Category Archives: Space Exploration

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Returning to Earth after long periods of time in space on the International Space Station can be a strange experience for astronauts. After months in microgravity, even an act as simple as walking may be accompanied by feelings of dizziness, nausea, and vertigo.

Astronauts liken it to the worlds worst hangover as their vestibular systems struggle to re-acclimatize to Earth gravity.Some report dropping things as they are so used to being able to let go of objects and have them continue to float close by. Others, despite their physical fitness, find that they are surprised by the extreme weight of even a lightweight iPad after long periods of handling tablets in weightlessness.

These physical effects are well-known. But what about the mental side effects of time in isolation, or near-isolation, in space? This is less publicized. But its clear that space can have a big impact here, too.

If you meet [astronauts] after they return, they can act strangely, Judith-Irina Buchheim, a researcher at the University Hospital Mnchen in Munich, Germany, told Digital Trends. Its quite hard to pinpoint, but you notice that something apparently happens. They may have difficulty in readapting, or they become very thoughtful. We see behavioral changes.

Buchheims area of interest involves stress and the physiological changes that can manifest in the human body. For the past several years, she has focused on people voluntarily living and working in isolation, whether thats astronauts on the ISS or researchers in the Antarctic. She has also been working closely with groups including IBM to help feed these insights into an ambitious project to create a robot assistant to help astronauts in space. Robots, that is, like CIMON (Crew Interactive Mobile companion).

CIMON is an autonomous, free-flying beachball-looking smart device with a touchscreen smiley face. It was developed by IBM and Airbus, with funding from the German Aerospace Center, and has been deployed on the ISS since 2018.The robots latest iteration, CIMON-2, was sent up to the space station at the end of last year aboard a resupply mission.

CIMON assists astronauts by carrying out tasks, such as finding objects or documenting tasks. But its creators believe it could do a whole lot more, too. They think it could be a communication platform to keep astronauts company, half-psychotherapist, half-Wilson-in-Cast Away-style buddy.Were interested in making a machine that can behave empathically, and can also provide advice, Buchheim said. I think a computer that can do that has a lot of potential.

The idea of building a friendly robot for space missions has been a staple of science fiction for years. Star Wars R2-D2 and C-3PO, Forbidden Planets Robby the Robot, and other fictitious robots have not always been the most efficient or competent of assistants, but they have been lovable support characters in their own right.In other cases, whether its Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation or the Arnold Schwarzenegger T-800, they are introduced as functional tools, only for this quality to recede in importance as their humanity comes to the fore. Why, then, should real-life astronauts not have access to the same space sidekicks?

The isolation of being up there [in space] is something that can take a toll on astronauts, Buchheim said. But they dont like to talk about it. Weve done studies with questionnaires where we ask do you feel stressed?, do you feel isolated?, do you feel alone?, do you feel sad?, and things like that. Astronauts in general dont like to report that. Why? Because theyre heroes; theyre very special people. They have been part of a very long selection process. They have to prove that they are healthy, that they are resilient, and that they are able to perform tasks under very, very stressful conditions. So to be honest about themselves, to be honest about psychological problems, is quite a thing for them.

This was one of the impetuses of the CIMON projects emotional support research. Plenty of psychological profiling is carried out to ensure that astronauts will be able to work together in space. But there are, inevitably, challenges. Language and cultural differences exist, as do the potential for whatever squabbles and challenges exist in any workplace. Some astronauts may be trained psychologists, but what if the crews psychologist needs someone to talk to?

As Buchheim explains, in some ways the importance of this research wont become apparent until the next phase of space exploration. The ISS is close enough to Earth that astronauts can look out of the viewing windows and see their home planet. Communications with the ground station are almost instant.But once we move further away from Earth maybe to the moon, but we are also planning interstellar flights [this could become more significant], she said.

On a trip to Mars, communication times with Earth would drop to around 30 minutes. That means recorded messages to friends and family only. It also means a half-hour wait for feedback in the event of an urgent problem. This, along with more cramped environments for long-haul space flight, could place an added strain on team dynamics. Psychological effects like groupthink could wind up excluding particular crew members who struggle to have their voices heard. CIMON, which would not be part of the hierarchy of the crew, would exist as a neutral platform to talk with.

CIMON could be a platform that [astronauts] like to talk to because hes not part of the team, Buchheim said. If an astronaut doesnt want to share personal feelings for example, if its a team leader who doesnt want to show weakness or open up to the team that [they are] afraid of what might happen maybe its easier for this person to share the problem with CIMON and keep the data files like a diary.

The idea that a highly trained adult might find solace in speaking to artificial intelligence could sound unlikely or even dismissive of the complexity of actual human communication. But theres plenty of reason to believe it could help.

In the 1960s, computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created ELIZA, a prototypical chatbot designed to function as a computer psychotherapist. ELIZA was intended to engage users in seemingly intelligent conversations via text. Users were asked to type in sentences, which ELIZA would then reflect back to them, either questioning or supporting their statement. Although ELIZA had no actual understanding of the topics being discussed, and was simply following a template, Weizenbaum expressed surprise that students in his lab would willingly pour their hearts out to the program. What was meant, in some senses, as a wry parody of real psychotherapists wound up being the recipient of serious concerns about everything from failing classes to broken relationships.

More than half a century later, these technological capabilities have advanced significantly. High-level voice recognition is something thats found in just about every smartphone thanks to breakthroughs in machine learning. Emotional analysis through image recognition is increasingly prevalent. And projects like IBMs Project Debater, capable of carrying out debates with expert human debaters, is way beyond what Joseph Weizenbaum could have imagined in the 60s.

One of CIMONs abilities is something called Watson Tone Analyzer, which can pull out emotive words from the conversations it has with astronauts and use this to modify its responses. An astronaut saying that they feel bad will result in a different line of conversation than them saying they would like to have some fun.

We want CIMON to be empathic, Buchheim said. Seven tones is not much, but it is the beginning. Anger, fear, sadness, being distressed, being inquisitive all of these tones can be detected, and they will trigger a response in CIMON.

Unlike ELIZA, CIMON aims to provide input into conversations, rather than simply be a passive listening machine whose only activity is to prompt further insights from the user. A diary function is nice, but at the end of the day you want to get something back, Buchheim said. You want to get advice, like you would from a good friend.

Theres still much to do, but the team believes that they are developing technology which could be a game-changer. And who knows? As the project goes on, Buchheim said the insights could be used to inform technologies closer to home which could help those who are stressed or living in isolation. (Which, lets face it, is a whole lot of people right now!)

Were always trying to think of ways to transfer this knowledge to Earth, she said.

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How do we help astronauts deal with isolation? Floating robo-therapists - Digital Trends

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. Incredible moments from Apollo 13 live on in a hidden gem museum in New York.

Space.com recently visited the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, New York, where exhibits highlight moments in aviation history ranging from the peak of the Pan Am airline to NASA's Apollo program. There, we spoke to curator Joshua Stoff who took us through some of the most incredible pieces saved from Apollo, specifically the Apollo 13 mission.

First, Stoff showed us a lunar module simulator in which Apollo astronauts once trained to fly down to the lunar surface. "It's basically the inside of the ascent stage, and this was at Cape Kennedy, and this is what all the astronauts trained on for every lunar landing," Stoff said. "It's opened up like a clamshell, it would've been closed up with projectors and cameras and screens behind the windows so when they worked the controls it would simulate coming down and landing on the moon."

Video: Space Traveler: Apollo missions at the Cradle of Aviation MuseumRelated: Apollo 13 in Real Time website offers new insight into mission

Now, while the Apollo 13 astronauts did train in this piece of equipment, they never used it to land on the moon and instead crammed inside of the actual lunar module to use it as a "life raft" around the moon.

Inside the simulator, you can even see the lithium hydroxide canisters which filter carbon dioxide out of the air in the lunar module. During the troubled Apollo 13 mission, the crew had to grab extra canisters out of the command module the "mothership" that stays in lunar orbit while the lunar module goes to the surface and alter them with duct tape and plastic bags to make them fit in the lunar module so they could keep breathing the air.

The Apollo 13 crew had to get creative in the lunar module because the three astronauts were using the craft, which was built for only two astronauts, as a "life raft." After the oxygen tank explosion which forever changed the course of the mission, the crew shut the power down on the command module and all squeezed into the lunar module. But, with one extra person breathing the air carbon dioxide levels started to rise. So, since the extra canisters from the command module didn't fit, to create a functioning air filtration system they had to get creative and alter them to fit the lunar module.

The museum also features a number of other pieces of Apollo history. There is a parachute that traveled to the moon and back with Apollo 17 and lunar module 13, which was built for the Apollo 19 mission but never made it to the moon. Apollo 19 was supposed to launch to the moon in 1973, but it never flew after NASA canceled the Apollo program. Lunar module 13 is one of only three original lunar modules still on our planet.

There is even a mockup of an old Northrop Grumman cleanroom in the museum, which holds lunar module test article 1, or LTA1, the first lunar module ever built. "It never had the outer skin put on it or the legs," Stoff said, adding that "this is where they worked out all their techniques for building the spacecraft and ran all pressure tests, electrical tests. So it's basically a real lunar module without the skin on it, which is really cool because people can see the inside."

The cleanroom additionally pays homage to some of the researchers and workers who helped to bring these spacecraft to fruition, some of whom currently volunteer at the museum, teaching the public about the time working at NASA on these historic technologies.

While you can't check out the museum's incredible collection of historic spaceflight items in person right now because of travel restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, the museum has a free virtual tour which you can take online here.

So virtually take yourself, your friends and your family to the museum and explore the history of human space exploration.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Exploring Apollo 13 at the Cradle of Aviation museum in New York - Space.com

The space industry has experienced major changes in recent years: more federal contractors play the field, the U.S. is diverting NASA funds from space exploration to private-public partnerships, and the administration established the U.S. Space Force. Given these developments, 2020 sits poised to be a watershed year with rapid innovation in 5G and 6G, advances in private satellite technology and increased demand for global high-speed connectivity.

The expanding low Earth orbit, or LEO, access for new satellite communications players signals an opportunity for growthand for the democratization and commercialization of space. With this in mind, federal agencies are adopting private-sector advancements that will impact the future of communications.

Federal Investments in Space

Satellites are just as cyber-vulnerable as any other technology, but the current focus on profitability, launch providers and mega-constellations are putting cybersecurity low on the priority list. Instead, it should be integrated across the value chain from conceptualization and development to launch and operation. After all, weve seen how poor cyber readiness can negatively impact even the most prepared government agencies and corporations.

While NASA is most commonly associated with space operations, eight U.S. federal organizations have space budgets, including the Defense and Energy departments, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey and others. These agencies use satellites in a variety of ways: think telecommunications in globally dispersed workforces, up-to-the-minute information on natural disasters or armed conflicts, research on population growth and density, awareness of weather patterns and more. Satellites provide a global, wide-lens perspective that can be invaluable to the government.

The Emergence of LEO

LEO satellites provide agencies with additional advantages because they move at a quicker rate and have lower latency due to their location in orbit, which helps agencies communicate more quickly to citizens and warfighters.

Nevertheless, all satellites have a complex structure and the various systems and programs required for operationnavigation, communications channels, onboard sensors, power generatorscreate a vast attack surface. And because these systems and components must work in harmony, its often nearly impossible to isolate or combat a threat without compromising the entire ecosystem. The world has already seen several instances of satellite interference by governments executing cyberattacks and blocking communications including jamming and spoofing capabilities in the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Ukraine by Russia.

Once an adversary has gained access to a satellites system, its easier for the bad actor to follow the communications path between a satellite and its home base, gain entry and infiltrate networks and systems up the chain. To ensure that an attack is prevented or mitigated, agencies should emphasize resilience and implement forward-looking technology solutions.

Building Resilience in the Cyber Supply Chain

To protect against cyberattacks, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But resilience is the best bet to ensure mission continuity and support rapid reconstruction of existing capabilitiesor deployment of an alternative. Resilience uses cyber threat intelligence to guide decisions, support agility and evaluate acceptable risk. Most agencies can achieve resilience simply by following current federal standards (including National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines) and analyzing the data they are collecting from adversaries. Additionally, agencies can train their workforce to respond to attacks and test satcom systems for vulnerabilities.

In addition to building resilience, the emergence of a virtualized architecture is poised to fundamentally change the satcom industry in 2020. Transport virtualization allows users to seamlessly switch between waveforms and operate across networks, bands, satellites, orbits and constellations with commercial-off-the-shelf hardware. This capability will simultaneously address readiness, resilience, agility, logistics and operations while allowing satellites and their communications to hide in plain sight.

Transport virtualization will strengthen cybersecurity in satcom by increasing user visibilityallowing threats to be identified and isolated quicker so that an affected program can be frozen, and attackers wont be able to spread. In addition, virtualization will solve major connectivity challenges, allowing agencies to connect to satellites at different bands and orbits, effectively changing connection without having to switch between proprietary hardware and software.

The emergence of large-scale commercial LEO access facilitates the expansion of satcom into a new space frontier. For the U.S. to fully capitalize on these developments, agencies can embrace strategic partnerships to leverage the cutting edge in space operations while building resilient, secure satellites.

Tera Garner is acybersecurity specialist at Envistacom.

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Why Satellite Cybersecurity Must Be Prioritized in the New Frontier - Nextgov

HOUSTON, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Limitless Space Institute is launching biennial research grants with the goal of providing measurable and consistent support for pursuing interstellar research called Interstellar Initiative Grants (I2 Grants). This call for proposals is seeking to support grants that can be categorized as either a tactical grant ($100k) or a strategic grant ($250k), with the former focused on research papers and the latter on laboratory testing. The anticipated period of performance for the grants is expected to be ~12-14 months in duration, with a start date by the end of September 2020. It is LSI's vision that by establishing the Interstellar Initiative Grants, and by conducting these grant awards on a biennial cycle, LSI will help grow and mature the capabilities of the interstellar research community.

For more information, seehttps://www.limitlessspace.org/

Email Contact: [emailprotected]

About LSI

Limitless Space Institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire and educate the next generation to travel beyond our solar system and to research and develop enabling technologies. LSI advances the pursuit of relevant deep space exploration R&D through the following three approaches:

LSI was founded by Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, previously founder of the award-winning contractor Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies and recognized by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year. LSI's president is Brian "BK" Kelly, who served with NASA for 37 years, most recently as Director of Flight Operations, responsible for selecting astronauts and planning and implementing human spaceflight missions. Dr. Harold "Sonny" White leads LSI's Advanced R&D, bringing decades of research experience in the advanced power and propulsion domain, most recently serving as the NASA Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate's Advanced Propulsion Theme Lead.

SOURCE Limitless Space Institute, Inc.

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Limitless Space Institute announces biennial Interstellar Initiative Grants - PRNewswire

Sting, space and music will collide online tonight (April 30) when the rock icon headlines a free virtual concert "Space Songs: Through the Distance" for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Tested's Adam Savage, whom fans will remember from his role on the iconic television series "Mythbusters," will host the free, virtual concert. Beloved musician Sting, who first made major headlines with the 80s hit-machine "the Police," will headline the show. He will share the virtual stage with surf rockers, emo heartthrobs and even smaller, independent acts.

The concert will stream live here on YouTube, starting at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT).

Related: Best Space Music Videos Ever: A Rockin' Chart Countdown

Sting will share the virtual stage with Clipping, Bethany Cosentino from the band Best Coast, Dan Deacon, Ben Gibbard from the band Death Cab for Cutie, Valerie June, Lukas Nelson, Grace Potter, John Roderick and Vagabon.

During the concert, musicians will film themselves performing at home as they socially distance along with most of the world to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. "Space Songs" is being produced by the museum in collaboration with Grammy award-winning graphic designer and art director Lawrence Azerrad and BYT (Brightest Young Things) media.

This concert will highlight the talent and creativity of these musicians while shining a spotlight on "the creativity and community that can be found in distance and isolation, in both music and spaceflight," the museum said in a press statement.

"Space exploration is an extraordinary expression of humanity and an illustration of how extreme circumstances can bring out the very best in us all, as individuals and as a community," Ellen Stofan, the director of the museum, said in the same statement. "Although our locations in Washington and Virginia are temporarily closed, we wanted to continue our mission to engage the public with stories of people doing their very best work, wherever they are on Earth or off of it."

So, if you're a space fan looking to get inspired and jam along to some incredible musicians, be sure to tune in tomorrow night for "Space Songs."

Visit Space.com Thursday for a live simulcast of "Space Songs" from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Sting headlines virtual 'Space Songs' concert by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum tonight! - Space.com

Small Budget Astronauts

Like many games that suffer not from a lack of effort by the team behind their development, but rather a lack of funding that comes to so many small studios, Deliver Us The Moon is a game that would have benefited immensely from a partnership with a big-budget brand. Thats not to say this is a bad game, but instead that its frustrating to see what potentially could have been something great only have the chance to be just okay. Deliver Us The Moon wont knock your socks off, but it does some interesting stuff that unquestionably warrants a playthrough.

The Earths natural resources have been nearly depleted. To combat this, the World Space Agency has been created to harvest a promising new source of energy from the moon. One night, all communications between Earth and the moon go dark, and youre sent in to investigate. But weve heard this story before. And weve seen countless games play out their narrative in an exact way Deliver Us The Moon does, only a lot of the times, its better than this.

Of course, being the only person aboard the space station youre sent to means the story will play out through a series of audio logs, and ghostlike recreations of events that took place prior to your arrival. A lot of the content here is well-written, but unfortunately, the voice acting can be hit or miss, throwing off the mood the developers would try to set at times. When the acting is good, its engaging and heart-wrenching, and a lot of fun to discover. But when the acting is bad, its cringe-inducing and tough to sit through.

I also felt like the story was inconsequential until around the halfway mark. The intensity starts to heat up once you realize some things may be more sinister than initially thought, but the first parts of the game struggled to hold my attention in the same way the ending did. Again, much of this goes back to being fed up with the monotony of picking up audio log after audio log and sifting through page after page of notes and messages left behind. Thanks to some interesting gameplay mechanics and surprisingly beautiful set pieces, however, I managed to power through.

To its credit, what Deliver Us The Moon does right is capturing the feeling of being in space. Not that Ive ever been. But the floaty space physics you get to play around with justfeelright. And I think thats the real testament this game can stand by. It lacks a lot of the polish that AAA titles receive, yes, but theres also a lot of heart here. Navigating around in zero gravity feels excellent, and when it was all said and done, I was left wanting more. The cracks really start to show, however, when running around in 3rd person. All of the janky animations and stiff mannequin-like movements that couldnt be ironed out come to life, and you start to anticipate getting back into 1st person.

Regardless though of whether youre in 1st or 3rd person, the setting of Deliver Us The Moon turns out to be undeniably captivating. The inside of the space station itself is dark and gloomy, and to be quite honest, reminiscent of Alien. But its when you peak out the windows of a corridor youre walking down, and a massive planet is staring back at you, that you begin to appreciate what youre playing. Even better than that, the first time I stepped out onto the moons surface left me speechless. The way the grey of the moon contrasts with the dead black sky is rendered magnificently, and I can say this is one of the best representations of space Ive seen in gaming.

Any great visual set piece in gaming needs a robust musical score to go with it, and thats the other area Deliver Us The Moon excels in. The orchestral hums that accompany your journey make parts of the game that would be otherwise mundane come alive. So much of the games soul is born from its fantastic score, and the team behind it should be accommodated. On the flip side, the complete lack of sound thats implemented whenever you enter space has an amazing effect. Amidst many flaws, including a predictable story, janky animations, and hit or miss voice acting, the sound design wrangles everything up into a ball, polishes it, and makes the package seem so much stronger than what may be available.

Deliver Us The Moon turned out to be a fun little distraction from the bigger, more intensive games Ive been playing. It certainly doesnt do anything to reinvent the wheel, but it manages to nail a few of the key things it tries to do, and for that, I have no problems recommending it for a quick playthrough. Ill be the first to tell you, though, that theres going to be some stuff that will bug the hell out of you. Still, for the most part, the good outweighs the bad, and Ill be keeping my eye out for KeokeN Interactives next project.

***PS4 code provided by the publisher***

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Deliver Us The Moon (PS4) Review - Melancholic Space Exploration - COGconnected

As kids all over Chicago are adjusting to social distancing at home, their learning environments have been impacted and the way that they socialise has changed. More and more parents are looking online to support their child's education.

Rocket Lab and Peoply have come together to help kids learn and connect. The two companies have partnered to create the online program, Rocket Lab Explorers, that introduces rocket science and the space industry to kids, age 8-12.

Each week, kids delve into a different topic that fosters curiosity and interest in the natural world through exploration and play.

Students join classes by jumping into a live "classroom" with up to six other students around the country. Each class has a "coach" who facilitates, inspires and supports students. Kids get to explore topics such as building and launching real life rockets, Rocket Lab missions, the future of space, jobs in space and even space entrepreneurship.

"Space is something that captures the imagination of so many kids all over the world, and Rocket Lab Explorers fosters this curiosity and discovery. Kids are exposed to the cutting edge innovation that Rocket Lab is doing in space in a way that they can understand and engage with" Peoply founder 21-year-old Matt Strawbridge, says.

Experiential learning is used throughout classes, and teaches kids how satellites monitor herd migration across the world, how space exploration can help the environment and what space travel might look like in the future. Kids also get to learn fun facts like how to tell the difference between a star, a planet and a satellite when you look up into the sky at night.

Peoply classes are based on the principle, "they may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel," building confidence and empowering kids is at the core of what Peoply does.

Entrepreneurship and thinking differently are also themes that run throughout, so that kids realise that they can become entrepreneurs, and that anything is possible. "The program is something that I would have loved to participate in growing up," Strawbridge shared.

When kids need space more than ever, Peoply and Rocket Lab are sending their imagination to the stars.

Rocket Lab Explorers is a seven-week program, with the second intake starting the week May 11.

Head to http://www.peoply.co to sign up or learn more.

Originally posted here:

Kids can travel to outer space with Peoply and Rocket Lab - Chicago Daily Herald

Project team, courtesy: Corvin Illgner

On 4 October 1957, humanity managed the first successful orbital launch of Sputnik 1, the very first satellite. This was the beginning of a new era, the era of space exploration. Since then, humanity has ventured to the moon, sent multiple probes to other bodies of the solar system, found new possible habitable exo-planets within our universe, and is now even planning the colonisation of Mars. Space exploration and its research have given humanity many advantages, not only in terms of technology and economic opportunities, but also to understand more about ourselves and our origin as part of a bigger system. Since the interest in space will only continue to rise, this topic needs to be addressed globally!

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were decided on at the United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, as a continuation of the Millennium Goals Agenda. They go deeper into our responsibility as humans toward a sustainable planet by setting multiple universal goals for 2030 that meet the urgent political, economic, and environmental challenges facing our world. However, these global goals seem to understand planet Earth as an isolated entity, and they forget our dependence on and responsibility towards the system we are a part of. Since the lack of the protection of outer space can have a huge impact on all of us, it is important that more awareness is given to this, in order to tackle all of the problems we currently face, which will hinder our development in the future.

Therefore, we have decided to take action. Our names are Lise Selles, Chiara Moenter, Luca Ike, and Corvin Illgner (see photo, from left to right) and we are students from Windesheim Honours College in Zwolle, the Netherlands. Our goal is to get the UN to incorporate outer space in their SDG Agenda. This idea was given to us by one of our lecturers, Mara Garcia Alvarez, who already saw the necessity for action quite some time ago. One year ago, she started a campaign for a new SDG goal, SDG 18: Life in Space. We all strongly believed this goal needed even more attention, and after many hours of research, brainstorm sessions and reaching out to experts, our initiative was born.

Many different organisations from all over the world see the importance of space protection and/or are already working on ways to use space to support the already existing SDGs. This is why we find it incredibly important to connect all these different voices that are working on our common goal. In order to do this, and as part of the celebration of the United Nations 75th Anniversary, we will host our own UN75 Dialogue. Different global challenges will be discussed in different UN75 Dialogues around the world to inspire and generate solutions. The ideas and thoughts developed during these discussions in different countries will be presented to UN Member States and senior officials during the 75th UN General Assembly in New York coming September.

We want to connect people from different fields to work together to get space on a global agenda! Our globe does not stand alone in the universe. So, join us on the 11th of May and ask any questions you may have. Please register here!

For more information you can also visit our website: sdgspace.org.

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Taking Action! - A Group Of Students Aims To Set Space On The Global Agenda - SDG 18 - SpaceWatch.Global

Grab your headphones and get ready to blast off into cyberspace.

Rock legend Sting is set to perform the out-of-this-world grand finale at the National Air and Space Museums Space Songs: Through the Distance virtual concert Thursday night.

Viewers can tune into the free digital concert hosted by Adam Savage on the museums YouTube channel. The show begins at 8 p.m Thursday.

Space exploration is an extraordinary expression of humanity and an illustration of how extreme circumstances can bring out the very best in us all, as individuals and as a community, museum director Ellen Stofan said in a statement.

The star-studded concert lineup will include Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast, Dan Deacon, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Valerie June, Lukas Nelson, Grace Potter, John Roderick of Long Winters and Vagabond.

The artists will join Sting from their homes in an effort to promote social distancing and spread joy and creativity.

Although our locations in Washington and Virginia are temporarily closed, we wanted to continue our mission to engage the public with stories of people doing their very best work, wherever they are on Earthor off of it," the museum added.

Plan on tuning in to the virtual show? RSVP here.

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Sting to Headline Air and Space Museum Virtual Concert - NBC4 Washington

WASHINGTON A new study found that costs on major NASA projects continued to grow in the last year, and warned some of the agencys highest profile programs will likely face additional cost overruns and delays in the near future.

The annual assessment of NASAs major projects by the Government Accountability Office, released April 29, found that, for the third year in a row, the average cost overrun on those projects had increased. Those projects, which include missions and other programs with a total cost of at least $250 million, have suffered an average cost increase of 30.9%, compared to 27.6% in last years report and 15.6% in 2017.

The report found slightly better schedule performance for those programs, though, with an average schedule slip of 12 months, down from 13 months in 2019.

The biggest contributor to the cost growth is NASAs exploration programs, including the Space Launch System, Orion, and their associated ground systems. Of the $1.6 billion in net additional cost growth identified by GAO in the report, $1.3 billion comes from those programs.

The report warned of more overruns to come. The cost performance of NASAs portfolio of major projects continues to deteriorate for the third consecutive year and both cost and schedule performance are expected to worsen when NASA announces a new schedule for the Artemis I mission, the GAO stated.

NASA has yet to announce a new schedule for that mission, which will be the first launch of the SLS. NASA started a review of the schedule for the mission in December, and in late February an agency official suggested the mission would take place in the second half of 2021. That was, though, before the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has, among other things, halted work on the Green Run test of the SLS core stage at the Stennis Space Center since mid-March.

The GAO report, which also does not account for potential delays because of the pandemic, said that NASA was estimating costs based on a March 2021 launch readiness date. Further delays beyond March 2021 would lead to further cost growth, it stated.

Of the exploration program increases, more than half, or $700 million, is from SLS, which the GAO said was linked to the delay to March 2021. It also cautioned of risks associated with SLS development during the upcoming Green Run test, notably concerns that the core stage may leak when filled with liquid hydrogen fuel. There is no known leak problem, the report stated, citing program officials, however, it is difficult to precisely predict how this large volume of liquid hydrogen will affect the stage.

The GAO warned that there are risks from other Artemis programs needed to achieve a human return to the moon by 2024. The first two modules of the lunar Gateway, the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), would qualify as major projects, as well as the Gateway Logistics Services program for cargo transportation and the Human Landing System program for lunar landers. A robotic lunar rover called VIPER and development of lunar spacesuits may also qualify as major projects based depending on their cost, the report noted.

Of those projects, only the PPE is included in the report, since the others are not yet mature enough to have cost and schedule estimates. The initial effect will be a reduction in cost and schedule growth because new projects are less likely to have experienced cost and schedule growth, but there is a longer-term risk because the programs themselves are risky, the GAO said of the eventual inclusion of those projects in future reports.

The GAO already warned of potential issues with the PPE based on its use of a solar electric propulsion system being developed separately. The contractor working on that propulsion system has struggled with its performance, which led NASA to modify the development contract and reduce technical requirements, the report stated. The PPE could achieve its goals with a lower-power solar electric propulsion system, but would no longer be able to achieve some of the technology demonstration objectives of the program.

Most of the rest of the cost overruns experienced by major NASA projects in the last year involved the Mars 2020 rover mission, which suffered technical problems that drove its cost up by $360 million. NASA officials previously said that those cost overruns required austerity across the portfolio of other Mars missions to accommodate it. NASA officials said in mid-April that Mars 2020 remains on schedule for launch during a window that opens July 17 and closes Aug. 5.

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GAO warns of continued cost growth on NASA exploration programs - SpaceNews