Unbound: Ethics, Law, Sustainability, and the New Space Race

We are witnessing a new space race. A half century after the last Moon landing, and after a decade during which the United States could not launch its own astronauts to Earth orbit, there is new energy in the space activity. China has huge ambitions to rival or eclipse America as the major space power, and other countries are developing space programs. However, perhaps the greatest excitement attaches to the entrepreneurs who are trying to create a new business model for space travel based initially on tourism, and eventually, on colonizing the Moon and Mars and harvesting resources from asteroids. This paper presents a snapshot of the new space race and the rich men behind it, and it looks at some of the ethical and legal issues raised by this activity. The methodology is to consider the stated ambitions of the men leading private space companies, compare and contrast the space endeavor with earlier episodes of exploration and transportation innovation, review the regulatory environment for outer space, and consider two divergent scenarios for the future. Opinions are divided on whether commercial space flight is an expensive indulgence or potentially a way to find sustainability solutions for our life on Earth. It is concluded that the new space race can be characterized as unbounded: in ambition, in terms of laws and regulations, and in terms of ethical constraints on the activity.

Virtual prototyping of the lunar module landing system to improve cosmonauts’ spatial and situational awareness

Relevance. The transition to manned flights after the launches of the automatic stations of the «Luna-Globus» series will require studying issues of the crew safety in lunar missions. First of all, it will be necessary to clarify the role and capabilities of cosmonauts when landing the lunar module in complicated conditions. The subject of the study is the means of modeling and visualizing the progress of the flight operation observed by the operator. The area of study is the issues of ensuring the safety of the automatic landing of the lunar descent module with the possibility of switching to manual control mode after a decision was made by a human to change the landing site of the lunar module. The provision of spatial and situational awareness is considered in this context as a prerequisite for the timely response of the operator to the occurrence of a non-standard situation. Objective. The goal of the work is to present the virtual prototyping of the Moon landing stage for studying details of information support for cosmonauts during the conditions of visual control complication. Methodology. The analysis of ways to maintain spatial and situational awareness for a timely assessment by the operator of the suitability of the predicted site in the landing area is a key condition for deciding whether to switch from automatic mode to manual mode. At the same time, the quality of preparation and decision-making in a short time frame significantly depends on the accepted methods of visualizing the landing on the surface of the Moon. Results and Discussion. The directions of application of modeling and visualization tools for virtual prototyping of the landing of the descent lunar module are formulated. It is shown that a person's decision-making in conditions of time scarcity and possible visual interference when monitoring the external environment requires special means of information support. The issues of organizing the visual environment in accordance with the information needs of a person are studied taking into account the prototypes in the classes of manned and unmanned vertical take-off and landing vehicles, for which similar types of operator activities are described. This made it possible to formulate basic approaches to modeling the landing of vehicles in conditions of problems with visual perceptions. Taking into account the increased requirements, we consider promising approaches based on the synthesis of 2D and 3D-visual dynamic scenes, as well as precedents for the use of synthetic vision systems in the described conditions. The scope of application of the obtained results is not limited to the tasks of designing complex human-technical systems, but may have applications in the field of building computer simulators for the training of cosmonauts. This practice compares favorably with the options for human training on hardware-in-the-loop simulation models and on real helicopter-type vehicles in terms of safety and flexibility of modification. Conclusion. The use of virtual prototyping of the moon landing makes it possible to expand the search for options for improving the cosmonaut's spatial and situational awareness. The general conclusion in the context of this goal pursuing is the feasibility of using simulation methods to build a virtual environment that recreates the conditions for a cosmonaut to make a decision in an emergency situation when landing a lunar module, as one of the most critical flight operations for the safety of lunar missions. Key words Lunar exploration, lunar lander, landing simulation and visualization, virtual activity environment, unmanned and manned vertical take-off and landing vehicles, spatial and situational awareness, synthetic vision systems.

COVID-19 on the Ground: Managing the Heritage Sites of a Pandemic

The standard methodology for the assessment of cultural heritage significance relies on hindsight, with a passage of time elapsed between the creation of the site or object and its assessment. There are, however, cases where heritage significance is instant (e.g., sites associated with the first Moon landing). This paper argues that hindsight will not be required to determine that the COVID-19 pandemic will come to be considered as a significant historic event, as COVID-19 has already manifested itself as a social, cultural and economic disruptor on a global scale with a mortality in the millions. Heritage professionals have the unique opportunity to assess and document places and structures associated with the pandemic, that are poised to be worthy of a heritage listing in the near future, while they are still in use and function as intended. This paper discusses the nature of the sites and structures and explores possible management approaches to safeguard evidence of the pandemic for future generations.

Space suit concerns make US moon landing delay likely

Headline UNITED STATES: NASA moon project will face delays

Footprints & Photographs : The Selection Of A Visual Story, A Study Of The Apollo 11 Photographs In The Illustrated Press

Footprints and Photographs is a preliminary investigation of the selection process photographs undergo from production to eventual publication in the illustrated press. The analysis considers the roles and selection choices made by a photographic producer, a photo-agency, and picture-editors in two separate groups of Apollo 11 photographs and a selection of published Apollo 11 images. This argument presents a comparative analysis of nine illustrated publications with photographs of the Apollo 11 moon landing published between July and December 1969. The comparison is completed in conjuncture with 2,124 original Apollo 11 photographs in NASA's Online Image Library and 149 press photographs in the Black Star Collection held at Ryerson University. A literature survey and methodology section provides historical context and explanatory research methods employed throughout this paper. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are dedicated to the categorical analysis of each group of Apollo 11 photographs and outline the selection of imagery available for depiction of the event's narrative. By analyzing these three bodies of work as a whole, this thesis examines the narrowing perspective of the Apollo 11 photographs as they move through the stages of selection, concluding with their published accounts, and highlights the role this selection plays in building the visual narrative surrounding the first manned moon landing.

Footprints & Photographs : The Selection Of A Visual Story, A Study Of The Apollo 11 Photographs In The Illustrated Press

Footprints and Photographs is a preliminary investigation of the selection process photographs undergo from production to eventual publication in the illustrated press. The analysis considers the roles and selection choices made by a photographic producer, a photo-agency, and picture-editors in two separate groups of Apollo 11 photographs and a selection of published Apollo 11 images. This argument presents a comparative analysis of nine illustrated publications with photographs of the Apollo 11 moon landing published between July and December 1969. The comparison is completed in conjuncture with 2,124 original Apollo 11 photographs in NASA's Online Image Library and 149 press photographs in the Black Star Collection held at Ryerson University. A literature survey and methodology section provides historical context and explanatory research methods employed throughout this paper. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are dedicated to the categorical analysis of each group of Apollo 11 photographs and outline the selection of imagery available for depiction of the event's narrative. By analyzing these three bodies of work as a whole, this thesis examines the narrowing perspective of the Apollo 11 photographs as they move through the stages of selection, concluding with their published accounts, and highlights the role this selection plays in building the visual narrative surrounding the first manned moon landing.