Category Archives: Mars Colony

Imagine for a moment that youre a settler on a growing Mars colony, and youre a bit bored. Since its Saturday, you and a few other members decided to have some fun racing. Remember, youre on Mars, so all that is bound to be a bit different.

One way your race day could unfurl is the way Daniel Trbovic reveals in the gallery and video below. Mr. Trbovic is a CGI artist and photographer living out of Los Angeles, California. Aside from creating renderings like these, he also travels the world photographing vehicles, everything from old-school Chevys to McLarens and everything in-between.

The visual project you see here is known as "Nomads on Mars," so lets call these vehicles Nomads, even though there isnt a clear mention of this. Actually, theres no mention of anything regarding the vehicles, just these images and the video.

However, the video alone is enough to give you an idea of what these vehicles are and how theyre supposed to perform. Starting from the ground up, the first thing youll notice is the wheel design. Unlike classic wheel design, Trbovic chose to include a hub-less wheel.

Looking at the Nomad's body, there isnt much to see. An odd teardrop shape seems to offer a degree of aerodynamics, while the minimal appearance of a frame means only one thing: speed. Because the vehicle includes only a few struts here and there and is mostly covered in glass, its probably quite light.

Since I mentioned aerodynamics earlier, I must ask if youve any idea what those lateral fans found at the rear could be used for. No? Me neither. However, if you think about where you may have seen this sort of system before (helicopters), you can kind of get an idea about what they may be used for.

One use for these fans could be to offer lateral stability at high speeds. If the Nomad is going too fast and starts to fishtail, the fans can kick in to correct the loss of traction. Their next use could be to intentionally create a loss of traction, like taking a very sharp turn where the rear end needs to be whipped around quickly.

There are a few flaws in this theory. If this were to be true, a mechanism such as this should be placed at the front of the vehicle to push air as far away from remaining surfaces as possible.

A final feature of the Nomad is that of autonomous operation. Sure, there are two seats inside, telling you that you can take these trinkets out for a spin, side-by-side style. On the other hand, the animation shows these puppies flying around without a single driver in sight. Theyre either autonomousor can be controlled remotely.

Personally, I'd love to see a design such as this flying around desert landscapes. But I also know that I probably wont be seeing anything like this in my lifetime. For now, let's just enjoy the (virtual)show.

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LA-Based CGI Artist Imagines a Future Where Humans Race Vehicles on Mars - autoevolution

Imax and Imagine Documentaries have formed a five-year production and distribution agreement, a slate which will include movies on the subjects of space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization, society and more. The first title to be released under the agreement is Eliza McNitts Mars 2080 in 2022, produced byApollo 13s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, as well as Imagines Justin Wilkes. Mars 2080will immerse viewers inside a colony on Mars set 60 years in the future.

The movie is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, science writer and author of How Well Live on Mars. The original concept follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change, who make the difficult journey to Mars, adjusting to life with hundreds of thousands of people from different countries living together and forming a new civilization unencumbered by the mistakes of their past. P&Gs research scientists who are developing sustainable manufacturing, products, packaging and technology for the future are working with the filmmakers to project what a Mars habitat living could look like a half century from now. The pic is billed to be a blend of real science, innovative technologies, breathtaking VFX and human drama.

The Handmaids Tales Lynn Renee Maxcy co-wrote with McNitt. EPs areMichael Rosenberg and Marc Gilbar for Imagine; and Kimberly Doebereiner, VP, Future of Advertising representing P&G Studios. Imagine Documentaries Meredith Kaulfers is co-EP.

Apple Original Films Sets Companion Docs Number One On The Call Sheet With Jamie Foxx, Kevin Hart And Datari Turner Producing

The unique ability of humans to look past the horizon and into the great beyond has always been vital to pushing society forward, perhaps now more than ever. IMAX has always sought to immerse audiences in inspiring visions of the future. Now, with the incredibly creative minds at Imagine as our partners, and with the innovators at P&G for Mars 2080, well have the opportunity to bring even more life-changing experiences to moviegoers all around the world, said Megan Colligan, President of Imax Entertainment in a statement.

With Mars all over the news, the once-distant dream of humankind traveling there is now well within our reach, said Wilkes. In the meantime, we hope that our film will inspire audiences from around the world, school children to adults, to take their own journey to Mars through the magic of this Imax experience.

McNitt is an Emmy Awards Finalist and recipient of the VR Grand Prize at The Venice Film Festival. She created the VR journey Spheres which was executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and starred the voices of Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith. Spheres became the first ever acquisition of a VR experience out of Sundance. Maxcy wrote the first three seasons of Hulu/MGMsThe Handmaids Tale, on which she won two Writers Guild Awards. Her interactive feature The Complex was released worldwide last year.

Imax and Imagine first worked together onApollo 13,which was the first 35MM live-action filmever to be digitally remastered with proprietary IMAX DMR technology. The two companies also worked on the first Imax film ever, Tiger Child, which debuted at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan. Imax cameras have been sent into space 24 times, which is more than any human being, on such titles asSpace Station, A Beautiful Planet, Asteroid Hunters and more.

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Imax & Imagine Documentaries Ink Five Pic Pact, Starting With Mars 2080 - Deadline

11:30 AM PDT 4/20/2021byBorys Kit

Curtis 50 Cent Jackson has come aboard to star in and executive produce Free Agents, a sports heist thriller that Deon Taylor will direct for Lionsgate.

Taylor wrote the script with Joe Bockol and came up with the story. He is also producing with partner Roxanne Avent Taylor via the duos Hidden Empire Film Group, the indie banner that focuses on Black storytelling.

Agents, described as a high-concept sports action heist thriller, tells of a group of professional football players who come together to steal from the team owners who are exploiting them.

The story focuses on a journeyman player who gets his last shot at his dream, but just as he starts to find some on-field success, is lured into a dangerous crime ring with some of his teammates that threatens his dream, his family and his safety.

Jackson will play the leader of the ring, a veteran linebacker who pulls the younger player into his dangerous scheme to get back at league owners.

The casting builds on the studios relationship with Jackson, who is the executive producer of the Powerfranchise, made by Lionsgate-owned cable network Starz. The crime series franchise currently includes the hit seriesPower Book II: Ghostas well as the seriesBlack Mafia Family and the next Power-verse installment,Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

50 has been legendary in all ways I have been extremely impressed by his amazing energy onscreen and his ability to light up every scene he is in, said Deon Taylor in a statement. I truly believe this extremely complex role will truly allow the world to understand just how unbelievably talented 50 is as an artist.

50 is part of the Lionsgate family and time and again has proven to be a compelling presence as an actor, stated Erin Westerman, Lionsgates motion picture group president of production.

Aaron Edmonds and Scott OBrien are overseeing the project for Lionsgate.

Deon Taylor last directed thrillers Fatale, which starred Michael Ealy and Hilary Swank, and Black and Blue, with Naomie Harris and Tyrese Gibson. Among the projects Hidden Empire has in development are Freedom Ride, a biopic of civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis, and psychological thriller Silent John, to be directed by Aisha Tyler.

In addition to his Starz credits, Jackson executive produced the legal drama For Life and appeared in a recurring role. He also starred in such hits as Den of Thieves.

Jackson is repped by APA and attorneys Eric Feig and Stephen Savva.

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Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson to Star in, Executive Produce Heist Thriller 'Free Agents' for Lionsgate (Exclusive) - Hollywood Reporter

Ill be honest, Ive never understood the hype around space. While everyone in kindergarten ran around saying that they wanted to be the president or an astronaut, I sat quietly, ashamed that I aspired to be a teacher. Our dreams have inevitably changed since then, and as a third-year Business student, I like many of my peers dont really know what I want to be. What I do know is that I still dont want to be an astronaut; my sensitive stomach can barely handle a midnight Taco Bell run.

However, for those interested in space travel, the job market has never been better. We are amid a space travel renaissance, fueled by the rise of commercial players like SpaceX, Blue Origin and many small competitors with big ideas that receive NASA seed funding. And, with the Perseverance rover recently landing on Mars and NASAs modern moon mission, Project Artemis, in the works, there are billions of dollars in government contracts available. This points to promising futures for aerospace engineers looking to make their marks at companies like Lockheed Martin or Boeing. The excitement has even spread to the military ranks, as repeated calls for the next class of astronauts have amplified.

And you know that where there is excitement, there is money; and where there is money, there are Wall Street investors ready to lose it. Enter: Virgin Galactic.

In 2004, Virgin Galactic was founded as an extension of the Virgin Group, funded by British billionaire Richard Branson, with the mission of fulfilling the long-awaited fantasy of consumer space travel. They initially predicted that they would make history by 2009, taking customers on space flights. However, the company took until 2019 to actually make history, but it wasnt by being successful in their mission. In fact, they were quite far from it, coming off of several failed space flights despite Bransons repeated bullish predictions. Instead, they made their mark by becoming the first publicly traded space company through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, usually referred to as a SPAC.

Essentially, a SPAC is a company whose only purpose is to raise capital through an initial public offering in order to acquire an existing company. After the acquisition, the SPAC serves as the stock market stand-in for the merged company it holds. Since 2019, Virgin Galactic Holdings Incorporated (NYSE: SPCE) has been through a long, hard ride, seeing the stock tumble as low as $14.21 per share and peak as high as $62.80 per share within the last year.

The stock price has consistently declined since mid-February when the company reported negative earnings per share for the second quarter in a row and had no revenue in the second or third quarters of fiscal year 2020. In addition, the operations schedule was delayed by the pandemic and, despite releasing a shiny new spaceplane, they have grounded all test flights until May due to safety concerns. Now, analysts anticipate that the company will report negative earnings per share in the first fiscal quarter of 2021 and $1.8 million in revenue, which compared to the companys $6.85 billion valuation is disappointing at best.

That said, analysts also anticipate that the companys revenue will increase thirty-fold this year, reaching $20.7 million still not enough to justify their astronomical valuation. However, this type of projection is exactly the issue at hand, as just a reminder this company has never once turned a profit. Their current capabilities also show no signs that they could reach commercial space flight or obtain more government contracts by the end of the year.

Now, this is not just an issue with Virgin Galactic. The issue is a systemic failure in our market economy due to one fundamental problem: Investors, generally, are not scientists or engineers.

Thus, there is often a large information gap that incentivizes commercial space companies to make bold, unrealistic predictions and blame the science when they inevitably miss their financial targets, even when the issue is poor management. Then, investors are unable to properly identify the source of the problem because of the information shield that SPACs give companies. Therefore, stock prices and valuations still surge despite shambolic underlying financial performance and shaky if not fraudulent scientific data.

This kind of virtuous cycle is the foundation for market bubbles, like those in housing and technology in the 2000s. However, due to the markets recent instability with the GameStop fiasco and cryptocurrency craze, it is obvious that the modern stock market has become somewhat divorced from reality, which should scare us all.

We are reaching a point of unprecedented market uncertainty, where, instead of relying on underlying financials and economics, our market is fueled by emotions and liquidity both of which are currently promising because of Congress unprecedented spending and our increasing mass vaccination push. However, when Congress stops spending like a college student at Ragstock the day before Halloween or our national mood sours, the market may correct itself. That spells dire trouble for ordinary folks college and retirement funds, and it is fundamentally unfair that Wall Streets crazes might once again hit the folks on Main Street.

But, hey, maybe well have the chance to form a functioning market at Elon Musks moon colony.

Keith Johnstone is an Opinion Columnist and can be reached at keithja@umich.edu.

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To infinity and beyond: the false promise of space - The Michigan Daily

Tom Godwins story The Cold Equations infamously uses hard science and the unwavering laws of man and physics to punish a female interloper. The new Netflix film Stowaway takes the storys basic premise and rewires its mechanism. Women become heroes rather than victims, and even the most unwavering equations can result in different answers, if you have the heart for it.

The Cold Equations originally appeared in the August 1954 issue of John W. Campbells Astounding Science Fiction. The main character, Barton, is piloting a tiny Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) to the frontier planet Woden to deliver medicine to treat a dangerous fever outbreak in the colony. He discovers a stowaway named Marilyn who is trying to visit her brother Gerry on the planet. Marilyn thought shed just have to pay a fine, but the punishment for stowing away is death: It was the law and there could be no appeal. The EDS doesnt carry enough fuel to make the run with the extra weight; the universe says Marilyn must die or the colonists will perish for lack of medicine. Existence required order, and there was order; the laws of nature, irrevocable and immutable, Barton muses, with steely self-justification.

Existence required order, and there was order; the laws of nature, irrevocable and immutable.

Many readers and writers have been unimpressed with both the steeliness and the self-justification. Godwin himself wasnt sold on it; he kept trying to find ways to save the girl in his story. But editor Campbell a conservative sexist crank who wanted to use the story to prove that human sacrifice was justified in some situations insisted that she had to die in the end. Critic and engineer Gary Westfahl found the story enormously frustrating, arguing that no ship would be built with such a small margin for error; the story, he said, was good physics but bad engineering. Science-fiction writer Cory Doctorow added that The Cold Equations is a story designed to excuse the ships operators from the executives to ground control to the pilot for standardizing on a spaceship with no margin of safety.

STOWAWAY (3/4 stars)Directed by: Joe PennaWritten by: Joe Penna, Ryan MorrisonStarring: Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette, Shamier Anderson, Daniel Dae KimRunning time: 116 mins.

Director and writer Joe Penna is a lot more careful in constructing the plot mechanisms of Stowaway. The movie is set in the near future, on a three-person rocket headed to Mars. Shortly after takeoff, commander Marina Barnett (Toni Collette) discovers that Michael Adams (Shamier Anderson), a launch plan engineer, accidentally stayed on the ship after takeoff. That in itself wouldnt cause a crisis, but during launch his presence damaged the carbon dioxide scrubber. The ship has enough fuel to get to Mars, but not enough air.

In The Cold Equations, the murder of Marilyn is blamed on the universe itself. Stowaway, in contrast, sees the encroaching tragedy as the result of not the laws of physics, but of simple bad luck and human error. The rocket ship was originally only designed for two people; by adding a third to the original crew, mission control narrowed their margin of error dangerously. Even so, there are options. Biologist Daniel Kim (David Kim) tries to use algae to recycle some carbon dioxide. Medical researcher Zoe Levenson (Anna Kendrick) suggests doing a space-walk to try to tap liquid oxygen which may not have all been used up in the ships launch. These are risky options, but theyre not automatically doomed to failure. Acquiescing to physics is a choice, not a necessity.

Zoe, in particular, insists that they keep trying to find a way to save Michael until theyve absolutely run out of time. She effectively becomes the hero of the story. Thats an essential, and probably intentional, change from The Cold Equations, which frames its female character as ignorant victim. Campbell and Godwin engineered their plot to illustrate the brutal toughness and manliness of hard science-fiction. The protagonist shows his unyielding allegiance to Science by throwing womanly innocence and affective gush out of the airlock.

In Stowaway, though, the commander of the vessel is a woman, the stowaway is a man, and Zoe is the main character and protagonist. More, she emerges as the most physically competent person on the ship. That isnt to say shes an action hero like Wonder Woman or Sarah Connor. But she is young and fit and happens to be more capable than both of the men in performing certain tasks. Michaels been injured and doesnt have a lot of necessary training, while Daniel has problems with vertigo which are exacerbated on space walks.

Godwins female stowaway is motivated by her desire to be with her family; shes doomed by love, which cant stand against the power of Physics. In contrast, Zoe in Stowaway is the character who most insists on the value of empathy, and the one who is, at least in certain contexts, the strongest. Empathy and compassion arent vulnerabilities in this narrative. Theyre resources, with which you can defy the cold cosmos though not without cost.

Stowaway is a very small-scale space movie. There are only four actors, no aliens, no laser battles and minimal special effects. A broken hand or a vat of algae changing color qualify as suspenseful plot twists. The small cast and the cramped setting are meant to create a sense of limited options in a universe with few escape hatches. But where Godwin and Campbell are smugly satisfied with the construction of their death trap, Stowaway insists that there are possible paths out of even the most claustrophobic destiny, if you have the courage and love to see them. Its not exactly a happy movie. But its not a cold one, either.

Stowaway will be available to stream on Netflix on April 22.

Observer Reviews are regular assessments of new and noteworthy cinema.

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How Stowaway Solves a 67-Year Old Sci-Fi Problem - Observer

Human civilization started in Africa. But for thousands of years, humans gradually scattered around the world and built civilizations that turned into countries today. Now, humans are looking up the sky to the Moonand the planets in the solar system, particularly on Mars, and think of the possibility of putting up a human colony outside of Earth.

NASA and other space agencies around the world are planning to put up bases on the Moon and Mars to create a human colony to further human space exploration.

But creating a human settlement on the lunar surface and the Red Planet is not easy. It comes with challenges that they might face when living there.

As John F. Kennedy saidin his famous Rice Moon speech: "We choose to go to the Moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)A vision of a future Moon base that could be produced and maintained using 3D printing.

Science journalist Christopher Wanjek outlined some of the challenges that human settlement o the Moon and Mars might face by comparing what it would be like to live on the Moon versus on Mars, according to Spaceflight Insider.

According to Wanjek, Mars could potentially host human life because it has every element needed to support life, including the night/day cycle, axial tilt, and landscape similar to Earth, and 38% of Earth's gravity.

On the other hand, the Moon is less hospitable because of its zero gravity, fluctuating temperatures (extreme heat and extreme cold), and sharp regolith dust that could tear human lungs.

Wanjek said that the Moon could become like the Antarctica on Earth, where scientists could maintain a permanent infrastructure in the south pole to generate power via solar panels from the shallow angle of sunlight along the crater rims.

ALSO READ: Living on the Moon? Prepare $325,067 a Month for Mortgage

If ice is present in the south pole, they could generate oxygen for drinking water, breathing, and rocket fuel. It would also be possible to grow plants.

But the low gravity on the Moon poses the greatest danger to future settlers because scientists do not know yet what zero gravity might do to the body. Instead of creating human settlements, scientists think that making the Moon another ISS would be better for research in astronomy, geology, biology, and also for tourism.

Mars is more suitable for human settlements, although getting there is also not an easy feat. Science Timespreviously reported that there are still hurdles that need to address before humans can go to the Red Planet.

Inverselisted five dangers before successfully sending humans on Mars. This includes the radiation exposure during the travel to the planet, isolation, and confinement during the nine-month-long journey that disrupts the circadian rhythm, long-distance from Earth, effects of microgravity on the health, and Mars' hostile environment.

Wanjek suggested a few alternatives to human settlement in space other than the Moon and Mars. This could be rotating habitats inside asteroids, planet Mercury which has similar gravity to Mars, Pluto, and Charon.

He also included to the list the moons of Saturn, namely, the very cold Titan, and Enceladus which has hydrothermal vents that can host life other than Earth.

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Major Threats to Overcome Before Humans Reach Mars

Check out more news and information on the Moonand Marson Science Times.

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Living on the Moon and Mars: Challenges That Humans Might Face - Science Times

The successful landing of the persistent US spacecraft on Mars provided stunning images of the red planet. It wasnt the first successful Mars landing, but it was the fifth for the Americans. And above Mars, another Chinese mission will soon land, and a satellite from the United Arab Emirates, looking into the Martian atmosphere.

The red planet has been in the spotlight for a long time, because its closest neighbor in our solar system has an almost terrestrial character. Mars still has something of the atmosphere and the water flowing at once. The mission of perseverance centers on the intriguing question of whether there is life on Mars.

Dont imagine much of that earthly character

Some scientists, space entrepreneurs and earth-hungry rulers dream of humans on Mars, which is a space colony. But dont imagine much of that friendly earthy character. The defective atmosphere of Mars is made almost entirely of carbon dioxide and has an average temperature of minus 60 degrees. You cant breathe and freeze to death. A colony on Mars means living in a bubble, literally. This would be technically possible; The raw materials needed are available on Mars, and labs have already shown how to use them.

But why would you want to go to Mars as a human? For fun? Go ahead, but youll have to wait at least two years for the return trip to Earth. To start extracting minerals and bring them back to Earth? To do this, it must increase the current raw material prices by a factor of one million or more. As a rule? Colonization of Mars to explore space from there standing on the newspaper of the scene. You think you made a huge leap with that colony, but you became one more pill in the Sahel.

Exploring celestial bodies is a wonderful science. Science has made remarkable discoveries and incredible achievements, such as the successful landing of 50 million kilometers from the Flight Control Center.

Man became possible thanks to the earth

But dreaming about people living on Mars is a misunderstanding of what life is. Man is not the supreme form of life who happens to have chosen Earth as their home. It is a form of life provided by the earth itself.

Other life forms are conceivable. In fact, there is a great chance that other forms of life may exist elsewhere in the universe. For them, Earth would be an uninhabitable Hell, with this toxic oxygen in its atmosphere. But man and other terrestrial life were made for and by this planet. This does not exclude space colonies. Bacteria, rodents, and humans can all live elsewhere in the universe, which is not the point. But survival is not life. This life is not separated from the earth. You wont find it anywhere else.

Commentary is the opinion of Trouw newspaper expressed by members of the editor-in-chief and senior editors.

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Mars is great for science, but it is not a travel destination. Human creation for the sake of this planet - Aviation Analysis Wing

MOSCOW (AP) The Russian state penitentiary service said Monday a decision has been made to transfer imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is in the third week of a hunger strike, to a hospital.

The announcement comes two days after Navalnys physician said his health was deteriorating rapidly and the 44-year-old Kremlin critic could be on the verge of death.

The state prison service, FSIN, said in a statement that Navalny would be transferred to a hospital for convicts located in another penal colony in Vladimir, a city 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Moscow. According to the statement, Navalnys condition is deemed satisfactory and he has agreed to take vitamin therapy.

Navalnys physician, Dr. Yaroslav Ashikhmin, said Saturday that test results he received from Navalnys family show him with sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicate impaired kidneys. Our patient could die at any moment, he said in a Facebook post.

Navalny went on hunger strike to protest the refusal to let his doctors visit when he began experiencing severe back pain and a loss of feeling in his legs. Russias state penitentiary service has said that Navalny was receiving all the medical help he needs.

In response to the alarming news about Navalnys health this weekend, his allies have called for a nationwide rally on Wednesday, the same day that President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to deliver his annual state of the nation address.

Navalny, Putin's fiercest opponent, was arrested in January upon his return from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blames on the Kremlin accusations Russian officials have rejected. Navalnys arrest triggered a massive wave of protests all across Russia, the biggest show of defiance in recent years.

Soon after the arrest, a court ordered Navalny to serve 2 1/2 years in prison on a 2014 embezzlement conviction he said was fabricated and the European Court of Human Rights deemed to be arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable. Last month, the politician was transferred to a penal colony east of Moscow, notorious for its harsh conditions.

Navalny has complained about being sleep-deprived due to guards conducting hourly checks on him at night, and said he has developed severe back pain and numbness in his legs within weeks of being transferred to the colony. His demands for a visit from an independent civilian physician were rebuffed by prison officials, and he went on hunger strike on March 31.

In a message from prison on Friday, Navalny said prison officials threatened to force-feed him imminently, using straitjacket and other pleasures.

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Jailed Navalny to be moved to a hospital in another prison - Yahoo News

When researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) published a study last year on its discovery of 11 new colonies of emperor penguins, they acknowledged an unusual source of assistance students at Stirling High School in Scotland. Inspired by a David Attenborough program on the plight of the iconic bird, the teens and their teacher used satellite mapping imagery from the European Space Agencys Copernicus Sentinel-2, developed an algorithm, and found traces of unknown and unconfirmed colonies. They then passed on their findings to the BAS.

The notion that schoolkids are as capable of accessing Earth Observation data as scientists and government ministers is an indication of how satellite technology has revolutionized scientific research across the globe, and especially of the environment.

Satellites change everything, says Nathalie Pettorelli, a senior research fellow at the Zoological Society of London and author of the book Satellite Remote Sensing and the Management of Natural Resources. Monitoring extraordinarily large territories, providing access through visibility to remote areas, and boosting transparency of countries environmental standards are some of the benefits she cites. They provide you with the opportunity to monitor the Earth globally and monitor aspects of biodiversity that were very much neglected before.

But its not just biodiversity that satellites are aiding. Ever since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) together with the United States Geological Survey launched the worlds first Landsat satellite in 1972, a continual stream of data on everything from deforestation to glacier retreat to weather patterns has been recorded and archived, providing an incredibly valuable picture of long-term change to scientists, land managers, policy-makers and many others. Today, a veritable constellation of satellites of all shapes and sizes, both public and private, constantly orbit and monitor whats happening on Earth, deepening and extending that pool of knowledge.

When you talk about NASA, many people know only about things like our Mars expedition, says Sachidananda Babu, who is in charge of its Sustainable Land Imaging Technology (SLI-T) program, but they dont realize how much effort we spend on preserving our own planet, Earth.

Over the decades since its first launch, Landsat and other civil satellites have proven useful to ecologists with their ability to monitor plant health, land cover and water, he says. For example, the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Landsat measures evapotranspiration, and western states water management of the Colorado River depends heavily on this measurement.

Babu and his colleagues are now in the process of developing a new tool, which they hope to have ready soon, for identifying potential forest fires. The tool will take data from satellite measurements and calculate moisture index, he says, which can estimate the chances of forest or bush fires. Is fire due to lack of moisture? Or hot air thats in that area? So thats a very advanced thing thats going on right now.

This September will see the launch of Landsat 9, which is, says Babu, mostly identical to Landsat 8 in shape, size, and weight, and it uses the same hardware. But we refined it a little bit. By sending down 14-bit image data instead of 12-bit, he says, you have a more dynamic range of data, and that means you can see even smaller changes on the ground, which enhances the quality of the data.

As program manager of NASAs In-space Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST), Babu also works in the relatively new field of CubeSats. A new, low-cost pathway to research, these can, he explains, provide trial runs for new technologies in space. So far, these have included compact instruments to measure evapotranspiration and radio occultation measurements that can measure root zone soil moisture.

CubeSats are the best way to try out whether that technology is really useful, he says. To do that, we put that one specific part of the technology on a satellite and fly it. We see if it works well, then we can infuse the technology into a bigger program.

Providing higher resolution imagery than civil satellites, the pint-sized CubeSat at anywhere from 10 to 240 square centimeters in size is also used for commercial and educational purposes, and for scientific research. Educational institutions and non-profits in the U.S. can send their CubeSats into space using rockets, belonging to NASA or private companies such as Virgin Orbit, SpaceX or Rocket Labs, the latter of which includes a Book My Launch tab on its webpage. They can also be launched directly from the International Space Station on a Cygnus orbiter.

More than a hundred CubeSats have already been selected and taken into space as part of NASAs Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) Missions, and Babu credits their success to fostering close working relationships with the principal investigators of the selected proposals. What we do is take personal interest and mentor the team, he says. Calibrated and traceable measurements are required for any impactful science measurements looking at minute changes.

But with such complex data and so much of it available, how can the people who need it make sense of it all? Enter initiatives like Digital Earth Africa (DEA), a unique platform that democratizes the capacity to process and analyze satellite data.

A successful pilot study involving five African countries proved that better use of Earth Observation data had significant benefits for decision making, national statistics, resource management and innovation on the African continent, says DEAs managing director Adam Lewis. DEA also created the Africabased leadership team that produced the vision, mission and principles the initiative, which is funded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust and the Australian government.

The platforms sources of information are the time series data produced by civil satellites, especially the Landsat series and Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 constellations. These are underexploited because the satellites have advanced so quickly that people are unable to keep up with the big data they produce, says Lewis. So there is immense untapped potential.

DEA is overcoming those difficulties by doing some of the heavy lifting for the data users, providing the data in an analysis-ready form, accessible in the cloud, and with the open data cube as a processing system what DEA calls decision-ready data.

What we are striving for with our approach is information that is close enough to a decision-makers problem that they can see how they can engage with the products, says Lewis. Telling a decision-maker that youve got satellite data can be pretty abstract for them. Its not their job to know how relevant that is. But if we can say we are mapping the surface water of Africa through time, how it has changed, and are updating it, then they can identify and link it into their decision-making process.

To use his example, observations that map surface water can show where water has been seen in the past, says Lewis. The fact that it hasnt been seen in certain places for 10 or 15 years doesnt mean its not going to come back and be there again. There are patterns, and we can use the patterns of the past to understand the future.

Founded just two years ago, DEA has, over the past year, made food security another priority by developing a crop map area product. We can produce the sort of information on crops that Earth observation can give, like, how green is the countryside? How green is it compared to a normal year? Is that an indicator of drought? Now, in a particular country or region, an agronomist or a company might say, thats an indication that farmers in this area should be planting at this point, or not planting. That, he adds, then gets communicated to those farmers in ways that make sense.

Platforms like DEA with its training material and mapping and analysis tools are already proving useful to ecosystem scientists. Wetlands can be monitored, says Lewis. Forest can be monitored. We can look at land degradation. All these things can be done.

At the moment, DEA is not using data from CubeSats because their data is not free and open, and they dont give universal and automatic daily coverage. But DEA is starting to explore how CubeSat data can nonetheless still be effectively used alongside that of other satellites. It is quite possible for a country to bring in high resolution data from a CubeSatand to use the data in conjunction with those lower-resolution earth observing satellites that the USGS and Copernicus run. It is a really interesting area.

For Pettorelli, it is nonetheless crucial that access to earth monitoring tools remains open and free. You can really see the boom in science as Landsat opened its archive for free, she points out.

Theres an important message behind that, which is, the more we show that this is transformational, the more it becomes really important to protect those resources so we can continue to do what we do on the long term and monitor, for example, the effectiveness of various actions. Because they not only give you access to remote places on the earth, they allow you to look at things over a long time, she says. So its hugely important to continue to protect that, for humanity as a whole.

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How satellite mapping technology is revolutionizing the way we see Earth - Landscape News

Two more countries will join the moon-landing club next year, if all goes according to plan.

The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) robotic Rashid moon rover will be delivered to the lunar surface in 2022 by HAKUTO-R, a lander built by the Japanese company ispace, mission team members announced today (April 14).

The upcoming Emirates Lunar Mission will be the first moon landing for the Arab world and for Japan. To date, just three nations have soft-landed a spacecraft on the moon the United States, the then-Soviet Union and China.

Lunar timeline: Humanity's exploration of the moon

Today's announcement also represents a significant timeline shift for the Emirates Lunar Mission. When the UAE first announced the project last fall, the target launch date was 2024.

"We are honored that MBRSC has entrusted ispace's lunar payload transportation service to play a key role in carrying out this historic moment for the UAE," ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in a statement, referring to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, the UAE's space agency, which was founded in 2006.

"The world will be watching as our commercial lander carries the Rashid rover to the moon," Hakamada added. "We're pleased to advance collaboration between the UAE and Japan in space exploration, as well as to inspire more collaborations for lunar exploration between the public and commercial sector around the world."

The Emirates Lunar Mission will send the 22-lb. (10 kilograms) Rashid to an equatorial locale on the moon's near side. The final landing site has not yet been announced.

The little four-wheeled rover will study its surroundings for at least one lunar day, or about 14 Earth days, using a high-resolution camera, a thermal imager, a microscopic imager and a Langmuir probe. This latter instrument could help scientists better understand the electrically charged environment at the lunar surface, which is apparently caused by the solar wind, the stream of charged particles flowing constantly from the sun.

But Rashid's work will also help the UAE, and humanity in general, prepare for even bigger leaps in the future, if all goes according to plan.

"The Emirates Lunar Mission represents a milestone in the UAE's space sector, as the mission will contribute towards providing valuable data and information relating to the moon that will serve the global scientific community as well as test capabilities that would be crucial for manned missions to Mars," Adnan AlRais, senior director of the MBRSC's Remote Sensing Department, said in the same statement.

AlRais is also program manager of Mars 2117, an MBRSC initiative that aims to establish a human settlement on the Red Planet by that year. (The program was launched four years ago, with the goal of making a Mars colony happen within a century.)

The UAE has already tasted some Mars success,another first for an Arab nation. The country's robotic Hope probe began orbiting Mars in February and has beamed home some gorgeous views of the Red Planet.

The Emirates Lunar Mission will be the first moon trip for HAKUTO-R, which ispace has been developing for more than a decade. The company, which was established in 2010, managed Team HAKUTO, one of the five finalists in the Google Lunar X Prize, a private race to the moon that ended in 2018 without a winner.

ispace is planning to launch its second lunar mission, which will also include a rover deployment, in 2023. Both of those flights are expected to lift off aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, ispace representatives said.

Those two missions are envisioned to be just the beginning for ispace. Like the UAE, the Tokyo-based company has big ambitions in the final frontier.

"From Mission 3 and beyond, we will increase the frequency of lunar landings and rover expeditions to transport customer payloads to the moon," the company's website reads. "Our landers will deploy swarms of rovers to the lunar surface to pioneer the discovery and development of lunar resources, enabling the steady development of lunar industry and human presence on the moon."

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Japanese ispace lander to carry UAE moon rover to lunar surface in 2022 - Space.com