Beauty of the night

DUSK is about to wrap itself around the penultimate day of August - a balmy evening following a warm and sunny day on the prairies of South Lincolnshire.

As the evening quietens there is the distant drone of combine harvesters, working flat out just as they have been all day long in fields of wheat and barley, creating a dusty plume and the sweet, husky smell of freshly mown sheafs.

It’s barely 8.30 pm, twilight is fading fast and the local birds embark on a last cacophony of celebratory singing and chirruping before acquiescing to the night.

By now, the garden is alive with insects of the dark, a myriad moths flitting amongst the fading lavender heads and the bright open yellow blooms of evening primrose.

The warm air is rich with heady scents, a toxic mix for our undersung flying heroes of this hour who thrive and live their short lives by the smells of late summer evenings and early autumn nights.

Apart from this transitional time of the year when we might still find occasion to wander through our garden or local park as dusk falls, we tend to largely ignore these night-time creatures - perhaps we fear them, or just prefer to squish them without so much as a second thought.

No one knows exactly but there could be 250,000 different species of moth worldwide, so no matter where we live they inevitably share our space.

Their existence, a somewhat peculiar affair when compared to higher forms, is nevertheless an integral and important part of our natural eco system.

A moth emerges from its cocoon in leaf litter, then mates and lays eggs within the first 48 hours of life. With no more eating or drinking for the rest of its life, existence takes on a self-less and higher calling - pollinating flowers and crops, and maybe becoming a tasty snack for those further up the food chain.

Though an individual may live just a week or two - and the loss of a tiny percentage may have serious implications for some forms of agriculture - collectively they pollinate some 80 percent of the world’s flora.

Its largely nocturnal habit, however, means they are largely un-noticed by ourselves, except perhaps because of their fatal attraction to our ever-spreading arrays of artificial lights in backyards, streets and driveways.

Blinded by that same light, we all too often miss the delicate beauty of these nocturnal butterflies. Like bees, the humble moth does much to keep our world alive.

 

Premiership monopoly

We are mid-way through August and the first long weekend of the new Premier League football season is now done and dusted.

In the final game of the ‘weekend’ Man City trounced Newcastle by four goals to nil. A decent thrashing in anyone’s books for an opening game.

But the numbers are not just big on the goal scoring side - City have also been big spenders during the close season, investing a mind-boggling £87 million on just four new players.

Meanwhile, André Villas-Boas is raising the stakes and is poised to break the Tottenham Hotspur transfer record for the third time this summer with the £30 million capture of the Brazilian forward Willian. The deal would push Spurs' summer spending to almost £90 million.

So, as the season gets underway and we hurtle towards the World Cup in Brazil, there are crucial questions to be resolved, as much off the field as on it because we live in a land that is now the home of global football and where transfer fees, wages and television rights dwarf conventional accounting.

In this respect, the new kid on the Premiership block this season is telecoms giant BT, spending £736 million for TV rights over three years for the privilege of screening 38 live games against Sky's 116?

Should Murdoch have bid more than £2.3 billion? How does BT's £200 million deal with Virgin Media alter the equation? And what about the BBC's £180 million on Match of the Day, with its familiar and comforting theme tune that harks back to an altogether different footballing age.

Each major televised match through the coming months will rake in £6.6 million and the past season has seen the money rolling into Britain's top soccer teams rise by 71 percent. And what if Real Madrid pay £100 million for Gareth Bale?

Whichever way you look at the numbers they are all very (massively) big – and all this is before you even get to watch a game of football.

The question is, are we realistically likely to see an end to this madness driven by the egos of global entrepreneurs who demand success at virtually any price?

There is some vague notion about clubs having to balance their budgets due to stricter disciplines imposed by Europe’s governing authorities – but money seems to talk louder than words in the Premiership.

This manic, out-of-control inflation - where currency, wages and transfer fees leave ordinary life and common sense trailing far behind - doesn't translate to excellence on the pitch.

Witness the fact that ‘our Engerland’ are still to qualify for the next year’s World Cup - and  even after that our chances of ‘progressing’ to the quarter finals, let alone lifting the coveted trophy itself, look as inflated as salaries and egos in our bgreat game.

Southampton’s Rickie Lambert, who scored for the England national team last Wednesday on his debut and with his first touch of the ball, illustrates the point nicely. At the age of 31 he was really only there because our cupboard of home-grown talent is bare.

And you only have to look at this year's opening weekend of fixtures that marked an all-time low in terms of the number of Englishmen beginning games at the start of a season.

A survey published by the Guardian newspaper shows two-thirds of those on view in the first round of fixtures were foreign nationals, highlighting the falling number of homegrown players in the top flight.

Back in August 1992, 73 percent of players featuring in first-day first XIs held English nationality but this year that figure fell to 34 percent. Not like in Germany and Spain.

The Premiership is a rule unto itself, an out-of-control sporting juggernaut where a win-at-all-costs logic doesn’t see any need to nurture grass roots talent when you can pay outrageous sums to bag inflated stars that pass in the night.

It's a toxic brew that defies normal morality and even make the banking crisis of recent years look a little tame. Wages are set at levels that would make former Knight of the Realm Fred Goodwin weak at the knees - and long-term strategy hardly seems to stretch beyond the next transfer window.

The once beautiful game of legend, gentlemen and lingering belief has become increasingly ugly, a commercial means to some wider end.

The justice of life in the real world would argue for a time of reckoning that somehow redresses the balance and brings all to account.

But it will soon be a full half century since England last triumphed in a World Cup competition and, with the Premiership in full flight once again, it really doesn’t look as though football is coming home anytime soon. Sir Alf Ramsey might just be turning in his grave.

Cameron talks up fracking

This week the Prime Minister David Cameron suggested in a national newspaper article that local communities will become richer and we will all see reduced energy bills if the UK embraces a shale gas revolution.

There was no discussion of other issues (such as reducing our dependence on energy) and only a cursory dismissal of some of the very real concerns that fracking for shale gas might cause – irreparable damage to our countryside, pollution in the ground and atmosphere, and severe water shortages.

But different stories are beginning to emerge from the lands of eastern Europe and even America (more of which later) where the mining of shale gas has been seriously on the agenda for a while longer.

Take Poland for instance. The Prague Post – the Czech Republic’s English-language newspaper - reported back in June that the Polish government had announced plans to improve regulation and postpone tax collection on shale gas production in the hopes of encouraging investors to continue their explorations for the fuel.

A somewhat strange move if things were going so well – but then something had to be done following the unexpected withdrawal of three North American companies from explorations in the country.

Doubts over the estimated scale of Poland's shale gas reserves began surfacing more than a year ago after ExxonMobil announced plans to cease exploration in the country, citing disappointing test drilling results.

The withdrawal last month of two more multi-nationals - Talisman Energy of Canada and US oil giant Marathon - has now cast more uncertainty over the commercial viability of shale gas in Poland.

Marathon stated this summer that it had decided to end its Polish operations after ‘unsuccessful attempts to find commercial levels of hydrocarbons’.

Talisman, meanwhile, announced the sale of its Polish operations to the Irish-based San Leon Energy group, which is presumably going to tackle things in a different way - or perhaps with the ‘luck of the Irish’ where the talisman failed.

Exploration company executives had complained that complicated environmental regulations in Poland, along with a lack of legislation on shale gas, has also caused difficulties. Some foreign firms also found the legal framework for shale gas investment in the country to be less straightforward than expected.

Shale gas mania was triggered in Poland when a report by the United States Energy Information Agency estimated the country to have untapped reserves of some 5.3 trillion cubic meters - enough to meet domestic demand for 300 years.

Polish leaders – quick to jump on the fast moving shale gas gravy train (and which government wouldn’t?) soon made shale gas exploration a priority, voicing ambitions that the country could surpass its own domestic requirements and even become a gas exporter.

The country's policy-makers had high hopes that shale gas would provide Poland with a boost to its slowing economy and help reduce its high unemployment rate of around 14 percent.

The strategy was also touted as an energy diversification tool that would lower dependence on Russia's Gazprom, which currently supplies around two-thirds of Poland's gas at some of the highest prices in Europe.

While the initial excitement and unrealistic optimism over a possible shale gas bonanza is fading, some companies remain hopeful. Lower shale gas projections arrived at by the government more recently might still be enough to meet Polish domestic demand for some 70 years and Chevron continues its explorations in Poland, currently drilling a fourth well with two more planned later this year.

The government is now working on a raft of new regulations that it hopes will prevent further departures of these firms, whose expertise and prior experience in North America is thought to be vital.

New regulations will also give North American companies the same rights as EU companies in in the belief their expertise will allow Poland to replicate the recent US ‘energy revolution’ brought about by (racking (hydraulic fracturing ).

The word ‘desperation’ comes to mind and some experts believe that attracting US companies may not be the answer because their techniques may not be as transferrable as they hoped.

So far, Poland has granted more than 111 permits to at least 30 investors, many of them from the United States and Canada, to explore what its government has touted as Europe's richest shale gas deposits.

Thirty-nine wells were planned for 2013, but according to Environment Ministry data only two had been drilled by May this year. Some 300 wells are thought to be needed to determine whether Poland could realistically be self-sufficient.

Back in the UK, in a week when the big six energy companies touted likely increases in the price of energy for the autumn, David Cameron chimed in with a lightweight piece suggesting the UK public should accept fracking and claiming the controversial method of extracting gas will attract ‘real public support’ once the benefits are explained.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister said the process would not damage the countryside and would cause only ‘very minor change to the landscape’.

His whimsical PR pros, penned in a let’s ‘dispel the myths’ style, added no depth to the case for fracking and only served to highlight once again the UK government’s inexcusable lack of a long term energy policy and failure to manage properly some of the big issues that really matter.

In demanding that shale gas drilling take place across the country, Cameron is playing a high-stakes political game based more on wishful thinking rather than hard economic analysis.




The Lighthouse Keeper is written by Clive Simpson - for more information, commission enquiries or to re-publish any of his articles click here for contact information

Curiosity on Mars!

An image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter released last week shows NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and the wheel tracks from its landing site to the Glenelg area where the rover worked for the first half of 2013.

The orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured the scene on 27 June 2013, with the orbiter rolled for an eastward-looking angle rather than straight downward. The afternoon sun illuminated the scene from the western sky, so the lighting was nearly behind the camera. This geometry hides shadows and reveals subtle colour variations.

Curiosity that day was examining an outcrop called Shaler, the rover mission's final science target in the Glenelg area before commencing a many-month trek southwestward to an entry point for the lower layers of Mount Sharp. The rover appears as a bright blue spot in the enhanced colouring of the image.

The image also shows two scour marks at the Bradbury landing site where the Mars Science Laboratory mission's skycrane landing system placed Curiosity onto the ground just about one year ago on 6 August 2012.

The scour marks are where the landing system's rockets cleared away reddish surface dust. Visible tracks commencing at the landing site show the path the rover travelled eastward to Glenelg.

Curiosity may be 140 million miles away on a hostile planet but that’s no excuse for not sending home a self-portrait.

This incredible shot shows Curiosity on the surface back in February - it comprises dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day (or sol) of Curiosity's work on Mars plus three exposures taken during Sol 270 (10 May 2013) to update the appearance of part of the ground beside the rover.

The updated area, which is in the lower left quadrant of the image, shows grey-powder and two holes where Curiosity used its drill on the rock target ‘John Klein’.

The portion has been spliced into a self-portrait that was originally prepared and released in February before the use of the drill. The result shows what the site where the self-portrait was taken looked like by the time the rover was ready to drive away in May 2013.

MAHLI, which took the component images for the mosaic, is mounted on a turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm and was able to capture the component images with wrist motions and turret rotations. The arm itself was positioned out of the shot in the images, or portions of images, used in the mosaic.

Thanks to the guys at NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS for some great photography work!

Fracking hell!

So far the market town of Spalding in South Lincolnshire seems to have escaped the rush for shale gas. But the town already has one gas fired power station dominating the flat Fenland landscape, with another one to be built alongside it on the way. And if our local MPs have anything to do with it fracking for shale gas won't be far behind...

For some UK Government ministers and MPs - including Spalding's John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) and Peterborough’s Stewart Jackson - the enthusiasm for mining shale gas is in part fuelled by a passionate hatred of wind power based largely on the latter’s aesthetic impact on local landscapes.

Blinkered by what they see as a golden economic opportunity, it is perhaps not surprising that such MPs, along with the coalition Government in general, assume the extraction of shale gas offers a palatable and commercially attractive energy source.

Fracking - short for hydraulic fracturing - involves drilling deep underground and releasing a high-pressure mix of water, sand and hundreds of chemicals to crack rocks and release gas stored inside.

Preparing the groundwork for last week’s Government tax-break announcement for fracking prospectors, Jackson used his weekly column in the Peterborough Telegraph (5 July) to promote the shale gas case.

He wrote: "Shale gas exploration gives us another once in a lifetime opportunity with clean, cheap, plentiful and safe shale gas - rather than the lights on the blink and half a million glass panels around Newborough [near Peterborough] and windfarms to boot!

"Government has wised up to the economically damaging Liberal Democrat-inspired green policies costing the UK tens of billions of pounds," he declared.

Hayes, a former energy minister, has clearly stated his opposition to development of many forms of renewable energy and has lent his support to numerous anti-windfarm campaigns across his South Holland constituency, often on the grounds that they would ‘spoil’ the local view and amenity.

The wind power industry has had to deal with a broad range of challenges, particularly visual impact. So far this doesn’t seem to be on the shale gas radar.

But type ‘shale gas rig’ into an internet search engine and select ‘images' to see a taster of what might actually be in store for any rural community where drilling might take place.

We're likely to see the industrialisation of tracts of the British countryside, gas flaring in the home counties and a steady stream of trucks carrying contaminated water down rural lanes.
 

 
Another problem with fracking for gas is that the drilling process releases a host of undesirable by-products into the atmosphere, including large quantities of methane.

Strategic opposition to the development of shale gas in the UK rests on the fact that such large-scale exploitation is not compatible with meeting our targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Analysis by Carbon Tracker estimates that if we are to contain greenhouse gas emissions at a level that preserves a reasonable chance of remaining below the 2C of global average temperature increase (considered a critical danger threshold), then four-fifths of known fossil fuel reserves need to remain locked in the ground.

The official Committee on Climate Change has warned that in the context of the UK’s legally binding climate-change targets, a new ‘dash for gas’ should be Plan Z, not Plan A.

All this makes for a risky backdrop to shale gas development in this country, which the Government seems determined to ignore in its public pronouncements.

The industry will require major investment to get going and investors will need to be patient in getting a return, as going through the planning process and exploratory drilling will take years of expensive development before commercially useful quantities of gas are produced.

And no one really knows how much of gas can be got out, or how much that will cost both financially and to the environment at large.

Production rates for the UK are expected to be lower than in the US because of lower pressure in UK basins, while costs might be higher because of demanding local environmental standards and the proximity of populated areas.

Add to that the expectation that it will not in reality reduce energy prices, then the case for shale gas looks a lot more risky than proponents and our Government suggest.

But where there are potentially large amounts of money to be made there are also vested interests at stake.

So far the Prime Minister David Cameron has managed to dodge the claim that he bowed to pressure from lobbyists such as the Tory election strategist Lynton Crosby over the Government decision to give tax breaks for fracking.

Last week The Independent newspaper detailed the work that Mr Crosby's lobbying firm, Crosby Textor, does on behalf of companies promoting the controversial method of extracting shale gas.

The shale gas narrative and tax break presented by George Osborne last week is also, in part, based on the fear of being ‘left behind'.

Osborne’s Environment Minister colleague Owen Paterson (who dismayed climate scientists by expressing doubts as to the human impact on the climate system) used the same phrase in his promotion of GM crops.

Both Osborne and Paterson say that a technological revolution based on government getting out of the way of progress is what we need. They couldn't be more wrong.

Where we are being left behind is in the development of new environmental technologies, including renewables and carbon capture. If we are to keep up in these areas, perhaps with some gas in the mix, it requires clear policy.

You can get away with small government on some issues, but not on energy. The UK needs a clear framework and strategy that sets out how we will secure our energy needs while meeting environmental goals. Right now we don't have that.

The dash for shale - with all its inherent risks and uncertainties - ignores the massive growth potential of the renewable sector and the vital long-term goal of reducing carbon emissions.

Look at Germany, for instance. Some 26 per cent of its energy now comes from renewable sources. And its renewables industry is growing because it gets tax breaks. Germany's economy is larger, more successful and infinitely more resilient than the UK's. So who is right?

The current UK Government - initially hailed by Cameron as ‘the greenest ever’ - is a liturgy of broken promises and short-term opportunism. When it comes to energy policy and the long-term future of our country it seems that little George has no idea. And neither has little Britain.


The Lighthouse Keeper is written by Clive Simpson - for more information, commission enquiries or to re-publish any of his articles click here for contact information

A good day at the office

It used to be that people who were honoured by the Queen had either gone above and beyond the call of duty, done things out of pure altruism, or dedicated a life to public service. But things are changing.

So when Prime Minister David Cameron declared that Andy Murray deserved a Knighthood after becoming the first Briton to win the Wimbledon men's singles since 1936 wasn’t he riding the anti-authoritarian bandwagon, just as Tony Blair did before him?

I watched Murray on Sunday and was as thrilled as everyone else that he won an extraordinary game of tennis. I’m not convinced, however, that it merits a Knighthood.

The next day when Murray appeared at 10 Downing Street, Cameron certainly maximised the opportunity to bask in another’s reflected glory and deliver his ill-thought popularist riposte to a nation still riding a tide of emotional delight.

"I can't think of anyone who deserves one more," said Mr Cameron, in prose that somehow seemed rather weak and bereft of occasion for the political leader of our country.

Murray responded later, saying: "It's a nice thing to have or be offered but I don't know if it merits that."

Our modern-day obsession with celebrity probably has something to do with it - but Cameron ought to know better than jockeying for cheap, short-term popularity with words that hardly sounded sincere.

Should we be rewarding our sporting heros for ‘just doing their job’? Well the precedents have already been set, so it may be hard to pull back.

Remember, for example, our yatching heroine Ellen MacArthur who was made a dame before she had even set foot back on dry land?

In a similar, distorted vein we’ve been ‘rewarding’ bankers and heads of giant corporations with mega bonus’s, even when they’ve been serving a string of corporate or fiancial faults.

So fast-forward to the summer of 2014 and let’s indulge in a little ‘what if’ speculation around an unlikely outcome of the World Cup in Brazil.

Suspend reality for a moment and imagine that our lads in the England team finally get it together and play for the mother-land like never before, emulating Murray and winning the elusive soccer trophy for the first time since 1966.

A big ask I grant you - but while we are at it let’s take this topsy turvy idea a giant leap further and imagine that Wayne Rooney is the superstar hero of the tournament, scoring a series of stunning goals and rounding it all off with a hat-trick in the final.

Yes Siree - you’ve got it! Arise Sir Wayne!

British astronaut flight

"This is Ground Control to Major Tim - congratulations on your selection as ESA’s first British astronaut to undertake a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015; you are cleared for takeoff!"

At a press conference in London this morning (Monday, 20 May) ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain will officially name the first official British astronaut to undertake a space mission for 20 years.

Major Tim Peake, Britain's first ESA astronaut, became eligible for space missions in 2010 after completing more than a year of intensive training with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Peake, a former army helicopter test pilot from Chichester, England, was one of six other astronauts selected from across Europe in 2009.

The first place aboard a Russian Soyuz for launch this spring went to an Italian astronaut and it was widely expected that Britain’s astronaut would have to wait until 2017 for a ride into space.

Emergency spacewalk

Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) embark on an emergency spacewalk today to try to fix an ammonia leak in a cooling system on one of the Station's solar arrays.

The crew spotted a steady stream of small, white frozen ammonia flakes floating away from a coolant line outside the orbital outpost on Thursday.

Mission managers reviewed images and data gathered overnight and said yesterday that they planned to send American astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn out to try to seal the leak by replacing a pump on the cooling system.

"The crew is not in danger, and the Station continues to operate normally otherwise," a NASA spokesman said.

Ammonia is used to cool the power systems that operate the solar arrays, which provide electricity to the Space Station. Each of the eight solar arrays has its own independent cooling system.

The leak is on the far left side of the Station's truss structure, in an ammonia loop that astronauts previously tried to troubleshoot during a spacewalk last November.

While Cassidy and Marshburn are working outside the ISS, crew commander Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, will choreograph their movements from inside. Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin and Roman Romanenko make up the rest of the crew.

Work was undertaken to re-route the remaining power channels to maintain full operation of the systems normally controlled by the solar array that is cooled by the leaking loop.

After making their way 150 feet or so from the airlock to the far end of the P6 truss, Marshburn and Cassidy will visually inspect the area around the pump module to see if there are any obvious signs of micrometeoroid damage or any other problems.

On the assumption the leak is located is the 250-pound PFCS (Pump Flow Control Subassembly) box, Marshburn and Cassidy will install a replacement from one of three onboard spares. They also will carry out a detailed inspection of the bay where the pump is housed.

If the leak is still present after the pump module is replaced, engineers will have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a different solution.

Whatever the outcome, three of the station's six-man crew - Marshburn, Hadfield and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko - will undock as planned on Monday and return to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft to end their 146-day stay in space.

Three fresh crew members - NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin - are scheduled for launch to the ISS later this month, boosting the crew back to six.

If an additional near-term spacewalk is needed to resolve the coolant leak, it would fall to Cassidy and Parmitano, who already are scheduled for previously-planned spacewalks on July 9 and 16.

The ISS is a £65 billion research laboratory that orbits 250 miles above Earth, and is jointly owned by the United States and Russia in partnership with Europe, Japan and Canada.

Earth rise

Forty-four years ago tonight on Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8 was taking men around the Moon for the first time in history.

From lunar orbit Commander Frank Borman turned the camera toward Earth and gave mankind the first look at itself from deep space.

The crew then took turns reading from Genesis 1 to a mesmerised audience of millions back home.

William Anders: "For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

Jim Lovell: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Borman: "And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

Borman concluded the broadcast with the words: "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."

Moonwalker's tribute

Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, received a standing ovation after offering a moving and poignant personal tribute to his former colleague Neil Armstrong on the final day of the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy, today (Friday, 5 October).

The presence of Aldrin, alongside two European astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, guaranteed there was standing room only in the International Astronautical Federation's (IAF) Global Networking Forum (GNF) meeting room.

Aldrin said that he had hoped that all three members of the Apollo 11 crew - Armstrong, Mike Collins and himself - would have been around to celebrate together the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing in 2019.

"His one ‘small step' changed the world and will forever be remembered as a landmark moment in all of human history," said Aldrin.

He also showed his film ‘The Apollo Dream', adding that Armstrong, who died in August, had left the world a strong and lasting legacy which everyone had a duty to fulfill.

After his presentation, European astronauts Christer Fuglesang and Paulo Nespoli, along with cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, gave short presentations on their spaceflight experiences and then answered a variety of questions from the audience.

 

The GNF, an evolution and transformation of the former IAF Cluster Forum, proved a big success throughout the week, attracting a large number of delegates to a range of meetings and sessions.

It included several dedicated days and sessions, including a Heads of Agencies press conference, an Industry Day, and sessions looking at the Social Impacts of Human Spaceflight and Space Careers, as well as the Astronauts' Day.

During Industry Day (Tuesday, 2 October) panels of industry and space organisation experts debated the economic impacts of Satellite Navigation Systems, Earth Observation challenges and the new European-developed rocket Vega.

Among the items that came up for discussion during the session on ‘Economic impacts of Satellite Navigation Systems' was the dispute over satellite navigation frequencies between China and Europe.

Paul Weissenberg, Deputy DG, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission, stated that it had been agreed to take their dispute to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by the end of this year.

The GNF was also the location on Wednesday for the IAF's extraordinary session at which space-flown flags were handed to member organisations to commemorate the Federation's 60th anniversary.

The flags - flown on Soyuz TMA-20, the International Space Station, Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134), and China's Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-9 spacecraft - were presented to IAF member organisations by President Berndt Feuerbacher.


The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

SpaceX on target

Delegates at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy, were treated to a first-hand update on the latest news from commercial space company SpaceX on Friday, 5 October - just two days before the planned launch of its latest mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Introducing the third ‘breaking news' session of the week Barry Matsumori, Senior Vice-President of Commercial Sales and Business Development at SpaceX, quipped that he and his colleague Robert Feierbach, Vice-President of Business Development, were the only two employees not working on Sunday's launch.

On the heels of a successful debut flight to the Space Station in May of this year, SpaceX launches its first commercial Dragon resupply mission to the Space Station under a contract that will see 12 such missions.

Launch of the SpaceX CRS-1 flight was set for 20:35 EDT on 7 October from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

After arrival at the ISS on 10 October, Dragon, grappled and berthed to the complex for an expected two-week visit, is scheduled to return to Earth on October 28 for a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of southern California.

Dragon is currently the only Space Station cargo craft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies back to Earth, including experiments.

For this mission, it is filled with about 1,000 pounds of supplies, including critical materials to support the 166 investigations planned for the Station's Expedition 33 crew.

Dragon will return with about 734 pounds of scientific materials, including results from human research, biotechnology, materials and education experiments, as well as about 504 pounds of Space Station hardware.

Matsumori explained that SpaceX had been in existence for just a decade, making it a young company in aerospace terms. "We have come a long way in that time and now have 1800 employees which are growing at around 200 per year," he said.

SpaceX currently launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California but Matsumori said the company is looking at the possibility of an additional commercial launch site.

"We want to ensure we have plenty of capacity and a new launch site would be used particularly for sending payloads into geostationary orbits," he said.

Potential sites under evaluation are in South Texas, where the company also has an engine test range, Florida, and "other locations" on mainland USA.

Matsumori wasn't able to provide further details but said that the timing of any new site coming on stream would be largely dependent on the length of time required for environmental approvals.

He described SpaceX as an ‘internet' company and said that it had a reputation in the industry for being very competitive, and was driven by the goals of achieving high reliability and lost cost production.

The company's current product line comprises the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule, the Falcon 9 with a 5.2 metre fairing, and the upcoming Falcon Heavy - essentially made from three Falcon 9's strapped together - which is under development.

"The Falcon 9 - so-called because it has nine engines and after the Millennium Falcon spacecraft of Star War's fame - is a two-stage vehicle for reliability and simplicity," he explained.

During the session, Matsumori also gave a technical overview of the summer's COTS 2 (Commercial Orbital Transportation Service) mission carrying cargo to the ISS for the first time and showed a short film of mission footage.

Afterwards, he said the simplicity of the film wasn't able to convey the true complexity of the flight in all its detail. "It was our first mission to the ISS and we didn't want to make any mistakes," he told delegates.


The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

Unique space flags

The only objects on Earth to have flown on all spacecraft belonging to all nations with an active human spaceflight programme formed part of an extraordinary presentation by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) at this year's 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy.

Special IAF 60th anniversary flags - flown on Soyuz TMA-20, the International Space Station, Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134), and China's Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-9 spacecraft - were presented to IAF member organisations by President Berndt Feuerbacher.

The flags, in commemorative frames along with mission logos and flight authentification certificates, were handed out to IAF member organisations as tokens of recognition and gratitude during an Extraordinary Session of the IAF General Assembly on Wednesday (4 October).

In his introduction to the presentations Prof Feuerbacher said this was the first time the IAF had arranged an extraordinary session for such an "extraordinary event".

He explained that for the IAF's 60th anniversary in 2011 the Executive Director at the time, Philippe Willekens, had wanted something unique and of value for members and came up with the plan for an anniversary flag to be flown in space.

Sergey Savelyev, Deputy Head of Roscosmos, said it had been in everyone's interests to support the initiative. "There is no limit to what we can do as an international team and the IAF helps us to do that. It was our privilege to fly these flags," he stated.

Zhasya Wang, head of China's manned spaceflight programme, added his own endorsement, saying: "We believe this event is an example of how IAF efforts can help advance the human spaceflight programme.

"Our agency is honoured to part of this great event and we gave our support, even though it came to us at short notice.

"Even though we had payload limitations we finally got approval from central government to complete the full circle of flying the flags on all of the space vehicles of the world."

Before handing out the frames flags Prof Feuerbacher expressed his sincere thanks to Roscosmos, NASA and the Chinese Manned Space Agency for this "wonderful cooperation".


The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

Curiosity's journey of discovery

The ‘promised land’ beckons for the Curiosity Mars rover but it is likely to be around six months before the car-sized craft arrives in the foothills of Mt Sharpe whose rocks may have preserved a geological record of the ancient Martian environment.

Just two months into its mission on the red planet, delegates at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy, were treated to a first-hand update on the progress of the Curiosity Mars on Thursday, 4 October during the second ‘breaking news' session.

Richard Cook, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Project Manager, described the mission as making a "great start" to a deeply interesting mission.

Reviewing the ‘seven minutes of terror landing', he said that what Curiosity is going to achieve on the surface will be equally inspiring as its spectacular landing.

He explained that the Gale Crater objective was chosen after a labourious process spread over several years - selected on the basis that it is most likely to offer a glimpse into the ancient history of Mars based on its rock records.

He likened Gale Crater - 150 km across with the central peak of Mt Sharpe rising to 4,000 metres - as similar in size and elevation to the ‘big' island of Hawaii.

"It gives you an idea of the scale and the challenge of trying to explore that - for the first two years, we will essentially be driving in the foothills."

He said that from a landing site safety perspective, mission planners couldn't have picked a better spot and that Curiosity would now be moving away from the direction of Mt Sharpe in order to explore a close by alluvial fan area in the opposite direction of originally planned travel.

Cook explained that the basic mission concept was to use either the onboard scoop or drill to acquire samples of rock or soil for testing.

In order to select which part or area of a rock to sample, Curiosity will use its ChemCam laser to vaporise a small portion of a potential target rock and analyse its spectral composition. This will help scientists determine which rocks or areas are of most interest to sample with the scoop or drill.

"We intend to use ChemCam repeatedly in any given area to help identify rocks that will be of the most interest," he explained.

Curiosity is capable of travelling around 200 metres a day but is unlikely to proceed at that kind of rate to the prime target area in the foothills of Mt Sharpe because scientists will want to "stop off on the way" to look at interesting features in closer detail.

Cook estimated that the journey to the lower reaches of Mt Sharpe would likely take around six months once extra stopping time for science work is factored in.

He showed a number of stunning Mars images, including one of the latest Curiosity releases of a conglomerate rock which has already given scientists their strongest indication yet that water once flowed in the landing area.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images will be used to track the progress of Curiosity across the surface and he described a view showing the rover's first short traverse with its tracks in the Martian soil as a "gee wiz" image.

He said that cross-contamination from Earth had been a big area of concern during mission planning and in a pre-planned exercise, the rover team had already been using Mars' soil to clean through the sampling system prior to feeding in a collected sample for the first time.

Cook announced that they were preparing for the first scoop sample within the next 24 hours and that it would be about a month longer before the first drill sample is taken.

"The difference with this mission compared to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers is that you have to think about chunks of time rather than one day at a time - it is that much more complicated," he said.

"In a way the mission is still in 'cruise' phase," Cook added. "Curiosity is going to continue to surprise us and show us new things. This kind of mission doesn't get boring and the promised land is yet to come."

The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

The perfect map

When natural disaster strikes in any part of the globe, the space agencies of the world spring into action to provide valuable and timely data from the unique vantage point of Earth orbit to help with critical relief efforts.

Tsunamis, forest fires, earthquakes, volcanoes or other phenomena can have both immediate and far-reaching effects on the population and the ecology of the land, as the recent tsunami on the coast of Japan demonstrated.

With the shadow of Mt Vesuvius close by, the topic was also close to the heart for delegates attending the fifth Plenary session on Wednesday, 3 October at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy.

One expert in disaster relief operations, Francesco Pisano of the United Nations, told delegates that in crisis management, the end user was not always looking for "the prefect map".

This is because the situation can often change within hours - and he urged those responsible for providing Earth Observation (EO) data not to become obsessed with detail.

As Manager of UNOSAT (Operational Satellite Applications Programme) at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Pisano explained that he made regular use of EO data.

UNOSAT is an operational programme of the United Nations, offering humanitarian aid and relief coordination, human security, and territorial planning and mapping.

"In the professional domains represented in this gathering, we all have responsibility," he stated. "Mapping from satellites is now a standard and serious business - it is no longer about ‘stunning' audiences."

He said that space provides a "slice of the sandwich" to enhance the decision-making capacity of those who have to take action in disaster situations.

Pisano went on to suggest that in order to make data "digestible" for local use - where there may be no or little expertise in EO data interpretation - more decisions by operators had to be user-driven.

Overall the Plenary looked at three key elements of disaster monitoring:

• the role of space in the pre-crisis period (risk assessment, prevention and preparedness), including in particular on the consideration and presentation of a large range of usable sensors and missions,
• the role of space in crisis response, including the role of the International Disaster Charter: how it works, its main achievements to date and future challenges,
• and post crisis disaster management, with an important focus on user needs, and covering volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and other disasters.

Maurice Borgeaud, Head of Department, Science, Applications and Future Technologies Earth Observation Directorate at ESA, agreed that in order to deliver the most valuable kind of data, the space community needed to question exactly what users wanted.

He explained that ESA, a member of the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters, had a huge archive of Earth Observation (EO) data from the ERS and Envisat missions which was invaluable when wanting to compare current data with that from the past.

He described three stages of disaster risk management - pre-disaster, disaster response and post-disaster and explained how EO data could help with each.

Masanori Homma, Executive Director, Space Applications Mission, Spectrum Management, Space Tracking and Data Acquisition, and Environmental Test Technology, at JAXA, said Japan had introduced the concept of ‘Sentinel' to the Asia region over the past four to five years.

Space provides value-added information and he showed examples of satellite EO images taken before and after the Tsunami of March 2011 showing the extent of the flooded areas. "Such imagery gives us an overview of how serious such a disaster is," he said.

"Satellite data helps us find solutions to some problems," though data supplied from many different satellites includes duplications because of similar orbital parameters.

He urged delegates and those responsible for defining and operating new systems to work together to ensure coverage is as wide as possible.

Satellites can also play a role in assisting post-disaster recovery efforts. One example being navigation satellite systems which can help with efficient infrastructure reconstruction.

Homma also warned that ground systems could be vulnerable in large scale disasters and operators should consider ways of making the ground segment as robust as possible.


The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

China's first space woman

China’s first female astronaut proved a major draw when she appeared at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy, this week.

During the first of the Congress’ early morning Breaking News sessions on Wednesday (3 October), Liu Yang spoke about her mission and introduced a film showing highlights of the flight.

The 33-year-old became the first Chinese woman to fly in space when she and two male crew mates blasted off aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft in June of this year.

Two days later, the three taikonauts (the Chinese term for astronauts) hooked up with the already orbiting Tiangong 1 module, pulling off China's first-ever crewed space docking.

She said she was astonished by the beauty of Earth as seen from space, and that she was pleasantly surprised by the toy panda that had been left aboard Tiangong 1 by the ground crew.

An illustrated overview of the flight was given by Dr Zhaoyao Wang, Director of China’s Manned Space Agency, covering mission planning and implementation.


Dr Zhaoyao Wang speaking at IAC 2012.

He revealed that the Chinese space station is expected to be completed and fully operational around 2020 and said China intended to strengthen international exchange and cooperation in its future development and operation.

"During the operational phase, the Space Station will conduct long-term man-tended operations with the nominal status of three crew who will alternate every half year," he explained.

Dr Wang said that the construction phase would see intermittent visits and stays depending on mission requirements and that some EVAs would be performed.

Artist's impression showing elements of China's space station.

There will also be a cargo re-supply ship sent up to the orbiting complex between one and two times a year.

Asked about the possibility of a second mission, Liu Yang said that flight schedules were closely connected with the country’s development programme.

"The next mission will come soon, and whether I am selected or not, I am preparing all the time for the country’s selection," she said.

Lui Yang in Naples with her minder.

As well as on-going training, Yang said part of her work now involved sharing her experiences with others who have yet to make a spaceflight.

Another crewed Chinese mission (Shenzhou 10) to Tiangong 1 is planned for next year but the officials with the Chinese delegation said a date for launch had not yet been announced.

Lui Yang poses with Clive Simpson.

The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

Chasing the vision

Delegates at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy attending the third Plenary session on Tuesday, 2 October heard of exciting developments in commercial space transportation.


Though still in its infancy, the Plenary heard that many problems were now being addressed in the fields of technology, engineering, physiology, regulations and business to bring the fledgling sector to full fruition.

Some studies agree that in a few decades, the number of people spending days, weeks, months or even years in low Earth orbit (LEO) could reach hundreds or thousands.

One member of the panel avidly chasing the vision was Alan Bond, Founding Director of Reaction Engines, who told delegates there was a difference between what is happening in space transportation terms at present and the revolutionary new kind of space system being developed in the UK by his company.

"Space transportation has got to move a lot further than where things stand at the present time," he said. "I would like to see over the next 10 to 20 years us moving to where operators ‘operate' and manufacturers ‘manufacture'. This is where the business has to go."

Describing the United States as a country that has always been very entrepreneurial, Bond said he thought Europe lagged behind in that vision because "we were locked into thinking mostly in terms of government backed programmes".

To illustrate the point he said that 90 percent of funding for current Skylon engine development came from the private sector.

At present the major focus on his Skylon single-stage-to-orbit craft is in proving the ground-breaking technology of the air-breathing rocket engines. He said testing over the past year had gone very well and, though slightly behind schedule, was nearing completion.

"It all means that single-stage-to-orbit vehicles are going to be possible," he stated. "We are now within months of saying we can provide that to the world. The question is what is the world going to do about that?"

Bond said that Reaction Engines was "open to talk" about how the technology can be pushed forward. "As far as we can see we have every reason to believe this is feasible and my view is that Skylon will change the future."

Asked by a delegate about the timing for a demonstration flight, Bond said the current schedule envisaged Skylon could become operational ten years from now in 2022. He estimated development costs at $14 billion.

He explained that an important part of the company's business model was not ‘traffic to orbit' but to sell the vehicle in volume to different operators around the world.

"Many nations want their own access to space and it is important to understand this model. We are probably looking at $5 million per launch to get 15 tonnes of payload into orbit," he added.

George Nield, Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told delegates that now was the time of a very important transition in relation to commercial space developments.

He said there were currently eight FAA licensed sites in the United States but there was interest from six new Sates which wanted to create their own space ports, an indicator of strong potential growth in the future.

William Gerstenmaier, Associate Director, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, at NASA, said it was important to the United States that commercial launch services were successful.

"The SpaceX commercial demonstration flight was a tremendous success and it is important that governments do their best to enable that sort of activity," he said. "We need to continue to look for smart ways to do this and to pass on our expertise to the commercial space sector."

He said the approach of using a cargo demonstration phase for SpaceX was a good model as it substantially reduced risks - losing cargo might be disappointing but not catastrophic as it would be in human terms.

Gerstenmaier also revealed that NASA was now taking a more relaxed approach when agreeing spacecraft specifications with commercial space companies.

"We are telling designers that they don't necessarily have to build to the same default standards as NASA has done just because that is the way it happened in the past," he said.

Silvio Sandrone, Head of Business & New Programmes Development, Astrium Space Transportation, France, remarked that you could now tell the new NASA approach was working because "you have got old dogs like us doing new tricks".

He also said that as a major aircraft and space manufacturer, his company was looking at how to transfer some of the aircraft manufacturing skills to space manufacturing.

"It is also important to leverage a wider supply base," he said. "We need to move away from qualification driven development to certification driven development."

Georges Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said that the FAA had recognised that for the sub-orbital industry to get off the ground, we had to go through a different regulatory process than commercial air flight.

It meant allowing passengers to take a "bigger risk" – provided that they were better informed about the risks involved.

He said countries other than the United States were now starting to engage in addressing regulations and suggested it would be a very positive move if the world was able to set up a common regulatory framework.

"We don't have a basis to fly if we don't have a vehicle that is safe," he reiterated. "Spaceflight is always going to be riskier than commercial airliners."

Simonetta di Pippo, Head of European Space Policy Observatory, Italian Space Agency (ASI), moderator of the Plenary, highlighted problems caused by increasing numbers of space flights and Air Traffic Control, saying that in the future a more integrated system would need to be developed.

The Plenary event provided a snapshot of the current political, economic and technical landscape in commercial space exploitation and the statements from panel members hinted at the question of how well humankind is preparing to embark on futuristic scenarios based on massive space commercialisation.


The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

New era of cooperation

Speaking on the first day of the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy, today (Monday, 1 October 2012), the heads of the world’s leading space agencies ushered in a new era of international cooperation.

The leaders of agencies from the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Europe, Canada and India all provided an overview of their current programmes as well as an insight into future plans and potential international cooperation opportunities.

Speaking before an audience of around 2,000 delegates, they were welcomed to the IAC 2012, held in Naples’ Mostra d'Oltremare, by Enrico Saggese, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator, described 2012 as "an extraordinary year for NASA", capped by the successful landing of Curiosity on Mars which he described as an international venture based on a US spacecraft, with five new nations ‘landing’ on Mars as a result.

Bolden, a former Space Shuttle commander, said NASA was also eagerly anticipating the forthcoming launch on Sunday of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first commercial payload to the International Space Station (ISS) and heralding the start of a new commercial era for NASA.

"In general terms we are facing a fiscal crisis but at the same time trying to maintain a stable budget," he said. "As with most of us here, the ISS remains the centrepiece of our current human spaceflight endeavours."

He explained that in collaboration with its international partners, NASA was keen to increase the amount of scientific research carried out on the ISS.

Sergey Saveliev, Deputy Head of Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), said Russia was also looking in difficult times to integrate the development of space technology to support the country’s economy.

"Space affects the economy and as such also has a powerful influence on economic development and growth," he stated.

He also indicated that on a global scale there was no large-scale problem that could not be solved in some way through international cooperation.

Saveliev stressed the importance of international cooperation based on mutual interests, citing the example of the development of new integrated space observatories alongside international partners.

He also reflected on recent Russian launch failures which he said were due to both human error and technical malfunctions, adding that steps had been taken to reduce the likelihood of any future accidents.

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA, described the European Space Agency as enjoying its most successful phase ever.

He said the accession of Romania and Poland to ESA - taking the number of Member States to 20 - was a real indicator of this progress.

Dordain also spoke about the ISS from a European perspective, meteorology and science satellites, ATV-4 and the success of this year’s Soyuz and Vega launches from French Guiana.

He said Vega was not only a new kind of launcher but in the background represented a completely new generation of engineers.

Keiji Tachikawa, President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), chose to highlight his agency’s recent achievements by providing very recent results from the Shizuku/AMRS-2 satellite which has confirmed depleting summer ice levels in the Arctic region.

He said JAXA would continue in the challenge to collect and provide data on climate change and global warming to help provide solutions to the crisis facing our planet.

He also spoke about the fourth JAXA astronaut currently on the ISS and said the project was a true symbol of international cooperation. Japan is also actively promoting cooperation across the Asia region in space endeavours.

Steve McLean, President of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and also a former astronaut, recalled the recent 50th anniversary of his country’s first satellite which was a catalyst for giving Canada ‘credibility’ in the worldwide space community.

Five decades later he said his country was also very proud of its latest delivery this August - the Fine Guidance Sensor for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is being built and launched as an international project to replace Hubble.

This year Canada also extended its commitment to the ISS to 2020 and at the end of 2012 astronaut Chris Hadfield will be launched on a Soyuz rocket to become the second Canadian to make a long duration mission.

He said it was Canada’s intention to expand the use of the ISS for science and also turn it into a test bed for new technology.

One key development under this heading is the development of medical diagnosis tools, initially to be used by astronauts in orbit but later anticipated to have many applications in hospitals on Earth. "It is not quite a ‘tri-corder’ as in the Star Trek TV series but we are certainly getting close," he quipped.

Yafeng Hu, Executive Vice-Chairman, Coordination Committee for International Cooperation, China National Space Administration (CNSA), China, said his country planned 21 launches in the coming year, some of which would be helping put in place a satellite-based navigation system for people in living China and neighbouring countries.

In the coming five years, China will continue to develop its interests in human spaceflight, lunar exploration and will work on delivering a coordinated plan for the further development of space technology and science, he explained.

P.S. Veeraghavan, Council Vice-Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), announced that his country had just completed its 100th space mission, following on from a number of successes in the past year.

He also emphasised the cooperation now beginning to take place in Asia and spoke about future missions, including the launch of the first in a series of satellites for an Indian regional satellite system.

Veeraghavan stated that India planned a Mars orbital mission that would be launched late next year.

The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

Space conference record

The 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, Italy, got underway on today (Monday, 1 October 2012) with a record delegate attendance of almost 4,000 people.

IAF President Berndt Feuerbacher, speaking at the morning’s Prologue meeting in Mostra d’Oltremare, the Congress venue, said he was also delighted to announce that a third of the new record attendance was comprised of young people.

Prof Feuerbacher said this was the fourth IAC to be held in Italy which is one of the leading European space nations and plays a key role in the international space arena.

The IAC, themed ‘Space science and technology for the needs of all’, is the premier international gathering of the space community and this year will see the presentation of 2,200 science and technical papers by delegates from 74 different countries at 166 technical seminars and 30 symposia.

Enrico Saggese, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), also joined in the welcome and offered delegates a brief summary of Italy’s significant achievements and current involvement in the world’s space programmes.

"We will continue to make a significant contribution to the exploration of space," he said whilst emphasising how important it is to maintain the continued support of young people.

Luigi De Magistris, Mayor of Naples, offered a welcome on behalf of the city. "As you think and reflect about the future of the space industry in the coming days, I hope that the city of Naples will be an inspiration to all of you," he said.

The IAC Prologue also included messages from Luigi Cesaro, President of Naples Province, and Stefano Caldoro, President of the Campania Region, along with a presentation from Maurizio Maddaloni, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Naples, and Riccardo Monti, President of the Italian Agency for the promotion and internationalisation of Italian business (ICE).

Mr Monti said future IAC’s would grow to be even larger as more and more countries participated and he urged delegates to consider carefully the decisions of the future, saying that the space industry needed a clear blueprint that would carry things forward for the coming two decades.

The Prologue meeting concluded with a short message from Francesco Profumo, Italy’s Minister of Education, University and Research, and President of ESA Ministerial Council.

Part of the annual IAC is a Space Expo exhibition which this year attracted around 50 exhibitors from space companies and organisations all over the world.

The exhibition was formally opened by the European, Japanese and Canadian Heads of Agencies, heads of leading industry corporations and Prof. Feuerbacher, along with other VIP guests.

After a short tour of some of the key exhibitors - including ESA, the Italian Space Agency, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and representatives from China, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, Romania, Australia and the United States - they went on to formally open the IAF Global Networking Forum (GNF).

The GNF - with the vision to ‘meet, share and connect’ - is an evolution of the IAF Cluster Forum, transformed to further reinforce the networking and knowledge-sharing which have always defined it and bring an even wider and more global audience together.

The IAC runs throughout the week until Friday (5 October) and the Space Expo exhibition will also be open to the public between 10 am and 5 pm on Friday.　

The above is one of a series of daily reports from the International Astronautical Congress 2012 held in Naples, Italy, written by Clive Simpson for the Paris-based International Astronautical Association (IAF) and first appearing on the IAF website

A relucant American genius

Just occasionally there are times in the rich tapestry of life when events come together in a way we had perhaps wished for but never anticipated would actually ever become reality.

Such was the case for the Lighthouse Keeper back in March 2010 when a very unexpected invite popped into my email inbox from a Dr Dougal Goodman, chief executive of the Foundation for Science and Technology, someone I was not previously acquainted with.

‘I write on behalf of the Earl of Selborne KBE FRS to invite you to meet with Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the first and last men on the Moon, and Captain Jim Lovell, Commander of Apollo 13, who are visiting London on 12 March.

‘They have agreed to present a short film of the history of the space programme and to participate in a question and answer session. Sixth Form pupils and undergraduates have also been invited to participate.

‘The meeting will be at The Royal Society, 7-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, and there will be an opportunity to meet with Neil and his colleagues after the formal session.’

It seemed like all my Christmas’s had come at once! For the Lighthouse Keeper - Editor of Spaceflight magazine and a journalist writing regularly for ESA on Europe’s human spaceflight programme for a decade - it was certainly one of those once in a lifetime opportunities.

Of course, in my work with ESA and Spaceflight magazine, I had already met and interviewed many of the modern-day spacemen and women who had undertaken or were in training for missions on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, as well as some of the pioneering astronauts and cosmonauts from the American and the Russian space programmes.

But here was an opportunity to connect with a trio of astronauts from each of the most dramatic of America’s Apollo Moon missions. Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon; Captain Jim Lovell, Commander of Apollo 8 on the first circumnavigation of the Moon and then of the of the ill-fated Apollo 13; and Gene Cernan, the last man (to date) to walk on the Moon.

It was all the more special because, in the 40 years since Armstrong’s historic first footprints on another world, his public speaking engagements had been relatively few and far between, particularly outside of America. He was a very private hero.

Here was the chance to meet one of the men who, when the Lighthouse Keeper was just 10 years old, had inspired a lifelong passion in all things space. Back in the late 1960s the inspirational missions of Apollo 8 and 11 had captured my fertile imagination and spawned a lifelong passion for all things space.

Armstrong was softly spoken and at times difficult to hear as he recounted in his own words the Apollo 11 mission.

And we heard two of the most famous phrases in the world spoken by the man in person. "Tranquillity Base here, the Eagle has landed!" and "That's one small step for a man but one giant leap for Mankind."

Spoken with dignity, an actor's poise and, even after all these years, a touch of heartfelt emotion. And, of course, they got a standing ovation.

It is the hazy black and white TV images of Armstrong setting foot on the lunar surface that we remember so vividly. But ironically for such a fastidiously detailed and meticulously planned NASA programme there was one incredible omission - during the three hour excursion on the lunar surface no official colour photo was taken of Neil Armstrong.

The frame reproduced below is from Buzz Aldrin’s panorama of the Apollo 11 landing site and is the only Hasselblad-quality picture of Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface.

It was uncovered by my friend the late Douglas ‘HJP’ Arnold, of Havant, Hampshire, and we published it exclusively in Spaceflight magazine for the first time in July 1988 along with a detailed article about how this remarkable situation had come about.

Back at the post-talk malay at the Royal Society in London it was not easy to catch a moment to photograph Armstrong but I was pleased to grab this shot of him holding a copy of Spaceflight magazine, presented to him by my British Interplanetary Society colleague Suszann Parry.

As we had watched the three Apollo guys recounting their adventures with undiminished excitement and enthusiasm it was easy to think that given their combined age such occasions would become increasingly rare.

And so it proved with the sad announcement on 25 August that Neil Armstrong had passed away after complications following heart surgery.

Armstrong’s life marked an age of progress - his crackling words and ghostly images are both the soundtrack and some of the age’s defining images.

The choice of Armstrong to be the first man to walk on the Moon was a stroke of genius in itself. He needed no PR spin to embellish his achievement and there is no autobiography or celebrity status.

He was, as described by his family, ‘a very reluctant hero’, chosen because he was perfect for the job. And in that his remarkable story will remain the inspiration for generations to come.