The Atlantic Council Likes Space Robots

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Christopher White from Pixabay.

If you have not heard of the Atlantic Council you are not alone.

The Atlantic Council defines itself defines itself as a nonpartisan organization that is “…an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders.”

So what does it have to say about the current state of the US space program? It seems to want more robots, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. It also claims China is moving in this direction.

In a recent article, the Atlantic Council proposed the following to improve the space program for this century:

  • Modernize NASA’s organizational structure by integrating the robotic and human initiatives;
  • Reformulate NASA’s Artemis campaign by changing its plan so that early flights are robotic, with work and preparations being performed by intelligent machines ahead of crewed missions; and
  • Equip lunar robots with virtual reality so intelligent space exploration machines could enable scientists, engineers, and others on Earth to become active participants in the exploration of the Moon, distant planets, and beyond.

Fortunately, the article is not recommending the removal of humans from space flight, but rather the use of technology to enhance these missions, reduce overall costs, and broaden public and scientific support. This would include the expansion of private sector involvement. It’s not a bad idea as NASA struggles with the Artemis mission and potentially other missions due to budget cuts.

Of course, the amazing telescopes that we are trying to maintain and expand upon are already top of the line technology that have expanded public support for astronomy, but this has come at great cost (exceeding cost projections) and has not been protected from budget cuts.

A mix of approaches sounds fine, but a reliable flow of funds with clear expectations also sound nice. We are not going to get that with this White House based upon what we have seen so far. Just finding a leader for NASA that is palatable to the White House is proving impossible.

New ideas should always be welcome, but what is really essential at the moment is stable leadership. Without that all other efforts will go nowhere.

NASA Administrator Nominee To Be Replaced

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by succo from Pixabay.

The White House has changed its mind on Jared Isaacman, the nominee for NASA administrator who was ready to be confirmed by the US Senate. A friend of Elon Musk, Mr. Isaacman made the mistake of giving donations to a few Democratic candidates in the past. This is forbidden unless you are Donald Trump, who has made many donations to Democratic candidates over the years, including Hillary Clinton.

NBC News noted that President Trump stated:

After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA…I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.

It is not clear how political donations has anything to do with putting America first, but this is all we know to date.

Mr. Isaacman has been unceremoniously tossed aside just as Elon Musk is stepping down from his DOGE role after badmouthing the recent Republican House budget bill. Is there a connection?

All we know is that Mr. Musk is losing a friend and customer in the NASA role with Isaacman’s departure. This does not come at a good time as SpaceX struggles with its Starship rocket.

It appears Mr. Musks plans are undergoing a rapid unscheduled disassembly.

Update: Jared Isaacman tweeted about the recent news, stating, in part:

I am incredibly grateful to President Trump @POTUS, the Senate and all those who supported me throughout this journey. The past six months have been enlightening and, honestly, a bit thrilling. I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexities of government and the weight our political leaders carry.

Space Quote: US Astronomy Students Are Looking Overseas

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Kamil from Pixabay.

“Historically we’ve been a department that has really tried to make a culture where people minoritized in the field feel like they have a home…The current administration is really driving against that, which has really caused a lot of damage to how people are feeling about their place in astronomy, and whether they feel they have a place here in our country.”

-Statement by University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Astronomy & Astrophysics department chair Jonathan Fortney in a Lookout Santa Cruz article. He was discussing recent federal cuts at UCSC as well as NASA. He said his students are looking overseas now for educational and career opportunities given the continuing cuts in US astronomy programs.

Pic of the Week: Galaxy Cluster Abell S1063

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Galaxy cluster Abell S1063. (ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, H. Atek, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), R. Endsley)

This week’s image comes from the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). The colorful image shows galaxy cluster Abell S1063 at its center. You can get dizzy if you stare at it too long. You are looking far back in time, which would make anyone dizzy.

Here is a description of what you are seeing:

This behemoth collection of galaxies, lying 4.5 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Grus (the Crane), dominates the scene. Looking more closely, this dense collection of heavy galaxies is surrounded by glowing streaks of light, and these warped arcs are the true object of scientists’ interest: faint galaxies from the Universe’s distant past.

Abell S1063 was previously observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Frontier Fields programme. It is a strong gravitational lens: the galaxy cluster is so massive that the light of distant galaxies aligned behind it is bent around it, creating the warped arcs that we see here. Like a glass lens, it focuses the light from these faraway galaxies. The resulting images, albeit distorted, are both bright and magnified — enough to be observed and studied. This was the aim of Hubble’s observations, using the galaxy cluster as a magnifying glass to investigate the early Universe.

The new imagery from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) takes this quest even further back in time. This image showcases an incredible forest of lensing arcs around Abell S1063, which reveal distorted background galaxies at a range of cosmic distances, along with a multitude of faint galaxies and previously unseen features.

Space Stories: Strange Flashing Object, New Dwarf Planet in Our Solar System, and a Short-Lived Galaxy

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope in Western Australia. (https://www.csiro.au/)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “Strange Flashing Object Discovered in Deep Space Puzzles Astronomers“

Astronomers have detected a mystery stellar object that emitted pulses of light for two minutes every 44 minutes. A handful of objects like this have been found before, but this is the first to emit both radio waves and X-rays…An international team, led by Curtin University astronomer Ziteng Andy Wang, first detected a radio signal in data captured by CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope in Western Australia...By chance, the signal was also spotted by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory on Valentine’s Day last year.

—Newsweek: “Astronomers Think They’ve Discovered a New Dwarf Planet in Our Solar System“

A team of astronomers believe they may have discovered a new dwarf planet—just like Pluto—on the edge of our solar system. The object—which orbits out beyond Neptune—has been named “2017 OF201” by the team, which was led by Sihao Cheng of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Cheng and colleagues estimate that the body has a diameter of more than 430 miles, which means that it may be large enough to qualify as a dwarf planet.

—Brighter Side of News: “Astronomers Discover That Galaxies Die Much Earlier Than Expected“

In a Universe that was only 700 million years old, long before Earth even formed, something unexpected happened. A massive galaxy stopped forming stars and went silent. This type of galaxy, called quiescent, typically needs billions of years to grow and then shut down star formation. But thanks to the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have now confirmed that one such galaxy had already died young. This ancient galaxy, called RUBIES-UDS-QG-z7, is now the most distant quiescent galaxy ever confirmed. It challenges current ideas about how quickly galaxies form and evolve in the early Universe. This discovery pushes the boundaries of what scientists thought was possible during cosmic dawn.