It may seem timely, against a backdrop of climate change and a global pandemic, that this weeks successful mission by the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft raised the prospect of safe, commercial space travel.

Billionaire Elon Musks SpaceX completed its first crewed mission into space, with the Crew Dragon capsule splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico this week after a two-month space voyage.

Crew Dragon was the first privately-owned spacecraft to carry humans into space.

It was launched from NASAs Kennedy Space Station at Cape Canaveral on May 31 and made the 19-hour flight to the International Space Station where astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley spent two months before returning to Earth.

NASA reported that the capsule was travelling at a speed of some 28,000kms per hour before entering the Earths atmosphere, at which point its outer surface withstood temperatures reaching almost 2,000 degrees.

The capsule was then slowed by on-board thrusters and two sets of parachutes prior to splashdown.

The crew reportedly spent close to an hour floating inside the capsule before being recovered and flown to NASAs Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, for medical checks.

The mission was also NASAs first crewed mission from American soil in nine years, with recent expeditions to the International Space Station being launched out of Russia.

The successful mission established the credentials of Elon Musks private company SpaceX to transport people safely through space and marks the culmination of a project now 18 years in the making.

This is a craft made by humans, for humans, I think its something humanity should be proud about [it is the] first step on a journey that would see humans become a multi-planetary species, Musk was reported as saying at the launch.

US President Donald Trump reportedly responded to the successful mission of the Crew Dragon by saying: a new age of American ambition has now begun.

Under NASAs Commercial Crew Programme, we will use rockets and spacecraft designed, built, owned and launched by private American companies at a fixed price for the American taxpayer, the President said.

Musk is reportedly planning more adventurous commercial flights to the moon and even to Mars.

Indeed, an unmanned prototype of SpaceXs next-generation Starship vehicle has successfully flown to an altitude of 150m (500ft) before landing again.

The flight was carried out at SpaceXs test site near the village of Boca Chica in south Texas.

The stainless steel test vehicle, called SN5, looks a little bit like old Aussie water tank or wheat silo but, if Musk is to be believed, the final version which would stand 50 metres tall and be powered by six Raptor engines, could one day be capable of carrying as many as 100 humans to Mars.

Mars is looking real, tweeted Musk after the successful test flight.

The big challenge of course, is clearing the gravitational pull of the Earth and that, apparently, will require much more firepower.

And as for price well, so far Musk has signed up Japanese fashion mogul and billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa, for the first round-the-moon trip on the SpaceX Starship (for an undisclosed sum).

More than one Central Coast resident has written to us this week and pondered whether the repeal of the WAR Act (1996) opens up the opportunity for Council to pitch Warnervale Airport to Mr Musk as Australias own Cape Canaveral.

Well, Elon, how about it?

Ross Barry

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Welcome back to Planet Earth and thank you for flying SpaceX - Central Coast Community News

Posted: Aug 7, 2020 / 02:06 PM CDT / Updated: Aug 7, 2020 / 02:10 PM CDT

USSRC Record-breaking rocket launch setup

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Last years attempt to launch the most model rockets simultaneously at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is officially a world record.

Guinness World Records now lists the July 2019 attempt as an official success.

Its finally official! On July 16, 2019, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch that would put man on the moon. In celebration, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center broke a @GWR Most model rocket kits launched simultaneously, launching 4,923. https://t.co/uY1jEg7h4s

5,000 rockets were launched on July 16, 2019 to honor the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11.

The previous record was 4,231 model rockets launched at Teylingen College during a European Space Science Convention in the Netherlands in summer 2018.

The rockets were assembled by rocket center staff along with 178 volunteers, who worked more than 696 hours to build them, the center said.

In order for the attempt to count, the center had to use commercially available rockets, and they had to travel a minimum of 100 feet into the air.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center worked with Redstone Test Center and UAH to ensure they could verify the attempt.

See the article here:

Space and Rocket Centers world record rocket launch is official - WHNT News 19

These are hard days for the humans of planet Earth, especially those of us who despise inequity and fascism. Wouldn't it be nice, then, if you could flap your brilliantly colored wings and take off into the stars?

The below image, captured by the European Southern Observatory's "Very Large Telescope" (great name) in northern Chile, gives us a look at the vibrant planetary nebula known as NGC 2899. Yeah, I know, it's not a real butterfly. But imagine if. Then go further, and pretend the butterfly is you.

Gorgeous view, right?

The nebula, which was apparently first discovered in 1835, resides in the Vela constellation. It's not especially close to Earth, at 6,500 light-years away, but the prospect of human space travel carrying us even a single light-year isn't really an option at this point.

(A single light year, for those who might not know, is trillions of miles.)

The ESO points out that this newly captured photo is the clearest look we've ever gotten at NGC 2899, and oh how lucky we are. The Very Large Telescope captured the images with help from the FORS instrument, which is basically a very powerful visible light camera.

A nebula like NGC 2899 is an interstellar cloud comprised of various elements and ionized gases. That brilliant array of colors is just how all those little bits and particles look from our extreme distance. Many are formed out of the remnants of an exploding star. No one can say how or why it's shaped like a giant space butterfly, but we can all be thankful for that regardless.

Fly free, pretty space butterfly. Take us with you, please.

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Don't You Wish You Could Fly Free Like This Beautiful Space Butterfly? - Mashable India

If you are intrigued by the concept of space travel and exploration, no doubt you watched or read about the launch of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance spacecraft on July 30. NASA's 29th mission to Mars (22 of which have been successful), Perseverance is slated to arrive at the Red Planet in February 2021, after a 7-month, 480-million-kilometre journey, to continue NASA's ongoing exploration of Mars in preparation for its ultimate goal: landing humans on the planet's surface in the next decade or two.

I remember, as a very young child (I was 5 at the time), my mother telling me that one day, when I was grown up, people would walk on the Moon. Sure enough, in 1969, when I was 21, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the Moon's surface from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Perhaps my mother was prophetic to foresee this event, or perhaps, as I suspect, she was just intuitive enough to understand that humankind's destiny ultimately lies out there, beyond Earth, among the stars.

Perhaps there is some component of the human genome that, like that which causes some animals to migrate, is responsible for humankind's celestial wanderlust. Having explored and settled most every corner of our planet, perhaps this innate instinct to move onward is now driving us to consider migrating outwards from Earth to distant worlds.

Perhaps there is some component of the human genome that, like that which causes some animals to migrate, is responsible for humankind's celestial wanderlust.

Whatever the genesis of my mother's statement, it ignited in me a burning desire and an insatiable curiosity to know more about what was "out there". It is a desire and curiosity that has lasted my whole life, and will, no doubt, remain with me until I draw my final breath. Without waxing too poetic, I like to think that, even then, some part of me will continue, as Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk states, "to explore strange new worlds" across the eternity of outer space.

My granddaughter, Scarlet, has a fascination with outer space, constantly asking me what lies beyond the planets, our solar system, and the Milky Way Galaxy. Of course, it is a curiosity that I readily and happily feed, answering her questions (in greater detail and depth as she grows older), encouraging her to read my astronomy books (and columns), to pick out her own astronomy books ("space books" as she calls them) at the library, or to go on-line and look up the information herself.

It is both amazing and gratifying to not only watch her search for the answers by herself, but also to watch where those searches take her in terms of the array of astronomy topics she delves into. As her knowledge base expands, so does the distance she travels outward from Earth; she is currently focused on the Oort Cloud, the massive sphere of frozen ice bodies out beyond Pluto.

Her plan (at 8 years old) is to be the first woman astronaut to walk on Mars, or, should another woman beat her to that prize, to be the first woman to pilot a spaceship to another planet in a distant star system. "Attention, this is Captain Scarlet speaking."

If you have children and/or grandchildren who show an interest in astronomy, I urge you to encourage that interest. Just as my mother's insightful statement fostered my abiding love of and curiosity about outer space, your encouragement and support (and, perhaps, shared interest) may well result in your child, grandchild or great-grandchild one day walking on another planet or moon, or travelling out into space as a crew member on a fact-finding exploration. Perhaps, he or she may even be part of my granddaughter's crew.

One of the ways to foster an interest in outer space in your children/grandchildren is to get them outside to watch a meteor shower. Children of any age love to watch for "shooting stars", and the warm summer evenings of August are just the time to afford them that opportunity. The annual Perseid meteor shower (radiant in Perseus - the Prince) peaks during the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 11 - 13.

Though light from the Last Quarter Moon will, after it has risen, somewhat reduce the overall number of meteors observable on those dates, the Perseids are known for their large number of extremely bright meteors, many of which, in the absence of cloud cover, will still be highly visible.

Earlier in the evening, you may see some Perseid "earthgrazers" - colourful meteors that travel slowly and horizontally across the pre-midnight sky, when the meteor shower's radiant (apparent point of origin in the sky) is just below or just above the eastern horizon. While the main peak of most meteor showers usually occurs after midnight, starting to watch for the Perseids during the mid-to-late evening period (perhaps more conducive to maintaining the interest of your young, sleepy-eyed observers), before the Moon rises, could significantly increase the total number of meteors seen.

Go to thismoonrise and moonset calculator to find your local moonrise/set times. Also, watching for Perseids on the nights/mornings after the noted peak dates might produce a large number of viewed meteors. As the week progresses, there will be less moonlight to contend with, as the Moon phase changes from Last Quarter towards a gibbous phase. Finally, the well-known variableness of meteor showers, even a famous one such as the Perseids, sometimes brings surprisingly large numbers of meteors in the days following designated peak dates; it is always worth a try, particularly if you are clouded out during the predicted peak period.

Heading towards superior conjunction with the Sun on Aug. 17, Mercury is now too close to the Sun to be observed. Venus (mag. -4.32) is that wonderfully brilliant "morning star" visible in the eastern, pre-dawn sky. Rising in the east around 2:30 a.m., Venus will be observable 31 degrees above the eastern horizon until dawn breaks around 5:45 a.m.

Mars (mag. -1.3) is visible about 7 degrees above the eastern horizon around 11:45 p.m., reaching a height of 48 degrees above the southern horizon before fading in the dawn twilight. Jupiter and Saturn are both visible in the southeast evening sky by about 9 p.m. Jupiter (mag. -2.68) reaches its highest point (21 degrees) in the southern sky shortly after 11 p.m., remaining observable until about 2:30 a.m. when it sinks below 7 degrees above the southwest horizon. Saturn (mag. +0.2) hits its highest point in the southern sky shortly before midnight, disappearing from view around 3 a.m. when it dips below 10 degrees above the southwest horizon.

Until next week, clear skies.

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ATLANTIC SKIES: Young astronomers and the Perseid meteors - SaltWire Network

In June, Jitendra Singh, a minister in Indias federal cabinet, announced that space exploration and certain space activities would be open to the private sector. Previously, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was the only public organization that launched satellites and planned missions for space exploration.

After the success of private companies like SpaceX in the US, it is important for India to create favorable conditions for private companies to operate in the sector with appropriate regulations and clear laws.

On July 6, ISRO chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan announced that India would be coming up with a new space policy and Space Activities Bill. He added that the new bill would be more inclusive of the private sector.

The Space Activities Bill is much anticipated by Indian enthusiasts of space exploration because it will clarify the rules and regulations associated with operating in the space sector. Being a high-risk and a high-investment sector, policies and frameworks for operating in it need to be clarified by the government to boost private investment.

Currently, India follows various peaceful international treaties signed worldwide. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) largely determines space policy in the international arena and ensures that no country exploits the usage of space for personal interests.

The Outer Space Treaty ensures that countries can explore space only for peaceful purposes and they cannot put any weapons of mass destruction in space. That policy, however, does not mention anything about the usage of conventional weapons in space.

According to the Liability Convention, in case any country launches into space and damages property in another country, it will be liable to pay reparations to the country that suffered the damages. With private players entering the market, it is not certain whether private companies or the government will bear the cost of any liability issues arising from damage of international property.

As such costs could be significant, there is a need to reassess risk distribution for private players in India.

The law firm Taylor Wessing explains that these rules are largely insufficient to cover all legal issues arising out of private activities in space, commenting on the international policy framework in reference to space exploration.

Its important to note that when most of the international treaties on space were signed, most countries did not allow private-sector activity in space. Hence the private sector was not taken into consideration. With private-sector activity in space, the Indian government may need to give further clarifications about the impact that international treaties will have on domestic companies.

Collaboration between international private companies will also need to be regulated. International collaboration could create defense, commercial and scientific benefits for the world.

The Space Activities Bill needs to address clearly the role the private sector will play in international space treaties and the associated liabilities. The space sector has limited accessibility because of the high costs involved. As we create policies to increase equality worldwide, we also need to create policies that increase accessibility and inclusivity.

In 2001, the first space tourist, American millionaire Dennis Tito, was charged US$20 million to fly to the International Space Station. Hence space travel may not be affordable to everyone because private companies will try to maximize their profits.

Moreover, exploring space has mostly been under the domain of scientists, engineers, researchers and other people from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) domains. Policies need to be created worldwide to answer the question, Who gets to explore space first?

Space for Humanity, a non-profit organization based out of the US, is working toward increasing equality and inclusion in the area of space exploration. Space for Humanitys mission is based on the concept of The Overview Effect, that is, the humbling effect exploring space can have on people.

Looking at Earths surface from far above can make people realize their insignificance and interconnectedness. It prompts anyone who has this experience to see everyone on Earth as one, and create policies that are inclusive when they come back to Earth. Space for Humanity sponsors citizen flights to space for people all across the world without any discrimination based on race, nationality, gender, religion or any other factor.

Since space should be open to everyone to explore, non-profit organizations like Space for Humanity play an important role, including in the Indian context. Indian private companies could partner with such organizations to create more inclusivity.

India is at the brink of a new era in the space sector. Indias Space Activities Bill can be a precedent for various future bills in the sector created in Asia. As Indians look forward to the bill, we may see Indias own Elon Musk standing by to revolutionize space travel in the world in the near future.

Asia Times Financialis now live. Linking accurate news, insightful analysis and local knowledge with the ATF China Bond 50 Index, the world'sfirst benchmark cross sector Chinese Bond Indices.Read ATFnow.

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What Indias Space Activities Bill must address - Asia Times

Wawa has added Kids Meals to its 900 stores that include a choice of entrees and sides along with trading cards featuring the Wally Goose mascot.

The entree selections include a Junior hoagie with turkey, ham, roast beef or cheese; a small mac and cheese; cheese quesadilla; chicken strips; small meatballs; or chicken noodle soup. The side choices are apple slices, yogurt, mozzarella string cheese, chips or a chocolate chip cookie along with water, milk or chocolate milk.

The meals cost from $3.99 to $5.99.

In a news release, chief product marketing officer Mike Sherlock said, Were excited to add Kids Meals to our menu as it now, more than ever, allows Wawa to become a lunch and dinner destination for the entire family.

Parents or guardians can select their preferred menu items and order Kids Meals for children, all while preserving the experience of eating together as one family.

The meals include a pack of three Adventures of Wally Goose trading cards.

Cards show Wally sharing favorite activities that children can also enjoy, including: jumping rope, playing sports, coloring, fort-building, cooking, scavenger hunting, acting, experimenting, bike riding, dancing, reading, imagining, chalking and pretend playing. Special-edition hologram cards are also mixed into packs featuring facts about flying and space travel.

Kids can collect a total of 18 cards.

Wawa is selling a new Kids Meal that comes with a choice of entree, side and a beverage as well as Wally Goose Trading Cards. (Photo provided by Wawa)

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Wawa launches new Kids Meals that come with an entree, side and trading cards - pennlive.com

Most geopolitical analysis is pretty down to Earth. But dont forget to look up: Chinas influence is rocketing above the heavens.

On July 23, a Long March 5 rocket blasted off from the Wenchen Launch Center on Chinas Hainan Island. Equipped with a lander, an orbiter and a rover, the Chinese Tianwen-1 spacecraft has set course for Mars to begin a comprehensive survey of the Red Planet.

The Mars mission, however, is not solely about discovery. It forms part of a comprehensive strategy designed to propel China to the ranks of fully developed, rich and powerful nations by the year 2049.

As President Xi Jinping explained to Taikonauts aboard the Tiangong-1, Chinas first prototype space station back in 2013, the space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger.Xis China is no longer hiding capabilities and keeping a low profile, its striving for achievement, he said at the time.

Under Xis command, the Peoples Republic has launched two prototype space stations (Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2), as well as a cargo ship (Tianzhou) able to refuel other spacecraft.

In 2018, it fired more rockets into the cosmos than any other nation. A year later, China made history when the Change 4 successfully landed the first rover on the dark side of the Moon.

Closer to home, the BeiDou 2 navigation system recently launched its 35th satellite, completing its sprawling constellation that promises to provide global coverage as an alternative to Americas GPS and Europes Galileo Positioning System.

If Tianwen-1 successfully reaches Mars, China will join the US and former Soviet Union as the only nations to have achieved such a space feat.

Unlike NASA and other space agencies whose stated goals are to conduct space exploration for the advancement of science, Chinas space program is more concerned with economic gains, geostrategic positioning and supporting development goals.

By 2040, the space industry is forecast to be worth $2.7 trillion, according to a recent report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. China clearly plans to capitalize on this projection.

While the most significant short- and medium-term opportunities may come from satellite broadband internet access, the future is poised to see space mining emerge as a profitable industry.

A small asteroid roughly 200 meters in length that is rich in platinum could fetch up to $30 billion, one projection estimates. The Moon possesses hundreds of billions of dollars worth of untapped resources including helium-3, titanium, and other rare earth metals.

Chinese researchers like Lin Mingtao are already working under the National Space Science Center to capture a near-Earth asteroid and bring it back to China to inspect and extract its resources.

Beijing also has big plans for the Moon. According to state news agency Xinhua, The China National Space Administration (CNAS) intends to establish a research station on the lunar surface within the next decade.

If China succeeds in building a Moon base with industrial capacity, it could significantly lower the costs of launching spacecraft and serve as a gateway for future space exploration.

But Chinas space ambitions dont stop there. By 2022, China aims to have a fully operational space station orbiting Earth.

There are also plans to launch a variety of solar power plants into low-Earth orbit engineered to beam electricity back to China. Beijing is also working to develop nuclear-powered spaceships by 2040, which will conceivably enable deep space travel.

All told, China is building a Space Silk Road. Within the framework of Xis signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) this new cosmic corridorcomplements its earthly Maritime and Land Silk Roads.

As this galactic architecture takes form, Beijing intends to offer the international community an alternate credible infrastructure network, thereby competing for global leadership in space.

At the same time, the space program is also intertwined with Made in China 2025, a policy designed to catapult China to becoming a global leader in high-tech manufacturing.

The Space Silk Road provide a new pathway to enhance Chinas indigenous innovation capabilities in fields like quantum communications, robotics, artificial intelligence, and aviation.

Accordingly, it also promotes civil-military fusion and the development of dual-use technologies: For example, while BeiDou can help navigate a ship through stormy waters, it can also guide a missile.

In modern warfare, space capability can help attain a geopolitical edge, military competitiveness and technological development, said Michael Raska, assistant professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. China is seeking all three as it embarks on the journey to great space power status, he said to regional media.

Ye Peijian, the head of the Chinese lunar exploration program, has provided some insight as to how Chinas Communist Party views space.

The universe is an ocean, the Moon is the Diaoyu Islands, Mars is Huangyan Island. If we dont go there now even though were capable of doing so, then we will be blamed by our descendants, Ye told reporters in 2017.

If others go there, then they will take over, and you wont be able to go even if you want to. This is reason enough.

Dale Aluf is the director of research and strategy at SIGNAL, Sino-Israel Global Network & Academic Leadership a member of Chinas Silk Road Think Tank Association SRTA.

Asia Times Financialis now live. Linking accurate news, insightful analysis and local knowledge with the ATF China Bond 50 Index, the world'sfirst benchmark cross sector Chinese Bond Indices.Read ATFnow.

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Chinas Space Silk Road reaches Mars and beyond - Asia Times

That Lovecraft Country, which premieres Aug. 16 on HBO, has something to say about the ordinary horrors of racism as well as the cosmic ones of fantastic fiction is mixed into its foundation.

Matt Ruff, on whose 2016 novel the series is based sometimes closely, sometimes loosely was inspired in part by Pam Noles 2006 essay Shame, about the unbearable whiteness of sci-fi and the difficulties it presents to what she calls a FoP, as in, Fan of Pigment, and in its particulars by The Negro Motorist Green-Book and by James W. Loewens study Sundown Towns, as in get out by. (Ruff is white; series developer Misha Green, who previously wrote for the sci-fi series Heroes and Helix and created Underground, as in Railroad, is Black.)

There is a natural temptation to compare Lovecraft Country to Watchmen which also put Black heroes and Black history at the center of a genre piece and, because Jordan Peele is an executive producer (along with J.J. Abrams and others), to Peeles watershed satirical horror movie Get Out which, like Lovecraft, is a tale of white people using Black people for their own ends. But, while not without interest, Lovecraft is something less than either.

The racism of H.P. Lovecraft, an influential writer of pulp fiction and weird tales, is well-known; indeed, its a point the characters explicitly discuss. The difficulty he and other old-time genre writers present for FoPs, and more enlightened readers of lighter shades, is expressed by Atticus (Jonathan Majors), a Black science-fiction fan and Korean War veteran, to a fellow traveler on a bus home to Chicago. (Theyre in the back of the bus, being Black.) Stories are like people, says Atticus. The author doesnt make them perfect, you just try and cherish them, overlook their flaws. Still, both Ruffs book and Greens series function as much as critique as celebration; the mere fact that the series heroes are all Black is in itself a riposte to the early 20th century author, spitting in his otherwise admired eye.

Jurnee Smollett is a Chicago native headed into another world in HBOs Lovecraft Country.

(Elizabeth Morris / HBO)

Atticus, who is of a serious, somewhat dreamy disposition, has received a letter from his father, Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams), with whom he has issues, indicating the discovery of a secret legacy, a birthright thats been kept from you in a place Atticus first misreads as Arkham, the fictional Massachusetts town in which Lovecraft set many of his stories. It turns out the town is actually called Ardham, because Arkham is fictional, or more fictional, in the context of the series, but its a moot point: Here Be Monsters, including what looks to be a shoggoth, Lovecrafts own many-eyed blob.

He makes the trek into darkest New England in the company of his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), a fellow sci-fi fan and publisher of the Green Book"-inspired Safe Negro Travel Guide, and childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett), whom the series promotes to a love interest for Atticus, not wanting the attractiveness of its leads to go to waste.

When, having braved racist townspeople, a racist gas station attendant, racist cops and the aforementioned blob, they finally come to the Gothic pile where they expect to find Montrose, they are greeted by a troika of characters (Tony Goldwyn, Abbey Lee, Jordan Patrick Smith) so pop culturally Aryan that one expects them to break any minute into a chorus of Tomorrow Belongs to Me. There are secret doors, magic spells and the familiar sight of rich old jerks in monkish robes conducting quasi-religious rites in the pursuit of unimagined power and some decadent idea of purity. Classic and evergreen.

This is only an opening chapter. Ruffs book is constructed as a set of linked short stories, and the series too has a semi-anthological structure that plays with different sorts of stories and moods a haunted house, an underground quest, ancient texts, magical space travel in and among the merely human intrigue, squabbling, family business and love stuff. (Even the chosen one status Atticus is accorded I was going to write enjoys, but suffers is closer to the mark in the opening episodes subsequently fades.) Only the first five episodes, of 10, are out for review; so far, there is a substantial enough resemblance to the novel to suggest that the series will follow its arc, even as there are differences enough to suggest that it might not.

Jonathan Majors plays a young man with a special destiny in the HBO series Lovecraft Country.

(Elizabeth Morris/HBO)

There are departures from the page; fans of the novel, and I know they will be in the minority of viewers, will note some gender swapping, some new sexual identities. There is not much in the way of sex, or sexual identity, in the book, but this is premium cable television and so ... there is. And Green has made sure to interpolate or amplify other sorts of action car chases, gun battles, flooding underground passageways, decapitation to keep things lively. Smollett is especially good at taking a heroic stance. She is the character you most dont want to mess with, though its Wunmi Mosaku, as her economically frustrated sister Ruby, who makes the greater impression, in a transmogrification storyline. (Jamie Neumann is also fine as the Hyde to her Jekyll, or maybe the other way around.) Ruby sings the blues, too, and rhythm & blues, and Mosaku should be first in line for the Sister Rosetta Tharpe biopic you can put on your schedule now, studio heads.

But the series can also feel overheated, over-motivated, muddled and unsubtle, and not just because every single white character is trouble, if not implausibly so, on a scale from casually clueless to actively evil. Its emotional volume has a way of drowning out its humor. Watchmen could be kind of a conceptual mess too, but it was impossible to miss its ambition even its daffy obscurity had a way of coming across as gravitas and arriving when it did in the life of the nation, it seemed to be not merely a harbinger of rising consciousness, but a contributor to it. Lovecraft Country has a sense of timeliness as well. When police arrive at the scene of a disturbance, the Black crowd adopts a hands up, dont shoot posture; taken into custody, Letitia is subjected to the sort of bruising police van ride that led to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015.

There is much of interest in Lovecraft. The set pieces are well done: Some money and care has been expended on staging, not just as regards the spookier special effects, but on some very nice period work, creating a corner of mid-1950s Chicago that feels inhabited and inhabitable; party and bar scenes are well-populated and choreographed. The monster attacks, crazy dream sequences, scenes that borrow with no embarrassment from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the places Raiders borrowed from, all work as theyre meant to.

We need to follow the logic of adventure novels, Montrose declares at a critical junction, and they do.

Lovecraft Country

Where: HBO

When: 9 p.m. Aug. 16

Rated: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17)

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Review: 'Lovecraft Country' HBO vs. 100 years of racist sci-fi - Los Angeles Times

There is a large suite of scientific evidence that supports the picture of the expanding Universe ... [+] and the Big Bang, complete with dark energy. The late-time accelerated expansion is driving galaxies away from each other and rendering them unreachable, but there may be a way out.

For the first 7.8 billion years, the Universe unfolded exactly as scientists would have expected in the aftermath of the Big Bang. The Universe started off expanding at a tremendously rapid rate, while the gravitational influence of all the matter and energy worked to slow that expansion down. In many ways, the expanding Universe was a race between these two contenders: the initial expansion, which drives the material in the Universe apart, and gravitation, which works to pull everything back together. The Universe was a race, and the Big Bang was a starting gun.

But about 6 billion years ago, the unexpected occurred. The initial expansion didnt win; gravitation didnt win; nor did the two add up to some perfectly balanced tie. Instead, an extra effects began to show up, as though some new phenomenon was causing the expansion rate to speed up once again. This phenomenon known today as dark energy was first uncovered back in the 1990s, and the evidence for it has grown to reach overwhelming proportions today. It leads to an unsettling, empty, lonely fate for our Universe, but we still have some hope of outrunning it. Heres how.

The four possible fates of our Universe into the future; the last one appears to be the Universe we ... [+] live in, dominated by dark energy. Our observations of the Universe are not consistent without the inclusion of dark energy.

When we look back at a distant object in the Universe, were not seeing it exactly as it is today. Were not even seeing it exactly as it was when the light was emitted from it, either. Instead, what we actually observe is a combination of two effects:

That second effect is tremendously informative, because it tells us that if we can understand how mass, gravitation, motion, and emission and absorption take place, we can use all of the leftover information to reconstruct how the Universe has expanded over its history. By measuring sources at different distances from us and hence, with different light-travel times to our eyes we can learn how the Universe has expanded over its history.

The full suite of data can not only distinguish between a Universe with and without dark matter and ... [+] dark energy, but can teach us how the Universe has expanded over its history. It's very clear that the solid magenta line is the best fit to the data, favoring a Universe dominated by dark energy with no spatial curvature.

This is where that big surprise of dark energy came from: from the fact that, over the most recent 6 billion years, weve seen the Universe expand at a different rate than what the known forms of matter and radiation, even including dark matter, would indicate. It means that either:

Either way, however, what we see occurring is the same. On small scales, gravitation can win many individual battles throughout the Universe, creating star clusters, individual galaxies, galaxy groups, and even large galaxy clusters, some of which merge together over time.

The "raisin bread" model of the expanding Universe, where relative distances increase as the space ... [+] (dough) expands. Note that the more distant each raisin is from any other raisin, the faster it will appear to expand away from it.

On larger scales, however, gravity always loses out. This extra component to the Universe whether its a new force, a new source of energy, a new field, or a new understanding of gravity determines the fate of the Universe on the greatest cosmic scales of all. Whatever was gravitationally bound by the time the Universe reached 7.8 billion years of age will remain bound for all of cosmic time. But whatever wasnt yet bound together will never get there; these unbound structures will all expand away from one another, never to meet again.

You can visualize the Universe as a three-dimensional ball of bread dough with raisins distributed unevenly, even randomly, throughout it. The raisins each represent a bound individual structure: a galaxy, a group of galaxies, or even a massive galaxy cluster. The dough represents the fabric of space. As the dough expands in all three dimensions, the individual raisins all get farther apart. The farther apart two raisins initially are, the faster theyll appear to move away from each other the more that time goes on.

Our local supercluster, Laniakea, contains the Milky Way, our local group, the Virgo cluster, and ... [+] many smaller groups and clusters on the outskirts. However, each group and cluster is bound only to itself, and will be driven apart from the others due to dark energy and our expanding Universe. After 100 billion years, even the nearest galaxy beyond our own local group will be approximately a billion light years away, making it many thousands, and potentially millions of times fainter than the nearest galaxies appear today.

Because the Universe has dark energy in it, we know that every galaxy within our Local Group including the Milky Way, Andromeda, the Triangulum Galaxy, both Magellanic Clouds, and perhaps ~60 other dwarf galaxies is bound to us, meaning we behave as though were all part of the same raisin in the raisin bread.

But when we look out at any other raisin in the Universe, which can be any galaxy, galaxy group, or galaxy cluster beyond our own, heres what we find instead.

Given that we can see for 46 billion light-years in all directions, that means that already, only 6 billion years into the era of dark energy dominance, 94% of the presently observable Universe is already permanently unreachable.

The size of our visible Universe (yellow), along with the amount we can reach (magenta). The limit ... [+] of the visible Universe is 46.1 billion light-years, as that's the limit of how far away an object that emitted light that would just be reaching us today would be after expanding away from us for 13.8 billion years. However, beyond about 18 billion light-years, we can never access a galaxy even if we traveled towards it at the speed of light.

Or, at least, its unreachable if the following two things are true:

But either one of those assumptions can be wrong, and there are many different scenarios that can keep the rest of the Universe from speeding away until its forever beyond our reach. If we simply stayed put in our own Milky Way and waited for long enough, the night skies beyond our own Local Group (or whatever remains of it after all the galaxies have merged together) would be completely empty, with only the fading light from long-gone galaxies to keep us company. Here are the three most interesting ways we could possibly circumvent dark energy and visit the distant Universe for ourselves.

The far distant fates of the Universe offer a number of possibilities, but if dark energy is truly a ... [+] constant, as the data indicates, it will continue to follow the red curve. If it's not, however, a Big Crunch could still be in play, particularly if dark energy either drops in intensity or reverses its sign.

1.) Dark energy evolves over time. The best data we have, from the cosmic microwave background and the large-scale clustering of galaxies, points to dark energy being completely constant over time. But that isnt necessarily the case, as many different variable field scenarios can lead to dark energy changing strength (or even sign) over time. If dark energy either becomes weaker or becomes negative, rather than positive, the expansion will slow down and possibly even reverse, making these galaxies reachable again.

Measuring the necessary galaxies to test for this is also one of the major science goals of the Nancy Roman Telescope, which NASA is slated to construct and launch as its next astrophysics flagship mission after James Webb. Right now, our best observations show that dark energy is consistent with a cosmological constant, but with an uncertainty of about 12% on that figure. Roman will give us a measure of dark energy thats about 10 times more sensitive than our present data, teaching us if dark energy is different than our simple expectations by as little as 1%.

An artist's conception of a starship making use of the Alcubierre drive to travel at apparently ... [+] faster-than-light speeds. By compressing the space in front of you and expanding the space behind you, you could theoretically travel to a distant destination faster than special relativity allows.

2.) Bending or folding space enables us to take a cosmic short-cut. Sick of being limited by the speed of light in your attempts to journey through the Universe? Arent we all. Well, the idea of Star Treks Warp Drive might still be science fiction, but theres a real-life scientific possibility of making it a reality: the Alcubierre drive. In Einsteins General Relativity, its possible to fold, bend, or otherwise distort the fabric of space, enabling a fantastic possibility: compressing the space in front of you at the expense of expanding the space behind you.

If we could make this a reality, we could theoretically compress the space ahead of us, travel through it at a slower-than-light speed, and then arrive at a destination appearing to have traveled faster than light could! The only downside is to make this theoretical possibility a reality, wed need some form of negative energy or negative mass to exist. Theres an experiment happening at CERN right now to measure whether antimatter falls down or up in a gravitational field; if it falls up, the Alcubierre Drive might become a reality!

A scalar field in a false vacuum state. Note that the energy E is higher than that in the true ... [+] vacuum or ground state, but there is a barrier preventing the field from classically rolling down to the true vacuum. Note also how the lowest-energy (true vacuum) state is allowed to have a finite, positive, non-zero value. A smooth transition might not destroy the Universe.

3.) Dark energy is bound to inevitably decay. Perhaps dark energy only appears to have a constant energy density for the time being, and that given enough time, it will decay in some fashion. While much has been made of vacuum decay or the possibility that an immediate transition will knock the energy inherent to space down to a lower value, destroying the Universe as we know it instantly there are other forms of decay that are gradual and non-lethal, such as a conversion of energy from one form into another.

Its possible that this could simply result in the creation of a low density of particles: somewhere around one proton per cubic meter of space, at the cost of virtually eliminating dark energy. If this occurred, the expansion rate would change dramatically, as the Universe would immediately begin slowing down again. All of the distant galaxies, even the ones that appear unreachable today, would suddenly be within the reach of a relativistic spaceship. At close to the speed of light, we could potentially travel anywhere in the known Universe.

The travel time for a spacecraft to reach a destination if it accelerates at a constant rate of ... [+] Earth's surface gravity. Note that, given enough time, you can go anywhere in the visible Universe, particularly if dark energy no longer plays a role.

Its always possible, and we must always keep this possibility in mind, that something is wrong with our current understanding. Perhaps our measurements are biased and have led us to an incorrect conclusion, but that would require an enormous number of independent lines of evidence all being biased in the same way. Perhaps weve got the laws of gravity wrong; perhaps we live in a very special and unusual region of the Universe thats causing us to wrongly conclude that dark energy exists; perhaps theres a novel force or interaction that exists that we simply havent properly identified.

In science, however, we base our conclusions on the full suite of data and evidence we have at our disposal, keeping in mind that they may change over time as we gain new and better information. The expansion rate is changing over time in a way that requires dark energy as the dominant component in our Universe, and dark energy is consistent with it being a cosmological constant: its energy density doesnt appear to change with time. Unless dark energy reveals itself as something different or we find a short-cut through space, the majority of the observable Universe is forever beyond our reach already.

Excerpt from:

Can We Outrun Dark Energy In The Race To See The Universe? - Forbes

Travel enthusiasts and aspiring astronauts have a new aircraft to add to their bucket listVirgin Galactic has revealed the cabin interior of its highly anticipated SpaceshipTwo vehicle live on YouTube yesterday.

In just my second week as Virgin Galactics CEO, it is with great pride that I can lead our talented teams in revealing this latest milestone in our journey to space, Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic said in a press release. The spaceship cabin interior is in many ways the design centrepiece of the astronaut journey and what has been created will both facilitate and elevate a uniquely profound and transformational journey for the thousands who will fly.

The spacecraft itself was built in collaboration with London design agency, Seymourpowell, to include a sense of safety without distraction, so travellers can focus on absorbing periods of sensory intensity while offering each traveler a level of intimacy required to fully absorb the unforgettable experience.

In terms of aesthetics, the color palette of the cabin was curated to complement the architecture of the seats, the spacecraft itself, and the Under Armour-made astronaut spacesuits, with the golden metallics made to resemble desert sands and blues inspired by the celestial spaces and oceans below.

The seats have been made to match the dynamism of the flight, with a built-in, pilot-controlled recline mechanism which will position astronauts to manage G-forces during takeoff and landing phases while also freeing up space to allow for travelers to float through the cabin in zero gravity zones.

When we created Virgin Galactic, we started with what we believed would be an optimal customer experience and then built the spaceship around it, said Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group, adding that, we will continue with that ethos as we expand our fleet, build our operations and underpin Virgin Galactics position as the Spaceline for Earth.

The event also noted that the latest milestone will be available on a new, cutting-edge augmented reality enabled mobile app, which will be available to download for free at the App Store and Play Store before space tourists will officially be able to take off. We hope the new app will help bring the dream of space one step closer for space enthusiasts everywhere, added Colglazier.

Aspiring astronauts and space enthusiasts can now reserve front of the line access to the newly released spaceflight roundtrip for a US$1,000 deposit. For more information or to reserve your seat, be sure to check out the official Virgin Galactic website.

See also:Tatler's Guide to Going to Outer Space

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Inside The Virgin Galactic Spacecraft That Aims To Take You To Space - Tatler Philippines

PLAYERS are valuable commodities.

So when they thrash out contracts with the world's biggest clubs, its important to get everything right and nothing's left to chance.

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But there are times when stipulations are put in place by player and club to protect their interests, to let them fulfil their hobbies, or managers just don't trust them.

SunSport looks back at the wackiest requested to and by players.

When the Polish forward was at Borussia Dortmund in the last year of his contract Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were jostling for his signature.

And in leaked documents, Real Madrid's offer seemed lucrative.

Alongside a 166,000-per-week deal and a 10million signing-on fee were several requests they didn't want daredevil Lewandowski to do while he was their property.

Skiing, paragliding, climbing, going on a motorboat and even riding a motorbike were big 'no-nos' for Real Madrid's hierarchy... so that's why signed for Bayern.

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WHEN negotiating a contract, its important to be 100 per cent clear about what is being stipulated.

When German forward Reina moved to Arminia Bielefeld in 1996, he demanded the club build him a house for every year of his contract.

The club accepted.

However, Reina didnt specify what size he required.

And Arminia provided him with a house made of Lego for the next three years.

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FORMER Real Madrid and AC Milan midfielder was excluded from Argentinas 1998 World Cup squad for a bizarre reason.

Manager Daniel Passarella had refused to pick homosexuals or players with earrings and long hair.

Redondo was guilty of the latter.

He said: I was in great form. But Passarella had particular ideas about discipline and wanted me to have my hair cut.

I didnt see what that had to do with playing football so I said no.

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CONGOLESE midfielder moved from Karlsruher to Eintracht Frankfurt in 1999.

However, he had one simple request: that his new club pay for his wife to have cooking lessons.

Were not sure Mrs Guie-Mien took too kindly to this demand.

Though, she was not available for comment at the time.

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THE SWEDE moved to Sunderland in 1999 but the Wearsiders had one stipulation the former Arsenal man had to adhere to.

Schwarz was told that any potential flights into space would not be tolerated.

The Black Cats chief exec John Flicking said at the time: One of Schwarzs advisers has, indeed, got one of the places on the commercial flights [into space, due to take place in 2002].

And we were worried that he may wish to take Stefan along with him. So we thought wed better get things tied up now rather than at the time of the flight.

In fact, rather than managing to go up, his career ended when Sunderland went down in 2003.

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THE former defender once admitted to eating 212 steak and kidney pies every year.

And Crystal Palace were advised Ruddock did come with some extra baggage when they signed him on a free in 2000.

Ex-Eagles chairman Simon Jordan wrote in his autobiography: On approaching West Ham I discovered he was a free transfer, although he did have a weighty salary which was not the only weighty thing about him.

Harry Redknapp, the West Ham manager at the time, told me to put in a weight clause.

So I decided to put a 10 per cent penalty on the contract we were proposing to offer him if he was over the recommended weight of 99.8kg, which by the way was still frigging huge.

Ruddocks Palace debut was allegedly delayed because the club couldnt find a pair of shorts big enough for him.

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MORE recently Japanese legend Keisuke Honda joined Botafogo.

But moving to Brazil's crime-ridden city of Rio de Janeiro had the midfielder fearing for his safety.

So he stipulated he would need an ARMOURED VEHICLE as part of the deal.

More incredibly, Botafogo agreed.

Continue reading here:

The craziest contract demands revealed, including no space travel, weight clauses and cooking lessons - The Irish Sun

(CNN) The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot of things -- the way we socialize, work, and the way we travel.

In a newly released concept, UK-based design studio PriestmanGoode has developed a post-pandemic cabin to focus on hygiene and personal space and keep passengers safe and relaxed.

Firstly, the firm has reimagined business and economy class. Passengers in "pure skies zones" -- previously known as economy -- will sit in a staggered seat configuration so that they can travel alone, as a couple, or in groups. Dividing screens are also placed at the end of every other row to further separate travelers, while in-flight entertainment systems have been removed in favor of the passenger's own devices.

Passengers will sit in a staggered seat configuration so they can travel in the group of their choosing.

PriestmanGoode

But some things never change: Flying business is always more fun than economy.

Those seated in "pure skies rooms" will fly in a fully enclosed personal space, partitioned by curtains and complete with light and temperature control systems, as well as a personal wardrobe and overhead storage and an in-flight entertainment system synchronized to the passenger's devices.

In-flight entertainment systems have been removed in favor of the passenger's own devices in "pure skies zones," previously known as economy.

PriestmanGoode

As well as comfort, the cabin also boasts hygiene credentials, with minimal split line seat design and antimicrobial materials.

The studio has also incorporated heat, ultraviolet UVC cleaning and fogging as part of the cabin's pre-boarding process, and notes that touch-free features run through the cabin.

"We've looked ahead to imagine future scenarios and taken into account new passenger behaviors driven by the global pandemic to ensure our designs can be implemented within a few years and will meet user and airline requirements for many years ahead," Nigel Goode, co-founding director at PriestmanGoode, said in a statement.

Although the cabins won't be a part of your travel experience in the immediate future -- according to PriestmanGoode, it can take three years to develop and certify them -- the firm thinks they will stand the test of time.

"With both passengers and airline employees at the heart of this project, we have not only taken on board present anxieties but also tried to ensure our solutions are future-proofed against future pandemics, recognizing the significant commitment and investment involved," he added.

The firm envisages design features made from antimicrobial materials.

PriestmanGoode

The company hopes that, through a combination of innovative design features, touch-free technology and material innovation, airlines will be able to both improve personal space and hygiene and reassure passengers -- which, they say, will be vital for the airline industry, even after the pandemic.

In a revised baseline, the body, which represents 290 airlines, forecast that international passenger traffic will drop 55% in 2020, compared to 2019, blaming the sluggish recovery on a number of factors, including a lack of consumer confidence, the decline in business travel, and fresh coronavirus case spikes.

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What the airplane cabin of the future might look like - CNN

If you're like most people, you've dreamed of flying (studies show that more than half of us have done it). If you're curious about the universe, you've probably also dreamed about visiting other planets. And if you're willing to wait about nine months, you are in luck because after that, you won't have to dream anymore.

Ladies and gentlemen, NASA is about to go flying on Mars.

The Perseverance rover, scheduled to land on February 18, 2021, is carrying a grapefruit-sized helicopter named Ingenuity strapped to its belly. Assuming all goes well with the touchdown, Perseverance will settle into its new home for about two months. Then it will release a small debris shield, fire a pyrotechnic cable-cutter, unleash a spring-loaded arm and set the little Ingenuity flyer free.

After the rover has rolled a safe distance away, Ingenuity will soak up sunlight to charge its six lithium-ion batteries, like a newly emerged butterfly drying its wings. Then it will spin its twin rotors up to 2,400 rpm and begin a series of exploratory flights on Mars. That ultra-high rotor speed, necessary to generate lift in the thin air of Mars, means each of Ingenuity's flights won't last long (officially just 90 seconds) nor will it go very far (1,000 meters maximum). Still it's the principle of the thing. The first flight of the Wright Brothers covered just 37 meters.

Ingenuity will establish an equally impressive precedent: the first powered flight on a world beyond Earth. It will surely not be the last.

Science and science fiction visionaries have been sketching out ideas for flying on Mars for decades, even before the existence of NASA and space rocketry. The 1918 film A Trip to Mars, one of the earliest science-fiction movies, depicted a giant, buglike Martian airship. NASA's favorite ex-Nazi, Wernher von Braun, wrote a book-length outline for a human expedition to Mars, which prominently included air travel on the Red Planet; space artist Chesley Bonestell gave visual life to his ideas in his 1953 painting, Exploring Mars. No wonder, then, that NASA engineers are already mulling ideas about how to "add another dimension to the way we explore worlds in the future."

"Exploring Mars" by Chesley Bonestell, based on ideas drawn up by Wernher von Braun. (Credit: Chesley Bonestell)

Actually, it's much more than just ideas. NASA already has another off-world flyer approved and under development one that is even more audacious than the Ingenuity helicopter. In April of 2026, the agency is scheduled to launch Dragonfly, a nuclear powered octocopter (yes, eight rotors), on an eight-year journey to Saturn's giant haze-shrouded moon, Titan. After touching down on Titan's Shangri-La dune fields, Dragonfly will set off on a daring set of long-distance excursions, essentially carrying out a whole new mission each time it lands.

Dragonfly's capabilities will utterly eclipse those of Ingenuity. Titan has lower gravity than Mars, and its atmosphere is 200 times thicker, making flight far easier there. Also, Dragonfly will carry its own radiothermal energy source, so it won't have to rely on trickles of electricity from a small solar panel. The net result is that NASA expects its Titan 'copter will end up traveling a total of about 175 kilometers over the course of a nearly three-year campaign and judging from past NASA efforts, those numbers are probably highly conservative underestimates.

Dragonfly as it will appear after landing on Titan in 2034. The 450-kilogram flyer will sample the surface through its feet each time it touches down. (Credit: NASA/JHU-APL)

Titan is a fascinating target for this kind of exploration. It is a huge world, nearly as large as the planet Mercury, covered in cold organic compounds. Methane and ethane fall as rain, flow in rivers, and collect in lakes a hydrological cycle composed of liquid natural gas instead of water. Titan's dunes are probably composed of tar-like compounds, blowing over a bedrock of deeply frozen water ice. The exotic carbon chemistry happening on Titan today may resemble the reactions that occurred on Earth before life appeared 4 billion years ago. We want to see as much as we can of this unique place.

For now, there are no other flying missions planned for other worlds. But flying is not the only novel form of space transit in development. On small objects like comets and asteroids, hopping is an efficient way to get around. Really, it's almost the only way to get around, since the surface gravity is so low.

The European Space Agency's Philae lander did an accidental hop on Comet 67P after failing to harpoon itself to the surface. The Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa-2 spacecraft dropped three active hoppers onto the asteroid Ryugu. (I wrote a separate account of their amazing journey.) The Hayabusa-2 probe did its own kiss-and-bounce rendezvous with the asteroid to collect samples. NASA's OSIRIS-REx is about to do a similar maneuver with the asteroid Bennu; Japan's Martain Moons Exploration (MMX) probe will perform yet another kiss-and-bounce on the Martian moon Phobos around 2025.

More sophisticated forms of space-hopping may be coming soon. Phil Metzger at the University of Central Florida is testing a robot called WINE that would visit a comet or asteroid, extract water from its surface, and use it to execute a series of steam-powered jumps. NASA recently funded the development of a similar concept called SPARROW, which could hop across the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.

There could be a future for ballooning on other worlds as well. The Soviets have already pioneered this type of transit with the Vega balloon probe, which was deployed in the upper atmosphere of Venus in 1985. If NASA approves a new Venus explorer as I fervently hope it will a new-generation balloon experiment could be floating around the planet in the coming decade.

Any why stop there? I mentioned earlier that Titan has lakes, which would be prime locations for a future space boat or space submarine. NASA seriously considered a proposal for a Titan boat (the TiME mission) but passed it over in favor of the Mars InSight lander. Still, the concept could easily make a comeback. There are also concepts on the drawing board for Titan submarine and a tunneling machine on Europa.

There's even an experiment underway that could make it possible to navigate the oceans of Europa, if that tunneling machine can manage to break through the ice. If you dream of swimming like a fish, this would be the mission for you. Beneath its icy crust, Europa has more water than all of Earth's oceans combined. There may be volcanic vents below, warming and fertilizing the ocean. Many astrobiologists now consider Europa the most likely place to find life elsewhere in the solar system.

Flying on Mars is a breeze compared to traveling to Europa, breaking through 10 kilometers of ice, and exploring the pitch-black ocean below. But if we can master that tremendous challenge... damn, what we find could be well worth the perils of getting there.

For more science news, follow me on Twitter: @coreyspowell

Visit link:

Hovering, Flying and Hopping Across the Solar System - Discover Magazine

For someone who wants everyone to switch to solar panels, Auke tweeted something quite noteworthy. He explained how we can accelerate the development of nuclear energy by designing and rigorously testing nuclear power plants in the digital world. For many scientists, engineers, and other nuclear energy experts, building a power plant is, as Auke says, a once in a lifetime project. And it is precisely this reason why the technology lags behind solar cells. After all, the latter is made in smaller quantities and far more frequently, resulting in more rapid advances in the technology. The idea behind this is that the more often you do something, the more you learn from it.

Im not an opponent! I just think its currently too expensive and slow. I dont fear it very much (I think climate change is a much bigger threat) but I understand it. Current power plants can get overheated and get a melt down, but the chance is very small. When atoms are split, radioactive waste is produced, which can also be used to make bombs. Every country with nuclear energy that wants to make a bomb can do so. And storing waste safely for tens of thousands of years is no small challenge either.

That fear mainly has to do with current nuclear fission, that splits uranium atoms in large plants. I think things like thorium power plants dont have these issues but development takes too long. And I love the idea of producing smaller powerplants but this is at current just an idea.

What attracts me more is nuclear fusion, where the atomic nuclei are not split but instead merged together. They are smaller atoms and are very common they are found in seawater, for example. 1 gram of nuclear fusion material produces as much energy as 4000 kg of oil. The beauty of it is that some of the atoms that are necessary for fusion are released during the reaction. So, this means an infinite form of energy in theory.

Whats more, nuclear fusion is a lot safer than nuclear fission. If a reactor breaks down, the reaction process also stops. In addition, far less radioactive waste is released and what is released is only radioactive for 100 years, rather than thousands of years.

Nuclear fusion is exceptionally complex. It is the same process that also turns the sun into a warm ball of light. Simulating this on earth outside a lab and on a commercial scale requires considerable effort. In order to do this, you have to put atoms under extreme pressure and even higher temperatures. They use plasma to do that a very hot gas which is held in place by a magnetic field, Auke explains.

In France, construction has been underway since 2013 on the largest fusion reactor in the world, the ITER. Involved in the project are the EU, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. The reactor must be completed by 2025 in order to carry out the first tentative experiments. The project has a price tag of almost 30 billion. Just think about it, this is the first one on such a massive scale. It is extremely expensive and the construction will take more than 20 years. For many of those involved, this is the only time they will ever be involved with something like this. And therefore the only time they can learn anything from it. That got me thinking. How can fusion technology follow in the footsteps of solar cells?

With every doubling of production, solar cells become 20% cheaper. Over the past 50 years, theyve become 100 times cheaper. And if you look at this picture (see below), youll see that their yearly production is skyrocketing and that makes them cheaper. In the beginning, everyone was yelling that solar cells would only be suitable for space travel, but take a look now! These developments are exponential. This is because we can make solar cells relatively quickly and in small quantities. And with every new incarnation, a new generation emerges where faults from the previous series are fixed. In turn, everyone is able to build on the knowledge that has been gained, so developments gain rapid momentum.

In Aukes view, we underestimate the impact of exponential growth. In order to illustrate how fast this happens, he recounts the story of Sissa, a mythical Indian figure who invented the game of chess. The king asked how he could reward him for this invention. Simple, I want one grain of rice multiplied by itself again and again for each square on the chessboard. A simple reward indeed, the king thought. But he wasnt a very good mathematician. 1 became 2, to 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on. It soon became apparent that the king didnt have enough grains of rice to pay the reward.

When I was designing my house, I did it all digitally. I was able to virtually walk through my house with a pair of VR glasses. I could adjust things in detail and see what the effect was. An architect used to make artistic sketches, which were translated by a technical draftsman who would measure it all out to check if it was accurate. A contractor translated these sketches into work instructions for the builders. Mistakes are easily made with so many translations. Now you see more and more models wherein all the parties involved work on the same file. The changes made by one party directly affect the work of the other. As a result, fewer mistakes are made and construction is a lot speedier.

You can use that principle for nuclear fusion too. Now I do realize that this kind of reactor is way more complicated than my house. But if such a digital reactor is highly detailed and you can test and modify everything in VR, you can also use it to speed up the development of this technology. Instead of spending 20 years and 20 billion, you could perhaps do that for a billion euros in just one year.

Science tends to narrow things down a lot; let a scientist explore a subject for ten years and you end up with highly in-depth knowledge of a small piece of the puzzle.

I am not saying anything about how such a reactor would work and what kind of advanced mathematics is behind it because then I wouldnt know what Im talking about. But what I do see is which models you need to connect all the separate pieces of the puzzle to each other. And that isnt happening enough.

Once more, Auke stresses that this type of digital nuclear reactor is a thousand times more complex than my house: Modulating the plasma is very delicate, you have to encapsulate the magnetic field with great precision. These are the dark threads that encircle the blue tubing. There are thousands of variations and before you have found the right proportions you are several years further down the road. But if you put all these possibilities into a computational model, the computer calculates the best ratios much faster.

Then you are still not there by a long shot, Auke goes on. Engineers then get to work on these advanced mathematics: They update the mathematical model. They look for materials that can withstand extreme heat. That translation brings abstract mathematics closer to reality. Then they add the next level where they look at how this type of nuclear power station should be built. Which components do we need in order to run a lot of power safely through certain materials? You expand this further and further until you have even created the underlying software that keeps such a power plant up and running and ultimately connects all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Anyone with a good idea can copy the file and work on it. Thats the great thing about it. Thats when youll notice that it will go a lot faster all of a sudden. Parts become smaller and more effective. And instead of spending 20 billion, it costs just 10 billion and the power plant generates twice as much energy. You can also tweak the model again if it turns out that actual practice is slightly different than expected. This in turn yields more knowledge and the next physical version will be improved and cheaper. In no time at all you can supply an entire province with energy and the development will only cost a mere 100 million. I can totally see it!

See the article here:

'Nuclear fusion can follow in the footsteps of solar cells' - Innovation Origins

We may not be ready to shuttle off for regular trips to space just yet, but thats not stopping one group of designers from imagining our future here on the ground. Newly unveiled plans for a floating space hub show just how spectacular even the earth-bound portion of those starry treks might be.

Devised by the Space Port Japan Association (SPJ)in coordination with Dentsu, Canaria and Noizthe striking digital renderings of Spaceport City imagine a new kind of transportation hub focused on the takeoff and landing of space-bound vessels. But what sets the layout apart is its integration with other forms of transportation more commonly experienced today, from cars to boats. The proposed hub would be built above the water and extend out from a expansive cityscape.

The Spaceport City would also serve as a kind of business center. The sheer amount of square footage makes the venue ripe for holding conferences, staging fashion shows and housing businesses related to space engineering or education.

The floating hub will be primarily dedicated to space travel.Courtesy of Noiz Architects/Space Port Japan Association/Dentsu/Canaria

Space landing pads aside, the structure has a flowing, tarp-like roof composed of solar panels that provide renewable energy, which also extend to plazas for arrivals and departures. Inside, the space is broken up by large spheres allowing for a kind of zoning without interrupting the buildings continuity. This means its many disparate entities can enjoy its use simultaneously but still create necessary divides for those with serious security measures.

But other than just providing the building with power, the many hills and valleys created by the roof serve other humanitarian purposes. They help form areas for open-air gardens, patios and even small farms to further ramp up the projects sustainability while also forming additional covered public space below. For family members looking to wave goodbye before a loved one departs, theyll be able to view launches from lounges located in an upper deck on each pierall while taking in a view of the water beyond.

The project remains one of the imagination for now with no set location or construction timeline, but you can head over to the website to learn more. Hey, gotta dream the dream.

The rest is here:

Meet Spaceport City, a Floating Transportation Hub Concept for Space Travel - Robb Report

Adventurous touristscould soon travel to the edge of space in a British-designed balloon for 95,000as part of an ambitious new project.

Florida-based Space Perspective wants to use an advanced balloon to take people and research payloads into the stratosphere, providing 360 degree views of space.

The capsule was designed by London business PriestmanGoode. "We looked at all the different elements that would make the experience not just memorable, but truly comfortable as well," said Nigel Goode, the cofounder of PriestmanGoode.

"We wanted to make sure that passengers would be able to get 360-degree unobstructed views and that we created an efficient space that would enable them to move around during the journey."

The balloon will have room for eight passengers as well as a pilot, andfeatures seats as well as a bar and a bathroom.

Space Perspective reportedly plans to charge customers around $125,000 (95,000) for the six-hour trip to the edge of space in the capsule. Passengers will float 100,000 feet above the earth before beginning the two-hour return journey back to Earth.

The first un-crewed test flight will include a suite of research payloads and is scheduled for early 2021 from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's KennedySpaceCenter in Florida.

The company is part of a number of businesses hoping to attract tourists willing to pay significant sums for trips to space.

Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic has sold 600 tickets for trips to space, with most of the planned trips costing between $200,000 and $250,000 per customer. The business reported a $54m loss earlier this week.

SpaceX, the space travel company run by Elon Musk, also announced plans to launch tourists into space on a Crew Dragon spacecraft earlier this year.

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The cosmic balloon that could take you to the edge of space for 95,000 - Telegraph.co.uk

(Welcome toOut of the Disney Vault, where we explore the unsung gems and forgotten disasters currently streaming on Disney+.)

These days, Disney has become the king of acquiring IPs and turning them into the cash cows of popular entertainment. But once upon a time, they also dared to collaborate with the top scientific minds of the time, and make art that could show us what we could achieve if we set our minds to it like kickstart the Space Race.

With everyone stuck at home and with the future not looking particularly bright, its the perfect time for some good old-fashioned Disney optimism. And what better way to experience that optimism than with a pseudo-documentary that uses animation to imagine the strange lifeforms that could live on Mars?

The result is Mars and Beyond, part of a series of three documentaries that not only featured some of the best animation in TV at the time, but also helped sell the American public on space travel.

In 1954, Disney debuted a television series to showcase the still-in-construction Disneyland and its various lands. But when it came to Tomorrowland, there was no existing material that could showcase what the land was about. So one of Disneys Nine Old Men, veteran animator Ward Kimball, set out to direct a series of documentary programs about the possibilities and wonders of human space travel.

The result was a series of programs aired between 1955 and 1957, partly based on articles in Colliers magazine authored by German scientist Wernher von Braun and other rocket scientists meant to detail von Brauns plans for manned spaceflight and sell Americans on space exploration at a time before NASA even existed.

The first episode, titled Man in Space, was nominated for an Oscar and followed the history of rocket science and what humans would have to face in space. It even ends with a call for the U.S. government to create a space agency of its own. The second, Man and the Moon, focused on humans fascination with the moon, as well as details of a plan to send humans to the lunar surface.

The last of the programs came a mere month after the launch of Sputnik 2 and it took a different approach, showcasing the history of astronomy as well as the origin of life on Earth. Mars and Beyond focuses on our fascination with Mars and how it influenced science fiction stories for decades, as well as wild speculation on what a trip to Mars would look like and what we could find there.

Compared to the first two programs, Mars and Beyond is more light-hearted and relies a lot more on animation, which ultimately works in its favor. Though the science is spotty and outdated, relying on what scientists theorized about Mars at the time (like saying the Martian surface had canals that irrigated vast forests), the animation makes this a highly entertaining, trippy, and imaginative film.

Indeed, the animation is atypical for Disney films of the time. There are striking images of vast landscapes with towering behemoths and all sorts of lifeforms that could spawn their own sci-fi franchises. The film imagines the type of life that could be found on Mars, from giant plants that travel across the land looking for sustenance to silicon-based crystallized structures. This is more likeFantasia, the pink elephant scene of Dumbo, and even German expressionismthan the type of films Disney was making at the time. This section makes the entire film worth it, as even though its a big departure from the science-based approach of the rest of the documentary, the imagination and visuals on display makes it feel just like when you first watched the cantina scene in the original Star Wars, like youd just unlocked a world of possibility.

Another aspect of the film that feels rare in 2020 is the extended segment devoted to the unapologetically Darwinian version of the history of the evolution of life on Earth, something you dont see every day on a major TV network. Seeing such a big company go to such lengths to not only entertain by seemingly giving the animators carte balance to illustrate whatever their minds could come up with, but also educate the population so unabashedly, feels as hopeful as the future that Mars and Beyond imagines.

Whether a coincidence or a direct product of these films, NASA was founded and the U.S. space program began shortly after Man in Space premiered. Indeed, its been reported that President Eisenhower even called Disney to compliment him on Man in Space the morning after it aired, and to request a copy that could be shown to top space-related officials in the Pentagon.

Curiously enough, the description laid out in Mars and Beyond regarding how a trip to Mars would work and the technology necessary to make that trip ended up being very similar to the technology that allowed the real Curiosity Mars Rover to land on the Red Planet.

Elsewhere, the films became the centerpiece for what Disney envisioned for the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland, and it kickstarted a decades-long love for space travel from the company. The TWA Moonliner at the center of the park was derived from Man in Space, and though Walt Disney passed away before the moon landing, the live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 mission was screened at Tomorrowland for guests, and dozens of space-related rides would open at Disney theme parks throughout the decades.

Though the astonishing vision of Martian life from Mars and Beyond didnt turn out to be true, you can now experience this entertaining, educational, and visually stunning film on Disney+. Its worth it, especially right now.

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Out of the Disney Vault: Revisiting Mars and Beyond /Film - /FILM

HAWTHORNE (CNS) - Two astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth today from their historic mission to the International Space Station in a capsule built and launched by Hawthorne-based SpaceX.

Weather permitting, splashdown is scheduled for 11:48 a.m. PDT time in the Gulf of Mexico, with the location changed from the Atlantic Ocean due to the approach of Hurricane Isaias toward Florida. The recovery boat departed its port at 9:20 a.m. East Coast time Sunday to stage for recovery operations in the Gulf, according to NASA.

Mission controllers were keeping a close watch on the weather, but as of Sunday morning, the operation was still expected to go on as scheduled.

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were aboard the space station since May 31, the day after SpaceX's historic launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the first manned launch from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011.

Their trip in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft -- named Endeavour -- was technically a demonstration flight, showing off the capabilities of the

ship as NASA advances private partnerships to revive U.S. space travel.

On Saturday, Johnson Space Center announced on Twitter that the astronauts were headed home, saying, 62 days on board,'' 1024 Earth orbits,'' Saw 1 visiting vehicle leave & 1 arrive,'' 114 hours of research'' and 4 spacewalks for @AstroBehnken with @Astro_SEAL.''

Hurley tweeted, It was an honor and privilege to be part of Expedition 63. Thanks to @Astro_SEAL , Anatoly, & @ivan_mks63 for making our stay on @Space_Station an incredible experience. Now it's time to finish our DM-2 test flight in order to pave the way for future Dragon crews. Go Endeavour!''

The launch and subsequent autonomous docking with the space station have seemingly gone off without a flaw, but the mission has one more major step.

We're watching (forecasts) closely, mostly to maintain awareness and see the trends, and understand what the timeline would be if our recovery out of the water, for example, was delayed a little bit,'' Behnken said Friday from the space station during a NASA news briefing. But we have confidence that the teams on the ground are of course watching that much more closely than we are.

We don't control the weather, and we know we can stay up here longer -- there's more chow, and I know the space station program has more work that we can do for the (principal investigators) and other folks who have sent science up to the space station,'' he said.

Behnken said he and Hurley spent the last day preparing for the trip, working through the onboard training that will refamiliarize us with the splashdown activities, what our responsibilities will be, the things that we'll monitor.''

But even before their mission is completed, SpaceX is already deep into planning for the next one. Assuming there are no glitches with the remainder of Hurley and Behnken's demonstration mission, dubbed Demo-2, the company will move ahead with Crew Dragon's first operational mission.''

That mission will launch four astronauts -- Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi -- to the space station, sometime in late September.

Continued here:

SpaceX-Launched Astronauts Set to Return from Space Stationg | KFI - KFI AM 640

There hasnt been a splashdown of an American crewed space capsule since the Apollo capsule from the Apollo-Soyuz joint U.S.-Soviet Union space mission in 1975, at least not until yesterday, when astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley returned to Earth from the International Space Station in orbit, splashing down just off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. They were met by recovery teams, and, as an unexpected bonus, by a bunch of dipshits in private boats who got in the way of recovery operations and could have placed themselves in danger. Welcome to Florida!

The SpaceX recovery vessel Go Navigator was dispatched to recover the capsule, scorched from its cooking in the heat of reentry but otherwise undamaged. The capsule was floating in the water for about 30 minutes before being recovered, and during that time a number of private boats made a beeline for the capsule, according to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

While its very easy to understand the temptation of wanting to get as close as possible to the capsule, its a real problem for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it interferes with the recovery teams, and there are real dangers to onlookers as capsules often vent toxic gases after splashing down.

In fact, the recovery team detected nitrous tetroxideused as a propellant for the Dragons maneuvering rocketsin the air around the capsule and as such had to wait for the fumes to dissipate before removing the astronauts.

In the video of the recovery, you can see an arc of pleasurecraft around the recovery operations:

One boat, in particular, has gained a lot of attention because of how close it got to the capsule and the prominent TRUMP 2020" flag it was flying:

G/O Media may get a commission

The Coast Guard had broadcast a Notice to Mariners about hazardous operations happening in those specified boundaries on July 29, though because the landing zone was past the 12-nautical mile distance from the shore, the Coast Guard could not establish an official safety zone, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.

As a result of not being able to make an official safety zone that boaters could be forbidden from entering,

... numerous boaters ignored the Coast Guard crews requests and decided to encroach the area, putting themselves and those involved in the operation in potential danger.

So, while not strictly illegal, the actions of the boaters coming so close to the recovery efforts put everyones safety at risk and interfered with recovery operations.

NASA Administrator Bridenstine was understanding of the interest of the onlookers but made it clear this would need to be resolved in the future:

I will tell you its a beautiful sunny day and a lot of boaters were out there and they were certainly intrigued. I think all of America was very anxious to see the capsule land in the water, but yeah, its something that we need to do better next time.

Perhaps an official observers area could be set up, so the people who want to watch up close (which sure seems cool) could without getting in the way of doing anything stupid that puts everyone at risk?

Come on, boat-owning people. Dont fuck up space travel for us.

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Lots Of Idiots In Private Boats Swarmed Where The SpaceX Dragon Capsule Splashed Down From The ISS - Jalopnik

Back in May of 2020, Cruise revealed that he was in talks with Musk to develop a film shot entirely in space, but this expensive development means this project could become a reality soon. After Musk reignited American space travel late that month with the SpaceX launch from Florida, shooting two American astronauts into space, Liman and Cruise brought the controversial figure on board for their film.

Though the project clearly hasn't taken shape beyond Universal's enormous financial promise, audiences have every reason to believe that Cruise and Liman fully intend to move ahead with this film. It simply remains to be seen when this film could actually go into production, even beyond the enormous technical hurdle of launching Cruise into space to film it. As Deadline reports, McQuarrie and Cruise are currently working on Mission: Impossible 7, so it may be a while.

Nobody can doubt Cruise's sheer commitment, though, especially when you consider the major stunts he's already pulled off. Among other high octane acts, Cruise has scaled the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and hung from helicopters and planes for the Mission: Impossible franchise, all of which he pulled off without a stunt double.

With the coronavirus crisis preventing most film production from resuming right now, there's not a lot of information about Cruise's next film, but as the star prepares to head beyond Earth, we'll keep you updated as best as we can.

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The truth about Tom Cruise's $200 million space movie - Looper