Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia Shares Opening, Ending Themes – Comicbook.com

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Each new spin-off of TYPE-Moon's Fate franchise has gone on to major successes with anime fans, and there's the same hope for the new series based on the incredibly popular Fate/Grand Order mobile game. Adapting a story voted on by fans in Japan, Babylonia serves as an entry point despite its actual story taking place after several other adventures in the canon of the original game. But with the debut of the series' second episode, we also got our first full look at the new opening and ending theme sequences for the series hyping up what's left to come.

The opening theme for the series is titled, "Phantom Joke," as performed by Unison Square Garden, and you can check it out in the video above. The ending theme for the series is titled, "Wishes in the Falling Stars," and you can check it out in the video below. Each one gives fans glimpses at all the new and familiar faces to the franchise, and teases an exciting new series to come.

If you wanted to check out the newest Fate series for yourself, Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia is now streaming on FunimationNOW. Aniplex of America describes the series as such, "A.D. 2017 The last era in which Magecraft still existed. Society was created by human hands, but Mages grasped the truth of the world. Magecraft is comprised of techniques from past humans that cannot be explained by science, while science encompasses the techniques of future humans that Magecraft cannot achieve. Researchers and scholars of both Magecraft and science have been gathered to maintain human civilization under the Chaldea Security Organization.

But calculations then proved the extinction of humanity in 2019. The cause of this is 'realms that cannot be observed' that suddenly appeared in various eras of history, called 'Singularities.' Ritsuka Fujimaru, the one Master remaining in Chaldea, has been intervening within these Singularites, alongside the Demi-Servant Mash Kyrielight.

He has been attending to the forbidden rituals to resolve or destroy the Singularities: the 'Grand Order.' A seventh Singularity has been discoveredin ancient Mesopotamia in the year 2655 B.C. The land of Uruk, governed by the wise King Gilgamesh after his return from a journey seeking immortality, was grand and prosperous until three goddesses and countless Demonic Beasts appeared. These enemies have brought Uruk to the brink of destruction.

With a 'Rayshift'a method of time travel to the pastFujimaru and Mash arrive in the lands of Uruk to encounter the fortress city of Uruk and the Absolute Demonic Front, fighting back the fearsome attack of the Demonic Beasts. There, the people who live their lives to the fullest despite facing a major threat, continue to fight for their future. Deities and Demonic Beasts make their assault, and mankind stands up against it It is the destined era where humans and gods part ways."

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Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia Shares Opening, Ending Themes - Comicbook.com

Simon Segars interview Arms CEO on competitive threats, custom instructions, and a far-off IPO – VentureBeat

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Simon Segars, CEO of the Cambridge, England-basedArm, took the stage at last weeks Arm TechCon 2019 event in San Jose, California to tell the companys ecosystem of partners about its future plans.

Arm designs the underlying architecture and semiconductor chip components for its partners, who license the technology and put it into a wide range of chips that drive just about everything electronic, from smart doorbells to energy-efficient Arm-based servers. Arms partners have shipped more than 150 billion chips to date, and in the next two years Segars expects 50 billion more to ship.

The world is undergoing nothing less than an electronics revolution, and Arm is at the center of it. The internet of things everyday devices that are smart and connected could reach more than a trillion units by 2035, Segars said.

These dynamics attracted Japans SoftBank and led to its $31 billion acquisition of Arm in 2016. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said he was readying his company for the Singularity, or the day when AI exceeds the collective intelligence of humanity, in a few decades. But last year Son acknowledged that he might spin off Arm in an initial public offering, possibly within five years (by 2023).

Segars is trying to run the company as usual in the meantime, with a near-doubling of the companys staff to more than 6,500 people. At TechCon, he announced that Arm would fend off competition by enabling custom instructions for embedded centralized processing units (CPUs) to give chipmakers more flexibility in a changing world.

I sat down with a group of reporters at Arm TechCon 2019 last week to talk with Segars in a wide-ranging interview. We discussed the possible IPO, the custom instructions, Arms moves in IoT, its interest in security, and the state of competition.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity, and questions have been reordered by theme.

Above: Simon Segars, Arm CEO, at a press group interview at Arm TechCon 2019.

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

Question: I talked to a couple of analysts who felt like the custom instructions were a nod toward the competition from RISC-V.

Simon Segars: The way were looking at it is that chip design is evolving in multiple ways in parallel. You have consolidation going on amongst big chip companies, producing large players who are investing on the leading edge. They have the size and scale to build very complex devices. You have some OEMs who want to build chips. You have various smaller companies who are looking at how to create things much more optimized for specific applications, especially in this world of IoT. Theres a range of different solutions out there for how people can extend the capability of what an ARM processor does based on the workload.

Our inclusion of the custom instructions is based on feedback from the market. In some areas having a dedicated accelerator sitting in the memory map or sitting as a co-processor, that works very well. There are some other applications where doing that final optimization can make a big difference. Weve listened to the market. Weve thought long and hard about how we add that flexibility and maintain the benefits weve had for our entire history of standardization and that big software ecosystem weve developed. This seems like a good way to address all those needs. Its really driven by the needs of the market more than anything else.

Question: How should we visualize what this new customization ability addresses?

Above: Arm custom instructions

Image Credit: Arm

Segars: The target market is actually quite broad. When you look at the biggest shippers of ARM-based microcontrollers today, its companies that have been around a long time. They have broad portfolios of microcontrollers where theyre taking, say, a Cortex-M3, M33, whatever, and building portfolios around them that produce hundreds of SKUs. They ship development boards. They ship a lot of software support to go with that, so that as a developer you have this library of functions prebuilt for you that you can integrate together in software, whatever application in particular you want to build.

I anticipate companies looking at particular markets, like motor control. We have these libraries today that are implemented using special ARM instructions. If, as we implement our Cortex-M33, we can add some special feature, maybe we can halve the run time of that library that does some operation to work out where to take the motor to next. Companies like that are going to do those optimizations and build them into the board support packages that they create.

There will be some others in the startup category that are going to focus on one specific thing, as opposed to a broad portfolio of MCUs that theyre largely shipping to distributors. They might have some market in mind where adding some instructions can, again, just optimize for that. Again, I think its going to be quite broadly applicable. Were going to see big, classic MCU shippers adopting it, and were going to see smaller startups.

Question: How do you add custom instructions and still maintain the ecosystem?

Segars: Were trying to enable the best of all worlds. One key thing is that the custom instructions that can be added are purely additive to the core instruction set. The operating system that might sit on top of this processor isnt going to rely on custom instructions. It might call a routine where, if the custom instructions are there, it runs very efficiently, and if theyre not there, it goes and does something else. But the core operating system that you can take off the shelf and run, that will still run on every ARM processor, because all the instructions that are defined today are still there.

Were not enabling people to strip stuff out and risk having a C compiler spit out code that wont work. Theres still that compatibility with the architecture. This is an opportunity to add things for the regular code its never going to touch, but specific application optimizations could take advantage of this in a particular vendors set of support tools.

That isnt very different, at the chip level, from what we have today. There may be, in an MCU, some accelerator thats sitting completely outside the core. It sits in a memory map. Again, one of these library routines might call upon it to do something. If that accelerator isnt there in Vendor Bs chip, its not going to do anything. Same principle applies here, but its more tightly integrated. For some functions we think thats going to deliver significant performance uplift for very small overhead in silicon. Thats much more efficient than building a completely separate accelerator.

Question: Should we expect the majority of customers to do custom instructions?

Segars: No, I dont think the majority. Like any instruction set check, when we look at the architecture were going to put this in. Whats this used for? Who is going to use it? How do we support it? Its a significant step to add something into the architecture, to change it. I think youll see companies think long and hard about it. Again, back to this mix of partners we have, bigger companies maybe standardize around a few optimizations, make sure theres great support for it, and then youll have some small guys that focus on one thing. But I dont think youre going to suddenly see a million and one different variations.

Above: Simon Segars expects a trillion internet of things devices by 2035.

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

Question: Do you have any updates about a new IPO?

Segars: At last years SoftBank AGM [annual general meeting], Masa said that in about five years, well have an IPO of Arm. Thats not a hard and fast ruling, where on July 10, 2023 well have an IPO. Its not cast in stone.

What were doing is investing to make Arm a more valuable company. Were investing to do that through the development of technologies, the development of our ecosystem, to ensure that we can grow with the growing opportunity thats represented by IoT and AI and 5G and autonomous vehicles and continued growth in mobile. I think there are a number of these technologies that will drive growth for the semiconductor industry, and since we supply into that, we want to make sure were providing the building blocks for chip companies that want to serve those markets.

It feels to me that in that sort of 2023 time frame, we should be seeing the real fruits of that investment. We should be seeing revenues take off from the sale of those chips, and that should be flowing to the profitability of ARM. If all that comes together and the conditions are right, that would be a good time to have an IPO of Arm and release some of that back.

Question: You mentioned driving growth, having a mandate from SoftBank to drive growth and push forward as fast as you possibly can, and not be as concerned about quarterly earnings and so forth. What does that mean for Arm in terms of the overall attitude as you continue to drive growth?

Segars: For now, nothing has changed. Weve been investing our profits in growing the company. Since the acquisition as you know, prior to, we were a very profitable company. We operated with roughly 50% margins. Weve taken that down significantly and invested our profitability in our growth to develop this long-term road map of compute solutions for these growing markets. None of that has changed relative to anything thats gone on in the rest of the SoftBank portfolio. For us were continuing on that mission. Its business as usual.

If and when Arm becomes a public company, the stake in the ground is 2023. Thats a while off. We need to have gone through this phase of investment, seeing the growth in the end markets, seeing how that growth in top-line converts and profitability a lot of things need to fall into place for us to be in the right shape to go back to the public markets. Were on a runway to do that. Thats not changed based on anything else thats going on across the board.

Question: If you were to relist as a public company, where would you might like to do it?

Segars: Its not something were spending any time as a board discussing. Its still a long way away. If we were to relist, it would be in a market that takes a long-term view on technology. We had a great time being a public company previously, with a primary listing in London and a secondary listing in the U.S. The world is a different place from what it was in 1998 when we went public and that choice was made. Well determine how much closer.

Question: As a board member of SoftBank, can I ask you about the recent results of the investment in the Vision Fund?

Segars: The way the SoftBank group is organized, the business is run separately. Im running Arm. Rajeev [Misra] is running Vision Fund. Masa is running Sprint. Theyre separate companies. Im not spending my days worrying about whats going on at Vision Fund, nor is Rajeev, who runs the Vision Fund, spending his days worrying about what Im doing. My primary focus is on delivering an Arm strategy.

The SoftBank group board, as you can imagine, is pretty interesting, and its a fascinating experience for me being part of that. The Vision Fund is going to do what it needs to do.

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Simon Segars interview Arms CEO on competitive threats, custom instructions, and a far-off IPO - VentureBeat

Turkey’s actions in Syria must be measured: NATO chief – Reuters

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FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

ROME (Reuters) - Turkeys military operation in northeastern Syria must be restrained, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, adding that it was important not to destabilize the region any further.

Stoltenberg told reporters that Turkey had legitimate security concerns and had informed NATO about its attack against Kurdish fighters in Syria.

I count on Turkey to act with restraint and ensure that any action it may take in northern Syria is proportionate and measured, he said after meeting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. It is important to avoid actions that may further destabilize the region, escalate tensions and cause more human suffering.

(This story corrects to make clear Turkey has not told NATO it will be measured and proportionate, but rather this is NATOs demand)

Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Crispian Balmer/Mark Heinrich

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Turkey's actions in Syria must be measured: NATO chief - Reuters

Gallery: NATO ships arrive in Tallinn ahead of mine-clearing operation – ERR News

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The Danish HDMS Thetis, docked at the Old City Harbour in Tallinn, while several other vessels will stay at the Estonian Naval Base, ERR reported.

The ships will remain in port from Oct. 11 to 14, and thenthe group will carry out an operation to clear historic explosives in Estonian waters.

Thousands of mines were dropped into the Baltic Sea during and after the Second World War which still need to be found and destroyed.

The Estonian Navy has been participating in the NATO Mine Action Group for over ten years, contributing to the unit with one warship each semester.

From June 2016 until June 2017, NATO's 1st Permanent Mine Rescue Team (SNMCMG1) was commanded for the first time in history by Lieutenant Johan-Elias Seljamaa, an Estonian naval officer.

In the first half of 2017, members of the NATO Headquarters were also members of the Estonian Navy.

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Gallery: NATO ships arrive in Tallinn ahead of mine-clearing operation - ERR News

Graham warns Turkey of NATO suspension, sanctions if Kurds attacked – Business Insider

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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Monday warned Turkey a bipartisan group of lawmakers would introduce sanctions against it and "call for their suspension from NATO" if it attacks the Kurds in Syria.

Graham, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "We will introduce bipartisan sanctions against Turkey if they invade Syria and will call for their suspension from NATO if they attack Kurdish forces who assisted the U.S. in the destruction of the ISIS Caliphate."

"Hope and expect sanctions against Turkey if necessary would be veto-proof," Graham added. He said he'd just spoken with Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who was on board.

Graham has excoriated President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw US troops from northeastern Syria, abandoning Kurdish forces and opening the door for a Turkish military invasion. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan views the Kurdish forces as a threat.

Read more: Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's staunchest defenders, is slamming the president over his decision to pull out of northern Syria and says the White House is lying about ISIS

The Republican senator is typically one of Trump's key allies in Congress and a stalwart defender of the president. But he's exhibited a tendency to break from Trump on foreign policy, and this is not the first time he's criticized the president when it comes to US policy toward Syria.

The Kurds played a key role in the fight against US, losing thousands of fighters in the process.

A spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) characterized the move from the US as a "stab in the back," as Graham warned that it sends "the most dangerous signal possible" that the US is an "unreliable ally."

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Graham warns Turkey of NATO suspension, sanctions if Kurds attacked - Business Insider

Turkish operation defends NATO, EU borders as well as its own – Daily Sabah

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Due to the existence of widespread misconceptions, Turkey is forced to frequently explain that securing its southern border from terrorist elements is also a step toward ensuring the safety of NATO and EU borders, since these terrorists not only pose a threat to Turkey but to the world as a whole, experts said.

"There are two main points that have to be emphasized in the international arena. The word 'operation' instead of 'invasion' needs to be made accepted internationally and the fight against Daesh has to be underlined," lhan Kesici of the Turkish group at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly told Daily Sabah, explaining what needs to be done to understand Turkey's reasons for launching an operation.

This suggestion by Kesici comes as a response to the widespread use of misinformed terms in the international arena, which eventually distorts what Turkey really does and causes the EU and NATO to go against the country. Particularly when Western media insists on using the word "invasion" when referring to Turkey's attempt to establish a safe zone in northern Syria which would not only secure the border, fighting terrorists, but also enable Syrian refugees that have been separated from their homes since the war started in 2011 to return to their country.

Turkey is taking firm steps toward this aim by creating a peaceful and safe atmosphere for refugees, while it also has concrete plans to build homes, schools, mosques and necessary civilian infrastructure for them to return.

However, misuse of terms and distortion of reality is only one aspect of the anti-Turkey stance. A member of the Turkish Group of NATO, Cengiz Aydodu, also pointed out that NATO lost its purpose and began taking a different stance toward Turkey over time, the main reason why the organization lacks support for the country.

"Turkey's fight against terrorism, [the very same terrorism] which inflicted pain upon the world, is ignored. As Turkey, we will put forth our rightfulness, yet those who do not want to hear certain things won't hear it. They use their communicational channels toward this aim, however, we will continue to explain our legitimate struggle," Aydodu stated.

Turkey has been one of the most important members of NATO since its accession to the Alliance in 1952 and continues to contribute to the alliance. Being a member for 67 years and with its experience in the Middle East as well as the fight against terrorism, Turkey has been one of the five most contributing countries to NATO missions and operations, with the second-largest army in the alliance.

Even though NATO acknowledged that Turkey "has legitimate security concerns," having suffered "horrendous terrorist attacks" and hosting thousands of refugees, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a few days ago: Some members of the alliance didn't back their ally Turkey.

When on Wednesday Turkey announced the launch of Operation Peace Spring east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to secure its borders by eliminating terrorist elements to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria's territorial integrity, Germany and France bashed Turkey for its move. They called on others to join them. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Twitter voiced "strictest condemnation" for the offensive, accusing Turkey of destabilizing the region and "risking the resurrection" of Daesh. France's European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin also condemned the operation within minutes of Ankara launching cross-border strikes.

"Their policies and words are not reflected in their implementations," said Aydodu.

"Just as the U.S. managed to label its military invasion of Iraq as a 'military operation,' Turkey which carries out a legitimate fight has to voice its rightfulness incessantly. Turkey is not just fighting the People's Protection Units (YPG) or the PKK but it stated that it fights 'all terrorist organizations' in the south. Almost all parties support the operation, now what needs to be done by the government and also by the opposition is to make people understand its legitimacy," Kesici continued.

Turkey has said the terrorist group PKK and its Syrian extension the YPG constitute the biggest threat to Syria's future, jeopardizing the country's territorial integrity and unitary structure.

Most of northeastern Syria is controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists. Turkey has a 911-kilometer (566-mile) border with Syria and it has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates and the formation of a "terrorist corridor" there.

Hosting nearly 3.6 million refugees, Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrians in a 30-kilometer wide safe zone in Syria, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, including Manbij. However, the presence of terror groups such as the YPG jeopardizes its formation.

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Turkish operation defends NATO, EU borders as well as its own - Daily Sabah

Queen to host Donald Trump at Buckingham Palace again for Nato bash in December – The Sun

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THE Queen is to host a reception for Donald Trump and Nato leaders at Buckingham Palace to mark 70 years of the alliance.

The evening event will take place on Tuesday December 3, the palace said.

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US President Trump will be joined by French President Emmanuel Macron among the leaders expected to attend.

It is not yet known whether other members of the royal family will join the Queen for the celebration.

The next Nato leaders' summit is taking place in Watford, Hertfordshire, in December, at The Grove hotel.

Mr Trump was last in London for a three-day state visit in June - where he met then PM Theresa May and members of the Royal family.

The President enjoyed banquets at the Palace before ending his trip with a ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth.

Mr Trump has been an outspoken critic of Nato and has repeatedly asked its member states to spend more on defence.

He described the alliance as "obsolete and disproportionately too expensive (and unfair) for the US".

Last year the US President won the battle for them to increase their budget when they finally pledged to spend an extra 25billion.

His declaration came moments after members held an emergency meeting to address the US President's increasingly furious accusations they are not contributing enough financially.

At the time there were conflicting reports that Trump had threatened to quit the alliance if members did not agree to his demands.

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A source told The Times: "The US President continued that if the wealthiest economies are not paying 2 percent by January 'we are going to do our own thing'."

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More to follow...

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Queen to host Donald Trump at Buckingham Palace again for Nato bash in December - The Sun

Greece calls on NATO as Erdogan threatens to flood Europe with millions of migrants (VIDEO) – Greek City Times

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened the European Union his government would open the gates to millions of refugees to head to Europe if they criticised Turkeys military offensive in Syria.

The President has warned he will send 3.6 million Syrian refugees to Europe in retaliation for the worldwide criticism of his military operation.

At least 24 people have been killed, including 16 Kurdish fighters and eight civilians, while dozens more have been injured.

Lashing out at theEuropean Union, the United States, NATO, and others that joined the condemnation,President Recep Tayyip Erdoganwarned he would open the gates if anyone called his offensive an invasion.

Hey EU, pull yourself together. I say it again. If you try to frame our operation as an invasion, our task is simple: we will open the doors and send 3.6 million migrants to you, Erdogan said in a speech to parliament.

Turkey launched an operation into Syrian territory on Wednesday, aimed at combating Kurdish militants.

Erdogan claims 109 terrorists had been killed so far in the operation.

Greeces Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday called on NATO to increase naval patrols in the Aegean after the threat by Turkey to allow more migrants to cross into Greece was made.

I asked the secretary-general and the alliance, and member states to strengthen their presence in the Aegean Sea with more ships, Mitsotakis said after talks with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

We ask for the mission to be expanded to the south Aegean so we can cover the full scope of our countrys maritime borders, Mitsotakis announced, adding that he would raise the issue at a NATO summit in December.

There are officially some 70,000 migrants and refugees in Greece and over 800 continue to arrive daily, placing pressure on already overcrowded camps on the Greek islands.

NATO currently has six ships on patrol in the northern Aegean that track the movement of incoming migrant boats and alert the coastguards of Greece and Turkey, in addition to EU border force Frontex.

Stoltenberg said he has already called on allies to provide more ships, but that any additional commitment requires a consensus between NATO members.

*Watch the video here-

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Greece calls on NATO as Erdogan threatens to flood Europe with millions of migrants (VIDEO) - Greek City Times

Poland to serve on NATO Spearhead Force – daily – The First News

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The commander of the Polish brigade, Brigadier Dariusz Lewandowski, told Rzeczpospolita that the task was the biggest challenge for Poland in terms of building an international combat structure since the country joined NATO in 1999. Darek Delmanowicz/PAP

The Polish armed forces will for the first time be on annual combat duty in NATO, the Rzeczpospolita broadsheet wrote on Thursday. The shift will last throughout 2020 and the Polish forces will be on alert 24 hours a day.

The 21st Podhale Rifles Brigade will be the framework unit within NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), the military bloc's rapid response troops.

Selected units will have between two and five days to take action in the event of a military operation or natural disaster in any NATO member state.

The commander of the Polish brigade, Brigadier Dariusz Lewandowski, told Rzeczpospolita that the task was the biggest challenge for Poland in terms of building an international combat structure since the country joined NATO in 1999.

Six thousand soldiers will serve on the Spearhead Force, including four thousand from Poland, including other military units besides the rifles brigade.

Soldiers from the United Kingdom, Spain, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Albania will also serve on the force.

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Poland to serve on NATO Spearhead Force - daily - The First News

NATO Had a Plan To Kill Russian Submarines with Magnets – The National Interest Online

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Key Point: Oddly enough, the magnets worked but weren't worth the hassle of using them.

At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had so many hundreds of deadly submarines at sea that Western war planners willing to try almost any possible countermeasure, however goofy sounding.

Some seemingly crazy ideas proved actually worthwhile, such as the underwater Sound Surveillance Systema vast chain of seafloor microphones that patiently listened for Soviet subs and remains in use today.

Other less elegant anti-submarine tools survive only as anecdotes. In his book Hunter Killers, naval writer Iain Ballantyne recalls one of the zanier ideas air-dropped floppy-magnets meant to foul up Soviet undersea boats, making them noisier and easier to detect.

From the late 1940s on, captured German technology boosted Soviet postwar submarine design. Soviet shipyards delivered subs good enough and numerous enough to pose a huge danger to Western shipping.

By the time of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the USSR controlled the largest submarine force in the world some 300 diesel-electric submarines and a handful of nuclear-propelled models. NATO navies couldnt keep up. We simply do not have enough forces, Vice Adm. R.M. Smeeton stated.

NATO war planners feared only nuclear escalation could check the Soviet submarine wolf packs. That is, atomic strikes on sub bases along the Russian coast.

But the nuclear solution was worse than the problem. We can take steps to make sure the enemy is fully aware of where his course of action is leading him without nuclear weapons, Smeeton said, but we cannot go to war that way.

Desperate planners sought ways of making Soviet subs easier to hunt. Any technology that could speed up an undersea search was worth considering. A submarines best defense is of course stealth, remaining quiet and undetected in the ocean deep, Ballantyne notes. Something that could rob the Soviets of that cloak of silence must have seemed irresistible and, at least initially, a stroke of genius.

A Canadian scientist figured some kind of sticky undersea noisemaker would make a Soviet sub more detectable. He designed a simple hinged cluster of magnets that could attach to a submarines metal hull.

Movement would cause the flopping magnets to bang against the hull like a loose screen door, giving away the subs location to anyone listening. The simple devices would take time and effort to remove, thus also impairing the Soviet undersea fleets readiness.

At least that was the idea.

Godawful racket

In late 1962, the British Admiralty dispatched the A-class diesel submarine HMS Auriga to Nova Scotia for joint anti-submarine training with the Canadian navy. The British were helping Canada establish a submarine force, s0 Royal Navy subs routinely exercised with Canadian vessels.

Auriga had just returned to the submarine base at Faslane, Scotland after a combat patrol as part of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Other subs of the joint Canadian-British Submarine Squadron Six at Halifax had seen action during the crisis.

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The 1945-vintage Auriga spent much of her time in Nova Scotia simulating Soviet diesel subs during hazardous under-ice ASW practice with U.S. and Canadian forces. During a typical three-week exercise, Auriga would be subject to the attentions of surface vessels, aircraft and other subs, including the U.S. Navys new nuke boats.

During one open-ocean exercise, Auriga was given the floppy-magnet treatment. A Canadian patrol plane flew over Aurigas submerged position and dropped a full load of the widgets into the sea.

As weird as it sounded, the magnet concept proved a resounding success. Enough magnets fell on or near Aurigas hull to stick and flop. Banging and clanking with a godawful racket, the magnets gave sonar operators tracking the sub a field day. Then the trouble started.

As Auriga surfaced at the end of the exercise, the magnets made their way into holes and slots in the subs outer hull designed to let water flow. They basically slid down the hull, Ballantyne says of the magnets, and remained firmly fixed inside the casing, on top of the ballast tanks, in various nooks and crannies.

The floppy-magnets couldnt be removed at sea. In fact, they couldnt be removed at all until the submarine dry-docked back in Halifax weeks later.

In the meantime, one of Her Majestys submarines was about as stealthy as a mariachi band. No fighting, no training, no nothing until all those floppy little magnets were dug out of her skin at a cost of time, money and frustration.

The magnets worked on the Soviets with the same maddening results. The crews of several Foxtrots were driven bonkers by the noise and returned to port rather than complete their cruises.

Now, the Soviet navy could afford to furlough a sub or two, but NATO could not. Anti-submarine crews couldnt practice with floppy-magnets attached to their exercise targets.

The floppy-magnets worked exactly as intended, but they were simply too messy to train with to be practical on a large scale. It seems NATO deployed them only a few times.

The submarine-fouling floppy-magnet turned out to be, well, a flop.

This first appeared in September 2019.

Image: DVIDShub.

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NATO Had a Plan To Kill Russian Submarines with Magnets - The National Interest Online

Beyond the Noise: Nato’s new war, the Kurds, resistance and solidarity – CommonSpace

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Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to the heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.

IN this weeks podcast, Jamieson speaks to Stephen Smellie, trade unionist and co-convener of Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan about Turkey's invasion of northern Syria and parts of the Kurdish territories following US military withdraw.

They discuss:

1:39 Why the Kurdish people in northern Syria are facing the threat of ethnic cleansing.

2:53 How US President Trump gave a green light for Turkeys attack.

3:18 Why resistance from within Nato countries like the UK matters.

19:39 What people in Scotland can do immediately to show solidarity.

CommonSpace is entirely funded by small, regular donations from you: our readers. Become a sustaining supporter today.

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Beyond the Noise: Nato's new war, the Kurds, resistance and solidarity - CommonSpace

The Future of Deep Space Exploration – SpaceNews

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The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies cordially invites you to attend a panel discussion on the exciting work being done in the exploration of deep space. The Institutes Center for Enterprise, Exploration, and Defense in Space (CEEDS) has called together a group of experts from across relevant government organizations and private industry to discuss what is being done today and what more can be done tomorrow to explore the cosmos.

For decades, the US has led the charge in space exploration. American astronauts were the first to land on the moon. NASAs Pioneer, Galileo, Voyager, NEAR, and Cassini-Huygens missions continued to forge ahead: first to fly by Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; first to orbit Jupiter and Saturn; first to land on an asteroid and first to land on Titan. These are but a few of the achievements of American deep space exploration over the last five decades. So what efforts are continuing today, and what does the future look like?

The panelists will discuss the current plans of their organizations, how they envision the future of deep space exploration, what new problems will that future face, what benefits this will continue to provide for the American public, and how policymakers can support these efforts.

Opening Remarks:Dr. Jennifer Buss, President, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Moderator:Sonya Gavankar, Director of Public Relations, Newseum

Panelists:Steve Clarke, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASAMary Lynn Dittmar, President and CEO, Coalition for Deep Space ExplorationRyan Whitley, Director of Civil Space Policy, National Space Council, The White HouseLon Levin, President and CEO, GEOshare

Attendees are encouraged to join us in person.RSVP is required. Please send your name and affiliation to Luke Koslosky at [emailprotected]

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Starship and Super Heavy – Space.com

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Starship and Super Heavy are the biggest, most important pieces of Elon Musk's grand plan for SpaceX, his private spaceflight company.

Musk has repeatedly stressed that he founded SpaceX back in 2002 primarily to help humanity colonize Mars. It's vital that we become a multiplanet species, the billionaire entrepreneur has said, citing both a much-reduced probability of extinction and the thrill that meaningful space exploration will deliver to billions of people around the world.

SpaceX is now actively trying to turn this sci-fi dream into reality. The company is developing a 100-passenger spaceship called Starship and a giant rocket known as Super Heavy, which together constitute the transportation system that Musk thinks will bring Mars settlement within reach at long last.

"This is the fastest path to a self-sustaining city on Mars," Musk said in September 2019, during a webcast update about the Starship-Super Heavy architecture.

Related: SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy Rocket in Pictures

These updates have become a highly anticipated annual tradition; Musk has given one every September since 2016.

During that first presentation, he laid out the basic idea: A large spacecraft and a huge rocket, both of which will be completely and rapidly reusable. The rocket will launch the spacecraft into Earth orbit, then come back down to Earth for a vertical, propulsive landing.

The spaceship, meanwhile, will make its own way from Earth orbit to Mars (or the moon, or any other desired destination). The craft will touch down on such alien worlds and take off from them as well, without the need for any additional landing craft or ascent vehicles. (The separate rocket is needed just to get out of Earth's substantial gravity well.)

Off-Earth refueling of the ship is therefore key to Musk's vision. For example, spacecraft coming home from Mars or the moon will need to be topped up on those worlds, using locally produced propellant.

In 2016, Musk called this architecture the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). The name was new, as the billionaire had previously referred to his envisioned concept (though much more vaguely) as the Mars Colonial Transporter.

The ITS architecture isnt supposed to be Mars-specific; the system could help establish a base on the moon, Musk said.

(Image credit: SpaceX)

The ITS will stand 400 feet (122 meters) tall when stacked, Musk said back then. The rocket will contribute most of that height, measuring 254 feet (77 m) tall to the ship's 162 feet (49 m). There will be some overlap of the two vehicles during stacking, which explains why the total height isn't 416 feet.

Both vehicles will be powered by SpaceX's next-generation Raptor engine, which is more powerful than the Merlin that propels the company's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The ITS ship will sport nine Raptors and the 40-foot-wide (12 m) booster will boast a whopping 42, allowing the rocket to produce 13,033 tons of thrust at liftoff 3.6 times more than NASA's Saturn V moon rocket was able to generate, Musk said. (For comparison, the Falcon 9 has nine first-stage engines and the Falcon Heavy has 27.)

Related: See Stunning Photos of SpaceX Falcon Heavy's First Night Launch

And there won't just be one ITS ship and booster. The ultimate plan involves sending 1,000 or more people-packed spaceships to Mars every 26 months, helping to establish a million-person city on the Red Planet within 50 to 100 years, Musk said. (Earth and Mars align favorably for interplanetary missions just once every 26 months.)

Musk did not lay out plans for building this city. That will happen organically as more and more people arrive on Mars, he said, comparing the ITS to the transcontinental railroad that helped open the American West to settlement from the East and Midwest in the 19th century.

And these pioneers won't just be the super-rich, if all goes according to plan. The ITS's reusability could eventually bring the price of a Mars trip down enough to make it affordable for large numbers of people, Musk said.

"The architecture allows for a cost per ticket of less than $200,000," Musk said during the 2016 presentation. "We think that the cost of moving to Mars ultimately could drop below $100,000."

This overall vision has held firm over the past three years, but Musk has repeatedly tweaked the design and the system's name.

In 2017, for example, he announced that ITS was now the BFR, which stood for "Big Falcon Rocket" (or "Big F***ing Rocket;" SpaceX representatives have invoked both variants). The BFR was shorter, slimmer and less powerful than its design predecessor, measuring 348 feet (106 m) tall by 30 feet (9 m) wide when stacked and featuring "only" 31 Raptor engines on the booster and six on the spaceship.

But the biggest change concerned use of the spaceship-rocket duo. Musk announced that SpaceX eventually planned to employ the BFR for all of its spaceflight needs, from launching satellites to ferrying people to and from Mars to cleaning up space junk in Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy therefore will be phased out over the long haul, as will both the crew and cargo variants of SpaceX's Dragon capsule.

Expanding the BFR's role in this manner will make the system much more affordable for SpaceX to develop and manufacture, Musk said at the time.

"If we can do that, then all the resources that are used for Falcon 9, Heavy and Dragon can be applied to this system. That's really fundamental," he said in September 2017. "We believe that we can do this with the revenue we receive for launching satellites and for servicing the space station."

Related: See the Evolution of SpaceX's Rockets in Pictures

The BFR design then experienced a growth spurt that nearly took the system back to its original height. In September 2018, Musk told us that the rocket-spaceship duo will now stand 387 feet (118 m) tall when stacked. The BFR ship will also sport seven Raptors instead of six, Musk added, and the vehicle will now sport four movable fins two near its nose and two bigger ones near the tail.

These fins will help the ship maneuver its way to safe landings on worlds with significant atmospheres, such as Mars and Earth. The two rear fins will also serve as landing pads, as will a leg that's stylized to look like a fin, Musk said.

The ship's overall aesthetic will therefore resemble that of the rocket used by the cartoon character Tintin in the 1954 adventure "Explorers on the Moon." And that tidbit pleases Musk.

"I love the Tintin rocket design, so I kind of wanted to bias it towards that," he said at the time. "If in doubt, go with Tintin."

Other big news came out of the September 2018 update as well: SpaceX had signed its first BFR customer. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa booked a round-the-moon trip on the BFR, with a target launch date of 2023. Maezawa said he planned to take a handful of artists with him on the mission, which he calls DearMoon. Neither SpaceX nor Maezawa has revealed how much the flight will cost.

Related: How SpaceX's 1st Passenger Flight Around the Moon with Yusaku Maezawa Will Work

Two months later, the BFR was no more: Musk told us that the system will now be called Starship. That will also be the spaceship's name, whereas the huge rocket will be called Super Heavy.

At that point, SpaceX still planned to build the Starship vehicle out of carbon fiber. But in January 2019, Musk announced that he was switching to stainless steel. Steel is a bit heavier than carbon fiber but has great thermal properties and is far, far cheaper, Musk said. He has since called the material switch the best design decision yet made on the ITS/BFR/Starship project.

In May 2019, Musk said the current plan calls for six Raptors on the Starship vehicle rather than seven. And a few months later, he tweeted that Super Heavy will now sport 35 Raptors instead of 31.

That brings us to the latest design update, which Musk presented on Sept. 28, 2019, from SpaceX's South Texas facility, near the tiny village of Boca Chica. The billionaire didn't announce any huge changes, though there was some more engine news: Super Heavy will now have space for 37 Raptors, though not all of those slots will be filled on every flight. Each mission will probably require at least 24 Raptors on the booster, Musk said.

Musk had previously estimated the total development cost of the Starship project to be between $2 billion and $10 billion. On Sept. 28, he said he now believes the price tag for SpaceX will be toward the lower end of that range "probably closer to two or three [billion] than it is to 10," Musk told CNN Business during an interview shortly after the design update.

SpaceX's Super Heavy rocket booster launches the Starship interplanetary spacecraft in this still from a SpaceX animation.

(Image credit: SpaceX)

The September 2019 update was more dramatic than those of previous years, because Musk had an eye-catching visual aid nearby a 165-foot-tall (50 m) Starship prototype called the Mk1.

SpaceX had already built and flown a Starship prototype a stubby, one-engine vehicle dubbed Starhopper that aced two brief, untethered test flights at Boca Chica before being retired in late August.

But the Mk1 is a big step forward. It's the first full-size Starship test vehicle, and it's scheduled to fly high soon. During his presentation, Musk said that SpaceX aims to fly the three-engine Mk1 on an uncrewed test mission in October or November that will take the vehicle to an altitude of about 12 miles (20 km).

SpaceX is building a similar vehicle called the Mk2 at its Florida facilities, reasoning that some intracompany competition will improve the design of the final Starship vehicle. And more iterations of the spaceship should hit the skies in short order as well.

During the September 2019 presentation, Musk said that SpaceX wants to launch an orbital test flight with Starship in less than six months so, by early spring of 2020. The vehicle that flies that landmark uncrewed mission will likely be the Starship Mk4 or Mk5, he said.

Related: Why NASA's Annoyed About Elon Musk's Giant Rocket

If the development and testing campaigns continue to go well, Musk added, people could start flying aboard Starship for the first time next year. (The first operational Starship missions, by the way, could happen as soon as 2021, company representatives have said. Those early commercial flights will be uncrewed and probably loft communications satellites.)

There's a fair amount of work to do in the interim, of course, and it's not all about optimizing fin design. For example, there's the not-insignificant issue of keeping Starship's passengers happy and healthy during their flights to the moon, Mars and beyond.

We know little about Starship's life-support system. But Musk did say during the September 2019 update that he envisions a "regenerative" system, which recycles water vapor and carbon dioxide, processing this latter gas to provide oxygen. And he doesn't think implementing this tech will be all that difficult.

"I don't think it's actually superhard to do that," he said. "Relative to the spacecraft itself, the life-support system is pretty straightforward."

Musk is famous for his "aspirational" timelines, so the above target dates are far from set in stone. But big things are definitely happening on the Starship project; stay tuned!

Additional resources:

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall.

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Aliens and outer space exploration – Harrogate Advertiser

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Published: 10:10 Monday 07 October 2019

So says the message from the human race on the Voyager spacecraft. But is there anyone out there? Alex went to speak to an astrophysicist to find out. This is what he learned: Stellar Wobble. The Mirror Test. The Drake Equation. Fermis Paradox. Capitalist chimps and murderous dolphins.

Somewhere between stand-up comedy and an astrophysics lecture, Third Angels production is a simple show about huge ideas: the story of how a three-hour conversation with an astrophysicist changed the way Alex understands the way the Universe works. 600 People explores how we think about evolution and intelligence, belief and invention and space travel.

Alexander Kelly, co-artistic Director of Third Angel, said: The show was inspired by a conversation I had with astrophysicist Dr Simon Goodwin in 2013.Simon convinced me 99.5 per cent that there is no other intelligent alien life in our galaxy. Ive long been drawn to the idea of the Voyager space craft as messengers from humanity to other life forms, and I was surprised to discover how disappointed I was by this news.

The production is on at Harrogate Library on Tuesday October 29 at 7.30pm. Tickets from Harrogate Theatre.

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UFO or space station? The best way to spot the ISS without a telescope – CNET

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The ISS has been in orbit over 7,000 days.

When my husband rushed me onto the back porch claiming we would be able to see the International Space Stationpassing over our house one night, I didn't exactly believe him. We're far enough out in the country to see stars, but we haven't completely escaped the city's light pollution. Still, I looked up. While I didn't expect to see the ISS taking up half the sky, I couldn't see anything different happening above us.

My husband was looking at his phone, the screen illuminating his face in the outdoor darkness. He told me he'd found an app that could track where the ISS was around the world. After a few moments of silence, he turned and pointed above our roof.

"That's it," he said, as what looked like a bright, rapidly moving star shot over the top of our house.

We watched the ISS speed across the sky and disappear into the clouds. No sooner had we lost sight of the light, my husband told me it was already over New York. That's some hustle.

Space travel has been making headlines this year. This past July marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Just before the anniversary, NASA announced plans for the first all-female spacewalk in history but later nixed it due to a suit-sizing issue. The first space crime was even said to have been committed by NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who was accused of identity theft (she denied the allegations).

The ISS, about the size of a five-bedroom house, serves as a laboratory in space while housing astronauts. The first piece of the Station launched in 1998 and has been constructed by astronauts in its entirety since human arrival in 2000. While orbiting the Earth, astronauts perform unique research, developing plans for the future of space exploration and keeping a consistent human presence in space. Space tourism for the wealthy could also become a possibility in the near future.

While the ISS has been in orbit over 7,000 days, it's captured some truly stunning images as it travels around the Earth.

If you want to keep up with the ISS's location around the world, you can check out NASA's Spot the Station feature on its website or download the NASA app. For more focused space station tracking, you can download the ISS Detector app for any phone, which its developers claim is the most-used satellite tracking app. Here's how it works.

The app works for iOS and Android. Use those links or search for ISS Detector in the Apple App Store and ISS Detector: See the Space Station in the Google Play Store.

The ISS Detector asks for access to your location. This is so it can tell you when the station will be over your area.

The ISS Detector app shows a wide range of data to help you keep up with the space station.

Once you plug in your location, the app can tell you how often you can expect to see the ISS in the sky. For example, residents of Louisville, Kentucky will typically be able to see the ISS between about 7:57 p.m. and 9:37 p.m. each night for about 30 seconds to a minute and a half. A fleeting window, right? That's because the ISS is traveling at about 17,500 miles per hour.

I found the display was best viewed on a tablet versus a smartphone. The app displays lots of numerical information on a dashboard, and it's easier to digest if it's spread out. The ISS Detector will tell you the upcoming sightings for the next 10 days, potential weather conditions, elevations, latitude and longitude, direction, the current location of the ISS is and more.

The app also keeps track of how long until the ISS will pass over your location and how long it'll be visible. On average, it looks like the ISS is visible in a given area one to two times per day over the course of a week. Whether it's day or night depends on your geographical location.

You can also set up a notification so you don't miss the sighting. Just tap the alarm bell in the corner.

Set up a notification for the next sighting, have a snack and go to sleep. If the ISS just flew over, you won't see it again until the next day. While you're waiting for the ISS to pass over your area, you can keep tabs on where it is around the world for free.

If you're a space enthusiast and don't mind spending a few bucks, the app has a few extensions that enhance the experience. If you watch an ad, you can also get the extensions free for five days.

If you're interested in space news read the latest from CNET:

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Review: Cantus offers well-sung songs of stars and space – St. Paul Pioneer Press

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While the concert programs of the Minneapolis-based male vocal group Cantus can sometimes get off theme, the one that opens its 2019-20 season is pretty consistent: One Giant Leap is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and, in a broader sense, the ability of the stars to inspire us to stretch our boundaries.

And there is some impressive stretching going on in the programming, as the concerts feature four world premieres and another U.S. premiere. Asking audiences to accept so much unfamiliar fare is a giant leap indeed, but it was clear that the crowd at Minneapolis Westminster Concert Hall Thursday evening was in full support, judging from the way audience members started shouting, whooping and clapping the moment the last syllable of each song left the singers lips, often disrupting meditative moods.

This admirably focused program is full of homages to science and the sky, wonder and discovery. And all eight voices were consistently strong in the group, the harmonies as warm and inviting as the down comforter youre breaking out this weekend.

Never more so than on Stars by Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds, which required the eight singers to run their fingers over the rims of half-filled (half-empty?) glasses to produce an eerie soundscape. It proved a haunting performance, as did the groups reverent reading of Vicente Chavarrias Follow the Drinking Gourd, a 19th-century song full of Underground Railroad information for Canada-bound escaped slaves.

The expertise that Cantus demonstrated last summer in trading tunes on a Franz Schubert song cycle was shown not to have dissipated a bit by a lively quartet on the composers Flucht. And there were no works more transporting than the two by Minneapolis composers that closed the main program: Catherine Daltons Silver Deity of Secret Night and Cantus bass Chris Foss Beyond, a setting of a Katharine Lee Bates poem that sounded as if it may have been the anthem of exploration around which the whole program was built.

That songs awestruck wonder made the absence of such a quality from some other pieces all the more noticeable. While there was brisk energy in Camille Saint-Saens Aux Aviateurs, it didnt bring the concerts first half to the kind of climactic close one may desire. And one rapidly pattered movement from Mohammed Fairouzs A Source of Light gave short shrift to that composers gifts.

While I enjoyed the groups return to the lush sound on which it was founded 24 years ago at Northfields St. Olaf College on a new work by a St. Olaf student, Grace Brigham (Discoveries), the concerts encore left me saddened. By yukking it up through a mocking version of Space Oddity David Bowies tale of an astronauts existential despair I felt the performance not only disrespected Bowies memory, but threw the concerts whole premise into question. While offering lip service to some of the tragedies that have accompanied space exploration in between-song speeches, the music contained no sense of the risk, loss of innocence or questioning of the quest that are surely part of it. By evenings end, this look upward had come to seem quite an incomplete picture.

Who: Cantus

What: One Giant Leap

When and where: 3 p.m. Sunday, Trinity Lutheran Church, 115 N. Fourth St., Stillwater; 11 a.m. Thursday, Colonial Church of Edina, 6200 Colonial Way, Edina; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul; 3 p.m. Oct. 20, Wayzata Community Church, 125 Wayzata Blvd. E., Wayzata

Tickets: $43-$10, available at 612-435-0046 or cantussings.org

Capsule: The fine singing inspires, but this Leap doesnt go deep.

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Review: Cantus offers well-sung songs of stars and space - St. Paul Pioneer Press

Why NASA received stern warning over Mars mission from scientist Bill Nye: Focus! – Express.co.uk

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On October 8, 2015, NASA published its strategy for human exploration and colonisation of Mars. The concept operates through three distinct phases leading up to fully sustained civilisation on the Red Planet.The first stage, already underway, is the "Earth Reliant" phase. This will continue to use theInternational Space Stationuntil 2024, validating deep space technologies and studying the effects of long-duration space missions on the human body.The second stage, "Proving Ground," moves away from Earth reliance and ventures intocislunar spacefor most of its tasks, to test deep space habitation facilities, and validate capabilities required for human exploration of Mars.

Finally, phase three, the Earth Independent stageincludes long-term missions on the lunar surface with surface habitats that only require routine maintenance, and the harvesting of Martian resources for fuel, water, and building materials.

NASA hopes to complete all three sometime in the 2030s, but Bill Nye is not impressed with the ambiguity of the space agency.

Speaking to BigThink in 2017, the popular science communicator said: Well, I'm the CEO of The Planetary Society so what I have encouraged the staff to do is focus on our mission.

Our mission is exploring the planets, to know the cosmos and our place within it, empowering citizens of the world to be space explorers.

So by focusing on your core mission I think it will enable us to work together to make the world better.

Now when it comes to NASA, we are very hopeful that we will acknowledge that NASA is a fantastic brand for the United States.

People everywhere no matter how they feel about the United States respect what NASA is able to accomplish.

Dr Nye went on to explain why he hopes the space agency will set a date for their future endeavours.

He added: First of all when it comes to exploring Mars, which is what we all want to do, everybody talks about it all the time, let's not have a reset, let's not cancel existing programmes for the sake of some imagined or proposed new programme, let's finish all the projects.

JUST IN:BRITAIN IS GOING TO THE MOON! Space tech firm will have rover on lunar surface by 2021

Let's do everything all at once in the human spaceflight and stay focused on getting to Mars by setting a date.

One of my favourite blues songs is Set A Date, and he's talking about getting married, but if we set a date for when we would be on Mars we would be much more likely to achieve it than to continually suggest decades from now.

And as you may know the Planetary Society did an analysis that shows we could be in orbit around Mars, which would be analogous to the Apollo 8 orbit of the moon in 2033, without changing anything about the NASA budget just adjusting it for inflation.

But if people got excited and wanted to go a couple of orbits early in 2028 that would be fantastic.

Dr Nye continued his point, applying it to other areas of space exploration.

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He continued: The other thing that we at the Planetary Society very much want NASA to stay focused on are these extraordinary planetary missions.

We have Juno in orbit around Jupiter and we have many spacecraft in orbit around Mars.

We have New Horizons data is still coming back from I guess it just finished bringing data back from Pluto and now it's onto the next destination in deep the space in 2019.

Keep those missions going because that's where new things happen, where these innovations happen in technology.

So acknowledge that NASA is a great international brand as well as a source of national pride and technological achievement.

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UC San Diego alum fulfills lifelong dream of going to space – University of California

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NASA astronaut Jessica Meir has wanted to travel to space since she was a child. This lifelong dream became a reality on Sept. 25, when the alumna of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and two multinational crew members launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft. Her next goal? Completing the first all-female spacewalk with colleague Christina Koch, scheduled for Oct. 21.

"It feels like home already," Meir told NASA in a live interview just moments after entering the space station located more than 200 miles above Earth. "It's going to be an amazing six months."

During her six-month mission aboard the ISS, Meir and her colleagues will conduct hundreds of experiments to study the physiological effects of long-duration human spaceflight. This research is crucial for NASA to achieve its goals for the Artemis program, which intends to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, and its longer range goal of sending astronauts to Mars.

Meir is no stranger to conducting science in extreme environments. While a graduate student in the marine biology program at Scripps Oceanography, Meir researched the physiology of deep-diving animals including emperor penguins in Antarctica and elephant seals in Northern California. A trained scientific diver, she studied emperor penguins above and below the ice in Antarctica during four research expeditions to the remote, icy continent.

In an interview with This Week@UC San Diego several weeks before the launch, Meir discussed her journey from UC San Diego to space, noting that soon shell come full-circle in terms of her physiology research.

I'm very excited to be contributing to all of the amazing science that we have up there. Now, I'll be the animal in the extreme environment, just like the penguins and seals and birds that I've studied, said Meir.

She discussed some of the planned experiments to study how human physiological systems are affected by microgravity and the spaceflight environment.

One of the hot topics right now is looking at the health of the eye and some vision problems that we're seeing in some astronauts post-flight and changes in the retinal layer, said Meir. We're not sure if this is caused by the increase in pressure due to the fluid shift that we have when we're in space or what exactly is going on here. But we're looking more into that.

The astronauts will also be studying cardiovascular health, as recent studies have shown that the walls of carotid arteries get stiffer and thicker in space. A six-month mission is even the equivalent of about 20 years of aging on the ground, noted Meir.

A number of other research projects with human health applications are already underway, said Meir, including studies of protein crystal growth. NASA astronauts will be looking at diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and obesity in terms of this protein crystal growth.

You can actually grow bigger and more perfect crystals without gravity, so determining the structure of these proteins can lead to the development of inhibitors for diseases, she said.

In addition to contributing to the amazing science at the ISS, Meir said she is really excited by the strong possibility that shell conduct one or more spacewalks when an astronaut gets out of a vehicle while in space.

That was always the personal vision that I had in my head of floating out there in your own little self-contained spacecraft, which is your spacesuit, which you're depending on for life support for everything, and looking back at the earth, said Meir.

During one of the planned spacewalks, Meir and her colleagues will repair a critical pump on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics detector thats mounted on the ISS.

This instrument was something that was not designed to be fixed by anyone in a spacesuit, said Meir, noting the intense training required to work in the puffy suit and perform tasks while wearing large, thick gloves. Now we have to do it.

UC San Diego has a history of producing alumni who have pursued successful careers at NASA. Meir is among three alumni all women who have become NASA astronauts. Megan McArthur, who holds a Ph.D. in oceanography from Scripps, traveled to space in 2009 and helped repair the Hubble telescope. Kate Rubins, who studied microbial biology as an undergraduate, became the first person to sequence DNA in space.

UC San Diego and Scripps are really just powerhouse institutions when it comes to research, said Meir, discussing her shared background in science with McArthur and Rubins. Those are the types of backgrounds especially if you look at Scripps of people that are selected to be astronauts.

Meir believes that her research experience in extreme environments coupled with her scientific expertise helped her secure a spot in NASAs class of astronaut candidates in 2013. The mental and physical challenges she encountered in Antarctica as a Ph.D. student helped her learn how to adapt to any situation or environment, and it showed her the value of working as part of a team. For example, if a big storm came through, the group would have to cancel its planned activities and instead shovel snow all day or repair an instrument. Other days were devoted to conducting research experiments or diving in the freezing water.

I think when I'm most challenged like that, whether it's diving under the ice or now, this job as an astronaut, is really kind of the epitome of that mental and physical combination, said Meir. Something about that just really captures my spirit and makes me really feel the most fulfilled.

Growing up in rural Maine, Meir was often surrounded by nature, from dense forests to dark starry skies. She thinks that being immersed in this environment is what initially sparked her interest in the natural world. She credits her parents, particularly her Swedish mother who has a natural connection to nature, with supporting her path to science, and ultimately, to space.

Her budding interest in NASAs astronaut program was further strengthened by support from her Scripps advisors, Paul Ponganis and Jerry Kooyman. Meir stressed the value of mentorship for early career scientists, something that helped her immensely as she navigated graduate school.

Not only are they at the top of their field and amazing scientists, but they're just really great people, Meir said of Ponganis and Kooyman. And I think for me, especially as a graduate student starting out, that made a huge difference because they treated me like a person and they also cared about me as a person. They weren't only focusing on the science.

Kooyman and several others from Scripps who are close to Meir traveled to Kazakhstan to see the launch from the ground. Meanwhile at Scripps, Ponganis joined nearly 100 people in Meirs orbit including family, friends, and former colleagues for an early morning launch viewing party at the Surfside student lounge, one of Meirs favorite spots on campus.

The event featured an acoustic performance by recording artist Grace Potter, a close friend of Meirs, and an immersive VR experience of the ISS recorded by Flix & Paul Studios. Commemorative cookies, Tang, and freeze-dried Space Ice Kream were served to guests, who also received a custom patch designed for Meir, representing her journey from Scripps to space.

Cheers erupted as the rocket blasted off from the ground at 6:57 a.m. PDT, and again when it reached orbit.

Today has been a culmination of Jessicas aspirations and work for a long period of time. I always had full confidence when she was here at Scripps that she would eventually get into the space program, said Ponganis. It fills me with satisfaction and pride that we were able to assist her in reaching this goal. Its a very happy day.

Alyssa Griffin was one of several Scripps Ph.D. students who attended the launch party. Griffin said shes had the pleasure of meeting Meir twice over the past few years when she visited Scripps and participated in student meet-and-greet lunches.

What I love about Jessica's story is her unwavering determination towards a lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut and going into space. It was deeply inspiring to see her achieve that dream this week, said Griffin. The emotions of Jessica's friends, family, and UC San Diego family at the launch party was a beautiful reminder that space exploration brings all of us together through the contemplation of our collective place in the universe.

During her down time in space, Meir plans to spend some time in the Cupola, a dome-like observatory module with seven windows that provide a birds eye view of Earth.

I think it's something that obviously never gets old, to have the entire planet below you, especially coming from an oceanography school, said Meir. I mean, come on! That's a lot of ocean to look at down there.

Meir is looking forward to sharing her space journey with those of us here on Earth, and plans to post updates to her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

What I'm so excited to do is really share this with everybody because I'm the one that's lucky enough to get to do it, said Meir. But I wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for all the people along the way who helped me get where I am.

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UC San Diego alum fulfills lifelong dream of going to space - University of California

Playmobil Is Going Back to the Future in 2020! – Space.com

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NEW YORK Great Scott! Dust off your DeLoreans, sci-fi fans because Playmobil will launch three new sets from the "Back to the Future" films in 2020 that will have you channeling your inner Marty McFly.

Playmobil, which released a full line of Mars exploration sets this year, will follow it up with a line of Back to the Future sets that feature the iconic time-traveling DeLorean and characters from the 1985 science fiction film (and its two sequels). The toy company unveiled the new Playmobil sets last week here at New York Comic Con.

Related: Astronaut Reveals First Playmobil Figures in SpaceMore: New York Comic Con 2019: Amazing Space Cosplay Photos!

The new Playmobil playsets will include a hero set with the Delorean, 1985 Marty McFly and Doc Brown, as well as Doc's dog Einstein and their accessories. The line will also include a two-pack featuring the figures of 1955 Doc Brown and Marty.

Finally, a set of collectible 6-inch Doc Brown and Marty characters will round out the sets. Playmobil has not release prices yet for the new sets, but they will be available in May 2020.

Here's a look at the new sets as seen at Playmobil's NYCC booth.

Playmobil unveiled its new Back to the Future sets in a glass display case at New York Comic Con 2019. The main set comes with Marty, Doc Brown, Einstein the dog, plutonium and case and the iconic Delorean time machine.

(Image credit: Future)

The gull wings of Back to the Future's DeLorean swing open for Playmobil's Marty and Doc to climb inside.

(Image credit: Future)

The lightning rod to power Marty's trip "back to the future" from the first film is installed on Playmobil's DeLorean in this display.

(Image credit: Future)

Playmobil's DeLorean looks sleek in this head-on view.

(Image credit: Future)

In addition to the main set, Playmobil has this two-pack of 1955 Doc and Marty, complete with newspaper and a guitar, just what Marty needs for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.

(Image credit: Future)

Playmobil has also created these large 6-inch collectible figures for its Back to the Future line, featuring 1985 Marty and accessories, and Doc Brown with his DeLorean remote control.

(Image credit: Future)

Playmobil's Back to the Future line follows the company's "Ghostbusters" line, another 1980s franchise. The company unveiled a set of new collectible 6-inch Ghostbusters figures for 2020 at NYCC.

Email Tariq Malik attmalik@space.comor follow him@tariqjmalik. Follow us@SpacedotcomandFacebook.

Need more space? You can get 5 issues of our partner "All About Space" Magazine for $5 for the latest amazing news from the final frontier!

(Image credit: All About Space magazine)

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Playmobil Is Going Back to the Future in 2020! - Space.com

Investing In The Final Frontier – Benzinga

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Could space exploration be the next $1 trillion industry?

A number of organizations are focused on space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASDA, receivesfunding from the annual federal budget passed by Congress. Since its inception, it's estimated the U.S. has spent $601.31 billion on NASA.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN,on the outskirts of Geneva has been facilitating the exchange of information between researchers working on the primary mission to discover the laws of the universe.

Over the years, Canada, India, Japan, Russiaand the U.S, none of which are part of CERN, have donated materials with values in the tens of millions of dollars.

There's so much more to discover, but that requires funding.

95% of the universe in still unknown, Fabiola Gianotti, the director general of CERN, said in a presentation to the World Economic Forum.

"We are all driven by a shared passion for knowledge."

Andrew Chanin,the CEO of ProcureAM, an ETP product issuer based in New York,highlights figures from the Space Report, published by the nonprofit Space Foundation, which states that the global space economy reached $414.75 billion in 2018.

By 2040, Morgan Stanley estimates that value will nearly triple to $1.1 trillion, which presents a huge opportunity for investors to get in on the ground floor of the space revolution.

A number offactors are driving the growth of the space economy, including declining launch costs, advances in technology and increased government spending, Chanin said.

"Similar to how the first railroads widely expanded the interconnectivity of people and physical goods across the U.S., space-based systems have the potential to dramatically expand our access to digital goods and assets."

Space transportation systems could lead to the discovery and eventual settlement of new territories.

"This is largely made possible by recent decreases in launch costs. Many types of satellites can now be manufactured relatively inexpensively, and developments like reusable rockets have made launches vastly more cost-efficient," Chanin said.

"By investing in this infrastructure today, we have set the groundwork for advanced space exploration and transportation in years to come."

Advancements in technology will be instrumental to establishing permanent bases in space and potentially expanding our civilization beyond the confines of Earth, he said.

"One of the main concerns of space exploration today is the risk posed to humans. We can combat this with the development of more sophisticated drones, robots, rovers, etc. We could even see the rise of autonomous vehicles, 3D printing technology and transportation services that would electronically build the resources humans would require to survive in space."

Governments are starting to recognize space as the next domain to be colonized, Chanin said.

The Procure Space ETF (NYSE: UFO)was up 1.31% at the close Friday.

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Investing In The Final Frontier - Benzinga