Space Age Research Articles

IRIS2: Asserting Autonomy in the New Space Age

In the burgeoning space-scape of the New Space Age, the European Union (EU) has embarked on a quest to fortify its dominion over space communication systems through the ‘Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite’ (IRIS2) constellation, under the auspices of the EU Secure Connectivity Programme. This paper explores the sovereignty motivations of the EU, the precipitated legal issues arising from participation of European private space actors and the exclusion of non-European competitors in the building and operation of the IRIS2 constellation, and ramifications on the EU’s sovereignty prerogative. By addressing these complexities, this paper seeks to enrich the understanding of the interplay between commercial actors, sovereignty of space systems, the operational legal and contractual approaches to liability, and provide a glimpse into how the EU has embarked on asserting autonomy in these challenging circumstances.

Disentangled Lifespan Synthesis via Transformer‐Based Nonlinear Regression

AbstractLifespan face age transformation aims to generate facial images that accurately depict an individual's appearance at different age stages. This task is highly challenging due to the need for reasonable changes in facial features while preserving identity characteristics. Existing methods tend to synthesize unsatisfactory results, such as entangled facial attributes and low identity preservation, especially when dealing with large age gaps. Furthermore, over‐manipulating the style vector may deviate it from the latent space and damage image quality. To address these issues, this paper introduces a novel nonlinear regression model‐Disentangled Lifespan face Aging (DL‐Aging) to achieve high‐quality age transformation images. Specifically, we propose an age modulation encoder to extract age‐related multi‐scale facial features as key and value, and use the reconstructed style vector of the image as the query. The multi‐head cross‐attention in the W+ space is utilized to update the query for aging image reconstruction iteratively. This nonlinear transformation enables the model to learn a more disentangled mode of transformation, which is crucial for alleviating facial attribute entanglement. Additionally, we introduce a W+ space age regularization term to prevent excessive manipulation of the style vector and ensure it remains within the W+ space during transformation, thereby improving generation quality and aging accuracy. Extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments demonstrate that the proposed DL‐Aging outperforms state‐of‐the‐art methods regarding aging accuracy, image quality, attribute disentanglement, and identity preservation, especially for large age gaps.

Interplanetary Causes and Impacts of the 2024 May Superstorm on the Geosphere: An Overview

The recent superstorm of 2024 May 10–11 is the second largest geomagnetic storm in the space age and the only one that has simultaneous interplanetary data (there were no interplanetary data for the 1989 March storm). The May superstorm was characterized by a sudden impulse (SI+) amplitude of +88 nT, followed by a three-step storm main-phase development, which had a total duration of ∼9 hr. The cause of the first storm main phase with a peak SYM-H intensity of −183 nT was a fast-forward interplanetary shock (magnetosonic Mach number M ms ∼ 7.2) and an interplanetary sheath with a southward interplanetary magnetic field component B s of ∼40 nT. The cause of the second storm's main phase with an SYM-H intensity of −354 nT was a deepening of the sheath B s to ∼43 nT. A magnetosonic wave (M ms ∼ 0.6) compressed the sheath to a high magnetic field strength of ∼71 nT. Intensified B s of ∼48 nT were the cause of the third and most intense storm main phase, with an SYM-H intensity of −518 nT. Three magnetic cloud events with B s fields of ∼25–40 nT occurred in the storm recovery phase, lengthening the recovery to ∼2.8 days. At geosynchronous orbit, ∼76 keV to ∼1.5 MeV electrons exhibited ∼1–3 orders of magnitude flux decreases following the shock/sheath impingement onto the magnetosphere. The cosmic-ray decreases at Dome C, Antarctica (effective vertical cutoff rigidity <0.01 GV) and Oulu, Finland (rigidity ∼0.8 GV) were ∼17% and ∼11%, respectively, relative to quiet-time values. Strong ionospheric current flows resulted in extreme geomagnetically induced currents of ∼30–40 A in the subauroral region. The storm period is characterized by strong polar-region field-aligned currents, with ∼10 times intensification during the main phase and equatorward expansion down to ∼50° geomagnetic (altitude-adjusted) latitude.

Distance: A 2024 re-examination

Distance, a concept that continues to be relevant and rather complex, is far from being obsolete despite its diminishing role in the age of virtual space. It represents spatial separation, a notion that was first quantified in Egypt some 5,000 years ago. The evolution of distance can be traced through five distinct phases: natural (absolute and relative distances), relational (time and cost distances, distance decay, friction of distance, and distanciation), technological (extensibility, accessibility, and speed), virtual (proximity, digital, cognitive, and metaphorical distances), and optional (optional and estimated distances). These historical phases have built upon each other, leading to our contemporary experience of all distance classes depending on specific separation cases. Modern humans may overcome any distance on earth, one way or another, unless prevented from doing so by political national sovereignties.

Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Tourism in Outer Space

Purpose: This article primarily explores the benefits and challenges of outer space tourism and also makes the case that a new international convention is desperately needed since the space tourism business cannot be supported by the current legal framework. Methodology: This research will be carefully conducted by providing an overview of the history space tourism. The concept will be understood by a survey of the literature on the types of space tourism, and the theories of space tourism. A thorough analysis will be carried to analyze the benefits and legal challenges of space tourism and also identify the gaps in the international space law framework that pertain to space tourism. The essay used papers from conferences, academic books, and articles. Findings: Man has always been a curious creature, eager to discover and visit new and interesting places. Since the beginning of the space age, the prospect of conducting open space missions has been a secret agenda item for the spacefaring nations. The next logical step for tourism might be space travel. Space tourism seeks to provide easy access to thrilling destinations for leisure and adventure. People are constantly seeking for new places to visit. People aspire to transcend boundaries and travel beyond, even to the heavens. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy (Recommendations): Even though space tourism has many advantages, getting to space presents new commercial, legal, and technical difficulties as well as advances. The booming space tourism business cannot be supported by the current space law regime because "the backbone of international space law” is too inflexible to be a stabile basis for space tourism The advantages of space tourism, the difficulties it presents in the age of commercialization, and the policies and governance that must be in place for space travel to be effective are all covered in this article.

Inflammasome-Inhibiting Nanoligomers Are Neuroprotective against Space-Induced Pathology in Healthy and Diseased Three-Dimensional Human Motor and Prefrontal Cortex Brain Organoids.

The microgravity and space environment has been linked to deficits in neuromuscular and cognitive capabilities, hypothesized to occur due to accelerated aging and neurodegeneration in space. While the specific mechanisms are still being investigated, spaceflight-associated neuropathology is an important health risk to astronauts and space tourists and is being actively investigated for the development of appropriate countermeasures. However, such space-induced neuropathology offers an opportunity for accelerated screening of therapeutic targets and lead molecules for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we show a proof-of-concept high-throughput target screening (on Earth), target validation, and mitigation of microgravity-induced neuropathology using our Nanoligomer platform, onboard the 43-day SpaceX CRS-29 mission to the International Space Station. First, comparing 3D healthy and diseased prefrontal cortex (PFC, for cognition) and motor neuron (MN, for neuromuscular function) organoids, we assessed space-induced pathology using biomarkers relevant to Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Both healthy and diseased PFC and MN organoids showed significantly enhanced neurodegeneration in space, as measured through relevant disease biomarkers, when compared to their respective Earth controls. Second, we tested the top two lead molecules, NI112 that targeted NF-κB and NI113 that targeted IL-6. We observed that these Nanoligomers significantly mitigate the AD, FTD, and ALS relevant biomarkers like amyloid beta-42 (Aβ42), phosphorylated tau (pTau), Kallikrein (KLK-6), Tar DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), and others. Moreover, the 43-day Nanoligomer treatment of these brain organoids did not appear to cause any observable toxicity or safety issues in the target organoid tissue, suggesting good tolerability for these molecules in the brain at physiologically relevant doses. Together, these results show significant potential for both the development and translation of NI112 and NI113 molecules as potential neuroprotective countermeasures for safer space travel and demonstrate the usefulness of the space environment for rapid, high-throughput screening of targets and lead molecules for clinical translation. We assert that the use of microgravity in drug development and screening may ultimately benefit millions of patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative diseases on Earth.

Periodontal management during orthodontic-surgical treatment of maxillary impacted incisors: Acase report

The treatment of impacted teeth is a multidisciplinary process requiring close collaboration between periodontics and orthodontics. Impaction can have several causes, including physical obstructions in the eruption pathway, arch length discrepancies, or dental deformity. The management of these cases lies in the diagnosis established after an appropriate clinical and radiological examination. The age, position, etiology, and amount of space in the dental arch of an unerupted tooth determine how it should be treated. In several cases, orthodontic creating space, removing physical obstructions, and exposing the patient surgically with or without traction are general guidelines for treatment. In addition, ensuring adequate access to the tooth and the possibility of attaching an orthodontic anchor, the periodontal plastic surgery procedures associated with surgical clearance must preserve the integrity of the periodontium of the impacted tooth, as well as that of adjacent teeth, and above all promote the long-term maintenance of their periodontal health.

China's Ground‐Based Space Environment Monitoring Network—Chinese Meridian Project (CMP)

AbstractMonitoring and investigation of the solar‐terrestrial space environment is a huge challenge for humans in space age. To this end, China has established the Ground‐based Space Environment Monitoring Network, namely Chinese Meridian Project (CMP). The project comprises three major systems: the Space Environment Monitoring System, Data and Communication System, and Scientific Application System. The Space Environment Monitoring System adopts a well‐designed monitoring architecture, known as “One Chain, Three Networks, and Four Focuses,” to achieve stereoscopic and comprehensive monitoring of the entire solar‐terrestrial space. The “One‐Chain” component utilizes optical, radio, interplanetary scintillation, cosmic ray instruments to cover the causal chain of space weather disturbances from the solar surface to near‐Earth space. For the ionosphere, middle and upper atmosphere, and magnetic field, instruments are deployed along longitudes of 120° and 100°E, and latitudes of 30° and 40°N, forming the “Three Networks.” Furthermore, more powerful monitoring facilities or large‐scale instruments have been deployed in four key regions: the high‐latitude polar region, mid‐latitude region in northern China, low‐latitude region at Hainan Island, and the Tibet region. These four regions are crucial for disturbances propagation and evolution, or possess unique geographical and topographical characteristics. The Data and Communication System and Scientific Application System are designed for data collecting, processing, storage, mining, and providing user service based on data acquired by the Space Environment Monitoring System. The data obtained by CMP will be shared with the global scientific community, facilitating enhanced collaboration on space weather and space physics research.

Historical review of simulators for satellite position and orientation control

Abstract In the design of satellite systems, it is essential to control the satellite’s position for various reasons, either to have correct communication with a ground station or to make connections with other satellites. In the same way, the positioning of a satellite poses a significant challenge since its behavior is non-linear; due to these issues, several test benches have been developed for the satellite’s position problem. In this review, there will be a journey from the rise of the space age to the latest advances in technology for emulating the satellite’s dynamics.

Correction: Inglezakis et al. Chemical Engineering beyond Earth: Astrochemical Engineering in the Space Age. Sustainability 2023, 15, 13227

The authors would like to make the following corrections to the published paper [...]

A second space age spanning omics, platforms and medicine across orbits.

The recent acceleration of commercial, private and multi-national spaceflight has created an unprecedented level of activity in low Earth orbit, concomitant with the largest-ever number of crewed missions entering space and preparations for exploration-class (lasting longer than one year) missions. Such rapid advancement into space from many new companies, countries and space-related entities has enabled a 'second space age'. This era is also poised to leverage, for the first time, modern tools and methods of molecular biology and precision medicine, thus enabling precision aerospace medicine for the crews. The applications of these biomedical technologies and algorithms are diverse, and encompass multi-omic, single-cell and spatial biology tools to investigate human and microbial responses to spaceflight. Additionally, they extend to the development of new imaging techniques, real-time cognitive assessments, physiological monitoring and personalized risk profiles tailored for astronauts. Furthermore, these technologies enable advancements in pharmacogenomics, as well as the identification of novel spaceflight biomarkers and the development of corresponding countermeasures. In this Perspective, we highlight some of the recent biomedical research from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, European Space Agency and other space agencies, and detail the entrance of the commercial spaceflight sector (including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Axiom and Sierra Space) into aerospace medicine and space biology, the first aerospace medicine biobank, and various upcoming missions that will utilize these tools to ensure a permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit, venturing out to other planets and moons.

Not because it is easy … accounting research enters the space age

PurposeThis article introduces the AAAJ special issue's content and, in so doing, aims to reflect on the contribution that accounting as a discipline is placed to make within the more contemporary context of space exploration, the space economy and public space policy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws together, identifies, expands upon and advances opportunities available to researchers seeking to investigate the ways in which accounting research and practice might inform the modern space sector.FindingsPapers comprising the AAAJ special issue are informed by authors with diverse research backgrounds (including various accounting subfields and non-accounting business disciplines) and varying methodological approaches, including positivist, interpretivist as well as critical research paradigms. Interestingly, the call for papers also attracted several non-accounting academics or academics who have not traditionally undertaken or engaged appreciably with accounting research. This diverse approach to addressing initial space accounting questions should help establish a firm launching point for future research advances.Originality/valueThe paper's originality lies in advancing a need to engage with the unique demands of “the New Space Age”, requiring fundamentally innovative approaches to many aspects of accounting such as financial accounting, management accounting and sustainability accounting as well as contextualising or re-contextualising current accounting concepts, principles and thinking to apply to a new setting.

Preliminary investigation and proposal of periodic orbits and their utilization for logistics in the cislunar regime

The world is in the midst of what is widely considered the second Space Age due to the vastly growing commercial space sector and progress with international initiatives such as the Artemis program, led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Cislunar space is becoming a region of growing interest as nations, international organizations, and private corporations look to expand their presence and outreach. The planned development of space infrastructure, such as lunar habitats, mining operations, and other installations, is driving the need for studies regarding common orbital pathways to ensure logistical support for future cislunar missions. Along with common orbital pathways, comprehensive and internationally acknowledged space policy and doctrine is required to ensure the safety, stability, and peace of this new frontier of human endeavor. This study serves to address one of the mission sets that will come to shape the emerging economy of the wider Earth-Moon system, space logistics. Specifically, this study will discuss potential orbits for a cislunar space situational awareness network that would support a space traffic management service, along with three cislunar logistics missions: personnel and cargo transport, space tourism, and search and rescue. Characteristics considered for orbits include orbit stability, period, and the proximity to key nodes in cislunar space such as the Moon and Lagrange points. Using Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP) dynamics, fourteen sample cislunar periodic orbits are proposed to accomplish the cislunar missions discussed. This study adds to the limited work in the field of cislunar orbital design to generate novel orbits and apply them to logistical use cases. All missions, except tourism, feature a “touring” class of cislunar periodic orbits due to their unique geometries enabling them to traverse a wide range of cislunar space. Preliminary analysis indicates that all of the proposed orbits are classified as marginally unstable, and suggests that minimal propellant is required to maintain a space vehicle's intended cislunar trajectory. Finally, existing law, policy, and governance surrounding cislunar space logistics and operations is discussed specifically concerning space traffic management, transportation, and humans touring or being rescued from space. Special attention is given to both the ambiguity of the law and the limitations of current norms of behavior, patent and property concerns, and tense geopolitical situations that can further complicate peace. Overall, this study highlights the underdevelopment of current space law and policy with the ambiguity of present-day norms discussed.

Statistical Reliability Estimation of Deep Space Satellites and Launch Vehicles: 1958–2022

On-orbit flight data for deep space satellites and space launch vehicles (SLVs) servicing deep space missions operated between 1958 and 2022 is analyzed due to a lack of reliability research combining both satellites and SLVs for this class of mission. Satellite reliability is first estimated by the Kaplan–Meier estimator, and then parameterized through the Weibull distribution. This process is applied to the general deep space satellite data set as well as the delimitation of the data according to decade. SLV reliability is computed using standard maximum likelihood estimation and an evolving first-level Bayesian estimation scheme. Results from the satellite analysis demonstrated the differences between the parameterization methods used. The bulk satellite data set indicated that deep space satellites suffer from infant mortality, while certain subsets were found to have a primary wear-out failure mode. In general, U.S. deep space missions demonstrated the highest reliability. Deep space satellite reliability was also found to have increased as a function of time. Results from the SLV data set revealed that deep space launches are primarily performed by four main launch vehicle families. Additionally, most deep space SLV failures occurred in the space age (1959–1975), with the USA and USSR/Russia being the only two countries to experience deep space launch failures. With both deep space SLV and satellite reliability increasing over time, reliability is not expected to be a major hindrance to future deep space missions.

TACO: A Turkish database for abstract concepts.

The organization of abstract concepts reflects different dimensions, grounded in the brain regions coding for the corresponding experience. Normative measures of linguistic stimuli offer noteworthy insights into the organization of conceptual knowledge, but studies differ in the dimensions and classes of concepts considered. Additionally, most of the available information has been collected in English, without considering possible linguistic and cultural differences. Here, we aimed to create a comprehensive Turkish database for abstract concepts (TACO), including rarely investigated classes such as political concepts. We included 503 words-78 concrete (fruits, animals, tools) and 425 abstract (emotions, social, mental states, theoretical, quantity, space, political)-rated by 134 Turkish speakers for familiarity, imageability, age of acquisition, valence, arousal, quantity, space, theoretical, social, mental state, and political dimensions. We calculated dominance and exclusivity, indicating the dimension receiving the highest mean score for each word, and the position of the word along the unidimensional-multidimensional continuum, respectively. A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on the semantic dimensions. The results showed that mental state was the dominant dimension for most concepts. Moderate to low levels of exclusivity indicated that the concepts were multidimensional. PCA revealed three components: Component 1 captured the juxtaposition between social/mental state and magnitude polarities, Component 2 highlighted affective components, and Component 3 grouped together political and theoretical dimensions. The introduction of political concepts provided insights into the multidimensional nature of this unexplored class, closely intertwined with the theoretical dimension. TACO constitutes the first comprehensive Turkish database covering several abstract dimensions, paving the way for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural studies of semantic representations.

Historical space painting art: Its important role on the creation of space-age era in 1950s

The major purpose of this paper is to study the important role of historical painting art on the creation of space-age era eight decades ago in 1950s. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the first known use of “space age” was in 1946. In the Collins Dictionary, the space age is the present period in the history of the world when travel in space has become possible, and people use “space-age” to describe something that is very modern and makes you think of the technology of the space age. In American English, space age is the period in modern history characterized by space exploration, usually considered as beginning on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, into orbit around the Earth. In the ancient time, many artists including Giovanni di Paolo, Albrecht Dürer, Étienne Léopold Trouvelot and Vincent van Gogh created masterpieces of space related paintings. Even in the extreme ancient era, the cave art already evidenced humans’ astronomical knowledge. Besides the technological research and development for space explorations, groups of workers and artists in the areas of culture, painting, architects, installation artwork, etc. had done many contributions in the development of space-age cultural and aesthetic art before 1950s. They not only created so many masterpieces with plenty of space-age aesthetics, but witnessed and recorded the development history of the space age. It goes without doubt that historical space painting art played an important role on the creation of space-age era in 1950s. Therefore, it is mandatory to investigate and reveal the fact.

Profile of Patients with Maxillofacial Space Infections and Associated Risk Factors.

To evaluate the profile of patients operated for maxillofacial space infections and associated risk factors for the length of hospital stay. We conducted a retrospective study among patients operated for maxillofacial infections at our center from 2010 to 2020. Information collected from the records were age, sex, type and number of spaces involved, clinical signs and symptoms (pain, swelling, toothache, sore throat, otalgia, hoarseness, headache, cough, neck swelling, rancid breath, sialorrhea, gingival swelling, muffled voice, trismus, fever, dysphagia, odynophagia, malaise, lymphadenopathy, dyspnoea, pus discharge), treatment modality, total leukocyte count, evidence of bacterial growth, comorbidities, complications if any and length of hospital stay. A total of 128 medical records were examined, out of which 59 were female. The mean age was 38.59 ± 19.7 and the length of hospital stay was 7.56 ± 3.8 days. The most commonly involved space was submandibular space (46.1%) and the common symptoms reported were swelling (99.2%), pain (86.7%), and trismus (68%). Four patients had complications like necrotizing fasciitis (1.6%), pneumonia (0.8%), and death in one patient (0.8%). Logistic regression showed that patients more than 36 years of age, male sex, evidence of bacterial growth, and diabetics had higher odds of increased hospital stay (>6 days). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age (P = 0.015; OR: 2.98) and evidence of bacterial culture (P = 0.001; OR:6.64) were potential predictors associated with increased hospital stay. Our study showed that the age of the patient and evidence of bacterial culture were potential predictors of prolonged hospital stay among patients operated for maxillofacial space infections.

Challenges in Identifying Artificial Objects in the Near-Earth Object Population: Spectral Characterization of 2020 SO

Since the dawn of the Space Age, hundreds of payloads have been launched into heliocentric space. As near-Earth object (NEO) surveys search deeper for small asteroids, more artificial objects in heliocentric orbits are being discovered. We now face a challenge to identify the true nature of these objects and avoid contaminating the NEO catalog. Here, we present the methods used to characterize one such object. 2020 SO was discovered by the Pan-STARRS1 survey on 2020 September 17. Originally classified as a NEO, the object’s artificial nature became evident due to its low velocity relative to Earth and solar radiation pressure affecting its orbit about the Sun. Based on a backward propagation of its orbit, 2020 SO is thought to be a Centaur rocket body (R/B) from the launch of the Surveyor 2 mission to the Moon. We characterized 2020 SO using a range of ground-based optical and near-infrared telescopes to constrain its true nature. We find that its reflectance spectrum is consistent with that of other Centaur R/B launched during a similar time frame, and we identify 1.4, 1.7, and 2.3 μm absorption bands consistent with polyvinyl fluoride used on the aft bulkhead radiation shield exterior of Centaur-D R/B at the time.

Exploring intervention strategies for cellular senescence under microgravity

This paper explores intervention strategies for mitigating cellular senescence under microgravity, a significant challenge for space exploration and astronaut health. It delves into the mechanisms of accelerated cellular aging in microgravity, including oxidative stress and DNA damage, and proposes interventions ranging from pharmacological inhibitors to lifestyle modifications. The research underscores the potential of understanding aging in space to innovate strategies against aging and age-related diseases on Earth, thereby bridging space science and medical science for mutual advancements. Through a comprehensive review of current knowledge, potential mechanisms, impacts, and intervention strategies, this study aims to enhance astronaut health during prolonged missions and contribute to gerontology.

The groovy: an everyday aesthetic of the sixties

ABSTRACT In Christine Brooke-Rose’s novel, Out (1964), we are introduced to ‘Mr Blob’, a ‘filmy monster’ known for rearranging his molecular constitution on live television into a soft ensemble ‘of different wriggling shapes’. Mr Blob’s spectacular wobbles are quintessential of a Sixties moment and its everyday aesthetic of the groovy, which once salvaged from post-modernist irony can be said to function at the complex intersection of black jazz and second-order cybernetics, space age kitsch and trippy post-capitalist desires. Moving between the ‘groovy […] sociable atmosphere’ of the Jolly Dollar in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952) and the ‘groovy TV’ imagery of Nam June Paik’s Global Groove (1972), the essay presents a novel theory for an overlooked aesthetic of immense significance to twentieth-century culture. Throughout, the essay homes in on an increasingly powerful synthetic chemicals industry hellbent on the formal excavation of a molecular lability that seduces almost every aspect of everyday life, rendering almost every surface cartoonishly susceptible to the insidious grooves of a new kind of injection-moulded reality.