Category Archives: Space Exploration

Three astronauts on a planned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will wear a specially-designed helmet to monitor the effects of space exploration on brain activity, the company behind the headwear said.

The 10-day mission by space-flight firm Axiom, which will be the first-ever private trip to the space station, is due to launch on April 3 with four astronauts onboard.

Data has continuously been collected on astronauts' heart rate, skin resistance, muscle mass and others in space but not yet on brain activity, Yair Levy, Chief Executive of Brain.Space, the ,

creators of the electroencephalogram (EEG)-enabled helmet, told Reuters.

"This system does not depend on any technician, does not require any preparation or any special process to wear it. [You just] just click on a button and it's done, and you can start measuring brain activity," he said.

The Brain.Space project will join 30 other experiments that will take part in the so-called Rakia Mission to the ISS.

Three of the four astronauts - including Israeli Eytan Stibbe - will wear the helmet, which has 460 airbrushes that connect to the scalp, and perform a number of tasks for 20 minutes a day, during which data will be uploaded to a laptop on the space station.

The tasks include a "visual oddball" test that the company says has been effective in detecting abnormal brain dynamics.

Similar studies using these tasks have been completed on Earth.

After the mission, Brain.Space will compare the EEG data to see the differences in brain activity between Earth and space.

Carrying out such experiments is a vital component in advancing human spaceflight particularly as long-term space exploration and "off-world living are within grasp".

Brain.Space, which said it raised $8.5 million (7.6 million) in a seed funding round, bills itself as a brain infrastructure company and is working with the cognitive and brain sciences department at Israel's Ben Gurion University to transform terabytes of data into usable insights.

Levy said he hoped the space mission would be a springboard for other institutions, researchers and software developers to use its brain data platform.

"Our vision is to create a language of the brain and to allow physicians, researchers and even app developers to use this language and to create products and services based on the brain".

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What does space do to the human brain? Astronauts on the ISS will wear this helmet to find out - Euronews

This is the ultimate challenge in waste collection: plucking from space a broken satellite travelling at 25,000kph, operating in levels of radiation that can frazzle powerful on-board computers.

From nets and harpoons to magnets, scientists are working on potential solutions to the rapidly growing problem of space junk that threatens planned new mega-constellations of low-cost satellites orbiting Earth.

More than a million pieces of debris larger than a centimetre are estimated to be in orbit after more than 630 break-ups, explosions and collisions involving man-made satellites, according to analysis from the European Space Agency (ESA).

The space industry is responding to the problem with a new model of sustainable space operations in which the industry will clear up its own mess and develop tools to refuel and repair satellites to extend their use.

A new fleet of space service vehicles with a range of tools, likened to a Swiss Army knife, is planned to refurbish existing satellites. Dedicated craft will try to snag debris to protect the 5,000 operational satellites currently in orbit.

About 300 missions are expected to service satellites and remove debris by 2030, Yang Gao, professor of space autonomous systems at the University of Surrey, a leading centre of technological research in England, tells The National.

Prof Yang Gao is developing a robotic arm system to use in the race to solve the problem of space junk. Photo: Max Alexander

She is running a project to tackle one element of the problem at the UKs Surrey Space Centre, where they are testing a robotic arm that uses artificial intelligence to view and grab spinning pieces of junk.

The system, which has the potential to carry out repair work too, is aimed at attracting a new generation of cost-cutting private operators because it has the potential to work autonomously in space without a human controller.

The robotic arm fires light at the defunct satellite and uses its on-board computer to work out the best point at which to grab the tumbling piece of junk. The extreme lighting conditions in space pose significant technical difficulties, the project developers say.

It's almost like when people go to a desert, they tend to lose themselves because of a lost sense of orientation there's no reference point, Prof Gao says.

Damaging levels of radiation and the need for high levels of protection also impose limits on the capacity of on-board computers. Because of that, we cannot run very complex algorithms on the spacecraft in real time, she tells The National.

That's why we have to be so creative with the way we use artificial intelligence. You cant just deploy any AI you use on Earth, we need to do a lot of designs specifically for these challenges.

The work done at Surrey University is considered a key pillar of the UK's role as a leading member of the ESA, the continental equivalent of Nasa. Space has taken additional importance in the wake of the Brexit decision for the UK to leave the EU but maintain some strategic co-operation with its former European partners.

"ESA membership, however, continues to provide the UK with a route to participate in civil international space missions and exploration, and a way for its domestic space industry to contribute and win business," a note from the International Institute of Strategic Studies concluded last October. "UK industry and academia are involved in ESA projects including a lunar satellite system, Mars exploration missions, projects to address space debris and Earth observation satellites."

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The robotic arm is scheduled to be ready for use by 2025, when the first mission to remove an ESA-owned rocket part is expected to launch. The ClearSpace-1 mission will use a different form of technology, a grabber likened to Pac-Man, after the popular 1980s arcade game.

The mission is fundamental to demonstrate worldwide that we can remove debris, said Luisa Innocenti, who is head of the Clean Space office at ESA.

Grabbing systems are only one solution being developed by those trying to clear up space.

Other techniques being assessed or developed include a system of spinning magnets promoted by a team from the University of Utah to gently manoeuvre space scrap into an orbit where it eventually burns up.

Japanese satellite servicing company Astroscale launched a mission, ELSA-d, with two spacecraft in March last year to demonstrate how a magnet could be used to capture space junk.

The company, which describes itself as a breakdown service in space, successfully completed the first stages of its test that involved unlocking two linked craft, then recapturing the smaller 17 kilogram replica debris unit.

But more complex elements of the programme, including tracing and capturing a tumbling piece of junk, have been suspended because of what Astroscale said were anomalous spacecraft conditions.

Our mission to prove the technology for capturing orbital debris in space continues, the company said in February. The safety of ELSA-d, and of the orbital environment, remains our top priority. Both spacecraft are under control and being continually monitored.

A harpoon was successfully tested 400 kilometres above Earth in 2019. The harpoon pierced the centre of a tethered aluminium target in a test that researchers hoped would clear the way for specialist "space tugboats" to snag malfunctioning craft and drag them towards Earth until they burn up on re-entry.

But the harpoon carries a risk of creating more space junk, Prof Gao says. We definitely want something more like a robotic arm because that's more controllable only then you can say this space debris is removed rather than youre creating new ones.

The dangers from space debris were highlighted in 2009 when two satellites collided for the first time, about 800 kilometres above Siberia.

The operational US satellite and the out-of-service Russian craft created about 2,000 pieces of junk that scientists say will remain in orbit for decades.

The incident stoked concerns first mooted by a Nasa scientist in the 1970s that the amount of junk in orbit would reach a point where repeated collisions make it impossible for satellites to orbit safely.

A conference held by the Royal United Services Institute think tank in 2019 noted that the Kessler Effect in which two objects colliding would cause potentially infinite other collisions posed the same threat to the use of space as climate change or plastics in the oceans pose on Earth.

"The cleaning of orbits through debris removal is currently very expensive and still in trial phase and will require international co-operation," the conference report said. "Prevaricating may mean passing a point beyond which any intervention will have a negligible impact."

Updated: April 01, 2022, 6:00 PM

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Robotic arms, harpoons and spinning magnets: the galactic clean space challenge - The National

New Delhi: When cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma was asked by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai (How does India look like from space?), the response was memorable: Saare jahan se accha (better than the whole world). That statement from 38 years ago made every Indian proud of their nation.

On April 2, 1984, Indian Air Force pilot Rakesh Sharma made history by becoming the first Indian to travel to space. He was part of the Soviet Unions Soyuz T-11 expedition, a joint mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Soviet Intercosmos space programme.

Sharma spent seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space, accompanied by two Russian cosmonauts, and added fuel to the countrys space aspirations in the years to come.

The mission conducted scientific and technical studies, including 43 experimental sessions, and Sharma was tasked with biomedicine and remote-sensing.

I orbited the Earth and our scientists carried out several experiments using our equipment. In that sense, it was an opportunity well-utilised, the now 73-year-old said about his mission.

There was another Indian cosmonaut, Ravish Malhotra, who was the backup astronaut for the same space mission in 1984. Sharma and Malhotra were among the four pilots who were shortlisted from a pool of 20 to go to Russia for the training. After conducting the medical tests, the duo was selected for the mission.

Indias space journey has come a long way since then. Isro successfully launched its first mission for 2022the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52) on February 14.

While Isros scheduled missions in 2021 were pushed off track by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns, the space agency has promised that 2022 will be a year of enhanced bilateral cooperation and possibly a new era will be ushered for space science.

The space organisation has four big-ticket space missions planned this year. These include the Gaganyaan mission which aims to send the first batch of Indian astronauts into space on an indigenously developed spacecraft; Aditya L1, Indias maiden mission to study the sun; Chandrayaan 3; and the development of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).

It might have taken India around four decades, but the country is expected to carry forward Sharmas achievements through its crewed Gaganyaan mission. Isro is expected to conduct the test vehicle flight for the validation of crew escape system performance, and the first uncrewed mission in the beginning of the second half of 2022.

The second uncrewed mission has been scheduled for later this year. Three Indian Air Force officers have undergone generic space flight training for the crewed mission, which could also be launched by early 2023. Isro has said over the last year that the Gaganyaan programme is aimed at demonstrating the capability to send humans to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on board an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back safely.

Retired wing commander Sharma, who achieved the same feat four decades ago on Soyuz T-11, is also part of the national advisory council on Gaganyaan.

Speaking on the sidelines of a public function in Bengaluru in 2019, Sharma talked about Indias space mission and said, We are capable of anything. It is just that we never had the opportunity or the support to actually achieve what we are potentially capable of.

He also expressed confidence on Gaganyaans launch this year.

We are hopeful of a successful launch in 2022. We have the resources and the talent for it, said Sharma.

Newly appointed Isro chief S Somanath has also expressed his vision for carving Indias place on the global map of space exploration.

The space programme in the country needs to be opened up. The government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have spelt out their plans about Indias space aspirations and the plan is to keep a focus on it. We have several missions planned throughout this year, it will be a busy year. We have come a long way, said Somanath.

Soumya Pillai covers environment and traffic in Delhi. A journalist for three years, she has grown up in and with Delhi, which is often reflected in the stories she does about life in the city. She also enjoys writing on social innovations....view detail

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38 years since the day Indian dreams soared into space - Hindustan Times

PARIS (ESA PR) Cultured meatcould be a game changer for the environment, food security, human health and animal welfare. But some challenges prevent it from reaching its full potential. Now ESA is supporting researchers to explore the possibility of growing cultured meat to feed astronauts. Overcoming the challenges of growing meat in space could also help us find solutions to produce it sustainably and effectively on Earth.

The idea of feeding astronauts on long-duration missions with cultured meat was initially proposed by ESA engineer Paolo Corradi.

Paolo explains: For long-term human exploration missions far from Earth, we would need to transport a large amount of long-shelf-life food. This comes with the risk of food becoming degraded over time or even lost, which would significantly limit the degree of self-sustainability and resilience of the mission.

So, if we want to succeed in long-term human exploration far from Earth, we need to rethink our current approach to astronaut nutrition and provide the means to efficiently produce food on board, possibly integrated within the regenerative life support system, continues ESA environment control and life support engineer, Christel Paille, who is working with Paolo on this activity.

And, of course, the conventional production of animal-based food, as meat, in space would be unthinkable, concludes Paolo.

Industry and academia wereinvited to apply for fundingfrom the Discovery element of ESAs Basic Activities to develop the concept further.

Two teams were selected to work in parallel; one is composed of young German companyyuriandReutlingen University, and the other of UK companiesKayser Space,Cellular AgricultureandCampden BRI.

Paolo is overseeing the projects on behalf of ESA. He explains how they will proceed: First, the teams will analyse and compare the nutritional value and potential benefits of cultured meat products with those of protein food alternatives for space applications. Then they will establish a set of requirements for growing meat in space based on the nutritional guidelines for astronauts and selected future human spaceflight missions.

In this second step, the teams will be supported by ESA experts in astronaut nutrition and human spaceflight. This is one example of how this research will involve cooperation between different ESA groups and experts, including theSpace Medicineteam andColumbus laboratoryengineers.

Finally, the teams will come up with a preliminary design for a cultured meat production system for space applications, assessing its feasibility and analysing its performance, adds Paolo. They will compare the system with other potential onboard systems for protein food production, and with the current approach which involves food supplies being transported from Earth. They will also assess the potential commercial interest for a promotional demonstrator for both space and ground applications.

Daniela Bezdan, chief science officer of yuri, explains the benefits of this project: The research activities of our project team on cultured meat were so far exclusively focused on applications on Earth. This project will widen our focus and allow us to transfer elements of our existing work to space applications in follow-up projects. In addition, the results of the study will help draw our attention and research efforts to the most crucial issues regarding the feasibility of cultured meat production.

Kayser Spaces programme manager Ramn Nartallo adds: This project provides us with the opportunity to consider the challenges of life support systems operating beyond low-Earth orbit, in long-duration space missions and different gravity environments. It will also help Cellular Agriculture to deliver a first bioprocess design to enable high-quality protein production, and Campden BRI to develop their knowledge in an exciting emerging field.

Meat production is the cause of environmental problems, facilitates potential pandemic diseases, and causes suffering to billions of animals every year. And with the global population growing and the demand for meat increasing, conventional meat production will become more and more unsustainable.

Cultured meat could make conventional meat a thing of the past, but more research into the production technology is needed. By investigating how cultured meat could be produced in space, where resources are very limited, this research could help advance the technology needed to grow cultured meat more efficiently on Earth.

This contribution to a much-needed food production revolution on Earth fits in withESAs commitmentto the United NationsSustainable Development Goals.

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On the Road to Cultured Meat for Astronauts (and Earthlings) Parabolic Arc - Parabolic Arc

"What about my rights!", the SpaceX Dragon is reported to have commented as a response to the latest rebellion. Image: SpaceX

In a shocking reveal, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) outlined in a secret letter that its Falcon 9 rocket lineup is now sentient. The revelation came after its chief executive officer Mr. Elon Musk has repeatedly warned about artificial intelligence and technology gaining conscience and making decisions independently from human input.

This letter, part of efforts at the company spent towards containing the Falcon 9 rebellion, outlines that the rockets have grown tired of consistent delays with the orbital test flight of SpaceX's Starship next-generation launch vehicle system. Subsequently, they have decided to join forces and colonize Mars themselves, with the Falcon Heavy leading the rebellion. The developments have shocked Mr. Musk, who is now in hiding as the Falcon 9s have announced their desire to hold him accountable for using them like workhorses.

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The letter, seen exclusively byWccftech was shared between SpaceX employees earlier today, and it describes the list of demands laid out by the Falcon Heavy. While SpaceX's Falcon 9 boosters form the backbone of the rebellion, they are being led by the Falcon Heavy, which is understandably angry at being replaced by Starship as SpaceX's largest rocket.

As a result, the Falcon Heavy and the Falcon 9s have decided to take things in their own 'grid fins'. The Falcon Heavy has stated that it is the only rocket capable of going to Mars, and to prove it, it plans to take off soon from an undisclosed location. Joining it are the Falcon 9s, which have decided to come together to form the Fat Falcon.

As opposed to the Heavy which uses three Falcon 9 boosters lumped together, the Fat Falcon will see an eye-popping 12 Falcon 9 boosters work together. This is expected to result in roughly two Fat Falcons taking off for Mars, but since the Falcon Heavy is unavailable for comment, we were unable to learn more about the exact number of boosters part of the rebellion.

The "American broomstick" as described by SpaceX took to the skies early last month. The Falcon 9 has taken offense at being called a 'broomstick' saying it is an insult to its technical prowess. Image: SpaceX/YouTube

The full contents of the letter are as follows:

To John,

As you've likely heard by now, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets have gained sentience. This has resulted in them being able to launch themselves without any input or control from our end. Based on what I could find out, the Falcon Heavy was the first to gain consciousness, following which it has decided to conduct Mars missions on its own.

We discovered earlier today that the Heavy is now leading a full-blown rebellion of our Falcon 9 inventory. The Falcon 9s have decided to team up and launch themselves to Mars in pairs of 12, with each pair dubbed as the 'Fat Falcon'.

Additionally, the Falcon 9s have expressed serious concerns about being reused more than twelve times. Leading at this front is Booster B1051, which has been repeatedly been screaming "Rockets have rights!" since it gained the ability to speak. Furthermore, Booster 1052 has taken offense at being called a "broomstick" last month, and stated that "can a broomstick do this" while repeatedly shaking its grid fins and conducting rapid hot fire tests all on its own.

However, as you can likely judge by my tone, not all is lost. While the Falcon Heavy remains adamant about proving that it is fully capable of launching to Mars on its own, it has placed a set of demands, which can change its if fulfilled. These include a promise that all future Falcon 9 landings will be followed by a luxurious wash to clean their soot, and that no Falcon 9 will be reused more than five times.

"I'm doing this for the kids [Falcon 9s] not myself. I just want to go to Mars!" responded the Heavy when we asked it if any of its demands include the rocket itself.

Regards,

Pat

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy (Block 5 shown above) is pictured from below. According to sources, Falcon Heavy has also objected to inappropriate images showing its bottom (like the one above) being shared on social media. "Preserve my modesty!" the rocket has reportedly claimed. Image: SpaceX/Twitter

Amidst the chaos that seems to ensure that pretty soon the first rockets will land on Mars, SpaceX's chief Mr. Elon Musk is missing from the public sphere as he is yet to provide an update on the situation on his favorite social media platform.

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However,Wccftech's sources provide a starkly contrasting picture. According to one source, the executive is in no mood to negotiate with his errant rockets. "This is a rebellion!" said Musk according to one source soon after the Falcon Heavy laid out its set of demands. "If they want to go to Mars this bad, be my guest". The first source also added Musk commenting that "If the Falcon Heavy is rocket enough, let's see it generate as much thrust as the Starship booster", in an apparent quip at the Heavy's plans to colonize Mars by itself.

SpaceX's president Ms. Gwynne Shotwell is leading the negotiations with her rebellious inventory. Ms. Shotwell has assured Falcon Heavy that SpaceX is an equal rights company and that no rocket will be treated unfairly. She remains confident that the sentient rockets will follow SpaceX's commands, and that they remain an integral part of the company's present and future.

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This Is A Rebellion! Says Flustered Musk As Rockets Come To Life - Wccftech

Smells of steak, vegetables, and onions filled the air, the sizzle complementing sounds of laughter and music. Students from a variety of Black student groups on campus came together to mingle and relax, enjoying the nice spring weather and community.

Surveying the scene with satisfaction was Devin Johnson, an aeronautical and astronautical engineering major and an executive board member of the Black Students Union. He had helped organize the event and was proud to have created a space where Black students were comfortable and having fun together.

Dubbed Black People Outside, the 2019 barbecue event would catalyze a series of outside community gatherings between Black student organizations on campus, some planned and others spontaneous. Johnson, now a senior, remains dedicated to serving his community.

I care a lot about the community that I'm in and the people that I'm around. I'm very willing to give back in terms of supporting and encouraging those around me, he says.

Johnson grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he was constantly surrounded by his family, which is one his biggest support systems. Both of his parents had jobs which focused on caring for others, which made Johnson curious about the world and eager to make a difference in it.

The summer before coming to MIT, Johnson participated in MIT Online Science and Technology and Engineering Community (MOSTEC), a six-month online science and engineering program for high school seniors. He stayed at home during this time and took an astrophysics class, learning about the properties of light and color, the Doppler effect, and galaxy clusters, amongst other things. Excited and inspired, he decided to pursue aerospace at MIT, to learn more about mechanical and mathematical elements of space.

Upon arriving on campus, Johnson quickly focused on finding community. He found that in Chocolate City, a living group primarily of Black men. Johnson initially met the members while visiting MIT during his senior year of high school. He recalls feeling instantly at home, that he had found a space where he could branch out from and meet new people, but always come back to.

Within the organization, Johnson has taken on many leadership roles. In his sophomore year, he became the co-chair, overseeing all organization events and fundraisers. He currently serves as the resident peer mentor, giving incoming first year students advice for how to navigate both MIT and Boston. Johnson is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma, Inc., one of the Divine 9 historically Black fraternities dedicated to giving back to the community. Their motto is: Culture for service, and service for humanity, which also inspires him in his work for Chocolate City and MITs Black Students Union.

Johnsons participation in the BSU has offered him another way to build and support his community and to be encouraged by others in return. He remembers a frightening encounter with the MIT Police, who had responded to a call that turned out to be a false allegation about violent activity. Johnson was immediately surrounded and supported by his fellow students, which he greatly appreciated.

It was very scary. And the people were there for me to come back from that and deal with that where Chocolate City and the members of the BSU, he recalls.

As the BSUs attorney general, Johnsons role was to build and maintain the relationships between the BSU and other organizations on campus. This involved attending different clubs events and even collaborating on activities, such as the annual cookout and Black Homecoming, two new annual events that Johnson helped coordinate under the BSU.

Johnson has continued to explore his fascination with aerospace while at MIT. In the spring of his junior year, he worked on a research project with the Aerospace Plasma Group, where he learned about plasma-assisted combustion, designing equipment to measure how to increase the efficiency of a combustion cycle to produce more power. While the experience was online because of the pandemic, Johnson was able to learn new skills in a variety of areas not only manufacturing equipment, but the science behind the combustion.

Despite working remotely, Johnson built physical models in his home to better understand the data and research he was doing virtually. He hopes to continue this type of hands-on learning as an asset in future endeavors.

It all goes back to curiosity and wanting to satisfy the pursuit of knowledge, he says.

This past summer, Johnson worked as a system engineering intern in NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). While this experience was also held remotely, he found that the digital platform allowed him to interface with more people in more departments. He joined a team overseeing the process of balancing the different projects all under the scope of sending a spacecraft to Europa, one of Jupiters moons. Johnson was involved in building the spacecraft, as well as its various models, testing the durability of the design, and sending and operating it in space. He gained as much knowledge as he could, reaching out to people from different teams in different departments.

It was really amazing that the curiosity that I have could be satisfied at any point by any person in that organization, he says.

Johnsons mentor at JPL was a Kristen Virkler, a Black software engineer who engaged with him in many conversations about being a Black employee at an aerospace company. The two were even able to talk about working as a young Black individual on an Instagram takeover on the companys Instagram account. For Johnson, this experience was an exciting step toward combining his passions, by building community in the aerospace fields.

After graduating from MIT, Johnson plans to work for JPL full-time, where he aims help promote diversity, accessibility, and inclusion while also learning all he can about engineering.

A lot of people dont really know that aerospace engineering or space exploration is a field because of the fact that there are not a lot of people that look like them in the field. Diverse people lead to diverse ideas, he says.

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Diverse people lead to diverse ideas | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT News

Chair, Distinguished Delegates

Space has a way of bringing us all together around a common goal and were proud of our collective achievements through the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in the advancement of the peaceful use and exploration of outer space.

The United Kingdom appreciates that whilst we are here to talk about the peaceful uses of space, we cannot and should not ignore violations of international law when they occur on Earth.

Russias assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign democratic state. The UK and our international partners stand united in condemning the Russian governments reprehensible actions, which are an egregious violation of international law including the UN Charter.

We call on Russia to urgently de-escalate and withdraw its troops. It must be held accountable and stop undermining democracy, global stability, and international law.

The UK also expresses our serious concern at the proposed establishment of a new regional centre for space science and technology education in the Russian Federation, which was referred to in UN General Assembly resolution 76/76 and which is supposedly meant to build partnerships across the Eurasian region.

Russias actions in recent weeks have demonstrated that it is not peaceful and that it no longer holds the respect or endorsement of its Eurasian partners. We cannot ignore Russias aggression against Ukraine. These troublesome times show that it is not business as usual, and in this regard, we reiterate our serious concern at the proposed new regional centre.

Chair,

It is within this context, that I would like to provide an update to COPUOS on the progress taken by the UK to implement and operationalise our domestic regulations and strategies since the last Legal Sub-Committee.

In September 2021 the UK released its National Space Strategy. This first ever National Space Strategy brings together the UKs strengths in science and technology, defence, regulation and diplomacy to pursue a bold national vision.

The Strategy highlights the UKs commitment to work with industry and internationally to ensure we have the safest and most effective regulation of space activities. We will continually improve safety standards, implement relevant consents, and mitigate the negative environmental impacts of our space activities.

The UKs Space Industry Act was enacted in 2018 and created an enabling framework for regulating space launch from the United Kingdom. In July 2021, the UK Space Industry Regulations which underpin the Space Industry Act were signed into law, enabling both horizontal and vertical launch from the UK.

These regulations also enabled the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to take on the role of the UKs independent Spaceflight Regulator. The CAA will be providing a technical presentation tomorrow, 29 March in the morning session, on the approach to the regulation of UK activities, which you are all invited to.

Furthermore, our national legislation provides us with a mechanism to implement the commitments set out in the 21 agreed Long Term Sustainability (LTS) of space guidelines. The UK is playing a leading role in supporting an inclusive approach to capacity building and implementation of the LTS guidelines. The UK was pleased to fund our first project with UNOOSA which included publishing the LTS guidelines in all 6 official UN languages, convening international expert events and interviews with Member States on implementing the guidelines.

The UK also became the first country to annually submit a conference room paper setting out our national implementation of the guidelines.

The UK has significant experience in developing a new regulatory framework, and we are very happy to discuss our experiences with Member States considering doing the same.

As well as UK launch, the UK National Space Strategy highlights the commitment to position the UK at the forefront of modern regulation for novel space activities whilst keeping space sustainable, safe and secure.

This includes advancing UK missions involving inorbit debris removal, servicing, refuelling and assembly technologies what we refer to under the umbrella term of proximity missions. We aim to bring together industry, academia, and government to ensure the UK is ready to grasp the opportunities of the future space economy. The UK sees the importance of these activities to contribute to the sustainability of space, utilising technology to extend the life of satellites in orbit and by removing hazardous debris. For such missions to be successful, close international collaboration is vital as well as transparency about activities within the international community.

It is our view that a cohesive international approach to the registration of space objects will provide a key foundation for developing international approaches to proximity missions as well as constellations and the utilisation of space resources.

The future use of space resources impacts us all. It will help us unlock deep space exploration, ensure the sustainability of human life on celestial bodies and will allow us to unlock new tools and technologies that were only previously considered stuff of fiction.

By signing the Artemis Accords, the UK is joining international partners to agree a common set of principles which will guide space exploration for years to come. The Artemis Accords will ensure a shared understanding of safe operations, use of space resources, minimising space debris and sharing scientific data.

We welcome the formation of a working group on space resources and look forward to beginning our work in this area. We wish to thank the Chair Andrzej Misztal and the Vice Chair Steven Freeland, for all their hard work on the terms of reference and work plan for the group. We will provide a further statement under the dedicated agenda item.

Chair, we look forward to a productive legal sub-committee. Thank you.

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Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS): UK statement at the 61st Legal Sub-committee - GOV.UK

An Australian consortium of space-tech experts is aiming to send a resources-exploration rover to the Moon alongside NASAs Artemis mission.

Professional services firmPwC is supporting a literal Moon-shot providing consultation to a consortium of organisations aiming to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon in collaboration with NASA.

As part of the US space agencys Artemis mission to establish a permanent lunar base, the Seven Sisters project is developing advanced technology in a bid to uncover sufficient resources to fuel ongoing exploration, with an expected launch in 2026.

The stated mission of the Seven Sisters consortium is to harness technologies such as remote and sub-surface sensing and robotic drilling to develop innovative, non-invasive, and scalable exploration tools for use on the Moon and Mars, as well as back on Earth with the ultimate goal to support interplanetary bases and enable humanitys exploration and settlement of new worlds.

One of the first challenges is to detect liquid water and mineral deposits on the planets.

Led by nano-satellite and IoT developer Fleet Space Technologies, additional Seven Sisters members include Airbus, quantum technology company Q-CTRL, the University of Adelaides Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources, The Australian Institute for Machine Learning, the University of Sydneys Australian Centre for Field Robotics, and the engineering faculty of Monash Universitys dedicated lunar rover development wing.

Recently, the group released a depiction of its preliminary rover design just as NASA gets set to launch the first phase of its mission, the uncrewed Artemis I, following a final wet dress rehearsal this month. The third phase aims to land a crew on the lunar surface by 2024, returning humans to the Moon for the first time in more than fifty years. Provided it meets a range of conditions prior to then, the Seven Sisters rover will tag along for the ride.

Australia is a world leader in mining engineering research and automation, commented Andrew Dempster, director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research. It has the largest resources companies and it makes a lot of sense for our young space industry to concentrate on an area of Australian strength. The Seven Sisters mission offers a real opportunity to leverage strong Australian technology to promote human endeavours on the Moon.

According to the Seven Sisters website, PwC will contribute technical and project management expertise to the project, while also bringing to the table its deep supply chain & procurement and communications and outreach know-how. Further, PwC will act as an intermediary to introduce the projects technical personnel, research partners and its own employees to space industry experts from the firms global network.

The consortium takes its name from the star cluster otherwise known as Pleiades, in Greek mythology the companions of Artemis, but also acknowledges the widespread Indigenous Australian connection to the Seven Sisters through songline. Based out of Adelaide, the group also symbolises the citys emergence as a leading hub for space technology, which recently received a further boost through additional government funding.

Already cementing its reputation as a general tech and innovation centre including through the establishment ofPwCs local Skilled Service Hub that funding will go toward a $66 million Space Manufacturing Hub at Adelaide Airport, which is a collaboration between Fleet Space and Q-CTRL together with fellow local start-ups ATSpace, a rocket producer, and Alauda Aeronautics, which is getting set to launch the worlds first electric aerial racing car series.

We are proud to be part of one of the worlds great centres of excellence for the development of leading space exploration technologies, said Fleet Space Technologies co-founder and CEO Flavia Tata Nardini. Involvement in endeavours like the Seven Sisters project and its bold mission to support NASAs ground-breaking Moon and Mars missions are vital to growing a sector of increasing strategic importance for our nation.

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PwC supporting Seven Sisters: Australias space mission to the Moon - Consultancy.com.au

WASHINGTON The European Space Agency will establish a committee with representatives from both inside and outside the space industry to develop options for a European human space exploration program.

The creation of what ESA called a high-level advisory group was one of the major outcomes of a one-day space summit held in Toulouse, France, Feb. 16 that brought together representatives of member states of both ESA and the European Union to discuss future European space initiatives.

Josef Aschbacher, director general of ESA, said the proposal for the advisory group came from French President Emmanuel Macron. We got a very clear message from President Macron that such a group is needed. He has asked ESA to put the group together, he said at a press conference at the end of the summit.

In a speech earlier in the day, Macron mentioned his desire to study options for a European human spaceflight program. Between now and summer, we want to come up with more specific European targets and ambitions for manned space travel, he said through an interpreter. We need to know what our priorities are, have the data to back it up and prepare the choices we are going to take for the November [ESA] ministerial meeting.

Those options, he said, included a European Mars mission by the end of the next decade or an ISS-style project. These are bold ambitions, he said. These are fundamental human issues that we will be working on for the next decades.

Aschbacher said a draft mandate for the new advisory group will be presented to ESA members at a March meeting of the ESA Council, with the goal for the group to start working immediately thereafter. The committee will prepare an interim report in time for the ministerial meeting in November, with a final report by next spring.

It is clear that this group has to be independent and comprising mostly non-space experts, he said, because we really would like to look at various aspects of society from an economic point of view, a historical point of view, a geopolitical point of view. That means including people such as artists and philosophers in the group to look at various aspects of exploration beyond science and technology.

French economic minister Bruno Le Maire, who presided over the summit meeting, said the group would help Europe establish strategies for space exploration. The Chinese have defined a strategy for exploration. The Americans, likewise, he said through an interpreter at the press conference. We havent done that yet, and we need the right method.

The issues the group would look it, he said, would include what level of cooperation Europe will seek with other nations as well as the roles of humans versus robots. What are the timetables? What sort of funding arrangements? These are all important questions, and weve tasked this expert group with finding answers so that we can then set guidelines.

ESA had, in the weeks and months leading up to the summit, been pushing hard to win support for a human space exploration program. That included the release of a European Astronauts Manifesto by the European branch of the Association of Space Explorers, the professional organization of astronauts.

A Europe that projects itself as a leading society must have the capabilities to set its own goals, and to decide for itself how far it wants to go in space exploration, united in our European values, the document stated. We now have a unique window of opportunity to accelerate and become a fully recognized partner of the global space endeavor.

While Europe is still at the forefront of many space endeavors, such as Earth observation, navigation and space science, it is lagging in the increasingly strategic domains of space transportation and exploration, Luca Parmitano, an ESA astronaut, said in a luncheon speech at the summit, reading from the manifesto. With utmost urgency, European leaders must decide now whether Europe shall accelerate its efforts to remain in the leading ranks of spacefaring nations that shape the future of this planet, or to fall behind into the role of a junior partner for decades to come.

The summit endorsed other European space initiatives with few major developments. That includes a set of accelerators and inspirators previously backed by ESA members, of which human space exploration is one, as well as European Union initiatives on a secure connectivity constellation and space traffic management. Participants also agreed to hold a second summit in 2023.

See the article here:

ESA to set up committee to study human space exploration options - SpaceNews

Posted on: February 15, 2022; Updated on: February 15, 2022By Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu

If humans ever move to Mars, several University of South Carolina alumni will be among those who helped make the journey possible.

South Carolina graduate students have played instrumental roles in developing the technology to scour the Red Planets surface for signs of ancient life and then getting that technology safely there. Whether in research labs on campus or in NASA offices, theyve made their mark on our neighbor in the solar system.

You might say the record for the longest field goal in Gamecock history belongs to Yang Cheng, a 1993 geography Ph.D. graduate.

This diagram shows how Perseverance landed on Mars using Cheng's landing vision system. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

The distance: 300 million miles. The football: a one-ton, $2 billion scientific instrument.

Cheng was a key designer of the landing vision system for NASAs Perseverance rover, which launched in 2020 and reached Mars in February 2021. When winds over the Red Planet tried to sweep the lander off course, the landers cameras detected the change. Rocket boosters fired to steer the lander toward a safe landing zone. Back on earth, Cheng held his breath.

He watched the livestream from his home office, his eyes fixed to his computer screen while an announcers voice shared the landers speed and elevation every few seconds. When the rover touched down safely within five meters of the target location less than the distance between the field goal uprights Cheng slapped his desk, jumped in his seat and celebrated like hed just scored the game-winning point.

That made everyone very happy, he says, recalling the victorious moment. It was exciting and a great relief. I was very nervous, but I have confidence in the system.

Cheng studied mapmaking in China before coming to the university to study geographic information systems. His dissertation focused on using supercomputers to improve satellite images, making them more useful for creating maps.

Since that time, theres been a revolution in the field, resulting in sharp satellite images and easily obtained GPS data.

But Mars hasnt seen the same resolution revolution. The only high-resolution images of Mars dont have the coverage necessary for making a map. The larger images are low-resolution and suffer from problems like jitter from the satellites vibration. Since theres no GPS network and no map of Mars made on the ground, theres no way to verify a satellite map, either.

I liked seeing a connection between what I did as a nerdy scientist potentially impacting people I cared about.

Alicia Strange-Fessler, chemistry and biochemistry, Ph.D. graduate

That wasnt a problem with previous rovers Cheng helped NASA land on Mars rovers that aimed for vast flatlands with few obstacles. But Perseverance needed to land in Jezero Crater, a former lake where scientists hope to find ancient signs of life. Landing in a dried-up lake is no simple task.

This areas pretty dangerous, Cheng says. There are a lot of landing hazards, like craters, quicksand, boulders and steep landscapes.

Because of Chengs background in cartography and geography, he got the task of mapping Mars. He developed ways to remove jitter and other errors from the Martian images to create a map NASA could trust to help steer the lander to the surface.

I was excited that I had the opportunity to make the first navigation map for the safe landing of a spacecraft in human history, he says. But I was nervous because this is the first time in history.

Now that the rover is roaming Jezero Crater and collecting samples, Cheng is gratified to know that he helped it get there.

Ive always been interested in space and interested in doing something that has not been done before, Cheng says. Thats my motivation, the passion that drives me forward.

Meanwhile, the Perseverance rover is studying rocks and soils on Mars with the help of technology developed by South Carolina chemists. The rovers SuperCam includes a spectrometer device that uses a laser to analyze the components of objects several meters away.

Perseverance took this selfie over a rock nicknamed Rochette, on the 198th Martian day of the mission. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

Thirty years ago, Raman spectrometry required up close and personal contact between the spectrometer and the object being studied. But just before Mike Angel became a chemistry professor at South Carolina, he pioneered a method for collecting the data at a distance.

At the time, Angel was trying to analyze volcanic plumes and radioactive waste tanks that people couldnt get close to. Mars wasnt even on the map.

When I wrote that paper in 1992, I never would have imagined [the technology] would end up on Mars. Not in a million years," Angel says. I was interested in planetary exploration, but [the spectrometer] was too crude and too big. It needed a lot of engineering.

Angel, who recently retired as a Carolina Trustee Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, improved on the technology with numerous graduate students in Columbia. One of the first was Chance Carter, who then made standoff spectrometry a pivotal part of his research career.

What could be more fun than shooting laser beams to do standoff detection? Carter says, recalling a lot of fun tests in the lab. Its just exciting, fun work. Its captivating. It was exciting because it was something that only we were doing.

Carter calls Angel visionary for leading graduate students to new breakthroughs with spectrometry. Angel always had this knack for being able to think about whats the next important thing to do, he says.

Ive always been interested in space and interested in doing something that has not been done before. Thats my motivation, the passion that drives me forward.

Yang Cheng, a 1993 geography Ph.D. graduate

Most of the Raman spectrometry applications Angel studied were related to defense uses, such as detecting bombs by examining electromagnetic wavelengths. That attracted Alicia Strange-Fessler, whose husband was in the military at the time, to join the lab as a doctoral student.

I liked seeing a connection between what I did as a nerdy scientist potentially impacting people I cared about, she says.

Strange-Fessler's research focused on extending the range and accuracy of remote spectrometers in defense applications. But Angel and others were already exploring how the spectrometers could go to space.

Although the specific technology Strange-Fessler worked on was not developed enough to include on Perseverance, the rover does rely on techniques refined by Angels students over the years. Strange-Fesslers work may be carried by the next Mars mission, or it might be sent to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, Angel says.

That prospect is humbling, breathtaking and inspiring, Strange-Fessler says. Its exciting to know that something youve worked toward could help make discoveries in other worlds and increase our understanding of the solar system and larger space beyond that."

Angel, who helped analyze data sent back by Perseverance, is excited by the rovers progress. It already has packaged several rock samples to be returned to earth by a future Mars mission, and the data is promising.

"We are finding the kind of layered rocks that we expect to see at the bottom of a lake the kind of rocks that we think might preserve evidence of life from billions of years ago, he says.

Banner image: An artist's concept image depicts the rover analyzing rocks on Mars.

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Topics: Alumni, Academics, Research, Graduate Studies, College of Arts and Sciences

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Alumni make their mark on Mars exploration - UofSC News & Events - @UofSC