Space Research Today, Issue 217

Message from the Editor

Richard Harrison, General Editor

Afascinating paper that I came across recently has the wonderful title "What does the Milky Way look like?" (Xu et al., Astrophys. J. 947, 54, 2023, doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acc45c ).

I was planning to mention it in the What Caught the Editor’s Eye section of Space Research Today (SRT), but I felt that it highlights a point that I want to make here. As a solar physicist with a general interest in wider astronomy, I was really interested in, and somewhat surprised by, the statement that the spiral structure morphology of our own Milky Way galaxy remains somewhat uncertain. This sounds a bit like someone not knowing what their own house looks like from the outside. The authors go on to use new accurate distance measurements for young stars to advance our understanding of the spiral arm structure. What it boils down to is the fact that looking out from inside our galaxy, we are somewhat restricted in understanding its actual structure.

"Do we know what people outside, looking at COSPAR think about the organisation? "

Drawing a parallel idea from this, most of us working within COSPAR feel that we have a good idea about the uniqueness of COSPAR, what it is for, how it works and how the wider space community benefits from the existence of COSPAR. However, do we know what people outside, looking at COSPAR think about the organisation? Is it clear ‘on the outside’ that COSPAR has a unique role and is a key player in global space activities? In a small way, the new online SRT is attempting to tackle this question by now being available to everyone, rather than just COSPAR Associates, and we are seeing a good spread of reports on COSPAR business, which clearly advertise exactly what we do (well illustrated by the current issue). That said, two things are required. We need to encourage our colleagues and friends who are not so familiar with COSPAR to look at SRT. We can advertise through mailing lists that new issues have appeared but I would suggest that there is nothing as good as receiving a link to a new issue from a colleague or collaborator.

Spread the word! On the other hand, to advertise what we do, we must include reports from our Panels, Scientific Commissions, Task Groups etc… So, please keep them coming in.

Please note that the Call for Abstracts for the next Scientific Assembly is now live here.

COSPAR Community

45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly and Associated Events

13-21 July 2024, Busan, South Korea

Call for Abstracts here

Anezina Solomonidou - Vice-chair (2022-2026), Sub-Commission B5: Outer Planets and Satellites

Anezina Solomonidou is a planetary scientist specializing in planetary geology and investigating the potentially habitable worlds of our solar system. She obtained her doctorate on astronomy and astrophysics from the Paris Observatory in France. She has worked for many years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech in California, USA, on the Cassini-Huygens and the Europa Clipper missions, as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) in Madrid, Spain, for the preparation of ESA’s new space mission, the JUpiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE). She has authored a plethora of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and chapters in books and co-authored more than 10 White Papers to NASA and ESA.

"She has proposed a series of planetary experiments and has contributed to the design of future missions"

She has proposed a series of planetary experiments and has contributed to the design of future missions. She is President of the Division for Planetary and Solar System Sciences

(PS) of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), the Vice-Chair of the Southeast Europe Hub (SEE) of the Europlanet Society and serves for international boards and NASA panels, where she evaluates scientific proposals for planetary research.

Dr Solomonidou is the Main Scientific Organizer (MSO) for COSPAR-2024 Scientific Event B5.2 "Gas Giants and Icy Giants with their Systems’ and the Deputy Organizer (DO) for B5.3 ‘Ocean Worlds: Past, Present, and Future."

Manuel Rodrigues - Chair (2022-2026), Commission H: Fundamental Physics in Space

Manuel Rodrigues is currently head of the Instrumentation and Aerospace Equipment (IEA) unit in Office National d’Étude et de Recherche Aérospatiale (ONERA), France, a team in charge of space accelerometers for Geodesy and Fundamental Physics Missions. He graduated in 1990 from the l’École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI), France.

In 1991, he started as research physics engineer in ONERA in charge of the development and characterisation of thin film sensors. Then in 1994, he joined the IEA team to evaluate the performance of the accelerometers at femto-g levels. He participated in the starting phases of the LISA mission dedicated to gravity wave detection in space. He was also in charge of the performance of the CHAMP (2000) and GRACE (2002) missions dedicated to the Earth’s gravity field mapping. He was a member of the Science Council of the Physics Department of ONERA from 2015 to 2022.

"He participated in the starting phases of the LISA mission dedicated to gravity wave detection in space"

In 2000, he became project manager of the MICROSCOPE payload. MICROSCOPE was a CNES mission aiming at testing the Equivalence Principle in space. After the launch of MICROSCOPE in 2016, he became the CoInvestigator of the mission. After the first release of the MICROSCOPE results, he received the Servant Prize from the French Académie des Sciences in 2019. In 2022, he was co-author of the final release of the MICROSCOPE mission distributed over 12 papers in CQG and PRL.

Since 2011 he has been leading seminars on space sensors for the CIMES Masters at the Université Pierre-et-Marie Curie in Paris, France. From 2014 to 2022, he was a member of the scientific council of the gravitation, references, astronomy, and metrology national programme.

He was nominated member of the Fundamental Physics working group in CNES in 2022. The same year, he was elected chair of the COSPAR Scientific Commission H: Fundamental Physics in Space. He is now in charge of the accelerometer development for the future Mass Change Mission, a NASA program that follows the GRACE-FO mission.

In Memoriam

Götz Paschmann (1939-2023)

My long-term colleague and friend, Goetz Paschmann, passed away on 22 February this year at the age of 83. He was one of the leading scientists in the near-Earth plasma physics group at the Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics, MPE. He joined our institute in 1968 in order to perform his doctoral thesis research under the guidance of Reimar Lüst and Dieter Hovestadt. He analyzed data on auroral particles gained by Dick Sharp and Ed Shelley as Visiting Scientist at the Palo Alto Research Laboratory, USA, from 1968 to 1970. He obtained his doctoral degree from the Technical University Munich, Germany, in 1971. As staff member at the MPE from 1971 to 1978, he gained an international reputation for his work on the magnetospheric boundary layers with data from a novel instrument on the ESRO spacecraft HEOS 2 built by Helmut Rosenbauer at MPE.

In 1978, Goetz was Visiting Scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), USA.  With Sam Bame of LANL he shared the PI-ship of the plasma analyzers on the NASA missions, ISEE 1 and 2. With data from a magnetopause transit of the spacecraft, his team succeeded in verifying for the first time ever the working of the reconnection process in space. The subsequent Nature paper in 1979 was probably the most important publication of MPE in space physics. From 1978 onward, he was Senior Staff Member at MPE and Head of Space Plasma Physics. Subsequently, Goetz was PI on the ill-fated Firewheel mission in 1980 and of the plasma analyzer on AMPTEIRM, the spacecraft with which we succeeded in creating two artificial comets in 1984-85. One of his important discoveries with AMPTE, jointly with Wolfgang Baumjohann, was the identification of the flow bursts, which carry the energy liberated by reconnection in the magnetic tail towards the night-time magnetosphere generating substorms, spectacular auroral displays, and strong geomagnetic perturbations.

"One of his important discoveries was the identification of the flow bursts"

From 1999 to 2005, Goetz was Director at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland, for six months per year, succeeding Bengt Hultqvist. During this period, he led the production of the book “Auroral Plasma Physics”, jointly with Stein Haaland and Rudolf Treumann, and with contributions from 32 European and US colleagues. It became the reference book in this field.

Goetz Paschmann was also one of the driving forces behind ESA’s Cluster mission. With strong international contributions, among others by Carl McIlwain, Jack Quinn, and Roy Torbert, he led the building and operation of the electron drift instrument, EDI. It made it possible, with help of an electron beam emitted from one side of the spacecraft and detected on the other side, to derive the magnitude of the magnetic field and the electric field with high precision from the delay and displacement of the beam after one gyroperiod. This instrument was the most complex product ever emerging from our group.

(Image credit: ISSI)

After his retirement in 2004, Goetz continued his research with unbroken intensity. Using data from the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale Mission (MMS), in close cooperation with a great many international colleagues, such as Bengt Sonnerup, Tai Phan, Stein Haaland, Jack Gosling, and Roy Torbert, he generated a strong output of papers on subjects such as discontinuities in the solar wind, reconnection, convection in the magnetosphere and the like. At MPE, he shared an office with Berndt Klecker and Manfred Scholer. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctor’s degree of the Institute of Geophysics of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany, for his important contributions to the external geophysics. In 1994 he became a Fellow of the American Geosciences Union (AGU) and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, London. In 2003, he received the Hannes Alfvén Medal of the European Geophysical Union (EGU) and, in the same year, he held the James Van Allen Lecture at the Fall AGU Meeting.

"He generated a strong output of papers on subjects such as discontinuities in the solar wind, reconnection, convection in the magnetosphere"

Goetz’ decease is a great loss for science and for the great number of friends he won in the course of his scientific career. We have been friends since his joining MPE. I enjoyed intensely working with him, exchanging ideas or solving problems. Our friendship included his wife, Karin, and the two growing families. Besides Karin, he leaves behind his daughter, Ulrike, his son, Andreas, and their respective spouses and children.

[by Gerhard Haerendel, former Director of MPE, Germany and former COSPAR President, 1994-2002]

Awards

PPP Chair Awarded Cassini Medal

The 2023 Jean Dominique Cassini Medal & Honorary Membership of the European Geosciences Union is awarded to Athena Coustenis for her major discoveries in the field of planetary atmospheres and surfaces and outstanding contribution to international space missions.

Congratulations to Athena Coustenis, Director of Research Exceptional Class at the Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Observatoire de Meudon, France, respected worldwide for her significant contributions to the study of planetary atmospheres and surfaces in the outer Solar System and beyond. She has made significant achievements through her research using ground-based observations and her involvement in international space missions. She has uncovered new knowledge of outer Solar System objects with a particular emphasis on Saturn’s moon Titan. She has contributed in a distinctive way through her role in space missions as Coinvestigator of three instruments on the Cassini/Huygens mission and currently as Co-investigator on the JANUS camera on the JUICE mission. She is also involved in future space missions that will explore exoplanets. She has earned respect as a scientist authoring and co-authoring more than 180 refereed publications, as a book author, and as Chair of the Panel for Planetary Protection (PPP) of COSPAR. She has held numerous positions on committees in Europe and the USA.

This issue of Space Research Today sees the launch of COSPAR’s new logo. Having changed little since the Committee’s early days, the COSPAR Bureau agreed to bring the logo from the Cold War into the modern era.

The design brief was clear: an image that is simple with clean lines, and more globally inclusive. Thanks go to Science Office for the result. And we are keen to hear your impressions!

Athena Coustenis, second from left, with new EGU President Irina M. Artemieva, left, former EGU President Helen M. Glaves, third from left, and EGU OSPP Coordinator, Lena Noack, right.

COSPAR Business

Transformational Space Education and Outreach in the Heart of COSPAR

[Rosa Doran, Chair of Panel on Education]

How can we design powerful crossroads connecting the values and opportunities in space research with education and outreach?

Let’s take the different angles of each of these crucial areas.

Let’s start by taking a look at how COSPAR’s mission is aligned with societal values and priorities. Part of the COSPAR mission is to communicate to the public important, exciting results of space research and extend its benefits to society. Space research can have an inspirational and motivational effect on people, to pursue, for instance, a career in STEM.

Also included in COSPAR’s mission is the integration of diversity and gender equity in all of its activities, fully in line with the transformational vision, for education and the world of work, that is emerging strongly at a global level. Alongside this for COSPAR is international cooperation for promoting excellence in space research.

Let’s now look at what is going on in the world of education. Currently trending words are digital transition, STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), inquiry and project-based learning, virtual and augmented reality, maker spaces, etc. These trends are inviting schools to change the way curriculum content is delivered to students, to focus more on inter-multidisciplinary learning experiences. Students are prompted to embark on exploration paths that will eventually lead them to discover new ways of interacting with content knowledge while developing key skills. While being exposed to research based learning scenarios students will find multidisciplinary approaches to solve problems that integrate the relevant curriculum content.

"Students can use research images from our planet taken by satellites, and explore the area of their schools or communities"

New technologies can transform the way students interact with content, as for instance learning about space missions, by visiting planets and spacecraft virtually. Students can use research images from our planet taken by satellites, and explore the area of their schools or communities and use the information to help create solutions to identified problems, use maker spaces to test ideas and create awareness campaigns for their communities, and so much more.

Now let’s cross both views, space research and education, and see how well we are doing right now. What are the successful crossroads bringing schools closer to space research? Space exploration opens a plethora of opportunities for embedding innovation in learning and facilitating a unique and relevant experience for the students:

(Courtesy of Masashi Maeda’s Class of Attached Elementary School, Faculty of Education, Mie University, Japan)

• It sparks students’ curiosity and interest, opens the possibility of integrating research data and exploration while involving them in the interdisciplinary learning of curriculum content. COSPAR can play a major role in advising and contributing to an innovative curriculum design incorporating unique space-related educational activities.

• Space, by its very nature, requires adopting interdisciplinary approaches, which can easily be reproduced in the classroom. This can provide students with a holistic understanding of real-world applications.

• Space is a continuous source of challenges and discoveries, it requires solving complex problems and frequently finding innovative solutions. Students can be an active part of this, by being, at a very early stage in their academic lives, involved in the search for solutions to existing problems, by participating in projects and actively contributing to various cutting edge fields. This will trigger and enhance their critical thinking and creative skills as well as improve their problem-solving skills.

• Significant advances in science require collaboration and cooperation. Exposing students to this reality and enabling international cooperation within classrooms around the globe will transform the way they perceive others. Joint space-related projects, implemented by COSPAR ambassadors in an endeavour without frontiers, can have a strong impact on diversity and inclusion. This can transform the perception students have about foreigners, can lead them to the realisation that we are just one species.

• Finally, space exploration can expand student awareness about our place in the cosmos and transform their perception of societal challenges such as climate change and sustainability, to name but a few.

Actively involving teachers in COSPAR training opportunities, transforming and preparing them to become COSPAR ambassadors and engaging them in scientific collaboration with the research teams of COSPAR will help turn this view of education into reality.

So where is COSPAR in this scenario? COSPAR is in a unique place to make a stand in the transformational power of space education. The space exploration sector can also greatly benefit from these crossroads and with some investment can expand these roads. It is worth remembering that the general public can also greatly benefit from gaining awareness of the power of space exploration and how it can bring us towards a more

(Courtesy of Masashi Maeda’s Class of Attached Elementary School, Faculty of Education, Mie University, Japan)

"Enabling international cooperation within classrooms will transform the way students perceive others"

"COSPAR is in a unique place to make a stand in the transformational power of space education"

sustainable future. Space exploration is generally funded with tax payers’ money, so it is clear that the public should be aware of their investment and how this is important as well as beneficial to them as individuals.

Keeping all of this in mind, COSPAR’s Panel on Education is ambitious. The Panel aims to adopt a more active approach towards its growth and impact within COSPAR, to broaden its target audience from educators to a whole school approach, involving all members of the schools and their local communities, to reach out to policy makers and to guarantee a deeper involvement of its members towards a common goal: transforming the world with the power of space education.

This will have a twofold effect: it will bring COSPAR closer to the public and bring more awareness to the target audiences about the importance and relevance of COSPAR. It will also fulfil the Panel’s vision of generating greater awareness of the importance of space exploration in our lives and how it is already impacting all of us. Needless to say that this is not a path that can be navigated alone, it requires the cooperation and collaboration of all the COSPAR Science Commissions and Panels and collaboration with other organisations that can benefit from and support the COSPAR activity in education and outreach. Efforts in this direction are already in place and with this article we invite everyone with ideas to enrich this partnership scheme to contact us.

Collaboration is a very powerful word and we hope that setting up partnerships with other organisations will have an exponentially beneficial impact. If you want to be part of this transformational moment, get in touch—the journey starts here.

LATEST NEWS: Erasmus+ Education Programme

The Panel of Education’s new approach is already underway with the recent successful proposal for an Erasmus+ programme on cooperation partnerships in school education. The EXpeditionary Program for Learning OppoRtunities in Analog Space Exploration (EXPLORE) is a 36-month project—starting 1 September 2023—to introduce a new trend of activities engaging students in space exploration experiences that meet the requirements of their STEAM curriculum. EXPLORE will invite students to engage in activities similar to existing analog missions that simulate Moon or Mars environments. Educators will receive training to deliver curriculum content and improve their knowledge of digital solutions, as well as student-centred, inclusive, equitable and accessible methodologies while implementing the project.

Stay tuned for more details and updates of this programme. Read the Press Release about the programme here.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

(Image generated by Test to Image in Canva)

"The Panel aims to adopt a more active approach towards its growth and impact"

Panel on Planetary Protection: Latest News

Members of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP) have published an article in Frontiers journal, 30 May 2023, Volume 10 – 2023. The article, Planetary protection: an international concern and responsibility, is free to read, as is a more general Guest Editorial here

Acta Astronautica, Volume 210, September 2023 also includes an article titled "Planetary protection: Updates and challenges for a sustainable space exploration". These recent publications have generated much interest in the community resulting in several members of the Panel being invited to present on Planetary Protection at various meetings and conferences. More news on this will follow in the course of the year.

Save the Date: the next PPP meeting is 6-7 December 2023, Vienna, Austria.

The Panel will make arrangements for remote attendance. There will be an open and a closed session. As usual in these cases, any PP-related people in your institution are welcome in the open session.

The Panel has the pleasure of welcoming a new member, Lyle Whyte, representing Scientific Commissions B and F, from the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Canada. His field is microbial diversity and ecology, specializing in polar environments. Welcome!

Full details of the Panel and updates on its activity can be found on the COSPAR website PPP page.

A COSPAR Constellation of Small Satellites

The COSPAR project of establishing a constellation of small satellites for Earth space science—the ambitious plan of the Task Group of the same name (TGCSS)—has taken one step closer to being realized.

After fruitful discussions during the 5th COSPAR Symposium in Singapore a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Skyroot Aerospace, an Indian commercial launch service provider, and Hex20, an Australian smallsat company with COSPAR (through the Laboratoire Atmosphères & Observations spatiales, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and National University Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering) on 8 May 2023.

This is a big step towards making the collaboration complete for the first COSPAR satellite for studying the Earth atmosphere and ionosphere. Plans are also stepping up for a

satellite to study radiation belts, supported by the TGCSS Sub-Group on Radiation Belts.

Stay tuned for the next steps in this gamechanger for COSPAR and read more in an article in Smallsat.news.com

Update on the Activities of the URSI/COSPAR Working Group on the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI)

[Dieter Bilitza, IRI Steering Group Executive Secretary, Vice-Chair of Panel on Capacity Building, and Vladimir Truhlik, Chair of URSI/COSPAR Working Group on IRI]

The URSI/COSPAR IRI Working Group is a team of 68 members from 29 countries. The Figure below lists the names and shows the global distribution of the current working group roster. The working group was initiated in 1969 with the goal of establishing an internationally accepted standard for the description of the most important parameters of Earth’s ionosphere.

By charter the model should be primarily based on experimental evidence using all available ground and space data sources and should not depend on the evolving theoretical understanding of ionospheric processes. COSPAR and URSI requested a model that would be primarily based on experimental evidence using all available ground and space data sources and that should not depend on the evolving theoretical understanding of ionospheric processes. This is similar to other widely used and internationally accepted standard models for other parts of geospacer, like the Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter (MSIS) model for Earth’s atmosphere and the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) model for the Earth magnetic field.

"COSPAR and URSI requested a model that would be primarily based on experimental evidence"

It describes the global variation of electron density, electron temperature, ion temperature and ion composition in Earth’s ionosphere (50 km – 2000 km) and in addition, vertical ionospheric total electron content (vITEC), equatorial vertical ion drift, auroral boundaries, and occurrence probability of spread-F and F1 layer. This brief report gives an update on recent activities of the IRI Working Group.

"The working group organized a session on ‘Real-time and retrospective ionosphere modelling ..."

Working group meetings are an essential ingredient for the success of the IRI project because they provide a venue for discussing new data sources, model shortcomings and improvements, for highlighting model applications, and most importantly for helping to initiate collaborations between group members on ionospheric modelling projects. The working group organized a session during the COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Athens, Greece in July 2022 on the topic of "Real-time and retrospective ionosphere modelling with in-situ and GNSS satellite data". The 1.5-day session was well attended and presented a number of different approaches to improving the quality of real-time forecasts with the help of data assimilation into the background IRI model. The primary data sources were GNSS TEC observations, ionosonde recordings, as well as COSMIC radio occultation data. The IRI Working Group held a business meeting at the end of the conference week and decided on several organizational changes and model improvements. The group thanked David Altadill for his eight years (the maximum allowed due to COSPAR rules) of service as Working Group Chair and elected Vladimir Truhlik as new IRI Chair. Andrezj Krankowski was re-elected as COSPAR Vice-Chair and Ivan Galkin as URSI Vice-Chair. The IRI Working Group has two Vice-Chairs because it is an Inter-Union Working Group. Sessions on IRI improvements, validations and usage have been proposed for the 2023 URSI General Assembly in Sapporo, Japan (https://www.ursi-gass2023.jp/) on and for the 2024 COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Busan, South Korea (https://www.cospar2024.org/) on. Both sessions have been accepted and organizational preparations are underway.

The IRI Working Group held an IRI-related COSPAR Capacity Building Workshop entitled "Improved Real-time Ionospheric Predictions with Data from Space-borne Sensors and GNSS" in Daejeon, South Korea on May 6 - 19, 2023 (see report in this issue on page 70).

The latest version of the IRI model was released during the 2022 COSPAR General Assembly and includes several important IRI improvements and additions. The models for the D-region electron density, the ion temperature, and the equatorial ion drift have been replaced by newer, better ones and significant improvements were implemented for the topside electron density profile. For the first time an extension of the electron density profile to plasmaspheric altitudes was included directly in the model code. These and additional smaller changes are described in detail in a recent article by Bilitza et al. (2022) which also provides a good introduction for users who are interested in a deeper understanding of the data base and mathematical framework of the model.

The performance of the IRI model has been assessed and evaluated in many independent multimodel studies and the model has been always found to be one of the most reliable models. In 2014 IRI was elected to become the ISO (International Standardization Organization) standard for the ionosphere and was re-affirmed in 2021. The wide application of the IRI model for the description of Earth’s ionosphere is documented in the list of different journals in which IRI has been referenced and in the percentage of JGR, RS, and SW papers that have used IRI each year (see figures).

The IRI FORTRAN code can be downloaded from the IRI homepage at irimodel.org. The page also provides access to the online computation of IRI parameters at the CCMC and other websites. Here an IRI user will also find information about past and upcoming IRI workshops and about IRI-related publications.

"Models for the D-region electron density, ion temperature and the equatorial ion drift have been replaced"

Recent Publications:

Bilitza D, B. Reinisch (eds.), International Reference Ionosphere – Progress and New Inputs, Advances in Space Research, Volume 68, Issue 5, pp. 2057-2256, 1 Sep 2021.

Truhlík, Vladimír, Dieter Bilitza, Dmytro Kotov, Maryna Shulha, and Ludmila Třísková. 2021. «A Global Empirical Model of the Ion Temperature in the Ionosphere for the International Reference Ionosphere» Atmosphere 12, no. 8: 1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081081

Bilitza, D., Pezzopane, M., Truhlik, V., Altadill, D., Reinisch, B. W., & Pignalberi, A. (2022). The International Reference Ionosphere model: A review and description of an ionospheric benchmark. Reviews of Geophysics, 60, e2022RG000792. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022RG000792

The WMO-ISES-COSPAR Coimbra Declaration

During meetings in Coimbra, Portugal, from 30th September to 1st October, 2022, two representatives of the leadership of each of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Space Environment Service (ISES), and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), met in response to the invitation letter from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) dated 1 July 2022 inviting the three organizations WMO, COSPAR and ISES to lead efforts to improve the global coordination of space weather activities in consultation and collaboration with other relevant actors and international organizations, including the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS). As an outcome of these meetings, the participants agreed in principle to the following “WMO-ISES-COSPAR Coimbra Declaration” in relation to facilitating improved future international coordination within the space weather ecosystem:

"Representatives of the leadership of the WMO, ISES and COSPAR met in response to the invitation letter from UNOOSA"

1) We agree to the Final Report from the Expert Group on Space Weather of the UN COPUOS (A/AC.105/C.1/L.401), and agreed to respond positively to the invitation from the UN COPUOS and to take a leadership role in delivering improved global coordination in the space weather domain, as equal partners;

2) We further agree with Recommendation 1 from the Expert Group to proceed with developing international coordination, involving other national and international organizations as appropriate. Each of the WMO, ISES, and COSPAR agree to a leadership role in each of three distinct domains of activity (see Annex for Principal Roles):

We also agree to collaboratively define overarching activities to be undertaken in the areas of the overlap between these three domains.

3) We agreed that the three organizations would aim to add cross-membership between their organizations on the relevant committees/groups as appropriate (e.g., WMO and ISES representatives at COSPAR/PSW; COSPAR and ISES ex-officio members at WMO, etc) to facilitate improved information flow between them. Participation by representatives from each organization in the working/planning meetings of the other partner organizations is also encouraged.

4) We agreed to work towards formalizing the partnership between the three organizations, and detailing roles and responsibilities. We would seek to define an appropriate approach which can achieve this, for example through a Memorandum of Understanding between the three organizations and which would codify the partnership.

5) We agreed to identify and define joint pilot projects which are to be implemented through collaborative activities by the three partner organizations.

6) We agreed that the three organizations will continue to meet together regularly, in order to make progress towards the goal of improved international space weather coordination and to discuss the status of on-going activities and action plans. These meetings would be held at least every six months, exploiting opportunities to meet in conjunction with, or on the margins of, other meetings, as appropriate. Such regular in-person meetings would be supplemented by additional intersessional virtual meetings. Discussions with the broader community at other space weather meetings/venues would also be undertaken as appropriate.

7) We agreed that we will jointly organize an international space weather round table, targeting a meeting date in 2023, including participation from appropriate international organizations dealing with space weather, through which future international space weather information exchange and coordination can be discussed with the broader community. It is anticipated that current and future space weather activities, concepts for improvements to current and new space weather research and services, and mechanisms for delivering improved international coordination of space weather activities would be discussed.

8) We agreed that a report on the international space weather coordination activities being undertaken will be communicated to the UN COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC), under the standing Space Weather agenda item, by a representative from COSPAR, the WMO, or the ISES.

Declared by:

Kenneth Holmlund (Head of Space Systems and Utilization, WMO), Kirsti Kauristie (WMO Expert Team on Space Weather Co-Chair), Jesse Andries (Director of ISES), Mamoru Ishii (Deputy Director of ISES), Masha Kuznetsova (COSPAR PSW Chair), Hermann Opgenoorth (COSPAR PSW Vice-Chair).

28th November 2022

Annex: Principal Roles of Partnering Organizations

COSPAR: Research and development

COSPAR’s role is to provide expert knowledge on physical mechanisms responsible for the variability of the space environment, in particular about processes and impacts which could potentially be harmful for both humans and advanced technological systems in space and on the ground.

A direct consequence of this role is development, continuous updates and validation of space environment models, advancing understanding of space environment processes and the demonstration of the potential of new understanding and models to improve space weather predictive capabilities.

COSPAR facilitates science and space and ground-based observations gap analysis and communicates research community findings to national and regional space weather program leads through global Roadmaps and national or regional strategic planning documents.

In partnership with WMO and ISES, such expert knowledge, model development and gap analysis will encourage deployment of new space and ground-based instrumentation and enable the development of new data products, predictive techniques and applications capable of forecasting of potentially harmful changes in solar, heliospheric, magnetospheric, ionospheric, and atmospheric environments, at Earth and other planets.

To encourage collaborations in space weather and to facilitate synergy between top-down and bottom-up approaches COSPAR is hosting a community coordinated International Space Weather Action Teams (ISWAT) initiative. ISWAT brings together cross-domain and crossdisciplinary expertise and serves as a global hub for effective self-organized collaborations addressing challenges across the field of space weather.

ISES: Operations and Services

ISES Members operate Space Weather Services for end-users, thereby providing actual direct value to society. ISES Members engage with their user community to increase their understanding of user needs with the aim to provide the best possible services based on the current scientific capabilities.

ISES stimulates and enables data and knowledge exchange between its Members. It helps Members improve their services by providing a forum for exchange of best practices and for stimulating the uptake of new data, models and developments.

Through collaboration with COSPAR, ISES stimulates and assists its Members in defining and addressing the research questions that can improve models and scientific insight and hence the services to their user community (=R2O).

Through collaboration with COSPAR, ISES also strives to assure that the services by its Members can be maximally employed within Space Weather Research. This includes stimulating both the structural preservation and provision of the outputs of their day-to-day services as well as to expand and share their knowledge of end-user requirements (=O2R).

In collaboration with WMO, ISES will ensure that its activities are carried out taking maximal advantage of existing international coordination tools, standards, infrastructure and programs.

WMO: Facilitating Integration

In its role as Facilitator of Integration WMO will drive the discussions for standards and best practices in space weather activities in partnership with ISES and COSPAR. In addition, WMO will advocate space weather matters in the WMO agenda and encourage its Members to find solutions for sustained space weather observations and services. Through their activities in Capacity Building WMO, ISES and COSPAR will strive for equality among all countries in the capabilities to conduct operational space weather monitoring and research. WMO will ensure that the Space Weather Community can utilize and benefit from the infrastructure and work programs already developed in the meteorological services community, while recognizing that in many countries national space weather services are not provided by the national meteorological institutes. WMO together with ISES will advocate arrangements to ensure optimal and costeffective use of the expertise of both the meteorological services and that of ISES Regional Warning Centers.

In partnership with ISES and COSPAR, and supported by UNCOPUOS, WMO will promote information exchange and collaboration with space agencies and other international organizations that have expressed interest towards space weather matters. Furthermore WMO will support the advancement and implementation of sustained operational services that engage, as required, with national, or regional, emergency response functions in a similar fashion as is done e.g. for Early Warning Systems in weather services. The basis for these networking activities will be laid in the round table discussions described in point 7) of this Declaration.

The WMO Expert Team on Space Weather (ET-SWx) was established in 2022 to lead the delivery of space weather related research to operations and stakeholder engagement activities of WMO, in coordination with the relevant WMO bodies. The ET-SWx follows work done by the WMO Inter-Programme Coordination Team on Space Weather (ICTSW) and Inter-Programme Team on Space Weather Information, Systems and Services (IPT-SWeISS). The ET-SWx develops Technical Regulations and guidance and other WMO documents on all aspects related to space weather. The overall goal is to enhance visibility of space weather activities in the WMO long term Strategic Plans.

Report on the Programme Board of the Group on Earth Observation

The 26th Programme Board (PB) meeting of GEO, the COSPAR Task Group on Earth Observation, was held on 15-16 June 2023 in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) building in Geneva, Switzerland. The role of the PB is to oversee the establishment of the multi-year GEO Work Programmes, and work to align proposed activities with GEO priorities and committed resources. During the meeting, the PB Members met with contributors to the GEO Work Programmes, connecting ideas and contributions to GEO’s Strategic Objectives to advocate, engage and deliver Earth observation data and information. Various working groups, such as the GWP (GEO Working Programme) 2023-25, the Pacific Islands Advisory Group, Regional GEOs, and Future Direction of GEO Working Groups, reported on the current situation.

Future directions were also discussed. For example, the direction of ‘Global Intelligence’ in GEO’s post-2025 strategy was impressive, and it is clear that Earth observation from space in the future will have great impact. Links of GEO’s post-2025 strategy include https://earthobservations. org/geo_post25.php, and https://earthobservations.org/documents/post_2025/202306_geo_ post_2025_strategy_draft.pdf

A GEO Ministerial Summit will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on 10 November 2023 and adoption of a declaration is planned. The current status of preparations was reported for the Ministerial Summit by co-Chairs (one each selected from participating organizations and COSPAR).

The website for the GEO Ministerial Summit can be found at https://www.earthobservations. org/geoweek2023.php. The strapline for the Summit is "The Earth is talking and it’s time to listen. Climate. Biodiversity. Air quality. The planet has a lot to say about the things that each and every one of us depends on. But can you hear what it’s saying?"

The website goes on to say: "There is more data than ever before on our changing Earth. The problem is that many people can’t get hold of it, and when they can, it’s in a language they don’t understand. If we’re going to act on what the planet is saying, we need an organization that can bring together the best Earth observation data, technology and science and translate it into free, trusted information that makes sense to everyone. That organization is GEO. We are coming together at the Cape Town Ministerial Summit to shape our future and respond to the Earth’s calls for action."

The deadline for registration is 6 October 2023.

See the invitation to the Ministerial Summit on page 48.

[Y. Kasai, Chair of Sub-Commission A1 and Vice-Chair of COSPAR Task Group on GEO, Japan]

Pyramids, the Sphynx, Pharaohs, Mummies, Sarcophagi and… Space Science!

[Jean-Claude

Those are what many people will immediately think about when talking about Egypt, and of course, those are absolute wonders. However, in our own field, Egypt is also a country that was involved in space activities at the very start of the space race, i.e. in 1957, when tracking stations started following Sputnik-1, and this specific activity continues to this day, for instance with the project to build a global monitoring station for tracking satellites and debris.

Egypt, through its Academy of Scientific Research and Technology–ASRT has been a member of COSPAR for many years and we are enjoying friendly and active collaboration. In June of this year, I was extremely proud to be able to visit the Egyptian Space Agency – EgSA. I met with Dr Sherif Sedky, CEO of EgSA, Dr Ayman Ahmed, Head of Payload Systems, and other specialists from the Egyptian Space Agency. I also met Professor Gad ElQady, President of the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics - NRIAG, and many esteemed colleagues from academia constituting the Egyptian National Committee for COSPAR.

Pyramids pointing the way to space science (photo credits: J.C. Worms).

"Egypt is also a country that was involved in space activities at the very start of the space race"

Worms, Executive Director, COSPAR]

Egyptian facilities in support of space research and astronomy are thoroughly impressive and undergoing rapid and exciting developments, such as the upgrading of the Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (modern astronomy in Egypt started at the end of the 19th century), or the development of the new Assembly, Integration and Testing facility at EgSA, established in collaboration with China.

I was privileged to be able to visit all the facilities on site and get a glimpse of the splendid headquarters of the recently established African Space Agency – AfSA, which is currently being built nearby in New Cairo and hosted by Egypt and EgSA. COSPAR is very much looking forward to initiating active collaborations with AfSA and its constituency, i.e. countries that are members of the African Union Commission.

"Modern

started at the end of the 19th century"

The new headquarters of the newly established African Space Agency in New Cairo, Egypt.

We discussed several projects to implement together with EgSA and the Egyptian space science community. Those include series of Capacity Building Workshops to be organized in Egypt in the near future, participation in the COSPAR Constellation of Small Satellites for Space Science, or climate change related activities to be developed by COSPAR.

My most grateful thanks to our Egyptian colleagues and organizations!

Right: Dr Sherif Sedky, CEO of EgSA, left: COSPAR Executive Director Jean-Claude Worms.

From right to left: Eng. Tamer Dabash, Dr. Walid Radwan, the author, and Dr. Ayman Ahmed, Director General of EgSA.

astronomy in Egypt

Call for Intent to Host 6th COSPAR Symposium 2025

After the highly successful 5th COSPAR Symposium held in Singapore, April 16-21 2023, COSPAR is now soliciting proposals to host the sixth COSPAR Symposium in 2025. These symposia, held in alternate years to the COSPAR Scientific Assembly, are aimed at countries with small to medium size space research infrastructure, with a view to increasing the visibility of, and helping develop, space research activities in those countries and the surrounding region and to encouraging interaction between the host scientific community and major space-faring nations. Full details can be found at this link.

Research Highlight

JUICE Mission Updates

History of JUICE selection

The European Space Agency (ESA) issued a call in 2007 to select a flagship mission, to cover the first planning cycle of the new Cosmic Vision programme of the Science Directorate. Then, ESA and NASA began jointly exploring the possibility of a large mission to study the satellite systems of the giant planets. It became clear in the scientific community that the icy moons around giant planets harboured many mysteries that begged for further exploration, in particular potential habitability of the icy satellites. Two mission concepts were considered: the Europa Jupiter System Mission and the Titan Saturn System Mission. After an initial study phase, the Europa Jupiter System Mission was selected for future studies. In 2011, ESA decided on a new way forward for these large mission candidates to take account of developments with ESA’s international partners. During this reformulation exercise, the Europa Jupiter System Mission became JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer). JUICE was finally selected in 2012 as the first large mission of the Cosmic Vision programme, its payload was selected in 2013, and the mission was adopted in 2014, leading to its development phase with a kick-off of the industrial consortium mid- 2015.

Science objectives

The science objectives for JUICE span a variety of disciplines—from geology, geodesy, geophysics to astrobiology and magnetospheric/plasma and atmospheric science. The high-level goals are to investigate the gas giant, its magnetosphere, the icy moons, and their interrelations in all their complexity. The mission will seek to characterize the conditions that may have led to the emergence of habitable environments around a gas giant, on three Galilean satellites—Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto—that are expected to harbour vast quantities of liquid water underneath their surfaces. Ganymede and Europa in particular are believed to be internally active, due to tidal interactions with Jupiter and to other energy sources present. A particular emphasis is on Ganymede, the largest natural satellite in the solar system, as a planetary body and potential habitat. It provides a natural laboratory for the investigation of a possible habitable world, exhibits unique magnetic and plasma interactions with the surrounding environment, and plays a role in the Laplace resonance with Io and Europa, allowing tidal heating.

The JUICE instrumentation will enable investigation of the formation, evolution, and chemical composition of the planet’s and icy moons’ surfaces and subsurface oceans, and of the processes that have affected the satellites and their environments over time. Study of the subsurface oceans will enhance understanding of their chemical composition and the possible sources and cycling of chemical and thermal energy. The mission will also characterize the diversity of processes in the Jovian system that may provide a stable environment on the icy moons at geologic time scales, including gravitational coupling between the Galilean moons and their long-term tidal influence on the system. This broad exploration will be supplemented by information about Io, minor moons, and dust rings acquired through remote sensing.

To achieve its objectives, the JUICE spacecraft carries 10 state-of-the-art remote sensing,

"A particular emphasis is on Ganymede"

[Michele Dougherty, Imperial College, London, UK and Olivier Witasse, ESA]

geophysical, and in-situ instruments. It also includes an experiment that uses the spacecraft telecommunication system to be recorded with radio-telescopes.

The building of JUICE

The implementation phase started mid-2015. Besides the programmatic challenges to maintain cost and schedule, the most challenging engineering problems were the solar array performance in a cold and harsh radiation environment, protection of electronics against Jupiter’s radiation environment, electromagnetic cleanliness of the spacecraft to not disturb the sensitive measurements to be obtained by the in-situ payload, and the need to launch with enough propellant to satisfy the very complex trajectory requirements.

In addition, the project had to face the COVID19 situation, and the programmatic difficulties related to the launcher transition from Ariane 5 to Ariane 6.

Despite all these challenges, the spacecraft flight model was declared ready to launch in January 2023 and was transported to French Guyana in early February. A smooth launch campaign took place in February-April.

JUICE launch and commissioning

JUICE was launched on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou at 14:14 CEST on 14 April 2023. The original launch date was 13 April, however due to bad weather and risks of lightning the event was postponed by one day. All steps during the launch itself went very smoothly. There was a bit of tension when waiting for the first acquisition of signal, even though the first

"The project had to face the COVID19 situation"

telemetry was detected within the expected time range. Shortly after a so-called "low Earth orbit phase", JUICE went into the commissioning phase for three months, during which time mechanical deployments are executed, and all subsystems and instruments are checked. JUICE has many booms, antennas, and appendages, and the plan was to deploy them in sequence for 17 days, until roughly the end of April. However, a problem occurred when the radar antenna failed to deploy. It took nearly three weeks to understand the fault and to find a proper solution. The problem, a pin holding one of the segments of the radar antenna, was eventually solved by heating the appendages and applying a mechanical shock with another part of the radar antenna to dislodge the stuck pin. The deployment was finally successful on 12 May, which was a huge relief to all the JUICE teams. The rest of the deployments then were successfully completed.

The checks of all subsystems and instruments were successfully executed by early July, and JUICE was declared ready to cruise to Jupiter!

Plans for cruise phase

The official cruise phase starts at the end of the commissioning period (mid-July 2023) and ends six months before the Jupiter orbit insertion planned in July 2031. The nominal science phase will therefore begin in January 2031, when remote observations of Jupiter and in-situ measurements in the solar wind will be regularly acquired.

During the cruise phase, the main milestones will be the four gravity assist flybys: Moon-Earth in August 2024, Venus in August 2025, Earth in September 2026, and January 2029. The instruments will be checked twice per year. Special scientific campaigns (solar wind) are under discussion and will be implemented on a best effort basis.

Stay tuned for the rest of the journey to Jupiter! (see https://twitter.com/ESA_JUICE, www.esa.int/juice and https://cosmos.esa.int/web/juice ).

About the authors

Michele Dougherty is the Principal Investigator for the magnetometer instrument on JUICE and led the Science Definition Team that studied and proposed JUICE to ESA. She is Head of the Physics Department at Imperial College London.

Olivier Witasse is head of the solar system section at the European Space Agency, and the Project Scientist for the JUICE mission.

"A problem occurred when the radar antenna failed to deploy"

Advancing Astrophysics: NASA’s Response to the 2020 Decadal Survey

[Diego Altamirano, University of Southampton, UK and Vice-Chair, COSPAR Panel on Capacity Building]

The National Academies' 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics, titled "Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s" has outlined crucial scientific goals for the coming decade. With the aim of accomplishing these goals, the survey recommends the completion of probe missions in specific areas of research. NASA has already started to take steps to implement these recommendations, including the announcement of plans for new missions and the groundwork for future large space telescopes. In line with the survey's recommendations, NASA has opened the Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) call for pre-proposals, focusing on two mission themes: a far-infrared imaging or spectroscopy mission, and an X-ray probe. To our understanding, the probe-class missions will have a cap of $1 billion.

In this edition of SRT, we will provide a brief overview of some of the anticipated X-ray missions that are expected to be proposed for the current APEX call.

STROBE-X

STROBE-X represents an innovative observatory of the probe-class category, specifically engineered for precise X-ray timing and spectroscopy spanning the energy range of 0.2–30 keV. This extraordinary facility boasts a substantial collecting area, ensuring high throughput and broad energy coverage. Moreover, it delivers exceptional spectral and temporal resolution, enabling comprehensive investigations of matter within the universe's most extreme conditions.

STROBE-X focuses on several pivotal scientific domains, including:

• Probing the vicinity of black holes (BHs) to explore the effects of strong-field general relativity and measure the masses and spins of BHs.

• Fully characterizing the so-called “equation of state” for ultradense matter by examining the mass-radius relation of neutron stars using over 20 pulsars across a wide mass range.

• Conducting continuous surveys of the dynamic X-ray sky with a large duty cycle, high spectral resolution, and precise temporal resolution to comprehend the behavior of black holes, neutron stars and other high-energy astrophysical objects over extensive time scales.

• Utilizing X-ray reverberation mapping techniques to analyze the behavior of accretion flows surrounding black holes as small as 10 solar masses, and as large as millions of solar masses.

• Investigating the cosmic chemical evolution by determining the bulk metallicity of approximately 100 galaxy clusters at high redshifts (z > 2).

• Facilitating multi-wavelength and multi-messenger studies through cross-correlation with surveys at other wavelengths.

STROBE-X, with its exceptional capabilities and scientific objectives, is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Universe's most intriguing phenomena and open new frontiers for exploration.

For more details, go to this link on YouTube and read the White Paper

"Is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Universe's most intriguing phenomena"

The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P)

The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) is equipped with an exceptional broad bandpass spanning from 0.1 to 150 keV. This next-generation observatory holds immense potential for addressing fundamental questions about the extreme environments surrounding black holes and neutron stars, mapping the growth of supermassive black holes, and quantifying the effect they have on their environments.

HEX-P's extraordinary spatial resolution (expected to be less than 10 arcseconds FWHM) and wide energy range, coupled with a larger effective area compared to current missions, will unlock new insights into critical astrophysical questions. The science goals of HEX-P are organized into four "Science Pillars" that focus on distinct research areas:

Pillar 1: Accretion power: HEX-P broadband X-ray spectroscopy will revolutionize the understanding of accretion physics as it will be able to provide fresh constraints on black hole mass and spin. Estimates of the inner accretion disk properties will shed light on accretion flow characteristics and the equation of state for neutron stars.

Pillar 2: Black Hole Growth: HEX-P's unique bandpass and high throughput will enable accurate studies of the cosmic history of the X-ray background. Detailed studies of the circum-nuclear environment surrounding active galactic nuclei will provide insights into the intrinsic nature of merging supermassive black holes and the co-evolution between black holes and galaxies as a whole.

Pillar 3: Endpoints of Stellar Evolution: HEX-P's capabilities offer opportunities to perform resolved studies of X-ray sources in nearby galaxies and galactic surveys of crowded regions such as the Galactic Center. Such observations will facilitate detailed population studies of stellar remnants like supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae, leading to a better understanding of stellar evolution processes in the Milky Way and other galaxies.

Pillar 4: Time Domain and Multi-Messenger Science: HEX-P's sensitive and broadband X-ray capabilities make it ideal for follow-up studies of compact object mergers, transient events in galaxy nuclei (e.g., tidal disruption events, quasi-periodic eruptions, extreme AGN variability), and the study of relativistic outflows and reprocessed emission from these phenomena.

HEX-P represents an exciting frontier in X-ray astronomy, poised to revolutionize our understanding of extreme astrophysical phenomena and their impact on the cosmos. For more information, read the White Paper

"HEX-P's extraordinary spatial resolution will unlock new insights into critical astrophysical questions"

Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS)

The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) is a new NASA mission that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. AXIS will have the highest angular resolution of any X-ray telescope ever built, allowing us to see objects in space with unprecedented detail. AXIS will be used to study a wide variety of objects, including galaxies, black holes, and the high-redshift universe. For example, AXIS will be able to see the smallest structures in the accretion disks of black holes, which could help us to understand how these objects work. AXIS will also be able to study the evolution of galaxies over time, and to see how black holes interact with their host galaxies.

"AXIS will be used to study a wide variety of objects, including galaxies, black holes, and the high-redshift universe"

Some of the main science goals that AXIS will address include:

Galaxies Over Cosmic Time: AXIS will study how galaxies evolve over time, and how they interact with their environment. This will help us to understand how the universe came to be the way it is today.

Feedback in Galaxies: AXIS will study how black holes interact with their host galaxies. This will help us to understand how black holes regulate the growth of galaxies, and how they contribute to the evolution of the universe.

Black Hole Strong Gravity: If the geometry is just right, gravitational lensing by a foreground galaxy can produce several images of a background quasar, separated by a few arc-seconds or less. Each image then flickers due to microlensing by individual stars within the lensing galaxy. A statistic analysis of this flicker reveals information about the micro-arcsecond scale structures of the inner accretion disk.

Dual AGN: The general theory of structure formation predicts that mergers are a major component of galaxy growth and evolution. It has long been predicted that when the galaxies merge, so should their black holes. Little information is known about the occurrence rate of dual AGN for a large sample of objects covering a wide range in mass, luminosity and nature of the host galaxy.

The High-Redshift Universe: AXIS will study the high-redshift universe, which is the early universe when galaxies were just forming. This will help us to understand how the universe evolved over time, how the first galaxies came to be, and how black holes and their host galaxies co-evolved.

"AXIS will study how black holes interact with their host galaxies"

AXIS is an exciting mission and has the potential to make major discoveries about how our Universe works.

For more details, go to this link on YouTube and read the White paper

Arcus: The Soft X-ray Grating Explorer

Arcus is a proposed NASA mission that will study astrophysical phenomena over a broad range of wavelengths, including the soft X-ray band (10-60 Å). This bandpass is poorly studied, but it is important for understanding a wide variety of objects, including the composition of interstellar dust grains, stellar evolution, feedback from supermassive black holes, and structure formation in galaxy clusters.

Arcus will achieve a resolution of R = 3,500, which is an order of magnitude improvement over existing or approved X-ray observatories. This will allow astronomers to study objects in unprecedented detail, and to make new discoveries about the universe. The three top science goals for Arcus are

(1) to measure the effects of structure formation imprinted upon the hot baryons that are predicted to lie in extended halos around galaxies,

(2) to trace the propagation of outflowing mass, energy, and momentum from the vicinity of the black hole to extragalactic scales as a measure of their feedback, and

(3) to explore how stars form and evolve.

"Arcus will be ideally suited to study stars of all types"

However, as other missions, it is expected that with the revolutionary X-ray and FUV spectroscopic capabilities, Arcus will be ideally suited to study stars of all types (accreting, coronal, flaring), exoplanet atmospheres, X-ray binary systems, different flavors of AGNs, Novae, Ultra-luminous X-ray sources, and of course allow for ISM studies, including dust grain composition.

More information is in the White Paper

"Arcus will achieve a resolution of R = 3,500"

LEM: Line Emission Mapper X-ray Probe

LEM is a proposed NASA mission that will study the X-ray emission from the warm, extremely dilute gas residing within the galactic virial halos and beyond them, which is made up from the Circumgalactic Medium (CGM) and Intragalactic Medium (IGM)/Warm-hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM), and which is essential for galaxy formation and evolution. However, it is difficult to study because they are so faint and diffuse.

LEM will use a silicon-shell mirror and a microcalorimeter array with high spectral resolution sensitive in the soft X-ray band, covering a large field of view, to map the CGM of a nearby galaxy in one pointing, which is beyond the reach of any of the planned missions. This will allow us to study the CGM in unprecedented detail, and to make new discoveries about how it affects galaxy formation and evolution.

LEM is also expected to make significant contributions to our understanding of other astrophysical phenomena, such as the evolution of black holes, the formation of stars, and the structure of the Milky Way.

In terms of specific science goals, LEM will (1) map the large-scale circumgalactic medium, (2) will resolve the faintest X-ray emission lines and (3) will map the baryons contained in the WHIM, which is the ultimate repository of metals expelled from the galaxies over their lifetime. LEM is different from the other missions, as it will perform a shallow survey of the entire sky. It will resolve a forest of lines and gain access to line diagnostics for temperature, non-equilibrium, and charge exchange processes. LEM will map the temperature structure and velocities of the circumgalactic medium of our own Milky Way — including the expansion of the eROSITA/Fermi bubbles. The all-sky survey will also open an enormous discovery space for the entire community.

For more information see the White paper and YouTube

General notes: All images and information have been taken from either the missions’ websites or the white papers written by the mission teams. It was fun to play with natural language processing tools driven by AI technology (also known as AI chatbots) that can write very simple (and sometimes simplistic) summaries of each mission. You ask me about the missions? I would fund all of them. They all have their own pros and cons. When tackling the same question, they are doing it from different angles. So having all of them simultaneously would mean that their data would complement each other. Sadly, they are too expensive to fund more than one ...

About the Author

Diego Altamirano is a professor in astrophysics at the University of Southampton.

He specializes in time-domain high-energy astrophysics. His main interests are in accretion physics, particularly around black holes and neutron stars which are part of binary systems. Most of his research is based on data obtained from space observatories such as the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, XMM-Newton and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer.

"LEM is also expected to make significant contributions to our understanding of other astrophysical phenomena, such as the evolution of black holes, the formation of stars"

News in Brief

Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA):

Recommended Framework and Key Elements for Peaceful and Sustainable Lunar Activities

The Moon Village Association (MVA) established the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) to increase coordination mechanisms, identify present and future challenges of lunar missions, and de-risk future operations. Its vision is to enable globally inclusive participation in this next stage of human endeavors in space. For this reason, the GEGSLA has engaged widely with lunar stakeholders from industry, government, and academia.

(Image credit: Photography by Nerds Make Media)

The GEGSLA first phase operated between February 2021 and December 2022 in order to develop the "Recommended Framework and Key Elements for Peaceful and Sustainable Lunar Activities."

This report was presented to the general public during the 60th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) Scientific and Technical Subcommittee. In 11 chapters, the Recommended Framework covers topics related to Coordination and Management; Information Sharing; Safe Operations and Lunar Environmental Protection; Compatibility and Interoperability; Lunar Governance; Benefits for Humanity; Lunar Economy; and Human Interactions.

In addition to the Recommended Framework, two complementary annexes titled "Technical Guidelines for Implementation of the Recommended Framework" and "Future Issues" cover a wide range of topics recommended for further discussions at a later stage. They provide a common language and a shared understanding of what constitutes sustainable lunar activities. The annexes are important for the broader scientific and space communities as they serve as a reference for policymakers, regulators, and investors who are interested in supporting or participating in lunar activities.

Since January 2023, the GEGSLA is in its Operational Phase. The goal of this phase is to promote dissemination and implementation of the Recommended Framework produced by the Group, with special focus on discussions conducted within the UNCOPUOS, as well as to exchange information on ongoing lunar missions. The support to these discussions is possible since MVA has permanent observer status within COPUOS. It also aims to gather feedback and input from stakeholders, such as industry representatives, academics, and NGOs.

To learn more about the GEGSLA and access the relevant documents, please visit the following link: https://moonvillageassociation.org/gegsla/about/ and find here the link to the first newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/gegsla-newsletter-april-2023-gegsla

COSPAR has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moon Village Association and we are starting to engage in joint activities, including dissemination of information.

"GEGSLA is in its Operational Phase"

STEREO Spacecraft return to Earth

In October 2006 the NASA twin STEREO spacecraft were launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta II rocket and subsequently injected into solar orbits with one spacecraft behind the Earth in its orbit, and the other in front, both drifting away from Earth by about 22.5 degrees per year (Earth-Sun-spacecraft angle).

The two spacecraft carried identical payloads which, for over 16 years have imaged solar activity and the passage of solar ejecta (specifically billion tonne plasma clouds known as coronal mass ejections) from their source on the Sun, through the inner Solar System and their impacts in the vicinity of Earth.

The spacecraft passed behind the Sun, as seen from the Earth, in 2014/15 and have been slowly coming round towards the Earth again.

After a mission that has gone way beyond the original planned lifetime, only one of the spacecraft, known as STEREO-A, is still in operation, but in August this year both STEREO spacecraft will fly by the Earth as they begin their second revolution of the Sun with respect to the Earth.

The IAU Selects Names for 20 Exoplanetary Systems

(IAU release, June 2023)

The International Astronomical Union’s NameExoWorlds 2022 contest has selected 20 pairs of names for exoplanets and their host stars. The contest was organised within the framework of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The NameExoWorlds 2022 contest was set up to recognise and honour the efforts of the people who have been making it their life’s work to popularise astronomy in an accessible and publicfriendly way to their communities. The contest was open to anyone to form a team, implement an astronomy outreach event and propose a name for one of the 20 exoplanetary systems, each with one known exoplanet and its host star. The star and planet names were to be connected by a common theme, allowing other planets, if discovered in future, to be named following the same theme. These 20 systems were selected as they were among the first exoplanetary systems targeted for observations by the James Web Space Telescope.

The contest attracted over 8,800 professional and amateur astronomers, students and teachers, and astronomy enthusiasts in teams that hosted astronomy events. From intimate events for neighbours to large online lectures, the astronomy outreach events created for NameExoWorlds 2022 showcased the diversity and creativity that is possible in astronomy outreach practices.

"A mission that has gone way beyond the original planned lifetime"

"The star and planet names were to be connected by a common theme"

Through the NameExoWorlds initiatives, the IAU recognises the importance of the connections between the sky and our diverse cultures. In recognition of this link and of the UN International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019, speakers of Indigenous languages were encouraged to propose names from those languages. Seven of the selected names are of indigenous etymology.

The newly adopted names honour native fauna and flora with cultural significance, for example, Batsũ (LHS 3844) & Kua'kua (LHS 3844 b), from Costa Rica, are the words in Bribri Language for hummingbird and butterfly; while Wattle (WASP-19) and Banksia (WASP-19 b), and Añañuca (GJ 367) & Tahay (GJ 367 b) are names of native flora of Australia and Chile, respectively, whose characteristics allude to the properties of the celestial objects. Selected names also highlight significant geographical landmarks: Zembra (HATS-72) and Zembretta (HATS-72 b) are UNESCO biosphere reserves in Tunisia, while Wouri (WASP-69) is a river in Cameroon and Makombé (WASP-69 b) its tributary. Some names also celebrate literary works, such as Kosjenka (WASP63) and Regoč (WASP-63 b), which refer to the work of Croatian writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, and Filetdor (WASP-166) & Catalineta (WASP-166 b) which refer to Mallorcan folktales recorded by writer Antoni Maria Alcover i Sureda. Other names celebrated folktales, mythologies and lore from around the world, including words in Maa, Cherokee, Taino, Zoque, Chinese, and Korean.

Several notable exoplanets were named in this campaign. The benchmark transiting exoplanet GJ 1214 b—one of the most-studied ‘sub-Neptune’ planets intermediate in size between Earth and Neptune—received the name Enaiposha, which refers to a large body of water like a lake or sea in the Maa language of Kenya and Tanzania. Two well-studied hot-Neptune exoplanets, designated GJ 436 b and GJ 3470 b, that orbit very close to their stars, but on highly inclined orbits nearly perpendicular to their star’s equator, and show observational evidence for evaporating atmospheres, were also named. GJ 436 b was named Awohali—Cherokee for eagle—referring to a legend in which an eagle was sent to the Sun by a warrior to deliver a prayer. GJ 3470 b was named Phailinsiam—Thai for blue Siamese sapphire—alluding to the blue colour of the planet inferred from the detection of Rayleigh scattering in its atmosphere. The recently discovered hot sub-Earth-sized exoplanet GJ 367 b orbits its star every eight hours, and has a density that suggests it is a very iron-rich planet like Mercury. It has been named Tahay, after a flower that blooms for only about eight hours every year, similar to the length of the ‘year’ for this ultra-short-period planet. Awohali, Phailinsiam, Tahay all orbit nearby red dwarf stars within 33 light-years of Earth.

The full list of selected names can be found on NameExoWorlds website.

"Two well-studied hot-Neptune exoplanets were also named"

A Franco-German Success for Ariane 5: the Final Launch

(from an ArianeGroup release, July 2023)

On 5 July 2023, Ariane 5, operated by Arianespace, lifted off flawlessly from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit for the German government and the SYRACUSE 54B satellite for the French Armament General Directorate (DGA). Flight VA261 was the 117th and last ever mission of European heavy-lift launcher Ariane 5.

The Heinrich-Hertz-Mission is the first dedicated German telecommunications satellite-based mission that will be used to conduct research and to test new technologies and telecommunications scenarios. The technologies on board are meant to respond smartly and flexibly to future challenges, to support future telecommunications scenarios and to be adapted from Earth to address new technical requirements and market needs. The mission is managed by the German Space Agency on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and with the participation of the German Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg). The Heinrich-HertzSatellit was mainly developed and built by OHB System.

"Flight VA261 was the last ever mission of launcher Ariane 5"

The SYRACUSE 4B satellite is part of the SYRACUSE IV program carried out under the leadership of the DGA in collaboration with the French Air and Space Force, and for the Space Command (CdE). Together with SYRACUSE 4A, it will enable French armed forces to remain permanently connected when they are deployed on operations. At sea, in the air, or on land, the armed forces need powerful and secure communications systems to be able to exchange information with theIr command centre. Thanks to state-of-the-art equipment including an anti-jamming antenna and a digital onboard processor, SYRACUSE 4B will be fully protected against the most severe military threats. It will help guarantee French national sovereignty while also supporting NATO operations. Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space joined forces to develop the SYRACUSE 4A and SYRACUSE 4B satellites so that the program could benefit fully from their combined expertise.

"This 117th and last Ariane 5 mission is emblematic in several respects. Ariane 5 has just deployed two telecommunications satellites, SYRACUSE 4B and Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit, for France and Germany, the first two contributors to the Ariane program," said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. "This mission is also emblematic of Ariane 5’s ability to perform dual launches, which constitutes the very core of its success, with 197 satellites placed in geostationary orbit out of a total of 239 satellites deployed. Over its career, Ariane 5 has served 65 institutional and commercial customers from 30 countries. Ariane 5’s success heralds a promising career for Ariane 6."

This launch also marks the end of the remarkable career of the HM7 upper stage engine, which flew on the first Ariane 1 and on the final Ariane 5. It helped power Ariane launchers 228 times, without ever failing. This veteran of spaceflight has been a crucial element in the European space adventure. It will be replaced on Ariane 6 by the re-ignitable Vinci engine.

Read more at: https://www.ariane.group/en/news/ariane-5-the-last-lift-off/

"It helped power Ariane launchers 228 times"

JAXA, ESA and XRISM

(JAXA release, July 2023)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has agreed to cooperate with European Space Agency (ESA) on the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission: XRISM. XRISM and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) will be launched onboard the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 47 (H-IIA F47) on 26 August 2023.

The XRISM project, kicked off in 2018, is the seventh X-ray astronomy satellite program of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA. It aims at the early recovery of the prime science objective "to solve outstanding astrophysical questions with high resolution X-ray spectroscopy" of ASTRO-H whose operation was ceased in 2016.

JAXA and ESA have agreed to apply the cooperation developed through ASTRO-H in XRISM. In addition to contributing to the development of one of XRISM's most important instruments, the Soft X-ray Spectrometer, ESA will also support European scientists for their participation in the XRISM project. More details here : https://xrism.isas.jaxa.jp/en/

(Image credit: JAXA)

"To solve outstanding astrophysical questions with high resolution X-ray spectroscopy"

Exploring the Dark Universe

(ESA release, July 2023)

"The successful launch of Euclid marks the beginning of a new scientific endeavour to help us answer one of the most compelling questions of modern science," says ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. "The quest to answer fundamental questions about our cosmos is what makes us human. And, often, it is what drives the progress of science and the development of powerful, far-reaching, new technologies."

"The third dimension representing time itself"

Euclid will observe billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years to create the largest, most accurate 3D map of the Universe, with the third dimension representing time itself. This detailed chart of the shape, position and movement of galaxies will reveal how matter is distributed across immense distances and how the expansion of the Universe has evolved over cosmic history, enabling astronomers to infer the properties of dark energy and dark matter. This will help theorists to improve our understanding of the role of gravity and pin down the nature of these enigmatic entities.

To achieve its ambitious scientific goal, Euclid is equipped with a 1.2 m reflecting telescope that feeds the two innovative scientific instruments: VIS, which takes very sharp images of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky, and NISP, which can analyse galaxies’ infrared light by wavelength to accurately establish their distance.

ESA’s Euclid spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA, on 1 July 2023. Following launch and separation from the rocket, ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed acquisition of signal from Euclid via the New Norcia ground station in Australia at 17:57 CEST.

(Image credit: SpaceX/ESA)

"ESA’s Estrack network of deep space antennas has been upgraded"

The spacecraft and communications will be controlled from ESOC. To cope with the vast amounts of data Euclid will acquire, ESA’s Estrack network of deep space antennas has been upgraded. These data will be analysed by the Euclid Consortium – a group of more than 2,000 scientists from more than 300 institutes across Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan.

The commissioning of Euclid progressed mid-July. Mission controllers turned on the VIS and NISP detectors to start recording the light collected by the telescope. The analysis of the detector data confirmed that the sensors of both NISP and VIS are performing well. At this stage, the telescope was still unfocused. In the coming days the operations team will focus the telescope by carefully adjusting the position of the secondary mirror. The operations team, however, discovered that the VIS sensors picked up more light than expected. This light caused an unnatural pattern in the VIS image in addition to the true astronomical sources. The operations team, along with partners in science and industry, are busy investigating further. The tests show that the unexpected light is only detected at specific orientations. This gives us clues about the origin of the extra light and how it could be reduced, and is a promising path forward towards a solution.

Euclid is a European mission, built and operated by ESA, with contributions from NASA. The Euclid Consortium is responsible for providing the scientific instruments and scientific data analysis. ESA selected Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the construction of the satellite and its service module, with Airbus Defence and Space chosen to develop the payload module, including the telescope. NASA provided the detectors of the NearInfrared Spectrometer and Photometer, NISP. Euclid is a medium-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision Programme. More details can be found at this link

"The VIS sensors picked up more light than expected"

(Image credit: ESA)

Space Snapshots James Webb Space Telescope First Anniversary

(NASA release, July 2023)

The first anniversary image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope displays star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture. The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you’d never know it from Webb’s chaotic close-up. Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, the makings of future planetary systems.

(Image credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI))

Launch of LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 Mission

(ISRO release, July 2023)

(Image credit: ISRO)

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of lander and rover configuration. It was launched on 14 July 2023 using the LVM3 rocket from the SDSC Shar, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration to a 100 km lunar orbit. The propulsion module includes the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polarimetric measurements of Earth from lunar orbit.

For more details, see https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_New.html

The Final Ariane 5 Launch

(ArianeGroup release, July 2023)

The 117th launch of the Ariane 5 launcher, on 5 July 2023, was the last launch of the highly successful Ariane 5 heavy-lift vehicle.

The rocket carried the Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit for the German government and the SYRACUSE 54B satellite for the French Armament General Directorate (DGA).

See News in Brief (page 37) for more information.

(Image credit: ©ESA ©ArianeGroup ©CNES ©Arianespace ©Service Optique)

New Supernova

(NASA release, May 2023)

A nearby star has exploded and humanity's telescopes are turning to monitor it. The supernova, dubbed SN 2023ixf, was discovered by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki in May 2023 and was subsequently located on automated images from the Zwicky Transient Facility. SN 2023ixf occurred in the photogenic Pinwheel Galaxy M101, which, being only about 21 million light years away, makes it the closest supernova seen in the past five years, the second closest in the past 10 years, and the second supernova found in M101 in the past 15 years. Rapid follow up observations already indicate that SN 2023ixf is a Type II supernova, an explosion that occurs after a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses. SN 2023ixf will likely brighten and remain visible to telescopes for months. Studying such a close and young Type II supernova may yield new clues about massive stars and how they explode.

(Image credit: ©ESA ©ArianeGroup ©CNES ©Arianespace ©Service Optique)

(Image credit and & copyright: Craig Stocks and Utah Desert Remote Observatories)

Emirates’ Mars Mission Unveils New Deimos Observations

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), the first interplanetary exploration undertaken by an Arab nation, has unveiled unique and ground-breaking observations of Mars’ smaller moon, Deimos. The observations challenge the longstanding theory that Mars’ moons are captured asteroids and instead point to a planetary origin. The observations provide new insight into Deimos’ makeup and structure. These include high resolution images taken during the closest repeated flybys of the moon, as well as the first ever observations made in the extreme and far ultraviolet and the first well-resolved hyperspectral data of Deimos in the thermal infrared. The observations reveal, for the first time, regions on the far-side of Deimos which have never been compositionally investigated. The closest flybys saw the probe, known as Hope, pass approximately 100km from the moon. It is reported that, much like data acquired of Phobos indicate its composition is not consistent with a captured D-type asteroid, early results from spectral observations of Deimos tell a similar story. Both of these bodies have infrared properties more akin to a basaltic Mars than a D-type asteroid such as the Taggish Lake meteorite that is often used as an analogue for the spectral properties of Phobos and Deimos. Hope’s first fly-bys of Deimos commenced in late January and early February 2023, with instrument calibration passes and close fly-bys taking place from March onwards supporting high resolution images and observations by the instruments aboard.

(Image credit: UAE Space Agency)

(UAE Space Agency release, April 2023)

Meetings

Meetings of Interest to COSPAR

[Meetings organized or sponsored by COSPAR are shown in bold face]

14–20 August 2023

Fortaleza, Brazil

Space Week Nordeste 2023: Space Science and Technologies for the Benefit of Nature and Society

www.spaceweeknordeste.com.br

26 Sept.- 4 October 2023

Lusaka, Zambia

ISWI Space Weather School and 6th African Geophysical Society (AGS)

Int. Conf. on "Advancing Science & Technology in Developing Nations" https://afgps.org

19-26 August 2023

Sapporo, Japan

URSI GASS 2023

www.ursi.org

2-7 September 2023

Cairo, Egypt

ISPRS Geospatial Week 2023

https://gsw2023.com

20 September 2023

Virtual 17th Virtual Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Meeting

www.lpi.usra.edu

3-5 October 2023

Cape Town, South Africa

African Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education

https://astro4edu.org

2-6 October 2023

La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain

IAU Symposium 385: Astronomy and Satellite Constellations: Pathways Forward https://research.iac.es

11-13 October 2023

Liverpool, UK

20th Reinventing Space Conf. The Evolving Architecture of NewSpace www.bis-space.com

15-20 October 2023

Madrid, Spain

17th International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG-17)

www.unoosa.org

16-20 October 2023

Ahmedabad, India

Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (HRSST24) Annual Meeting

www.ghrsst.org

Meetings of Interest to COSPAR

[Meetings organized or sponsored by COSPAR are shown in bold face]

18-19 October 2023

Virtual 2023 Heliophysics Technology Symposium

https://www.eventbrite.com

17-19 January 2024

Bern, Switzerland

ISSI / World Trade Institute Workshop on The Economics and Law of Space-Based Commerce

https://www.issibern.ch

23-27 October 2023

Kigali, Rwanda

WCRP Open Science Conf. 2023

www.wcrp-climate.org

30 Oct.-3 Nov. 2023

Montréal, Canada

UN/Canada Space for Women Expert Meeting: "Building capacity to promote and advance gender equality in the space sector"

https://space4women.unoosa.org

4-7 December 2023

Texas, USA and virtual 2nd Int.Orbital Debris Conf. (IOC) II

https://www.hou.usra.edu

14-16 February 2024

Singapore

Global Space and Technology Conv. (GSTC)

https://www.space.org.sg

8-13 April 2024

Monterrey, Mexico 14th COLAGE 2024

https://www.rice.unam.mx

13-21 July 2024

Busan, South Korea

45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly

www.cospar2024.org

Call for Abstracts here

6-10 December 2024

Kurashiki and Tottori, Japan

7th Global Moon Village Workshop & Symposium

https://mva2023.jp

1-9 August 2026

Florence, Italy

46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly

E-mail: cospar@cosparhq.cnes.fr

Meeting Announcements

Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Ministerial Summit

9-10 November 2023, Cape Town, South Africa

You are invited to help set the future direction of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) at the Cape Town Ministerial Summit, to be held 9-10 November 2023 as part of GEO Week 2023.

The theme for this year’s GEO Week is The Earth Talks. It reflects an urgent need for discussion, debate and decisions on how we can better use Earth observations to listen and respond to what our planet, and the societies that depend on it, are saying. We all face questions on how to deal with more frequent extreme weather events, increased food security challenges, and the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) helps provide answers. This inter-governmental partnership is uniquely positioned to provide trusted, freely available Earth observation information that allows decision makers to monitor the state of the Earth, take informed and coordinated action, and report back to multilateral environmental agreements.

GEO partners have made great strides so far, making Earth observation data more freely available, and developing tools to help countries with early warning, crop monitoring and tackling deforestation, among other applications. However, as the partnership nears the end of the implementation period of its 2016-2025 Strategic Plan, the Ministerial Summit will be the time to agree on a new strategy.

I would be delighted to welcome you to Cape Town to cement this future direction for GEO. The Summit will bring together Ministers, heads of international organizations and business leaders, as well as representatives from the diverse GEO community. Through a Ministerial Declaration, we will demonstrate our commitment to tackling pressing global challenges through partnership.

The Cape Town Summit will be an opportunity to:

• Discover Earth Observation-based solutions on food security, deforestation, mining and more

• Unlock action on the triple planetary crisis

• Demonstrate leadership on a global stage.

• Network with other Ministers, environmental leaders and the Earth observation community

As host Minister for the Summit, I would also like to invite you to a dinner on the evening of 9th November, ahead of the Summit programme on 10 November.

Please join me in taking full advantage of the many excellent opportunities presented by the GEO 2023 Ministerial Summit. We value your input and are developing a programme that encourages all voices to be heard. I would be pleased for my officials to discuss arrangements in further detail with your office.

Yours sincerely, Minister NZIMANDE

Why attend the GEO 2023 Cape Town Ministerial Summit?

The Cape Town Summit is a unique opportunity to:

Discover solutions

In the past four years, GEO has advanced the sharing of open knowledge, enhanced coordination, and developed tools and services that respond to specific global policy challenges. In Uganda, GEO’s Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) initiative provided objective indicators of crop damage, helping 90,405 households avoid income loss and saving the government US $11 million in reactive food aid costs.

In Costa Rica, Mozambique and Ghana, GEO’s Global Forest Observation Initiative has provided better access to data, guidance, tools, training, leading to multimillion dollar payments for emissions reductions from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.

Digital Earth Africa allows policy makers and industry to access data to detect changes in water supply, crop coverage or coastline, land cover changes, and use it to make informed decisions on mitigation and adaptation. The Ghana Statistical Service applied DE Africa tools and services to observe unregulated mining activity in the Apamprama Forest Reserve, leading to forest regeneration. A report published with the World Economic Forum shows how the socioeconomic benefits of Digital Earth Africa could reach US $2 billion a year by 2024.

Discover more about these Earth observation solutions and others, as well as how they can benefit your country, at the Cape Town Summit.

Unlock action for the triple planetary crisis

Humanity faces multiple environmental, social, economic and health challenges. These challenges are daunting not only in their quantity, but also in their increasing complexity and interconnectivity. In particular, the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution has been identified as a major obstacle to sustainable development, and a significant driver of poverty, food insecurity and the spread of disease (1)

To respond, countries urgently need trusted, integrated information on the state of the Earth. As demonstrated above, Earth observations can provide this information. But despite an abundance of data sources, various factors including fragmented efforts, inequal access to data and insufficient capacity to turn EO data into information prevent their widespread adoption. For example, Earth Observation products are rarely used for national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (2).

To unlock action on the crises we face, it is time to renew our commitment to GEO partnerships that bring together global science, technology and research to provide trusted Earth observationbased information for decision making. GEO translates and visualizes complex data into information that is understandable and freely available to all –harnessing the full power of the public and private space sectors, as well as other sources of earth observations.

Demonstrate leadership

We have a short window to prevent catastrophic impacts for nature, people and planet. As members of GEO, countries can demonstrate a tangible commitment to accelerated action, open access to data and inclusive, science-based partnership.

The Summit will provide an opportunity to highlight contributions, such as resource commitments to GEO, the provision of Earth observation data, and the development of Earth observation solutions—domestically and internationally—all on a global stage.

The Summit will include several opportunities for Ministerial interventions and a press briefing at the close. Summit communications will highlight country’s commitments through an innovative social media plan and active media engagement.

Network

GEO Week will bring together Ministers from GEO’s 114 member countries and representatives from more than 160 private sector, civil society and international organizations serving as GEO participating organizations and Associate members. It presents a unique opportunity for high level networking and discussion on the environmental and social challenges we face. As well as the programme of events, an exhibition will showcase the latest technology and solutions from across the GEO community.

In addition to the exchanges during the Summit on 10 November, South Africa will host a Ministerial Dinner on the evening of 9 November to allow for more informal discussions.

(1) Outcome report of the Stockholm+50 International Meeting https://undocs.org/Home/

(2) Satellite-based global maps are rarely used in forest reference levels submitted to the UNFCCC https:// iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acba31

The COSPAR IDEA Summit in Singapore in February 2024 Jointly Hosted with Space Faculty

In 2022, COSPAR created an international Task Group to promote Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility and the critical role this plays in scientific research in space. The new IDEA Initiative provides a forum, open to all, for the discussion of challenging issues that may affect global scientific research. COSPAR has committed to collaborating with other, like-minded organizations, to cohost events and to support shared visions related to IDEA Initiative.

Space Faculty, strategically based in Singapore—an innovation and talent hub in Asia Pacific— brings together critical stakeholders across the government, industry and education landscapes to focus on talent, encourage innovation through space in public and private sectors, and enable industry development in the Asia-Pacific region. There are literally thousands of students and young professionals currently benefiting from this effort to open doors to space, deep technology and advanced robotics careers.

Space Faculty hosts the annual STEM 2.0 Education Forum alongside the Global Space and Technology Conference (GSTC). First held in 2007, with a focus on Asian space issues, the annual February GSTC has evolved to become recognized as a critical international platform for Space professionals.

The STEM 2.0 Education Forum is an annual highlight event for the space industry as it puts into focus the discussion of talent for the growing space industry. It is the nexus between education and industry, bringing together governments, the private sector and educators at all levels to create a coherent pathway into the space industry.

To that end, it is a pleasure to share that COSPAR is collaborating with Space Faculty to organize a new Forum on Diversity and Education as a key agenda in the STEM 2.0 Education Forum at GSTC. Both COSPAR and Space Faculty look forward to welcoming your participation at the next STEM 2.0 Education Forum in Singapore on February 14-16, 2024 where we will kick off the Forum.

Please save the date and plan to join us in Spectacular Singapore!

What to Expect:

• Global Experts IDEA topics and STEM Education

• Workshops

• Robotics Competition

• Student Innovation Challenges

• Speaker panels on Space industry talent development

Information on Registration will be provided soon. For additional questions, contact Mary L. Snitch, COSPAR IDEA Coordination Officer, mary.snitch@lmco.com

First Announcement for the IAU Symposium on Astronomy and Satellite Constellations: Pathways Forward

2-6 October 2023, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain

If you are interested,

• In the latest news on the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy,

• In meeting the people at the forefront of this work,

• In sharing your efforts and knowledge in this area through networking or contributed talks,

• In helping to shape the next steps in protecting our dark and quiet skies from satellite constellation interference,

then please join us online or in-person on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands of Spain from 2-6 October 2023 for the IAU Symposium on Astronomy and Satellite Constellations: Pathways Forward.

More information

The proliferation of satellites launched into orbit around the Earth has improved our ability to communicate globally instantaneously; however, there are concerns about the impact these technologies have on astronomical observations and the preservation of dark and quiet skies. The rapid growth in light pollution, which is only being exacerbated by the new satellites, impacts the entire society. Many of us have never seen an unobscured night sky and over a third of humanity cannot see the Milky Way. These new satellites are encroaching on the few remaining dark sky reserves and radio-quiet zones.

To address these challenges, the IAU Symposium 385: Astronomy and Satellite Constellations: Pathways Forward will take place in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. 2–6, October 2023 with the support of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)’s newest specialist centre, the Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS) cohosted by NSF’s NOIRLab and the SKA Observatory (SKAO). The Symposium local organiser is the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the scientific organisers are listed here

The symposium is planned as a dedicated space where astronomers, industry, space lawyers and other interested stakeholders can share the current status of their work with respect to large satellite constellations and their impact on astronomy and the night sky. Through presentations, and panel discussions and networking, the current status of studies, observations and mitigations will be explored and gaps addressed to help define further the pathways forward.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Software Development

• Updates in Observations

• Brightness testing and modeling

• Mitigation measures

• Industry Perspectives

• Policy Developments

• Communications, Education, Outreach and Engagement

See https://research.iac.es/congreso/iaus385/ for full information, including registration, abstract submission and fees payment.

15th International Conference on Substorms (ICS-15) 16-20 October 2023, Deqing, China

The 15th International Conference on Substorms (ICS-15) will be held this year, from 16-20 October 2023, in Deqing, China. The conference aims to bring together scientists from the magnetospheric, ionospheric, and planetary communities to review the recent discoveries in light of recent space missions and numerical simulations, and to discuss the current status and future direction of substorm research.

The meeting will be a hybrid meeting with online components, but the organisers strongly encourage in-person participation, since the conference series are known for the atmosphere of lively discussion. Each day will start with a tutorial lecture on a specific topic, and sufficient time will be provided for questions and dialogues on each session. For more details, please visit the meeting website at http://ics15.cssr.org.cn/.

Call for Proposals to host the 2024 (8th) Global Moon Village Workshop and Symposium, Moon Village Association (MVA)

The workshop and symposium is the major annual forum organized by MVA. It is devoted to discussions of different aspects of the exploration and utilization of the Moon, and is focused on the most recent progress achieved by the MVA along the lines of its ongoing activities and on the future planning. In accordance with the currently adopted MVA policy regarding the Association’s annual event, its location is to be alternated between Europe, the Americas and Asia. As a consequence, the 2024 event will be held in Europe.

Typically, the event is held during November-December time frame and lasts for 2.5 days. It starts with an evening special and/or social events and continues through the following two full days. The program consists of both Plenary Sessions (held in a large hall) and Splinter/Working Sessions (in smaller rooms). An outreach event for 0.5-1 full day is welcome.

Total number of participants and accompanying persons can typically be in the range of 150-200 people, but a bigger number is welcome and should be envisaged. A proposal can be made by an MVA institutional or individual member, or a group of members, possibly in cooperation with non-member organizations.

Full details to make a proposal to host the Global Moon Village Workshop and Symposium in 2024 can be found here: https://moonvillageassociation.org/call-for-proposalsto-host-the-20248th-global-moon-village-workshop-symposium/

Meeting Reports

5th COSPAR Symposium 2023: Space Science with Small Satellites

16-21 April 2023, Singapore

[L. Fergus, Executive Editor, SRT]

The COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) organizes a series of Symposia to promote space research at a regional level, and these events are generally held in countries with medium or small-size space infrastructures. The fifth COSPAR Symposium was held in Singapore, 16 to 21 April 2023, and addressed the broad topic of "Space Science with Small Satellites".

The event was organized by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Satellite Research Centre and hosted by NTU. All events except the first Get Together and the final Gala dinner, took place in the Nanyang Executive Centre at NTU. The Symposium was sponsored by Lockheed Martin, the Office for Space Technology & Industry, Singapore, CAS Space, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Space: Science & Technology, LightHaus Photonics Pte. Ltd, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and MDPI AG, supported by the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau and Singapore Space and Technology Ltd.

The Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC) for the symposium included the Co-Chairs Amal Chandran (University of Colorado, Boulder, USA) and Erick Lansard (NTU, Singapore), both giving their all to make the event successful and without whom the Symposium could not have taken place. Other key members in the SOC were Charles Elachi (Caltech, USA and NTU, Singapore), Ben Horton (NTU, Singapore), Mary Snitch (Lockheed Martin, USA), Mengu Cho (Kyushu Institute of Technology/ JAXA, Japan) and Daniel Hastings (MIT, USA). Key members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) were Patricia Wong (NTU, Singapore) and Wee Seng Lim (NTU, Singapore). The full list of the SOC and LOC members can be found on the LOC Symposium website www.cospar2023.org .

This fifth Symposium covered the rapid advances made in the last decade in small, micro, and nano-satellites for space science. In addition, the Symposium included the issue of emerging space debris in Low-Earth Orbit. Plenary lectures were featured, alongside parallel sessions, poster sessions and an exhibition.

Participation

The Symposium attracted more than 300 participants from a total of 29 different countries, with one-third of the participants from Singapore.

"This fifth Symposium covered the rapid advances in small, micro, and nanosatellites for space science"

Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony on the first full day, 17 April 2023, saw the main amphitheatre packed to hear a talk by Guest-of-Honour Lui Pao Chuen (Temasek Defence Professor, Temasek Defence Systems Institute, National University of Singapore), an official Welcome from Nanyang Technological University’s Ling San, and from Pietro Ubertini, COSPAR Vice-President.

Pascale Ehrenfreud, the COSPAR President, was unable to attend due to prior engagements but had recorded her sincere best wishes for the success of the Symposium. In her message she introduced Pietro Ubertini, as her representative, standing in for her during the week. You can view her Welcome Message here

One of the main announcements at the Opening Ceremony was that Singapore, through the Office for Space Technology & Industry (OSTIn), had officially joined COSPAR, becoming the 46th National Member and the 15th Asian country to join. The Opening Ceremony was followed by three keynote speeches, the first given by Charles Elachi, (CalTech, USA) entitled "Earth and Space Exploration with Small Satellites," the second talk by Anny Cazenave (LEGOS-CNES, France) on "Present-day Sea Level Rise: the Role of Satellite Observations" was delivered by Jérôme Benveniste (ESA-ESRIN, Italy), and then Yuya Nakamura (Axelspace, Japan) asked—and answered—"How Can Next-gen Microsatellites Contribute to Space Science and Technology?" The thought-provoking talks were varied as well as entertaining.

Roundtable of Space Agency Leaders

Also on the programme for the first day was a Roundtable of Space Agency Leaders with the participation of space agencies from around the world, namely Singapore (OSTIn), USA (NASA), Europe (ESA), France (CNES), Germany (DLR), India (ISRO), South Korea (KASI) and Japan (JAXA). This Roundtable was moderated by COSPAR Vice-President Pietro Ubertini and generated much active audience involvement with the question and answer session at the end, although time ran out before all the questions could be addressed.

Regional Character

What stood out during the week was the strong regional character of this Symposium. This was represented not only in the participation from Asian-Pacific countries and particularly from the host nation, Singapore, and its neighbours, but in the well-attended and informative events scheduled, namely the Town Hall and the Asia-Pacific Regional Forum.

The Town Hall on Space Science with Small Satellites in Singapore, on the second day, featured talks by speakers from key entities in the local space sector and was opened by Cheong Chee Hoo, CEO of DSO National Laboratories, and David Tan, Executive Director of OSTIn, with concluding remarks by Erick Lansard. The event showcased the vibrant Singapore space ecosystem with emphasis on space science, small satellites and related technologies.

Each presenter had their own style and delivered talks that were informative and often amusing. The speakers were Tai Wei Chua, from ST Engineering Satellite Systems, Lim Wee Seng, of the Satellite Research Centre (NTU), Yun Sang-Ho, Earth Observatory of Singapore, Kwoh Leong Keong, from the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Low Kay Soon, Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR), at NUS, Hao Tang, Centre for Nature-Based Climate Solutions (CNCS), at NUS, Francois Chin, Institute of Infocomm Research (I2R), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and Dale Barker, Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS), Meteorological Services Singapore (MSS).

Asia-Pacific Regional Forum Discussion, also on the second day of the Symposium, was very ably moderated by Ronald Tong, Deputy Executive Director of the Office for Space Technology and Industry (OSTIn), Singapore. The participants were Arvind Ramana, Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency (ASA), Erna Sri Adiningsih, Chair of the Indonesian Space Agency, National Research and Innovation Agency (INASA-BRIN), and Marc Caesar Talampas, Director of Space Technology and Systems Missions Bureau (STMSB) at the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA). Thanks to Ronald Tong’s careful questioning and summing up, the audience was able to get a better picture of how these agencies are making use of the latest in space research and satellite technology for the benefit of their country and citizens.

Three "Firsts"

The 5th COSPAR Symposium boasted three "firsts". This was the first time a host country has announced its joining COSPAR announcement (as mentioned above). It was also the first time a session on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility was featured in the Symposium programme with a panel discussion on the Promotion of Women in Engineering, Research, and Science (POWERS): Addressing Challenges for Girls in STEM through Mentoring. This session, chaired by Mary Snitch (Lockheed Martin), had three experts, Yeong Wai Yee (NTU), Jovanni Spinner (American Institute of Physics) and Sook Yee Loh (Maxar Technologies) describe something of their own careers and focus on advancing diversity in STEM education and into the workforce, sharing their personal perspectives on this critical topic. And thirdly, it was the first Symposium to call for a Special Issue of Advances in Space Research on Science and Applied Research with Small Satellites.

Exhibition

In addition to the oral and poster sessions, an Exhibition was also organized with the following exhibitors present: Addvalue Innovation Pte Ltd., CAS Space, Emposat Co. Ltd., Hex20 Pty Ltd., Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), LightHaus Photonics Pte. Ltd, Lockheed Martin (LMC) , MDPI - Remote Sensing, Metasensing AP Pte Ltd., Mitsui Bussan Aerospace Co. Ltd., Office for Space Technology & Industry, Singapore (OSTIn), Planet Labs Singapore Pte Ltd., Space: Science & Technology, Tsinghua University, World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd.,

Social events

The Get Together Event on first evening at the Chancellor Hotel was friendly and informal with copious –and delicious—local cuisine and drink for all, a perfect ice-breaker for new-comers and COSPAR regulars.

The Welcome Reception on the first full day was held at the Executive Centre at NTU in the central concourse to enable all participants present to attend, before catching the shuttle bus back to their accommodation. Everyone seemed to enjoy the colourful and tasty local fare, beautifully presented, and the chance to relax and discuss the day’s events.

Gala dinner at the Concorde Hotel on last full day rounded off the week. One of the highlights of the evening—apart from the varied and tasty feast offered--was a "face-changer" act who treated the participants to a seemingly infinite series of different faces or masks, changed in the blink of an eye, followed by some flawless magic tricks. There was also a dance performance concluding with participation of some of the diners.

Conclusions

In short the 5th COSPAR Symposium (COSPAR Symposium 2023) was a great success, with a large number of papers and participants. A short slideshow video of photos of the event can be seen on our YouTube channel here. We look forward to the forthcoming Special Issue of Advances in Space Research, and also to the next Symposium in 2025—the 6th Symposium. COSPAR member nations are invited to apply (see page 23).

Capacity Building Workshop PORSEC

7-8 December 2022, Malaysia

[Nimit Kumar, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, INCOIS, India]

The 15th Pan-Ocean Remote Sensing Conference (PORSEC, originally planned in 2020, but postponed due to pandemic) was hosted by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) on 7-8 December 2022 (after the pre-conference tutorial during 3-6 Dec).

2022 is an important year for PORSEC since it celebrated three decades of its inception. The postponement of the conference however yielded two iterations of the PORSEC MOOC (in collaboration with UTM CDex) as well as citable publications with ISBN including a book of extended abstracts. The MOOC also won the International University Carnival on E-Learning (IUCEL)-2021 silver award. Dr. Nurul Hazrina Idris (LOC Chair of 15th PORSEC) was awarded the PORSEC Distinguished Science Award whereas Dr. Nimit Kumar (Executive Secretary and ChairMembership, Education & Outreach) was awarded the PORSEC Distinguished Service Award for these achievements.

Participants of the in-person tutorial in December 2022 were mostly MOOC alumni and hence, the tutorial focused chiefly on hands-on and field sessions. The field session was arranged at Tanjung Piai mangrove forests, which is a Ramsar site. The conference had keynotes from some of the sponsors. The sessions comprised various sessions mainly focusing on (but not limited to) coastal remote sensing including using drones. One of the unique offerings of PORSEC is a special issue in international journals including Tyler & Francis International Journal of Remote Sensing (IJRS) where selected papers will be published by late 2023.

During the valedictory ceremony, Prof. Ming-An Lee and Dr. Stefano Vignudelli were announced to be acting President and Vice-President, respectively, of the PORSEC Association. Other important support of the 15th PORSEC was provided by COSPAR, SCOR, MySA and MyCEB.

Correction to an article in Space Research Today, issue 216, pages 40-41

Double Anniversary of Astronomy in Bern

Editors’ Note: Our sincere apologies for not including the photo credits that illustrated the “Double Anniversary of Astronomy in Bern” article in the previous issue of Space Research Today, 216. The correct credits are as follows:

Picture 1: on page 40, Photo credit: AIUB, Foto Manu Friederich

Picture 2: on page 40, Photo credit: Bibliothek ETH Zürich, KGS-454-0

Picture 3: on page 41, Photo credit: Universität Bern, Foto Sascha Aebischer Our apologies once more.

Report on the COSPAR-IAU Capacity Building Workshop on X-ray Astrophysics "X-Vision 2023"

6-17 February 2023, Potchefstroom, South Africa

INTRODUCTION

The workshop took place at the North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom, South Africa, some 120 km west from Johannesburg, from 6 to 17 February 2023. The main international organisers were the IAU Handson-Workshops (I-HOW) Initiative and the COSPAR Panel for Capacity Building (PCB). For the first time they jointly organised a workshop, in a way which could constitute a model for future space astronomy events.

This workshop was also generously supported locally by the South African Gamma-ray Astronomy Programme (SA-GAMMA) and the North West University (NWU) Space Research Centre, and internationally by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

The workshop was proposed and organised locally by Sunil Chandra of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), Markus Böttcher, Christo Venter and James Chibueze, all from NWU.

of the objectives was to inspire and prepare young researchers to use future X-ray observing facilities"

The X-VISION2023 Capacity Building Workshop aimed to provide a platform for students and young researchers from developing countries, especially from the African region, to learn how to analyse X-ray data from the XMM-Newton, NICER and NuSTAR missions. The teams of experts included several renowned scientists from various fields. The practical sessions were led by the respective instrument team members. One of the objectives of this Workshop was to inspire and prepare young researchers to use future X-ray observing facilities such as XRISM, ATHENA, Arcus, etc.

Details of the workshop can be found on the Capacity Building Programme pages ( http://cosparhq.cnes.fr/Meetings/Workshops.htm ) and on the local website ( https:// xvisionastro2023.github.io/ ).

PARTICIPANTS

Out of 154 candidates, 31 applicants (referred to as students) were finally selected to participate. The majority of the students were from African countries, with 12 from South Africa, two each from Madagascar, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Egypt, and one each from Ethiopia, Algeria, Sudan,

[Carlos Gabriel – Chair, COSPAR Panel on Capacity Building; Chair, X-Vision 2023]

"One

and Ghana. In addition, there were five students from India.

The geographical distribution of the students showed a strong regional diversification. The gender distribution showed a 45/55% female/male student ratio, which is quite typical considering the workshops previously organised in this region. The full list of students, with their affiliation and nationality, can be found in Appendix I on the COSPAR website

Participants and Lecturers of the I-HOW/COSPAR CB WS

Participants and Lecturers– Excursion

LECTURERS

Most of the speakers and supervisors were participating in such a CB workshop for the first time. However, three of us had participated in multiple workshops in the past, and two of the remote lecturers had attended previous COSPAR CB workshops as students.

Matteo Guainazzi from ESA/ESTEC was responsible for the scientific coordination of the workshop. He represented I-HOW in the organizing team as Mariano Méndez, the director of I-HOW (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), was unable to attend the workshop in person.

Matteo Guainazzi was part of the organizing team, which also included Sunil Chandra from South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) and Mariano Méndez, and was led by Carlos Gabriel from COSPAR. All members of the organizing team acted as lecturers and supervisors at the workshop. The team brought together experts in various areas of astrophysics and from the three space missions to create a balanced program in X-ray astrophysics. The goal was to provide effective guidance to the students in their projects.

We were fortunate to have the selfless participation of several experts from various NASA institutes in the USA, including Kristin Knudsen-Madsen, Jeremy Hare, James Steiner, Dan Wilkins, and Javier Garcia. Additionally, Aitor Ibarra from ESA/ESAC and Tomaso Belloni from Italy contributed to the workshop. Remote lectures were given by Diego Altamirano and Effrain Gatuzz, who were former participants of previous COSPAR CB workshops as students and are currently based in European institutes. Mariano Mendez also gave a lecture remotely. Similarly, Priyanka Chakraborty and Arnab Sarkar from the USA were unable to attend in person due to visa issues, but they also gave their talks remotely. Local lecturers were Markus Böttcher, Christo Venter and Iurii Sushch, all NWU.

As part of our outreach efforts in astronomy, we frequently incorporate public lectures into our workshops. For the X-Vision 2023 workshop, we were fortunate to have David Buckley, a former director of the SAAO and an outstanding student at a previous workshop in Durban, South Africa in 2004, give a presentation as part of the program. The lecture was open to the general public and was also broadcast and publicly announced by the NWU.

"Reinhard Genzel, recent Nobel laureate in Physics, generously gave a presentation on his scientific life"

The possibility of including remote talks contributed to one of the highlights of the workshop: Reinhard Genzel, recent Nobel laureate in Physics, generously gave a presentation on his scientific life, which is a good part of the history of modern astronomy. The motivational importance and influence that such an event can have on the scientific life of young researchers is noteworthy.

All presentations, both face-to-face and remote, were broadcast by Zoom, which also allowed them to be recorded. We consider this practice to be very valuable and worthy of being considered in the future.

The full list of lecturers is given in Appendix II on the COSPAR website

PROGRAM

The workshop program was designed to give students ample time to work on their projects, with 55% of the time dedicated to this endeavor. Lectures on science and data analysis software accounted for approximately 31% and 11% of the program, respectively. As in previous X-ray Astrophysics workshops, the lecturers also acted as project supervisors.

"All the presentations could be followed online via Zoom"

As practised for the first time in the workshop on Planetary Sciences in Antofagasta, Chile, in the previous month, all the presentations could be followed online via Zoom, and we also used it to record them. Presentations and recordings are available under https://xvisionastro2023.github.io/programme.html, one of the web pages of the workshop, for anyone to view. This innovative approach to delivering content provides a valuable resource for students and researchers in the field of astrophysics.

THE PROJECTS

The students defined largely their projects themselves or together with their supervisors, who were assigned according to science topic and instrument (each student had two or three supervisors). The students could work individually or in pairs, but the presentations of the results at the end of the workshop were all done individually. A division was made to assign supervisors according to the chosen topics.

The public announcement of Prof. Genzel’s lecture

The public announcement of Prof. Buckley’s lecture

Except for three cases, all students worked on their projects using their own laptops. The desktops we had at our disposal (6) were fully prepared at the time of our arrival with all the needed software.

RESULTS

At the conclusion of the workshop, each student delivered a brief presentation summarizing their findings, with 7 minutes allotted for presentation and 3 minutes for discussion. For the most part, the students adhered to the predetermined time limits, although in some instances the discussion period had to be extended due to the enthusiastic response from the audience, which included students, lecturers, and assistants. Overall, the results were highly satisfactory, demonstrating that all participants had gained a solid understanding of the field work methodologies, and were generally capable of working with the data and tools associated with at least one of the missions involved, and in some cases, more than one. Upon returning to their respective institutions, many of the participants will be able to apply the knowledge they had gained during the workshop.

VENUE

The workshop was held in Potchefstroom, a university town near Johannesburg (120 km west), in classrooms provided by the University. During the pre-workshop visit, a few months before the workshop, we managed to book a magnificent classroom with an integrated video system. Two weeks before the workshop, the university announced that, unfortunately, this room would not be available, as it was to be refurbished. Within a few days, the local organisers managed to replace it with two other rooms that had to be used alternately, as they were already partially booked.

Despite the fact that we were able to anticipate and remedy them using local generators, the recurring daily power outages were a significant issue. These outages proved to be particularly disruptive due to their impact on our internet and audio-visual systems. However, as time passed and we became more adept at resolving the disruptions quickly, these interruptions became less of a problem.

The same room was always used for presentations and project work. Due to booking problems, we used two different rooms on different days. Regrettably, the most frequently used room was also the least comfortable, particularly when it came to collaborative group work and fostering interaction between participants and supervisors. To compound matters, we encountered one day an unexpected power outage lasting several hours while using this room, which was already hampered by its peculiar electrical wiring.

The network bandwidth at both locations was quite good, sufficient for all participants to download programmes and data at peak times. Despite the hotel’s internet connection being generally reliable, there were occasional power cuts that disrupted connectivity.

There were no additional rooms for small groups, nor a speaker’s area that we could use when we were not actively presenting, supervising, or attending lectures. This, which was foreseen in the initially booked configuration, could not be achieved in the replacement we were forced to make.

"All participants had gained a solid understanding of the field work methodologies"

THE EXCURSION

The excursion on the Sunday in between was surely a memorable one for all participants. We went by bus to the Pilanesberg Nature Park, about 180 km from Potchefstroom. The park is home to the Big 5, but given the time we had at our disposal especially in the midday hours we could not hope to see most of them. We did see elephants and white rhinos in large numbers, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, and even hippos in and out of the water. The open jeep ride to observe animals in their natural habitat was great fun. The excursion concluded with a visit to an artificial beach at the resort attached to the park.

Driving through Pilanesberg

The lectures/data lab venue #1

The lectures/data lab venue #2

RECEPTION AND GALA DINNER

The hospitality of our hosts was present on many occasions. Two exceptional ones were the icebreaking reception on the first evening of our stay, in the university’s botanical garden, and the other was the gala dinner, at the Crista Galli venue, a feast hall with a memorable meal, some live music (thanks to a piano brought in for the occasion and occasional pianists and singers from various continents) as well as lots of dancing (from Spanish ballads to African music, including a collective performance of impromptu Indian dancers, the Bollywood Capacity Building Performance Ballet, joined by dancers from three different continents. ..)

Wild animals seen during our game drive

GENERAL EVALUATION

As anticipated, we have prepared and distributed among the students an evaluation sheet, in order to obtain feedback on the different aspects of the workshop, obtaining all 31 evaluation sheets answered (100% !). A first analysis of the results has been carried out. In general terms, the results do not differ much from those obtained in previous X-ray astrophysics CB workshops. As always, with regard to local elements (place, food) opinions differ partly, as is to be expected due to the very different conditions.

The level of satisfaction with financial support is similar to the former workshop in Chile in January 2023. The general increase in workshop-related costs, especially flight costs, has forced us to reduce the percentage of subsidised travel expenses. In the past, this percentage ranged from 70% to 80% of the price of an economy ticket. This time we have been forced to reduce it to an average of 55%. This, together with the rising cost of flights in general, and the economic situation in a large number of African countries with very weak currencies, has led to a low level of student satisfaction (and also to an increase in students’ efforts to cover these costs themselves). In my opinion a general increase of the maximum amount for an individual workshop is absolutely necessary. Although we have never cancelled a workshop due to exceeding the maximum amount, the existence of this limit often necessitates measures such as reduced subsidies.

Impressions of the gala dinner

There is a very high level of satisfaction with the workshop in general, also with the lecturers and supervisors. The hard work done by the latter in helping with data reduction and analysis is especially rewarded with more than 96% agreement (of which more than 70% is «strong»). This is by no means surprising, given the high level of assistance to project work that could be provided at this workshop. All the teachers present in the second half of the course (10), plus the three who helped remotely, formed a group of supervisors covering all areas and especially all the instruments and dedicated software needed for the projects.

A large majority of participants believe they will be able to use X-ray science data in their future research, demonstrating a high level of confidence, and more than half believe they will be able to do so without much additional help (see Evaluation: Usage of X-ray astrophysics science data in the future).

Evaluation: Usage of X-ray astrophysics science data in the future

Unanimously, and probably with the highest rates ever achieved in the answer to this typical question in our evaluation, the students feel that they have benefited significantly from their attendance at the workshop (see Evaluation of benefit of participation). This very high level of satisfaction does not differ qualitatively from previous workshops though, which is always very comforting for us, organisers, lecturers and supervisors.

" The students feel that they have benefited significantly from their attendance at the workshop"

Evaluation of benefit of participation

Despite the excellent marks obtained in the evaluation, we found some comments regarding the way data reduction and analysis is taught that lead us to consider possible changes in the future. One of our new lecturers also produced a document with proposals for changes in the method of teaching, which has become a basis for discussion among the lecturers for future events. There will always be room for improvement. The use of new analysis techniques, e.g. based on the use of Jupyter Notebooks, are welcome as elements that can accelerate the teaching process.

I would like to thank first of all Dr. Matteo Guainazzi (ESA), the scientific lead of the workshop, who together with Dr. Sunil Chandra, chairman of the local organising committee, were the main scientific inspiration for it. The LOC did a fantastic job. For the tremendous work and dedication my thanks (also on behalf of I-HOW and COSPAR) to all the speakers and supervisors. Thanks also to the institutions that have contributed substantially to the workshop: the North-West University Potchefstroom, the SA-GAMMA Programme, the South African Astronomical Observatory, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NASA, ESA, the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, as well as the African Astronomical Society. For the support also to the three main scientific missions: XMM-Newton from ESA and NuStar and NICER from NASA.

Finally, my thanks to Prof. Mariano Méndez, director of the IAU I-HOW project, with which the PCB collaborated in partnership in the organisation of this event, in the hope that we can continue to work together.

The full report, with Appendices, can be consulted at https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/cbw-reports-archive/

"We found some comments that lead us to consider possible changes in the future"

Report from 2023 COSPAR Capacity Building Workshop on the International Reference Ionosphere

8-19 May 2023, Daejeon, South Korea

[Dieter Bilitza (Vice-Chair, COSPAR Panel on Capacity Building, USA), and Young-Sil Kwak (KASI, South Korea)]

The 2023 COSPAR Capacity-Building Workshop (CCBW) on the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) was held at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) in Daejeon, South Korea on May 8 – 19, 2023, expertly organized by Young-Sil Kwak (KASI) and Yong Ha Kim (Chungnam National University) and their team. During the first week tutorials, lectures and hands-on demonstrations taught the students the basics and recent advances in observation techniques and modelling approaches for the Earth’s ionosphere. An important goal of the workshop was to familiarize the students with the access to and usage of ionospheric data sets and models so they will be able to continue their research interests at their home institutions. The meeting was combined with an IRI expert meeting during the second week giving the students an opportunity to attend an international science meeting, for some for the first time, and an opportunity to present a talk or poster at the meeting about their own research. It was also a great opportunity to talk about potential post-doctoral positions. The workshop was opened with welcome speeches by KASI President Young-Deuk Park and by the President of the Korea Space Science Society (KSSS), Yu Yi.

In response to the official announcement of the workshop in early 2023 we received applications from 60 students and young researchers to participate in the workshop. These were students from 29 countries illustrating the global spread of IRI-related research interests. With support from COSPAR, KASI, Chungnam National University, the Small Scale Magnetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiments (SNIPE) project, and KSSS, we were able to partially support the participation of 34 students in the workshop. The students’ home universities contributed the rest of the funding required to cover the full travel costs. Additional support for the workshop was provided by NASA (travel support for two US lecturers), the Local Organizing Committee of the COSPAR 2024 General Assembly, and the Daejeon Tourism Organization.

The team of lecturers consisted of Dieter Bilitza (George Mason University, USA), Ivan Galkin (University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA), Vladimir Truhlik (Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Czech Republic), Shigeto Watanabe (Hokkaido University, Japan), Shunrong Zhang (MIT, USA), Andrzej Krankowski (University of Warmia and Mazury, Poland), Yong Ha Kim (Chungnam National University, Korea), Jaejin Lee (KASI, Korea), Moonseok Yoon (Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Korea), Geonhwa Jee (Korea Polar Research Institute, Korea), Jaeheung Park (KASI, Korea), and Charles Lin (National Cheng Kung University, China: Academy of Sciences Located in Taipei). Lecturers gave 45-minute or 30-minute tutorials on a specific topic in ionospheric observations and modelling followed in some cases by a 30-minute hands-on demonstration of access to specific ionospheric data and models. The topics were: Physics of Ionosphere; International Reference Ionosphere Introduction, Current Status, and Future Plans; Global Ionosphere Radio Observatory (GIRO); ISR and ionospheric studies; GNSS data and ionospheric studies; Ionospheric Studies with GNSS data; Better Understanding of Ionospheric Effects on GNSS Applications; Representation of Plasma temperatures in IRI; Representation of ion composition in IRI; Access to satellite data;

"An important goal of the workshop was to familiarize the students with the access to and usage of ionospheric data sets and models"

Radio Occultation and access to COSMIC data; Scintillation, spread-F, and plasma bubbles; The SNIPE Mission for Observing Small Scale Ionospheric and Magnetospheric Plasma Phenomena; Principles of data assimilation in ionospheric application; and The Polar Ionosphere.

A total of 34 students and young researchers were selected based on an evaluation of their submitted CVs, Letters of Recommendation and Research Plans. The final selection included students from China (7), Egypt (1), Ethiopia/Brazil (1), France/USA (1), India (5), Kenya (1), Malaysia (2), Myanmar/Thailand (1), Pakistan/South Korea (2), Poland (1), South Korea (5), Sri Lanka (1), Taiwan (3), Thailand (1), UK (1), and Vietnam/South Korea (1). With 13 female and 21 male students the gender balance was not as good as at the last two IRI-CCBWs. Unfortunately, two selected female students from Africa were unable to attend due to health and passport problems. The 34 selected students were divided into 7 groups and each team received a specific research problem to be studied during the two-week meeting.

Each team had one of the lecturers as their main advisor, but was free to ask help from other lecturers as well. Each project was related to a number of recommended data sets and modelling sites. Lecturers familiar with the different data sets and models were on hand to help with any questions. The prime modelling site was the IRI homepage at http://irimodel.org/ with access to online computations of IRI parameters as well as to downloading the model code. The 34 students working with the model code also gave important feedback regarding code improvements that were partly implemented during the meeting. The first week ended with a dry run of each team presenting their results so far and getting feedback from the lecturers.

" The first week ended with a dry run of each team presenting their results so far "

"Each team received a specific research problem to be studied"

Lectures in the morning and team work in the afternoon

Student visit to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)

"For many of the students this was an opportunity to present their most recent research results"

The students continued their work during the second week while they were also able to attend and participate in the IRI-2023 Workshop that brought about 60 international ionospheric experts to KASI. For many of the students this was an opportunity to present their most recent research results (often the results of their PhD related studies) and get feedback from international experts. And for the IRI experts it was a great opportunity to find candidates for post-doc or early career positions at their institutions. At the end of the second week each team presented the results of their two-week study to the full auditorium. A panel of three judges gave out gold, silver, and bronze awards for the best presentations. A difficult job, because of the high quality of the work and study performed by the seven teams and the excellent presentations to the full workshop audience. All lecturers were amazed at how quickly the students were able to access and download large volumes of data and present the result of their investigation in graphical form. I think it documents the positive impact the COSPAR CBW activity has on the science environment in developing countries.

During the IRI-week 53 talks and 6 posters were presented in the following sessions: IRI and Data Assimilation; Data Sources for IRI; Representation of Irregularities; Topside; TEC and Plasmasphere; Applications and Usage; Programs and Services; Comparison and Model Assessment; IRI Comparisons and Improvements; Measurement Techniques; Low Latitude Ionosphere; Ionospheric Effects and Special Events; New Inputs for IRI, and Posters. Comparisons of IRI predictions with old and new data sources highlighted areas of good performance and times and locations where improvements are needed.

"All lecturers were amazed at how quickly the students were able to access and download large volumes of data and present the result of their investigation in graphical form"

Student visit to the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) labs

It was also an opportunity to officially release the latest version of the IRI model, which includes the following improvements and additions:

(1) A new model for the D- and E-region based on a compilation of rocket measurements supplemented by incoherent scatter radar data and theoretical modelling (Friedrich et al., 2018);

(2) A correction of the topside electron density model to more accurately describe the variation with solar activity using Alouette/ISIS topside sounder data and CHAMP/ GRACE/Swarm satellite in situ measurements (Bilitza & Xiong, 2021);

(3) A new extension of IRI to plasmaspheric altitudes using the Ozhogin et al. (2012) or the Gallagher et al. (2000) model (Bilitza, 2022);

(4) A new ion temperature model based on a large data base of satellite in situ measurements stretching from OGO-6 in 1969 to C/NOFS in 2018 (Truhlik et al., 2021);

(5) Replacing the Scherliess & Fejer (1999) for the ion drift with the newer and better Fejer et al., 2008) model that is based on 5 years of ROCSAT-1 data.

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) organized a very informative visit to the nearby Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), one of the prime aerospace institutes in South Korea in charge of testing, assembling, and launching satellites and much more. A tour of KASI gave the students insights into KASI’s space weather activities and services. We all enjoyed a wonderful workshop reception at the Daejeon Science Expo Tower with a beautiful sunset and delicious Korean food. During the second week the students were treated to a visit of the Baekje Cultural Land learning a lot about Korean history and how people were living during earlier times. The excursion was followed by an unforgettable evening and dinner at the Daejeon Expo Aquarium with exotic fish and dancing mermaids.

Gold Medal Team (from right to left): Young-Sil Kwak (LOC), Yuyang Huang (China) Malini Aggarwal (India), Nina Servan-Schreiber (France/USA), Abdalla Shaker (Egypt), Dieter Bilitza (Advisor). Not shown: Minwook Kang (South Korea). Team Problem: IRI now includes three options for the extension into the plasmasphere. Study the differences between these three options and compare with TEC data.

Study the extend of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) in Local Time with COSMIC I and II data and GNSS-TEC data. Compare with IRI predictions.

Right: Bronze Medal Team (right to left): Shunrong Zhang (Advisor), Natelie Reeves (UK), Angkita Hazarika (India), Tingwei Han (China), Mei-Yu Chen (China: Academy of Sciences Located in Taipei), Yujin Cho (South Korea). Team Problem: IRI-2020 includes a new representation of the ion temperature. Study the differences and improvements compared to the older version and how well do both versions perform in representing characteristic diurnal, seasonal and solar activity variations observed by incoherent scatter radars (ISRs).

This meeting would have not been possible without the untiring support and determination of the local organizer Young-Sil Kwak and her team. The meeting was originally planned for the spring of 2021 but had to be twice postponed because of the Covid pandemic. Throughout this time the steadfast support by Yong Ha Kim (Chungnam National University) and Jaejin Lee (SNIPE PI, KASI) was essential for keeping the idea of an IRI Workshop at KASI alive. Thankful for their support and for their workshop organization the IRI team invited Dr. Young-Sil Kwak (KASI) and Prof. Yong Ha Kim (Chungnam National University) to become members of the COSPAR/ URSI IRI Working Group, which they gladly accepted. Young-Sil Kwak is already a co-convener of the IRI session during the 2024 COSPAR Scientific Assembly which will be held in Busan, South Korea and Prof. Yong Ha Kim is a member of the organizing committee for the session.

Left: Silver Medal Team (right to left): Nur Awatiff (Malaysia), Andrzej Krankowski (Advisor), Bin Zhang (China), Danish Naeem (Pakistan/South Korea), Lin Min Myint (Myanmar/Thailand). Not shown Jenan Rajavarathan (Sri Lanka). Team Problem:

Excursion to the Baekje Cultural Land

COSPAR Publication News

Calls for Papers for Advances in Space Research

Special Issues

• Science and Applied Research with Small Satellites:  deadline 31 October 2023

• Progress in Cosmic Ray Astrophysics:  deadline 31 October 2023

• Information Theory and Machine Learning for Geospace Research: deadline 31 December 2023

• Advances in Artificial Neural Networks for Solar Radiation Forecasting: Incorporating Solar X-rays, Particle Events, and Radio Emissions:  deadline 15 January 2024

• Lunar Environment Effects resulting from Human Exploration and Occupation of the Moon: deadline 30 January 2024

• International Reference Ionosphere – Improved Real-Time Ionospheric Predictions with Data from Spaceborne Sensors and GNSS: deadline 31 March 2024

Advances in Space Research

• Space and Geophysical Observations and Recent Results Related to the African Continent, Vol. 73, Number 3, edited by Andrew Akala and Chigomezyo Ngwira

• New Results from DORIS for Science and Society, Vol. 72, Number 1, edited by D. Dettmering and E.J.O. Schrama.

• Recent Advances in Space Research in Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals, Vol. 71, Number 7, edited by Bülent Bayram

• Recent Progress in the Physics of the Sun and Heliosphere, Vol. 71, Number 4, edited by Istvan Ballai and Eduard P. Kontar

• Astrophysical Spectroscopy and Atomic Data Applications, Vol. 71, Number 2, edited by Milan S. Dimitrijević and Vladimir A. Srećković

More information on published issues, including tables of contents, available on the Elsevier ScienceDirect site.

ASR Looking for New Editors

The COSPAR journal Advances in Space Research is looking for new associate editors, in particular for Small Bodies of the Solar System and Remote Sensing. Aims and scope of this journal can be found at https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/advances-in-space-research/about/aims-andscope. Applications including CVs or questions can be sent at any time to the Editor-in-Chief

Pascal Willis (pascal.willis.17@gmail.com)

ASR New Impact Factor

[Pascal Willis, ASR Editor-In-Chief]

The new journal Impact Factors (IF 2022) have been delivered by Clarivate (ISI Web of Science). Advances in Space Research remains at its highest level ever (2.6). The Impact Factor is derived once per year by Clarivate, usually around the end of June. It corresponds to the ratio between the number of citations observed in 2022 in all scientific journals for papers published in the two previous years 2020 and 2021 in this specific journal. It then provides an indication on how many citations published papers in a specific journal receive. It is a standard indication of the scientific quality of the peer-reviewed journals. The Figure below demonstrates the constant improvements observed in the ASR IF in the past few years. Please note that, in 2012, the ASR Impact Factor (1.183) was less than half of the most recent value. Also note that Clarivate now provides only one decimal for their Impact factors, which could potentially explain the almost equal value for last two years in this Figure.

Clarivate also classifies journals in different scientific categories. This is important when comparing scientific journals in competition for publishing the best papers. In 2002, Advances in Space Research improved in terms of journal ranking in all categories, compared to other peer-reviewed journals in the same category compared to previous year: Engineering, Aerospace (8th/34), Astronomy & Astrophysics (34th/65), Geosciences, Multidisciplinary (105th/201), Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences (64th/94).

The figure below shows the evolution of the journal ranking for the past three years. The goal of each scientific journal is to be in the first quartile (in the first 25% of the best journal belonging to the same category in terms of Impact Factor). This is successfully done for Engineering, Aerospace, while Q2 is recently obtained for Astronomy & Astrophysics. Please also note that this journal almost barely reached the Q2 quartile this time (better than half of all journals in this category) for Geosciences, Multidisciplinary.

This may explain why the number of submissions to this journal keeps growing, from about 1,000-1,200 per year to over 1,00 last year and probably even more this year.

Submissions are welcome at any time and can be done using the journal submission Web site at https://www.editorialmanager.com/aisr

Book Review

Unleashing Yahweh: Ezekiel and the Northern Lights

By George Siscoe

2023, Maine Authors Publishing, Thomaston, Maine, USA, 195pp.

ISBN-10 1633813533, ISBN-13 978-1633813533

There have been a number of writings discussing and attributing to aurora the bizarre visions in the sky reported by Ezekiel as he sat in exile in Babylonia in about 590 BCE.

The extensive multi-decade study of Ezekiel, of mid-eastern history, and of solar and geophysical processes by George Siscoe (American Geophysical Union Fellow; former professor and department head of atmospheric sciences at UCLA; former research professor at Boston University, USA) has resulted in this fascinating posthumous publication of his scholarship.

From 2008 to his passing in March 2022, George founded and operated the unique Old Professor’s Bookshop in Belfast, Maine, USA. The book shop and its holdings reflected George’s far-ranging reading and scholarship in the sciences and humanities. And it provided the opportunity to bring to fruition his lengthy studies of solar and geophysical processes at the time of Ezekiel’s visions. Nancy Crooker, George’s wife and also an AGU Fellow in her own right, thankfully saw the book through the publication process after George’s death. Over the years I had the opportunity to discuss with George his ongoing Ezekiel studies, including many visits to his bookshop. I highly recommend this book for its thorough examinations of solar-terrestrial physical phenomena over the

millennia, and for the interwoven discussions of mid-eastern history. Of especial interest are George’s conclusions of how the auroral visions apparently solidified the concept by Ezekiel of monotheism, in contrast to the 100 or more location-specific gods that existed in the mideast in Ezekiel’s time.

[Louis J. Lanzerotti, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, and AT&T Bell Laboratories (ret.)]

The Lady Astronaut of Mars

By Mary Robinette Kowal Rip-off! (Audible) and Tor.com

This is a very readable story of Elma York, aged 63, who led the way to start a colony on Mars thirty years previous to the start of the book. I stumbled across this novella well after it was published (it was winner of the Hugo Novelette Award in 2014) and it appealed to me in several ways.

Firstly, this is no far-fetched tale of alien worlds and the sophisticated equipment needed to "boldly go"—although the technical details are solidly based—but it is set, for the most part, on Mars in an artificial dome that functions very much like the world we know on Earth. This gives us an already familiar atmosphere (no pun intended) without the need for extra special effects. The new settlement was planned after a large asteroid hit Earth and the nations of our world realised that they needed to unite to find a better future for the human race elsewhere and so the move to the Red Planet was set in motion. We have descriptions of the current (dusty) living quarters on Mars, the tourists at the space centre, the need for vitamin D, the effects of space radiation, and Elma, the main character,

looking back at space history and her own pioneering role in it.

Elma is a true pioneer, as a female astronaut and as one of the key people in the First Mars Expedition. She was the focus of a massive publicity campaign to promote it, a poster girl to drum up support for the move to another planet. It gives an interesting take on the struggle that women go through to find their place in space, and beyond, the pressure to be presentable, and the balancing act between work life and home life. We learn about her marriage to and partnership with Nathanial, a space engineer programmer, still working despite weakening health. Elma has to take a hard decision.

It is also a story about the importance of role models, especially for women, as we meet another character, Dorothy, seen both as a child when Elma was most recognisable, and as she is in the current situation, a doctor on Mars. I enjoyed the very human side of this tale of trailblazing in the stars, and felt that the scenario was credible. I warmed to the main characters and was gripped until the end.

And it’s available in an audio format too (it appeared first in fact as an audio book in 2012) and can thus reach a wider audience. Which it deserves to. There are two other stories in this mini-series, The Fated Sky and The Calculating Stars, covering other periods of the Lady Astronaut’s career, but they can be read independently.

[L. Fergus, Executive Editor, SRT]

What Caught the Editor’s Eye

[Leigh Fergus, Space Research Today Executive Editor]

Afilm that caught my eye recently was the latest Wes Anderson: "Asteroid City", released this year. A far cry from the CGI-saturated and special effects-laden blockbusters that regularly hit the cinemas these days, this is a nostalgic vision of the US mid-west, set in a lost half-finished town in the desert inV the 1950s, complete with pastel-coloured diner, motel and petrol station. Oh, and the occasional atomic test booming, unthreateningly, in the distance. The town was the site of a meteorite impact 5,000 years ago, a ludicrous simple fenced-off path leads to the crater, presumably for paid visits. The film is a story within a story, one plotline being the town hosting a competition for gifted children and their scientific inventions (including a death ray, a jet pack, and a device to project images onto the surface of the moon), a sort of mini space cadet convention. We see the children—and their parents—as they come to receive their awards and take part in the annual celebration of the asteroid impact, and how this particular event is interrupted. The other parallel storyline is the backstage writing and production of this story, and the people involved.

I won’t spoil the intrigue, but what I enjoyed, apart from references to a number of classic films (The Misfits, Bad Day at Black Rock, etc) were the cheeky nods to the fields covered by our COSPAR Scientific Commissions and Panels, particularly PE, PPP, PoIS, CIR, PSSH and Commissions B and F. The characters show a yearning throughout to understand—life, the universe, other people—and to be understood. Recurring phrases are “It’s for an experiment” and “I understand” and although some admit to feeling more at home outside the Earth’s atmosphere, there is still an attempt to find meaning and connection with others, a universal quest. A pity there was little diversity in the largely white “star-studded” cast (can you spot Tilda Swinton? Jarvis Cocker?), but nevertheless this is a fun, stylised film, unmistakeably a Wes Anderson—and the three little girls, Pandora, Andromeda and Cassiopeia, steal the show.

As AI has hit the headlines and looks set to feature increasingly large in our lives now as the likes of ChatGPT take off, it was refreshing to read about the musician Grimes’ take on AI. She has released her own voice software, Elf.tech, a royalty-free source of inspiration that musicians can dip into and use however they wish. In an interview in the New York Times (24 May 2023), the cyber-pop artiste talks about her passion for AI and all things space-related. While many artists are opposed to AI, citing an end to creative input, Grimes is eager to see more developments in this field and seems to be trailblazing. A couple of hits incorporating her voice have already been released by other artists with whom she plans to cooperate on future creative projects.

An unexpected benefit for someone who struggles with software such as PhotoShop and InDesign is the AI application of Text to Canva.

I don’t mean to advertise, but this recently discovered type of software is a game-changer for anyone looking to illustrate their publications without having to check copyright issues or without the time to trawl through the infinity of royalty-free images available online.

I’ll always prefer ‘real’ photographs if I can get them, but now I have an alternative for simple illustrations.

I was also intrigued to read about another use for 3D printing, this time for food produced in space. An article in the Lunar and Planetary Institute’s Planetary News https://www.lpi.usra.edu/ planetary_news/2023/06/06/printing-space-cake-with-software-based-laser-cooking/ informs us that “This food-making method can utilize in-situ-produced food as raw materials for the bioink fed into a 3D printer. The versatility of the ink composition used to print foods will facilitate adjusting nutrients based on real-time data on astronauts’ physical conditions and metabolic requirements.” While there may be limitations in the variety of food that can be rustled up in the confines of deep space exploration missions (number of ingredients, different heat required for cooking each ingredient, according to the article), it does seem an excellent use of resources. Will chefs on Earth soon be bringing out not just new cookery books, but printing their own ingredients?

(Image generated by Test to Image in Canva)

Letter from the Editor

[Richard Harrison, General Editor]

Are we obsessed with discovery?

We often include Letters to the Editor, and, as always, encourage you to write, to comment on issues raised in SRT or simply to make a point, to announce something or to describe an activity or event. For once, though, here is a Letter from the General Editor. Indeed, it raises an issue that you might want to comment on:

It has worried me for some time that in the space science arena we have something of a conflict that is rarely noted. When we select new missions, when we report on missions through the media, even when we pursue our own research, we are often driven by a desire to discover or to announce new discoveries.

So, what is wrong with that? Well, let me give a hypothetical example. Suppose we are selecting a new space mission and we have two candidates on the table. Let’s say that one of these is a new solar physics mission designed to study the Sun at better spatial and temporal resolutions, and with unprecedented spectral observations, that allow advances over previous missions. On the other hand, consider a new mission that will land on Neptune’s moon, Triton. One of these would provide new advances in a welldeveloped, or relatively mature, space science research discipline, increasing our knowledge of our Sun’s atmosphere. The other would be completely new. So, one might be seen as incremental, in terms of scientific advances, and the other as sheer discovery; something completely new. In a sense, one might be poorly noted by the media or politicians, but the other would clearly hit the headlines.

So, how do you choose? They are both of value, of course, and you could argue that they

are of equal value, but are the space agencies driven by the discovery missions, those that grab the headlines or even raise a flag on a new destination in the Solar System? Is there a danger that the more established, more mature fields might lose out? Ironically, it is those fields that are established that have built international strengths from earlier missions that have already made the ‘discoveries’ and we do need to support those fields as they mature, and not regard them as of less value or ‘done’. The aim is to advance science rather than to tick boxes.

I have the impression that there are instances where the desire to chase new discoveries has won over the ‘incremental’ missions. In short, we must go into this with our eyes open and recognise that there are, indeed, two types of mission, two types of field, in space science, namely those in a discovery phase and those in a mature phase, and ensure that we do not restrict the latter. In terms of missions, the space agencies need to serve both.

This is nothing new. In the Apollo days, the early missions were the discovery phase and the world watched in awe. For the last few landings the media and the politicians were losing interest. Indeed, despite the wonderful achievement in any of the Saturn V launches, it did seem to reach the point where a successful launch was becoming boring!

"We need to educate the media"

The message for those of us in space science is clear. We need to educate the media, the politicians, even our own space agencies, to ensure that there is a balanced programme. That is something that has to be done from grass-roots level in your individual countries. Assessment of space science missions and achievements must be done with an understanding of the value of both discovery and mature field scenarios.

"Are the space agencies driven by the discovery missions?

"

Submissions to Space Research Today

Anyone is welcome, indeed encouraged, to submit an article or news item to Space Research Today. As we are the main information bulletin of COSPAR, we are particularly focused on issues and news related to COSPAR business, to space research news and events, including meetings, around the world. In the spirit of a bulletin publication, we aim to be as flexible as possible in the submission procedures. Submission should be made in English, by e-mail to any member of the Editorial Team (see contact details given earlier).

Submissions may be made in (i) e-mail text, with attached image files if required, and (ii) As Word files with embedded images (colour is encouraged). Other formats can be considered; please contact the editorial team with your request. If you are submitting an article, please include ‘about the author’ information, i.e. a paragraph about yourself with an image.

The nominal deadlines are 1 February for the April issue, 1 June for the August issue, and 1 October for the December issue, but material can be submitted at any time. The editors will always be pleased to receive the following types of inputs or submissions, among others:

Research Highlight articles: These are generally substantial, current review articles that can be expected to be of interest to the general space community, extending from two pages to over five pages, with figures and images (again, colour encouraged). These could be reports on space missions, scientific reports, articles on space strategy or history.

In Brief articles: short research or news announcements up to three pages, with images as appropriate.

COSPAR News and COSPAR People: articles related to COSPAR business, reporting on particular activities, meetings or events.

Snapshots: striking space research related images (e.g. a spacecraft launch, a planetary encounter image, a large solar flare, or a historical image, particularly related to COSPAR) for which we require the image and a single paragraph caption, plus the image credit.

In Memoriam submissions: Articles extending to a few pages, including an image, about a significant figure in the COSPAR community.

Letters to the Editor: Up to two or three pages on any subject relevant to COSPAR and space research in general. These can cover news, opinions on strategy, or scientific results.

Meeting announcements: meeting reports and book reviews all welcome.

Articles are not refereed, but the decision to publish is the responsibility of the General Editor and his editorial team.

COSPAR – Committee on Space Research

Furthering research, exploration, and the peaceful use of outer space through international cooperation

COSPAR was established by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), now the International Science Council (ISC), in October 1958 to continue the cooperative programmes of rocket and satellite research successfully undertaken during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. The ICSU resolution creating COSPAR stated that its primary purpose was to "provide the world scientific community with the means whereby it may exploit the possibilities of satellites and space probes of all kinds for scientific purposes, and exchange the resulting data on a cooperative basis". Accordingly, COSPAR is an interdisciplinary scientific organization concerned with the promotion and progress, on an international scale, of all kinds of scientific research carried out with space vehicles, rockets and balloons. COSPAR’s objectives are carried out by the international community of scientists working through ISC and its adhering National Academies and International Scientific Unions. Operating under the rules of ISC, COSPAR considers all questions solely from the scientific viewpoint and takes no account of political considerations.

Composition of COSPAR

COSPAR Members are National Scientific Institutions, as defined by ISC, actively engaged in space research and International Scientific Unions federated in ISC which desire membership. The COSPAR Bureau manages the activities of the Committee on a day-to-day basis for the Council – COSPAR’s principal body – which comprises COSPAR’s President, one official representative of each Member National Scientific Institution and International Scientific Union, the Chairs of COSPAR Scientific Commissions, and the Finance Committee Chair.

COSPAR also recognizes as Associates individual scientists taking part in its activities and, as Associated Supporters, public or private organizations or individuals wishing to support COSPAR’s activities. Current members in this category are Airbus Defence and Space SAS, Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), Germany; China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), China; China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), China; Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales (GIFAS), France; the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Switzerland.

COSPAR also has an Industry Partner programme to encourage strategic engagement with relevant industries who wish to be involved in the activities of COSPAR and support its mission. The current Industry Partner is Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA.

COSPAR Bureau

(2022-2026)

President: P. Ehrenfreund (Netherlands/USA)

Vice Presidents: C. Cesarsky (France), P. Ubertini (Italy)

Other Members: V. Angelopoulos (USA), M. Fujimoto (Japan), M. Grande (UK), P. Rettberg (Germany), I. Stanislawska (Poland), C. Wang (China)

COSPAR Finance Committee (2022-2026)

Chair: I. Cairns (Australia)

Members: C. Mandrini (Argentina), J.-P. St Maurice (Canada)

COSPAR Publications Committee

Chair: P. Ubertini (Italy)

Ex Officio: P. Ehrenfreund (Netherlands/USA), J.-C. Worms (France), R.A. Harrison (UK), T. Hei (USA), M. Shea (USA), P. Willis (France)

Other Members: A. Bazzano (Italy), M. Klimenko (Russia), G. Reitz (Germany), M. Story (USA), P. Visser (Netherlands)

COSPAR Secretariat

Executive Director: J.-C. Worms

Associate Director: A. Janofsky

Administrative Coordinator: L. Fergus Swan

Accountant: A. Stepniak

Visit the website for details of COSPAR governance

COSPAR Secretariat, c/o CNES, 2 place Maurice Quentin 75039 Paris Cedex 01, France

Tel : +33 (0) 1 44 76 74 41, +33 (0)4 67 54 87 77

E-mail: cospar@cosparhq.cnes.fr, Web: https://cosparhq.cnes.fr

Chairs & Vice-Chairs of COSPAR’s Scientific Commissions

SC A on Space Studies of the Earth's Surface, Meteorology and Climate

R. Kahn (USA, Chair)

J. Benveniste (ESA/ESRIN)

SC E on Research in Astrophysics from Space

T. Belloni (Italy; Chair)

E. Churazov (Germany), B. Schmieder (France), W. Yu (China)

SC B on Space Studies of the Earth-Moon System, Planets, and Small Bodies of the Solar System

H. Yano (Japan; Chair)

B. Foing (Netherlands), R. Lopes (USA)

SC F on Life Sciences as Related to Space

T.K. Hei (USA; Chair)

G. Baiocco (Italy), J. Kiss (Germany), P. Rettberg (Germany), Y. Sun (China)

SC C on Space Studies of the Upper Atmospheres of the Earth and Planets, including Reference Atmospheres

A. Yau (Canada, Chair)

P.R. Fagundes (Brazil), D. Pallamraju (India), E. Yigit (USA)

SC G on Materials Sciences in Space

M. Avila (Germany; Chair)

K. Brinkert (UK), J. Porter (Spain), A. Romero-Calvo (USA)

SC D on Space Plasmas in the Solar System, including Planetary Magnetospheres

N. Vilmer (France, Chair)

A. Gil-Swiderska (Poland), J. Zhang (USA)

SC H on Fundamental Physics in Space

M. Rodrigues (France; Chair)

O. Bertolami (Portugal), S. Hermenn (Germany), P. McNamara (ESA/ESTEC)

Chairs & Vice-Chairs of COSPAR’s Panels

Panel on Capacity Building (PCB)

J.C. Gabriel (Spain; Chair)

D. Altamirano (UK), D. Bilitza (USA), M. C. Damas (USA), D. Perrone (Italy), R. Smith (USA), Z. Su (Netherlands), M. Tshisaphungo (S. Africa)

Panel on Exploration (PEX)

TBD,

B. Foing (Netherlands), C. McKay (USA), F. Westall (France)

Panel on Radiation Belt Environment Modelling (PRBEM)

Y. Miyoshi (Japan, Chair)

A. Brunet (France), Y. Shprits (Germany), Y. Zheng (USA)

Panel on Social Sciences and Humanities (PSSH)

I. Sourbès-Verger (France; Chair)

N. Hedman (Austria)

Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP)

A. Coustenis (France; Chair)

P. Doran (USA), N. Hedman (UNOOSA)

Panel on Potentially Environmentally Detrimental Activities in Space (PEDAS)

C. Frueh (USA),

C. Pardini (Italy)

Technical Panel on Satellite Dynamics (PSD)

H. Peter (Germany; Chair)

A. Jäggi (Switzerland), S. Jin (China), F. Topputo (Italy)

Panel on Innovative Solutions (PoIS)

E.H. Smith (USA, Chair)

G. Danos (Cyprus), I. Kitiashvili (USA)

Panel on Education (PE)

R. Doran (Portugal; Chair)

M.C. Damas (USA), S. Benitez Herrera (Spain), G. Rojas (Portugal)

Panel on Technical Problems Related to Scientific Ballooning (PSB)

M. Abrahamsson (Sweden; Chair)

V. Dubourg (France), H. Fuke (Japan), E. Udinski (USA)

Panel on Interstellar Research (PIR)

R. McNutt (USA; Chair)

R. Wimmer-Schweingruber (Germany)

Panel on Space Weather (PSW)

M. Kuznetsova (USA; Chair)

J.E.R. Costa (Brazil), S. Gadimova (UNOOSA), N. Gopalswamy (USA), H. Opgenoorth (Sweden)

CHAIRS OF COSPAR / JOINT TASK GROUPS (TG):

URSI/COSPAR Task Group on the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI)

Chair: Vladimir Truhlik (Czech Rep.), 2022 – 2026

COSPAR/URSI Task Group on Reference Atmospheres, including ISO WG4 (CIRA)

Chair: Sean Bruinsma (France), 2021 – 2024

Task Group on Reference Atmospheres of Planets and Satellites (RAPS)

Chair: Hilary Justh (USA), 2021 – 2024

Task Group on the GEO (TG GEO)

Chair: Suresh Vannan (USA) 2022 – 2026

Task Group on Establishing a Constellation of Small Satellites (TGCSS)

Chair: Dan Baker (USA), 2020 – 2024

Sub-Group on Radiation Belts (TGCSS – SGRB)

Chair: Ji Wu (China), 2021 – 2025

Task Group on Establishing an International Geospace Systems Program (TGIGSP)

Chair: Larry Kepko (USA), 2021 – 2025

Task Group on IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Initiative (TGII)

Chair: Mary Snitch (USA), 2022 – 2026

Advisory board: Committee on Industry Relations

Chair: Nelson Pedreiro (Lockheed Martin, USA)

Space Research Today Editorial Officers

General Editor: R.A. Harrison, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK. Tel: +44 1235 44 6884, E-mail: richard.harrison@stfc.ac.uk

Executive Editor: L. Fergus Swan (leigh.fergus@cosparhq.cnes.fr)

Associate Editors: J.-C. Worms (France; cospar@cosparhq.cnes.fr), D. Altamirano (UK; d.altamirano@soton.ac.uk), Y. Kasai (Japan; ykasai@nict.go.jp), E.C. Laiakis (USA; ecl28@georgetown.edu), H. Peter (Germany; heike.peter@positim.com)

SPACE RESEARCH TODAY PUBLISHING INFORMATION

ISSN: 2647:9933

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Space Research Today (3 issues per annum) is published by COSPAR and can be freely viewed or downloaded from the COSPAR website https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/ No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission from the publisher or the copyright holders. COSPAR does not necessarily agree with opinions expressed in articles in Space Research Today.