Daily Archives: August 23, 2022

SHAUN the Sheep, the claymation kids' tv favorite, has secured a seat on a space mission headed for the Moon.

The Artemis 1 mission will debut new launch, communications, and landing technologies for future manned space travel to the Moon and beyond.

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The first major mission of the Artemis playbook will be unmanned, leaving the mischievous sheep to his own devices while in space for up to 42 days.

This is an exciting time for Shaun and for us at ESA," European Space Agency Director for Human and Robotic Exploration David Parker said in a press release.

"Were woolly very happy that hes been selected for the mission and we understand that, although it might be a small step for a human, its a giant leap for lambkind."

A plush doll of Shaun will go off-world in the Nasa Orion spacecraft before doing a flyby of the Moon in the ESA-manufactured European Service Module.

Aardman is excited to be joining ESA in making history by launching the first sheep into space," Marketing Director for Aardman Lucy Wendover said.

Aardman is the studio behind Shaun the Sheep and claymation hit Wallace and Gromit.

"2022 marks the 15th anniversary of Shauns first TV series, so what better way to celebrate than by traveling farther than any sheep has gone before.

The ESA published a set of blogs detailing the nuances of astronaut training featuring Shaun as the series mascot.

In a blog on survival training, Shaun demonstrated some of the situations astronauts are prepared for, like the event the return module crash lands in the ocean or woodlands.

"Astronauts are also introduced to the skills of climbing, descending high cliffs safely, crossing rivers and navigating in the wilderness using only nature and the stars to guide them, something very close to home for Shaun the Sheep!" the blog explained.

In another training exercise, Shaun was strapped to a centrifuge and spun so rapidly that the stress of eight times the gravity on Earth was exerted on the plush doll.

Space.com reported that the four LEGO minifigures and a Snoopy doll will be on board.

The Artemis 1 flight will launch on August 29 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Viewers can tune in to watch Shaun blast off on a free YouTube livestream provided by the Kennedy Space Center.

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Read more:

Artemis 1 facts: Why is Shaun the Sheep going on Nasas Moon rocket mission?... - The US Sun

The interest in ethical consumption and corporate social responsibility has been gaining traction over the past several decades and companies wishing to cater to altruistic customers have been leveraging third-party certifications for proving their piety.

Social labeling has resulted in the establishment of a diversity of supervisory bodies which have inherently assumed new forms of power and their proliferation and influence are truly impressive. Certification marks associated with ethical sourcing and sustainable initiatives have become common features on the packaging of all types of products, and one of the most recognizable logos comes from the B Lab.

The B Lab is a nonprofit initiative that was established in 2006 as a means for challenging existing marketplace norms. The B Lab asserts that the economic model is broken and greater emphasis must be placed on people and the planet rather than profits.

Sir Richard Branson, a leading figure of the B Team, has called upon businesses to serve a higher calling and be a force for good, essentially discrediting the good derived from an exchange in and of itself.

Essentially, any product that improves human well-being, whether physically or emotionally, is of value and should be regarded as a social good. Take for example how several grocery stores are now selling pre-peeled eggs or pre-sliced fruits, which may seem unnecessary to some but a Godsend to those with a disability associated with fine motor skills.

What is good, and what has a positive impact, is based on the individual and the interaction. And Branson should be aware of this fact given that space travel is also viewed as unnecessary by someyet he is able to charge $450,000 a ticket for a once-in-a-lifetime experience on a Virgin Galactic flight.

Given that such flights are a fleeting use of private funds, have an environmental impact, and the social purpose of space travel has been a hot topic, Bransons own business venture seems contradictory to his B Team connection.

One could argue that space flights should be substituted for more pressing social matters, particularly since the B Lab asserts that our planet is in jeopardy and business has played a problematic role in our overall well being.

There will always be trade-offs in any market-based society, and there will always be varying levels of inequality. But, given that a market is made up of individuals engaged in an exchange process, decentralized human action will always serve as a better determinant for furthering societal progress than a centralized plan and external dictates.

Indeed, without experimentation and education, little advancement can occur. For instance, many criticized the cost of Elon Musks SpaceX launch, but his personal mission is now saving NASA $500 million having succeeded in the creation of reusable rockets.

Nevertheless, the B Lab is not shy about being openly in opposition to traditionally publicly traded firms and the pursuit of profits based on a passion. According to the B Lab, the focus for firms should be on sustainability and societyand the B Team isnt solely promoting its moral mantra to business professionals but also policymakers. In 2010, legislation was passed in Maryland to recognize Benefit Corporations and such recognition has since grown to more than half of all US states.

Moreover, the B Lab is not just focused on the US market. Iit has offices in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, along with a partnership with Sistema B in Latin America.

The B Lab movement has been able to institute stakeholder governance statutes in 51 jurisdictions across the globe, including Italy, Colombia, France, Peru, Rwanda, Uruguay, Ecuador, British Columbia, and Canada, as well as 44 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.). And, as declared by the B Lab: By working with other movements, coalitions, policymakers, activists, and organizations, and by catalyzing our stakeholders Certified B Corporations, benefit corporations, and businesses adopting B Labs standards we can achieve our vision.

Notice, however, that the focus is on B Labs vision, not the vision of an entrepreneur, and the emphasis is on adopting B Labs standards, which firms must be assessed on, abide by, and pay for.

To obtain a B Corp seal of approval, and use the B Lab logo, companies must undergo a B Impact Assessment, for a fee of course, and there are 5,000 certified firms. Major players within the B Corp market tend to be high-end sustainable apparel or health and beauty products and one of the most recognized B Corps heralded for its purpose-based dedication is Patagonia. Patagonia is so engrained in this movement that it has even created its own corporate venture fund, Tin Shed Ventures, to promote responsible business ideas.

More and more organizations are championing the stakeholder mindset and recently the Imperative 21 Network was launched to promote business as a social actor, not as a goods producer. Imperative 21 is a business-led network driving economic systems change and represents more than 70,000 businesses, 20 million employees, $6.6 trillion in revenue, and $15 trillion in assets under management.

The prominent players within this network include: The B Lab and B Team, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), Common Future, Conscious Capitalism, The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), JUST Capital, and Participant.

What is rather ironic though about Imperative 21 is that despite the common purpose for business to have a social impact, each organization involved has varying means for financing their cause as well as methods for assessment. For instance, B Corps are assessed according to roughly 200 questions, while those connected to John Mackeys Conscious Capitalism must abide by four principles; and for those affiliated with GIIN, ESG metrics are predominantly, and unsurprisingly, adhered to.

The influence of the supposed impact industry is growing given the interest from consumers to support businesses that do good and the pressure from policymakers for firms to improve their ESG ratings, which B Lab assists with.

The B Lab movement and Imperative 21, however, is a worrisome matter as firms should stick to competing according to the value they offer, not the virtue these organizations may espouse.

What is right or wrong tends to be subjective, situationally dependent, and even debatable. For instance, several firms have responded to the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe vs. Wade by offering assistance to those impacted by the new ruling, which is praised by some and has received backlash from others.

Even when it comes to the environment, there is much to debate about what is good for the earth and what is safe for society. Should limits be placed on farming given that it is a primary driver of deforestation? Should wind turbines be reconsidered given the difficulty in recycling the massive blades? Should solar panels be shunned due to contributing to the heat island effect which, according to the EPA, leads to an increase in air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions?

Because needs change, interests change, and our understanding of how the world works changes, it is best to allow for maximum creativity and flexibility so firms can pivot when needed as well as focus on their core competencies for the markets they serve.

As consumers, we should support firms that provide value and not buy into the social labeling schemes; as investors, we should direct our dollars toward ventures that will ensure a positive return and defend shareholder primacy over ESG ratings. And, as it turns out, the market for anti-ESG investing is actually quite strong, as American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is discovering.

As for businesses, do what you do best and focus on value creation with a long-term capitalist mindsettreat your employees well, cater to your customers, manage your operations efficiently, reinvest strategically, and aim to make moneyand you will have a positive impact.

Success has a spillover effect and businesses should be praised, not denounced, for their role in society as simply being a business and nothing more.

Continue reading here:

How Richard Branson's Space Flights Reveal the Inherent Problem With 'Business Impact Initiatives' | Kimberlee Josephson - Foundation for Economic...

Scientists were able to determine what space sounds like. (NASA Exoplanets via Twitter)

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

A BLACK HOLE It's 2022. Billionaire tourists are flying to space every few months. NASA is getting ready to launch a rocket to the moon. And the new James Webb Space Telescope is sending back mind-blowing images of far away space items.

But maybe space is just a little too scary.

Recently, NASA took previously inaudible sound wave data from the black hole in the Perseus galaxy and raised it up a few octaves (57 and 58 octaves to be exact) to show us what space sounds like.

The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a ~vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we've picked up actual sound. Here it's amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole! pic.twitter.com/RobcZs7F9e

It's hard to decide which alternative is better: the spooky, haunting ghost sounds, or eerie, empty space silence. Luckily, I don't think we'll have to decide since it's more likely we would experience silent space, if any of us nonbillionaires get to go to space, at all.

NASA does clarify in an article on its website that most of space is still a vacuum where no sound waves can travel, but some areas, like galaxy clusters, have enough gases to allow sound waves to travel. So if the sounds of this black hole (which, again, humans typically cannot hear due to the sounds actually being 144 quadrillion and 288 quadrillion times lower than the "remix" NASA released), you'll probably be OK going to space and just hearing the ominous silence of the space vacuum!

Lisi Merkley is a news producer for KSL.com. Prior to joining KSL in May 2021, she was editor in chief of The Daily Universe at Brigham Young University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and Spanish.

Excerpt from:

Have You Seen This? Space might be spookier with sound than without - KSL.com

George Lordos is not your typical graduate student. A degree in economics from Oxford University, an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a 20-year professional career were not the end of his learning journey. His longtime passion for space, particularly the prospect of making a sustainable society on Mars a reality, drew him back to school yet again, this time to study aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.

Lordos remembers vividly the impetus for this change in his professional trajectory. In 2014, SpaceX started demonstrating reusable rockets. I realized that [developing] rockets that can go to space and come back was like inventing sailing ships that can cross oceans, or trains that can cross continents, for the first time, he says. As human space travel was becoming more feasible, Lordos adds, I was watching all this from the sidelines, and I did not want to be on the sidelines. Now, hes squarely on the front lines, developing technologies to support human life on the Red Planet.

A longtime fascination with space

A native of Cyprus, Lordos has been interested in space, particularly the idea of living on Mars, ever since high school. As president of his high schools astronomy club, he arranged a trip to see Halleys Comet, drawing over 100 students. However, the trip did not go as planned; cloudy conditions precluded any hope of viewing the comet. His classmates didnt seem to mind. Everyone was much more interested in each other than looking for the comet. I think I was one of the few that was more interested in the comet, he recalls. Fortunately, during a camping trip a few days later the night sky cooperated, and there it was in all of its glory.

After considering studies in either engineering or economics, Lordos attended Christ Church College at Oxford University, earning a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. He appreciates the perspective he gained from his degree. One of the biggest gifts in my life was that I, a computing nerd, had the opportunity to learn how to think about important challenges facing our world, he says.

Lordos worked for a travel business for several years digitizing its operations before going back to school to get his MBA at MIT Sloan. After graduating, he worked for Bain and Company for a couple years and then spent the next 13 years as a serial entrepreneur and self-taught engineer in information technology and energy-efficiency consulting.

All the while, his interest in space never waned. Before his first semester at MIT Sloan, he flew to Denver to attend the founding convention of the Mars Society, a group of engineers and scientists pushing for humankind to go to Mars. I left the convention convinced that someday, humanity would establish a sustainable civilization on Mars, he recalls. The only question in my mind was whether that would actually happen in my lifetime.

In 2015, inspired by SpaceXs reusable rockets, Lordos began seriously considering going back to school for a PhD. Even though he had missed the application deadline for MITs Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, one of his Sloan economics professors encouraged him to apply to the System Design and Management (SDM) program, targeted for midcareer professionals. This program gave me the formal training I needed to fill the gaps, as I was a self-taught engineer for 15 years, he says.

Building a city on the Red Planet

During his first year in SDM, Lordos applied and was accepted to the AeroAstro program, where he has focused on finding ways to support human life on Mars. Given how far away it is, he explains, the only way to live there requires substantial self-sufficiency. In his research, which is largely modeling-based, he has drawn on his background in economics and technology to develop a quantifiable, cost-benefit analysis method that measures effort, cost, and value, which he terms lifetime embodied energy.

Through evolution, biology constantly seeks to optimize the use of energy, he explains. Accordingly, lifetime embodied energy is a metric of the past and future energy that must be expended to obtain value out of any system. This metric helps the system architect to make better-informed trade-off decisions, especially for infrastructure, and to leave more energy available to power sustainable growth over the long term.

Beyond his doctoral research, Lordos also loves prototyping, which he pursues through various NASA competitions, including the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts (RASC-AL) and the Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. Over the last five years, teams he has led or mentored earned 11 NASA awards for their designs, including prototypes of a tall, lightweight lunar tower and an ice mining system for efficient water retrieval on Mars.

To support his teams, Lordos founded MITs Space Resources Workshop, where he serves as lab supervisor with support and advice from Jeffrey Hoffman, a professor of the practice and former astronaut, and Olivier de Weck, the Apollo Program Professor and a professor of astronautics and engineering systems. The workshop is currently home to three teams with over 40 members, including 10 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) students.

In June, a team Lordos mentored won first place overall at NASA RASC-AL for designing vehicles which can reliably produce, store, and distribute rocket propellant on Mars. For the next BIG Idea Challenge in November, he is leading a finalist team building a field-reconfigurable robot to traverse extreme lunar terrain, named WORMS (short for Walking Oligomeric Robotic Mobility System).

In addition to the NASA competitions, Lordos and his colleagues have won other notable awards, including from the Mars Society and the AeroAstro department. For example, his team won first place for Star City, their vision for a sustainable city on Mars, in the 2019 Mars Colony Design prize competition.

Finding a beacon of hope

Now in his final year, Lordos admits that despite his success at MIT, being an older student has not been without challenges. There are basic stumbling blocks, like being several decades removed from my last math class, he says. And there are other, more complex issues. When you are an older student, you have other things going on in your life, he says. He has felt this acutely, since his wifes career in Cyprus and their childrens university education have kept the family apart for long stretches of time. He knows that he could not have pursued his degree without their support. Nevertheless, he says, One advantage of being a mature student is that, for me, after a lifetime of experiences, it is natural to see the big picture and also to know which details matter most.

Lordoss biggest challenge appeared suddenly in late 2021, when he was diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, he received a great deal of support. With his wife, children, and MIT colleagues by his side as he went through treatment, he says, We felt like all of MIT became a part of our family. Now, he has every reason to be hopeful about his future: a few weeks ago, he was declared cancer-free after a scan.

Hes also hopeful about the promise of space. Building a city on Mars is an opportunity for a second branch of human civilization. There are many things that we would like to fix about Earth and our society, but it is difficult because there are so many competing interests. There is an opportunity when starting afresh on a new world to work together for the greater good of all, and to shine a beacon of hope to those of us who are striving to make the Earth a better place.

See the article here:

On the front lines of space innovation | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT News

August 16, 2022

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders have introduced bipartisan legislation to clarify the authority of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate commercial space transportation accidents.

TheCommercial Space Transportation Safety Act of 2022(H.R. 8689) was introduced by Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) and is cosponsored by Aviation Subcommittee Chair Rick Larsen (D-WA), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR). The Members introduced similar legislation last Congress.

As commercial space transportation technology advances, we must guarantee that safety progresses as well. This is the only way to ensure a robust industry and all the benefits of innovation, saidRep. GarretGraves. This legislation clarifies how commercial space transportation accidents will be handled and how lessons learned will be applied. This is the product of engagement with stakeholders across the industry and will promote a strong culture of safety as passengers and cargo are transported to, from and within space.

As commercial space travel continues to grow, Congress must keep the safety of the traveling public at the forefront, saidRep. Rick Larsen. This bipartisan bill ensures NTSB can play an important role in the investigation of commercial space transportation accidents and work with FAA to ensure the safety of the traveling public.

In the coming months, Congress will turn to the development of an NTSB reauthorization bill, and clarifying NTSBs role in commercial space transportation accidents must be a component of that effort, saidRep. Sam Graves. This bill will relieve the commercial space transportation sector of unintended burdens by ensuring that NTSB accident investigation resources are appropriately used in major accidents, not when minor mishaps occur.

The commercial space industry is expanding, and so too should our efforts to oversee it, saidRep. PeterDeFazio.Im pleased to join Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves, Subcommittee Chair Rick Larsen, and Ranking Member Sam Graves in introducing the bipartisan Commercial Space Transportation Safety Act of 2022, which will ensure that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has the ability to oversee commercial space accidents independently of regulators, and uninhibited by politics, industry, costs, retribution, or censorship. By protecting the NTSBs independence and mandate to carry out unbiased investigations with safety recommendations, we will strengthen our nations transportation system for the modern era.

TheCommercial Space Transportation Safety Act of 2022:

Click here to read the legislation.

More here:

Bill to Clarify NTSB's Authority in Commercial Space Transportation Accident Investigations Introduced in the House - The House Committee on...

NSRs newly released Space Traffic Study, 2nd Edition report finds that commercialization of more segments of the space value-chain is driving a rapid increase in traffic volumes.

Although markets, such as Earth Observation (EO) or Space Tourism, still only account for 5% of the cumulative data volumes between 2021 and 2031, cloud connectivity and increased investments to downlink data from space are paying off in total data volumes.

Data from space is an increasingly important and recognized part of our lives here on Earth, said Research Director, Brad Grady. As current events highlight, space-based data gives us an unprecedented understanding of the world around us.

Launches to space (Satellites or Humans) are nearly commonplace, and more corners of the world are gaining internet access through space-based connectivity from GEO/MEO/LEO.

Growing more than 60 exabytes of cumulative traffic volumes compared to NSRs first edition study, challenges in GEO offset near-term growth in Applications and Infrastructure. Although growth favors LEO/MEO satellite connectivity, GEO will remain as the largest source of traffic volumes from 2021 to 2031.

While the difference between these competing orbits continues to shrink, highly affordable terminals and other LEO setbacks cannot offset the inertia behind GEO connectivity plays. A migration from video to data and GEO closer to Earth is all underway in the connectivity market which accounts for 95% of cumulative data volumes.

Overall, signs are starting to show that things other than connectivity are transforming the space sector. While satellite communications is the use-case fueling space data traffic volumes, there are new and growing markets that provide greenfield opportunities for established and emerging players.

Although government budgets still have an outsized influence on the space industry, said NSR Research Analyst, Hannah Currivan. The growing commercialization of space travel, EO and internet connectivity drives growth. Overall, it is still data transmitted through space which drives market dynamics.

Bottom Line Cloud connectivity, commercialization, and more data from more places are the key ingredients for space data traffic growth through 2031.

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Space commercialization is driving close to 570 exabytes of info as revealed in new NSR report SatNews - SatNews