Daily Archives: February 22, 2021

Why Baroness Cavendish’s ‘new Act of Union’ would do anything but save the UK – The National

Posted: February 22, 2021 at 2:33 pm

DEAR Ms Cavendish. Forgive me addressing you in this slightly unorthodox and public manner. I read with great interest your article in the Financial Times on Saturday, headed A new constitutional deal would avert a break-up of the Union.

I note that you speak with some authority as the former head of the Downing Street policy unit under David Cameron and arenow a senior fellow in government at Harvard University. Perhaps even more interesting, BBC Radio 4s Womans Hour has ranked you the fifth-most influential woman in Britain.

I read your piece avidly because I, as a long-time advocate of Scottish independence, am anxious to see a resolution of the present constitutional crisis. A resolution that is both peaceful and equitable to all the constituent nations of the United Kingdom, including England.

My concern is that the UK Parliament is now acting like an English nationalist administration as you yourself admit. As a result, the political and economic future of these islands in their totality has become increasingly problematic. It is a time for wise heads and cool reflection all round.

Sadly, on reading your article, I find that you as an influential member of the British governing elite (nothing pejorative intended) are desperately ignorant of the drivers of independence in Scotland. Also, your analysis of the solutions to the present constitutional imbroglio are I do not mean to be polemical extraordinarily facile, given the gravity of the situation. Please let me explain.

I start with your opening statement that as a half-Scot, I have sympathy with the desire to assert distinct identities. I know you are trying to define common ground in this discussion but in fact you have utterly failed to understand that the demand for Scottish self-government is not and never has been centred on the issue of personal identity. Rather, the issue is about better governance, democracy, and the right of Scotland to decide its own path.

At heart, this is a debate about the over-centralisation and increasingly English-oriented nature of the UK political system. With a majority of Scots now supporting forming their own state, it is the undemocratic refusal of the Johnson administration to accept another referendum that has brought matters to a head not the psychological preferences of individuals living north of Hadrians Wall.

READ MORE:Efforts to create an idea of British Unionism shows the Union is 'under threat'

This is only compounded by the inability of influential people in the Unionist camp such as yourself to accept that the problem originates in the dysfunctional nature of the UK constitution and its obsolete parliamentary structures. This includes the House of Lords in which you sit (unelected) as Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice.

I might add, if you will forgive me, that your own understanding of how the UK constitution present operates is somewhat lacking, especially for a Harvard fellow in governance. You claim: Devolution is lopsided with Scottish and Welsh MPs voting on English matters. Surely you cannot have forgotten that in October 2015 the Conservatives used their majority to change the House of Commons standing orders to exclude MPs from Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish constituencies from voting on English-only matters (as defined by the Speaker). English votes for English matters is now standard.

This change has had serious constitutional consequences. Rather than create a devolved English legislative chamber, the Westminster Parliament now doubles as the English Parliament. Inevitably, Commons business is dominated by the health, education, transport and community ministers of England pretending to speak for the nation.

Hours of parliamentary time are taken up with English-only matters. Representatives of the other three nations are reduced to frustrated bystanders.

One obvious solution from the Unionist perspective is a move to an explicitly federal system, with a distinct English Parliament. You could even site such a parliament beyond the Red Wall.

Yet I note that you, Baroness Cavendish, are utterly opposed to federalism. You reason that federation would be unworkable as England possesses eight out of 10 UK citizens and an even higher proportion of GDP.

Again, forgive me, but your grasp of the mechanics of federation seems weak, given your Boston location. In a federation, the individual states have internal jurisdiction over agreed matters. The fact that California has a population 10 times that of Connecticut is irrelevant as they both do their own thing.

In matters reserved to the federal level, we can discount any economic or population bias by giving each constituent state the same representation. California elects two members of the Senate, as does Connecticut and every other one of the 50 US states.

Here we come to the nub of the long-standing Unionist opposition to federalism in the UK. Introducing genuine federalism would put England and English interests (chiefly economic) on an equal footing with those of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and that will never do.

READ MORE:England is finally waking up to the fact that the Union is in peril

Subconsciously or otherwise, the English establishment views itself as the dominant power. At least, Baroness Cavendish, you have the honesty to admit that.

Which brings us to your own suggestion for a solution to The Scottish Question. You propose a new Act of Union which will define the UK as a unitary state with suitable powers devolved and with due respect for each nations identity. You say this would limit Downing Streets ability to make ad hoc changes to suit itself.

That is, of course, utter nonsense because a simple one-line bill commanding a simple majority will always override any previous legislation, as we have seen with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. Besides, I note you want any new Act of Union to set a higher bar for referendums. Effectively, you are proposing a new prison of the nations.

Your proposal is cosmetic at best. SNP MPs would vote against it, meaning that it was imposed against the wishes of the majority of Scottish elected representatives. How, Baroness Cavendish, does that strengthen your precious Union? From day one the legislation would lack democratic legitimacy north of the Border. But there is an even more troublesome implication.

READ MORE:A different class: Darren McGarvey's BBC show breaks TV's unstated barriers

Imposing a new Act of Union on Northern Ireland is very probably in breach of the Good Friday Agreement which defines Northern Irelands status as partly in the UK and partly (constitutionally and economically) a constituent component of the whole island of Ireland. Forcing through a new Act of Union would likely trigger a fresh border poll, which Sinn Fein might win.

Worse, such meddling with the status quo in Northern Ireland could produce a dangerous backlash. And dont think that excluding Northern Ireland from the legislation would help. That would send the DUP into orbit and negate the logic of the whole project.

You finish by saying the SNPs attacks show the emptiness of their case. But how can you ever pretend to negotiate a serious modernisation of the Union when you start by dismissing your opponents case as empty. So empty, in fact, that a majority of the Scottish electorate have been won to it.

Baroness Cavendish: why not embrace the independence of the nations of the British Archipelago and let England stand on its own two feet. That and that alone is how we will create a new era of friendship and co-operation in these islands.

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Why Baroness Cavendish's 'new Act of Union' would do anything but save the UK - The National

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Mars rover could answer questions here on Earth – The Union Leader

Posted: at 2:33 pm

Did life ever exist on Mars? Are we alone? Are we special?

Those are the questions a Dartmouth College researcher has been thinking about as she eagerly awaits new data and images from NASAs Perseverance rover, which landed on the red planet last Thursday.

Marisa Palucis, an assistant professor in the department of earth sciences, is a geomorphologist. I look at landscapes and think about how they evolved over time as a function of climate or tectonics, she explained.

For her, what makes Mars fascinating is its similarity to early Earth. Before Earth was teeming with life, before Earth had trees and dinosaurs were roaming around, it would have looked a lot like Mars, she said.

Mars today is very cold and dry, she said, but scientists believe that billions of years ago, the planet had rivers, lakes, volcanoes, perhaps even an ocean. But whereas Earth developed life and is what we know it as today, Mars didnt go that route, she said. So I think thats really fun to study the planet that was potentially very much like our own, at least early on.

In 2012, when she was a graduate student, Palucis was among the scientists gathered at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to watch the Curiosity rover land safely on Mars. I just remember watching grown men around me crying, she said.

Last Thursday, Palucis felt a similar rush of pride and excitement watching alone in her Dartmouth office as Perseverance stuck the landing on Mars.

She was part of a worldwide scientific community that weighed in on 60 potential locations for the rover to land. NASA selected the Jezero Crater, which scientists believe was once home to an ancient river delta.

That was Palucis first choice for Perseverance to explore.

Crater lakes are her specialty. Thats why Im so excited about this particular landing site, she said. It was clearly an ancient lake.

Her field research has taken her to such extreme environments as the Arctic and Death Valley. We go to really cold places or really dry places, basically places that have some aspects of Mars associated with them, she said.

Palucis investigates features such as water flow and sedimentary deposits. By studying them in the field, I use that to try to understand how they evolve over time, and that understanding helps me understand how they would have worked on Mars.

Until now, Mars rover missions have focused on the presence of water. We know that water is so important to life on Earth so we wanted to see: was there liquid water on the surface of Mars, she said.

The Curiosity rover, which continues to explore Mars, proved there were indeed large lakes that lasted for potentially millions of years, she said. Now Perseverance will be looking for evidence of life.

The Jezero crater that Perseverance will explore is an ancient lake with preserved deposits similar to the Mississippi Delta, she said. If youre looking for evidence of life, Palucis said, A great place to look would be a delta, where you have basically water meeting land, so you have the fresh inputs of nutrients.

Scientists hope to find evidence of fossilized microbes. But even if life didnt evolve on Mars, scientists want to learn whether there were precursors to life, Palucis said.

These are not just theoretical questions for scientists such as Palucis. Understanding the past is the key to the future, she said. Being able to really understand what it takes for life to emerge, or how does a planet deal with climate as its changing?

Mars is a whole other laboratory, a whole other set of parameters we have at our disposal, she said. The more we understand about that, the more we understand about our planet and how it works.

The Perseverance mission has four objectives: identifying past environments that would have been capable of supporting microbial life; seeking signs of that life; collecting core rock and soil samples that will eventually be returned to Earth; and testing oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere.

Perseverance carries an instrument called MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), which is tasked with producing oxygen from the carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere. According to NASA.gov, MOXIE makes oxygen like a tree does. It inhales carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen.

If liquid oxygen propellant could be manufactured on Mars, that fuel could be used to return Martian samples to Earth, and even to generate fuel to maintain a colony there someday.

Palucis doesnt have to wait for the samples to be returned to Earth. For her, the images that Perseverance is already sending home reveal important data about sediments and water transport on the planet that will advance her research.

But those Martian rock cores will help other scientists understand how long the planet remained wet and why it dried up, she said. We care about climate change on Earth, and Mars had this epic climate change, she said.

I do think its a worthwhile thing to study so we can make hard decisions about our own planet and how we treat it.

Its easy for a lay person to anthropomorphize these rovers that have been exploring Mars on their own for decades now. Palucis admits she does the same.

I definitely think of them as little robotic geologists, she said.

So when two previous Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, stopped transmitting, Palucis felt the sadness of loss. They died on Mars, she said. It does feel like they went there to learn and do all of these things for us. And I know theyre just robots but at the same time, its hard not to think of them as more.

After the past year of pandemic and economic hardship, Perseverances successful landing on Mars is something to celebrate, Palucis said. It gives us something as a society and as Americans to be really proud of, she said. And to remind ourselves that were explorers, and were curious.

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Mars rover could answer questions here on Earth - The Union Leader

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Nasa to reveal stunning first footage of Mars Perseverance rover touching down on the Red Planet – The Sun

Posted: at 2:33 pm

NASA will today reveal footage of its Perseverance Mars rover touching down on the Red Planet.

The $2.4billion robot landed last week after enduring "seven minutes of terror" as it plunged through the Martian atmosphere.

The six-wheeled rover is Nasa's most complex mission to the planet's dusty surface yet, sporting 19 cameras and seven scientific instruments.

Over the next two years, it will scan Martian rock for signs of alien life and carry out tests that are key to future manned missions to the planet.

At 7pm GMT (2pm ET) on Monday, Nasa will reveal what is the first rover landing footage ever captured on another world.

The video was recorded from the rover itself as it was lowered to the surface of Mars by a spacecraft that assisted with the landing.

You can watch the unveiling for free on Nasa's YouTube channel.

"Now that @NASAPersevere landed, we'll release first-of-its-kind footage from the rover's descent and landing after entering Mars' atmosphere," Nasa officials wrote in a Twitter update on Saturday.

The footage will show the robot dangling on nylon cables as it was delicately lowered into the Jezero crater last week.

Nasa shared a sneak peak of the clip last week when they released a photo Perseverance suspended above Mars from its rocket-powered skycrane.

It was filmed at the end of Perseverance's seven-minute landing, during which it hit speeds of 12,000mph.

"The moment that my team dreamed of for years, now a reality. Dare mighty things," Nasa wrote in a post to the Perseverance Twitter account.

"This shot from a camera on my 'jetpack' captures me in midair, just before my wheels touched down."

Perseverance is now sending data back to Earth via the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

It takes photos, videos and other information roughly 11 minutes to travel through space to Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The nuclear battery-powered rover has landed at the edge of an ancient, long-vanished river delta and lake bed called the Jezero crater.

Its thought that the basin was once filled with water and may have been home to alien microbes billions of years ago.

If thats the case, traces of those microbes should still be present deep within the soil at Jezero a bit like how dinosaur bones remain in Earths soil today.

The primary objective of Perseverances two-year mission - dubbed Mars 2020 - is to dig up soil samples that could contain all the proof we need that life grows on other planets.

In an interview ahead of the landing last week, Nasa Chief Scientist James Green laid out his hopes for the project.

"We want to search the past from the rock record to see if Mars could have supported life," he said on Neil DeGrasse Tyson's podcast, StarTalk.

"My secret wish is that we find it. We dont anticipate getting fossils, but there are potential cells or microbial indications that life could have survived on Mars in its early history."

Perseverance - What's on board?

Perseverance boasts a total of 19 cameras and two microphones, and carries seven scientific instruments.

An X-ray ray gun that will help scientists investigate the composition of Martian rock.

2. Radar Imager for Mars' subsurface experiment (RIMFAX)

A ground-penetrating radar that will image buried rocks, meteorites, and even possible underground water sources up to a depth of 10 metres (33ft).

3. Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA)

A bunch of sensors that will take readings of temperature, wind speed and direction, pressure, and other atmospheric conditions.

4. Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE)

An experiment that will convert Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen. A scaled-up version could be used in future to provide Martian colonists with breathable air.

5. SuperCam

A suite of instruments for measuring the makeup of rocks and regolith at a distance

6. Mastcam-Z

A camera system capable of taking 3D images by combining two or more photos into one.

7. Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC)

From Baker Street to Mars: Sherloc contains an ultraviolet laser that will investigate Martian rock for organic compounds.

Advanced power tools will drill samples from Martian rock and seal them into dozens of cigar-sized tubes for eventual return to Earth for further analysis.

Provided all goes to plan, they will be the first such specimens ever collected by humankind from the surface of another planet.

Two future missions to retrieve those samples and fly them back to Earth are in the planning stages by Nasa, in collaboration with the European Space Agency.

Another of the Mars missions headline experiments involves a small, drone helicopter named Ingenuity.

Strapped to the bottom of Perseverance, the lightweight craft will attempt the first ever powered flight on Mars in the coming months.

If successful, the four-pound (1.8-kg) whirlybird could pave the way for low-altitude aerial surveillance of Mars during later missions.

Other key equipment on board the $2.2billion rover include two microphones that will capture the first audio recordings from the Martian surface, as well as a potentially groundbreaking experiment called Moxie.

Moxie (Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment) is a small contraption housed in the belly of the rover that will convert a small amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Its a 1/200 scale test model of a design that may be used on Mars to provide future colonists with breathable air.

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In other news, you can catch up with all the latest on the Mars 2020 mission on ourPerseverance liveblog.

Space geekshave revealedstunning 4K footage of Mars captured by Nasas Curiosity rover.

And, Elon Musk has warned that humanitymay "self-extinguish"before we can colonise Mars.

What do you make of Nasa's Mars mission? Let us know in the comments!

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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The race to live on Mars – Conversations – ABC News

Posted: at 2:33 pm

Tamara Davis is a cosmologist who is is wildly excited by the NASA rover landing on Mars.

She says its only a matter of time until astronauts visit Mars and that before long there will also be a colony on the Red Planet.

Tamara also studies black holes, dark energy, dark matter and is helping manage the Dark Energy Survey, involving over 400 researchers on four continents.

And is leading a multi-million-dollar Laureate Fellowship to explore why the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

Over two episodes, Catalyst explores what it will take to get to and live on Mars and why scientists think life could once have existed there and may still do.

Mars: Our Second Home? Tuesday February 23 - 8:30pm

Mars: The Hunt for Life Tuesday March 2 - 8:30pm

Tamara is a presenter on ABC TV's Catalyst

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Perseverance goes to Mars with equipment needed to gather new information – The Robesonian

Posted: at 2:33 pm

February 12, 2021

PEMBROKE Art and music have ways of transcending lifes challenges, even during a pandemic.

Following that belief in part led the Givens Performing Arts Center and International Artists Foundation to win a highly regarded award for their recent collaborative project.

Givens Performing Arts Center, on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and International Artists Foundation in Lumberton are the recipients of a 2020 Gold NYX Award for its collaborative video presentation of music by Lumberton composer Mark Andersen. The NYX Video Awards is an international competition open to marketing, communications and videography professionals whose creative expertise and proficiency are both celebrated and recognized.

This is an exciting honor, said James Bass, GPAC executive director. Im so proud, not only of the award, but for the story that led us to this humbling recognition.

The project began when Bass, who is credited with producing the project, reached out to Mark Andersen about performing a concert for GPACs Front Row Arts Series, which presents virtual performances by local and regional artists.

In August 2020, Andersen recorded Rhapsody for Piano in three movements for the series. The music was written by Andersen during the COVID-19 pandemic and debuted on the GPAC stage.

The concert was special not only because it was the first time the music was performed on stage, but Andersen feared it may be his last performance.

Mark is truly a gift to our community. He is an absolutely amazing musician, and I wanted his music to be a part of this series, Bass said. I had no idea at the time that Mark was facing a very daunting health challenge.

The health challenge was renal cancer, diagnosed about a year ago.

It was stage 3 and I did not know how that would turn out, Andersen said. There was a very strong possibility that that might have been my last performance.

Because Anderson was previously diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, his condition was inoperable at the time.

They needed to get me in some better shape before they could do the operation, Andersen said. It was kind of a waiting game to see if I could get in good enough shape to have the operation before the cancer began to spread and it was too late.

After witnessing the positive feedback from and the large viewership of the concert, International Artists Executive Producer Lynn Andersen felt compelled to submit the project for the prestigious NYX award. On Dec. 18, Andersen learned that the submission was selected after an intense judging period featuring 1,616 entries from 33 countries.

We were extremely pleased to have worked with GPAC Producer James Bass, and his staff, during the production of this important concert of original music, Lynn Andersen said.

Having a nice stage and a professional staff to work with made the process that much easier, he said.

We were able to have a very nice venue that was easy to work in and people that are easy to work with, Lynn Andersen said. They were all prepared for us. We filmed and came home and started editing.

Although based in Lumberton, Mark Andersen is an internationally known composer and concert artist. His education includes East Carolina University, The American Conservatory of Music, and the Paris Conservatory of music, where he studied organ with Marcel Dupr and composition with Nadia Boulanger. He has performed internationally at many venues, including Royal Albert Hall, London; Carnegie Hall, New York; Lincoln Center, New York; and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

He has composed more than 200 pieces for organ, choir, symphony, and solo instruments in his career, including classical works and music for Broadway and opera stages.

Mark Andersen said he was grateful for the invitation to perform what he thought may be his final performance at GPAC.

I certainly would not have had the opportunity at that point to go back and perform at Carnegie Hall or any of the other major places, like the Kennedy Center or somewhere I had performed many times before in my life, but GPAC is here, Andersen said. Its my favorite performance space in Robeson County so I was very, very happy to have the opportunity to do it.

Shortly after Andersens concert debuted, he learned his prayers had been answered.

I relied on my faith, and the Lord was good to me and got me into good enough shape to where I got the kidney removed, Andersen said. It didnt spread and was contained in the kidney that was removed.

When Mark told me about his upcoming surgery and shared his fear that this might be his last performance and in the midst of a global pandemic in which live performances werent even an option I really knew what we were doing was something special, Bass said.

Andersens video, which has received more than 1,000 views, is a 30-minute performance of original music composed during the quarantine months of the pandemic, is titled Rhapsody for Piano.

Bass said that not only has it been shown on the GPAC webpage but through Carnegie Hall as well.

Im simply astounded by how popular it became in such a short time, Bass said.

We are proud of all the amazing individuals, agencies and companies who joined the NYX Awards this year, said Kenjo Ong, CEO of the International Awards Associate. This win by International Artists Foundation and Givens Performing Arts Center is not just a testament to their unbridled talent, but one that will inspire many for years to come.

The winning entries were judged impartially by a group of esteemed marketing, communications and videography professionals. The IAA selected a panel of international judges in the adjudication process and adhered to a strict code of excellence. The NYX Awards embraces diversity and ingenuity that comes from all corners of the world. The 2020 panel was comprised of judges from 16 countries.

Among the submissions, some familiar global brands were represented, including World Vision Canada, Heineken USA, PETA, Ferrari, BMW, Audi, Player One Trailers, Ubisoft, Morris Animal Foundation, TikTok Canada, Canon Singapore, Ericson Group Inc, FabFitFun, Adidas, Paradox Interactive, King Art Games, Miami Ad School, American Migraine Foundation, BBC Studioworks/Shoot You Ltd, Dell EMC, Unilever, CGTN, Lexus, Western Digital and AARP, to list a few.

A NYX Award has never just been about the title. Its an affirmation for the hard work these individuals have given for their work, Ong said. Their phenomenal ideas and concepts are two big reasons why the NYX Awards will continue to honor proficiency and expertise that transcends beyond normalcy.

Andersen learned recently that his scans were clear, and he still remains cancer free.

It turned out that the operation that they did in Duke was a complete success, so I will be playing again, Andersen said.

He plays frequently for Trinity Episcopal Church in Lumberton. Videos of the performances can be viewed on the churchs YouTube channel.

Rhapsody for Piano can be viewed at the Givens Performing Arts Centers website.

Why Turkey’s race to space is a good thing – TRT World

Posted: at 2:33 pm

A successful space program could be a game changer both in terms of technological advancement and how the region imagines itself.

Turkey recently grabbed headlines as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed a 10-year space program that would see the country send a Turkish citizen to the moon by 2023.

This landing, part of Turkeys larger Vision 2023 program to mark the republics centennial, is however only the first phase.

The second phase would aim for Turkey to have a soft landing (when a spacecraft lands intact on the surface rather than intentionally crashing or hard landing) on the moon in 2028, and would also include a scientific research component.

The announcement comes after years of Turkey building up its space capabilities. President Erdogan mentioned that over the past 18 years, Turkey has invested 2.1 billion Turkish liras (around $300 million) for 56 projects related to satellites, launching systems, and space equipment.

Just last month Turkey, in cooperation with Elon Musks Space-X, launched the Turksat 5A satellite with significant communications and defense implications for the region. The satellite is expected to come into operation in the latter half of this year.

These huge expenses might seem hard to justify at first. Why invest all that money to go to space when theres so much suffering down here? This would seem even more pertinent in a region as conflict-ridden as the Middle East.

However, Turkeys drive to space is worth it, and could have profound implications not just for itself, but perhaps the entire region.

Technological advancement

One of the first reasons a country should aspire to go to space is the effect it has on spearheading technological advancement.

Firefighting equipment, water filtration, the computer mouse, as well as healthcare advances such as artificial limbs, insulin pumps and LASIK eye surgery are all technologies that were originally innovated or further advanced to meet the challenge of life in space.

This point is an especially relevant one for Turkey due to its focus on not just going to space, but to do so by building up its own indigenous capabilities.

Turkey is not the only Muslim country aiming to go to space. The UAE recently joined the US and China as recent countries with probes sent to Mars with its Amal (Hope) probe. The county even aims to establish a colony on Mars by 2117.

However, Turkeys space program looks more promising over the long term due not just to its longer past, but also its emphasis on domestic engineering and building up domestic capacity in phases.

Imagining a better future

An even more important reason for a country to go to space is the effect it can have on peoples imaginations.

Theres a reason so many children want to be astronauts when they grow up. There is something intrinsically frontier-breaking about going to space, it opens up children's minds.

Due to its recent history, much of the Muslim world, especially the Middle East, is struck with despondency and defeatism. Many, quite understandably, cant imagine a better future. Compare this with Americans, who have long been known even among other Western countries for having an annoying degree of optimism.

The example of a Middle Eastern and Muslim country using its own technological and engineering capabilities to go to space should be a sign that the region can hope that with time and effort, things may look very different in the future.

The ability to imagine a better future is crucial to creating a better present.

Todays geopolitics, tomorrows astropolitics?

Turkeys 10-year space program also includes a regional positioning system, controlled by a combination of satellites and ground systems. President Erdogan noted that by doing so, Turkey will end its foreign dependency.

That brings us to the third reason why going to space is important for a country: its potential security implications.

While both the Cold War space race and the current equally-cold US-China space race have mostly been about prestige, industries currently being developed could have massive effects on our future societies.

The first is if commercial space flights become a reality soon, with Morgan Stanley predicting that the space industry could generate more than a trillion dollars of revenue for the US in 2040.

Even more crucial though is space mining.

If the cost of going to space can continue to be reduced, it could one day be feasible to mine the moon or asteroids, which are rich not only in water (which can be used for hydrogen fuel) but also metals, including gold and rare-earth metals. Some asteroids are worth not just millions or billions, but quintillions, a number so large, it is nearly unfathomable.

Whichever countries or corporations arrive there first could utilise that abundance of resources to create industries we cant even presently imagine.

How does the money and politics work?

Two potential obstacles for the Turkish space program rest in money and politics.

One component of Turkeys 10-step program is the building of a Turkish spaceport. However, Turkey is too far from the equator to be cost-competitive for launching rockets, meaning it will have to turn to an ally.

It is much cheaper to launch from the equator, due to the Earths greater rotational speed there reducing the amount of rocket fuel needed. This effect can be compounded if you launch from an eastern coast, as you gain extra velocity from the Earths west-to-east spin. (Hence, why NASA mostly launches from Florida).

The nearest Turkish ally located on an eastern coast near to the equator? Somalia.

Somalia as a close Turkish ally already hosts Turkeys largest military base outside of the country and the two countries cooperate on a wide range of issues.

Another potential roadblock could be the costs.

A Middle East Eyereport quoted the governments draft calculations for building and maintaining the spaceport in Somalia at more than $350 million, with another $150 million for increasing qualified personnel, including sending doctoral students abroad and increasing funding for Turkish universities.

However, while the politics and money may not be easy, the impacts it could have on Turkeys technological capabilities, the imagination of its population and the region's, as well as long-term security implications, means that Turkeys race to space is a potentially game-changing move for Turkey and the wider region.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of TRT World.

We welcome all pitches and submissions to TRT World Opinion please send them via email, to opinion.editorial@trtworld.com

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Why Turkey's race to space is a good thing - TRT World

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How will Nasa rover look for aliens on Mars? Cameras, helicopter and more revealed – The Sun

Posted: at 2:33 pm

NASA successfully landed its most complex Mars rover yet on Thursday, sparking cheers of joy at the space agency's HQ in California.

The Perseverance robot will scan Martian rock for signs of alien life and carry out tests that are key to future manned missions to the Red Planet.

In an interview ahead of the landing this week, Nasa Chief Scientist James Green laid out the primary goal of the interplanetary mission.