tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/nasa-97/articlesNASA – The Conversation2024-03-28T12:50:48Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2257712024-03-28T12:50:48Z2024-03-28T12:50:48ZNASA’s mission to an ice-covered moon will contain a message between water worlds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584594/original/file-20240326-30-7p4fl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C8%2C1191%2C1212&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An illustration of the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will head to Jupiter's moon Europa. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/173/europa-clipper-journey-to-an-ocean-world-poster/">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>NASA’s <a href="https://europa.nasa.gov/">Europa Clipper</a> spacecraft, <a href="https://theconversation.com/jupiters-moons-hide-giant-subsurface-oceans-two-missions-are-sending-spacecraft-to-see-if-these-moons-could-support-life-203207">headed to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon</a> Europa in October 2024, will carry <a href="https://europa.nasa.gov/spacecraft/vault-plate/">a laser-etched message</a> that celebrates humanity’s connection to water. The message pays homage to past NASA missions that carried similar messages. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://meti.org/en/board/douglas-vakoch">the president</a> of <a href="https://meti.org/mission">Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or METI, International</a>, I helped design the message on Clipper with two fellow members of our board of directors: linguists <a href="https://meti.org/en/board/sheri-wells-jensen">Sheri Wells-Jensen</a> and <a href="https://longnow.org/people/laura/">Laura Buszard-Welcher</a>. METI International is a scientific organization dedicated to transmitting powerful radio messages to extraterrestrial life.</p>
<p>We collected audio recordings in 103 languages, and we decided how to <a href="https://europa.nasa.gov/spacecraft/vault-plate/#otp_waveform_generator">convert these into waveforms</a> that show these sounds visually. Colleagues from NASA etched these waveforms into the metal plate that shields the spacecraft’s sensitive electronics from <a href="https://www.astronomy.com/science/what-is-the-source-of-jupiters-radiation/">Jupiter’s harsh radiation</a>. </p>
<p>I also designed another part of the message that visually depicts the wavelengths of water’s constituents, because water is so important to the search for intelligent life in the universe. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8coGQ9kvBas?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA’s design for the Clipper message heading to Jupiter’s moon Europa.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Etching messages into spacecraft isn’t a new practice, and Clipper’s message fits into a decades-old tradition started by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Sagan">astronomer Carl Sagan</a>.</p>
<p>In 1972 and 1973, two Pioneer spacecraft headed to Jupiter and Saturn carrying metal plaques engraved with scientific and pictorial messages. In 1977, two <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-voyager-space-probes-can-teach-humanity-about-immortality-and-legacy-as-they-sail-through-space-for-trillions-of-years-177513">Voyager spacecraft</a> headed to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Nepture bearing <a href="https://theconversation.com/voyager-golden-records-40-years-later-real-audience-was-always-here-on-earth-79886">gold-plated copper phonograph records</a>. These records contained tutorials in mathematics and chemistry, as well as music, photos and sounds of Earth and greetings in 55 languages.</p>
<h2>Water words</h2>
<p>As water is essential for life on Earth, searching for its presence elsewhere has been key to many NASA missions. Astronomers <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moons/europa/">suspect that Europa</a>, where Clipper is headed, <a href="https://theconversation.com/jupiters-moons-hide-giant-subsurface-oceans-two-missions-are-sending-spacecraft-to-see-if-these-moons-could-support-life-203207">has an ocean underneath its icy surface</a>, making it a prime candidate for the search for life in the outer solar system.</p>
<p>Part of the Clipper message features the word for water in 103 languages. We started with audio files collected online, but we then needed to analyze those and find an output that could be engraved on a metal plate. I ended up going back to some of the techniques I used in some of my early psycholinguistic research, where I explored how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1121/1.408973">emotions are encoded in speech</a>.</p>
<p>The 103 spoken words we recorded represent a global snapshot of the diversity of Earth’s languages. The outward-facing side of the Clipper plate shows the words as waveforms that track the varying intensity of sound as each word is spoken. </p>
<p>Each person whom we recorded saying the word “water” for the waveform had a connection to water. For example, the lawyer who contributed the word for water in Uzbek – “suv” – organizes an annual music festival in Uzbekistan to raise awareness of the desertification of the Aral Sea. </p>
<p>The native speaker of the Catalan water word – “aigua” – hunts <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-tess-spacecraft-is-finding-hundreds-of-exoplanets-and-is-poised-to-find-thousands-more-122104">for exoplanets</a>, discovering potentially habitable planets that orbit other stars. </p>
<h2>The Drake Equation</h2>
<p>Clipper’s message also pays homage to <a href="https://www.seti.org/frank-drake">astronomer Frank Drake</a>, the father of SETI – <a href="https://www.seti.org/">the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence</a> – by bearing <a href="https://www.seti.org/drake-equation-index">the Drake Equation</a>, his namesake formula. By drawing on scientific data, as well as some best guess hunches, the Drake Equation estimates the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the galaxy currently sending messages into the cosmos. </p>
<p>By one <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Drake-equation">widely quoted estimate</a>, there are a tenth as many of these extraterrestrial civilizations as one’s average lifetime in years. If civilizations survive for a million years, for example, there should be about 100,000 in the galaxy. If they last only a century on average, scientists would estimate that about 10 exist.</p>
<p>Radio astronomers study the universe by examining the radiation that chemical elements in space give off. They spend much of their time mapping the distribution of the most abundant chemical in the universe – hydrogen.</p>
<p>Hydrogen emits radiation at a certain frequency called the <a href="http://www.setileague.org/askdr/hydrogen.htm">hydrogen line</a>, which radio telescopes can detect. During <a href="https://www.seti.org/project-ozma">Project Ozma</a>, the first modern-day SETI experiment, Drake looked for artificial signals at the same frequency, because he figured scientists on other worlds might recognize hydrogen as universally significant and broadcast signals at that frequency.</p>
<h2>The water hole</h2>
<p>As our team developed our water words message, I realized that the message would only make sense if it were discovered by someone already familiar with the contents inscribed on the plate. The Drake Equation would only make sense if someone already knew what each of the terms in the equation stood for. </p>
<p>The Europa Clipper will crash into Jupiter or one of its other moons, with <a href="https://www.space.com/europa-clipper-might-crash-into-ganymede">Ganymede or Callisto the leading candidates</a>. But if for some reason the mission changes and it survives that fate, then humans far in the future with a radically different cultural background and different language conventions may retrieve it millennia from now as an ancient artifact.</p>
<p>To ensure we had at least one part of the message that a distant future scientist might be able to understand, I also designed a pictorial representation of the same frequency that Drake used for Project Ozma: the hydrogen line. We engraved this on the Clipper plate, along with a frequency called the hydroxyl line.</p>
<p>When hydrogen (H+) and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/hydroxyl">hydroxyl (OH-)</a> combine, they form water. Scientists call the range of frequencies between these lines the “<a href="http://www.setileague.org/general/waterhol.htm">water hole</a>.” The water hole represents the part of the radio spectrum where astronomers conducted the first SETI experiments.</p>
<p>We displayed the hydrogen and hydroxyl lines using their wavelengths in the Clipper message. The metal plate also has diagrams showing what hydrogen and hydroxyl look like at the atomic level. </p>
<p>We’re hoping that future chemists would recognize these chemical components as the ingredients of water. If they do, we will have succeeded in communicating at least a few core scientific concepts across time, space and language. </p>
<p>Waveforms let our team tie the messages on the two sides of the Clipper plate together. On the water words side, over a hundred words are depicted by their waveforms. On the other side, the wavelengths of hydrogen and hydroxyl – the constituents of water – are etched into the plate.</p>
<p>METI International funded the collection and curation of the water words, as well as my design of the hydrogen and hydroxyl lines, providing these to NASA at no cost.</p>
<p>While designing the message for the Europa Clipper, we got to reflect on the importance of water on Earth, and think about why astronomers feel so compelled to search for it beneath the icy crust of Jupiter’s moon Europa. The spacecraft is scheduled to enter Jupiter’s orbit in April 2030.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225771/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Douglas Vakoch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Europa Clipper will contain a plaque that celebrates humanity’s relationship with water and a decades-old tradition of searching for life outside Earth.Douglas Vakoch, President, METI International; Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Integral StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265582024-03-27T17:07:01Z2024-03-27T17:07:01ZThe total solar eclipse in North America could help shed light on a persistent puzzle about the Sun<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584141/original/file-20240325-24-ot473c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/totality-during-2023-australian-total-solar-2344355767">aeonWAVE / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/types/#hds-sidebar-nav-1">total solar eclipse</a> takes place on <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/">April 8 across North America</a>. These events occur when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the Sun’s face. This plunges observers into a darkness similar to dawn or dusk.</p>
<p>During the upcoming eclipse, the path of totality, where observers experience the darkest part of the Moon’s shadow (the umbra), crosses Mexico, arcing north-east through Texas, the Midwest and briefly entering Canada before ending in Maine.</p>
<p>Total solar eclipses occur roughly <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/solar-eclipse-guide.html">every 18 months at some location on Earth</a>. The last total solar eclipse that crossed the US took place on August 21 2017. </p>
<p>An international team of scientists, led by Aberystwyth University, will be conducting experiments from <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/2024-eclipse-dallas-crowds-traffic">near Dallas</a>, at a location in the path of totality. The team consists of PhD students and researchers from Aberystwyth University, Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Caltech (California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena. </p>
<p>There is valuable science to be done during eclipses that is comparable to or better than what we can achieve via space-based missions. Our experiments may also shed light on a longstanding puzzle about the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere – its corona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Eclipse shadow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The path of eclipse totality passes through Mexico, the US and Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5186/">NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Sun’s intense light is blocked by the Moon during a total solar eclipse. This means that we can observe the <a href="https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/corona.shtml">Sun’s faint corona</a> with incredible clarity, from distances very close to the Sun, out to several solar radii. One radius is the distance equivalent to half the Sun’s diameter, about 696,000km (432,000 miles).</p>
<p>Measuring the corona is extremely difficult without an eclipse. It requires a special telescope <a href="https://www.space.com/what-is-a-coronagraph.html">called a coronagraph</a> that is designed to block out direct light from the Sun. This allows fainter light from the corona to be resolved. The clarity of eclipse measurements surpasses even coronagraphs based in space.</p>
<p>We can also observe the corona on a relatively small budget, compared to, for example, spacecraft missions. A persistent puzzle about the corona is the observation <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119815600.ch2">that it is much hotter</a> than the photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun). As we move away from a hot object, the surrounding temperature should decrease, not increase. How the corona is heated to such high temperatures is one question we will investigate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Solar eclipse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/solar-eclipse-diagram-1146598682">Andramin / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have two main scientific instruments. The first of these is Cip (coronal imaging polarimeter). Cip is also the Welsh word for “glance”, or “quick look”. The instrument takes images of the Sun’s corona with a polariser. </p>
<p>The light we want to measure from the corona is highly polarised, which means it is made up of waves that vibrate in a single geometric plane. A polariser is a filter that lets light with a particular polarisation pass through it, while blocking light with other polarisations. </p>
<p>The Cip images will allow us to measure fundamental properties of the corona, such as its density. It will also shed light on phenomena such as the solar wind. This is a stream of sub-atomic particles in the form of plasma – superheated matter – flowing continuously outward from the Sun. Cip could help us identify sources in the Sun’s atmosphere for certain solar wind streams.</p>
<p>Direct measurements of the magnetic field in the Sun’s atmosphere are difficult. But the eclipse data should allow us to study its fine-scale structure and trace the field’s direction. We’ll be able to see how far magnetic structures called large “closed” magnetic loops extend from the Sun. This in turn will give us information about large-scale magnetic conditions in the corona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Coronal loops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coronal loops are found around sunspots and in active regions of the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/coronal-loops-an-active-region-of-sun/">NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second instrument is Chils (coronal high-resolution line spectrometer). It collects high-resolution spectra, where light is separated into its component colours. Here, we are looking for a particular spectral signature of iron emitted from the corona. </p>
<p>It comprises three spectral lines, where light is emitted or absorbed in a narrow frequency range. These are each generated at a different range of temperatures (in the millions of degrees), so their relative brightness tells us about the coronal temperature in different regions. </p>
<p>Mapping the corona’s temperature informs advanced, computer-based models of its behaviour. These models must include mechanisms for how the coronal plasma is heated to such high temperatures. Such mechanisms might include the conversion of magnetic waves to thermal plasma energy, for example. If we show that some regions are hotter than others, this can be replicated in models. </p>
<p>This year’s eclipse also occurs during a time of heightened solar activity, so we could observe a <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections">coronal mass ejection (CME)</a>. These are huge clouds of magnetised plasma that are ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere into space. They can affect infrastructure near Earth, causing problems for vital satellites. </p>
<p>Many aspects of CMEs are poorly understood, including their early evolution near the Sun. Spectral information on CMEs will allow us to gain information on their thermodynamics, and their velocity and expansion near the Sun.</p>
<p>Our eclipse instruments have recently been proposed for a space mission called <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/research-projects/feasibility-study-moon-enabled-sun-occultation-mission-mesom">Moon-enabled solar occultation mission (Mesom)</a>. The plan is to orbit the Moon to gain more frequent and extended eclipse observations. It is being planned as a UK Space Agency mission involving several countries, but led by University College London, the University of Surrey and Aberystwyth University.</p>
<p>We will also have an advanced commercial 360-degree camera to collect video of the April 8 eclipse and the observing site. The video is valuable for public outreach events, where we highlight the work we do, and helps to generate public interest in our local star, the Sun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huw Morgan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The eclipse will allow scientists to get rare measurements of the Sun’s atmosphere.Huw Morgan, Reader in Physical Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250612024-03-26T12:40:09Z2024-03-26T12:40:09ZPoliticians may rail against the ‘deep state,’ but research shows federal workers are effective and committed, not subversive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584101/original/file-20240325-22-7ip3p7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C2043&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A worker at the National Hurricane Center tracks weather over the Gulf of Mexico.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/philippe-papin-hurricane-specialist-at-the-national-news-photo/1494908383">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s common for political candidates to disparage “the government” even as they run for an office in which they would be part of, yes, running the government. </p>
<p>Often, what they’re referring to is what <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I_z924QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">we</a>, as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=RW9itwwAAAAJ">scholars</a> of the inner workings of democracy, call “the administrative state.” At times, these critics use a label of collective distrust and disapproval for government workers that sounds more sinister: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2023.2249142">the deep state</a>.”</p>
<p>Most people, however, don’t know what government workers do, why they do it or how the government selects them in the first place.</p>
<p>Our years of research about the people who work in the federal government finds that they care deeply about their work, aiding the public and pursuing the stability and integrity of government.</p>
<p>Most of them are devoted civil servants. Across hundreds of interviews and surveys of people who have made their careers in government, what stands out most to us is their commitment to civic duty without regard to partisan politics. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing of a statue with a caricature of Andrew Jackson riding on a pig." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584107/original/file-20240325-23-c14rfc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Andrew Jackson was a proponent of the ‘spoils system’ in which new presidents could hire friends and supporters into government jobs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:In_memorium--our_civil_service_as_it_was.JPG">Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From spoils to merit</h2>
<p>From the country’s founding through 1883, the U.S. federal government relied on what was called a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/009539979802900606">spoils system</a>” to hire staff. The system got its name from the expression “to the victor goes the spoils.” A newly elected president would distribute government jobs to people who helped him win election.</p>
<p>This system had two primary defects: First, vast numbers of federal jobholders could be displaced every four or eight years; second, many of the new arrivals had no qualifications or experience for the jobs to which they were appointed. </p>
<p>Problems resulting from these defects were smaller than modern Americans might expect, because at that time the federal government was much smaller than it is today and had less to do with Americans’ everyday lives. This method had its defenders, including President Andrew Jackson, who <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/7597210">believed that government tasks were relatively simple</a> and anyone could do them.</p>
<p>But even so, the spoils system meant government was not as effective as it could have been – and as the people justifiably expected it to be.</p>
<p>In 1881, President James Garfield was assassinated by a <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/114423/destiny-of-the-republic-by-candice-millard/">man who believed he deserved a government job</a> because of his support for Garfield but didn’t get one. The assassination led to bipartisan passage in Congress of the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/pendleton-act">Pendleton Act of 1883</a>. </p>
<p>The law brought sweeping change. It introduced for the first time principles of merit in government hiring: Appointment and advancement were tied to workers’ competence, not their political loyalties or connections. To protect civil servants from political interference, they were given job security: Grounds for firing now revolve around poor performance or misconduct, rather than being a supporter of whichever political party lost the last election.</p>
<p>Nearly <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9091000001">3 million career civil servants</a> continue to have these protections today. New presidents still get to hire <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ppo/">roughly 4,000 political appointees</a> with fewer protections.</p>
<p>As a result of these changes and related reforms in the <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/history/civil-service-reform-act-1978">Civil Service Reform Act of 1978</a>, the U.S. government is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12945">far more effective today</a> than it was prior to the Pendleton Act. </p>
<p>In fact, U.S. civil service institutions, built on merit-based appointments, merit-based advancement and security of employment, have become the <a href="https://doi.org/10.33545/26646021.2020.v2.i1b.40">standard for democratic governments</a> around the globe. U.S. federal workers are generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2023.2249142">high-performing, impartial and minimally corrupt</a> compared with other countries’ civil servants.</p>
<h2>Increasing government responsibilities</h2>
<p>Since 1776, the U.S. population has increased <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/07/july-fourth-celebrating-243-years-of-independence.html">from about 2.5 million people to over 330 million today</a>. With its growing size and with technological advances, the federal government now provides a great many services, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/opinion/trump-deep-state.html">protecting its citizens</a> from complex environmental, health and international threats.</p>
<p>Environmental Protection Agency employees help maintain clean air and water and clean up toxic waste dumps to protect human health. Department of Energy scientists and managers oversee the treatment and disposal of <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Fifth-Risk/">radioactive nuclear waste</a> from our weapons program and power plants. National Park Service staff manage over <a href="https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/fy2021-bib-bh081.pdf">85 million acres of public land across all 50 states</a>. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecasters’ advance detection of potential weather emergencies enable early warnings and evacuations from high-risk areas, <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Fifth-Risk/">which has saved countless lives</a>.</p>
<p>Federal Emergency Management Agency employees aid survivors of natural disasters. That agency also subsidizes flood insurance, making home insurance available in flood-prone areas. The U.S. government additionally provides <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/federal-government-pays-farmers-doesnt-mean-farmers-are-fans">billions of dollars in subsidies</a> per year to support farmers and maintain food security. </p>
<p>These programs are all administered by government employees: environmental scientists, lawyers, analysts, diplomats, security officers, postal workers, engineers, foresters, doctors and many other specialized career civil servants. Andrew Jackson’s idea of government work no longer applies: You do not want just anyone managing hazardous waste, sending a space shuttle into orbit or managing public lands constituting <a href="https://www.gao.gov/managing-federal-lands-and-waters">one-third of the country’s territory</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wearing white helmets and white jackets slice open meat carcasses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584104/original/file-20240325-26-idylq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety inspectors examine meat at a processing plant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/AgSecretaryFoodSafety/51f2053e7b3841c5b9343ebff015c7c3/photo">AP Photo/Nati Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A dedicated workforce</h2>
<p>Research, including our own, shows that these workers are not self-serving elites but rather dedicated and committed public servants.</p>
<p>That’s <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-new-case-for-bureaucracy/book238024">generally true</a> even of Internal Revenue Service staffers, postal service clerks and other bureaucratic functionaries who may not earn much public respect. Federal employees <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/phantoms-of-a-beleaguered-republic-9780197656945?cc=us&lang=en&">mirror demographics in the United States</a> and are hired, trained and legally obligated to uphold the Constitution and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/725313">serve the public interest</a>.</p>
<p>One of us, Jaime Kucinskas, with sociologist and law professor <a href="https://law.seattleu.edu/faculty/directory/profiles/zylan-yvonne.html">Yvonne Zylan</a>, tracked the experiences of dozens of federal employees across the EPA, Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, Department of Interior, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and various other agencies during the Trump administration. That research found these workers were dedicated to serving the public and the Constitution, upholding the missions of their agencies and democracy, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/725313">working to support leadership and the elected president</a>. </p>
<p>Even though 80% of the centrist and Democratic Party-leaning government workers they spoke with did not believe in the ideas behind the Trump presidency, they were careful to follow legal official orders from the administration.</p>
<p>They noted the importance of speaking up while leaders deliberated what to do. After political appointees and supervisors made their decisions, however, even the civil servants who most valued speaking truth to power acknowledged, “Then it’s time to execute,” as one State Department employee told Kucinskas. “As career professionals we have an obligation to carry out lawful instructions, even if we don’t fully agree with it.”</p>
<p>Another international affairs expert told Kucinskas, “People have voted and this is where we’re at. And we’re not going to change things. We don’t do that here.” He said if political appointees “want to do what you consider bad decisions … we do our best to give more information. … And if they still decide to do (it), then we say okay, that’s what we’re going to do.”</p>
<p>He was firm in this loyal and deferential position to the elected president and his administration in 2018 and again in a 2020 follow-up interview. “If you want to be an advocate, you can leave and work in a different sector,” he concluded. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wearing reflective safety vests stand in a clearing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584106/original/file-20240325-20-pr6w27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Environmental Protection Agency workers tour the site of an abandoned mercury mine in California slated for cleanup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/environmental-protection-agency-remedial-project-manager-news-photo/2041454729">Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some decided to do just that: More than a quarter of the upper-level government workers Kucinskas spoke with left their positions during the Trump administration. Although exits typically rise during presidential transitions, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jpart/article/31/2/451/5983893">they typically remain under 10%</a>, making this degree of high-level exits unusually high.</p>
<p>Even as many Americans express frustration with the president, Congress and the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/06/06/the-people-of-government-career-employees-political-appointees-and-candidates-for-office/">federal government as a whole</a>, however, we believe it is important not to take for granted what federal government workers are doing well. U.S. citizens benefit from effective federal services, thanks in part because the government hires and rewards civil servants because of their merit rather than loyalty.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Years of research about the people who work in the federal government finds that most of them are devoted civil servants who are committed to civic duty without regard to partisan politics.Jaime Kucinskas, Associate Professor of Sociology, Hamilton CollegeJames L. Perry, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs Emeritus, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259552024-03-22T12:32:20Z2024-03-22T12:32:20ZAn eclipse for everyone – how visually impaired students can ‘get a feel for’ eclipses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583493/original/file-20240321-24-k7j1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1997%2C1398&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A solar eclipse approaching totality. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Total%20Solar%20Eclipse%20Photo%20Gallery/d4f2edfa2e47448980ce303f299063ae?hpSectionId=8053d9e3a7de4b25a8bccd33428f5964&st=hpsection&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3429&currentItemNo=22">AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people in the U.S. will have an opportunity to witness nearly four minutes of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-a-solar-eclipse-look-like-from-the-moon-an-astronomer-answers-that-and-other-total-eclipse-questions-81308">total solar eclipse</a> on Monday, April 8, 2024, as it moves from southern Texas to Maine. But in the U.S., over 7 million people are <a href="https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics">blind or visually impaired</a> and may not be able to experience an eclipse the traditional way. </p>
<p>Of course they, like those with sight, will feel colder as the Sun’s light is shaded, and will hear the songs and sounds of birds and insects change as the light dims and brightens. But much of an eclipse is visual.</p>
<p>We are a <a href="https://scnasaepscor.charleston.edu/contact-us/">planetary scientist</a> and <a href="https://www.edinboro.edu/academics/schools-and-departments/cshp/departments/geosciences/planetarium/director.php">an astronomer</a> who, with funding and support from NASA’s <a href="https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/">Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute</a>, have created and published a set of <a href="https://sservi.nasa.gov/books/eclipses.html">tactile graphics</a>, or graphics with raised and textured elements, on the 2024 total solar eclipse. </p>
<p>The guide, called “Getting a Feel for Eclipses,” illustrates the paths of the 2017 total, 2023 annular and <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/">2024 total solar eclipses</a>. In a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-a-solar-eclipse-look-like-from-the-moon-an-astronomer-answers-that-and-other-total-eclipse-questions-81308">total eclipse</a>, the Moon fully blocks the Sun from Earth view, while during an <a href="https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/annular-solar-eclipse">annular eclipse</a>, a narrow ring of sunlight can be seen encircling the Moon. </p>
<p>The tactile graphics and associated online content detail the <a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-eclipses-result-from-a-fantastic-celestial-coincidence-of-scale-and-distance-224113">specific alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun</a> under which eclipses occur. </p>
<p>To date, we have distributed almost 11,000 copies of this book to schools for the blind, state and local libraries, the Library of Congress and more.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C3%2C2085%2C1553&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of the US with three curved lines stretching across, indicating the eclipses of 2024, 2023 and 2017." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C3%2C2085%2C1553&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583257/original/file-20240320-20-10b7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Getting A Feel for Eclipses’ guide helps blind and visually impaired people learn about the eclipse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sservi.nasa.gov/books/eclipses.html">NASA SSERVI</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why publish a tactile book on eclipses?</h2>
<p>NASA has <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses">lots of explanatory material</a> that helps people visualize and understand rare phenomena like eclipses. But for people with visual impairments, maps and images don’t help. For tactile readers, their sense of touch is their vision. That’s where this guide and our other tactile books come in.</p>
<p>Over <a href="https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics">65,000 students in the U.S.</a> are blind or visually impaired. After working with several of our students who are totally blind, we wanted to find out how to make events like eclipses as powerful for these students as they are for us. We also wanted to help our students visualize and understand the concept of an eclipse. </p>
<p>These aims resulted in the three <a href="https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/tactile-graphics/">tactile graphics</a>, which are physical sheets with textures and raised surfaces that can be interpreted through touch, <a href="https://sservi.nasa.gov/books/eclipses.html">as well as online content</a>. </p>
<p>The first tactile graphic models the <a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-eclipses-result-from-a-fantastic-celestial-coincidence-of-scale-and-distance-224113">alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun</a>. The second illustrates the phases of an eclipse as the Moon moves in between the Earth and Sun to full totality, and then out of the way. The third includes a map of the continental U.S. that illustrates the paths of three eclipses: the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/pah/TotalSolarEclipse2017">Aug. 21, 2017, total eclipse</a>, the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2023/where-when/">Oct. 14, 2023, annular eclipse</a> and the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/">Apr. 8, 2024, total eclipse</a>. We used different textures to illustrate these concepts.</p>
<p>Each book includes a QR code on the front cover, outlined by a raised square boundary. The code links to <a href="https://sservi.nasa.gov/books/eclipses.html">an online guide</a> that leads the user through the content behind the graphics while also providing background information. With the online content, users may opt to print the information in large font or have it read to them by a device.</p>
<p>Although initially created to assist visually impaired audiences, these books are still helpful resources for those with sight. Some students can see but might learn better when able to explore the tactile parts of the guide while listening to the audio. Often it’s helpful for students to get the same information presented in different styles, with options to read or have the content information read to them. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sheet of paper with raised textures labeled Sun, Umbra, Moon and Totality, with three students touching the textures." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583490/original/file-20240321-18-camylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students at Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine explore tactiles 1 and 2.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Florida School for the Deaf and Blind</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How are the books made?</h2>
<p>We hand-make each book starting by identifying which science concepts the user will likely want to know, and which illustrations can support those concepts.</p>
<p>Once identified, the next step is to create a tactile master, or model, which has one or more raised textures that help to define the science concepts. We pick a set of unique textures to use on the master to signify different items, so the Sun feels different than the Earth. This way, the textures of the graphics become part of the story being shared. </p>
<p>For example, in a model of the Sun’s surface, we use <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/Spanish-moss">Spanish moss</a> to create the dynamic texture of the Sun. In past projects, we’ve used textures like doll hair, sand and differently textured cardboard to illustrate planet features, instruments on spacecraft, fine surface features and more. Then, we add <a href="https://www.afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/braille/what-braille">Braille labels</a> for figure titles, key features and specific notes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A circle filled with moss." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583492/original/file-20240321-28-ku4w3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tactile master – Spanish moss – used for the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cassandra Runyon</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once we’ve finished making the masters and laying out each page, a small family print shop – McCarty Printing in Erie, Pennsylvania – prints the page titles and key feature labels on Brailon, a type of plastic paper. </p>
<p>Once printed, we place the masters and the Brailon sheets on a thermoform Machine, which heats up the sheets and creates a vacuum that forms the final tactile graphics. Then, we return the pages to McCarty Printing for binding. </p>
<h2>Viewing and experiencing the eclipse</h2>
<p>Like fully sighted people, people with partial vision should avoid looking directly at the Sun. Instead, everyone should <a href="https://theconversation.com/total-solar-eclipses-while-stunning-can-damage-your-eyes-if-viewed-without-the-right-protection-221381">use eclipse glasses</a>. If you don’t have eclipse glasses, you can use an indirect viewing method such as a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/safety/">colander or pinhole projector</a>.</p>
<p>As the eclipse approaches totality, take time to enjoy your surroundings, feel the changes in temperature and light, and note how the animals around you react to the remarkable event using another of your senses – sound.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Runyon receives funding from NASA's Office of STEM Engagment through the National Space Grant Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) as well as NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institure (SSERVI). She is the Director of both the NASA South Carolina Space Grant Consortium and NASA South Carolina EPSCoR program and Vice Chair of the National Council of Space Grant Directors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hurd receives funding from the NSF and NASA SSERVI.</span></em></p>Eclipses are rare, fantastic celestial events. Here’s how educators can help visually impaired students enjoy eclipses alongside their sighted peers.Cassandra Runyon, Professor of Geology & Environmental Geosciences, College of CharlestonDavid Hurd, Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259062024-03-20T17:15:37Z2024-03-20T17:15:37ZHow a balloon-borne experiment can do the job of the Hubble space telescope<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583085/original/file-20240320-20-8uzvny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C34%2C3788%2C2121&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">SuperBIT waiting for launch while its giant helium balloon is inflated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Rodman/NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>An astronomical telescope designed to complement the ageing <a href="https://esahubble.org/">Hubble Space Telescope</a> lifted off from New Zealand’s south island on April 16 2023. But as a sphere the size of a football stadium rose silently and slowly over the Tauhinukorokio mountains, calls started coming in from residents. </p>
<p>Local police and radio stations, however, had been briefed by Nasa that the giant helium balloon would lift the two-ton <a href="https://sites.physics.utoronto.ca/bit">SuperBIT</a> telescope to 40km above sea level, over the next three hours. The mission, in which we were involved, was to test whether a balloon-borne telescope could capture <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/superpressureballoon/category/2023-campaign/superbit/">deep space images</a> with high enough resolution to study the unknown substance, dubbed <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/What_are_dark_matter_and_dark_energy">dark matter</a>, that is 85% of all material in the universe.</p>
<p>The observations and subsequent data analysis have proved that balloon-borne experiments can be just as useful as those launched by rockets, but are much cheaper. It is now up to scientists, government agencies and private companies to make the most of them.</p>
<p>For the next month, <a href="https://earth.nullschool.net/#2023/05/01/2300Z/wind/isobaric/10hPa/orthographic=-213.50,-71.03,550">polar stratospheric winds</a> carried SuperBIT <a href="https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon10/Google728NT.htm">around the world every eight days</a>, mainly over the Antarctic ocean but clipping the tip of South America. It went where the wind carried it, but could look in any direction. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Flight path of SuperBIT, five and a half times around the Southern ocean." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582186/original/file-20240315-24-1009uq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flight path of SuperBIT.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nasa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each day, solar panels recharged its batteries. At night, it photographed the sky, including the <a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230427.html">Tarantula nebula</a>, a light source 160,000 light years away, and clusters of galaxies 20,000 times farther. </p>
<p>Without a tripod, SuperBIT used gyroscopes to stabilise any swinging (we discovered that the stratosphere is remarkably calm … except in turbulence above the Andes, where SuperBIT once dropped 1,000 feet). It was the first balloon-borne telescope to achieve <a href="https://pubs.aip.org/aip/rsi/article/91/3/034501/1032358/Robust-diffraction-limited-near-infrared-to-near">Hubble-like performance</a> for the short wavelengths of light that are visible to a human eye.</p>
<p>The balloon and the telescope continued to work perfectly, but satellite communication links gradually failed. We think radiation damaged SuperBIT’s <a href="https://www.starlink.com">antennae</a>. We could still download data by <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/11/960">dropping hard drives</a>, attached to the telescope, to the ground. But ultimately, Nasa wanted their balloon back, so we brought the telescope down by parachute to Argentina. </p>
<p>This was SuperBIT’s <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.02887">fifth flight</a>, building on ten years of graft. </p>
<h2>Balloon benefits</h2>
<p>Unlike orbital missions, if balloon payloads don’t work first time, they can be fixed and relaunched. This fosters simple, creative design. Components now proven to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/technology-readiness-levels/">work in space</a> include hair gel (to hold things), chicken roasting bags (to keep them warm), and parts of bows used by Olympic archers (to let them go).</p>
<p>Failure and success are both opportunities to learn. After each flight, we make-do-and-mend, or improve the technology. For example, since cameras have rapidly got better and cheaper, we have fitted SuperBIT with a new sensor each year. All this reduces costs.</p>
<p>Most of the cost of traditional spaceflight is to mitigate the risk of failure. Compromises are always needed between safety, protecting expensive equipment and getting data. </p>
<p>If a balloon mission goes wrong, it usually matters less, because we get the equipment back. SuperBIT was built mainly by <a href="https://sites.physics.utoronto.ca/barthnetterfield">Canadian PhD students</a>, who have already spun-out a new <a href="https://www.starspectechnologies.com">tech company</a>.</p>
<p>Risk management is different for balloons, and Nasa doesn’t always get the balance right. Waiting for “perfect” weather and the perfectly designed balloon <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210017816/downloads/2021%20Balloon%20Technology%20Presentation%20-%20Overview%20of%20the%20NASA%20Scientific%20Balloon%20Activities%20-%20Fairbrother.pptx.pdf">grounded all launches from Texas in 2017</a>. Physically impossible calculations of risk, such as a balloon bursting three times, nearly tanked the 2023 programme. </p>
<p>A balloon can only burst once. But <a href="https://cnes.fr/en">France’s</a> and <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng">Canada’s</a> space agencies, the US <a href="https://ncar.ucar.edu/">National Center for Atmospheric Research</a> and the UK Science Research Council have all proved that a balloon can be relaunched every few days. Risk assessment can be more realistic. Balloon teams can continually test, play around with and improve the process. For rocket launches, there is one chance only.</p>
<h2>Growing international interest</h2>
<p>Geography is important in developing a successful national balloon programme. Countries with expansive landmass can carry out short flights within their own airspace, such as Canada and the US. Northern European countries can use <a href="https://earth.nullschool.net/#2023/07/02/1500Z/wind/isobaric/10hPa/orthographic=-52.92,30.22,533">stable and reliable summer winds</a> to extend flights across the Atlantic ocean, for example from Scotland to Canada.</p>
<p>Countries can also launch from the territory of partner nations around the world, such as the UK <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/space-bridge-across-the-world-will-help-uk-and-australia-get-ahead-in-global-space-race">launching from Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Geopolitics also influences the choice of flight path: a lesson well learned from the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66062562">rogue Chinese balloon</a> that flew over the US in 2023 and was ultimately shot down. Crossing any country’s airspace requires permission, and we avoid war zones or areas of conflict where the balloon could be mistaken for a hostile target. This is one reason we launched from New Zealand.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="SuperBIT held by a crane for final checks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=217%2C0%2C3814%2C2933&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582942/original/file-20240319-28-a2dkvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SuperBIT held by a crane for final checks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Massey</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Government interest in national balloon programmes is increasing, as new material science and manufacturing techniques have created balloons that retain helium, lengthening flights from days to months. The US reaffirmed their interest in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/12/20/fact-sheet-strengthening-u-s-international-space-partnerships/">2023 government paper</a> and <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/sciences/balloons/about-stratospheric-balloons.asp">Canada</a>, <a href="https://cnes.fr/en/how-stratospheric-balloons-work%20and%20https://www.hemera-h2020.eu/facilities-2/cnes-balloons/">France</a> and <a href="https://sscspace.com/esrange/">Sweden</a> have long-established balloon programmes. </p>
<p>The UK ran a world-leading balloon programme until the 1990s. Abandoning it lost an opportunity to train scientists and engineers into leadership roles. British teams are still often invited to join French or US satellite missions, but we no longer lead or decide what gets built. We foresee few technical, geographic or political barriers to the UK restarting a balloon programme in parallel to its nascent rocket launches.</p>
<h2>Balloons are high enough</h2>
<p>Officially, space begins 100km above sea level. But there is no magic line, and <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/abbffb">precious little atmosphere above 40km</a>. There, stars stop twinkling and the sky is black. Long exposure astronomical photographs become pin sharp and reveal faint, distant objects that are blurred to astronomers on the ground.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="SuperBIT shrouded in early-morning mist before launch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582920/original/file-20240319-28-8sm5fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SuperBIT shrouded in early-morning mist before launch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steven Benton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Balloon cameras or spectrographs can also look down, and are high enough to capture Earth observations just like those from satellites. They can also take atmospheric measurements around them, including of the ozone layer in the stratosphere.</p>
<p>Balloons won’t replace all rockets, as they can’t travel higher than 40km.
And even though helium is a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/01/775554343/the-world-is-constantly-running-out-of-helium-heres-why-it-matters">finite resource</a>, balloons are more “environmentally-friendly”. They require no rocket fuels during launch, don’t add to increasing space debris in orbit – and at the end of their working life, they aren’t <a href="https://theconversation.com/satellites-are-burning-up-in-the-upper-atmosphere-and-we-still-dont-know-what-impact-this-will-have-on-the-earths-climate-223618">burnt up in the atmosphere</a>. What’s not to like?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225906/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Massey has received funding for SuperBIT from the Royal Society and from UKRI's Science and Technology Facilities Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fionagh Thomson has carried out consultancy work for the UK space agency. She is an elected member of the sustainability committees for the Royal Astronomical Society and the European Astronomical society.</span></em></p>Giant helium balloons are a cheap, more environmentally friendly alternative to rocket launches – and you get the satellite back.Richard Massey, Professor of extragalactic astrophysics (dark matter and cosmology), Durham UniversityFionagh Thomson, Senior Research Fellow in Disruptive Technologies, Space/Environmental Ethics, Visual ethnographer, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076982024-03-12T12:29:40Z2024-03-12T12:29:40ZNASA’s search for life on Mars: a rocky road for its rovers, a long slog for scientists – and back on Earth, a battle of the budget<p>Is or was there life on Mars? That profound question is so complex that it will not be fully answered by the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/">two NASA rovers now exploring it</a>. </p>
<p>But because of the literal groundwork the rovers are performing, scientists are finally investigating, in-depth and in unprecedented detail, the planet’s evidence for life, known as its “<a href="https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/education/alp/what-is-a-biosignature/">biosignatures</a>.” This search is remarkably complicated, and in the case of Mars, it is spanning decades. </p>
<p><a href="https://geology.ufl.edu/people/faculty/dr-amy-j-williams-2/">As a geologist</a>, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to work on both the Curiosity and Perseverance rover missions. Yet as much as scientists are learning from them, it will take another robotic mission to figure out if Mars has ever hosted life. That mission will bring Martian rocks back to Earth for analysis. Then – hopefully – we will have an answer. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photograph of the planet Mars, showing white caps and the reddish Martian surface." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578822/original/file-20240229-16-zmsstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photograph of Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://science.nasa.gov/image-detail/amf-gsfc_20171208_archive_e000019/">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From habitable to uninhabitable</h2>
<p>While so much remains mysterious about Mars, there is one thing I am confident about. Amid the thousands of pictures both rovers are taking, I’m quite sure no alien bears or meerkats will show up in any of them. Most scientists doubt the surface of Mars, or its near-surface, could currently sustain even single-celled organisms, much less complex forms of life. </p>
<p>Instead, the rovers are acting as extraterrestrial detectives, hunting for clues that life may have existed eons ago. That includes evidence of long-gone liquid surface water, life-sustaining minerals and organic molecules. To find this evidence, <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/">Curiosity</a> and <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/">Perseverance</a> are treading very different paths on Mars, more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from each other. </p>
<p>These two rovers will help scientists answer some big questions: Did life ever exist on Mars? Could it exist today, perhaps deep under the surface? And would it be only microbial life, or is there any possibility it might be more complex? </p>
<p>The Mars of today is nothing like the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/nasa-funded-study-extends-period-when-mars-could-have-supported-life/#:%7E">Mars of several billion years ago</a>. In its infancy, Mars was far more Earth-like, with a thicker atmosphere, rivers, lakes, maybe even oceans of water, and the essential elements needed for life. But this period was cut short when Mars <a href="https://mgs-mager.gsfc.nasa.gov/#:%7E">lost its magnetic field</a> and nearly all of its atmosphere – now only 1% as dense as the Earth’s. </p>
<p>The change from habitable to uninhabitable took time, perhaps hundreds of millions of years; if life ever existed on Mars, it likely died out a few billion years ago. Gradually, Mars became the cold and dry desert that it is today, with a landscape comparable to <a href="https://www.alluringworld.com/mcmurdo-dry-valleys/">the dry valleys of Antarctica</a>, without glaciers and plant or animal life. The average Martian temperature is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62 degrees Celsius), and its meager atmosphere is nearly all carbon dioxide. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The Perseverance rover, dusty and dirty, parked in a patch of Martian soil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579676/original/file-20240304-28-76rhqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mars rover Perseverance has taken over 200,000 pictures, including this selfie from April, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25790/perseverances-selfie-with-ingenuity/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early exploration</h2>
<p>Robotic exploration of the Martian surface began in the 1970s, when life-detection experiments on the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/viking-1-2/">Viking missions</a> failed to find any conclusive evidence for life. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars-pathfinder-sojourner-rover">Sojourner, the first rover</a>, landed in 1997 and demonstrated that a moving robot could perform experiments. In 2004, <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/">Spirit and Opportunity</a> followed; both found evidence that liquid water once existed on the Martian surface. </p>
<p>The Curiosity rover <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/">landed in 2012</a> and began ascending Mount Sharp, the 18,000-foot-high mountain located inside Gale crater. There is a reason why NASA chose it as an exploration site: The mountain’s rock layers show <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/mars-rover-views-spectacular-layered-rock-formations">a dramatic shift in climate</a>, from one with abundant liquid water to the dry environment of today. </p>
<p>So far, Curiosity has found evidence in several locations of past liquid water, minerals that may provide chemical energy, and intriguingly, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JE007107">variety of organic carbon molecules</a>. </p>
<p>While organic carbon is not itself alive, it is a building block <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/nasas-curiosity-takes-inventory-of-key-life-ingredient-on-mars/">for all life as we know it</a>. Does its presence mean that life once existed on Mars?</p>
<p>Not necessarily. Organic carbon can be abiotic – that is, unrelated to a living organism. For example, maybe the organic carbon came from a <a href="https://www.livescience.com/tissint-meteorite-organic-compounds">meteorite that crashed on Mars</a>. And though the rovers carry wonderfully sophisticated instruments, they can’t definitively tell us if these organic molecules are related to past life on Mars.</p>
<p>But laboratories here on Earth likely can. By collecting rock and soil samples from the Martian surface, and then returning them to Earth for detailed analysis with our state-of-the-art instruments, scientists may finally have the answer to an age-old question.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YPNVVDphQVc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An animation of the proposed Mars Sample Return mission.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Perseverance</h2>
<p>Enter Perseverance, NASA’s <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/">newest flagship mission to Mars</a>. For the past three years – it landed in February 2021 – Perseverance has been searching for signs of bygone microbial life in the rocks within Jezero crater, selected as the landing site because it once contained a large lake. </p>
<p>Perseverance is the first step of the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/">Mars Sample Return</a> mission, an international effort to collect Martian rock and soil for return to Earth.</p>
<p>The instrument suite onboard Perseverance will help the science team choose the rocks that seem to promise the most scientific return. This will be a careful process; after all, there would be only <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/multimedia/videos/?v=523">30 seats on the ride back to Earth</a> for these geological samples.</p>
<h2>Budget woes</h2>
<p>NASA’s original plan called for returning those samples to Earth by 2033. But work on the mission – now estimated to cost between US$8 billion to $11 billion – has slowed <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/jpl-to-lay-off-more-than-500-employees/">due to budget cuts and layoffs</a>. The cuts are severe; a request for $949 million to fund the mission for fiscal 2024 <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2024-03-06/nasa-budget-deal-hope-for-mars-sample-return-mission-jpl">was trimmed to $300 million</a>, although efforts are underway to <a href="https://spacenews.com/congressional-letter-asks-white-house-to-reverse-msr-spending-cuts/">restore at least some of the funding</a>. </p>
<p>The Mars Sample Return mission is critical to better understand the potential for life beyond Earth. The science and the technology that will enable it are both novel and expensive. But if NASA discovers life once existed on Mars – even if it’s by finding a microbe dead for a billion years – that will tell scientists that life is not a fluke one-time event that only happened on Earth, but a more common phenomenon that could occur on many planets.</p>
<p>That knowledge would revolutionize the way human beings see ourselves and our place in the universe. There is far more to this endeavor than just returning some rocks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207698/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy J. Williams receives funding from NASA Participating Scientist grants associated with the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. </span></em></p>Determining whether or not life exists on another planet is an extraordinarily complicated – and expensive – scientific endeavor.Amy J. Williams, Assistant Professor of Geology, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243872024-03-06T17:45:13Z2024-03-06T17:45:13ZSpacesuits need a major upgrade for the next phase of exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579865/original/file-20240305-18-mik4ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3822%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-taps-axiom-space-for-first-artemis-moonwalking-spacesuits/">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans have long dreamed of setting foot on the Moon and other planetary bodies such as Mars. Since the 1960s, space travellers have donned suits designed to protect them from the vacuum of space and stepped out into the unknown.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://spacenews.com/polaris-dawn-private-astronaut-mission-slips-to-mid-2024/">the Polaris Dawn mission</a>, which is to include the first spacewalk organised by a private company, has been delayed. This is due to complications with the design and development of a suitable spacesuit. </p>
<p>Moon suits are also one of the key elements of Nasa’s Artemis lunar programme that have yet to be delivered. A report released in November 2023 said that the contractor making the suits is having <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106256#:%7E:text=To%20develop%20Artemis%20space%20suits,report%20examining%20the%20Artemis%20enterprise.">to revisit aspects of the design provided by Nasa</a>, which could introduce delays.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://time.com/5802128/alexei-leonov-spacewalk-obstacles/">the first spacewalk</a>, by the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, took place in 1965. Later, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/">12 Nasa astronauts would walk on the lunar surface</a>, between 1969 and 1972, using technology that would be eclipsed by today’s smartphones. So it’s not unreasonable to ask why it can still be difficult to design and build spacesuits to do the same thing.</p>
<p>Much has changed since the Apollo missions planted flags on the Moon. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/01/20/us-china-india-japan-and-others-are-rushing-back-to-the-moon.html">geopolitics driving space travel have shifted</a>, and spacesuits are no longer expected to be just a form of protection. Instead, they are a critical way to improve the productivity of astronauts. This involves a rethink of not just the suits themselves, but the technology that supports them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crew Dragon approaching the ISS" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Polaris Dawn mission uses modified version of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to perform the first commercial spacewalk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/view-of-spacex-crew-dragon-endeavour-approaching-station/">Nasa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An array of powerful telecommunications technologies to connect astronauts with space stations and ground control sits alongside multisensory cameras, temperature readers and proximity sensors in present-day spacesuits.</p>
<p>Situational awareness – understanding key elements in the environment, such as the health of an astronaut – is a core tenet for modern spacesuit design and critical for the operator’s safety. The ability of a suit to track heart rate and other vital signs is important in a vacuum, where levels of oxygen need constant monitoring. </p>
<p>Expectations around the risks astronauts take have changed for the better. And the level of investment it takes to produce a spacesuit necessitates that it can be used for future tasks that may include lunar settlement in the next few decades.</p>
<p>The trade off that engineers must make when incorporating wearable technology like those already mentioned is weight. Will greater situational awareness result in a spacesuit that is too heavy to move in effectively? </p>
<p>When Elon Musk first hinted at challenges with the extravehicular activity spacesuit for Polaris Dawn <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1745941814165815717">in a presentation to SpaceX employees in January</a>, it was not difficulties with connected technology that he discussed, but of redesigning “the suit so that you actually move around in it”.</p>
<h2>Situational awareness</h2>
<p>However, when talking about mobility in a spacesuit, you need to consider the tasks that you want that mobility to support. </p>
<p>Before the advent of modern spacesuits, Apollo astronauts struggled to carry out missions. When drilling into the surface of the Moon with a hand drill to collect samples, astronauts found it difficult to provide enough downwards force to counteract the Moon’s weaker gravity. It was not until the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576522002879">invention of a zero-gravity drill</a>, decades later, that this problem would be addressed.</p>
<p>The current exploration of <a href="https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/books/ce/pbce131e">pneumatic exoskeletons</a>, providing the support necessary for movement in low gravity could be part of a solution. However, newer spacesuits may also need to interface with hardware, like robotic drills that exist outside the suit. This will also necessitate more mobility in spacesuits. </p>
<h2>Working with robots</h2>
<p>Offloading tasks, previously carried out by humans, to robots will be part of the future of space exploration. It’s a primary way that engineers will also be able to enhance the mobility of astronauts in spacesuits.</p>
<p>For example, when an astronaut goes on a spacewalk to inspect the condition of part of a space station and make any possible repairs, they are supported by a robotic arm that ensures they don’t float off into space. While jointed, this arm is rigid and can limit an astronaut’s movement.</p>
<p>An approach currently being explored to extend this range of movement is a climbing robot, that is attached to both the astronaut and the space station, that an individual can control through their spacesuit. This would allow the astronaut to move around the space station faster and with a greater range of movement than before, allowing them to reach and repair hard-to-access areas like corners.</p>
<p>While the eventual hope is that robots themselves can assess any damage to the space station and repair it, due to possible disruptions in normal operations, humans must be ready to step in. Possible disruptions could be natural, like a small meteor shower damaging the robot, or human-made, like hacking carried by a hostile group or state.</p>
<p>For the types of activities we want to accomplish in the future, this human-robot collaboration will be instrumental. Building a base on the Moon, as both <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/four-things-weve-learned-about-nasas-planned-base-camp-on-the-moon-180980589/">the US</a> and <a href="https://spacenews.com/china-attracts-moon-base-partners-outlines-project-timelines/">China</a> plan to do, will involve construction work and drilling, which humans will not be able to accomplish alone. Modern spacesuits will need to provide an interface to work with this new technology, and we can expect the suits to evolve in step with robotics.</p>
<p>The relationship between humans and robots is changing. It will go beyond spacewalks and robots’ previous uses as limited tools, to a situation where they are cooperative partners in space. The objectives of ten or 20 years from now, like building lunar settlements, exploring mineral deposits on the Moon and efficiently repairing space station modules can only be achieved using robotics. </p>
<p>Modern spacesuits will be a key foundation of this collaborative relationship, forming the interface where astronauts and robots can work together to achieve shared goals. So when we do once again leave our footprints on other worlds, we will no longer be alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yang Gao has received funding from UKRI, UKSA and ESA on conducting space related research. </span></em></p>The next generation of spacesuit needs to do more than simply protect an astronaut from the vacuum of space.Yang Gao, Professor of Robotics, Head of Centre for Robotics Research, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250022024-03-04T16:15:33Z2024-03-04T16:15:33ZJupiter’s moon Europa produces less oxygen than we thought – it may affect our chances of finding life there<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579561/original/file-20240304-24-hmeyeg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C1976%2C1000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Europa seen in true colour (left) and false colour (right).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jupiter’s icy moon Europa has long been thought of as one of the most habitable worlds in the Solar System. Now the Juno mission to Jupiter has directly sampled its atmosphere in detail for the first time. The results, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02206-x">published in Nature Astronomy</a>, show that Europa’s icy surface produces less oxygen than we thought.</p>
<p>There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the possibility of finding microbial life on Europa. Evidence from the Galileo mission has shown that the moon <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9450749/">has an ocean</a> below its icy surface containing about twice the amount of water as Earth’s oceans. Also, models derived from Europa data show that its ocean floor is in contact with rock, enabling chemical water-rock interactions that <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-considers-sending-swimming-robots-to-habitable-ocean-worlds-of-the-solar-system-186228">produce energy</a>, making it the prime candidate for life.</p>
<p>Telescope observations, meanwhile, reveal a weak, <a href="https://europa.nasa.gov/news/18/hubble-finds-oxygen-atmosphere-on-jupiters-moon-europa/">oxygen-rich atmosphere</a>. It also looks as though <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-hubble-spots-possible-water-plumes-erupting-on-jupiters-moon-europa/">plumes of water erupt</a> intermittently from the ocean. And there is some evidence of the presence of <a href="https://europa.nasa.gov/why-europa/ingredients-for-life/#:%7E:text=NASA%2FJPL%2DCaltech-,Europa's%20surface%20is%20blasted%20by%20radiation%20from%20Jupiter.,in%20Europa's%20extremely%20tenuous%20atmosphere.">basic chemical elements</a> on the surface – including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulphur – used by life on Earth. Some of these could seep down into the water from the atmosphere and surface.</p>
<p>The heating of Europa and its ocean is partly thanks to the moon’s orbit around Jupiter, which produces tidal forces to heat an otherwise frigid environment. </p>
<p>Although Europa boasts three basic ingredients for life – water, the right chemical elements and a source of heat – we don’t yet know if there has been enough time for life to develop.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Plumes seen on Europa." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579569/original/file-20240304-16-u47ybe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plumes seen on Europa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nasa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The other prime candidate in our solar system is Mars, the Rosalind Franklin rover’s target in 2028. Life <a href="https://theconversation.com/perseverance-mars-rover-how-to-prove-whether-theres-life-on-the-red-planet-154982">might have started on Mars</a> at the same time as it did on Earth, but then probably stopped due to climate change. </p>
<p>A third candidate is Saturn’s moon Enceladus where the Cassini-Huygens mission discovered plumes of water from a sub-surface salty ocean, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05987-9">also in contact with rock</a> at the ocean’s floor. </p>
<p>Titan is the closest runner up in fourth place, <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aa7851">with its thick atmosphere</a> of organic compounds including hydrocarbon and tholins, born in the high atmosphere. These then float down to the surface coating it with ingredients for life.</p>
<h2>Losing oxygen</h2>
<p>The Juno mission boasts <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017SSRv..213..547M/abstract">the best charged particle instruments</a> sent to Jupiter so far. It can measure the energy, direction and composition of charged particles on the surface. Similar instruments at Saturn and Titan <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/chem13-news-magazine/february-2017/chemistry/what-earth-are-tholins">found tholins</a> (a type of organic substance) there. But they also measured particles that suggested atmospheres at Saturn’s moons Rhea and Dione, in addition to those at Titan and Enceladus.</p>
<p>These particles are known as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/pickup-ions">pickup ions</a>. Planetary atmospheres consist of neutral particles, but the top of an atmosphere becomes “ionised” (meaning it loses electrons) in sunlight and via collisions with other particles, forming ions (charged atoms that have lost electrons) and free electrons. </p>
<p>When a plasma – a charged gas making up the fourth state of matter beyond solid, liquid and gas – flows past an atmosphere with newly formed ions, it disturbs the atmosphere with electric fields which can accelerate the new ions – the first part of an ion pickup process. </p>
<p>These pickup ions then spiral around the planet’s magnetic field and are usually lost from the atmosphere, while some hit the surface and are absorbed. The pickup process has rid the Martian atmosphere of particles after the red planet’s magnetic field was lost 3.8 billion years ago.</p>
<p>Europa also has a pickup process. The new measurements show the telltale signs of pickup molecular oxygen and hydrogen ions from the surface and atmosphere. Some of these escape from Europa, whereas some hit the icy surface enhancing the amount of oxygen at and under the surface. </p>
<p>This confirms that oxygen and hydrogen are indeed the main constituents of Europa’s atmosphere – in agreement with remote observations. However, the measurements imply that the amount of oxygen being produced – released by the surface to the atmosphere – is only about 12kg per second, at the lower end of earlier estimates from about 5kg to 1,100 kg per second. </p>
<p>This would indicate that the surface suffers very little erosion. The measurements indicate that this may amount to only 1.5cm of Europa’s surface per million years, which is less than we had thought. So Europa is constantly losing oxygen due to pickup processes, with only a small amount of additional oxygen being released from the surface to replenish it and ending up back on the surface.</p>
<p>So what does that mean for its chances of hosting life? Some of the oxygen trapped in the surface may find its way to the subsurface ocean to nourish any life there. But based on the study’s estimate of the overall loss of oxygen, this should be less than the 0.3kg-300kg per second estimated earlier. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether this rate, recorded on 29, September 2022, is usual. Perhaps it is not representative of the overall oxygen on the moon. It may be that the eruption of plumes, orbital position and upstream conditions increase and decrease the rate at certain times, respectively.</p>
<p>Nasa’s <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper">Europa Clipper mission</a>, to be launched later this year, and the Juice mission which will make two flybys of Europa on its way to orbit Ganymede, will be able to follow up these measurements, and provide much more information on Europa’s habitability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Coates receives funding from STFC and UKSA (UK). </span></em></p>Only about 12kg of oxygen is produced per second on Europa, which is on the lower side of previous estimates from about 5kg to 1,100 kg per second.Andrew Coates, Professor of Physics, Deputy Director (Solar System) at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246612024-02-28T16:52:45Z2024-02-28T16:52:45ZOdysseus moon landing: Jeff Koons has pulled off one of the great art stunts of the century<p>To <a href="https://www.creativereview.co.uk/refreshes-the-parts-other-beers-cannot-reach/">paraphrase</a> an old advertising slogan, <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jeff-koons">Jeff Koons</a> is the Heineken of the art world – a maverick who has always done his utmost to refresh the parts other arts cannot reach. Born in Pennsylvania in 1955, Koons has now achieved something truly out of this world: sending his art into space as part of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/22/us-moon-landing-odysseus-intuitive-machines">Odysseus moon landing</a> last week.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/jeff-koons-moon-phases/#:%7E:text=The%20list%20of%20names%20is,and%20Helen%20Keller%20among%20them.">Moon Phases</a>, a cube-shaped transparent box containing 125 spherical mini-sculptures (each approximately 2.5cm in diameter) over five levels, landed on the lunar surface on February 22, on board the US spacecraft.</p>
<p>Each sphere contains the name of a (dead) human luminary, ranging from Aristotle to Ghandi, Ada Lovelace and David Bowie, all decided on solely by Koons. You can see the full list <a href="https://jeffkoonsmoonphases.com/explore">here</a>.</p>
<p>Moon Phases is now being described as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-koons-sculpture-first-artwork-on-the-moon-notable-figures-2024-2?r=US&IR=T">first “authorised” work of art on the moon</a>. Digital arts and technology company NFMoon and 4Space, a space company with strong links to NASA, approached Koons with the idea of sending his artwork to the moon <a href="https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/jeff-koons-moon-phases/">because</a> of “his ability to bridge art and science, reflecting the expansive possibilities of the humanities”. </p>
<p>Or perhaps the two companies understood well that the controversial American artist would provide some extra rocket fuel for their project. Koons is, after all, the man who <a href="https://www.theartstory.org/artist/koons-jeff/#:%7E:text=%22The%20job%20of%20the%20artist,That's%20where%20the%20art%20happens.%22">proclaimed</a>: “The job of the artist is to make a gesture and really show people what their potential is. It’s not about the object, and it’s not about the image; it’s about the viewer. That’s where the art happens.” </p>
<p>Still, it is hard to imagine – even ignoring the practical challenges – that this will lead to a whole host of artists queuing up and begging NASA to send their art into space, but it makes perfect sense for the hero of the hour.</p>
<p>Koons, who currently holds the world auction record for a living artist, courtesy of his <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jeff-koons-rabbit-breaks-auction-record-most-expensive-work-living-artist-180972219/">Rabbit sculpture</a>, which sold for US$91.1 million (£72m) in 2019, has always been as much a media phenomenon as anything else. He is arguably more famous for having been married to Cicciolina, the Italian former porn star-turned politician, than for any of his creations. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A US spacecraft on legs designed to go to the moon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578611/original/file-20240228-32-50c34x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Odysseus lunar landing craft.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IM-1#/media/File:Intuitive_Machines%E2%80%99_Nova-C_lunar_lander_(IM_00309)_(cropped).jpg">NASA Marshall Space Flight Center/Intuitive Machines / Wiki Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>He may sound kitschy and a bit ridiculous, but he is hard to resist. Having borrowed one of his pieces – Basketball (1985) – for a history of bronze sculpture over the last 5,000 years exhibition I organised at the Royal Academy in London in 2012, I ought to know. </p>
<p>However, recently his prices (as measured by auction sales, prices achieved in private sales are not in the public domain) have plummeted. In fact, last year almost 40% of the 292 Koons lots offered at auction <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/jeff-koonss-art-is-on-the-moon-but-his-prices-have-cratered-can-power-players-reignite-his-market-2436175#:%7E:text=Last%20year%20was%20particularly%20bad,offered%20failed%20to%20find%20buyers.">failed to find buyers</a>. So he has every reason to want to revitalise his professional fortunes – his actual fortunes are probably less of a worry, given that estimates of his personal wealth hover around $400 million.</p>
<p>What’s more, terrestrial equivalents of the moon sculptures in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are being offered by his gallery, Pace, and it may be assumed they are not exactly being given away. </p>
<h2>So who’s on the list?</h2>
<p>Arguably the most interesting thing about the whole circus is the fact that each sculpture carries somebody’s name (with the exception of one called Atom). At some level, the idea is that if aliens come upon Moon Phases, they will be equipped with a handy list of the best of the best in human history. In the meantime, the rest of us can brood on Koons’s choices. </p>
<p>The work itself explains neither their selection nor their configuration, but the vast majority fall into straightforward enough categories, such as religious leaders, rulers, philosophers and scientists. But there is also a striking US emphasis on abolitionists and black leaders. In the performers category – with the exception of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova – are all either from the US or the UK.</p>
<p>Within each category, many of the choices are predictable enough (Jesus and Buddha, Plato and Aristotle, and so on), but others are more baffling. In the context of the arts, there are only four composers (JS Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky), there are no novelists from the periods between Austen and Proust, and there is room for <a href="https://www.nga.gov/features/verrocchio-closer-look.html">Andrea del Verrocchio</a>, an important but slightly obscure 15th century Italian sculptor, but none for old masters like Vermeer or Velázquez.</p>
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<p>Last but not least, a very small section is avowedly given over to personal favourites, a selection that includes such oddities as actor Lucille Ball and art dealer Ileana Sonnabend.</p>
<p>The obvious party game here is compiling one’s own top 125 and seeing where it agrees and disagrees with Koons’. And it would be no less fascinating to speculate who might have made the list had one accompanied Neil Armstrong’s “one giant leap for mankind” on 20 July 1969. Intriguingly, explorers Columbus and Magellan, flight pioneer Amelia Earhart and 19th century Native American guide <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sacagawea#:%7E:text=Sacagawea%20was%20an%20interpreter%20and,River%20to%20the%20Pacific%20Coast.">Sacagawea</a> are in for Koons – but Armstrong doesn’t make the cut.</p>
<p>What is abundantly clear is that 55 years ago there would undoubtedly have been fewer women and people of colour included. Perhaps it could be said that our far-from-perfect species has managed to improve itself over the past half-century or so. </p>
<p>But in terms of art itself, this is a masterstroke of self-promotion on the part of Jeff Koons, and perhaps an achievement that will inspire the next generation of artists to view space as a new frontier for their work.</p>
<p>For the 69-year-old Koons, clearly fame is a seductive experience – perhaps wealth is not enough if you no longer feel relevant or important. It seems the kitschy New York artist has pulled off one of the great art stunts of the century. So far.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224661/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Ekserdjian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Has Jeff Koons’ latest high-profile stunt just proved that space is the new frontier for art?David Ekserdjian, Professor of History of Art and Film, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242762024-02-27T00:36:58Z2024-02-27T00:36:58ZThe US just returned to the Moon after more than 50 years. How big a deal is it, really?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577849/original/file-20240226-20-dqo1ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C6%2C2035%2C1526&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/intuitivemachines/53534907523/">Intuitive Machines</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the few short years since the COVID pandemic changed our world, China, Japan and India have all successfully landed on the Moon. </p>
<p>Many more robotic missions have flown past the Moon, entered lunar orbit, or crashed into it in the past five years. This includes <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/kplo">spacecraft developed by South Korea</a>, <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2023/04/27/Dubai-s-ruler-announces-new-moon-mission-after-UAE-s-Rashid-Rover-lunar-crash-">the United Arab Emirates</a>, and an <a href="https://www.spaceil.com/">Israeli not-for-profit organisation</a>. </p>
<p>Late last week, the American company <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/">Intuitive Machines</a>, in collaboration with NASA, celebrated “America’s return to the Moon” with a successful landing of its Odysseus spacecraft.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/change-5-china-launches-sample-return-mission-to-the-moon-is-it-winning-the-new-space-race-150665">Chinese-built sample return missions</a> are far more complex than this project. And didn’t NASA ferry a dozen humans to the Moon back when microwaves were cutting-edge technology? So what is different about this mission developed by a US company?</p>
<h2>Back to the Moon</h2>
<p>The recent Odysseus landing stands out for two reasons. For starters, this is the first time a US-built spacecraft has landed – not crashed – on the Moon for over 50 years. </p>
<p>Secondly, and far more significantly, this is the first time a private company has pulled off a successful delivery of cargo to the Moon’s surface.</p>
<p>NASA has lately focused on destinations beyond the Earth–Moon system, including Mars. But with its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services</a> (CLPS) program, it has also funded US private industry to develop Moon landing concepts, hoping to reduce the delivery costs of lunar payloads and allow NASA engineers to focus on other challenges. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-moon-landing-marks-new-active-phase-of-lunar-science-with-commercial-launches-of-landers-that-will-study-solar-wind-and-peer-into-the-universes-dark-ages-219892">US Moon landing marks new active phase of lunar science, with commercial launches of landers that will study solar wind and peer into the universe’s dark ages</a>
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<p>Working with NASA, Intuitive Machines selected a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapert_(crater)">landing site</a> about 300 kilometres from the lunar south pole. Among other challenges, landing here requires entering a polar orbit around the Moon, which consumes additional fuel.</p>
<p>At this latitude, the land is heavily cratered and dotted with long shadows. This makes it challenging for autonomous landing systems to find a safe spot for a touchdown.</p>
<p>NASA spent about US$118 million (A$180 million) to land six scientific <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/About_Payload_Systems">payloads</a> on Odysseus. This is relatively cheap. Using low-cost lunar landers, NASA will have an efficient way to test new space hardware that may then be flown on other Moon missions or farther afield.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1761185745241313777"}"></div></p>
<h2>Ten minutes of silence</h2>
<p>One of the technology tests on the Odysseus lander, NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/impact-story-navigation-doppler-lidar/">Navigation Doppler Lidar experiment</a> or NDL, appears to have proved crucial to the lander’s success.</p>
<p>As the lander neared the surface, the company realised its navigation systems had a problem. NASA’s NDL experiment is serendipitously designed to test precision landing techniques for future missions. It seems that at the last second, engineers bodged together a solution that involved feeding necessary data from NDL to the lander.</p>
<p>Ten minutes of silence followed before a <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760838333851148442">weak signal was detected</a> from Odysseus. Applause thundered through the mission control room. NASA’s administrator released a video congratulating everyone for returning America to the Moon. </p>
<p>It has since become clear the lander is not oriented perfectly upright. The solar panels are generating sufficient power and the team is slowly receiving the first images from the surface.</p>
<p>However, it’s likely Odysseus <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/165864/odysseus-moon-lander-is-tipped-over-but-still-sending-data/">partially toppled over</a> upon landing. Fortunately, at the time of writing, it seems most of the science payload may yet be deployed as it’s on the side of the lander facing upwards. The unlucky payload element facing downwards <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/23/world/odysseus-lunar-landing-sideways-scn/index.html">is a privately contributed artwork</a> connected <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/22/style/jeff-koons-moon-phases-odysseus-landing/index.html">to NFTs</a>.</p>
<p>The lander is now likely to survive for at least a week before the Sun sets on the landing site and a dark, frigid lunar night turns it into another museum piece of human technology frozen in the lunar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/regolith">regolith</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up view of a machine with golden foil and various panels with a grey moon surface in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Moon visible 10km beneath the Odysseus lander after it entered lunar orbit on February 21.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/intuitivemachines/53544280843/">Intuitive Machines</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-and-space-agencies-are-shooting-for-the-moon-5-essential-reads-on-modern-lunar-missions-216808">Scientists and space agencies are shooting for the Moon – 5 essential reads on modern lunar missions</a>
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<h2>Win some, lose some</h2>
<p>NASA’s commercial approach to stimulating low-cost payload services all but guarantees some failures. But eventually NASA hopes that several commercial launch and landing providers will emerge from the program, along with a few learning experiences.</p>
<p>The know-how accumulated at organisations operating hardware in space is at least as important as the development of the hardware itself.</p>
<p>The market for commercial lunar payloads remains unclear. Possibly, once the novelty wears off and brands are no longer able to generate buzz by, for example, <a href="https://www.columbia.com/omni-heat-infinity/moon-mission/">sending a piece of outdoor clothing to the Moon</a>, this source of funding may dwindle.</p>
<p>However, just as today, civil space agencies and taxpayers will continue to fund space exploration to address shared science goals.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1762111939142885816"}"></div></p>
<p>Ideally, commercial providers will offer NASA an efficient method for testing key technologies needed for its schedule of upcoming scientific robotic missions, as well as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">human spaceflight in the Artemis program</a>. Australia would also have the opportunity to test hardware at a reduced price.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that US budgetary issues, <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-warns-of-very-problematic-space-technology-budget-cuts/">funding cuts</a> and <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-workforce-update">subsequent lay-offs</a> do threaten these ambitions.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Australia, we may have nothing to launch anyway. We continue to spend less <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Budget/reviews/2023-24/ScienceResearch">than the OECD average on scientific research</a>, and only a few Australian universities – who traditionally lead such efforts – <a href="https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/moon-to-mars-initiative-demonstrator-mission-grants/grant-recipients">have received funding</a> provided by the Australian Space Agency.</p>
<p>If we do support planetary science and space exploration in the future, Australians will need to decide if we want to allocate our limited resources, competing with NASA and US private industry, to supply launch, landing and robotic services to the global space industry.</p>
<p>Alternatively, we could leverage these lower-cost payload providers to develop our own scientific space program, and locally developed space technologies associated with benefits to the knowledge economy, education and national security.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-wants-a-space-industry-so-why-wont-we-pay-for-the-basic-research-to-drive-it-178878">Australia wants a space industry. So why won't we pay for the basic research to drive it?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Flannery receives funding from the Australian Research Council and NASA. </span></em></p>A private company has successfully delivered cargo to the Moon’s surface for the first time. Here’s what that means for future space exploration.David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243182024-02-26T17:19:30Z2024-02-26T17:19:30ZA Nasa mission that collided with an asteroid didn’t just leave a dent – it reshaped the space rock<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577638/original/file-20240223-18-v91s4p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA25329">NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A frequent idea in sci-fi and apocalyptic films is that of an asteroid
striking Earth and causing global devastation. While the probabilities of this kind of mass extinction occurring on our planet are incredibly small, they are not zero. </p>
<p>The results of Nasa’s Dart mission to the asteroid Dimorphos <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02200-3">have now been published</a>. They contain fascinating details about the composition of this asteroid and whether we can defend Earth against incoming space rocks.</p>
<p><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dart/">The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart)</a> was a spacecraft mission that launched in November 2021. It was sent to an asteroid called Dimorphos and commanded to collide with it, head on, in September 2022. </p>
<p>Dimorphos posed and poses no threat to Earth in the near future. But the mission was designed to see if deflecting an asteroid away from a collision course with Earth was possible through “kinetic” means – in other words, a direct impact of a human-made object on its surface. </p>
<p>Asteroid missions are never easy. The relatively small size of these objects (compared to planets and moons) means there is no appreciable gravity to enable spacecraft to land and collect a sample. </p>
<p>Space agencies have launched a number of spacecraft to asteroids in recent times. For example, the Japanese space agency’s (Jaxa) <a href="https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/missions/spacecraft/current/hayabusa2.html">Hayabusa-2</a> mission reached the asteroid Ryugu in 2018, the same year Nasa’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-space-exploration-missions-to-look-%20out-for-in-2023-195839">Osiris-Rex</a> mission rendezvoused with the asteroid Bennu.</p>
<p>The Japanese Hayabusa missions (1 and 2) fired a small projectile at the surface as they approached it. They would then collect the debris as it flew by. </p>
<h2>High-speed collision</h2>
<p>However, the Dart mission was special in that it was not sent to deliver samples of asteroid material to labs on Earth. Instead, it was to fly at high speed into the space rock and be destroyed in the process.</p>
<p>A high-speed collision with an asteroid needs incredible precision. Dart’s target of Dimorphos was actually part of a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/didymos/">double asteroid</a> system, known as a binary because the smaller object orbits the larger one. This binary contained both Didymus – the larger of the two objects – and Dimorphos, which behaves effectively as a moon.</p>
<p>The simulations of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02200-3">what has happened to Dimorphos</a> show that while we might expect to see a very large crater on the asteroid from Dart’s impact, it is more likely that it has, in fact, changed the shape of the asteroid instead. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dimorphos." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dimorphos, as pictured by the Dart spacecraft.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dart/">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ant hitting two buses</h2>
<p>The collision was of a mass of 580kg hitting an asteroid of roughly 5 billion kg. For comparison, this is equivalent to an ant hitting two buses. But the spacecraft is also travelling around 6 kilometres per second. </p>
<p>The simulation results based on observations of the asteroid Dimorphos have shown that the asteroid now orbits around its larger companion, Didymus, 33 minutes slower than before. Its orbit has gone from 11 hours, 55 minutes to 11 hours, 22 minutes. </p>
<p>The momentum change to the core of Dimorphos is also higher than one would predict from the direct impact, which may seem impossible at first. However, the asteroid is quite weakly constructed, consisting of loose rubble held together by gravity. The impact caused a lot of material to be blown off of Dimorphos. </p>
<p>This material is now travelling in the opposite direction to the impact. This acts <a href="http://www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester/solutions1/war/newton/recoilless.htm">like a recoil</a>, slowing down the asteroid.</p>
<p>Observations of all the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2340837-photo-shows-10000-km-debris-tail-caused-by-%20dart-asteroid-smash/">highly reflective material that has been shed from Dimorphos</a> allows scientists to estimate how much of it has been lost from the asteroid. Their result is roughly 20 million kilograms – equivalent to about six of the Apollo-era Saturn V rockets fully loaded with fuel. </p>
<p>Combining all the parameters together (mass, speed, angle and amount of material lost) and simulating the impact has allowed the researchers to be fairly confident about the answer. Confident not only regarding the grain size of the material coming from Dimorphos, but also that the asteroid has limited cohesion and the surface must be constantly altered, or reshaped, by minor impacts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Artist's impression of Chicxulub asteroid." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dinosaurs were wiped out by a 10km-wide asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/planet-earth-big-asteroid-space-potentially-2107872635">Buradaki / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what does this tell us about protecting ourselves from an asteroid impact? Significant recent impacts on Earth have included the <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/2023/02/15/remembering-the-chelyabinsk-impact-10-years-ago-and-looking-to-the-future/">meteor</a> which broke up in the sky over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, and the infamous <a href="https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-tunguska-explosion/">Tunguska
impact</a> over a remote part of Siberia in 1908. </p>
<p>While these were not the kinds of events that are able to cause mass extinctions – like the 10km object that wiped out the dinosaurs when it struck our planet 66 million years ago – the potential for damage and loss of life with smaller objects such as those at Chelyabinsk and Tunguska is very high.</p>
<p>The Dart mission cost US$324 million (£255 million), which is low for a space mission, and with its development phase completed, a similar mission to go and deflect an asteroid heading our way could be launched more cheaply. </p>
<p>The big variable here is how much warning we will have, because a change in orbit of 30 minutes – as was observed when Dart struck Dimorphos – will make little difference if the asteroid is already very close to Earth. However, if we can predict the object path from further out – preferably outside the Solar System – and make small changes, this could be enough to divert the path of an asteroid away from our planet.</p>
<p>We can expect to see more of these missions in the future, not only because of interest in the science surrounding asteroids, but because the ease of removing material from them means that private companies might want to step up their ideas of <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/things-are-looking-up-for-asteroid-mining/">mining these space rocks</a> for precious metals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224318/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The mission provided details about how to deflect an asteroid should one threaten Earth in future.Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219602024-02-21T13:18:55Z2024-02-21T13:18:55ZI’ve been studying astronaut psychology since Apollo − a long voyage to Mars in a confined space could raise stress levels and make the journey more challenging<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573911/original/file-20240206-24-4temqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C33%2C5551%2C3667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crew members in space will spend lots of time together during future missions to Mars. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SpaceXCrewReturn/41b0e682eeec43f6aac091d3c00d4cb2/photo?Query=astronauts%20in%20orbit&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=656&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=28&vs=true&vs=true">NASA via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Within the next few decades, NASA aims to land humans on the Moon, set up a lunar colony and use the lessons learned to send people to Mars as part of its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis program</a>.</p>
<p>While researchers know that space travel can stress space crew members both physically and mentally and test their ability to work together in close quarters, missions to Mars will amplify these challenges. Mars is far away – <a href="https://www.space.com/16875-how-far-away-is-mars.html">millions of miles from Earth</a> – and a mission to the red planet will take two to two and a half years, between travel time and the Mars surface exploration itself.</p>
<p><a href="https://nickkanas.com/home/">As a psychiatrist</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17571662/">who has studied</a> space <a href="https://doi.org/10.3357/ASEM.2430.2009">crew member interactions</a> in orbit, I’m interested in the stressors that will occur during a Mars mission and how to mitigate them for the benefit of future space travelers.</p>
<h2>Delayed communications</h2>
<p>Given the great distance to Mars, <a href="https://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-and-earth/">two-way communication between crew members and Earth</a> will take about 25 minutes round trip. This delayed contact with home won’t just hurt crew member morale. It will likely mean space crews won’t get as much real-time help from Mission Control during onboard emergencies. </p>
<p>Because these communications travel at the speed of light and can’t go any faster, experts are coming up with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">ways to improve communication efficiency</a> under time-delayed conditions. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18869-0">These solutions might include</a> texting, periodically summarizing topics and encouraging participants to ask questions at the end of each message, which the responder can answer during the next message.</p>
<h2>Autonomous conditions</h2>
<p>Space crew members <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">won’t be able to communicate</a> with Mission Control in real time to plan their schedules and activities, so they’ll need to conduct their work <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18869-0">more autonomously</a> than astronauts working on orbit on the International Space Station.</p>
<p>Although studies during space simulations on Earth have suggested that crew members can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">still accomplish mission goals</a> under highly autonomous conditions, researchers need to learn more about how these conditions affect crew member interactions and their relationship with Mission Control. </p>
<p>For example, Mission Control personnel usually advise crew members on how to deal with problems or emergencies in real time. That won’t be an option during a Mars mission.</p>
<p>To study this challenge back on Earth, scientists could run a series of simulations where crew members have varying degrees of contact with Mission Control. They could then see what happens to the interactions between crew members and their ability to get along and conduct their duties productively.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nM_fmLxzqhQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Simulations, like the Mars500 mission, could help researchers learn about the effects of isolation and autonomy astronauts will deal with during a Mars mission.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Crew member tension</h2>
<p>Being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">confined with a small group of people</a> for a long period of time can lead to <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-18869-0">tension and interpersonal strife</a>. </p>
<p>In my research team’s <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">studies of on-orbit crews</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-18869-0">we found that</a> when experiencing interpersonal stress in space, crew members might <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17571662/">displace this tension</a> by blaming Mission Control for scheduling problems or not offering enough support. This can lead to crew-ground misunderstandings and hurt feelings.</p>
<p>One way to deal with interpersonal tension on board would be to schedule time each week for the crew members to discuss interpersonal conflicts during planned “bull sessions.” <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17571662/">We have found</a> that commanders who are supportive can improve crew cohesion. A supportive commander, or someone trained in anger management, could facilitate these sessions to help crew members understand their interpersonal conflicts before their feelings fester and harm the mission.</p>
<h2>Time away from home</h2>
<p>Spending <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">long periods of time</a> away from home can <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-18869-0">weigh on crew members’ morale</a> in space. Astronauts miss their families and report being concerned about the well-being of their family members back on Earth, especially when someone is sick or in a crisis.</p>
<p>Mission duration can also affect astronauts. A Mars mission will have three phases: the outbound trip, the stay on the Martian surface and the return home. Each of these phases <a href="https://doi.org/10.3357/AMHP.5857.2021">may affect crew members differently</a>. For example, the excitement of being on Mars might boost morale, while boredom during the return may sink it.</p>
<h2>The disappearing-Earth phenomenon</h2>
<p>For astronauts in orbit, seeing the Earth from space <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.08.004">serves as a reminder</a> that their home, family and friends aren’t too far away. But for crew members traveling to Mars, watching <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16723-2">as the Earth shrinks</a> to an insignificant dot in the heavens could result in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-18869-0">profound sense of isolation and homesickness</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Earth, shown from space, against a dark background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573914/original/file-20240206-22-v522cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seeing Earth disappear could make crew members feel isolated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Apollo8/59f63a61bbc043a5905411daa45d9dba/photo?Query=earth%20from%20space&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=457&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=4&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Having telescopes on board that will allow the crew members to see Earth as a beautiful ball in space, or giving them access to virtual reality images of trees, lakes and family members, could help mitigate any disappearing-Earth effects. But these countermeasures could just as easily lead to deeper depression as the crew members reflect on what they’re missing.</p>
<h2>Planning for a Mars mission</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331614020063">Researchers studied</a> some of these issues during the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Mars500/Mars500_study_overview">Mars500 program</a>, a collaboration between the Russian and other space agencies. During Mars500, six men were isolated for 520 days in a space simulator in Moscow. They underwent periods of delayed communication and autonomy, and they simulated a landing on Mars. </p>
<p>Scientists learned a lot from that simulation. But many features of a real Mars mission, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-microgravity-grades-5-8/">such as microgravity</a>, and some dangers of space – meteoroid impacts, the disappearing-Earth phenomenon – aren’t easy to simulate. </p>
<p>Planned missions under the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis program</a> will allow researchers to learn more about the pressures astronauts will face during the journey to Mars.</p>
<p>For example, NASA is planning a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway/">space station called Gateway</a>, which will orbit the Moon and serve as a relay station for lunar landings and a mission to Mars. Researchers could simulate the outbound and return phases of a Mars mission by sending astronauts to Gateway for six-month periods, where they could introduce Mars-like delayed communication, autonomy and views of a receding Earth. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0vDkDYHvg8E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA’s planned Gateway space station will orbit the Moon.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers could simulate a Mars exploration on the Moon by having astronauts conduct tasks similar to those anticipated for Mars. This way, crew members could better prepare for the psychological and interpersonal pressures that come with a real Mars mission. These simulations could improve the chances of a successful mission and contribute to astronaut well-being as they venture into space.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Kanas received research funding as a Principal Investigator from NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute from 1995 to 2010.</span></em></p>Can astronauts spend prolonged time in close quarters millions of miles from Earth without killing each other?Nick Kanas, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of California, San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2213992024-02-13T13:22:45Z2024-02-13T13:22:45ZWhy having human remains land on the Moon poses difficult questions for members of several religions<p>Sending human remains to the Moon on the first commercial lunar lander, Peregrine 1, on Jan. 8, 2024, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-remains-are-headed-to-the-moon-despite-objections/">along with scientific instruments</a>, caused a controversy.</p>
<p>Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, objected, saying that “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/05/world/peregrine-moon-mission-navajo-nation-objection-human-remains-scn/index.html">the moon holds a sacred place</a>” in Navajo and other tribal traditions and should not be defiled in this way. The inside of the lander was to be a kind of “<a href="https://elysiumspace.com/">space burial</a>” for remains of some 70 people. Each of the families had <a href="https://www.celestis.com/experiences-pricing/">paid over US$12,000 for a permanent memorial on the Moon</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">professors</a> <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/mathew-schmalz">of religious studies</a> who have taught courses on death rites, we know that death rituals in the world’s religions have been shaped by millennia of tradition and practice. While these ashes didn’t make it to the Moon because of a <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=PEREGRN-1">propellant leak</a>, their presence on the lander raised some important religious issues: Beliefs about the polluting nature of the corpse, the acceptability of cremation and the sacredness of the Moon vary across traditions. </p>
<h2>Jewish death rituals and purification</h2>
<p>In ancient Judaism, certain activities were believed to be polluting, rendering a person unfit to participate in prayers and animal sacrifices offered exclusively at the Temple in Jerusalem. There were many ways in which one could become ritually unclean, and each level of pollution was cleansed by an appropriate purification rite. <a href="https://www.religiousrules.com/Judaismpurity03corpse.htm">Direct contact with a human corpse</a> was believed to cause the most intense form of pollution; even touching a person or object that had been in contact with a corpse would cause a lesser level of defilement.</p>
<p>After the Romans <a href="https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/destruction-second-temple-70-ce">destroyed the Temple in 70 C.E.</a>, Jewish religious practice changed dramatically, including rules about purification. These days, after a burial or visit to a cemetery, many Jewish people wash their hands to wash away negative <a href="https://outorah.org/p/64492/">spirits or energy</a>.</p>
<p>In Judaism, the bodies of the dead are to be buried or entombed in the earth. Cremation of human bodies, <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/510874/jewish/Why-Does-Judaism-Forbid-Cremation.htm">rejected for centuries</a>, has become more popular but <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/judaism-on-cremation/">still remains a controversial option</a> due to the older tradition of respect for the body as a creation of God – to be buried intact and without mutilation.</p>
<h2>Christian death rituals over the centuries</h2>
<p>Before Christianity developed in the first century C.E., <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9497-3_1">Roman civil religion</a> stressed the need to separate the living from the dead. Corpses or cremated remains were interred in burial places outside cities and town – in <a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/city/necropolis">the necropolis</a>, literally a city of the dead. As in Judaism, <a href="https://doi.org/10.4314/actat.v26i2.52569">any visitor needed purification</a> afterward. </p>
<p>As monotheists, Christians rejected belief in the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, including the <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html#:%7E:text=SELE%E2%80%B2NE%20(Sel%C3%AAn%C3%AA)%2C,371%2C%20%">Moon goddess called Selene or Luna</a>. They also refused to participate in Roman state religious rituals or activities based on pagan polytheism. Decades later, after Christianity became the official imperial religion, Christians moved the <a href="http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01019">remains of people they considered holy into towns and cities</a> to be re-entombed for easier veneration inside churches.</p>
<p>During the medieval period, ordinary Christians desired to be buried close to these saints in anticipation of the resurrection of the body at the second coming of Christ. Graveyards around the church were <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501753855/standing-on-holy-ground-in-the-middle-ages/">consecrated as “holy ground</a>.” In this way, Christians believed that the departed might continue to <a href="https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-medieval-pilgrimage/burial-ad-sanctos-SIM_00143#:%7E:text=Burial%20">benefit from the holiness of the saints</a>. Their bodies were considered sources of spiritual blessing rather than causes of spiritual pollution.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A relief showing a corpse being placed in a coffin as people stand around, one holding a tall crucifix." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574710/original/file-20240209-26-yavs36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fourth-century Christian burial depicted in relief at the Shrine of San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro, Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/9691_-_Milano_-_S._Ambrogio_-_San_Vittore_in_Ciel_d%27oro_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_25-Apr-2007.jpg">G.dallorto, Attribution/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Increasingly today, cremation is considered acceptable, although the Catholic Church requires that cremated remains <a href="https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/bereavement-and-funerals/cremation-and-funerals">must not be scattered or partitioned</a> but buried or placed elsewhere in cemeteries. </p>
<p>Unlike some other religions, neither Judaism nor Christianity considers the Moon divine or sacred. As part of God’s creation, it <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/when-easter#:%7E:text=The%20">plays a role</a> in setting the religious calendars. In both Jewish and Christian spiritual writing, the <a href="https://blog.nli.org.il/en/jewish_moon">Moon is used as a spiritual analogy</a>: in Judaism, of the majesty of God, and in Christianity, of Christ and the church.</p>
<h2>Islamic beliefs on burial</h2>
<p><a href="https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2018/11/01/respect-for-the-dead-under-islamic-law-considerations-for-humanitarian-forensics/">Cremation is strictly prohibited in Islam</a>. After death, the deceased is <a href="https://www.islamicity.org/5586/preparation-of-te-deceased-and-janazah-prayers/">ritually washed, wrapped in shrouds</a> and brought for burial in a cemetery as soon as possible.</p>
<p>After a <a href="https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-1-the-janazah-prayer-for-those-left-behind">funeral prayer</a>, led by an imam or senior member of the community, the deceased is buried – usually without a coffin – with their head oriented toward the holy city of Mecca. The soul of the deceased is <a href="https://zamzam.com/blog/life-after-death-in-islam/">said to visit their loved ones</a> on the seventh and 40th days after death. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://quran.com/en/fussilat/37">Quran warns against worshiping the Moon</a>, as was done in pre-Islamic culture, because worship is due to God alone.</p>
<p>In September 2007, when the first Muslim astronaut from Malaysia got ready to go into space, the Malaysian National Space Agency <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2007-09-20-islamic-body-rules-on-how-to-pray-wash-die-in-space/">published religious directives</a> on burial rituals for Muslims in space. These directives said if bringing the body back wasn’t possible, then he would be “interred” in space after a brief ceremony. And if no water was available in space for the ceremonial rituals, then “holy dust” should be swept onto the face and hands “even if there is no dust” in the space station. </p>
<h2>Hindu and Buddhist funerary practices</h2>
<p>Hinduism is a diverse religion, and so funeral practices often vary according to culture and context. Most commonly, death and the period following a person’s death are associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/006996689023001007">ritual pollution</a>. Because of this, the deceased should be cremated within 24 hours after death.</p>
<p>The cremation of the corpse cuts the ties of the soul, or the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/atman">atman</a>, to the body, allowing it to move on to the next level of existence and eventually be reincarnated. The ashes are collected and placed into an urn on the third day after cremation and immersed in a body of water, ideally a sacred river such as the Ganges.</p>
<p>Within Hinduism, the Moon has played an important role in conceptualizing what happens to the dead. For example, the ancient Hindu texts describe the spirits of the virtuous dead as entering Chandraloka, or the realm of the Moon, where they experience happiness for a time before being reincarnated.</p>
<p>In the many forms of Buddhism, death provides an opportunity for mourners to reflect <a href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/buddhist-death-rites/">on the impermanence of all things</a>. While in Tibetan Buddhism there is the tradition of “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757283">sky burial</a>,” in which the deceased is dismembered and left to the elements, in most forms of Buddhism the dead are usually cremated and, as in Hinduism, the corpse is considered polluting beforehand. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person lighting a candle at an altar, painted in red color, with white flowers in two vases and incense sticks in a small pot." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574713/original/file-20240209-16-vrekcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ritual being performed at a Thai funeral ceremony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/funeral-watering-ceremony-thai-cultural-ritual-royalty-free-image/1831759719?phrase=buddhist+cremation&adppopup=true">Surasak Suwanmake/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In older forms of Buddhism in Nepal and Tibet, the Moon was understood to be <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38344#:%7E:text=Worship%20of%20the%20moon%20god">identified with the god Chandra</a>, who rides on a chariot. The Moon is also one of the nine astrological deities whose movement provides insight for reckoning individual and collective futures.</p>
<h2>Difficult questions</h2>
<p>In response to the Navajo objection that landing ashes on the Moon was a defilement, the CEO of Celestis, the company that paid for capsules containing the ashes, <a href="https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/biden-administration-to-consult-with-navajo-about-human-remains-on-the-moon/">issued a statement</a> stressing that launching containers of human ashes to the Moon is “the antithesis of desecration … it’s celebration.” </p>
<p>In the end, the question was moot. Peregrine 1 <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/world/peregrine-moon-lander-failure-nasa-scn/index.html">never made its soft landing on the Moon</a> because of an engine malfunction, and its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67962397">payload was destroyed</a> after entering the atmosphere. </p>
<p>As more people decide to send their ashes into space, however, religious conflicts are bound to arise. The key concern, and not just for the Navajo Nation, will be how to respect all religious traditions as humans explore and commercialize the Moon. It still remains a problem today here on Earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two scholars who study death rituals explain that the corpse is considered spiritually polluting in many religious traditions, while the Moon holds a sacred place.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossMathew Schmalz, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223072024-02-08T13:21:28Z2024-02-08T13:21:28ZA new generation of spaceplanes is taking advantage of the latest in technology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572455/original/file-20240131-25-t35ou5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C1911%2C1281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dream Chaser would ferry cargo, and eventually crew, to low-Earth orbit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/AFRC2017-0124-015">Ken Ulbrich / NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/space-shuttle/">Nasa’s space shuttle</a> operated in low-Earth orbit for 30 years before its retirement in 2011. However, the US space agency’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/orion-spacecraft/">replacement for this vehicle, Orion</a>, returned to the conical capsule design familiar from the Apollo missions. This was because Nasa intended that this newer craft be used for exploring targets in deep space, such as the Moon.</p>
<p>But in recent years, we have seen a return of the spaceplane design. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8601172.stm">Since 2010</a>, the US Space Force (and formerly the US Air Force) has been <a href="https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3628417/united-states-space-force-launches-seventh-x-37b-mission/#:%7E:text=KENNEDY%20SPACE%20CENTER%2C%20Fla.,Space%20Center%20Launch%20Complex%2039A.">launching a robotic spaceplane called the X-37B</a> into low Earth orbit on classified missions. China has its own <a href="https://www.space.com/china-space-plane-depoyed-mystery-objects">military spaceplane called Shenlong</a>. </p>
<p>This year could see a test flight of the company Sierra Space’s <a href="https://www.sierraspace.com/dream-chaser-spaceplane/">Dream Chaser</a> – the first commercial spaceplane capable of orbital flight. If all goes well, the vehicle could be used to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) with cargo and, eventually, crew. </p>
<p>Spaceplanes can fly or glide in the Earth’s atmosphere and land on runways rather than using parachutes to land in water or flat ground like capsules. They’re also more manoeuvrable as the spacecraft reenters the atmosphere, increasing the area of the Earth’s surface where landing is possible from a specific re-entry point. </p>
<p>Spaceplanes also allow a gentler but longer flight path during re-entry and a softer landing, which is easier on crew and cargo than capsules, which can land with a thump. A runway also allows ground support crews and infrastructure to be ready at the landing location.</p>
<h2>Cost and complexity</h2>
<p>But spaceplanes are more complex and heavier than an equivalent capsule. The winged body shape poses a particular challenge for designing thermal protection systems (TPS) – the heat-resistant materials that protect the craft from scorching temperatures on re-entry. These additional costs mean it’s impractical to design a spaceplane for a single flight. They need to be used again and again to be viable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="X-37B." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572489/original/file-20240131-27-2o63f0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The US Space Force’s X-37B carries no crew, and its missions are classified.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.spaceforce.mil/Multimedia/Photos/igphoto/2003113618/">Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks / US Space Force</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There has been interest in spaceplanes from the earliest days of human spaceflight. A military spaceplane project called <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA303832">Dyna-Soar</a> was started in the US in 1957, then cancelled just after construction started. The vehicle was sophisticated for its time, built using a metal alloy that is able to withstand high temperatures and featuring a heat shield on the front that could be detached after it returned from space, so that the pilot could see clearly as he was landing.</p>
<p>The space shuttle, which entered service in 1981, was the first operational spaceplane. It was supposed to launch more often than it did and have <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a36304153/nasa-space-shuttle/">greater reusability</a> but it turned out that extensive refurbishment was required between launches. It did, however, demonstrate the ability to return astronauts and large cargo from orbit.</p>
<p>Other space agencies invested in the 1980s and 1990s, in Europe, with <a href="https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/History_Hermes_spaceplane_1987">the Hermes spaceplane</a>, and Japan, with <a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/japan-stops-work-on-hope-x-spaceplane-/33798.article">the HOPE vehicle</a>. Both programmes were cancelled in large part because of cost. The Soviet Union developed its own <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/soviet-buran-shuttle-one-flight-long-history">shuttle-like vehicle called Buran</a>, which successfully flew to space once in 1988. The programme was cancelled after the collapse of the Soviet Union.</p>
<h2>Feeling the heat</h2>
<p>Spaceplanes have specific requirements for the final part of their journeys – as they return from space. <a href="https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/III.4.1.7_Returning_from_Space.pdf">During atmospheric re-entry</a>, they are heated to over one thousand degrees Celsius as they travel at hypersonic speeds of over seven kilometres per second – more than 20 times the speed of sound. A blunt nose design (where the edge of the spacecraft is rounded) is an ideal shape because it reduces build-up of heat at the foremost part of the vehicle.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Space shuttle, STS-132" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573023/original/file-20240202-19-du1hll.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On launch, the space shuttle was attached to the side of a large external propellant tank.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/sts132-s-047">NASA / JSC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even so, the expected temperatures experienced by the craft can still be as high as 1600°C, necessitating a thermal protection system on the outside of the vehicle. <a href="https://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/TPS/Tech41.htm">The space shuttle TPS</a> included ceramic tiles that were especially heat resistant and a reinforced carbon-carbon matrix that was capable of withstanding temperatures as high as 2400°C. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/history/20-years-ago-remembering-columbia-and-her-crew/">loss of the Columbia shuttle</a> during re-entry in 2003, causing the deaths of seven astronauts, was the result of a breach in the TPS on the leading edge of the wing. This resulted from a piece of insulating foam flying off the shuttle’s external tank during Columbia’s launch and hitting the wing. </p>
<p>This foam issue was recurrent with the shuttle because of the way it launched on the side of the external propellant tank. But newer spaceplane designs will fly atop conventional rockets, where falling foam isn’t a problem.</p>
<p>An effective TPS remains vital for the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2015_nasa_technology_roadmaps_ta_9_entry_descent_landing_final.pdf">future success of spaceplanes</a>, as are systems that monitor the TPS performance in real time.</p>
<h2>Current vehicles</h2>
<p>There are currently two operating spaceplanes, one Chinese and one American, that can reach orbit. Little information is available on China’s Shenlong, but <a href="https://www.boeing.com/defense/autonomous-systems/x37b">the US military’s X-37B</a> is better known. Weighing close to five tonnes at launch, the nine metre-long, uncrewed vehicle is launched using a conventional rocket and lands autonomously on a runway at the end of its mission. </p>
<p>The X-37B’s TPS uses tiles similar to the shuttle over the lower surface with a lower-cost alternative to reinforced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforced_carbon%E2%80%93carbon">carbon-carbon</a> called Tufroc, developed for the X37B, on the nose and leading edges.</p>
<p>They should soon be joined by Dream Chaser, which was was developed by the company to carry both cargo and astronauts, but Nasa wants to prove its safety before carrying people by using it to carry cargo to the space station first. The ability to return comparatively fragile cargo to the surface because of a softer landing is a key capability. The tiles that protect Dream Chaser are made from silica, and <a href="https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/09/dream-chaser-tps/">each has a unique shape</a> matched to the area on the vehicle they are designed to protect.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dream Chaser" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573027/original/file-20240202-27-ml7rkh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dream Chaser undergoing evaluation at Nasa’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/NASAglenn/status/1753108059004825754/photo/1">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future developments</h2>
<p>There is continued interest in spaceplanes because of their ability to return crew and cargo to a runway. The demand for this capability is limited now. But if the costs of launching to space continue falling and an expansion of industry in space raises demand, they will become an increasingly viable alternative to capsules.</p>
<p>Longer term, there is also potential for spaceplanes capable of reaching orbit after taking off from a runway. The challenges of developing these single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles is considerable. However, <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/kantha/sites/default/files/attached-files/70494-96876_-_kyle_borg_-_may_8_2015_853_am_-_borg_matula_skylon_report.pdf">concepts such as the Skylon vehicle</a> are leading to technical developments that could eventually support development of an SSTO craft.</p>
<p>For the foreseeable future, spaceplanes look promising for the following reasons: new design techniques, improved materials for the TPS, advanced computer modelling and simulation tools for optimising different aspects of design and flight parameters and continuous improvements in propulsion systems. </p>
<p>Given that several governments, space agencies, and private companies worldwide are investing heavily in spaceplane research and development, we could see a future where flights with these vehicles become routine.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Spaceplanes seemed out of favour when the shuttle was retired in 2011; they now seem to be making a comeback.Oluwamayokun Adetoro, Senior Lecturer, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Brunel University LondonJames Campbell, Reader, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2198922024-02-05T13:30:46Z2024-02-05T13:30:46ZUS Moon landing marks new active phase of lunar science, with commercial launches of landers that will study solar wind and peer into the universe’s dark ages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567940/original/file-20240104-21-s3p58r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C17%2C2991%2C1868&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The dark, far side of the Moon is the perfect place to conduct radio astronomy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/LunarEclipse/704e3da2df90473486270e23aa73419d/photo?Query=moon&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=399&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=12&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the first time since 1972, NASA <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-1">landed a craft on the surface of the Moon</a> in February 2024. But the agency didn’t do it alone – instead, it partnered with commercial companies. Thanks to new technologies and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">public-private partnerships</a>, the scientific projects brought to the Moon on this craft and on future missions like it will open up new realms of scientific possibility. </p>
<p>As parts of several projects launching this year, teams of scientists, including myself, will conduct radio astronomy from the south pole and the far side of the Moon.</p>
<p>NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">commercial lunar payload services program</a>, or CLPS, will use uncrewed landers to conduct NASA’s first science experiments from the Moon in over 50 years. The CLPS program differs from past space programs. Rather than NASA building the landers and operating the program, commercial companies will do so in a public-private partnership. NASA identified <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/clps-providers/">about a dozen companies</a> to serve as vendors for landers that will go to the Moon. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">CLPS will send science payloads to the Moon in conjunction with the Artemis program’s crewed missions.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>NASA buys space on these landers for <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/">science payloads</a> to fly to the Moon, and the companies design, build and insure the landers, as well as contract with rocket companies for the launches. Unlike in the past, NASA is one of the customers and not the sole driver. </p>
<h2>Peregrine and Odysseus, the first CLPS landers</h2>
<p>The first two CLPS payloads are scheduled to launch during the first two months of 2024. There’s the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/to2-astrobotic/">Astrobotics payload</a>, which launched Jan. 8 before its lander, named Peregrine, <a href="https://www.space.com/astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-headed-to-earth">experienced a fuel issue</a> that cut its journey to the Moon short. </p>
<p>Next, there’s the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/op-to2-intuitive-machines/">Intuitive Machines payload</a>. Intuitive Machines’ lander, named Odysseus, <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-1">landed near the south pole of the Moon</a> on Feb. 22, 2024. NASA has also planned a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/">few additional landings</a> – about two or three per year – for each of the next few years.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/burns/">radio astronomer</a> and co-investigator on NASA’s <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/ness/projects/radiowave-observations-lunar-surface-photoelectron-sheath-rolses">ROLSES program</a>, otherwise known as Radiowave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath. ROLSES was built by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and is led by <a href="https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/natchimuthuk.gopalswamy-1">Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy</a>. </p>
<p>The ROLSES instrument landed on the Moon as <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/_files/ugd/7c27f7_51f84ee63ea744a9b7312d17fefa9606.pdf">one of six NASA payloads</a> on the Intuitive Machines lander in February. Between ROLSES and another mission scheduled for the lunar far side in two years, LuSEE-Night, our teams will land NASA’s first two radio telescopes on the Moon by 2026. </p>
<h2>Radio telescopes on the Moon</h2>
<p>The Moon – particularly the far side of the Moon – is an ideal place to do radio astronomy and study signals from extraterrestrial objects such as the Sun and the Milky Way galaxy. On Earth, the ionosphere, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/earths-magnetic-field-protects-life-on-earth-from-radiation-but-it-can-move-and-the-magnetic-poles-can-even-flip-216231">contains Earth’s magnetic field</a>, distorts and absorbs radio signals below the <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/general/fm-radio">FM band</a>. These signals might get scrambled or may not even make it to the surface of the Earth.</p>
<p>On Earth, there are also TV signals, satellite broadcasts and defense radar systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/radio-interference-from-satellites-is-threatening-astronomy-a-proposed-zone-for-testing-new-technologies-could-head-off-the-problem-199353">making noise</a>. To do higher sensitivity observations, you have to go into space, away from Earth. </p>
<p>The Moon is what scientists call <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/what-is-tidal-locking">tidally locked</a>. One side of the Moon is always facing the Earth – the “<a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/what-man-moon">man in the Moon</a>” side – and the other side, <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon-111306">the far side</a>, always faces away from the Earth. The Moon has no ionosphere, and with about 2,000 miles of rock between the Earth and the far side of the Moon, there’s no interference. It’s radio quiet. </p>
<p>For our first mission with ROLSES, which launched in February 2024, we will collect data about environmental conditions on the Moon near its south pole. On the Moon’s surface, <a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-storms-can-destroy-satellites-with-ease-a-space-weather-expert-explains-the-science-177510">solar wind</a> directly strikes the lunar surface and creates a charged gas, called <a href="https://www.psfc.mit.edu/vision/what_is_plasma">a plasma</a>. Electrons lift off the negatively charged surface to form a highly ionized gas. </p>
<p>This doesn’t happen on Earth because <a href="https://theconversation.com/earths-magnetic-field-protects-life-on-earth-from-radiation-but-it-can-move-and-the-magnetic-poles-can-even-flip-216231">the magnetic field deflects</a> the solar wind. But there’s no global magnetic field on the Moon. With a low frequency radio telescope like ROLSES, we’ll be able to measure that plasma for the first time, which could help scientists figure out how to keep astronauts safe on the Moon. </p>
<p>When astronauts walk around on the surface of the Moon, they’ll pick up different charges. It’s like walking across the carpet with your socks on – when you reach for a doorknob, a spark can come out of your finger. The same kind of discharge happens on the Moon from the charged gas, but it’s potentially more harmful to astronauts. </p>
<h2>Solar and exoplanet radio emissions</h2>
<p>Our team is also going to use ROLSES to look at the Sun. The Sun’s surface releases shock waves that send out highly energetic particles and low radio frequency emissions. We’ll use the radio telescopes to measure these emissions and to see bursts of low-frequency radio waves from shock waves within the solar wind.</p>
<p>We’re also going to examine the Earth from the surface of the Moon and use that process as a template for <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-tess-spacecraft-is-finding-hundreds-of-exoplanets-and-is-poised-to-find-thousands-more-122104">looking at radio emissions from exoplanets</a> that may harbor life <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-there-any-planets-outside-of-our-solar-system-164062">in other star systems</a>. </p>
<p>Magnetic fields are important for life because they shield the planet’s surface from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-scorching-winds-on-the-surface-of-the-sun-and-how-were-forecasting-them-44098">solar/stellar wind</a>. </p>
<p>In the future, our team hopes to use specialized arrays of antennas on the far side of the Moon to observe nearby stellar systems that are known to have exoplanets. If we detect the same kind of radio emissions that come from Earth, this will tell us that the planet has a magnetic field. And we can measure the strength of the magnetic field to figure out whether it’s strong enough to shield life.</p>
<h2>Cosmology on the Moon</h2>
<p>The Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment at Night, or <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/ness/projects/lunar-surface-electromagnetics-experiment-night-lusee-night">LuSEE-Night</a>, will fly in early 2026 to the far side of the Moon. LuSEE-Night marks scientists’ first attempt to do cosmology on the Moon.</p>
<p>LuSEE-Night is a novel collaboration between NASA and the Department of Energy. Data will be sent back to Earth using a communications satellite in lunar orbit, <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/A_pathway_for_communicating_at_the_Moon">Lunar Pathfinder</a>, which is funded by the European Space Agency.</p>
<p>Since the far side of the Moon is <a href="https://cosmicdawn.astro.ucla.edu/lunar_telescopes.html">uniquely radio quiet</a>, it’s the best place to do cosmological observations. During the two weeks of lunar night that happen every 14 days, there’s no emission coming from the Sun, and there’s no ionosphere. </p>
<p>We hope to study an unexplored part of the early universe called the <a href="https://www.astronomy.com/science/the-beginning-to-the-end-of-the-universe-the-cosmic-dark-ages/">dark ages</a>. The dark ages refer to before and just after the formation of the very first stars and galaxies in the universe, which is beyond what the <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/">James Webb Space Telescope</a> can study.</p>
<p>During the dark ages, the universe was less than 100 million years old – today the universe is 13.7 billion years old. The universe was full of hydrogen <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-our-universes-cosmic-dawn-what-happened-to-all-its-original-hydrogen-65527">during the dark ages</a>. That hydrogen radiates through the universe at low radio frequencies, and when new stars turn on, they ionize the hydrogen, producing a radio signature in the spectrum. Our team hopes to measure that signal and learn about how the earliest stars and galaxies in the universe formed.</p>
<p>There’s also a lot of potential new physics that we can study in this last unexplored cosmological epoch in the universe. We will investigate the nature of <a href="https://theconversation.com/dark-matter-the-mystery-substance-physics-still-cant-identify-that-makes-up-the-majority-of-our-universe-85808">dark matter</a> and early <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-mysterious-dark-energy-that-speeds-the-universes-rate-of-expansion-40224">dark energy</a> and test our fundamental models of physics and cosmology in an unexplored age.</p>
<p>That process is going to start in 2026 with the LuSEE-Night mission, which is both a fundamental physics experiment and a cosmology experiment.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on Feb. 5, 2024.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Burns receives funding from NASA.</span></em></p>Projects under NASA’s CLPS program – including the Odysseus lander that made it to the lunar surface – will probe unexplored questions about the universe’s formation.Jack Burns, Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212922024-02-04T13:33:52Z2024-02-04T13:33:52ZWhy now is the time to address humanity’s impact on the moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572329/original/file-20240131-15-x809b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C6500%2C3532&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mining the moon for its resources is growing more and more likely.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans have always looked at the sky, using the stars as navigation guides or for spiritual storytelling. Every human civilization has looked to the stars and used celestial movements to measure time and find meaning.</p>
<p>This insatiable thirst for knowledge combined with technological advancements have made it possible for us to dream of travelling in space. These dreams became more and more real after the Second World War, the Industrial Revolution, the Cold War and the large-scale exploitation of the Earth’s resources.</p>
<p>Dreams of space travel started small with the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/sputnik-1/">launch of Sputnik-1 by the Soviet Union</a>, and escalated with the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/history/apollo-11-mission-overview/">U.S. Apollo landing on the moon in 1969</a>.</p>
<p>Six decades later, plans are ramping up for <a href="https://www.virgingalactic.com/">space tourism</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">missions to the moon and Mars</a>, and <a href="https://www.space.com/moon-mining-gains-momentum">mining on the moon</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://lunarresourcesregistry.com/">Lunar Resources Registry</a>, a private business that locates valuable resources on the moon and helps investors conduct the required exploration and extraction operations, notes: “The space race is evolving into space industrialization.” </p>
<p>According to NASA, “the moon holds <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/the-lunar-gold-rush-how-moon-mining-could-work">hundreds of billions of dollars of untapped resources</a>,” including water, helium-3 and <a href="https://geology.com/articles/rare-earth-elements/">rare earth metals</a> used in electronics.</p>
<h2>The dawn of the Anthropocene</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a black and white photo of a footprint on a sedimentary surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A close-up view of an astronaut’s footprint in the lunar soil, photographed in July 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/6901250">(Marshall Space Flight Center/NASA)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a group of academics researching various aspects of environmental sustainability on Earth, we are alarmed at the speed of these developments and the impacts resource exploitation will have on lunar and space environments. </p>
<p>There is a movement among the international geologic scientific community calling for a new epoch — <a href="https://brocku.ca/and/crawford-lake/">the Anthropocene</a> — reflecting the enormous extent to which human activity has altered the planet since the end of the Second World War.</p>
<p>Stratigraphers — geologists who study the layers of rock and sediment — look for measurable global impact of human activities in the geologic record. According to their research, the starting point for the Anthropocene has been identified as beginning in the 1950s, <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/">and the fallout from nuclear testing</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-term-anthropocene-jumped-from-geoscience-to-hashtags-before-most-of-us-knew-what-it-meant-130130">How the term 'Anthropocene' jumped from geoscience to hashtags – before most of us knew what it meant</a>
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<p>To shock humankind into preventing the extensive destruction in space that we have wrought on Earth, it may be effective to add a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01347-4">lunar Anthropocene</a>” to the moon’s geologic time scale.</p>
<p>The case for a lunar Anthropocene is interesting. It can be argued that since the first human contact with the moon’s surface, we have seen anthropogenic impact. This impact is likely to increase dramatically. This is presented as justification for a new geologic epoch for the moon. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a mushroom cloud caused by a nuclear explosion" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An image captured immediately after the first atomic explosion in Alamogordo, N.M., on July 16, 1945. The presence of nuclear traces of the fallout from the initial nuclear explosions is claimed to mark the beginning of the Anthropocene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Damaging the Earth</h2>
<p>This new “human epoch” is hotly debated among stratigraphers as well as researchers in other disciplines. For humanities researchers and artists, the importance of the Anthropocene lies in the power the concept has to evoke human responsibility for bringing the Earth’s system to a <a href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Space_for_our_climate/Understanding_climate_tipping_points">tipping point</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/136-the-shock-of-the-anthropocene"><em>The Shock of the Anthropocene</em></a>, historians Christophe Bonneuil and Jean-Baptiste Fressoz argue that the new human epoch entails recognizing that technoscientific advances — which have driven socio-political economies relying on extractivism, consumption and waste — have led to the extent of damage we measure on Earth at present. </p>
<p>For millenia, most societies understood the importance of their relationship with the natural world for survival. But industrialization and the endlessly growing economy in developed countries has destroyed this relationship. </p>
<p>For example, trees used to be respected for providing timber, food, shade and more. But our industrial growth changed all that; in the past 100 years, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/world-lost-one-third-forests">more trees have been cut</a> than had been felled in the preceding 9,000 years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-trees-how-true-environmental-protection-requires-a-revolution-in-how-we-talk-about-and-with-our-forests-214899">'Killing' trees: How true environmental protection requires a revolution in how we talk about, and with, our forests</a>
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<h2>A lunar Anthropocene</h2>
<p>And now the Anthropocene, this age of human impact, is also arriving on the moon.</p>
<p>NASA estimates there are already <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/national/500-000-pounds-human-trash-litters-the-moon-report-finds/wWeCaVjLmtz0u2ZunyqcLI/">227,000 kilos of human garbage littering the moon</a>, mostly from space explorations, including <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/strange-things-humans-have-left-on-moon">moon buggies and other equipment</a>, excrement, statues, golf balls, human ashes and flags, among other objects. </p>
<p>An increasing number of moon missions and extracting resources from the moon <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/06/moons-resources-could-be-destroyed-by-thoughtless-exploitation-nasa-warned">could destroy lunar environments</a>. This mirrors what has happened on our planet: humans have used this collection of “natural resources” and produced enough waste and degradation to bring us to the current <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/its-too-late-the-6th-mass-extinction-is-here/">sixth mass extinction precipice</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">With the Artemis missions, NASA is planning to reestablish a human presence on the moon.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our throwaway society leads to not only habitat destruction on Earth, but also now on the moon and in space. We must rethink what we really need. Without a fully functional Earth system, including biodiversity and nature’s contribution to life, we will be unable to survive. </p>
<p>If the intent is to issue a word of caution and pre-emptively shock and elicit a feeling of responsibility on the part of those actors likely to impact the moon’s surface, it may very well be the right time to name a lunar Anthropocene. This may help prevent the kind of extensive and careless destruction we have caused and continue to witness on Earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Daigle receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liette Vasseur receives funding from the Exploration New Frontiers Research Funds.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Ellen Good does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As space travel and lunar exploration becomes a near-future reality, we should consider the impact of human activities on the lunar environment.Christine Daigle, Professor of Philosophy, Brock UniversityJennifer Ellen Good, Associate Professor and Chair, Communication, Popular Culture and Film, Brock UniversityLiette Vasseur, Professor, Biological Sciences, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221732024-01-29T16:38:10Z2024-01-29T16:38:10ZNasa’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has ended its mission – its success paves the way for more flying vehicles on other planets and moons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571847/original/file-20240129-15-v0glwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2270%2C1360&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/27421/ingenuity-at-two-years-on-mars/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is difficult to emphasise the significance of the milestone surpassed by Nasa’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity. </p>
<p>The little (1.8kg) helicopter <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25608/nasas-perseverance-rover-lands-successfully-on-mars/">touched down with the Perseverance rover in 2021</a>. On 25 January, Nasa announced that the flying vehicle <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/">had to perform an emergency landing</a> which damaged one of its rotors and ended its mission. </p>
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<p>This reminds us that space exploration is still difficult to do. But Ingenuity’s three years on Mars proved that powered, controlled flight on Mars was possible. </p>
<p>The little helicopter lasted for far longer than had been planned and flew higher and further than many had envisaged. Beyond this Martian experiment, the rotorcraft’s success paves the way for other missions using flying vehicles to explore planets and moons.</p>
<p>The first landings on the Moon were static. The year 1969 was probably the most important one for space exploration, when <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/">Apollo 11</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-12/">Apollo 12</a> brought astronauts to the lunar surface, but 1970 was the year for planetary exploration. </p>
<p>In 1970, we had the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-060A">first soft landing on another planet</a>, Venus. The first robotic sample delivered to Earth from the Moon. And the first robot rover to drive around another body (also the Moon). </p>
<p>Since then, following over 50 years of planetary exploration and technology development, there have only been a small number of successful surface missions, and even fewer were able to move. Venus was visited by a dozen static landers between 1970 and 1985, and never again. </p>
<h2>From rovers to helicopters</h2>
<p>Mars was only successfully landed on three times between 1971 and 1976 before the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/pathfinder/">Pathfinder lander</a> and Sojourner rover arrived in 1997. The European Huygens spacecraft then landed on Titan, the moon of Saturn, in 2005. </p>
<p>These attempts at reaching the surface are rare, extremely difficult, and, historically, the landers were hardly ever mobile. Yet the Nasa <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/overview/">Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity</a>, <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/">Curiosity</a>, and <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/">Perseverance</a> have all exceeded their designs and travelled further and further.</p>
<p>And Ingenuity flew.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the first spacecraft to fly. Those would be the balloons deployed by the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1984-128F">Soviet Vega 1 and 2 missions</a>, which floated over Venus in 1985. But Ingenuity had control, cameras, and connectivity. It took photos of its rover and of Mars from an entirely new perspective. It commanded the world’s attention and captured our hearts.</p>
<p>In Moscow, I had the chance to see models and replicas of the Vega balloons and the first lunar rover. They made a stronger impression on me than the Mars rover twins being used at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The Soviet missions were more audacious and different, and they were from generations ago, before my time and long before my career as a planetary scientist.</p>
<p>Ingenuity was audacious, original and completely new. The photos it took, of Perseverance, finding technology discarded from the descent module that carried it down to Mars and of the Martian vistas from a bird’s eye view, were breathtaking. Meanwhile, Perseverance also took videos of Ingenuity flying in the air. Nothing like it had ever seen before.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="CGI image of a silver drone with eight propellers over the Martian surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s impression of the Dragonfly spacecraft in flight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/Gallery/">NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future flights</h2>
<p>Ingenuity had a rough ride getting there, however. The entire Mars 2020 mission (of Perseverance, Ingenuity and their transport systems) was sudden. </p>
<p>Following Nasa’s withdrawal from the joint European Space Agency ExoMars programme, which included a Mars rover mission, the US space agency started developing one on its own. This rover, later named Perseverance, went from announcement to concept to development and launch in just seven-and-a-half years.</p>
<p>And Ingenuity wasn’t included onboard at first. As an idea, it was proposed late in the development phase of Mars 2020, and faced serious opposition. It added extra complexity, cost, risk and new failure modes. It was also driven by an engineering objective, with the possibility of a little outreach – the opportunity to communicate the mission’s science and engineering to the public – on the side.</p>
<p>Ingenuity wasn’t intended to last for very long. It was designed to prove helicopter flight in the thin Mars atmosphere. It targeted five short flights over a month. Possible outcomes included hard landings, toppling over, losing power if its solar panels were covered in dust, or losing communication when it was far from the rover (this happened several times). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Large silver balloon being launched in the desert." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aerial robotic balloons, or aerobots, like this Nasa prototype, could one day explore Venus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpls-venus-aerial-robotic-balloon-prototype-aces-test-flights">Nasa / JPL-Caltech</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it went way beyond expectations, surviving three years on the Martian surface, even through a dusty season, and making 72 flights. Much of its success was aided by the communication network that now exists at Mars. </p>
<p>Ingenuity receives instructions and transmits data to Perseverance, which communicates with a fleet of satellites that include the European ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Nasa’s Maven spacecraft, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These, in turn, communicate with two deep space networks on Earth, systems of radio antennas around the world that command and track spacecraft. </p>
<p>It took 50 years of planetary exploration to get here, but already we can see the impact on future exploration that Ingenuity’s mission is having. The next interplanetary rotorcraft will be the <a href="https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/">Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan</a>. </p>
<p>It will be a very different from Ingenuity. It will weigh about a ton and fly with eight rotors. It is a huge vehicle designed to fly in Titan’s thick atmosphere. </p>
<p>One of the next Red Planet missions will be Mars Sample Return, aiming to collect sample containers of Martian soil being prepared and cached by Perseverance. This has been planned to be carried out with use of a rover, but the success of Ingenuity has led to the idea – and now the development – of <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/spacecraft/sample-recovery-helicopters/">a helicopter</a> to do that. </p>
<p>The future that Ingenuity has opened up for us is exciting. We’ll see helicopters on Mars and Venus, more balloons on Venus, swimming vehicles under the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and maybe even an aeroplane or two.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Olsen in an employee of the University of Oxford and receives funding from the UK Space Agency in support of Mars science.</span></em></p>Among the missions being planned is a huge helicopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan.Kevin Olsen, UKSA Mars Science Fellow, Department of Physics, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219962024-01-26T18:09:56Z2024-01-26T18:09:56ZHumans are going back to the Moon to stay, but when that will be is becoming less clear<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571678/original/file-20240126-28-5py8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C2038%2C1532&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/52547251628/in/album-72177720303788800/">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A 2019 Time magazine <a href="https://timecoverstore.com/featured/the-next-space-race-time.html">cover portrayed</a> four astronauts running towards the Moon. Pictured alongside the headline “The Next Space Race”, one of the astronauts carried an American flag, one carried a Chinese flag and the other two belonged to space companies owned by billionaires: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. </p>
<p>Until recently, it seemed as if the US and SpaceX were set to win this race to return to the Moon with Nasa’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis programme</a>. But a number of setbacks have called that into question. And Blue Origin, China and other countries and companies are continuing their own lunar efforts.</p>
<p>On January 9 2024, Nasa announced that it was delaying the Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/">Space Launch System (SLS)</a> and the Orion capsule – the vehicles built to send astronauts back to deep space. The flight would slip from late 2024 to no earlier than September 2025. This was due to some safety issues that need to be fixed on Orion. </p>
<p>Consequently, Artemis 3, which is supposed to involve the first crewed lunar landing since 1972, will take place no earlier than September 2026. Artemis 3 is to use <a href="https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/">SpaceX’s Starship orbiter</a> as the lander for two crew members. This mission is set to put the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface. </p>
<p>A non-American crew member could also walk on the Moon by 2030, highlighting the fact that Nasa has involved international partners in the Artemis venture. Up until now, <a href="https://www.space.com/how-many-people-have-walked-on-the-moon">just 12 humans have set foot on the Moon</a>. All of them have been male and all have been American.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Astronauts study Moon's surface with various vehicles in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C1%2C1020%2C573&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571507/original/file-20240125-19-6htotg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s rendering of US astronauts exploring the Moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, the Starship orbiter, crucial to these aims, has experienced problems. A <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-second-test-flight-launch-explodes">second test launch</a> for the rocketship-like orbiter atop its huge booster rocket back in November 2023, was spectacularly destroyed eight minutes and six seconds after lift off. </p>
<p>It will have to be ready to go by 2026. But, before then, SpaceX will have to demonstrate that it can refuel in orbit and then land Starship on the Moon without crew. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, Blue Origin is also working on a lander, called Blue Moon. Blue Moon is due to be used as the Moon landing craft for the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-shares-progress-toward-early-artemis-moon-missions-with-crew/">Artemis 5 and 6 missions in 2029 and 2030</a>. </p>
<p>Time will tell which lander can actually be ready for use first. But competition is always a good stimulator, and it could accelerate achievements. </p>
<p>Commercial companies supporting Nasa in the Artemis program will have to put a lot of attention into what to do and when. The lives of crew members are at stake here, so missions have to proceed in a safe and sustainable manner.</p>
<p>As with Apollo, Nasa is also trying to use the program to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Baby boomers like myself are very proud to be “Apollo kids” who were inspired to study scientific subjects by those momentous achievements – particularly the first steps on another world, viewed through black and white TVs in July 1969.</p>
<h2>International competition</h2>
<p>China is also preparing itself, together with several other countries including Russia, to develop a lunar base for humans, called the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Beijing and its partners will include also private sectors players and governmental and non-governmental organisations, with an organisational scheme which is a first. </p>
<p>The Chinese program’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/china-offers-collaborate-lunar-mission-deadlines-loom-2023-10-03/">first human missions to the lunar surface are expected by 2030</a>. Among the sites where they want to land is the Moon’s south pole. Nasa also wants to land here, but few of Beijing’s choices are in overlap with the locations selected for Artemis. </p>
<p>The south pole is a target for both the US and China because countries want to extract the water ice that’s hidden in craters there. This water could be used for life support at lunar bases and to make rocket fuel, helping bring down the cost of space exploration. </p>
<p>Space programs are never on time, and postponements are normal. Space agencies are
more cautious nowadays, even more than before, because few tragedies we experienced in the past are obliging them to think very carefully before launching humans in space. </p>
<p>Safety of the crew is mandatory, and it must be always the first priority. So, if this is the reason why we have to wait a bit more before few human beings, after decades, will walk again on the Moon, I’m happy to wait for it. </p>
<p>Going to space has never been easy, as demonstrated by several uncrewed missions to the Moon over the last 12 months – both governmental and commercial – which didn’t make it. But perhaps it’s better we fail now while we are preparing for the new phase of humanity’s history. </p>
<p>The Moon will soon experience human beings on its surface again, working and living on a regular basis. But when humans go back there, this time it will be to stay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221996/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simonetta Di Pippo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US might be facing international competition to be first to return to the Moon.Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the Space Economy Evolution Lab, Bocconi UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215702024-01-21T14:03:29Z2024-01-21T14:03:29ZJapan is now the 5th country to land on the Moon – the technology used will lend itself to future lunar missions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570427/original/file-20240119-27-p6esw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=249%2C0%2C4597%2C3248&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Data from the SLIM mission projected at JAXA's Sagamihara Campus during the craft's landing. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/JapanMoonLanding/03b3de9eaaba4dda9bfbe0236b3b28db/photo?Query=slim&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3883&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Japan landed its <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sas/slim/">Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon</a>, or SLIM, craft on the surface of the Moon on Jan. 20, 2024. Despite a power issue with the lander, the event holds both political and technical importance. It’s Japan’s first lunar landing – making it only the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the Moon. This is a significant achievement and solidifies Japan’s position as a leader in space technology. </p>
<p>While the craft <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXLt3ET9mE">landed successfully on the lunar surface</a> and deployed its rovers, SLIM’s solar cells were not functioning properly – meaning that the craft could likely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/science/japan-slim-moon-landing.html">only operate for a few hours</a>. </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aESo-coAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of international affairs</a> who studies space. Like NASA and other space agencies, the <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/">Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA</a>, wants to advance research and technology by demonstrating new techniques and collecting scientific data. The landing is also a part of something bigger – a <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-the-moon-can-benefit-commercial-military-and-political-sectors-a-space-policy-expert-explains-209300">growing global interest in lunar activity</a>. </p>
<h2>Precision technology</h2>
<p>Japan’s achievement isn’t only symbolic – Japan is demonstrating a number of new technologies with the lander. The name, Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, refers to the spacecraft’s <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">new precision-landing technology</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UEZO4jj7v0I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">SLIM’s landing technology allowed it to detect and avoid potential obstacles.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This technology could assist future landings by allowing spacecraft to land in relatively small areas amid rocky or uneven terrain, rather than having to find large clearings. This ability will be particularly important in the future as countries focus on very specific <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">areas of interest</a> at <a href="https://theconversation.com/chandrayaan-3s-measurements-of-sulfur-open-the-doors-for-lunar-science-and-exploration-212950">the lunar south pole</a>. </p>
<p>The lander also carried two small rovers, each of which will demonstrate a new technology for moving on the Moon. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/slim-japans-precision-lunar-lander">Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1</a> includes a camera, as well as scientific equipment, and uses a hopping mechanism to maneuver on the Moon. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artist's illustration of Japan's SLIM lander, which looks like a metal box with cones and lights on one end, attempting its lunar touchdown" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570455/original/file-20240120-25-vl1x3l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration of the SLIM lander touching down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JAXA/ISAS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html">Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2</a>, developed in a partnership among government, industry, and academia, is a sphere small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Once on the surface, its two halves separate slightly, allowing it to roll around.</p>
<p>SLIM is designed to land <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">within a 328-foot (100-meter) zone</a>, far smaller than previous lunar landers which have had landing zones spanning multiple kilometers. </p>
<p>SLIM used a <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2310.pdf">vision-based navigation system</a> that took images of the lunar surface. Its system rapidly compared these images to crater patterns on lunar maps that JAXA developed with data from previous missions. </p>
<p>As countries identify areas that are most likely to hold useful resources, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it-216060">water in the form of ice</a>, precision landing technology will allow agencies to avoid nearby hazards and reach these areas without incident.</p>
<h2>International relations back on Earth</h2>
<p>There is a geopolitical element to these activities. China, India and Japan – the three nations that have successfully landed on the Moon since 2000 – engage in regional competition across a number of areas, including space. In addition to regional considerations, these accomplishments help to establish nations as leaders on a global scale – capable of something that few nations have ever done. </p>
<p>Japan’s launch comes only six months after <a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-chandrayaan-3-landed-on-the-south-pole-of-the-moon-a-space-policy-expert-explains-what-this-means-for-india-and-the-global-race-to-the-moon-212171">India’s Moon landing</a> and just weeks after <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/science/moon-lander-peregrine-nasa.html">a failed attempt</a> by a U.S. company, Astrobotic. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russias-moon-mission-falters-after-problem-entering-pre-landing-orbit-2023-08-20/">Both Russia</a> and <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=4655">the private company iSpace</a> made unsuccessful landing attempts in 2023. Japan’s success in landing on the Moon – even with solar panel issues shortening the timeline for the mission – demonstrates that JAXA is a major player in this global endeavor. </p>
<p>Despite recent setbacks, such as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-shares-progress-toward-early-artemis-moon-missions-with-crew/">NASA announcing delays</a> to its next Artemis mission, the U.S. is still a clear leader in space and lunar exploration. NASA has <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/does-anything-orbit-the-moon-we-asked-a-nasa-technologist/">multiple spacecraft orbiting the Moon</a> right now, and it’s already successfully launched the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/">SLS rocket</a>, which is capable of taking humans back to the Moon. </p>
<p>NASA is developing very large and complex systems internally – like the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway/">Gateway space station</a>, planned to orbit near the Moon, and the infrastructure for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-next-four-people-headed-to-the-moon-how-the-diverse-crew-of-artemis-ii-shows-nasas-plan-for-the-future-of-space-exploration-203214">Artemis human Moon missions</a>. It’s not uncommon for these large and complex efforts to experience some delays. </p>
<p>NASA has also turned many smaller-scale efforts over to commercial entities lately – like in the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services program</a> that supported Astrobotic’s attempt. This is a new approach that involves some risk, but provides the opportunity for commercial innovation and growth of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/growing-the-lunar-economy/">lunar economy</a> while giving NASA the ability to focus on big, complex aspects of the mission.</p>
<p>With regard to the Moon, JAXA has partnered with the U.S. and taken on a very important component of the Artemis missions – the development of a <a href="https://www.toyota-europe.com/news/2023/lunar-cruiser">pressurized lunar rover</a>. This is a new and complex technology that will be critical to human missions on the Moon in coming years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221570/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariel Borowitz receives funding from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense. </span></em></p>Japan is one of several countries that weren’t part of the space race of the 1950s and 1960s looking toward the Moon. They’ve now become the 5th country to have landed on its surface.Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182012024-01-19T13:41:44Z2024-01-19T13:41:44ZI’m an artist using scientific data as an artistic medium − here’s how I make meaning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569152/original/file-20240112-27-8u7iv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1393%2C932&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sarah Nance at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Sarah Nance</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As an <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/art/profile.html?id=snance">artist working across media</a>, I’ve used everything from thread to my voice to poetically translate and express information. Recently, I’ve been working with another medium – geologic datasets. </p>
<p>While scientists use data visualization to show the results of a dataset in interesting and informative ways, my goal as an artist is a little different. In the studio, I treat geologic data as another material, using it to guide my interactions with Mylar film, knitting patterns or opera. Data, in my work, functions expressively and abstractly. </p>
<p>Two of my projects in particular, “points of rupture” and “tidal arias,” exemplify this way of working. In these pieces, my goal is to offer new ways for people to personally relate to the immense scale of geologic time.</p>
<h2>Points of rupture</h2>
<p>An early project in which I treated data as a medium was my letterpress print series “<a href="https://www.sarahnance.com/shroud/alaska">points of rupture</a>.” In this series, I encoded data from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/cryoseism">cryoseismic, or ice quake</a>, events to create knitting patterns. </p>
<p>Working with ice quake data was a continuation of my research into what I call “archived landscapes.” These are places that have had multiple distinct geologic identities over time, like <a href="https://www.nps.gov/gumo/learn/nature/coralreefs.htm">mountains that were once sea reefs</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="silver knitting symbols on black background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569121/original/file-20240112-17-umjli0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘points of rupture (alaska glacial event 1999),’ 2020. Letterpress print of knitting pattern coded using cryoseismic data. Edition of 15. 18 x 18 in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Nance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because knit textiles are made up of many individual stitches, I can use them to encode discrete data points. In a knitting pattern, or chart, each kind of stitch is represented by a specific symbol. I used the open-source program <a href="https://stitch-maps.com">Stitch Maps</a> to write the patterns for this project, translating the peaks and valleys of seismographs into individual stitch symbols. </p>
<p>Knitting charts typically display these symbols in a grid. Instead, Stitch Maps allows them to fall as they would when knitted, so the chart mimics the shape of the final textile. </p>
<p>I was drawn to the expressive possibilities of this feature and how the software allowed me to experiment. I was able to write patterns that worked only in theory and not as physical, handmade structures. This gave me more freedom to design patterns that fully expressed the datasets without having to ensure their viability as textiles.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="graphite drawing of mitten knitting chart on gallery wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568495/original/file-20240109-29-ojgmd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘and when you change the landscape, is it with bare hands or with gloves? (lichen, woodwork, grate),’ 2023. Graphite drawing of selbu mitten knitting chart. 99 x 67 linear inches as installed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Nance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://nsidc.org/learn/parts-cryosphere/glaciers">Glaciers form</a> incrementally as new snowfall compacts previous layers of snow, crystallizing them into ice. A knitted fabric similarly accumulates in layers, as rows of interlocking loops. Each structure appears stable but could easily be dissolved.</p>
<p>Ice quakes occur in glaciers as a result of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/cryoseism">calving events or pooling meltwater</a>. Like melting glaciers, knitting is always in danger of coming apart – but instead of melting, by snagging and unraveling into formlessness. These structural similarities between glaciers and knitting are reflected in the “points of rupture” prints, where disruptive ice quakes translate into unknittable patterns. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="silver knitting symbols on black background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569080/original/file-20240112-19-758bfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘points of rupture (glacier de la plaine morte icequake 2016),’ 2020. Letterpress print of knitting pattern coded using cryoseismic data. Edition of 15. 18 x 18 in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Nance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The loop</h2>
<p>Repeated, interlocking loops are the base units that compose the structure of a knitted textile. The loop also forms the seed of an in-progress work I pursued during an artist residency with the <a href="https://lunarscience.nasa.gov/sserviteams">NASA</a> <a href="https://www.geodes.umd.edu">GEODES</a> research group. I joined their research team in Flagstaff, Arizona, in August 2023. I assisted in gathering data from sites within the San Francisco volcanic field, while also conducting my own fieldwork: photography, drawing, note-taking and walking.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A digital map showing a crater, with a green circle indicating the path walked, around the lip of the crater." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568498/original/file-20240109-21-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sarah Nance’s walk at S P Crater in Arizona, as recorded in AllTrails.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshot of All Trails map</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of my walks was a trek around a particularly prominent geologic loop – the rim of the S P cinder cone volcano. This is the second crater walk I’ve completed, the first being a tracing of the subsurface rim of the <a href="https://insider.si.edu/2013/03/iowa-meteorite-crater-confirmed/">Decorah impact structure</a> in Iowa. </p>
<p>I see my paths through these landscapes as stand-ins for yarn. Over time, by taking walks that trace craters, or geologic loops, I will perform a textile. The performance of something as familiar as a textile offers me a new way to think about something that is much more difficult to comprehend – <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/geologic-time">geologic time</a>. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A square box with the words 'Art & Science Collide' and a drawing of a lightbulb with its wire filament in the shape of a brain, surrounded by a circle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Art & Science Collide series.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">source</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/art-in-science-series-2024-149583">This article is part of Art & Science Collide</a></strong>, a series examining the intersections between art and science.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/literature-inspired-my-medical-career-why-the-humanities-are-needed-in-health-care-217357">Literature inspired my medical career: Why the humanities are needed in health care</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/i-wrote-a-play-for-children-about-integrating-the-arts-into-stem-fields-heres-what-i-learned-about-encouraging-creative-interdisciplinary-thinking-218001">I wrote a play for children about integrating the arts into STEM fields – here’s what I learned about interdisciplinary thinking</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/art-and-science-entwined-this-course-explores-the-long-interrelated-history-of-two-ways-of-seeing-the-world-210250">Art and science entwined: This course explores the long, interrelated history of two ways of seeing the world </a></p>
<hr>
<h2>Performance and tides</h2>
<p>Performance has been a useful tool in my work, as it can help people understand and relate to geologic processes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="artist's hands holding small chunk of glacial ice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569102/original/file-20240112-21-spkjsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘transference,’ 2017. Atlantic sea ice, body heat. Documentation of site-responsive performance on the East Coast Trail, Newfoundland, Canada. Project supported in part by La Soupée, Galerie Diagonale, Montréal, Québec.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Nance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The field of geology emerges from a <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/a-billion-black-anthropocenes-or-none">long history</a> of extraction and <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/geontologies">colonialist ventures</a>. In this context, land is valued for its economic importance – as raw material to be extracted or territory to be claimed. In my performances, I aim to interact with geology as its own active entity, rather than as a consumable resource. </p>
<p>In recent years, I have composed and performed two arias from tidal data. </p>
<p>The first, “<a href="https://www.sarahnance.com/marseille">marseille tidal gauge aria</a>,” sourced 130 years of sea level data collected from a tidal gauge in the Bay of Marseille, France. I converted each yearly average sea level into an individual note within my vocal range. This resulted in a composition that expresses the rising sea levels of the bay as increasingly higher pitches in the aria. </p>
<p>Its lyrics come from a somber poem in Rasu-Yong Tugen’s book “<a href="https://gnomebooks.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/songs-from-the-black-moon/">Songs From the Black Moon</a>.” Each note of the aria communicates not just the measured sea level but also my emotive response to this dataset. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black flexi disc with gold text and image" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569098/original/file-20240112-23-ffk4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘tidal arias,’ 2022. Limited edition flexi disc with vocal performances ‘marseille tidal gauge aria’ and ‘skagway tidal aria.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Nance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Last fall, “marseille tidal gauge aria” was transmitted <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/ionosphere">to the ionosphere</a>, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. This was done as part of artist Amanda Dawn Christie’s project “<a href="https://ghostsintheairglow.space/transmission/august-2023">Ghosts in the Air Glow</a>,” using the <a href="https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu">High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program</a>’s ionospheric research instrument, which is an array of 180 antennas transmitting high-frequency radio waves. </p>
<p>The aria’s transmission reflected off the ionosphere, back to Earth and to shortwave radio listeners around the world.</p>
<p>For the second of these vocal pieces, “skagway tidal aria,” I used predictive as well as recorded tidal data from Skagway, Alaska. With this data, I composed an aria for <a href="https://t2051mcc.com">The 2051 Munich Climate Conference</a>, where speakers presented from the perspective of a climate-altered world 30 years in the future. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="vocal music score" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569106/original/file-20240112-25-4mocnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Score for ‘skagway tidal aria,’ 2021. Recorded and speculative tidal data from Skagway, Alaska (1945-2081), sonified as a vocal composition. Text from ‘Songs From the Black Moon’ by Rasu-Yong Tugen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Nance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I was drawn to this particular dataset because the falling tide levels in Skagway appear to contradict the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-drives-sea-level-rise-us-report-warns-of-1-foot-rise-within-three-decades-and-more-frequent-flooding-177211">global trend of rising sea levels</a>. However, this is a temporary effect caused by melting glaciers releasing pressure on the land, allowing it to rise faster than water levels. The effect will flatten over the next half-century, and Skagway’s tides will start to rise again.</p>
<p>Over the next few months, I’ll be working with geophysical datasets gathered during the NASA GEODES field expedition to write new arias. I want these pieces to continue blurring the separation between the human and the geologic, inviting listeners to think more deeply about their own relationships with the lands they use and occupy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218201/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The author's projects with GEODES and Ghosts in the Air Glow were supported with funding from these organizations.</span></em></p>Sarah Nance uses geologic data and a variety of artistic media to help people think about their place in the landscapes they use and occupy.Sarah Nance, Assistant Professor of Integrated Practice in Art and Design, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212232024-01-19T01:58:47Z2024-01-19T01:58:47ZJapan is about to land its first lunar probe. As more nations race to the Moon, how will we keep the peace?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570001/original/file-20240118-23-zlvufg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=287%2C109%2C1342%2C968&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Illustration of the Japanese moon
lander separating in orbit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://jda.jaxa.jp/result.php?lang=e&id=99a1760a907a60514deaad8181c9a853">JAXA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Early on Saturday, January 20 2024, Japan hopes to become the fifth country to successfully <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2024/01/20240115-1_e.html">land a probe</a> on the Moon. To date, the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India have preceded the East Asian nation.</p>
<p>Launched in September 2023 by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (<a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/">JAXA</a>), the Japanese Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is set to touch down around 02:20am AEDT. Trialling a novel landing technique with pinpoint accuracy, it is poised to settle on a gently sloped crater rim – a first in lunar exploration. </p>
<p>JAXA celebrates the mission as a technology demonstrator. The agency’s main aim is to practice near-real-time visual precision landing. The newly developed landing technology would allow them to touch down anywhere they want, rather than only where the terrain is favourable. </p>
<p>Plans for a follow-up expedition, the Lunar Polar Exploration probe (<a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no092/02.html">LUPEX</a>), are well advanced. That mission <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/isro-working-on-ambitious-lunar-missions-lupex-chandrayaan-4-official/articleshow/105292411.cms">will be developed jointly</a> with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).</p>
<h2>The Moon is a busy target</h2>
<p>In recent years, the Moon has become a key target for exploration missions. For instance, just last year we witnessed Russia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-has-declared-a-new-space-race-hoping-to-join-forces-with-china-heres-why-thats-unlikely-211993">attempted landing</a> of its Luna 25 probe and the first successful ISRO Moon shot, <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_Details.html">Chandrayaan-3</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the US aims to return humans to the Moon through their <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis</a> programme while also supporting <a href="https://phys.org/news/2024-01-lunar-lander-years-rockets-moon.html">commercial companies</a> in their quest to reestablish a viable presence there.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-and-space-agencies-are-shooting-for-the-moon-5-essential-reads-on-modern-lunar-missions-216808">Scientists and space agencies are shooting for the Moon -- 5 essential reads on modern lunar missions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>NASA and its international partners aim to eventually place a crewed space station in lunar orbit, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/reference/nasas-gateway-program/">Gateway Lunar Space Station</a>. </p>
<p>Simultaneously, China continues its successful, carefully planned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Lunar_Exploration_Program">Chang'e project</a>. The Asian powerhouse is working towards establishing its own <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Lunar_Research_Station">International Lunar Research Station</a>. That Chinese–Russian project is <a href="https://spacenews.com/china-russia-enter-mou-on-international-lunar-research-station/">promoted</a> as “open to all interested countries and international partners”.</p>
<h2>‘Peaceful intentions’</h2>
<p>To date, the leading spacefaring nations have gone to great lengths to publicly assure us that their intentions in space are peaceful. Yet, last year Yury Borisov of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-22/russia-declares-the-race-has-begun-for-moons-resources/102757808">bluntly stated</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is not just about the prestige of the country and the achievement of some geopolitical goals. This is about ensuring defensive capabilities and achieving technological sovereignty.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Borisov’s comments should not be read in isolation, however. US officials have made similar assertions. In July last year, the US assistant secretary of defense for space policy, John F. Plumb, was <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3465982/space-integral-to-the-dod-way-of-war-policy-chief-says/">equally blunt</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Space is in our DNA for the military. It’s absolutely essential to our way of war.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such official commentary is clearly anathema to the purported peaceful intentions expressed by officials elsewhere in their respective national hierarchies. Similarly, to safeguard its national interests and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA3E03H/">encouraged</a> by President Xi Jinping himself, China has been <a href="https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-06_Issue-1/Cheng.pdf">fine-tuning</a> its own military space strategy. </p>
<p>The Moon is a large target, which to date is only accessible to a small number of actors. Yet, ever since <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/inside-and-out/composition/water-and-ices/">evidence of water was found</a> near the Moon’s south pole, much effort has focused on finding ways to land safely in the Moon’s southern hemisphere.</p>
<p>With commercial actors and national interests thrown into the mix, we ought to consider the geopolitical implications of this new space race.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Foreground of a grey surface with a half lit Earth in the distance hanging in a black sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570002/original/file-20240118-15-r3cidd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An earthrise seen from the surface of the Moon in July 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/amf-as11-44-6550/">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who keeps the peace in space?</h2>
<p>The 1967 <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">Outer Space Treaty</a> remains the defining legal document governing strategic conduct in space.
To date, its has been ratified by 114 countries and 22 other signatories, including all major spacefaring nations.</p>
<p>However, new technological developments and the increasing presence of private space companies have prompted some to suggest that the <a href="https://ace-usa.org/blog/foreign-policy-region/space-oceans-and-polar-regions/failures-and-successes-of-the-outer-space-treaty/">treaty has become outdated</a>.</p>
<p>Therefore, the US has independently developed a new international agreement, which it says is focused on common principles, guidelines and best practices applicable to the safe exploration of the Moon and beyond: the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/">Artemis Accords</a>.</p>
<p>Thus far, 33 countries have signed the agreement, but neither Russia nor China have acceded. Given the prevailing political differences, there is currently no clear way forward to bring all parties to the same table.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/outer-space-rwanda-and-nigeria-sign-an-accord-for-more-responsible-exploration-why-this-matters-203202">Outer space: Rwanda and Nigeria sign an accord for more responsible exploration – why this matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Although the Moon remains uncrowded, sustained exploration, human occupation and commercial exploitation will increase the likelihood of encounters on the lunar surface (or in orbit) between competing parties, or even between nations engaged in major conflict on Earth.</p>
<p>While the Outer Space Treaty envisions peaceful use of the space environment, the proliferation of military hardware in low Earth orbit implies that any such adverse encounter might result in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook47p/OngoingMilitarisationSpace">devastating consequences</a>. </p>
<p>At present, there are few safeguards to prevent wholesale conflict escalating beyond our home planet. Diplomatic efforts have been largely <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-we-prevent-war-in-space/">lacklustre</a>. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/space-force-would-trigger-arms-race">urgent recommendations</a> from across the political spectrum to practice caution and avoid escalation, the world continues on a path towards an increasingly volatile space environment. </p>
<p>Fortunately, in this highly complex environment cool heads have thus far prevailed in resolving potential conflicts in space. As a case in point, we should probably be encouraged by the sustained multilateral collaboration on the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01558-0">International Space Station</a>, despite the parties’ radically opposite stances on Earth.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author gratefully acknowledges constructive criticism on an earlier draft of this article by Dr. Fabio Favata.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard de Grijs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Japan’s space agency is landing its first lunar probe this week. This makes the Moon an increasingly busy target for spacefaring nations – with conflicting political stances among them.Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210332024-01-16T17:47:56Z2024-01-16T17:47:56ZFor All Mankind’s Happy Valley: why a Martian city could well extend below the surface<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569044/original/file-20240112-27-4on00f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The entrance to For All Mankind's Happy Valley.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/for-all-mankind/episodes-images/">Apple</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Apple TV+‘s alternate space race, <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-all-mankind-space-dramas-alternate-history-constructs-a-better-vision-of-nasa-214935">For All Mankind</a>, imagines what would have have happened if USSR cosmonauts, and not Nasa’s astronauts, had been the first to land on the Moon. Rather than the waning of interest in space that followed the Moon landings in our reality, over the four seasons of the show to date, the race has continued towards lunar and then Martian settlement. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1WX0FOKh5k">latest season</a>, the finale of which aired on January 12 2024, initial colonisation efforts on Mars have developed to the point where an international alliance supports and maintains a single large colony. Dubbed “Happy Valley”, the Martian city <a href="https://for-all-mankind.fandom.com/wiki/Happy_Valley?file=FAM_406_52.07_Happy_Valley_aerial.png">features</a> an array of interconnected modules. </p>
<p>Tubular corridors run between bigger geodesic and half-pipe structures housing control rooms, laboratories, meeting rooms and eating and living quarters for the base commander and other higher ups. Most residents live below ground.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people on either side of an octogonal window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569043/original/file-20240112-27-vaphcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Happy Valley’s surface level habitats are for the top-tier residents of the base.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/for-all-mankind/episodes-images/">Apple</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With its Artemis programme, Nasa <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/10/nasa-postpones-plans-to-send-humans-to-moon-artemis">plans</a> to have humans living outside Earth’s orbit. This would including a lunar base camp, as well as a space station that circles the Moon, in the view of ultimately sending people to Mars. Quite in what <a href="https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/159428/">structures</a> such Martian explorers would live has long had people <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-long-fascination-with-the-journey-to-mars-106541">dreaming</a> – and scientists <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/antarctic-ecosystems-as-models-for-extraterrestrial-surface-habitats/">experimenting</a>.</p>
<h2>Life on Mars?</h2>
<p>In the early 20th century, sufficient uncertainty remained to allow for planetary romances such as the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/barsoom/">Barsoom</a> novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Written between 1912 and 1946, these tell the story of a 19th-century US veteran transported to Mars, and were brought to life in the 2012 action film, John Carter. These fantasies paved the way for more serious consideration of <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/people/stanway/sciencefiction/cosmicstories/survival_on_mars/">survival on Mars</a> as our understanding developed. </p>
<p>However, astronomers were already establishing that the planet’s surface was arid, cold and toxic. Long before Burroughs completed his series, <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1926ApJ....63...48M/abstract">it was clear</a> that Barsoom’s great cities, open to a breathable atmosphere, could never exist.</p>
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<p>One of the earliest stories to seriously consider the scientifically understood conditions on Mars, and the life that might result from it, was Stanley Weinbaum’s 1934 novella, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23731/23731-h/23731-h.htm">A Martian Odyssey</a>. In keeping with telescopic observations of the planet’s cold, thin air and spectra indicating a lack of both water and vegetation, this was a Mars devoid of cityscapes, but not of life. Salvaging what he can from a crashed shuttle, the protagonist treks across 800 miles of Martian landscape, encountering a variety of interesting Martian forms. </p>
<p>In the early 20th century, it was believed that Mars’s atmosphere was thin, but not necessarily beyond the range of human adaptability. After all, settlements on Earth exist at altitudes of up to 5,000m – where the atmospheric pressure is less than half that at the surface. Early estimates for Martian surface pressure were in this ballpark (rather than <a href="https://marsed.asu.edu/mep/atmosphere">less than 1%</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-people-breathe-the-air-on-mars-180504#:%7E:text=The%20Martian%20atmosphere%20is%20thin,gases%20from%20escaping%20into%20space">as we now know</a>. Thus Weinbaum speaks of “months spent in acclimatisation chambers”, but otherwise frees his explorer (and any Mars settlement) from the needs of atmosphere management.</p>
<h2>Going underground</h2>
<p>By the middle of the 20th century, Earth-based observations and the first of the Mariner probe missions had removed any doubt about the <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964CoLPL...2..113O">hostility of Mars’s atmosphere</a>. The cities envisaged by mid-century sci-fi writers were encased in vast protective domes. These could contain an Earth-like environment and allow humans to breathe and move freely without protective equipment. </p>
<p>Such domed surface cities can be found in examples ranging from childrens’ fare such as <a href="https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/168958/">Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future</a>, to the work of established authors including Larry Niven (see his 1966 story, How the Heroes Die). Some saw these domes as fully urbanised. Others imagined a more scattered settlement amid a managed landscape. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A vintage magazine comic." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569053/original/file-20240112-23-43lw93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1046&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ausdew/22678711382">Ausdew|Flickr</a></span>
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<p>This dominant image of cities on Mars persists to the current day, in imagery from Mars colonisation enthusiasts including the international <a href="https://www.marssociety.org/why-mars/">Mars Society</a> and <a href="https://www.spacex.com/humanspaceflight/mars/">SpaceX</a>. Research suggests, however, that as long-term habitation, a domed environment would have significant flaws. </p>
<p>Since the 1960s, scientific understanding of the <a href="https://journals.lww.com/health-physics/abstract/2000/11000/radiation_exposure_for_human_mars_exploration.8.aspx">impact of radiation</a> on humans and their offspring has advanced. The planet lacks the protection, afforded by Earth’s thick atmosphere and its strong magnetic field, to our DNA, from a rain of ionising particles from the Sun and beyond. Smart dome materials might filter some of this, but could not protect astronauts from the <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021A&ARv..29....8G/abstract">cumulative effects of penetrating particles</a>, leaving its occupants vulnerable to cancer. </p>
<p>As pointed out by many writers (including Niven in the story already mentioned), large domes would leave a city on Mars vulnerable to air leaks too, as well as the extreme fluctuations in day-night temperature the planet experiences (from -125C to 20C). Further, the material would be abraded over time by sandstorms so extreme, they are visible from Earth. </p>
<p>Instead, many <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2288037-martian-cave-entrances-may-offer-a-life-friendly-radiation-shield/">researchers</a> now consider <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220303342">underground</a> or cave <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023AcAau.204..157M/">settlements</a> as sites for human settlement on Mars. Here protection from temperature, radiation, sandstorms and air leaks are all provided by a thick layer of <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022P&SS..21805517L/abstract">regolith</a> (soil or rock), reducing the cumulative exposure any settlers would face. </p>
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<p>While the red planet is now devoid of surface water, <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/caves-mars">it is likely</a> to have cave systems dating from its wetter, tectonically active youth, and – unlike Earth – its surface quakes are rare and weak. If natural caves are unavailable, tunnelling, or even using surface rock powder to make a form of Martian concrete may be good alternatives. Indeed, partly with Mars-prototyping in mind, <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/10/28/lunar-living-nasas-artemis-base-camp-concept/">Nasa</a> and ESA <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Building_a_lunar_base_with_3D_printing">have explored</a> the idea of <a href="https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0001359">3D printing</a> and then burying habitation modules on the Moon, which experiences many of the same risks.</p>
<p>For All Mankind has been <a href="https://www.space.com/for-all-mankind-season-3-space-history">noted</a> for its realistic physics. The production team include a NASA technical advisor. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1135661336908537858"}"></div></p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly its Happy Valley colony, descending several levels into the Martian subsurface, represents a plausible vision for future Martian cities. Contrary to the series though, underground levels might well be sought after, by real-world Martian residents, for the increased protection they provide. </p>
<p>Planetary settlement remains an increasingly distant prospect in our reality, but science fiction has always played a role in shaping public understanding of our planetary neighbours and in fostering enthusiasm for their exploration. Just as Burroughs’ Barsoom novel <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/people/stanway/sciencefiction/cosmicstories/the_echo_of/">inspired the scientists</a> working on the Mars landers of the 1960s-70s, today’s viewers of For All Mankind might include the engineers and scientists that one day bring its vision of a Martian city to fruition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221033/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Stanway receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council for her astrophysics research </span></em></p>In sci-fi depictions, extraterrestrial habitats have evolved tandem with scientific understanding of conditions on planetsElizabeth Stanway, Reader in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2208302024-01-12T22:02:50Z2024-01-12T22:02:50ZWhat delays to the Artemis II and III missions mean for Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569136/original/file-20240112-27-y8h866.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1279&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The successful Artemis I mission was the first in an increasingly complex planned series of missions, which have now been delayed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20220614-PH-CSH01_0043">(NASA/Cory Huston)</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-delays-to-the-artemis-ii-and-iii-missions-mean-for-canada" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>On Jan. 9, NASA <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-shares-progress-toward-early-artemis-moon-missions-with-crew/">announced</a> it would be shifting the launch of Artemis II to September 2025. Artemis III — the first mission to land humans on the surface of the moon since 1972 — was moved to September 2026. </p>
<p>What do these delays mean for Canada’s plans to explore the moon?</p>
<p>I am a professor, an explorer and a planetary geologist. For the past decade, I have been helping to <a href="https://www.spacerocks.ca/">train Canadian and U.S. astronauts</a> in geology. I am also the principal investigator for Canada’s first ever <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp">rover mission</a>, and a member of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-selects-geology-team-for-the-first-crewed-artemis-lunar-landing/">Artemis III Geology Team</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-space-technology-and-innovations-are-a-crucial-contribution-to-the-artemis-missions-196328">Canada's space technology and innovations are a crucial contribution to the Artemis missions</a>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Global News reports on NASA’s announcement to delay Artemis II and III missions.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The Artemis program</h2>
<p>It has been 52 years since humans last walked on the surface of the moon. Since then, humanity has not ventured beyond <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/03/Low_Earth_orbit">low Earth orbit</a>, about the distance from Halifax to Fredericton, or Toronto to Ottawa. </p>
<p>In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo — a fitting name for the program that will take humans back to the moon. Unlike Apollo, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis program</a> also has the explicit goals of establishing the first long-term presence on the moon — similar to Antarctica <a href="https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/a-look-into-the-international-research-stations-of-antarctica">research outposts</a> — and sending the first astronauts to Mars. </p>
<p>The Artemis missions are ambitious to say the least, and represent the next major collaborative international effort, building on the success of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/">International Space Station</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, with the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-welcomes-angola-as-newest-artemis-accords-signatory/">addition of Angola in November</a>, 33 nations have now signed the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/">Artemis Accords</a>. The Accords lay out a common set of principles for the exploration and use of outer space. Canada was one of the <a href="https://www.space.com/artemis-accords-explained">original eight countries</a> to sign these accords. </p>
<p>A core principle of the Artemis Accords is to enhance peaceful relationships between nations, which is needed now, perhaps more than ever since the Cold War.</p>
<h2>Failure is not an option</h2>
<p>After the success of the <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/artemis-missions.asp#artemis-i">Artemis I</a> mission in late 2022, most people probably thought there would be a quick succession of missions and we would be back on the lunar surface in no time. While the originally planned two years between Artemis I and II may sound a long time, it is in terms of space exploration, where the development of missions is often measured in decades.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-space-technology-and-innovations-are-a-crucial-contribution-to-the-artemis-missions-196328">Canada's space technology and innovations are a crucial contribution to the Artemis missions</a>
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<p>The major reason for this is that space is incredibly unforgiving. From withstanding the huge G-forces and vibrations as the rocket accelerates to over 40,000 kilometres an hour during launch — the velocity needed to escape Earth’s gravity — to the extremes of temperature, designing technologies for space is hard and costly. </p>
<p>Every piece of the Artemis infrastructure must be tested and tested again to make sure it can withstand the rigours of space. The environment of the moon is a particularly challenging thermal environment, with a staggering 300 C temperature difference between the lunar day and night. </p>
<p>Some of this testing can be done in a laboratory; however, once a certain scale is reached, this becomes impossible. Take SpaceX’s <a href="https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/">Starship</a>, the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown and a key part of the architecture for Artemis. </p>
<p>On Nov. 18, its second launch, the Starship exploded after <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03624-z">reaching its goal of entering space</a>. SpaceX engineers gathered a wealth of data to improve the design of Starship. However, this test made it clear that this rocket, which will be used to land the Artemis III crew on the surface of the moon, simply wasn’t going to be ready for a 2025 launch. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The second test flight of Starship from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 18, 2023.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The astronauts’ long wait</h2>
<p>The stakes could not be higher for the Artemis II mission as onboard, for the first time, will be four astronauts, including Canadian <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/active/bio-jeremy-hansen.asp">Jeremy Hansen</a>. </p>
<p>While not scheduled to land on the surface of the moon, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/">Artemis II</a> is still an incredibly challenging mission that carries with it an element of risk that comes with any “first.” Indeed, this will be the first time humans will fly in NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the first mission to take humans beyond low Earth orbit since <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-17/">Apollo 17 in 1972</a>. </p>
<p>If this mission is successful, these four astronauts will have boldly gone farther from our home planet than any other humans, ever. So it makes sense to take time, especially considering some of the obstacles still facing Artemis II.</p>
<p>On the plus side, the Artemis II crew will have more time for training. Having been involved in providing <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/blog/2023/09/19/15-photos-of-lunar-geology-training-in-canada.asp">geology training</a> to two of the Artemis II crew last September — Hansen and Christina Koch — having an additional few months for training will definitely not go to waste. </p>
<p>This delay will also give Canadian astronaut <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/active/bio-jenni-gibbons.asp">Jenni Gibbons</a> time to come up to speed with training as part of the back-up crew for Artemis 2 — a job she was only assigned in November.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="three people study a rock outcrop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569133/original/file-20240112-25-l4b6nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Jenni Gibbons with Gordon Osinski at the Kamestastin Lake impact structure, Labrador.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/multimedia/search/image/18645">(Canadian Space Agency)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Robots to the moon</h2>
<p>On the same day that NASA announced the delays to the Artemis program, the U.S. company Astrobotic announced that its Peregrine lunar lander suffered a “<a href="https://www.space.com/astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-propulsion-failure">critical loss of propellent</a>” not long after launch. This means there is no chance of it being able to land successfully on the moon.</p>
<p>The lander has been gathering valuable data while its fuel supplies lasted, so all is not lost. This is also the first launch as part of NASA’s new <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services</a> (CLPS) initiative. </p>
<p>Despite the failures and setbacks in the Artemis and CLPS programs, 2024 promises to be the most exciting year for lunar exploration in decades. Astrobotic is planning two more launches, including NASA’s ambitious <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viper/">Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover</a> (VIPER). </p>
<p>Two other U.S. companies, <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/">Intuitive Machines</a> and <a href="https://fireflyspace.com/">Firefly Aerospace</a>, are also scheduled to launch their first lunar missions. And even sooner, the Japanese space agency <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/">JAXA</a> has scheduled the landing of its <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231205-1_e.html">Smart Lander for Investigating Moon</a> (SLIM) on Jan. 19 — if successful, this would make Japan only the fifth country to do so.</p>
<p>I will be watching these upcoming CLPS missions closely, as one of these companies will take the <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp">Canadian Lunar Rover</a> to the moon no earlier than 2026. Even before this mission, thanks to the Canadian Space Agency’s <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/programs/leap/">Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program</a>, Canadian companies such as <a href="https://missioncontrolspace.com/">Mission Control Space Services</a> and <a href="https://www.canadensys.com/">Canadensys</a> are working on software and hardware to contribute to various CLPS missions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2044%2C1293&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a cube-like robot on a grey surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2044%2C1293&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569135/original/file-20240112-19-uphqeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist’s rendition of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander on the surface of the moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Astrobiotic)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Canadarm3 and the Lunar Gateway</h2>
<p>Almost lost in the details of NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-shares-progress-toward-early-artemis-moon-missions-with-crew/">announcement about Artemis II and III</a> was the statement that Artemis IV remains on track to launch in September 2028. In addition to landing two astronauts on the lunar surface, a major objective for Artemis IV will be the continued assembly of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway/">Lunar Gateway</a>. </p>
<p>The Gateway is a small space station that will act as an outpost orbiting the moon, providing support for lunar surface missions and, in the longer term, as a staging point for further deep space exploration. The Gateway will be the home for Canada’s biggest financial contribution to Artemis: <a href="https://mda.space/en/canadarm3/">Canadarm3</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a robotic arm in space" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569137/original/file-20240112-23-wj99xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s concept of Canadarm3 located on the exterior of the Gateway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/multimedia/search/image/12642">(Canadian Space Agency, NASA)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Currently being built by <a href="https://mda.space/en/">Canadian company MDA Space</a> with the support of dozens of Canadian partners and suppliers, Canadarm3 represents the next generation of space robotics. In contrast to the ISS, astronauts will not always be present on the Gateway, so Canadarm3 is being built with advanced AI-enabled sensors to enable autonomous operations.</p>
<p>Just like what <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/canadarm/about.asp">Canadarm</a> did for the Space Shuttle Program and <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/canadarm2/history-of-canadarm2.asp">Canadarm2</a> did for the International Space Station, Canadarm3 will be an iconic reminder of Canada’s international status as a spacefaring nation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Osinski receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Space Agency. He is affiliated with the Earth and Planetary Institute of Canada (EPIC). </span></em></p>NASA announced that the next two Artemis missions — Artemis II and III — will be delayed for safety reasons. However, Artemis IV remains on schedule.Gordon Osinski, Professor in Earth and Planetary Science, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2202402024-01-08T20:01:06Z2024-01-08T20:01:06ZDark energy is one of the biggest puzzles in science and we’re now a step closer to understanding it<p>Over ten years ago, the <a href="https://www.darkenergysurvey.org/">Dark Energy Survey (DES)</a> began mapping the universe to find evidence that could help us understand the nature of the mysterious phenomenon known as dark energy. I’m one of more than 100 contributing scientists that have helped produce the final <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.02929.pdf">DES measurement</a>, which has just been released at the <a href="https://aas.org/meetings/aas243">243rd American Astronomical Society meeting</a> in New Orleans.</p>
<p><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy/">Dark energy</a> is estimated to make up nearly 70% of the observable universe, yet we still don’t understand what it is. While its nature remains mysterious, the impact of dark energy is felt on grand scales. Its primary effect is to drive the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-physicsprize2011.pdf">accelerating expansion of the universe</a>.</p>
<p>The announcement in New Orleans may take us closer to a better understanding of this form of energy. Among other things, it gives us the opportunity to test our observations against an idea called the <a href="https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_accel.html">cosmological constant</a> that was introduced by Albert Einstein in 1917 as a way of counteracting the effects of gravity in his equations to achieve a universe that was neither expanding nor contracting. Einstein later removed it from his calculations.</p>
<p>However, cosmologists later discovered that not only was the universe expanding, but the expansion was accelerating. This observation was attributed to the mysterious quantity called dark energy. Einstein’s concept of the cosmological constant could actually explain dark energy if it had a positive value (allowing it to conform to the accelerating expansion of the cosmos).</p>
<p>The DES results are the culmination of decades of work by researchers around the globe and provide one of the best measurements yet of an elusive parameter called “w”, which stands for the <a href="https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/eqstat.html">“equation of state</a>” of dark energy. Since the discovery of dark energy in 1998, the value of its equation of state has been a fundamental question.</p>
<p>This state describes the ratio of pressure over energy density for a substance. Everything in the universe has an equation of state. </p>
<p>Its value tells you whether a substance is gas-like, relativistic (described by Einstein’s theory of relativity) or not, or if it behaves like a fluid. Working out this figure is the first step to really understanding the true nature of dark energy.</p>
<p>Our best theory for w predicts that it should be exactly minus one (w=-1). This prediction also assumes that dark energy is the cosmological constant proposed by Einstein.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-euclid-spacecraft-will-transform-how-we-view-the-dark-universe-204245">The Euclid spacecraft will transform how we view the 'dark universe'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Subverting expectations</h2>
<p>An equation of state of minus one tells us that as the energy density of dark energy increases, so the negative pressure also increases. The more energy density in the universe, the more repulsion there is – in other words, matter pushes against other matter. This leads to an ever-expanding accelerating universe. It might sound a bit bizarre, as it is counterintuitive to everything we experience on Earth.</p>
<p>The work uses the most direct probe we have on the expansion history of the universe: <a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/03/03/standard-candle-supernovae/">Type Ia supernovae</a>. These are a type of star explosion and they act as a kind of cosmic yardstick, allowing us to measure staggeringly large distances far into the universe. These distances can then be compared to our expectations. This is the same technique that was used to detect the existence of dark energy 25 years ago.</p>
<p>The difference now is in the size and quality of our sample of supernovae. Using new techniques, the DES team has 20 times more data, over a wide range of distances. This allows for one of the most precise ever measurements of w, giving a value of -0.8</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Vera Rubin Observatory." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568424/original/file-20240109-25-st53oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Facilities such as the Vera Rubin Observatory will make further measurements.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://rubin.canto.com/v/gallery/album/HDSNU?display=curatedView&viewIndex=2&column=image&id=hfgkvecufl6krfopg1oq7bbv5g">H. Stockebrand/Rubin/NSF/AURARubinObs/NSF/AURA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first sight, this is not the precise minus one value that we predicted. This might indicate that it is not the cosmological constant. However, the uncertainty on this measurement is large enough to allow minus one at a 5% chance, or betting odds of only 20 to 1. This level of uncertainty is not good enough yet to say either way, but it’s an excellent start.</p>
<p>The detection of the Higgs Boson subatomic particle in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider required odds of a million to one chance of being wrong. However, this measurement may signal <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/big-rip-end-of-the-universe">the end of “Big Rip” models</a> which have equations of state that are more negative than one. In such models the universe would expand indefinitely at a faster and faster rate – eventually pulling apart galaxies, planetary systems and even space-time itself. That’s a relief.</p>
<p>As usual, scientists want more data and those plans are already well underway. The DES results suggest that our new techniques will work for future supernova experiments with <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid">ESA’s Euclid mission</a> (launched July 2023) and the new Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile. This observatory should soon use its telescope to take a first image of the sky following construction, giving a glimpse into its capabilities. </p>
<p>These next-generation telescopes could find thousands more supernovae, helping us make new measurements of the equation of state and shedding even more light on the nature of dark energy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220240/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Nichol is a member of the Dark Energy Survey collaboration.</span></em></p>The nature of dark energy remains one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.Robert Nichol, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2195462024-01-02T16:49:57Z2024-01-02T16:49:57ZPrivatised Moon landings: the two US missions set to open a new era of commercial lunar exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566549/original/file-20231219-23-qde9s6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1839%2C984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10836">Photograph: Nasa (Goddard Space Flight Center)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two commercial spacecraft are scheduled to launch to the Moon early in 2024 under a Nasa initiative called the Commercial Lunar Payload Service <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">CLPS</a>. This programme is intended to kickstart a commercial transportation service that can deliver Nasa experiments and other payloads to the lunar surface.</p>
<p>If successful, these missions will represent the first landings on the Moon by spacecraft designed and flown by private companies. They could potentially open up a new era of commercial lunar exploration and science. </p>
<p>CLPS was inaugurated by Nasa in 2018. An initial pool of nine companies received an invitation to join the programme. They included <a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/">Astrobotic</a> and <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/">Intuitive Machines</a>, the two companies behind these missions. Both missions expect to land within a week after lift-off.</p>
<p>The first launch, and the first Nasa flight of 2024, is the Peregrine lunar lander, built by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic. It is scheduled to launch at the earliest on January 8. Broadly speaking, the lander is a box the size of a medium-sized garden shed containing several separate experiments. </p>
<p>These include a set of mirrors called a laser retro-reflector array, used for accurate positioning of the lander from orbit. There are also a number of spectrometers – instruments that separate and measure the distinct colours found in light. These will measure radiation on the lunar surface and look for signatures of water in lunar soil.</p>
<p>One of them, the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=PEREGRN-1-02">Neutron Spectrometer System</a>, will look for hydrogen-containing materials on the surface, which can indicate the presence of water below ground. This water could one day be used by human explorers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Astrobotic Peregrine lander." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1279&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander will touch down near the Gruithuisen Domes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20231114-PH-ILW01_0100">Isaac Watson/Nasa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are two principle sources of dangerous radiation for humans in space. One is the Sun, which unleashes electrons, protons and heavier ions that are accelerated to a significant fraction of the speed of light. </p>
<p>These solar energetic particle events (SEPs) are more likely to occur during the Sun’s peak of activity (solar maximum), which occurs every 11 years. However, that does not mean there is a respite during the solar minimum.</p>
<p>The other source of harmful radiation is galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). These energetic particles originate outside the Solar System, probably in explosive phenomena such as exploding stars (supernovas).</p>
<p>During periods of lower solar activity (including the solar minimum), the Sun’s magnetic field, which extends throughout the Solar System, weakens. This enables <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Solar-cycle-%20modulation-and-anti-correlation-of-GCR-flux-with-solar-activity-Shown-are_fig6_257343697">more GCRs</a> to reach us instead. </p>
<p>Another spectrometer on Peregrine will measure both SEPs and GCRs on the Moon. This is important for examining how dangerous the radiation environment at the lunar surface will be for future human explorers.</p>
<h2>Polar landing</h2>
<p>The second spacecraft to launch early in 2024 is the <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-1">Nova-C lander</a>. It is designed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines and has a similar volume to Peregrine, but in the shape of a tall, hexagonal cylinder. It will carry several instruments including its own laser retro-reflector array. Nova-C is currently scheduled to launch in mid-February.</p>
<p>Other instruments include a suite of cameras for producing a 3D image of Nova-C’s landing site. This will allow scientists to estimate how much material is blown away by the landing rocket’s exhaust plume during the descent. Potentially, any material blown away can be imaged to get an idea of the composition of surface material. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Nova-C lander." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A model of the Nova-C lander.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/NHQ201905310022">Nasa (Goddard Space Flight Center)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The “radio observations of the lunar surface photo-electron sheath” (<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2102.02331.pdf">Rolses</a>) instrument is designed to measure how the extremely tenuous lunar atmosphere and the Moon’s surface dust environment affect radio waves. </p>
<p>The behaviour of electrically charged dust particles on the Moon is a technical challenge which future explorers will need to deal with, as the abrasive particles can attach themselves to surfaces and mechanical devices and potentially cause harm if <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-%20next-big-challenge-for-lunar-astronauts-moon-dust/">inhaled</a> by astronauts.</p>
<p>A privately built experiment onboard Nova-C is the International Lunar Observatory <a href="https://iloa.org/ilo-x-precursor/">ILO-X</a>, which will aim to capture some of the first images of the Milky Way galaxy from the Moon’s surface. This would demonstrate the concept of lunar-based astronomy.</p>
<h2>Landing locations</h2>
<p>Peregrine’s landing site is a bay on the west side of Mare Imbrium, known as Sinus Viscositatis (Bay of Stickiness). Here, two volcanic mountains called the <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/482/a-lunar-%20mystery-the-gruithuisen-domes/">Gruithuisen Domes</a> are made of a different material to the surrounding plains. </p>
<p>The plains are a form of basalt, while the domes are composed of silica. Both are volcanic in origin, but one appears to have been formed by lava with a viscosity of mango chutney (the silica), and the other by runnier lava (the basalt). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Gruithuisen Domes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Gruithuisen Domes appear to have been formed by silica lavas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/482/a-lunar-mystery-the-gruithuisen-domes/">Nasa (GSFC)/Arizona State University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Earth, silica lavas typically require the presence both of water and plate tectonics. However, plate tectonics are not known to be present on the Moon, and neither is water in the quantities necessary for silica lavas. The Gruithuisen Domes thus present a geological enigma which Peregrine could go some way to resolving.</p>
<p>The landing location for Nova-C is Malapert A crater – which is of particular interest for lunar exploration, as it lies close to the Moon’s south pole. The surrounding mountains permanently shield this depression from sunlight, leaving it in constant darkness. </p>
<p>Consequently, it is one of the coldest locations in the Solar System and, given the lack of sunlight, a place where water ice delivered by comets hitting the surface over the aeons could remain stable. Future human explorers could use it for life support and making rocket fuel.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Lunar south pole." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of the Moon’s South Pole showing the Malapert crater (foreground).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5127">Nasa's Scientific Visualization Studio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are additional payloads on both spacecraft from private investors. Peregrine contains the “DHL Spacebox”, which will carry personal items from paying customers, while Nova-C contains “The Humanity Hall of Fame” – a list of names to be sent to the Moon for posterity. Such payloads can generate additional funding for the launch companies.</p>
<p>Several other companies are due to launch their first payloads to the Moon in the next couple of years. With greater input from private companies – assuming the these first few missions succeed – we may soon witness a new era in lunar exploration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Peregrine and Nova-C landers are due to carry out valuable science at two diverse lunar locations.Gareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science, University of BirminghamIan Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.