually developing.

Space ionizing radiation originates from the Sun in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, the two Van Allen belts, as well as cosmic galactic rays.

Spacecraft include structural materials and EEE (Electronic, Electrical and Electromechanical) components that can be affected by ionizing radiation. Some parts are directly exposed to the external radiation environment. Some are located inside the spacecraft and are shielded by the external wall of the spacecraft to some extent.

The Radiation Hardness Assurance and Component Analysis Section (TEC-QEC) at the European Space Agency (ESA) supports the RHA and component analysis of all EASA projects.

Anastasia Pesce, head of the TEC-QEC, which is based in Holland says, Some particles are so highly energetic that they will pass through several centimeters or more of aluminum shielding and directly pass through or accumulate in material and EEE components, which can lead to instant or progressive degradation of performance.

There are three mechanisms of degradation on EEE components from ionizing radiation: total ionizing dose (TID), displacement damage (DD) and single event effects (SEEs).

Researchers perform checks on equipment before a proton radiation test at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland

The effects of SEE range from being a nuisance to non-critical equipment to destroying critical hardware. The scope of work to make electronics more resilient to radiation is increasing for forthcoming missions to the Moon and beyond, because the environment is harsher in space outside Earths magnetosphere.

Pesce says, Contrary to TID and DD, with SEEs a single ionized particle is capable of depositing enough charge in the device that can alter its operation temporarily or permanently. It can occur from the first second in-orbit and throughout the mission duration.

Total ionizing dose and displacement damage are cumulative effects. TID generates from electron-hole pairs generated in the semiconductor oxides, while for DD the cause is due to energetic particles causing displacement of atoms in the components material lattice.

The longer a component is exposed to radiation the more it degrades until failure. Mitigate measures are put in place by engineers, unless a component is able to function correctly for the entire duration of the mission.

Radiation shielding requirements thus depend upon the mission environment and duration. Spacecraft for human space flight also present another set of considerations. NASA has been concerned about the negative effects of radiation on spacecraft and astronauts for many years. Razvan Gaza, ionizing radiation lead, Lockheed Martin says, The biological effects of ionizing radiation exposure constitute the limiting factor in terms of mission duration. It is unfeasible to deploy radiation mitigation strategies used on satellites for human space vehicles.

The concept of a safe mode shutting down non-essential functions while troubleshooting an SEE is not applicable for environmental control and life support on a human spacecraft while the crew are onboard. Multiple redundancy, hazards- and operational controls are imperatives for NASA to ensure the safety of the astronaut crew during missions.

The control room for the 88-inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory in California where NASA conducts radiation testing

The testing of the effects of radiation and shielding can use several different approaches, depending on the type of effects under consideration. Facilities either use radioactive sources such as Cobalt 60, which emit gamma rays, or particle beams from particle accelerators which can be used to generate electrons, protons and heavy ions for use in testing.

Professor Nigel Bannister, senior lecturer from the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester says, If we are interested in how a material or an electronic component changes its properties over time because of ionizing radiation, then radioactive sources and beams of electrons and protons will be used.

In the case of understanding how microprocessors are affected, then heavy ion beams and proton beams are used.

Bannisters work is currently focused on the ESAs JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer), a probe which is planned for launch in 2022 and is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in 2029. JUICE will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the giant gaseousplanet and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

Jupiters strong magnetic field traps particles and the rotation of the planet accelerates these particles to high energies. This is what forms the radiation environment, which can damage and destroy electronics and materials, says Bannister.

Testing of JUICEs components consists of exposing the parts to a representative environment in an accelerated way. To execute a TID test, the tested parts are exposed to photons emitted by the decay of a Cobalt 60 radioactive source. To test against DD, which is aparticular challenge for optical and optoelectronic parts, the parts are exposed to high energy protons up to a certain fluence, says Pesce.

For SEE testing, energetic ions or high energy protons are used. These deposit significant charge along their track when crossing semiconductor devices. This can induce SEEs ranging from temporary upsets to potentially destructive events such as latch-ups, which are similar to short circuits. Tests are performed at exposures vastly exceeding that expected in the mission to detect all possible failure modes. Testing is performed at EEE part level. The results of the test are then assessed in the context of the electronic circuit and up to system level to assess mission impacts.

Radiation testing is only one component of radiation hardening assurance (RHA). For mission critical electronic equipment, RHA is an integral part of the circuit and system design and engineering. RHA also plays a role in part selection, design for radiation mitigation, SEE rates and criticality analyses, and system integration of radiation effects.

Radiation testing at the Light Ion Facility at University College Louvain in Belgium

There is a trend for space vehicle developers to use COTS components instead of radiation hardened ones because of a reduction in the number of manufacturers producing radiation-hardened components. COTS components also often perform better in terms of mass, size, power and speed.

However, NASA scientists say COTS components can pose more risk for radiation effects as they are not subject to RHA. While radiation testing may characterize, it does not guarantee radiation suitability for a particular mission or environment. It can also be difficult to establish whether the quality of the manufacturing is consistent.

Pesce says, There could be process variations, different wafers and masks used, different manufacturing plants. All these factors may change the way a component behaves when exposed to ionizing radiation. This is called lot-to-lot variations. Hence, the biggest issue is a lack of traceability of COTS.

Johnson, research coordinator at the 88-Inch Cyclotron at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California says, With Cold War components depleted and no longer being made, there is a lot of interest in COTS parts for space vehicles. But they do not hold up as well in heavy ion testing. How manufacturers and space agencies are dealing with this is not always clear, but the need for more testing has clearly increased.

As the requirements change the vulnerabilities and testing needs also change. According to Johnson electronic components are reducing in size, while complexity is increasing. This is increasing the demand for higher energies of particle beams to penetrate thicker silicon overlayers in components. New materials are also constantly emerging which require evaluation and assessment.

This means testing facilities are always looking to develop bigger, better beams. Johnson says, We bring a new ion source online around every ten years which will use higher energy ion sources allowing us to increase overall beam energies. We are also looking at developing more precise particle beams, so that very small parts of components can be irradiated, rather than an entire circuit board assembly. This could mean far better diagnostic capability for testers.

According to Gaza, the increasing complexity of EEE parts such as microprocessors makes characterization testing more difficult. He says, Manufacturers are often reluctant to share detailed information about part functionality for radiation testing and testing black boxes is extremely challenging. Ultimately, a test aims to correlate results obtained in an accelerated environment with performance in flight. This is impossible without insight into the part functionality.

This article was originally published in the March 2020 issue of Aerospace Testing International magazine. View in its original format here. Subscribe to the quarterly magazine for free hereand to the weekly newsletter here.

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How enigneers test the radiation shielding of electronics in space vehicles - Aerospace Testing International

Freddie Green

The space race is not over, it has only just begun. Decreasing launch costs have led to a rapid expansion of space based activity and the space economy, with Morgan Stanley predicting that space could be a trillion dollar sector within twenty years.

The space race is not over, it has only just begun.

This years Mars launch window has seen new contenders vying to explore the red planet. Human exploration and settlement beyond Earth is an inevitability, and the UK would be foolish to miss out on the opportunity. At the height of its operations, NASAs manned moon program employed over 400,000 people; the growth of the space economy will no doubt see a new wave of high skilled aerospace jobs.

News coverage of current wave of space innovation has been dominated by the space barons: Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. The private space programs of these billionaire businessmen seem to have tarnished the image of space flight for many in the public, giving rise to a perception that space travel is a decadence an exorbitantly expensive tool for rich men to massage their egos.

However, as Robert Zubrin explains in The case for space, space exploration has the potential to improve the living standards of everyone, such as by facilitating clean and efficient energy production.

Space exploration has the potential to improve the living standards of everyone.

The final frontier of human exploration perhaps also offers insight into the final frontier of Earthly politics. Space can only be mastered with the co-operation of government and private enterprise. Much as with the exploration of previous centuries, it is government that provides the initial impetus, paving the way for private enterprise.

It was the American government that first put boots on the moon, but the first major lunar settlement will almost certainly be a private enterprise. Years of American government aerospace investment has paved the way for SpaceX and other pioneering firms to dramatically reduce launch costs, opening up the solar system.

The first major lunar settlement will almost certainly be a private enterprise.

It is now time for the government of the UK to do the same; providing the funding and infrastructure for the UK to embark on its own manned space program, therein allowing the public to reap the long term benefits of the space economy.

Space offers a unique opportunity to unite the power of the state and the innovation of business for the good of everyone, fusing notions of left and right for the good of the entire country.

Image: Robert Goodwin via Creative Commons and Flikr

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A new wave of space exploration - Palatinate

Hilary Swank (Trust) is set to star in the forthcoming Netflix series Away, premiering on September 4. As a child, Swank dreamt of becoming an astronaut and now its coming true on-screen.

In an interview with USA Today, she said, I wanted to be an astronaut before I wanted to be an actor, which was about the age of nine. It still has the same feeling for me now as it did then, the whole idea of something bigger than us and the unknown. I still would love to go to space someday, but being an actor and playing an astronaut is second best.

Her character is named Emma Green and is scheduled to go on a mission to explore Mars for three years. She struggles with the idea of being away from her family for that long. But, we suppose it comes with the territory.

The first look trailer provides some background on the story and what we can expect:

Greens fellow astronaut makes a good point, reminding her, Do you think you are the only one haunted by the sacrifices weve made?

No one really likes working with a complainer, possibly she is the odd-astronaut-out. But, as the trailer progresses, it seems she gets it together. As well, these are life and death situations theres no time for moping.

The 10-part series is loosely based on Chris Jones 2014 Esquire article of the same name, which you can read here.

In addition to Swank, you can look for Josh Charles (The Good Wife), Talitha Bateman (Annabelle: Creation), Ato Essandoh (Jason Bourne), Mark Ivanir (The Terminal), Ray Panthaki (Marcella) and Vivian Wu (The Best Partner).

Is this something you can get into?

Link:

Hilary Swank on New Space Exploration Series Away: I Wanted to Be an Astronaut Before I Wanted to Be an Actor - Anglophenia

(MENAFN - Swissinfo) All of a sudden, everyone is talking about it: the 2019 Nobel Prize won by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz has reminded the Swiss that the country's astrophysicists are at the forefront of the hunt for exoplanets, as they are in many areas of space exploration and research.

This content was published on June 5, 2020 - 14:45 June 5, 2020 - 14:45 Marc-Andr Miserez

After some years in the regional print and broadcast media in French Switzerland, in 2000 I joined Radio Swiss International, which then became swissinfo.ch. Since then I have been writing (and producing short videos) on a variety of subjects, from politics to business, and including culture and science.

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(de) Im Weltraum gehrt die kleine Schweiz zu den Grossen

(es) En el espacio, la pequea Suiza juega en la liga de los grandes

(pt) Sua no espao sideral

(zh) ''

(fr) Dans l'espace, la petite Suisse joue dans la cour des grands

(ar)

(ru)

(ja)

(it) Nello spazio, la piccola Svizzera concorre con i grandi

The 1995 discovery made little noise outside scientific circles. But as the years passed, the public began to realise that what was once the realm of science fiction had become a proven reality: the galaxy is teaming not only with stars, but also with planets. The first to have identified one of these planets orbiting a star other than our sun were none other than Switzerland's own Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz.

24 years later, the discovery earned Mayor and Queloz the Nobel Prize for physics.

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MENAFN1008202002100000ID1100610850

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In space exploration, Switzerland punches above its weight - MENAFN.COM

WOODSTOCK, Ill., Aug. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OWC; a leading technology and new frontiers innovator, bringing new capabilities to Earth for Mac & PC users since 1988, and one of the world's most respected providers of Memory, External Drives, SSDs, Mac & PC docking solutions and performance upgrade kits, today announced that the Envoy Pro Thunderbolt 3 external SSD will be going into space and returning with a leading space exploration developer's upcoming launch. OWC is holding a contest for creatives to submit their videos, songs and images for consideration, for the chance to have that creative content included on the drive when it is sent into space.

Entrants are challenged to show the team at OWC what they've created. Participants can submit a video, a song, image(s), or any other type of content they have produced using an OWC product. Entries should be uploaded to Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram calling out @PoweredbyOWC and using #OWCInSpace in order for all content to be properly evaluated by the OWC team. Posts should mention which OWC product was used in the creative process. Winners will be contacted by DM, so be sure to follow @PoweredbyOWC on those platforms.

The contest will begin accepting submissions on August 10th and will do so through August 21st.All submissions will be evaluated by executive and creative team members at OWC. Selected winning entrants will be uploaded onto the OWC Envoy Pro and launched into orbit with the September 2020 launch.

Prizes:One grand-prize winning entry will receive a 16" MacBook Pro, an LG 32" IPS 4K Thunderbolt monitor, and a specially-engraved OWC Envoy Pro. The top ten first-prize winning selected content providers will receive a specially engraved version of the OWC Envoy Pro drive. All winning submissions will receive a certificate of participation and a commemorative patch following the rocket launch and return. All prizes will be distributed following the launch and return of the rocket.

Contest Guidelines:Contestants are asked to upload an original video or song between one to two minutes in length, or an image or multiple images. Show OWC your out-of-this-world work, and show the world why OWC solutions are the key to unlocking true creative potential.

Guidelines for submission: all entries should be English-language content only, or if in another language, please use English subtitles. All voting results will be final, and the winners will be notified by DM, so be sure to follow @PoweredbyOWC on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram. Entering the contest is easy, just post content beginning August 10th.

For contest details visit: OWC in Space. Key points are:

"We have known for many years that our customers include some of the most talented and creative people around, and we want to give them the chance to have a part in this adventure with us," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "OWC is proud to provide storage and upgrades that keep our customers' content and creations safe for years, and we can't wait to see the entries, get them on the space-bound Envoy Pro, and back here to Earth!"

Send your family into space In addition to the contest, OWC will also be sending photos into space! Open to everyone 18 and older, the photos can be of anything that is significant to the photographer a family photo, a pet, a travel image, a selfie something important that you'd like to share with the galaxy! The collected images will be uploaded to the Envoy Pro, and contributors will receive a certificate of participation following space travel. Images should be within community standards; OWC will not utilize nor acknowledge any images outside the parameters. Anyone submitting an image will need a verifiable email in order to receive certificate of participation. Images can be uploaded through the OWC website.

Open to legal US residents 18 and over. Limit one entry per person. Entrants must comply with the submission policy. OWC reserves the right to disqualify any submission that does not follow the guidelines and content restrictions listed in the terms and conditions. OWC reserves the right to utilize every entry for promotional purposes. Winners will be notified via DM; be sure to follow @PoweredbyOWC on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram. Prizes are nontransferable and no substitution will be made. Entrants agree to receive OWC special offers via email. Void where prohibited. For submission policy information please visit: https://eshop.macsales.com/service/ideasolicitation.cfm.

OWC respects our community's First Amendment right to freedom of speech. However, in accordance with our community standards, we reserve the right to reject all material that is obscene, offensive, insulting, derogatory, defamatory, and intimidating to any and all classes of individuals.

About OWC Other World Computing (OWC), founded in 1988, is dedicated to helping Mac and PC enthusiasts do more and reach higher. We believe in sustainability and OWC solutions are truly built to last, go the distance, and enable users to maximize the technology investment they have already made. OWC's operation provides leadership in business sustainability, with our headquarters among the first in the world awarded LEED Platinum OWC features an award-winning technical support team as well as an unparalleled library of step-by-step DIY and informational videos. From the home desktop to the enterprise rack, to the audio recording studio to the motion picture set and beyond, there should be no compromise, and that is why OWC is here.

Get social: follow OWC on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

2020 Other World Computing, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple and Mac are the trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Intel and Thunderbolt are trademarks of Intel Corporation registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other marks may be the trademark or registered trademark property of their respective owners.

#Thunderbolt3 @getthunderbolt

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OWC Sending Customer Content to Outer Space on the Envoy Pro - PRNewswire