Category Archives: Space Exploration

Bethany Ehlmann is a professor of planetary science and director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech and president of the board of the Planetary Society.

Exploring space is one of the most profound human endeavors, valuable strategically and to the human spirit. And it is people who make missions happen, enabling U.S. leadership in deep space exploration that has been an inspiration to the world. But a congressional budget stalemate and recent job cuts in the U.S. space program have brought our nation to the verge of forfeiting that leadership.

Last week, more than 500 staffers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a pioneer in robotic space exploration, lost their jobs. As an undergraduate, I had a life-changing opportunity to work with some of those engineers, operating the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and I am currently working with others while leading a NASA lunar mission. As those uniquely trained and creative JPL colleagues awaited layoffs with ops centers closed, the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on the surface of Mars perhaps wondered why Earth didnt phone in for new science observations that day.

Meanwhile, also last week, the Chinese space agency moved its Queqiao-2 relay satellite toward launch to support a first-for-humanity milestone a sample return from the far side of the Moon as part of the Chinese campaign to build toward human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The U.S. space program does not need to be in this situation. The JPL layoffs and this winters reassignments at other NASA centers and space industry partners across the nation arose from a complicated budget stalemate between the House and Senate over funding priorities. In response, NASA chose to scale back its expenditures in anticipation of losing funding. This move in turn blew a more than $500 million hole in the budget for solar system exploration with the fiscal year well underway. As the hole grew, rivalries broke out over the remaining funding. Such is not befitting of the U.S. space program, a jewel of our nation.

A disruption in U.S. deep space exploration does not make sense at a time when the field now offers more exciting opportunities than it has since the 1960s and the Apollo program, with more players around the world. Private space industry is booming in low Earth orbit. Multiple international programs have successful deep space missions: Japan, Korea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Europe and China. NASA in 2017 established the Artemis program to take humans to the Moon and Mars, and it has endured through an administration change. The James Webb space telescope offers stunning data, and the astronomy community has recommended a new space telescope to find earthlike worlds around other stars.

Our pathways forward are crafted. In 2022, the National Academies completed a new Decadal Survey for planetary science and astrobiology, providing an ambitious, balanced and executable 10-year plan for completing missions to Europa, Titan, the Moon and Venus, as well as new mission starts: Mars Sample Return, a Uranus orbiter and mission competitions for any solar system destination. I was privileged to serve with the 100-plus planetary scientists and engineers who took input from thousands of our colleagues to craft that 10-year plan for continued U.S. leadership in space science. But now I see that leadership at risk of faltering.

The nation needs our leaders to act with steadfast vision and maintain the willpower to execute on long-term plans, even if times are tough. My colleagues and I look to NASA to stand with science and with the mission recommendations of the National Academies. To maintain space leadership, we seek Congress to fund NASAs Science Mission Directorate at the planned fiscal year 2024 levels in the presidents budget, or at least at continuing fiscal year 2023 levels.

We also need our nations leaders to embrace both human exploration and robotic exploration and resist pitting them against each other, as in the current budget stalemate. Each benefits the other. The science accomplished by humans on the Moon and Mars will be extraordinary. Planning for sending humans to Mars will benefit critically from engineering flight performance data. The information supplied by Mars Sample Returns first launch as its rocket ascends through the thin Martian atmosphere and takes samples of potentially hazardous Martian dust will allow us to understand how to protect astronauts from it.

Artemis and Mars Sample Return are two linchpins of U.S. leadership in space exploration. That leadership requires continuing development of the top-priority Mars Sample Return science mission on a time scale that maintains a robust and balanced mission portfolio and ensures that our Artemis astronauts get boots safely on the Moon.

Every space mission dollar is spent here on Earth in high-tech jobs that bolster our technological competitiveness and deliver enduring knowledge for generations. We explore because we want to know: How did we get here? and Are we alone? And because, as President John F. Kennedy said, it is good for our society to do things that are hard.

Space missions are modern-day cathedrals, generational endeavors. We show the world what American ingenuity can do and team with other nations in peaceful missions of exploration that bond our cultures. We also excite children about science, engineering, exploration and what can be accomplished by working together.

In 2024, our leaders need to unite, support our space workforce and show the willpower to move forward for America to continue leading the world in our exploration of the cosmos.

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Opinion | It's an exciting time in space exploration. But U.S. leadership is at risk. - The Washington Post

NASA has officially bid adieu to its Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment (Saffire), fittingly having the last one burn up in the Earth's atmosphere following six successful missions involving controlled fires in orbit.

The agency's sixth and final experiment dubbed Saffire-VI traveled to the International Space Station in August, safely tucked inside an uncrewed Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft.

Last month, the capsule burned up while reentering the atmosphere, putting an end to a series of experiments that have provided invaluable insights into how fire behaves in space and how to enhance the safety of future space exploration missions.

The first Saffire mission took place in 2016, with scientists lighting a sample of a cotton-fiberglass blend inside a roughly three-by-four-foot enclosure, dwarfing the previously largest fire experiment in space, which was roughly the size of an index card, per NASA.

The mission, as well as the five subsequent experiments, were designed to probe important questions when it comes to crew safety.

"How big a fire does it take for things to get bad for a crew?" said Saffire principal investigator David Urban in a NASA statement. "This kind of work is done for every other inhabited structure here on Earth buildings, planes, trains, automobiles, mines, submarines, ships but we hadnt done this research for spacecraft until Saffire."

For Saffire-VI, scientists cranked up the concentration of oxygen and lowered the pressure compared to previous experiments.

In other words, NASA really let it rip for its grand finale.

Over 19 different runs, scientists ignited a roaring flame on a number of materials, including plexiglass, cotton, a flame-resistant fiber called Nomex, and other fabrics, specially designed to resist fire.

Thanks to cameras inside the container, scientists watched as the flames roared, gathering crucial data in the process.

"Youve got a heat release rate and a rate of release of combustion products," said project manager Gary Ruff in the statement. "You can take those as model input and predict what will happen in a vehicle."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, fire in space habitats is really bad news. In 1997, the six crew members on board Russia's Mir space station were shocked todiscover a fire that ignited in an oxygen-generating system. The flame burned bright for several minutes, filling the station with smoke.

Fortunately, crew members acted quickly enough and managed to extinguish the flames.

We've come a long way since then, in large part thanks to NASA's Saffire experiments.

In September, two fearless astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station even lit a candle with a match during a live broadcast, a symbolic vote of confidence in our ability to control fire and create safe environments in space.

More on fire in space: NASA Is Starting Fires in Space Just to Watch Them Burn

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NASA Experiment With Fire in Space Ends When Entire Spacecraft Burns Up - Futurism

Feb. 15, 2024

RELEASE: J24-003

NASA Selects Texas A&M as First Approved Exploration Park Facility

NASA and the Texas A&M University System announced an agreement Thursday, Feb. 15, to lease underutilized land in Exploration Park, a 240-acre development at the agencys Johnson Space Center in Houston. The A&M System will develop a facility to enable human spaceflight research and development that enables the commercial space economy.

The lease agreement will allow the A&M System and others to use NASA Johnson land to create facilities for a collaborative development environment that increases commercial access and enhances the United States commercial competitiveness in the space and aerospace industries.

NASA Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche, Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, and Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III announced the new collaboration at the AIAA-hosted Ascend Texas (ASCENDxTexas) Conference at South Shore Harbour Conference Center.

For more than 60 years, NASA Johnson has been the hub of human spaceflight, Wyche said. Exploration Park will be the next spoke in the larger wheel of a robust and durable space economy that will benefit not only exploration of the Moon, Mars and the asteroids, but all of humanity as the benefits of space exploration research roll home to Earth.

As the home of Mission Control Center for the agencys human space missions, astronaut training, human health and space medicine, and leadership of premiere human spaceflight programs and missions, NASA Johnson leads the way for human space exploration. Leveraging this unique role and location, Exploration Park will play a key role in helping the human spaceflight community attain U.S. goals for the commercialization and development of a robust space economy by creating an infrastructure that fosters a multi-use environment where academic researchers, aerospace companies and entrepreneurs can collaborate with NASA and solve space explorations greatest challenges.

The Texas A&M University System has a long history of supporting space-related research, and Texas A&M University has been a space grant university since 1989, Sharp said. This new agreement and planned facility will allow us to build on our space tradition and help us to be a major part of the commercial space economy. NASA issued an announcement for proposals for use of the undeveloped and underutilized land near Saturn Lane on June 9, 2023, and has just completed negotiations with the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents to formalize the lease agreement. The parcel is outside of Johnsons controlled access area and adjacent to its main campus. NASA will lease the land to the A&M System for an initial period of 20 years, with two additional 20-year options, for a potential total of 60 years.

For the last 35 years, Texas A&M University has honored its space-grant mission by becoming a powerhouse in human and robotic space exploration, Welsh said. This agreement enables us to leverage faculty expertise, establish strategic partnerships and develop resources to foster new discoveries, technological innovations and a future workforce that will benefit Texas and the nation. We are grateful to NASA, the Board of Regents and the State of Texas for their vision and support of Texas A&Ms work in space exploration.

In the coming years, NASA and its academic, commercial, and international partners will see the completion of the International Space Station Program, the commercial development of low Earth orbit, and the first human Artemis campaign missions establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars.

Johnson already is leading the commercialization of space with the commercial cargo and crew programs and private astronaut missions to the space station. The center also is supporting the development of commercial space stations in low Earth orbit, and lunar-capable commercial spacesuits and lunar landers that will be provided as services to both NASA and the private sector to accelerate human access to space. Through the development of Exploration Park, the center will broaden the scope of the human spaceflight community that is tackling the many difficult challenges ahead.

-end-

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

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NASA Selects Texas A&M as First Approved Exploration Park Facility - NASA

The future of space exploration includes some rather ambitious plans to send missions farther from Earth than ever before. Beyond the current proposals for building infrastructure in cis-lunar space and sending regular crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, there are also plans to send robotic missions to the outer Solar System, to the focal length of our Suns gravitational lens, and even to the nearest stars to explore exoplanets. Accomplishing these goals requires next-generation propulsion that can enable high thrust and consistent acceleration.

Focused arrays of lasers or directed energy (DE) and lightsails are a means that is being investigated extensively such as Breakthrough Starshot and Swarming Proxima Centauri. Beyond these proposals, a team from McGill University in Montreal has proposed a new type of directed energy propulsion system for exploring the Solar System. In a recent paper, the team shared the early results of their Laser-Thermal Propulsion (LTP) thruster facility, which suggests that the technology has the potential to provide both high thrust and specific impulse for interstellar missions.

The research team was led by Gabriel R. Dube, an Undergraduate Research Trainee with the McGill Interstellar Flight Experimental Research Group (IFERG), and Associate Professor Andrew Higgins, the Principal Investigator of the IFERG. They were joined by Emmanuel Duplay, a graduate researcher from the Technische Universiteit Delft (TU Delft); Siera Riel, a Summer Research Assistant with the IFERG; and Jason Loiseau, an Associate Professor with the Royal Military College Of Canada. The team presented their results at the 2024 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition and in a paper that appeared in the AIAA journal Aerospace Research Central (ARC).

Higgins and his colleagues originally proposed this concept in a 2022 paper that appeared in Acta Astronautica titled Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion. As Universe Today reported at the time, the LTP was inspired by interstellar concepts like Starshot and Project Dragonfly. However, Higgins and his associates from McGill were interested in how the same technology could enable rapid transit missions to Mars in just 45 days and throughout the Solar System. This method, they argued, could also validate the technologies involved and act as a stepping stone toward interstellar missions.

As Higgins told Universe Today via email, the concept came to them during the pandemic when they were unable to get into their lab:

[M]y students did a detailed conceptual study of how we could use the kind of large laser arrays envisioned for the Breakthrough Starshot for a more near-term mission in the Solar System. Rather than at 10-km-diameter, 100-GW laser envisioned for Breakthrough Starshot, we limited ourselves to a 10-m-diameter, 100-MW laser and showed it would be able to deliver power to a spacecraft out to nearly the distance of the Moon. By heating hydrogen propellant to 10,000s of K, the laser enables the holy grail of high thrust and high specific impulse.

The concept is similar to nuclear-thermal propulsion (NTP), which NASA and DARPA are currently developing for rapid transit missions to Mars. In an NTP system, a nuclear reactor generates heat that causes hydrogen or deuterium propellant to expand, which is then focused through nozzles to generate thrust. In this case, phased-array lasers are focused into a hydrogen heating chamber, which is then exhausted through a nozzle to realize specific impulses of 3000 seconds. Since Higgins and his students returned to the lab, he said, they have been attempting to experimentally verify their idea:

Obviously, we dont have a 100 MW laser at McGill, but we now have a 3-kilowatt laser set-up in the lab (which is scary enough) and are studying how the laser would couple its energy to a propellant (eventually hydrogen, but for now argon just because it is easier to ionize). The AIAA paper reports on the design, construction, and shake-down of our 3-kW laser facility.

Higgins and his team constructed an apparatus containing 5 to 20 bars of static argon gas from their tests. While the final concept will utilize hydrogen gas as a propellant, they used argon gas for the test because it is easier to ionize. They then fired the 3-kW laser in pulses at a frequency of 1070 nanometers (corresponding to the near-infrared wavelength) to determine the threshold power necessary for Laser-Sustained Plasma (LSP). Their results indicated that around 80% of the laser energy was deposited into the plasma, which is consistent with previous studies.

The pressure and spectral data they acquired also revealed the peak LSP temperature with the working gas, though they stress that further research is needed for conclusive results. They also stressed that a dedicated apparatus is needed to conduct forced flow and other LSP tests. Lastly, the team plans to conduct thrust measurements later this year to gauge how much acceleration (delta-v) and specific impulse (Isp) a laser-thermal propulsion system can deliver for future missions to Mars and other planets in the Solar System.

If the technology is up to the task, we could be looking at a system capable of delivering astronauts to Mars in weeks rather than months! Other concepts selected for the NIAC this year include tests to evaluate hibernation systems for long-duration missions in microgravity. Alone or in combination, these technologies could enable fast-transit missions that require less cargo and supplies and minimize astronaut exposure to microgravity and radiation.

Further Reading: AIAA, Acta Astronautica

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Ground-Based Lasers Could Accelerate Spacecraft to Other Stars - Universe Today

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Jaime Herndon finished her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia, after leaving a life of psychosocial oncology and maternal-child health work. She is a writer, editor, and book reviewer who drinks way too much coffee. She is a new-ish mom, so the coffee comes in extra handy. Twitter:@IvyTarHeelJaime

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Space exploration: even those words alone sound monumentalat least to me. Exploring space feels sort of like a misnomer, though the cosmos is so vast that we have barely explored any of it, in all honesty. But at the same time, those two words hold a lot of promise and hint at what could be discovered in the future. And thats pretty exciting to think about when it comes to space exploration books.

With so much out there and so much to explore, theres a wide variety of books if youd like to read more about it. NASA was created in 1958, and the space shuttle program formally began in 1972. While the shuttle program ended in 2011, that doesnt mean we arent exploring space: theres the James Webb Space Telescope, the rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, and SpaceX missions, to name just a few ways were still exploring.

Ive put together some great books to check out for anyone interested in space exploration. While I couldnt list all of them, there are also other great titles like Reaching for the Stars by Jos M. Hernndez, Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age by Lori Carver, and the forthcoming book Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham.

Grab your favorite snack, get cozy, and lets dive in!

I got this for my son when we started our astronomy unit in homeschool back in September, and I dont think hes stopped reading and rereading it since then. Its a constant fixture in his playroom while he builds his LEGO spacecrafts. Its a Lonely Planet Kids book, so you know its going to be good, and it doesnt disappoint. Anything your kid (or you) wanted to know about space exploration? Its probably in here: history, important people, different spacecrafts, future goals, practical issues, and much, much more, all of which are accompanied by plenty of pictures, infographics, and maps.

My only complaint about this book is that even at over 400 pages, its too short. I simply wanted more: more stories, more information, and more time with these astronauts. Grush writes about the first six women astronauts chosen in 1978: Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon. She writes about their journey to NASA, their contributions to the field, and the challenges they faced as women in the space program.

Theres been a lot of talk about colonizing Mars, but just because it might be an option, is it really something we should do? Kelly and Zach Weinersmith take this topic on, and the result is a funny, information-packed guide to space exploration and possible space settlements, answering almost any question under the sun about undertaking such a thing. They explore the geopolitical impacts and considerations, legalities, making babies in space, and intricacies of daily life and those are just some of the topics here. Its a thought-provoking, entertaining, but also serious book about how much we dont know about the practical things we take for granted here about the basic details of life.

We take for granted the diversity of astronauts (which, yes, could still be improved) but it hasnt always been that way not at all. Bagby writes about the 1978 astronaut class of NASA, which included the first women, the first African Americans, the first Asian American, and the first LGBTQ+ individual to go to space. Nicknamed The F*cking New Guys, this was quite a departure from previous classes and was full of egos, ambition, brilliance, and personality clashes. This book gives you not only a front-row seat to the interpersonal aspects of the class but also a look at the program itself at a time of monumental change and growth.

If you want even more space books, check out this post on books about the moon and this post featuring books about astrophysics and space.

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8 Space Exploration Books to Add to Your TBR - Book Riot

At the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, which was held from February 14th 15th, 2024, the Executive Council of the African Union elected and appointed the first African Space Council to advance the operationalisation of the African Space Agency, which was inaugurated in January 2023.

The African Space Council is charged with coordinating the activities of the African Space Agency, guiding continental space policymaking, resource allocation, and regulatory oversights, and managing African space industry stakeholders, including governments and international partners, to facilitate favourable partnerships in space science and technology. Furthermore, the Council will ensure that investments align strategically with continental objectives, including those outlined in Africa 2063, prioritising advancements in space exploration, research, technology, and indigenous capacity development. Moreover, the African Space Council will facilitate collaboration in space exploration and research through local, regional, continental, and international cooperation, promoting mutual benefits and peaceful endeavours for all Africans.

It will also support the growth of commercial space industries by fostering innovation, removing regulatory barriers, and encouraging entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the Space Council will spearhead public outreach and education initiatives to inspire interest in space exploration and its potential societal benefits while addressing security and defence considerations related to space assets and capabilities. In general, the Council will oversee the administrative operations of the Agency.

Based on the statutes of the African Space Agency, the African Space Council is comprised of ten people from the member states of the African Union Commission, elected during the 37th Ordinary Session yesterday, AUC commissioners for Human Resources, Science and Technology, H.E. Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang, Infrastructure and Energy, H.E. Amani Abou-Zeid, Political Affairs, Peace and Security, H.E. Amb. Bankole Adeoye, and Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko. Other council members include the Director of Communications and the Legal Council of the commission.

The elected members of the council are:

There was no representation from Central Africa.

In line with the statutes, Dr Tidiane Ouattara and Ms Thandikile Chisala Mbvundula were appointed the President and Vice-President of the council, respectively.

Dr Tidiane Ouattara is the Head of the Science, Technology and Space Division at the Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of the African Union Commission and the Coordinator leading the development and implementation of the African Outer Space Programme, including implementing the African Space Policy and Strategy and establishing the African Space Agency.

With an extensive history in international relations, business development, policy development, and project negotiation and management, he previously led the inception and coordination of the GMES and Africa project, a joint endeavour between the African and European Unions. He plays a crucial role as the primary organiser of pan-Africanism in the African space ecosystem, fostering collaboration among all African countries through various initiatives and programmes. Additionally, he bargained the GMES and Africa project as the AUC point of contact in getting the project approved and the EUR 100 million investment into African space programmes from the European Union. A seasoned leader and expert in the African space ecosystem, Dr Ouattara deftly led the success of the first phase of the GMES and Africa programme and the beginning of the second phase and has dedicated himself to promoting collaborative efforts among various consortia to drive socio-economic development through diverse and innovative partnerships and initiatives across 45 African countries.

Before he joined the African Union in 2016, Dr Ouattara built a career as a lecturer at Sherbrooke University, Canada, and a researcher for different departments in the Canadian government, including the Department of Natural Resources, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Canadian Department of Environment and Climate Change. Dr Tidiane Ouattara holds a masters degree in Physical Geography from Universit de Cocody, Abidjan, Cte-dIvoire, and another masters and PhD degrees in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada.

The African Space Agency will be the focal point of Africas collaboration with Europe and other non-African partners, with the mandate to strengthen space missions in Africa and ensure access to space data, applications, and technologies. The agency also intends to end redundant space efforts in Africa, transform the African space ecosystem from a resource-dependent industry to a knowledge-based one, and promote space technology development in all member states of the African Union.

Dr Babamaaji is a Deputy Director of the Strategic Space Applications Department at the National Space Research and Development Agency, Nigeria. She is a resource person for human capacity development at the department and an expert in Geology, Water Resource Applications, Environmental Assessment, Remote Sensing and GIS.

Dr Babamaaji is the Vice Chair of the African Union Science and Technology Advisory Group on Disaster Risk Reduction and a member of the Project Implementation Team (PIT) for Geo-referenced Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development (GRID3) Nigeria. Furthermore, she is the coordinator of the CropWatch Nigeria program and Principal Investigator for the LCB project, a National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) focal point for the World Bank Nigeria ACReSAL project. Dr Babamaaji is also one of two African Scientists recently invited to the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Global Risk Assessment Framework (UNDRR GRAF) Steering Group and the vice chair of ITU/WMO/UNEP Focal Group on Artificial Intelligence for Natural Disaster Management (FG-AI4NDM), all of which underscores her commitment to the use of space technologies for socioeconomic benefits in Africa.

Prior to her appointment at NASRDA, Dr Babamaaji interned at the Canadian Space Agency, then worked as a graduate research assistant at Hydrolab, University of Missouri Kansas City, a Teaching Assistant at the Geology Department of Missouri Community College Maplewood Campus, Kansas, USA till 2014. Her research focus includes Hydrological modelling and LULC of Lake Chad Basin (LCB), Hydrological modelling of Katsina-ala river basin: an emerging scenario from Lake Nyos threat, and Water-Related Issues and Space (Remote Sensing) Applications in Africa.

Dr Babamaaji holds a doctorate degree in Geosciences and Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri Kansas City, USA, two Masters in Environmental Resources Management from Lagos State University, Nigeria and in Space Management from the International Space University, France, and a Bachelors degree in Geology from the Federal University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria, among many other certifications.

Ms Mbvundula is a social entrepreneur and pioneer who founded Malawis first internet service provider, Epsilon & Omega, in 1999. After extensive work with ICT for Development in South Africa, she returned to Malawi to head NICO Technologies, Ltd. Ms Mbvundula has built an extensive and remarkable career as a social entrepreneur and ICT for Development initiatives. Her work in the Malawian ICT industry contributed significantly to the commercial development of email and the Internet in a virgin market. Through Epsilon & Omega, she led efforts to sensitise citizens on the effective use and application of email and internet services, implemented dial-up and broadband wireless connectivity, and introduced new and emerging internet technologies into the public and private sectors. From 2013 to 2016, Ms Mbvundula served as the CEO of NICO Technologies. Before this, she was an ICT programme manager at OSISA, where she coordinated and provided support for devising and integrating various solutions and initiatives for the ICT sector in 10 Southern African countries. Additionally, Ms Mbvundula is the Taskforce Chairperson at the Malawi Space Agency.

She holds a bachelors degree in Control Systems and Computing Science from the University of Sheffield and a masters in Information Systems Management from the University of Liverpool. Currently, she is an independent ICT4D consultant, specialising in developing, designing, and reviewing policies and strategies for enhancing ICT penetration in Malawi.

Dr Mundia is the Director of Research and Innovation in the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Government of the Republic of Namibia. A seasoned executive, academician, entrepreneur and author, he has about 20 years of working experience, about 10 years of which is in education, research and training. He lectured, reviewed and developed internationally accredited degree programmes from NQF level 6 to 10 and worked for various industries ranging from consulting, higher education, utility, mining and local authority, making him highly relevant to the transdisciplinary research agenda.

He served as one of the first Council Members of Space Science under the National Commission on Research Science Technology. Dr Mundia is a former Committee Member of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure under the Namibia Statistics Agency, a Land Tribunal Board member under the Ministry of Land Reform, and an Advisory Board Member of the Southern African Innovation Support Programme. He currently serves as a Board Member of the Earth Observations for Sustainable Development Goals (EO4SDG) Initiative under the Group on Earth Observations, an Advisory Board Member of the Multidisciplinary Research Center of the University of Namibia, a Chairperson of the National Research Symposiums (MHETI), a Chairperson of the National Steering Committee on Research Outputs and Journal Accreditations (MHETI), and the Founder and Chairperson of the Zambezi Innovation Foundation.

Dr Mundia is an M.Sc graduate of Management, a PhD holder in Geography, and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management. Furthermore, Dr Mundia has an M.Sc in Geographical Information Science (GIS) and many other qualifications in GIS, land management and land measuring. He has published several journals, conference papers, and books and managed and facilitated many international projects on land, water, development, earth observation, geographical sciences, climate change, and health sciences.

Amal Layachi has over 30 years of experience in Earth Observation and Geographic Information Systems. She coordinated and participated in several national or international projects on space technologies application to national and regional development priority areas, including the EU APPUIT Program, GARNET E, GEONET CAB, GEOCRADLE, LDAS MOROCCO, and the GMES and Africa initiative. Presently, she heads the Training and Cooperation department at the Centre Royal de Tldtection Spatiale (CRTS).

Ms Layachi is a specialist in institutional capacity building in space technologies and has been instrumental in the organisation of over 300 training programmes for the African and international earth observation communities. Ms Layachi oversees international cooperation activities at CRTS and is a focal point with space agencies such as the National Centre for Space Studies, France; the European Space Agency; the UAE Space Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the Indian Space Research Organisation, NSSA Bahrain. Additionally, she manages relationships with universities and national and international research institutions to improve applied research in Morocco in Earth Observation applications.

Ms Laychi holds an Engineering degree, a Masters degree and a Diploma of Advanced Studies specialising in automatic control and signal processing.

Mr Hassan is the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Djibouti, where he manages the implementation of the Djibouti space programme. In this capacity, he has directed the design and production of the Djibouti 1A and 1B.

From 2013 to 2014, he chaired the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Djibouti before he went on to become the chairperson for the National Commission for Higher Education Diploma Equivalences. He had a brief stint at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and the Sea, where he was in charge of hydraulic resources and then an Advisor to the Minister, a role where he was critical to developing strategies for livestock breeding, fishing, and agriculture sectors.

Dr liane Ubalijoro is the CEO of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry. With a background in agriculture and molecular genetics and a career that spans academia, the private and non-profit sectors, and international development, she serves on several boards and has been recognised for outstanding contributions to innovation, gender equity and sustainable prosperity creation, as well as improving the lives of women and smallholder farmers in developing countries. Dr Ubalijoro is Professor of Practice for Public-Private Sector Partnerships at McGill University. From 2021 to March 2023, she was the Executive Director of Sustainability in the Digital Age and the Canada Hub Director for Future Earth. She is a member of Rwandas National Science and Technology Council and Presidential Advisory Council, the Impact Advisory Board of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet, the Science for Africa Foundation, and the Capitals Coalition Supervisory Board.

Previously, Dr Ubalijoro founded C.L.E.A.R. International Development Inc., a consulting group harnessing global networks for sustainable systems development. She was the Deputy Executive Director for Programs at Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) from 2019 to 2021. She was a member of WWF Internationals Board of Trustees and the Crop Trusts Executive Board. She co-edited the 2021 book Building Resilient African Food Systems after COVID-19. She has served as a member of the Expert Consultation Group on the Post COVID-19 Implications on Collaborative Governance of Genomics Research, Innovation and Genetic Diversity and the African Development Banks Expert Global Community of Practice on COVID-19 Response Strategies in Africa.

Recognised for her work in leadership and gender equity, Dr Ubalijoro is a recipient of the International Leadership Associations 2022 awards in women and leadership for outstanding practice with broad impact and is part of a cohort of appointed International Science Council fellows in recognition for exceptional contributions to promoting science as a global public good. Dr Ubalijoro was a member of FemStep, a research network highlighting rural girls and womens perspectives for engendering poverty reduction strategies in Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, DR Congo and Ethiopia using arts-based methodologies.

She earned a bachelors degree in general agriculture and a masters and a doctorate in molecular genetics from McGill University, where she studied improving productivity in agriculture.

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Meet the Elected Members of the African Space Council - Space in Africa

HOUSTON, Texas New spaceflight research facilities are coming to Texas following the announcement of an agreement between NASA and the Texas A&M University System to utilize underdeveloped land at the space agency's Johnson Space Center.

NASA and Texas A&M leaders made the announcement on Feb. 15 at the ASCENDxTexas Conference in South Shore Harbour, Texas.

The lease agreement specifies Texas A&M utilizing an underdeveloped, 240-acre parcel of land at NASA Johnson near Saturn Lane in an area known as Exploration Park.

For more than 60 years, NASA Johnson has been the hub of human spaceflight, said NASA Johnson Space Director, Vanessa Wyche.

Leaders at the conference said the agreement will allow new collaborations that will benefit the space economy of the United States.

Exploration Park will be the next spoke in the larger wheel of a robust and durable space economy that will benefit not only exploration of the Moon, Mars and the asteroids, but all of humanity as the benefits of space exploration research roll home to Earth," Wyche said.

NASA said the new infrastructures, planned by the Texas A&M System, will be open to multi-use purposes from academic researchers, aerospace companies, and entrepreneurs.

The Texas A&M University System has a long history of supporting space-related research, and Texas A&M University has been a space grant university since 1989, said Texas A&M Chancellor, John Sharp. This new agreement and planned facility will allow us to build on our space tradition and help us to be a major part of the commercial space economy.

On June 9, 2023, NASA opened up proposals for the use of the underdeveloped land at Exploration Park.

Negotiations were finally completed with Texas A&M's Board of Regents to utilize the land, which is adjacent to NASA Johnson's main campus and controlled access area.

NASA will be leasing the land to Texas A&M for 20 years with additional 20-year options, creating a potential 60 year leasing deal.

Texas A&M President Mark Welsh III said in a statement:

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NASA working with Texas A&M to build new spaceflight research facilities - 25 News KXXV and KRHD

Chinas Rising Ambitions in Space Exploration

The world has witnessed a renewed interest in space exploration, particularly with the Moon becoming a global pursuit. A multitude of countries and commercial companies are now invested in launching missions to orbit or land on the Moon. China, however, stands out as one of the most ambitious nations in this pursuit. With successful orbital missions, lunar landings, and the return of lunar samples to Earth, China is on the fast track to make significant strides in space exploration. The country has set its sights on putting astronauts on the Moon before 2030, and its progress in developing the necessary technology for such a mission is quite substantial.

Chinas Change-3 spacecraft is set to make history with its scheduled landing on the Moon on 14 December. This landing will mark the first since Russias Luna-24 mission in 1976. Offering crucial support for the mission is the European Space Agency (ESA)s network of tracking stations, with stations in Kourou, French Guiana, Cebreros, Spain, and New Norcia, Australia. This international cooperation between ESA and China not only aids the current mission but also sets a precedent for future exploration of planets, moons, and asteroids.

The Change 8 mission, one of Chinas most ambitious space exploration initiatives, is calling for developers to make and assemble moon bricks. This mission will deploy a lander, rover, and robot, delivering 14 scientific instruments to the Moon to study local geology, test technologies for resource utilization, and conduct Earth observations. The mission also has plans for a small-scale terrestrial ecological experimental device to test life-supporting technologies for a long-term human presence on the Moon. Candidate landing sites for the mission include Leibnitz Beta, Amundsen crater, Cabeus crater, and the Shackleton-de Gerlache Ridge. The Change 8 mission, along with all of Chinas planned Change missions, aims to pave the way for Chinese astronauts to land on the Moon before 2030.

Chinas Change 8 lunar mission is a groundbreaking endeavor that plans to build structures on the moon using moon bricks created by melting lunar soil with solar energy. The mission includes robots to assemble the parts on the lunar surface and collect moon rocks for analysis. It will provide a significant opportunity to test life-supporting technologies for a long-term human presence on the Moon. The mission, open to developers worldwide, invites global participation in the creation of moon bricks and other scientific instruments. This innovative approach marks a significant leap in Chinas ambition to become a global leader in space exploration.

China is not resting on its laurels with the Change 8 mission. The country has launched multiple space exploration missions to the Moon, including the Change 4 mission, which successfully landed a rover on the far side of the Moon. China is also planning future missions to explore the lunar surface and potentially establish a research base. With future missions such as Change 6 and Change 7 in the pipeline, China is steadfastly working towards its ultimate goal of landing Chinese astronauts on the moon before 2030.

In conclusion, Chinas ambitious plans and innovative approaches to lunar exploration have positioned it as a significant player in the global space exploration arena. The successful execution of these missions will not only be a testament to Chinas technological capabilities but will also contribute substantially to our understanding of the Moon and potentially pave the way for future human habitation.

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China's Rising Ambitions in Space Exploration: Chang'e Missions and International Cooperation - Medriva

In the past decade, humanity has seen the birth and expansion of a commercial space sector with new, private players, addressing technological challenges - from space launch to communication and satellite imagery of Earth. Last year, the global space industry skyrocketed launching more than 2,660* satellites into orbit, and, into the universe, interplanetary probes, landers, and much more. In the United States, SpaceX was responsible for almost 90% of these launches. In parallel to this progression is the expansion of more than 70 countries** demonstrating space capabilities. It affirms the general consensus and understanding that humanity will continue to rely on space activities to better the human experience. These developments create a novel landscape of both competition and collaboration for scientists, offering both challenges and opportunities.

In an increasingly fragmented world, the scientific community stands as an example of successful international collaboration and diplomacy. Science is based in a long-standing tradition of knowledge exchange that often transcends political boundaries for the benefit of all humanity. Cost-effective, commercial space technologies can enable novel research or reduce the cost of investigations opening new possibilities for the scientific community. At the same time, international partnerships can further broaden engagement, diversity, and collaboration in science and space exploration. While this might seem like a "win-win" scenario, the interest of the scientific community is to openly share data and analysis. Differing principles and ideals present potential areas of conflict. As governments and private entities fund bold, new projects, leaders, academics, and legal experts are contemplating both the larger consequences, as well as potential prospects.

"When every mission is a first for humanity, the stakes are very high," says Thomas Zurbuchen who led 54 missions as NASA's longest serving Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. "When the clock is ticking, and the world is watching, a leader's most powerful asset is a highly diverse team," he says. Within this context, diversity can emerge from international and commercial partnerships, and can give rise to new missions. In fact, an estimated two-thirds of science missions have international partnerships.

Now, as the Director for ETH Zurich Space, in Switzerland, Zurbuchen reflects on the value of partnerships as a leadership tool. He uses examples from recent international missions, such as Mars InSight, to discuss how diversity creates opportunities for new and different ideas to come forward even if some ideas pose an element of risk. He also addresses some of the challenges arising from partnerships. For example, some companies and countries prefer not to share their science data gathered in space, making reproducibility challenging for scientific analysis.

"Scientific ideas move like space plasmas," says David Malaspina, a space plasma physicist at University of Colorado, Boulder. "When they encounter a border, they find a way across." Malaspina describes international academic collaborations as vital engines of discovery and attributes the language of science for fostering a sense of awe and wonder for the universe that transcends cultures. In science, and in plasmas, the most interesting physics happens at the boundaries.

Malaspina engages in international and generationally diverse research teams, including a team building a sounding rocket to explore the interface between Earth and space. He is also a member of a team that uses data from the Parker Solar Probe mission to explore Venus, seeking to understand the importance of a planetary magnetic field for habitability of Earth-like planets. He discusses how teams that foster inclusion of diverse perspectives create new opportunities for scientific progress.

Unlike ancient footprints, cave drawings, and stone-age tools found here on Earth, the first traces of human activity on the Moon, including Neil Armstrong's bootprint, are not protected under any existing laws or regulations. Michelle Hanlon, space lawyer and Executive Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, thinks this is a travesty.

Hanlon explains why protecting historic sites on the Moon and elsewhere in space not only preserves the past, but also provides a vital foundation for the future. Hanlon explores the gaps in space law and, in particular, she asks, "What are the differing obligations space law imposes on scientific and commercial activities, as well as governmental and private actors." Hanlon anticipates that space law, ethics, policy, and treaties will take on an increasingly higher strategic priority as nations seek to avoid potential conflicts.

References

*Edouard Mathieu and Max Roser (2022) - "Space Exploration and Satellites" Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/space-exploration-satellites' [Online Resource]

**Data from: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-with-space-programs [Online Resource]

Special thanks to science journalist, Nadia Drake for moderating ETH Zurich's scientific session, "Advancing Space Exploration Through Diverse Collaborations and Ethical Policies" at AAAS 2024.

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Pressured Space Exploration in Today's Era - Mirage News

Image of Jupiter taken by NASAs Juno spacecraft in February 2022. The dark spot is the shadow of the moon Ganymede. The colorful patterns are formed by clouds at different altitudes and made up mainly of ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide, and water. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Image processing by Thomas Thomopoulos CC BY

For the first time, a tool designed to discover planets many light years distant has been employed on an object in the Solar System, in a study on Jupiters winds.

We find ourselves at a time when it has become almost commonplace to discover planets orbiting another star, with more than 5,000 already registered. The first distant worlds to incorporate this list were mainly giant planets, similar to but also very different in many ways from Jupiter and Saturn.

Astrophysicists have already begun to obtain data on the atmospheres of exoplanets, but fundamental questions about the atmosphere of the largest planet in the Solar System are yet to be answered. To understand what happens in Jupiters clouds and air layers, it is necessary to study it over time, in continuous observations. Now, for the first time, an instrument developed to find and analyze worlds light years away, exoplanets, has been pointed at a target in the Solar System, 43 light minutes away from Earth: the planet Jupiter.

ESPRESSO spectrograph control console, during the observation of Jupiter with one of the VLT telescopes, at the Paranal Observatory, in Chile. Credit: Pedro Machado.

Researchers from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) (Cincias ULisboa), used the ESPRESSO spectrograph installed on the VLT telescope at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to measure wind speeds on Jupiter. The results are now published in the scientific journal Universe.

The method that the team developed is called Doppler velocimetry and is based on the reflection of visible light from the Sun by clouds in the target planets atmosphere. This reflected light is bent in wavelength in proportion to the speed at which the clouds are moving relative to the telescope on Earth. This gives the instantaneous wind speed at the observed point.

Researcher Pedro Machado, from IA and Cincias ULisboa, next to the four telescopes of the VLT (ESO), at the Paranal Observatory, Chile. Credit: Pedro Machado

The method now used with ESPRESSO was developed by the Planetary Systems research group of IA, with other spectrographs, to study the atmosphere of Venus. The researchers have been measuring the winds of this neighboring planet and have been contributing to the modelling of its general atmosphere for several years. Now, the exploratory application of this method with a top of the range instrument such as ESPRESSO has resulted in a success that opens new horizons to the knowledge of our cosmic neighborhood. This work affirms the feasibility of systematically monitoring the most distant atmospheres on gaseous planets.

For five hours, in July 2019, the team pointed the VLT telescope at the equatorial zone of Jupiter, where light clouds are located at a higher altitude, and at the north and south equatorial belts of this planet, which correspond to descending air and which it forms bands of dark, warmer clouds in a deeper layer of the atmosphere.

Image of Jupiter obtained by NASAs Juno probe in May 2019, where storm zones are visible in the planets northern hemisphere. Credit: Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS.

Jupiters atmosphere, at the level of the clouds visible from Earth, contains ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide, and water, which form the distinct red and white bands, says Pedro Machado, from IA and Cincias ULisboa, The upper clouds, located in the pressure zone of 0.6 to 0.9 bars, are made of ammonia ice. Water clouds form the densest, lowest layer, and have the strongest influence on the dynamics of the atmosphere, adds the researcher.

With ESPRESSO, the team was able to measure winds on Jupiter from 60 to 428 km/h with an uncertainty of less than 36 km/h. These observations, applied with a high-resolution instrument to a gaseous planet, have their challenges: One of the difficulties centered on navigation over Jupiters disk, that is, knowing exactly which point on the planets disk we were pointing to, due to the enormous resolution of the VLT telescope, explains Pedro Machado.

In the research itself, the difficulty was related to the fact that we were determining winds with an accuracy of a few meters per second when Jupiters rotation is on the order of ten kilometers per second at the equator and, to complicate matters, because it is a gaseous planet, and not a rigid body, it rotates at different speeds depending on the latitude of the point we observe, adds the researcher.

Room at the Paranal Observatory, in Chile, where VLT images and data from the ESPRESSO spectrograph are received. The unprecedented observation of an object in the Solar System Jupiter with this spectrograph, designed to observe planets at least one hundred thousand times further away, attracted the interest of other astrophysicists and technicians present. Credit: Ruben Gonalves

To verify the effectiveness of Doppler velocimetry from telescopes on Earth in measuring winds on Jupiter, the team also gathered measurements obtained in the past in order to compare the results. Most of the existing data was collected by instruments in space and used a different method, which consists of obtaining average values of wind speed by following cloud patterns in images captured at nearby times.

The consistency between this history and the values measured in the study now published confirms the feasibility of implementing Doppler velocimetry in a program for monitoring Jupiters winds from Earth.

The monitoring will allow the research team to collect data on how winds change over time and will be essential for developing a reliable model for the global circulation of Jupiters atmosphere. This computational model should reproduce the differences in winds depending on latitude, as well as Jupiters storms, to help understand the causes of the atmospheric phenomena we observe on this planet. Conversely, the model will help prepare future observations with information about the pressure and altitude of the clouds in telescopes sights.

The team intends to extend observations with ESPRESSO to a greater coverage of planet Jupiters disk, as well as temporally, collecting wind data throughout the planets entire rotation period, which is almost 10 hours. Restricting observations to certain ranges of wavelengths will also make it possible to measure winds at different altitudes, thus obtaining information on the vertical transport of air layers.

Once the technique has been mastered for the largest planet in the Solar System, the team hopes to apply it to the atmospheres of other gaseous planets, with Saturn as the next target. The success of these observations with ESPRESSO proves to be important at a time when its successor, ANDES, is being designed for the future Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), also from ESO and currently under construction in Chile, but also the future JUICE mission, from the European Space Agency, dedicated to Jupiter and which will provide additional data.

Reference: Jupiters Atmosphere Dynamics Based on High-Resolution Spectroscopy with VLT/ESPRESSO by Pedro Machado, Jos E. Silva, Francisco Brasil, Jos Ribeiro, Ruben Gonalves and Miguel Silva, 23 November 2023, Universe. DOI: 10.3390/universe9120491

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Exoplanet Hunter Sets Its Sights on Jupiter: A New Twist in Space Exploration - SciTechDaily