Daily Archives: May 24, 2021

Space tourism is a newly introduced luxury that will potentially become reality very soon. There are numerrous companies trying to scale their technology to make this possible. Take for example Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, which is currently open for bids for a seat on its New Shepard flight planned for July 2021 (current high bid: $2.8 million). Elon Musks SpaceX and Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezaw also announced a new project named dearMoon, which will enable 8 civilians to join a week-long Starship mission around the Moon in 2023. These are just two of the biggest names in space travel, with many more smaller companies ramping up their operations with scalable space-travel in mind.

Indeed, as the prospects of space travel are slowly becoming more promising, one cant help but wonder: am I cut out for space travel? Can my body handle the rigors of outer space? After all, venturing into space is by no means for the faint-hearted. The body undergoes a significant amount of change, including functioning in reduced gravity, being exposed to solar radiation, and undergoing muscle atrophy just to name a few of the many health effects.

Since the beginning of space travel nearly 60 years ago, the scientific community has invested significant resources in understanding what exactly happens to the human body during space travel.

A recent report published in Nature describes a study undertaken to determine how muscle mass and strength is affected during spaceflight. The study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Tsukuba, set two murine [mouse] experimental groups in orbit for 35days aboard the International Space Station, under artificial earth-gravity (artificial 1g; AG) and microgravity (g; MG), to investigate whether artificial 1g exposure prevents muscle atrophy at the molecular level. The results were definitely jarring. The paper authors explain that their main findings indicated that AG onboard environment prevented changes under microgravity in soleus muscle not only in muscle mass and fiber type composition but also in the alteration of gene expression profiles. In particular, transcriptome analysis suggested that AG condition could prevent the alterations of some atrophy-related genes.

These findings are congruent with that of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In fact, a NASA fact sheet explains: the absence of gravity makes working in a spacecraft physically undemanding. On Earth, we must constantly use certain muscles to support ourselves against the force of gravity. These muscles, commonly called antigravity muscles, include the calf muscles, the quadriceps and the muscles of the back and neck. Because astronauts work in a weightless environment, very little muscle contraction is needed to support their bodies or move around. The fact sheet provides startling statistics: Studies have shown that astronauts experience up to a 20 percent loss of muscle mass on spaceflights lasting five to 11 days [] Astronauts on the International Space Station spend 2 1/2 hours per day exercising to combat the effects of muscle atrophy.

View of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon photographed from the Apollo 10 Lunar Module, ... [+] (Snoopy) as it orbited around the moon, May 1969. (Photo by NASA/Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

Other aspects of human spaceflight are equally worth considering. According to NASA, the first hazard on their list is exposure to space radiation, which the agency states increases cancer risk, damages the central nervous system, can alter cognitive function, reduce motor function and prompt behavioral changes. Moreover, the agency lists Isolation and confinement and Hostile/closed environments as two other prominent concerns, highlighting that space travel has significant impacts on mental and behavioral health, in addition to the physical toll.

The European Space Agency has teamed up with five particle accelerators in Europe that can recreate cosmic radiation by shooting atomic particles to speeds approaching the speed of light. Researchers have been bombarding biological cells and materials with radiation to understand how to best protect astronauts.

The research is paying off, according to physicist Marco Durante, who also explains that Lithium is standing out as a promising material for shielding in planetary missions.

NASAs Human Research Program (HRP) is another pioneer in the research arena. The agency partners with external entities in researching and developing innovative approaches to reduce risks to humans on long-duration exploration missions, including NASAs Journey to Mars.One of these partnerships is the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) []The mission of the TRISH is to lead a national effort in translating cutting edge emerging terrestrial biomedical research and technology development into applied space flight human risk mitigation strategies for human exploration missions.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 9: Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Blue Origin and owner of The Washington Post ... [+] via Getty Images, introduces the newly developed lunar lander "Blue Moon" and gives an update on Blue Origin and the progress and vision of going to space to benefit Earth at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

There are still so many intricacies to delve into and so much research yet to be done with regards to the effects of space travel on the human body. Indeed, as the new-age space race and interest in space tourism continues to accelerate, only time will tell as to how humanity will confront the challenges and experiences that this new frontier entails.

Link:

As Interest In Space Tourism Booms, New Research Shows What May Happen To The Body In Space - Forbes

The favorite space travel maneuversin and out of a wormhole of science-fiction fables could be more real than we thought. Physicists initially did not know whether black holes existed in the real world. Over the years, they said black holes are very real and then showed they even exist in our galaxy, using the theory of general relativity, which predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to create a black hole. This same theory is now being used to suggest wormholes speculative tunnels that could create shortcuts for journeys across the universe could also be real, which would make it a lot easier to traverse the universe.

Physicists Juan Maldacenafrom the Institute for Advanced Study in the USand Alexey Milekhinfrom the Princeton Universityhave found a method that could produce large holes. The two physicists have argued that the Randall-Sundrum II model allows for traversable wormhole solutions, where the wormholes are big enough that a person could traverse them and survive.

Thoughtheir research, published in APS Physics journal, is progress on previous studies on wormholes, a special machine to allow humans to travel to a different point in the universe through wormholes still seems far away. The two physicists want the mysterious dark matter in our universe to behave in a particular way for their discovery to succeed.

We have a limited toolbox, says Brianna Grado-White, a physicist and wormhole researcher at Brandeis University. To get something to look the way we need it, there's only so many things we can do with that toolbox.

The idea of a wormhole to create a bridge between two universes was first described by physicists Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen in 1935. In theory, they discovered that a black hole's surface might work as a bridge to a second patch of space. Since then, many others imagined wormholes and said some of them might be traversable, meaning humans may be able to travel through them. But these ideas were limited by two challenges: fragility of these tubes and their tininess.

In late 2017, physicists found a breakthrough to prop open wormholes with quantum entanglement a kind of long-distance connection between quantum entities. This new approach inspired a stream of work aimed at creating bigger, longer-lasting holes.

Physicists Lisa Randall and Raman Sundrum had proposed the RandallSundrum models in 1999 to address the Higgs Hierarchy Problem in particle physics.

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Travelling Through a Wormhole in Space May Be Possible, New Research Suggests - Gadgets 360

BOCA CHICA, Texas The text arrived late at night: For your own safety, leave home by morning, it read. Nancy and James Crawford, no longer surprised but still unsettled, raced away in their S.U.V. after sunrise, occasionally twisting their necks to catch a glimpse of the space rocket towering behind them.

Moments later, the Crawfords, who are in their 70s, watched from a 12th-floor balcony on South Padre Island, a few miles up the coast, as the rocket shattered on impact during an attempted landing, spreading fiery debris along the sand dunes and tidal flats. The building shook, Mr. Crawford recalled, and in the distance, there was a ball of fire.

It was exciting, echoed his wife, but too dangerous if we had stayed home.

Home for the Crawfords is a remote coastal community a stones throw from Mexico, a village so small that water has to be trucked in. With a single road in that ends at the shoreline, it has long attracted people eager to escape congested cities, and retirees eager to escape the harsh winters of the North and Midwest.

From the community tucked among lush wetlands, wildlife refuges and sandy beaches, the nearest supermarket is about 20 miles away, past long stretches of gravel roads and a Border Patrol checkpoint. Until a few years ago, the handful of residents could not have imagined that rockets designed for interplanetary travel would be as much a part of their view as the Rio Grande.

But ever since the billionaire Elon Musk brought his private space company, SpaceX, to the area, life has not been the same. A gargantuan gray rocket, surrounded by chain-link fencing less than a mile from the ranch-style brick homes, is a constant reminder that the Crawfords and their remaining neighbors live near a space launching pad.

SpaceX representatives usually give the 10 or so residents plenty of warning that a rocket is scheduled for launching. Other times, loud sirens warn them, and some, like the Crawfords, choose to put on heavy-duty headphones to block some of the noise. When a rocket engine is tested, the roar and trembling are so powerful that they can blow windows inward.

Humans are not the only species who cower. The earsplitting sound of rockets shrieking above the tidal flats has caused some, such as shorebirds, to flee in terror or to stop nesting in the area altogether. And heavy machinery brought in to retrieve whatever debris has scattered often damages the road and scares away other wildlife, environmentalists said.

While the Federal Aviation Administration has given SpaceX environmental clearance for the tests, environmentalists worry that recent explosions could have a lasting effect on the ecologically rich area, home to a number of endangered species, like ocelots and Kemps ridley sea turtles.

When youre testing brand-new technology and brand-new rockets, brand-new engines, stuff like that happens, said Jim Chapman, president of Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, a nonprofit group with a mission to protect the native habitats of the Rio Grande Valley. Well, our feeling is, that shouldnt be happening here.

But the story of how SpaceX came to Boca Chica, about 22 miles from Brownsville, Texas, begins with a promise of a much-needed economic boost to one of the poorest regions in the country.

For decades, Brownsville and the broader Rio Grande Valley have struggled with a lack of opportunities and a brain drain, with many college graduates opting to leave for careers elsewhere.

Before SpaceX became entrenched in Brownsvilles consciousness, the economy had relied heavily on jobs with the government, schools, health care and some low-paying retail stores, officials said.

Representatives for SpaceX, which is investing a fortune in its quest to send people to Mars, did not respond to a request for comment. But officials of Cameron County, which includes Boca Chica, said the company had infused hope and optimism into the region.

When the company announced plans to move to the area in 2014, it promised to create about 500 jobs, said Eddie Trevio Jr., the Cameron County judge, the countys top elected official. But as of late last year, he said, the actual figure was more than triple that, with more than 1,600 jobs in construction, clerical and other fields, most of them given to local residents, he said.

The benefits to the Brownsville area, where according to the U.S. Census Bureau at least 30 percent of the population lives in poverty, will eventually outweigh whatever tension and disruptions the company has brought, Mr. Trevio said.

We have to balance the good with the bad, he said.

The search for the ideal SpaceX launching pad began more than 10 years ago. Sites were considered in other states, including Georgia, California and Alaska, with engineers needing a mostly desolate area close to the ocean. Boca Chica, a retirement community with only a few year-round residents, fit the bill.

After SpaceX signed a deal to set up operations near the village, the testing of rockets that would one day reach outer space began a few years later in earnest, Mr. Trevio said. The company has taken a fail-fast, fix-fast approach, which essentially means that engineers use the tests to identify shortcomings in the design and then make adjustments before the next test.

Over the past year, those who still live in the community have had to flee before every launch. Four rockets have exploded, spreading debris across the area. (The most recent test, this month, did not result in an explosion, and an elated Mr. Musk took to Twitter to celebrate the milestone: Starship landing nominal!)

This was not the Crawfords idea of a peaceful retirement. Both worked in government jobs in Michigan, him in law enforcement and her with a deeds department. And though they still spend their summers in Michigan, they bought their home in Boca Chica 10 years ago in search of nature and some quiet.

Then came the knocks on their door, and on the doors of their neighbors. SpaceX wanted their homes. Representatives with the space giant had appraised the Crawfords single-story, three-bedroom brick house at $50,000 and was willing to pay three times that, they were told. The Crawfords dismissed what they considered to be a paltry offer from one of the richest men in the world.

We cant buy a new house with that money, Mr. Crawford said with a chuckle.

Last October, the offers finally stopped.

We are pretty certain that we will be able to remain in our home, Ms. Crawford said with a sigh of relief.

But many of their neighbors, who like them once found Boca Chica the perfect winter oasis, took the checks and left.

And one by one, the ranch homes have been replaced by modern white houses with solar-powered rooftops, the occupants younger space professionals who work for SpaceX, residents said.

You can tell which homes are SpaceX because they are the ones that look the same, a stale white and black, said Rosemary Workman, 72, who spends most of the year in Boca Chica and has turned down offers to sell her home.

One of her new neighbors has stood out. Mr. Musk has been spotted staying in an unassuming ranch-style house. Ms. Workman and her neighbors sometimes see him taking a stroll with two men they assume are part of his security detail.

He doesnt really make an effort to say hi or get to know us, said Jim Workman, 75, who lives across the street from the billionaire.

The feeling, he admitted, is mutual. He pointed to a flag on his front porch that reads Come and Take It below the image of a cannon, the flag fashioned for the Texas Revolution and long a symbol of defiance in the state.

I think he gets the message, Mr. Workman said.

Concerns over SpaceX extend beyond Boca Chica.

In downtown Brownsville, Elias Cantu, an activist with the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Mexican-American civil rights organization in the country, stood beside a mural of Mr. Musk that read Boca Chica to Mars and shrugged. He said he feared it would be only a matter of time before Boca Chicas extreme redevelopment found itself encroaching into Brownsvilles poorest neighborhoods.

Its inevitable, Mr. Cantu said. Hell need homes to house all the people he wants to bring down here. Im afraid hes going to push out a lot of low-income families who have lived here for generations.

Xandra Trevio, a member of Fuera SpaceX, an organization pushing back on SpaceXs rapid expansion (its name translates as Leave SpaceX), said she and many other activists felt ignored by area policymakers.

I feel like people believe that SpaceX is going to be good for the community, when in fact, they are too large to control, too large to hold accountable, Ms. Trevio said. Local officials are only seeing money signs. Local officials are star struck.

But area officials said they could not turn away millions of dollars and the promise of high-paying jobs in a region that for decades has been starved for investment.

In the build it and they will come philosophy, the space giant has already attracted other employers to the region. Space Channel, an entertainment network devoted to covering space, recently announced that it would move part of its operations from Los Angeles to Brownsville, including six executives, with local positions to follow. Other companies are likely to do the same, said Rose Gowen, who sits on the city commission.

One of the very important things for me to support, and us to support, is growing the wealth, Ms. Gowen said.

Mr. Musk seems to agree. He recently announced on Twitter that he planned to donate $30 million for city revitalization projects and schools. The mayor of Brownsville, Trey Mendez, did not respond to a request for an interview. But in a statement, he said he supported money coming in. We look forward to a discussion about how this could help our community prosper as we take a front seat to the next chapter of space exploration and innovation, he said.

But that growth is no consolation for the holdout residents of Boca Chica. The Crawfords like to sit in their backyard and admire the several species of birds looking for respite, or the delightful sightings of those migrating.

But reminders that they live near a launchpad are never far away. Every now and then, loud sirens startle them, signaling that the testing of rocket engines is about to begin. Or they receive a text asking them to leave their home, a cue that a launch is imminent.

When a sheriffs vehicle drives by with its sirens on, the Crawfords know they are supposed to run to the street or at least leave their home. They know their windows could shatter. But the last time they heard the siren, on one afternoon this spring, the couple looked at each other and shrugged.

We grew tired of running out, Ms. Crawford said. This is life near SpaceX, after all.

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A Serene Shore Resort, Except for the SpaceX Ball of Fire - The New York Times

May 22nd 2021

AT 17:17 GMT on May 14th Tianwen-1, a Chinese mission which had been orbiting Mars since February 10th, made a subtle adjustment to its trajectoryone that put it on course to hit the planets surface six hours later. After three hours, however, it broke itself in two. One part readjusted its path so as to skim past the planet and stay in orbit. The other, a sealed shell with a heatshield on the outside and a precious cargo within, plummeted on towards the surface at 17,000km an hour.

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It entered the atmosphere about 125km above the ground, blazing across the alien sky like a meteor. Once friction with the air had bled off most of its kinetic energy it deployed a parachute. The shell broke open, revealing a landing platform with four legs, a rocket engine and a six-wheeled rover fastened to its top. The engine ignited. When the platform had just 100 metres left to go it paused briefly, hovering as its sensors looked for obstacles that would impede a safe landing. Then it set itself down in a cloud of red dust on Utopia Planitia, one of the great flat plains of Marss northern hemisphere.

Entry, descent and landing (EDL) is historically the riskiest part of any mission to the Martian surface. Every engineering system has to work perfectly. And it all has to happen entirely on the basis of onboard data processing and programming, unsupervised by any human being. Mars is currently 320m kilometres from Earth, meaning radio signals between the planets take 18 minutes to travel each way. By the time the engineers, researchers and bigwigs gathered at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre knew for sure that the spacecraft was entering the atmosphere, the dust had long since settled.

Once news of its arrival reached mission control, Chinese media lost little time in announcing the triumph to a waking nation which had, for the most part, been blissfully unaware of the drama playing out in the heavens. Aware of EDLs risks, the authorities had given little advance warning of the landing attempt. The details of Tianwen-1s orbital manoeuvres were worked out by amateurs monitoring Chinese telemetry using an Apollo-era radio dish in Germany.

The announcement stressed not just the landing itself, but the complete success of the mission it capped. By orbiting and landing on a planet China had never previously visited, Tianwen-1 had become the most successful first mission to Mars in history. America did not land on Mars until five years after first orbiting it.

That said, both Americas first orbiter and its subsequent Viking landers made their trips in the 1970s. The Soviet Union managed a landing then, too. But the European Space Agency (ESA) has twice failed at the task, in 2003 and 2016the second of those attempts a partnership with the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. Getting it right first time definitely ranks as an achievement, even half a century on. It is, moreover, one achievement among many. In January 2019 China became the first country to put a rover on the far side of the Moon. And last month it launched the first part of a new space station. A second part is due up shortly.

China still has some way to go, though. The capabilities of Perseverance, the one-tonne lander which Americas National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, deposited at a precisely chosen location in Jezero crater on February 18th, far outstrip those of the Chinese rover, Zhurong, which is a quarter of the size. And Perseverance has the benefit of established orbital infrastructure in the form of the Mars Relay Network, five satellites (three American, two European) that can send high-bandwidth data back to Earth. One of the reasons given for Zhurongs failure to send back pictures until May 19th was that the Tianwen-1 orbiter had to refine its orbit yet again in order to pass on messages.

When Zhurong does trundle off its platform and on to the plain, attention will focus on data from its ground-penetrating radar, which is designed to be able to detect ice at depths of up to 100 metres. The distribution of ice is of consuming interest to those who study Mars, defining as it does the limits of the planets potential habitability both in its less-arid past and, perhaps, its human-settled future.

The Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping project (SWIM), an attempt to synthesise results from many different approaches to the question, suggests that when Viking-2 scraped the surface at its landing site in another part of Utopia Planitia in the 1970s, its robotic arm may have been within centimetres of permafrost. But that was at 48N. Zhurongs landing site, at 25N, is within the Martian tropics, where underground ice is much less likely to persist close to the surface. Unlikelihood, though, is not impossibilityand it would make any icy discovery even more exciting.

How far Zhurong will be able to go in search of ice is hard to say. It is similar in size and design to Spirit and Opportunity, two rovers America landed in 2004, and like them it has an official life expectancy of 90 sols (a sol is a Martian day, 40 minutes longer than an Earthly one). Spirit ended up lasting six years, Opportunity 14, over which it travelled 45km. If Chinese engineering is of a similar calibre and its operation teams similarly canny, Zhurong may still have quite a journey ahead of it.

It may even last until the next landmark in Mars exploration: the return of samples to Earth. It is a goal NASA has spoken of for decades and now intends to realise. Part of Perserverances mission is to assemble a cache of samples to be picked up later by a joint NASA-ESA mission. Some years hence, the plan goes, America will land a package close to that cache. This will contain both a small European rover to retrieve the samples and a rocket capable of getting them into orbit, whence another European spacecraft will scoop them up and bring them back to Earth. It is the most ambitious planetary-science mission currently being planned.

China is reported to be planning a sample-return mission, too, for launch around the end of the decade. It showed some of the capabilities required for this by returning samples from the Moon last year. If it were to content itself with bringing back any old sample that could be reached from a lander with a rocket on board, that mission could conceivably be accomplished at about the same time as the more sophisticated NASA-ESA attempt. That really would be an interesting space race.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Welcome to Utopia"

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Space exploration China lands a rover on Mars - The Economist

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#SpaceX #SpaceTravel #ETF

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ETF Battles: Want to Invest in Space Travel and Exploration? Try these 3 ETFs - TheStreet

The private space industry is booming with companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic all designing spacecraft to transport people into the cosmos. Elon Musk is the closest to launching a space faring program, with near-term plans to send humans to the Moon and Mars. In October 2020, Musk, a genius billionaire, quietly declared the independence of a new country on Mars. Musk claimed he will have humans on Mars to start building the new free city-state by 2026. He also declared the new country will not recognize the laws of Earth.

All three tech billionaires currently face few obstacles to implement their plans. However, one obstacle for all of them will be navigating international law. Musk already appears to be exploiting many soft spots in international politics, which are no competitor to a ruthless tech titan. Musks plans are an urgent international problem that requires a new multi-national solution.

Musks Declarations About Mars

For decades, Musk has spoken about his desire for humans to become interplanetary. Musk founded SpaceX in 2001 with his PayPal fortune and the goal to put humans on Mars. After Russia rejected his offer of $20 million to buy several intercontinental ballistic missiles, Musk began manufacturing and launching his own rockets. Musk plans to start sending humans to Mars by 2026 and then shuttling thousands of people between Earth and Mars before 2030. Muskplans to create a city on Mars by 2050 and then a completely self-sufficient city of a million people on Mars by the end of the century.

Musk is an eccentric guy and not everything he says should be taken seriously. However, it is clear Musk is serious about bringing humans to Mars. In 2017 and 2018, he published detailed plans for settling Mars. In October 2020, Musk published a terms of service agreement for beta customers of his new Starlink wireless internet service. The agreement included a very specific note about the governance of Mars. In Starlinks Pre-Order Agreement, under Governing Law, the contract states,

For Services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement.

Further, in December 2020Musk began selling off all of his possessions to help fund the city on Mars. A SpaceX attorney even stated he is actively drafting a Martian constitution. There is every reason to think Musk will follow through.

Common Heritage of Mankind

Ultimately, a city on Mars would simply be an extension of Earth, though separated by a different kind of sea. National jurisdiction and sovereignty are always limited in several areas: outer space, international airspace, international waters, international sea beds. All these areas are considered the common heritage of mankind (CHM). These are areas where activities are expected to be carried out in the collective interests of all states and benefits are expected to be shared equitably. Space exploration is a priority for many nations, as well as for the scientific community. There is zealous global interest in space travel, studying celestial objects, and even operating scientific laboratories in space and on planets.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) explained in Article II that outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. This provision is referred to as the non-appropriation principle. The policy rationale is to dis-incentivize states from reenacting terrestrial land rushes and taking boundary disputes into space. Scholars argue that the outer space non-appropriation principle has passed into customary international law.

In this sense, Mars is equivalent to the high seas. According to the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, international waters belong to everyone and no one. There is a history of rogue actors declaring new nations in domestic and international waters; a phenomenon often referred to as seasteading. None of these nations have ever been recognized as legitimate. The U.K. rejected a British mans declaration that a WWII platform was now the Principality of Sealand. Italy rejected the Republic of Rose Island off its coast and eventually destroyed the nation with dynamite. U.S. courts have rejected seasteading as well, deciding that artificial islands on the coast of Florida were under U.S. jurisdiction.

Private Property Rights in Space

International law is clear about private property rights in space there are none. Private property rights can only be created by a state on the property over which the state has sovereignty. The 110 countries that have ratified the OST are not allowed to create private property rights. The OST is ratified by all states with space programs and reflects the consensus of resolutions of the U.N. General Assembly on the topic.

Under the OST, states are also liable for the activities of non-state actors, whether they are private corporations or international organizations. States must ensure private activities conform to the obligations of the OST. It is up to each party state to create their own domestic legislation to effectuate this. The U.S. created the ability of private citizens to go into space with proper government authorization and supervision through several pieces of domestic legislation. However, while the OST requires continuing supervision by nations of private actors while in space, U.S. laws omit regulating activities in space, instead focusing on launches and reentry.

In the early 2000s, the U.S. adjudicated one case of private property rights. In 2003, Gregory Nemitz registered a claim of real property rights for the entirety of an asteroid. After NASA landed a spacecraft on the asteroid, Nemitz submitted an invoice to NASA for parking and storage fees. NASAs general counsel denied Nemitz claim and Nemitz appealed in court. The court found there are no private property rights in space; thus, there was no basis for compensation.

However, the U.S. pivoted its non-appropriation policy in 2015 with the SPACE Act, where U.S. Congress created private property rights for resources in space. Backers of the SPACE Act compared it to the Homestead Act of 1862 (which the idea of seasteading is based on). In 2017, the U.S. National Space Council proclaimed that outer space is not the common heritage of mankind. Then in 2020, NASA announced the Artemis Accords: new principles for the use of outer space including further solidifying private property rights in space. Nine other countries have signed on. Finally, in 2020 President Trump discussed space settlements during the State of the Union, saying, now we must embrace the next frontier: Americas Manifest Destiny in the stars.Following this trajectory (homesteading, Manifest Destiny, etc.), it seems possible the U.S. might actually support some of Musks plans for Mars if his actions bring more imperialistic value to the U.S. government than logistical headache. However, it seems unlikely the U.S. would support Musk creating a separate nation.

Some commenters have pondered why Musk provided the Starlink/Mars clause so early (well before any of his employees or customers have traveled to Mars). The prohibition of private property ownership in space appears to have already become customary international law or is at least on the cusp of crystallizing. Musk will want to say that from his countrys original declaration of independence, he has always been a persistent objector to the prohibition of private property rights on Mars. This strategy would make financial sense, as Martian private property rights would reassure Earth-based investors.

Deconstructing Musks Plans for Mars

Musk elaborated in 2020 that he plans for his government to be a direct democracy. Commentators have questioned why Musk would choose that form of government, which may be terribly ineffective in response to resource scarcity and constant danger. Further, Musk has become well known as a CEO who will happily violate labor laws, health codes, and pollution regulations back on Earth in furtherance of his companys financial bottom line. That does not sound like someone who will actually enact or uphold direct democracy.

So, what exactly is Musk up to? It is not occupation because Mars is not populated and Musk is not a state. It is not discovery because Mars is not terra nullius (available land that no one has claimed yet)and again Musk is a private actor. It is not filibustering (a private individual waging private wars against existing countries, i.e., William Walker: another deranged San Francisco Bay Area-based entrepreneur) because even though Musk is a private actor, he is not conquering. Musks actions are similar to seasteading (the concept of establishing new countries in international waters); however, as discussed, seasteading has never resulted in a recognized claim to a new country. The closest comparison to what he is doing is probably secession.

It is possible for new states to be created through secession from existing states. Today, the international community disfavors unilateral secession. Under international law, secession is more likely to be accepted if it is in pursuance of self-determination, democratic governance, and has the support of the people of the would-be state.

Musk could argue he is pursuing democratic goals and has the consent of his people (his Starlink customers: over 700,000 of whom already agreed to the contract). Musk can say he should be allowed to secede from the United States because his state will be even more democratic (direct democracy instead of representative democracy). He may even be able to posture himself as escaping human rights violations in the U.S., citing the recent international outcry about systemic racial injustices in the U.S.

However, Musk will have a harder time navigating domestic law as a citizen of the United States. The U.S. is a perpetual union that not allow unilateral secession. Musk will not be allowed to secede per domestic laws. When a secession attempt fails, there are other options. Musk, like other actors with the capacity to go into space, will be bound by the laws of the state to which he is a citizen. This means there is a risk that international commercial enterprises like SpaceX will engage in jurisdiction shopping for countries with lenient outer space regulations and perhaps even states who never signed the OST. These companies will search for administrations whose licensing and supervisory requirements may be deficient, defective, or intentionally inadequate.

As a final contingency, Musk is saddling up with a U.S. state with its own notorious rebellious streak. Musk is building a rocket production plant and the first fully commercial launch facility capable of launching spacecraft for long-term space travel in Boca Chica, Texas. It is obvious why Musk chose Texas. First, it is close to the equator for launch logistics. Second, it is still in the U.S. for the purposes of trades and permits. Finally, Texas has an adversarial relationship with the federal government and already attempted to secede from the U.S. (and secession is still a popular talking point). If any state would support a U.S.-state based secession attempt to support Musk, it is Texas.

In March 2021, Musk announced he is creating the city of Starbase, Texas on currently unincorporated land in Boca Chica, located in southern Texas near the Mexican border. The top county official protested Musks declaration, saying, Sending a Tweet doesnt make it so If SpaceX andElon Muskwould like to pursue down this path, they must abide by all state incorporation statutes. The county is also already anticipating litigation against SpaceX for violating agreements with the county around permits and security.

Many commentors are asking why Musk so desperately wants this specific village. Musks new city is not simply near the Mexican Border, it is on it. Boca Chica borders the Gulf of Mexico to the east, Brownsville Ship Channel to the north, and the Rio Grande River and Mexico to the south. If Musk felt he needed a free city-state on Earth, to support his free city-state on Mars, it seems within the realm of possibilities he could attempt to secede Starbase from the U.S. and create his own country (which barely shares a land boundary with the U.S.). He already unilaterally and illegally declared a new city there.

Musk is already in violation of federal laws. SpaceX was denied a safety waiver by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in December 2020 due to Boca Chica-based launch plans that exceeded maximum public safety risk, but following the permit denial, Musk proceeded anyway and the launch ended in a fireball explosion. The FAA delayed the next test planned for January 2021 until an investigation could be completed. A former FAA official noted the lack of FAA enforcement against Musk was puzzling. Even after mysteriously avoiding any penalties, Musk, upset about the delay, claimed the FAA was a fundamentally broken regulatory structure.

Musk already bought out most Boca Chica residents and has allegedly been bullying the remaining few with property damage, trespassing, offers of over triple the value of their property, and threats of vague other measures if they do not accept. Once the last residents are forced out, a secession attempt then would only involve resistance by the local and federal governments. Is Musk capable of violent measures? Apparently, Musk and SpaceX employees have been spending time at a nearby shooting range. Further, neighbors have grown accustom to sirens warning them when Musk and company are about to do something that could (and sometimes does) cause imminent physical harm, and then evacuating or taking cover. Not to mention the fireball incident. Violence seems within the realm of possibilities.

Musk will likely offer financial incentives for Texas to tolerate his activities. He has already promised$30 million to local governments. Musk has also entwined himself with the federal government to the point of mutually assured destruction. SpaceX secured a $2.9 billion contract with NASA for the upcoming Moon missions (though currently contested by Jeff Bezos) and is already heavily involved with other NASA projects. NASA has become very dependent on SpaceX and Musk.

With all of this in play and no intervention, the compromise will likely be Texas and the U.S. tolerating Musks Starbase as a semi-autonomous region. Then, Musks Starbase succeeds as a semi-autonomous region and extends its territory to Mars as a non-member of the OST. This results in the politics of Musks presence on Mars having no precedent, no established legal standards, and no established political principles for analysis.

Conclusion

Soon, the largest obstacle to reign in Musk will be the distance to Mars. Will it really be worth launching a billion-dollar interplanetary mission to make an arrest? Mars is several months away at its closest. It will be prohibitively expensive to reign Musk in after the fact. In 2019, a space law conference discussed governance of commercial activities in outer space and found the world is at an inflection point and needs to establish global standards of accountability for private actors. The keynote speaker stressed the importance of governance, not simply governments. She looked to the success of the International Space Station as inspiration.

Considering this, a multi-national consortium should be created to regulate all activities on Mars. The consortium should be established in such a way that even the resources required for long-term interstellar travel are regulated in order to prevent rogue actors from working outside the system to control space access and resources, which are instead intended to be shared with all of humanity. At this point, a security council resolution on the topic may also be prudent.

Musks plans are just the beginning. There are two other ultra-wealthy titans of industry behind him and plenty more to come. Musk is just the first and most reckless. The international community must act now. The future of space may be speculative, but the issues are urgent. Space is for everyone. We all must partner together to ensure it remains that way.

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Stronger together: Moving from space exploration to nuclear utilities - Modern Diplomacy

Since Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, space exploration has been strong part of Americas cultural history.

In more recent times, its joined the investing lexicon. Space is a compelling but still nascent segment, one rife with potential and potential pitfalls. Thats where the actively managedARK Space Exploration ETF (ARKX)comes in.

By some estimates, space will be a $1 trillion global industry by 2040.

The investment implications for a more accessible, less expensive reach into outer space could be significant, with potential opportunities in fields such as satellite broadband, high-speed product delivery and perhaps even human space travel, according to Morgan Stanley research.

As Morgan Stanley notes, space investing is a diverse concept. To date, many retail investors think of space through the exploration and tourism lenses, but governments primarily dominate the former while the latter isnt yet profitable.

ARKX, which debuted in late March, delivers the diversity investors should be looking for in the final frontier. The rookie ETF offers access to multiple industries with space exposure, including aerospace beneficiaries, orbital and suborbital purveyors, and providers of enabling technologies. Research confirms a diverse approach that spans beyond space tourism could pay off for long-term investors.

See also:ETF Edge: Looking Inside Ark Invests Space ETF, ARKX

Morgan Stanley estimates that satellite broadband will represent 50% of the projected growth of the global space economy by 2040and as much as 70% in the most bullish scenario, notes the bank. Launching satellites that offer broadband Internet service will help to drive down the cost of data, just as demand for that data explodes.

Not surprisingly, ARKX offers elements of disruptive growth the investing style ARK Investment Management is a leader in. For example, ARKXs enabling technologies sleeve includes exposure to companies in the artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and robotics industries, among others. Several ARK ETFs already focus on those niches, cementing the notion that the issuer could be primed for space investing success.

Initiatives by large public and private firms suggest that space is an area where we will see significant development, potentially enhancing U.S. technological leadership and addressing opportunities and vulnerabilities in surveillance, mission deployment, cyber, and artificial intelligence, concludes Morgan Stanley.

For more on disruptive technologies, visit our Disruptive Technology Channel.

The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.

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The ARKX ETF: Investing in the Final Frontier - ETF Trends

Earths Moon is tiny compared to our planet itself, but its big enough that our efforts to explore it have really only scratched the surface. Once thought to be little more than a pale, dusty, crater-covered rock, researchers have gradually revealed that the Moon is actually a pretty special place. Water, which isnt something we ever associated with the Moon, may actually be abundant, though its likely locked away as ice in the lunar soil called regolith. Now, as part of NASAs Artemis program which will see humans return to the Moon in the years to come, the space agency is planning on launching its VIPER mission by late 2023.

VIPER, which stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, is a robot that will be sent to the South Pole of the Moon to hunt for resources that could be used for future missions. The idea is simple: If the Moon has resources that deep-space missions can use, stopping at the Moon to collect those resources before heading deeper into the solar system makes a lot of sense. Also, if we ever hope to set up shop on the Moon on a permanent or temporary basis, were going to need resources that the Moon itself may be able to provide.

The mission is important to the future of human space travel, as it could change the way NASA plans for trips deeper into space, but in the short term, it will reveal what resources are available for Artemis astronauts when they eventually make it to the Moon.

The data received from VIPER has the potential to aid our scientists in determining precise locations and concentrations of ice on the Moon and will help us evaluate the environment and potential resources at the lunar south pole in preparation for Artemis astronauts, Lori Glaze of NASAs Planetary Science Division said in a statement. This is yet another example of how robotic science missions and human exploration go hand in hand, and why both are necessary as we prepare to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon.

Story continues

The rover will be equipped with specialized drills for sampling the lunar surface, instruments for studying the material and discovering volatiles that could be useful, and for the first time ever headlights.

VIPERs design calls for using the first headlights on a lunar rover to aid in exploring the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, NASA writes. These areas havent seen sunlight in billions of years and are some of the coldest spots in the solar system. Running on solar power, VIPER will need to quickly maneuver around the extreme swings in light and dark at the lunar South Pole.

At present, NASA wants to launch the mission by late 2023. The space agencys plans include sending humans to the Moon by 2024, but that date has always seemed a bit unrealistic. Going forward, its wise to expect that date to change, but at least well get to watch a rover cruise around on the Moon in the meantime.

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Heres how NASA will search for water on the Moon - Yahoo Entertainment

Landing on the red planet is perilous NASA engineers refer to it as seven minutes of terror when its rovers, most recently Perseverance, arrive.

Because Tianwen-1 was already in orbit around Mars, its incoming speed was not quite as fast as Perseverances. Thus, Chinas lander required a bit of extra terror nine minutes for the landing, Global Times, a newspaper controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, reported on Friday, citing experts. The probe was also operating on its own, as signals currently take 17 minutes 42 seconds to travel between Mars and Earth.

Spacecraft descend toward Mars at a high speed, and the thin atmosphere does not do enough to slow the trip to the ground. The shock waves of air compressed by the speeding capsule generate extreme heat that must be absorbed or dissipated. A number of Soviet, NASA and European missions have crashed.

Only NASA has reached the surface of Mars intact more than once. The landings of its largest rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, have relied on parachutes to slow the spacecraft, shields to dissipate the heat from atmospheric friction and intricate systems called sky cranes. These were basically rocket-powered jetpacks, which carried the rovers beneath them and lowered them to the surface on cables before flying safely away from the landing zone.

For our countrys first Mars exploration mission, we didnt have firsthand data about the environment on Mars, especially the atmosphere, Chen Baichao, a senior designer for the mission, said in remarks reported by The Paper, a Shanghai-based news site. So it was tantamount to us entering a completely unknown environment, and you can imagine how difficult that is.

Global Times reported that the Tianwen-1 probe lowered its altitude from its parking orbit before its lander-rover combination separated with the orbiter at around 4 p.m. Friday, Eastern time. (In China, it was 4 a.m. Saturday.)

The orbiter then rose and returned to its parking orbit about half an hour after the separation, to provide relay communication for the landing craft combo, the Chinese space agency told Global Times. The lander-rover combination circled Mars for another three hours before entering the Mars atmosphere en route to landing.

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What We Know About Chinas Mars Rover Zhurong Landing - The New York Times

A remote-controlled Chinese motorised rover drove down the ramp of its landing capsule on Saturday and onto the surface of Mars, making China the first nation to orbit, land and deploy a land vehicle on its inaugural mission to the Red Planet.

Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, drove down to the surface of Mars at 10:40 a.m. Beijing time (0240 GMT), according to the rover's official Chinese social media account.

China this month joined the United States as the only nations to deploy land vehicles on Mars. The former Soviet Union landed a craft in 1971, but it lost communication seconds later.

The 240-kg (530-pound) Zhurong, which has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera, will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere.

Powered by solar energy, Zhurong will also look for signs of ancient life, including any subsurface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar during its 90-day exploration of the Martian surface.

Zhurong will move and stop in slow intervals, with each interval estimated to be just 10 metres (33 feet) over three days, according to the official China Space News.

"The slow progress of the rover was due to the limited understanding of the Martian environment, so a relatively conservative working mode was specially designed," Jia Yang, an engineer involved in the mission, told China Space News.

Jia said he would not rule out a faster pace in the later stage of the rover's mission, depending on its operational state at the time.

Jia said the rover was designed to be highly autonomous because the distance to Mars, at 320 million km (200 million miles), means a signal takes 40 minutes to travel both ways, posing a hurdle for real-time control of the rover.

Martian temperatures are also a problem, he said: a nighttime drop to minus 130 degrees Celsius (minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit)freezes carbon dioxide, covering the uneven ground with a layer of dry ice - a terrain risk for the rover.

Zhurong has an automated suspension system that can lift and lower its chassis by 60 centimetres (2 feet), the only rover with such a capability, according to China Space News.

The rover is covered by nano-aerogel plates to protect its body from the cold.

Dust storms could also affect the rover's ability to generate power through its solar panels, Jia said. To overcome this, the panel surface is made with a material that cannot be easily stained by dust and can easily shake dust off by vibration, he said.

ANCIENT OCEAN

China's uncrewed Tianwen-1 spacecraft blasted off from the southern Chinese island of Hainan in July last year. After more than six months in transit, Tianwen-1 reached the Red Planet in February where it had been in orbit since.

On May 15, the landing capsule carrying the rover separated from Tianwen-1 and touched down on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, believed to be the site of an ancient ocean.

The first images taken by the rover were released by the Chinese space agency on Wednesday.

The coordinates of the landing site are 109.9 degrees east and 25.1 degrees north, China Space News said.

Tianwen-1 was one of three probes that reached Mars in February.

U.S. rover Perseverance touched down on Feb. 18 in a huge depression called Jezero Crater, more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) from Utopia Planitia.

Hope - the third spacecraft to arrive in February - is not designed to land. Launched by the United Arab Emirates, it is orbiting above Mars, gathering data on its weather and atmosphere.

Perseverance and Zhurong are among three robotic rovers operating on Mars. The third is NASA's Curiosity, which landed in 2012.

NASAs InSight, which arrived on the surface of the planet in 2018 to study its interior, is a stationary module.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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China says Martian rover takes first drive on surface of Red Planet - Reuters