SPACE: Critical Minerals – Land, Sea…or Space

Posted on February 27, 2025March 1, 2025 by Building The World

Land, sea, or space – where is the best place to mine critical minerals? Image: “Three Globes” by Alex Carmona, 2001. Public Domain, with appreciation.

Land, Sea, or Space – the search for critical minerals has increased in importance, and value, with the advent of renewable energy technologies requiring mineral-dependent battery storage. This week, Ukraine and the United States were about to finalize a deal for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals as spoils of war, with an unclear promise of protection stating “we’ll be looking to future security later on” (Butenko 2025). Ukraine holds about 5% of the planet’s land-based critical minerals including 19 million tonnes of graphite, essential for batteries powering electric vehicles, as well as one-third of all European deposits of lithium, another battery essential. It should be noted that Ukraine’s President Zelensky opened up the topic for discussion several months ago when the US administration appeared to be swinging into a more transactional stance; the deal appears to be in question, following a meeting on 28 February 2025. World Economic Forum reports Ukraine has 20,000 mineral deposit sites with only 15% yet tapped.

There are three places where minerals and metals can be obtained: land, sea, and – now – space. All three have problems, and potential, but some say space mining may be the least destructive.

Chuquicamata mine, Chile: largest open pit copper mine in the world. Photograph by Diego Delso, 2016. CC by- SA. With appreciation.

Land mining for minerals like cobalt or copper, for example, inflicts environmental damage, affects First Nation or Indigenous people on whose land such mining often occurs, and adversely influences public health. In some mining areas, like the Democratic Republic of Congo, human rights violations are a concerning problem.

Seabed mining would cause yet-unknown destruction to the marine environment. Print of sea anemone (Actiniaria) by Giacomo Merculiano, 1893. Pubic Domain, with appreciation.

Seabed mining may pose even greater environmental damage. Mining always involves explosives and massive disruption. It’s bad enough on land, but what will happen when explosions and digging by autonomous robotic bulldozers hack open the deep seabed’s polymetallic nodules to harvest cobalt, nickel, and other critical minerals? How far will ocean current carry and spread debris? And, which victor would own the spoils? The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) assigns the right to exploit mineral resources only to a set point for coastal nations. Everything beyond 200 nautical miles belongs to everyone: it is the blue commons. Managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), seabed mining is advancing: contracts moving from exploration to exploitation are in development. There is cause for concern. So, if land and seabed pose environmental, economic, health, and political problems, what’s left? Look up.

Asteroids contain an abundance of critical minerals: advocates of space mining point out that no environmental damage to (known) habitat would occur. Image: “Comparative sizes of eight asteroids by NASA, JPL-Caltech/JAXA/ESA. 2011. Public Domain with appreciation.

Space mining may offer access to critical minerals without disturbing land, or sea. Asteroids contain an abundance of cobalt, copper, graphite, iron, nickel, platinum, and rare earth elements, among others. Japan’s space agency JAXA recently obtained asteroid samples for analysis. China will launch Tianwen-2 to explore asteroid 2016HO3, and then visit the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. United Arab Emirates plans a similar trip in 2028. NASA in the US scooped material from Bennu and will visit Psyche in 2029 to sample the metals worth $10,000 quadrillion – more than the entire global economy.

While governments have resources for launches and collections (it cost NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, Asteroid Sample Return Mission, $800 million), private enterprise may play a role. Early entrant Planetary Resources failed to launch, as did Deep Space Industries. New companies like US-based TransAstra and China’s Origin Space are developing space mining. But the first place runner may be AstroForge. Founded by Jose Acain and Matt Gialich, the company’s strategy is to launch a patented mini-refinery that can perform mineral extraction while in space, and return to Earth only the valuable material from metallic (M-type) asteroids. Set for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon 9, AstroForge’s “Odin” will travel to Asteroid 2022 OB5, about 403,000 miles (649,000 kilometers) from Earth to examine what is expected to be a M-type asteroid rich with platinum.

Asteroids identified by NASA’s Near-Earth Objects search: now over 18,000 with a discovery rate of 40 more per week. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech, 2018. Public domain with appreciation.

Which is preferable: mining critical minerals from land, sea, or space? The first two surely have environmental and political problems. The third may cause space debris, a different kind of environmental issue. But, as space policy attorney Paul Stimers observed: “We are removing a rock from something that has no life, no ecology, no indigenous people – none of the downsides of traditional mining.” Legal concerns involve law firms like Stimer’s Holland & Knight or the Duchy of Luxembourg where many space exploration private companies register. Global legal frameworks are spare. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 mentions only countries, but not private enterprise. The Convention on International Liability for Damage caused by Space Objects, implemented in 1972 , considers space debris. But who owns asteroids? Apparently, anyone who can get there – and back.

Abdurasulov, Abdujalil and Robert Plummer. “What minerals does Ukraine have and what are they used for?” 26 February 2025. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20le8jn282o

AstroForge. https://www.astroforge.com

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Renewing Minerals – New Energy Paradigm.” Building the World Blog. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/year-2024-renewing-mineals-new-energy-paradigm/

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Speedo Diplomacy and Buried Treasure: Deep Sea Mining and Marine Protected Areas.” Renewing the World: Casebook for Leadership in Water. 2024. ISBN: 979-8-985035957. https://renewingtheworld.com

Brooke, K. Lusk. “SPACE: Bienvenu, Bennu – Rock Star.” 23 September 2023. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2023/09/25/space-bienvenu-bennu-rock-star/

Butenko, Victoria, Nick Paton Walsh, and Gul Tuysuz. “US and Ukraine agree to terms on natural resources and reconstruction deal, Ukrainian official says.” 26 February 2025. CNN. https://cnn.com/2025/02/25/europe/us-ukraine-resources-reconstruction-deal-intl-latam/index.html

Gunia, Amy. “Minerals are in short supply on Earth. This startup wants to mine asteroids.” 23 April 2024. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/world/astroforge-asteroid-mining-nasa-spc-scn?

Holland & Knight. https://www.hklaw.com

NASA. “OSIRIS-REx, Asteroid Sample Return Mission.” 2016. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0siris-rex_press_kit_0.pdf

Saltman, Max, Katharina Krebs, and Matthew Chance. “Russia says it’s open to economic cooperation with US on rare earth minerals and energy.” 24 February 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/europe/putin-russia-us-cooperation-economy-rare-earths-intl-latam?

United Nations. Office for Outer Space Affairs. “Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.” 1972. http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introliability-convention.html

United Nations. “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.” 1967. https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm

Wattles, Jackie. “A tiny spacecraft is poised to launch on an unprecedented deep-space mission.” 25 February 2025. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/25/science/astroforge-asteroid-mining-spacex-launch?

Xinhua. “China to launch Tianwen-2 mission to explore asteroid.” 25 April 2023. CNSA. https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465652/n6465653/c10003702/content.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

ENERGY: If Walls Could Talk

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Building The World

**Technology may give us walls that talk, and charge our phones at the same time**. Image: “Talking Walls of Shtula Village” by Zeller Zalmanson, Pikiwiki Israel project. Creative Commons 2.5. Included with appreciation.

Nikola Telsa was there first; Peter Glaser, next. Telsa was sending wireless power from Niagara Falls; Glaser, from space to earth. Now, technology might free your mobile phone from battery recharging when you are in a wi-fi zone. And the walls of your office or school could tell a tale or two.

**London Bridge** **Tube Station in England has wifi**; so does British Rail. Image: Boston’s Zakim Bridge. Photography by Eric Vance, US EPA. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

It’s more than just a personal device. The rectenna converts AC electromagnetic waves into DC electricity. New MIT-designed rectennae could stretch across highways or bridges, making it possible to report all manner of developments while recharging an array of options. The technology, developed by Professor Tomás Palacios of MIT/MTL Center for Graphene Devices and 2D Systems in the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MIT-CG), might extend the internet of things. Partners in the project include Technical University of Madrid, Boston University, and other institutions and research labs.

**Intestinal walls can talk too, via capsule endoscopy**. Image: Dr. H.H. Krause, 2013. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Another application? A medical device you may happen to wear like an insulin pump, watchman, or pacemaker, or even a diagnostic “pill or capsule” that patients swallow to circulate internally and report data. Such pills cannot be powered by batteries lest lithium might leak toxins. Developments at MIT’s Medical Electronic Device Realization Center (MEDRC) may advance the information-driven healthcare sector.

**Miniaturization of communications technology may have begun with the NASA Apollo lunar missions.** Image: “Surveyor 3 – Apollo 12,” NASA. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Where did the miniaturization trend begin? Many trace miniaturization communications technology to the early days of the US Apollo space mission; the capability proved to have uses on earth, too.

**Charge your phone from ambient wifi?** “A cell phone” by Pixabay, 2015. Creative Commons0 1.0. Included with appreciation.

At the beach? Visit the coffee kiosk where wifi might charge your phone. Even whole cities are going live: Philadelphia declared it would be the first municipal wifi network in 2004: the vision is still to be completed. Offices have wifi; so do airports, hospital lobbies, schools. It’s a two-way proposition: charging and also data-collecting. Now, wi-fi harvesting devices could give new meaning to the phrase: “If walls could talk.”

Glaser, Peter. “Method and Apparatus for Converting Solar Radiation to Electrical Power.” US Patent 3,781,647. 1973.

Matheson, Rob. “Converting Wi-Fi-signals o electricity with new 2-D materials.” 28 January 2019. MIT News Office. https://news.mit.edu/2019/converting-wi-fi-signals-electricity-0128

Zhang, Xu, et al., “Two-dimensional MoS2 enabled flexible rectenna for Wi-Fi-band wireless energy harvesting.” 28 January 2019. Nature 566, pages 368-372. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-0892-1

SPACE: Wood – Satellite Innovation

Posted on December 3, 2024December 2, 2024 by Building The World

**LignoSat will join orbiting satellites, testing the concept of wood in space.** Image: “Animation of GPS satellite orbits” by Phoenix 7777, 2018. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

It’s small (just 4 inches/10 centimeters each side) but Japan’s new satellite innovation could change the way we build for, and communicate from, space.

**Like Sputnik, pictured above, most satellites are made of aluminum.** Image: “Sputnik” by US Airforce photo. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Sputnik began the space age on 4 October 1957; the US followed with Explorer 1 on 31 January 1958. When the world’s telecommunications countries joined together to create COMSAT Corporation in 1963, a new era of space communication began to dot the skies with satellites. Most are fabricated from aluminum. While aluminum is light and strong, it burns when re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, producing aluminum oxides that damage the protective ozone layer. With over 6,000 satellites currently in orbit in the macro cluster of SpaceX’s Starlink (with plans to expand to 42,000), satellites active in 2024 numbered 28,300. When these are decommissioned, the amount of space debris could be dangerous.

Professor Takao Doi, JAXA and NASA astronaut, pioneered a new satellite design using wood. Image: NASA 1997. Public Domain, and included with appreciation to JAXA and NASA, and to Professor Doi.

Enter Takao Doi, former NASA and JAXA astronaut, now a professor at Kyoto University. In a cooperative venture with Sumitomo Forestry, Doi proposed a satellite made of wood. As an astronaut, Doi had witnessed many space vehicles in orbit. Could the aluminum problem be solved with another material, one as old as human building in its earliest times? A special Japanese wood, honoki, from native magnolia trees became the preferred source. Some honoki wood was sent to the International Space Station for testing. It passed; the satellite design was then built. LignoSat 1 (Ligno is Latin for “wood”) launched in November 2024.

Could wood cause fewer problems than aluminum space debris? Image: NASA “Space Debris” 2005. Public Domain.

Advantages to using wood are many. Wood may be better than aluminum space debris, an increasing problem. Wood does not damage the atmosphere. Wood can allow signals to pass through the material. This means communications antennae do not have to be outside the satellite, making the vessel less prone to malfunction.

LignoSat is constructed using Japanese Magnolia Tree wood. Image: “Magnolia Tree Kenosha” by Catholic Laitinen, 2013. Dedicated by the photographer to the Public Domain.

Wood is one of the oldest human building materials, now it may be the newest – in space. Watch LignoSat’s launch video here.

Brooke, K. Lusk and Z. Quinn. “SPACE: Global Connectivity.” Building the World Blog, 30 March 2023. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2023/03/30/space-global-connectivity/

Brooke, K. Lusk and Z. Quinn. “SPACE: Debris.” Building the World Blog, 18 November 2021. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2021/11/18/space-debris/

Davidson, Frank P. and K. Lusk Brooke. “COMSAT” Chapter 33 in Building the World, pages 623-639. Westport: Greenwood, 2006. ISBN:031333377412.

Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) https://global.jaxa.jp

JAXA. “Humans in Space Series: Takao DOI – first Japanese astronaut to participate in EVA” https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/astronaut/doi-takao/

Kyoto University “Professor Takao Doi.” https://kdb.iimc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/profile/en.a60ccd0956b513ef.html

Sumitomo Forestry. https://sfc.jp/english/

Wall, Mike. “World’s first wooden satellite arrives at ISS for key orbital test.” 5 November 2024. SPACE. https://www.space.com/space-exploration-satellites/worlds-1st-wooden-satellite-arrives-at-iss-for-key-orbital-test

Wilson, Despina. “Revealed: Number of operational satellites in orbit, 2024.” CEOWORLD Magazine. https://ceoworld.biz/2024/07/18/revealed-number-of-operational-satellites-in-orbit-2024/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

SPACE: Methane EYE in the SKY

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Building The World

**MethaneSAT: New Eye in the Sky.** Image: “Eye in the Sky” book cover design circa 1957 by Ed Valigursky. This image is in the public domain,CC0 1.0, and included with appreciation.

It’s odorless, colorless, but not harmless. Methane, found in land and under the seabed (where the Earth’s largest reservoir is located in the form of methane clathrates), can severely damage the planet when it escapes into the air. Atmospheric methane increased 170% since the Industrial Revolution. Methane is powerful: it causes 30% of global warming, and is more potent than carbon dioxide (one ton of methane = 82.5 tons of carbon dioxide).

Methane may be both the greatest danger and the greatest hope to save the Earth. That’s why those at COP26 in Glasgow cheered when 155 countries pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, signing the Global Methane Pledge.

**MethaneSAT** will circle the Earth 15 times per day, spotting methane emitters and then making the data public. Image: “Animation of GPS Satellite 2015-2018, based on JPL/NASA data.” by Phoenix7777. Creative commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Look through the eyes, and instruments, of Steven Wofsy, Harvard Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, principal investigator, and Steven Hamburg, Environmental Defense Fund chief scientist, who along with Harvard’s Kelly Chance, Daniel Jacob, and Xiong Liu, designed an innovative technology with an academic, commercial, scientific, and philanthropic communal effort that takes a cue from COMSAT. Partners include BAE, Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Canyon Technologies, Google, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Center for Astrophysics, IO Aerospace, New Zealand Space Agency (NZSA), Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and SpaceX. MethaneSAT will circle the planet 15 times each day, pinpointing methane emitters so exactly that the actual facility leaking or venting the gas can be identified and revealed: data will be public. Liu commented: “MethaneSAT is not simply collecting data; we’re putting data into action.” (Powell 2023) MethaneSAT will be not only an eye in the sky but a finger pointing to specific polluters.

**Coal and methane wells – turning a problem into an opportunity.** Image: “CBM Well” by U.S. Department of Energy, 2013. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Once called on the celestial carpet, polluters will have a chance to mitigate methane emissions, perhaps even finding a profit in doing so. Here’s an example: coal mining releases methane that is hidden in the micropores of coal and the seams of a mine. If MethaneSAT detects strong emissions in a mining operation, that gas can be captured before it is released. But it not just an expense: methane can be used as an energy source. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a Coal Mine Methane Project Cash Flow Model tool to coach mine operators on turning a problem into a profit center. Captured methane can be used as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). Natural gas, still a fossil fuel but less polluting than coal, is 97% methane. When gas is burned for energy generation, it releases carbon dioxide, still a problem but better than releasing more potent methane as waste.

Oil and gas industry: major methane emitter. Image: “Gas from Oselvar moduke on Ula Platform 2012” by photographer Varodrig. CC3.0. Included with appreciation.

The gas and oil sector produced 40% of the world’s methane emissions in 2021. All together, methane leaks contribute 24% of global methane emissions. Capturing methane and then burning it turns methane into carbon dioxide and water: not ideal but less polluting. Coal, gas, and oil are not the only sources of methane emissions: the gas leaks from cut peatlands, landfills and wastewater treatment plants, farming, especially rice, and also animal agriculture. Biofuels that use crop or forest waste to produce electricity use methane. Some of these methods may qualify for carbon credits. It is true that turning methane from an atmospheric emission to a carbon-dioxide-emitting fuel is not exactly a climate solution, but it is better than just releasing atmospheric methane, accelerating the crisis.

“Cesium CM1 Satellites” by CesiumAstro1. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

MethaneSAT is not the first satellite to monitor the greenhouse gas. It was preceded by, and still linked to, MethaneAIR: both are part of a progression developing from the realization that addressing methane must be the first step in phasing out fossil fuels. Other methane-tracking satellites include:

Carbon Mapper – https://carbonmapper.org

EMIT – https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/data/data-portal/Greenhouse-Gases

FENGYUN – https://satellite.nsmc.org.cn

Gaofen – https://eoportal.org

GHGSat – https://www.ghgsat.com

Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) – https://www.satnav.jaxa.jp

Tropomi – https://www.tropomi.eu

Limiting methane emissions can reduce global warming, change the course of the climate crisis, prevent 255,00 early deaths and 775,000 hospitalizations due to air pollution. and give us time to figure out the next challenge of limiting the damage by carbon dioxide that lasts longer. Methane is a low-hanging fruit. Now we have the right tools to identify (and fix) methane leaks and emissions, slowing acceleration of climate change.

**Acting now on methane could be the first big leap to saving the Earth from accelerating climate change**. Image: “Rotating Earth” by Goddard/NASA. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “This is the Methane Moment.” VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQiwTPDkKaE

Global Methane Pledge. https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/resources/global-methane-pledge

International Energy Agency (IEA), UNEP, and Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). “The Imperative of Cutting Methane from Fossil Fuels.” 23 November 2023. https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/sites/default/files/documents/2023-11/The%20Imperative%20of%20cutting%20methane%20from%20fossil%20fuels.pdf

Jacob, Daniel and Steven Wofsy with Jim Stock. “Satellite Detection of Methane Emissions.” Harvard Speaks on Climate Change, Salata Institute. VIDEO: https://youtu.be/rkRarcKgMmQ?si=3rsqyxVy86a-FrB_

Maguire, Yael. “How satellites, algorithms and AI can help map and trace methane sources.” 14 February 2024. Google Blog. AUDIO option. https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/how-satellites-algorithms-and-ai-can-help-map-and-trace-methane-sources/

Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.o). https:/ogmpartnership.com

MethaneSAT. “In Orbit.” 4 March 2024. https://www.methanesat.org/project-updates/methanesat-is-launching-today-on-groundbreaking-mission-to-protect-the-climate/

Powell, Alvin. “Buying crucial time in climate change flight.” The Harvard Gazette. 24 March 2023. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/03/methane-tracking-satellite-may-be-fastest-way-to-slow-climate-change

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “CMM Cash Flow Model.” https://www.epa.gov/cmop/cmm-cash-flow-model

Werner, Debra. “Not Invisible Anymore: Satellites reveal sources of atmospheric methane.” Space News. 25 January 2024. https://spacenews.com/satellites-reveal-sources-of-atmospheric-methane/

Wofsy, Steven C. “HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO): fine-grained, global-scale measurements of climatically important atmospheric gases and aerosols.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Volume 369, Issue 1943, 2011. https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1//30761051/21300274.pdf?sequence=1

Wofsy, Steven C. with Matt Goisman. “Steven Wofsy: Recently launched MethaneSAT emissions satellite.” 5 March 2024. Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. VIDEO. https://seas.harvard.edu/news/2024/03/cutting-edge-methane-monitor

World Bank. “Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR). 2024. https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/gasflaringreduction/methane-explained

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

WATER/SPACE: New Year’s Eve Invitation

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Building The World

“New Year’s Eve” celebration by videographer Cemp, 2019. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

New Year’s Eve is often celebrated by popping a cork, releasing bubbles of hope for health and happiness. This year, cork your name into a bottle, sending your greetings and wishes into the future. Who knows who might pop the cork?

**Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is a watery world that may support life.** Image: European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble, 2016. Included with appreciation.

NASA‘s Europa Clipper spacecraft, traveling 1.8 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers), will visit Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Evidence reveals a water world there that may support life. Arriving on the shore, in a very high-tech bottle, could be your name and a message.

“A bottle containing a sheet of music that has washed up on shore.” Image: snapwire, 2017. Dedicated by the photographer to the public domain. Included with appreciation.

This message will be from one water world to another. Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate, whose “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa” will grace the gift, has written this poem:

In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa by Ada Limón

Arching under the night sky inky

with black expansiveness, we point

to the planets we know, we

pin quick wishes on stars. From earth,

we read the sky as if it is an unerring book

of the universe, expert and evident.

Still, there are mysteries below our sky:

the whale song, the songbird singing

its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.

We are creatures of constant awe,

curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,

at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.

And it is not darkness that unites us,

not the cold distance of space, but

the offering of water, each drop of rain,

each rivulet, each pulse, each vein,

O second moon, we, too, are made

of water, of vast and beckoning seas.

We, too, are made of wonders, of great

and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,

of a need to call out through the dark.

You can listen to the poem, read by Ada Limón, here.

Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate. Photograph of Ada Limón by Christopher Michel, 2019. Included with appreciation.

Would you like to join Ada Limón by adding your name to NASA’s message in the bottle? Names submitted by 31 December 2023 will be etched on a microchip sent to Europa, when NASA launches the mission. To sign your name and send your greetings to the future, click here.

Sign your name on a message sent to Europa. Image: “Fountain pen” by photographer Petar Milošević, 2017. Creative Commons/wikimedia 4.0 license. Included with appreciation to Petar Milošević.

NASA. “Message in a Bottle.” 2023. https://europa.nasa.gov/message-in-a-bottle/sign-on/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

ENERGY: (Re)Vision for Coal

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Building The World

**Coal-fired power plants, repurposed, may offer great innovation opportunities.** Image: “Coal burning” by Diddi4, 2017. Creative Commons CC0. Included with appreciation.

Many are terming COP28 as the “beginning of the end.” While the desired wording of “phasing out” degraded into “transitioning,” still it was the first time directly naming and targeting “fossil fuels in energy systems.”

Of the three primary fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), coal is the most polluting. And it is also very expensive to mine: digging enormous holes in the ground, hauling up heavy materials, crushing, washing, transporting coal to plants that themselves are both expensive to run and in need of repair, replacement, or retirement. More than 80% of U.S. coal plants cost more to keep running than to replace with new forms of energy generation. Regulations will accelerate closings: the 2028 laws concerning protecting drinking water from coal ash and other toxins may make compliance prohibitively costly. Duke Energy announced intention to close 11 coal-fired power facilities earlier than expected, at the same time declaring a move to renewable energy investment. Georgia Power stated it would close all of its 14 coal plants (by 2035) while pivoting to solar and wind. Peabody Coal, largest private company in the coal business in the world, recently announced investment in solar and storage. (Marcacci, 2022).

Coal is the most polluting of the fossil fuels. Image: “Close up of smoke from coal stack” by John L. Alexandrowicz, 1975, National Archives and Records Administration, USA. Public Domain Creative Commons CC0. Included with appreciation.

Even if soon becoming obsolete in their original purpose, repurposed coal plants offer a valuable asset: they are already wired to the grid. That’s why repurposing rather than decommissioning coal-fired power plants may be a great opportunity. And, it should be noted that repurposing plants will keep jobs, taxes, and revenues in the community. Here’s two examples of advantageous repurposing of coal-fired power plants.

Brayton Point went from coal to wind. Image: “Aerial view of Brayton Point Power Station,” circa 1990, from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. CC2.0. Included with appreciation.

Brayton Point Power Station was once the biggest coal-fired power plant in New England, generating 1600 MW of electrical power for more than half a century. In 2017, the plant closed. One year later, Commercial Development Company, Inc., (CDC) bought what was left and started the process of clean-up, needed demolition, site re-grading, and preparing for a new vision. With 300 acres (121 hectares) on a spacious waterfront with a 34-feet (10 meters) deep water port, the site was advantageous. Brayton Point offered access to the powerful winds of the Atlantic Ocean. When partner Prysmian Group signed on to acquire 47 acres for construction of a subsea cable manufacturing facility, coal-to-wind transition was born with a planned energy capacity of 30GW. Partner Mayflower Wind will also take a role, bringing 1,200 MW to Brayton Point from its wind farms 30 miles (48 kilometers) off island Martha’s Vineyard and 20 miles (32 kilometers) off Nantucket. Brayton Point will serve as a valuable nexus for wind energy because it has legacy grid connections. A National Grid substation will bring power to one million homes. Further benefits are construction jobs (325) and area revenues ($250 million). More opportunities will open for tenants on the newly designed site.

Space Solar Power, wirelessly beamed to Earth, could use retired, repurposed coal-fired power plants as receiving and transmission stations. There are over 8,000 on the planet – offering an instant global distribution network. Caltech demonstrated success in 2023. Image: “Solar Power Satellite Concept” by NASA, 2011. Public domain image included with appreciation.

A powerful possibility is using former coal-fired power plants as land stations to receive and transmit space solar power. In 1971, visionary Peter E. Glaser filed US patent application US00165893A for “Method and apparatus for converting solar radiation to electrical power.” NASA started work on Glaser’s idea, but at the time space technology was not developed sufficiently to realize the potential. In 2023, the dream became vision with demonstrated proof. Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) and its Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment (MAPLE) sent a space solar power prototype into orbit, and wirelessly transmitted to a receiver on Earth – March 3, 2023 was the exact moment. The success was designed by a Caltech team led by Bren Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering, co-director of SSPP, Ali Hajimiri. It was with the help of Donald Bren, chair of Irvine Company. Bren had read an article in Popular Science as a young person and never forgot the concept. A series of donations launched the Caltech project. Northrop Grumman also donated. It might be noted that when space-based wireless power arrives on earth, the energy source may need receiving stations. Rather than build a whole new network, repurposed coal-fired plants, already connected to the grid, might stand at the ready to realize a new power system. With over 8,000 coal-fired power plants already in place, coal-fired power plants may be the ideal, already-built, global network for reception and distribution of space solar power.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech). “In a first, Caltech’s space solar power demonstrator wirelessly transmits power in space.” 1 June 2023. Caltech. Includes VIDEO. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news-in-a-first-caltechs-space-solar-power-demonstrator-wirelessly-transmits-power-in-space

Commercial Development Company, Inc. “Case Study: Repurposing New England’s Largest Coal-Fired Power Plant for Offshore Wind Energy.” 2023. https://www.cdcco.com/brayton-point/

Glaser, Peter E. “Method and apparatus for converting solar radiation to electrical power.” 1971. United States Patent application US00165893A. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3781647A/en

Hajimiri, Ali. “How wireless energy from space could power everything.” TED2030. https://go.ted.com/67UN

Marcacci, Silvio. “So much for coal’s rebound – plant closures come roaring back. It’s time to unlock a just transition.” 15 March 2022. Forbes. (Audio available). https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2022/03/15/so-much-for-coals-rebound-plant-closures-come-roaring-back-smart-policy-must-unlock-a-just-transition/

United Nations. Framework Convention on Climate Change. “First Global Stocktake,” 13 December 2023. FCCC/PA/CMA/2023/L.17. https://unfcc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2023_L17:adv.pdf

World Bank Group, Energy Sector Management Assistance Program. “Coal plant repurposing for ageing coal fleets in developing countries.” Technical report 016/21. License: Creative Commons 3.0 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/144181629878602689/pdf/Coal-Plant-Repurposing-for-Ageing-Coal-Fleets-in-Developing-Countries-Technical-Report.pdf

Yale Environment 360. “Canadian Coal-Fired Power Plant Transformed into Solar Farm.” 8 April 2019. Yale E360 Digest. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/canadian-nanticoke-coal-fired-power-plant-transformed-in-solar-farm

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

SPACE: Bienvenu, Bennu – Rock Star

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Building The World

“Mosaic of images showing Bennu’s rotation.” OSIRIS-REx, NASA, 2018. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

September – a good month for rock collecting. In September 1999, asteroid 101955 Bennu was first spotted by the collaborative team of NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, working together under acronym LINEAR. In addition to Bennu, the consortium discovered 140,00 minor planets, several comets, and some asteroids. A few of these celestial orbiters are potential unwanted visitors to Earth: Bennu could crash into our planet in September 2182. But NASA did not want to wait that long.

In 2018, the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) spacecraft launched, aiming for Bennu. It took two years to arrive, and then land on Bennu in October 2020 to collect samples. The landing was brief, called a “pogo stick:” a brief impact to plunge in and grab a sample to be returned to the spacecraft, and eventually to Earth. In September 2023, OSIRIS-REx flew near Earth to release a capsule containing Bennu samples to a landing spot in Utah, USA. The gift was promptly scooped up by a waiting NASA team and carefully loaded onto a special vehicle to bring it to a “clean room” with a continuous supply of nitrogen. Why nitrogen? It’s a gas that does not mingle or interact with most chemicals so keeping the capsule continuously bathed in nitrogen will wash away any earthly contaminants picked up en route and during the Utah landing.

Bennu, like Earth, orbits the sun. Bennu’s year is similar to Earth’s, with a year just 19 days longer than ours. “Animation of Bennu’s orbit around Earth” by graphic artist Phoenix 7777. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Today, 25 September, the capsule will continue its journey aboard an aircraft headed for the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The gift will be shared: NASA scientists will evaluate samples and distribute them globally to the space community. It should be noted that Bennu is not the first asteroid to be sampled and brought to Earth. In 2010, Japan returned asteroid particles from Itowaka (also identified by LINEAR). A sequel mission visited carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu to collect samples during the Hayabusa2 mission, bringing the collection to Earth in 2020. Ryugu’s specimens were also shared worldwide. Asteroids, now more visible with the James Webb Space Telescope, may be the next chapter in space exploration.

Asteroids, now more visible with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), may be the next chapter in space exploration. Image: “Asteroid 6481 Tenzing” by JWST, 2022. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Why are asteroids (the word means “star-like”) important? And, why Bennu? Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid with a diameter of 490 miles (788 kilometers). It’s dotted with boulders, some more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) in span. Of interest is Bennu’s probable possession of water. According to Professor Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, principal mission investigator and also chief scientist for the Peace Satellite Project, water would be the prize. Bennu could be a celestial “filling station” providing water for various uses including the production of hydrogen rocket fuel. While the surface water may evaporate, traces could remain, allowing NASA to assess the amount of water on and in Bennu. In addition to water, Bennu may contain valuable information about the origins of the universe.

Bennu, Egyptian deity, named after the Bennu Falcon that stands as tall as a human. Image: Egyptian papyrus, photographed by Cobrenet, 2007. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

What’s in a name? Bennu is an Egyptian deity in the form of a bird, often depicted as a heron. The name was the winner in a contest sponsored by the University of Arizona, along with LINEAR and The Planetary Society. It was a global contest, yielding 8,000 entries. The winner, and proud namer of the asteroid, was a third-grader Michael Puzio who attended school in North Carolina, USA. Following Puzio’s theme, NASA has named all of Bennu’s features after birds. The landing site was Nightingale, and a back-up location named Osprey. Interestingly, Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft was named for a falcon. And, of course, the USA’s first lunar lander of Apollo 11 was called Eagle.

**Apollo 11’s Lunar Lander was named “Eagle.**” Image: “Animated eagle” by Rovsen.vahabov, 2017. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Do you think naming space – celestial bodies as well as exploration missions and vehicles – should be open to the world’s students and citizen scientists? What would you name the next asteroid to be explored?

What would you name the next asteroid to be explored? Graphic by Eviatar Bach, 2011. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Bartels, Meghan. “Touchdown! Incredible Photos Show 2nd Asteroid Landing by Japan’s Hayabusa1.” 11 July 2019. Space.com. https://www.space.com/incredible-asteroid-n

Brooke, K. Lusk. “SPACE: Hayabusa Touchdown on Ryugu.” 21 September 2018. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2018/09/21/space-hayabusa-touchdown-on-ryugu/

Fox, Karen, Alana Johnson, Rani Gran, Rob Garner. “NASA’s First Asteroid Sample Has Landed, Now Secure in Clean Room.” 24 September 2023. NASA. https://www.nasa.gob/press-release/nasa-s-first-asteroid-sample-has-landed-now-secure-in-clean-room

Lauretta, Dante S., et al., “OSIRIS-REx: Sample Return from Asteroid (101955) Bennu.” 22 February 2017. Space Science Reviews, Volume 212, Issue 1-2, pages 925-964. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-01700405-1

Wall, Mike. “9-Year-Old Names Asteroid ‘Bennu’ for NASA Mission.” 1 May 2013. Space.com. https://www.space.com/20923-nine-year-old-names-asteroid.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

ENERGY/WATER: Deep Seabed Mining – Part 1

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Building The World

What kind of treasure is buried in the deep sea, and to whom does it belong? Image: “Brian Aqua by Month,” 2014, from data and images by NASA, public domain. Included with appreciation.

As the quest for clean energy continues, so does the search for battery components like cobalt, and other minerals. On land, mining has been an active industry, but resources are getting harder to access. Because land’s properties, and hidden treasures, are also present in the ocean, mining may be expanding to the seabed. The same thing happened in the energy sector earlier: oil wells were first drilled on land, then offshore.

“UNCLOS Maritime Zones – Exclusive Economic Zone and High Seas” by JK Donehue, 2020. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

The deep sea—and the seabed—are not the property of any single nation. Coastal countries do maintain proprietary rights to their waters to a distance of 200 nautical miles/230 land miles (370 km), known as an exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Within its EEZ, a country controls the rights to living and so-called “non-living” resources, including minerals. That means if a country is coastal, and it happens to have seabed minerals within the allotted reach, those resources are theirs to exploit without any permissions required.

“A schematic of mining of nodules on the deep seabed floor,” by MimiDeep, 2022. Creative Commons 1.0: dedicated to the pubic domain by the designer. Included with appreciation.

Minerals needed to supply the ever- growing demand for electric batteries include cobalt. There are three main types of cobalt deposits found in the seabed:

 polymetallic nodules found in the seabed;
 sulfide deposits found around hydrothermal vents; and
 ferromanganese crusts that line the sides of seamount crests and crusts.These areas contain cobalt, manganese, titanium, nickel, even gold. The relatively good news is that ferromanganese crusts can be found at more shallow depths of 0.25 to 3.0 miles (400 to 5,000 meters) where there is considerable volcanic action. A significant amount of cobalt deposits may lie within the EEZs of specific countries, so they would have access and rights there.

International Seabed Authority logo. Image by Anna Elaise, ISA, 2009. Creative Commons public domain. Included with appreciation.

Resources outside of national boundaries belong to the whole world (even land-locked, non-coastal countries). These rights are regulated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), established in 1994 as a follow-on to the UN Convention on the Law of Sea. Any country that is a signatory to UNCLOS (the U.S. is not, yet) may apply for an international seabed contract. ISA can grant two kinds of contracts: exploration and exploitation. The first gives permission to map where the desired minerals are and what might be necessary to reach and extract them. The second, exploitation, is mining. So far, all the contracts granted have been for exploration only. But that may soon change.

Nauru, third-smallest country in the world, may change history. “Aerial view of Nauru” by U.S. Department of Energy, 1999. Creative commons public domain. Included with appreciation.

Nauru, third-smallest nation in the world, applied to ISA and was granted an exploration contract for Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), a subsidiary company of DeepGreen, a Canadian company. DeepGreen merged with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corporation, and the new firm was named The Metals Company (TMC), which quickly began working in an area of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) designated as NORI-D. The contract was to develop nickel, and perhaps later other minerals.

Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), located in international waters between Hawaii and Mexico, may contain large deposits of valuable minerals. Image by NOAA, 2011. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Many valuable minerals are contained in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in international waters between Hawaii and Mexico. TMC estimates the CCZ area might contain the largest nickel deposit in the world. The polymetallic nodules there also contain manganese, copper, and cobalt. NORI embarked on 18 expeditions to evaluate resources as well as biodiversity, geochemistry, and the cyclic systems of nutrients. But mining the sea poses problems not yet encountered on land.

Exploration, and exploitation (mining) of the deep sea may pose problems not yet encountered on land. Image: “Deep Sea Exploration” by Dr. Steve Ross, NOAA, 2005. Creative commons, public domain. Included with appreciation.

The Republic of Nauru recently gave notice to the ISA of NORI’s intention to mine the CCZ. Nauru’ s official letter, dated 25 June 2021, invoked the “Two Year Rule,” requiring ISA to complete its decision. There is a provision in the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), found in Section 1(15), that requires ISA to make a decision on a proposed contract within two years. Hence the informal name, “Two-Year Rule.” The rule is on the books as a safeguard to those who are ready to mine, but blocked when the approval process stalls.

Sir David Attenborough at the Great Barrier Reef. Image courtesy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Many have called for a moratorium, among them Sir David Attenborough as well as a number of marine science experts. But it would seem that mining may commence, soon. In March 2023, at the ISA general meeting, the Legal and Technical Committee began developing terms for exploitation contracts. In April 2023, ISA announced it would invite exploitation applications in July 2023.

**What are the Rights of the Commons?** Image: Wiki Human RIghts graphic by Jasmina El Bouamraoui and Karabo Poppy Moletsane and Wikipedia, 2021. Creative Commons Public Domain CC0. Included with appreciation.

If the international seabed belongs to everyone, how will the value of any minerals mined be shared? Certainly, private companies will need to be in partnership with sponsoring nations, like Nauru. And the costs of operations may be significant. But is there a plan for sharing some portion of the profits with the owners of the deep seabed – the world? Similarly, what is the plan for addressing potential loss and damage, if and when mining accidents or environmental degradation may occur? Will the work of Senator Sherry Rehman of Pakistan apply? If the international ocean and seabed belong to the world, a kind of blue commons, should rights be similar to those defined by the Outer Space Treaty? In our era of deep sea and deep space exploration (and exploitation), should we update our laws and rights concerning that which is shared by all humanity and nature? Might the insights of Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrum help us to determine how to govern the commons of international waters?

“International waters in dark blue; exclusive economic zones in light blue” by graphic artist B1mbo, 2011. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Finally, will there be a balancing of exploitation with preservation? Establishment of the High Seas Treaty created a legal mechanism for marine protection. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) established an international legal instrument for conserving and sustaining Earth’s ecosystems. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) set goals for 2030 and 2050. In June 2023, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) advanced a draft report on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Should ISA consider requiring those nations and private enterprise partners who are granted exploitation contracts to contribute to Marine Protected Areas? The ISA has established some, and others are in development. More on that, next post.

How can we balance future seabed mining with the sustainable future of marine biodiversity? Image: “Clupea harengus migrating” video by Uwe Kils, Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

International Seabed Authority (ISA). “ISA Contract for Exploration: Public Information Template – NORI” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1798562/000121390021020731/fs42021ex10-15_sustainable.htm

ISA. “Draft regulations on exploitation of mineral resources in the Area. Prepared by the Legal and Technical Commission” 2023. https://www.isa.org.jm/documents/isba-25-c-wp-1/

ISA. Overview VIDEO. “International Seabed Authority celebrates 25 Years.” July 2019. https://youtu.be/UUbQ56gbjlY

Shabahat, Elham. “Why Nauru Is Pushing the World Toward Deep-Sea Mining,” 14 July 2021. Hakai Magazine. https://hakaimagazine.com/news/why-nauru-is-pushing-the-world-toward-deep-sea-mining/

Singh, Pradeep A. “The Invocation of the ‘Two-Year’ Rule’ at the International Seabed Authority: Legal Consequences and Implications” 18 July 222, The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 27 (2022), p. 375-412. https://brill.com/view/journals/estu/article-p375_1.xml?languagej=en

United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.” 15/4, December 2022. https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-15/cop-15-dec-04/en.pdf

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/closindx.hrm

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

WATER: Is the Drought OVER?

Posted on April 14, 2023April 15, 2023 by Building The World

**Droughts and floods will continue. Now we can predict them with GRACE.** Image: “GRACE globe animation” by NASA. Public Domain, included with appreciation.

Atmospheric rivers: 11. Snow: 55 feet (16.76 meters). Rainfall: thus far in 2023, more than all of 2022. Conservation mandates and restrictions: eased. Outdoor watering: again permitted. Reservoirs: many refilled. Is California’s drought officially over? Conditions are better, but concerns remain. The issues are not restricted to California, but the state serves as a case example.

While 2023 brought relief and refilled many California reservoirs, **drought is cyclical**. Image: “Drought area in California” graphic by Phoenix7777, based on U.S. Drought Monitor Data. Creative Commons 4.0. Include with appreciation.

GROUNDWATER – On the surface, things certainly look better. But California’s underground aquifers are still in trouble, some at lowest levels ever recorded. After previous droughts (2007-2009, 2012-2016), California’s groundwater in the agriculturally important Central Valley recovered only 34% (2007-2009 drought) to as little as 19% (2012-2016). During drought periods, groundwater supplied 60% of California’s water, so maintaining underground aquifers is critical.

**How is groundwater formed, replenished, and sustained?** Image: “Groundwater.” Graphic by Dr. Andrew Fisher, California Agricultural Water Stewardship Institute, 2018. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

In irrigated agricultural regions with limited surface water supply, drought can have severe effects on groundwater. Recent innovations for storing floodwater underground in “water-capturing basins” hold promise. What kinds of future innovations will collect rain and flood water for future use? The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014, requires local agencies to form and fund groundwater sustainability agencies for high priority areas to control overuse of water by 2034. The United Nations raised awareness of the importance of groundwater by dedicating World Water Day 2022 to that resource with the motto: “Making the Invisible Visible.”

California obtains a portion of its water from the Colorado River. Image: “Colorado River at Horseshoe Bend” by Charles Wang, 2023. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

COLORADO RIVER – Surface water and underground aquifers are not the only sources. Water supplies from the Colorado River flow, at some distance, to cities and towns in Southern California. That river is still suffering through a two decade long drought that depleted reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Seven states, as well as many indigenous sovereign nations and also Mexico, share in the water according to rules set in the Colorado River Compact 0f 1922. If the seven states cannot come to agreement on water usage cutbacks, the federal government will step in. In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation introduced options.

Floods devastated Sindh Provice, Pakistan in 2022. Image: “Pakistan floods August 27 2021 versus August 27 2022.” By NASA. https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/. Image in public domain. Included with appreciation.

FUTURE OF WATER– Satellite data confirm what we know all too well when 12 inches of rain in one day sweep through Ft. Lauderdale, Florida closing schools and highways, or floods drench Sindh Province, Pakistan,dislocating millions of people. We know and feel it when drought plagues land, dries up agricultural fields, drains reservoirs, and threatens hydroelectric facilities like those on the Po River of Italy, or Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric of Australia or Hoover Dam of the Colorado River in the United States.

**Hydroelectricity depends upon abundant water. Drought has threatened energy production on the Colorado River’s Hoover Dam**. Image: “Hoover Dam” by photographer Ansel Adams, 1941. Public Domain, National Archives and Records Administration image #519837. Included with appreciation.

Hydroelectric power plants on rivers throughout the world are subject to changing water levels. If a river suffers drought, some hydroelectric facilities must be switched off. A recent study sounded the alarm. By 2050, 61% of all hydropower dams will be at high risk.

**It takes two – GRACE and GRACE-FO**. Image: “Gravity anomalies on Earth” by NASA, 2012. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Climate change will make rains more intense and droughts more frequent. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite duo, known as GRACE and GRACE-FO will reveal a big picture in a long view. Dr. Matthew Rodell, Deputy Director for Hydrosphere, Biosphere, and Geophysics, Earth Sciences Division, NASA, and Dr. Bailing Li, of Goddard’s Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, led a team that studied over 1,000 weather events during the period 2002-2021. Rainfall extremes were noted in sub-Saharan Africa, North America, and Australia. Intense droughts were seen in South America, the United States, and elsewhere. Droughts outnumbered rain events by 10%. It’s costly: 20% of the USA’s annual economic loses were due to floods and droughts. Is there a solution? Using floodwater to recharge aquifers and irrigate agricultural land will be an area of innovation.

**Water Futures Index – is water a trading commodity or a human right?** Image: “Nasdaq” by xurde, 2007. Creative commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

WATER FUTURES – Another development? Water Futures trading contracts such as the Veles California Water Index (NQH20) that launched on NASDAQ in 2018. Prices have fluctuated from below $300 per AF (acre-foot which equals 325,851 gallons or 1,233,480 liters) to 18 August 2022’s price of $1,134. At today’s post date, the price is $855. Is water a commodity or a right? Some say that commodity trading makes it possible for those who use quantities of water to plan, and plant, with more certainty.

**Water: human right and right of nature.** Image: “Whanganui River between Pipiriki and Jerusalem” by photographer Prankster, 2012. Dedicated by the photographer to the public domain. CC 1.0. Included with appreciation.

WATER RIGHTS – But others might question water trading. On 28 July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 64/292 that recognizes water and sanitation as a human right. In 2022, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted General Comment No. 15, with Article 1.1 stating “The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.” Some would say that the right to sustainable, healthy water goes beyond human rights. New Zealand’s Whanganui River recently received personhood legal status, granting the river its own rights.

**We are the water planet. How do we protect and sustain water rights?** Image: “Frozen water droplet” by photographer Aaron Burden, 2017. Dedicated by the photographer to the public domain. Included with appreciation.

California Department of Water Resources. “Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Includes VIDEO.https://water.ca.gov/programs/groundwater-management/sgma-groundwater-management

Charles, Dan. “Water is scarce in California. But farmers have found ways to store it underground.” 5 October 2021. All Things Considered, NPR. Includes AUDIO. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1037370430/water-is-scarce-in-california-but-farmers-have-found-ways-to-store-it-undergroun

Insights Editorial Team. “What Investors Should Know About Trading Water in the Futures Market.” 12 January 2021. Boston University. https://insights.bu.edu/what-investors-should-know-about-trading-water-in-the-futures-market

NASDAQ. “Nasdaq Veles California Water Index Fture (H20). https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/futures/h20

New Zealand. “Te Awa Tupua – Whanganui River Claims Settlement Act of 2017.” https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2017/0007/latest/whole.html

O’Malley, Isabella. “Scientists confirm global floods and droughts worsened by climate change.” 13 March 2023. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/scientists-confirm-global-floods-and-droughts-worsened-by-climate-change

Rodell, Matthew. and Bailing. Li. “Changing intensity of hydroclimatic extreme events revealed by GRACE and GRACE-FO.” Nature Water. 1 (3): 10.1038/s44221-023-00040-5 and https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-023-00040-5

Rohde, Melissa M. “Floods and droughts are intensifying globally.” 13 March 2023. Nature Water 1, 226-227 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-023-00047-y

Sommer, Lauren. “3 reasons why California’s drought isn’t really over, despite all the rain.” 23 March 2023. Morning Edition, NPR. Includes AUDIO. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/1165378214/3-readons-why-californias-drought-isnt-really-over-despite-all-the-rain

United Nations. “Human Right to Water and Sanitation.” https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml

Wada, Yoshihide., et al., “Global depletion of groundwater resources.” Geophysical Research Letters 37,1. https://agupubx.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010GL044571 and https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL044571

Weir, Bill. “Thousands of acres are underwater in California, and the flood could triple in size this summer.” 15 April 2023. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/tulare-lake-california-flood-climate/index.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

SPACE: Global Connectivity

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Building The World

**Can global connectivity bring our world together?** Image: “GPS constellation of 24 satellites on six orbital planes” by Paulsava, 2016. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Can the orbital commons bring the world together? That was the vision of COMSAT. It all started with a 1955 article “Orbital Radio Relays” by John R. Pierce of Bell Labs, AT&T’s incubator for new ideas. Perhaps Pierce had read Arthur C. Clarke’s article “Extra-Terrestrial Relays,” published a decade before. When the first Trans-Atlantic Telephone Cable TAT-1 was laid in 1956 and Russia launched Sputnik in 1957, necessary pieces were in place. By 1960, AT&T applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an experimental communications license. Two years later, the Communications Satellite Act presented a framework still relevant today. INTELSAT took the early leadership, achieving the first satellite-based global coverage on July 1, 1969. Just 19 days later, 500 million people around the world turned on televisions (the internet would come later) to witness, live, the first human setting foot on the moon.

Connectivity for All. But not everyone had a television, then; and not everyone has internet access now. Opening the World Wide Web to universal access, and enterprises like OneWeb, Starlink, and Project Kuiper, may finally achieve the goal of a global village.

OneWeb has reached a definitive milestone. OneWeb has now launched the final set of satellites needed to complete its array providing global connectivity for those who need it most. Founded in 2012 by Greg Wyler, OneWeb was acquired by the United Kingdom (UK) in March 2020 in a deal with UK government and Bharti Enterprises Ltd. On 26 March 2023, OneWeb’s launch by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) positioned 36 new satellites, achieving desirable redundancy over the 588 needed for global coverage. Theme of the launch? “Hello world!”

“Starlink Mission” by SpaceX, 2019. This image was dedicated by Starlink/SpaceX into the public domain, creative commons 1.0. Included with appreciation.

Starlink, a division of SpaceX, also aims to offer connectivity “to anywhere, from anywhere.” Starlink began launching satellites in 2019, focusing on individual customers, especially those in rural locations. In contrast, OneWeb concentrates on businesses and commercial providers.

“The Kuiper Belt (green) in the Solar System.” **Move your mouse over the image to access annotations.** Image: from Minor Planet Center (MPC), Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. This image is in the public domain, Wikimedia commons. Included with appreciation.

Project Kuiper, Amazon’s endeavor to place communications satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), shares the goal of global connectivity. Many places in the world do not have internet access needed for school, science, and communication. Janet Phan of Project Kuiper and founder of Thriving Elements, expands communications equality and opportunity with a commitment to bring more girls and women into STEM careers through mentoring. Project Kuiper’s satellite constellation will work with Amazon’s network of ground stations (Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS). Kuiper customers will install a home outdoor terminal intended to be affordable ($400) and lightweight (less than five pounds (2.27 kilograms); for more modest price-point customers, a smaller and less expensive terminal will provide basic connectivity. The chip driving it all – “Prometheus.”

“A Loon balloon at the Christchurch launch event in June 2013.” Photographed by iLighter, 2013. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Project Loon was a promising vision that ran out of air. An Alphabet Inc. subsidiary, Loon LLC aimed to provide internet access to remote areas using high-altitude balloons to form an aerial wireless network. Hence the name: “Loon” as in “Balloon.” Started as an R&D project in 2011, Loon became a separate entity in 2018. Using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data to identify wind layers with the right speed, Loon would place balloons in a chain to allow signals to pass from orb to orb, connecting to an internet antenna attached to the side of a residential or commercial building. First experiments were in California and New Zealand. The next year, Loon tested in Brazil, and later in Sri Lanka. Loon’s unique advantage was demonstrated after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico; Loon brought 100,000 people back online in the storm’s destructive aftermath. But commercial viability proved elusive and Project Loon closed on 21 January 2021. Loon’s legacy continues. Project Taara, a pan-African vision, harnesses some of Loon’s technology to extend connectivity with the use of light beam internet technology as a way to plug critical connectivity gaps in rural areas.

World Wide Web Foundation upholds the goal of “Establishing the open Web as a basic right and a public good.” With 160 partner organizations in 70 countries, the World Wide Web Foundation was launched in 2009 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Rosemary Leith. It has helped 600 million people access the web. Sir Tim Berners-Lee established the world wide web (that’s the “www” in an internet address) and gave it to the world for free. Global connectivity remains a challenge: almost half of the world still lacks internet access. You can help.

“Syncom-1” image by NASA, 2007. Image is dedicated to the public domain, and included with appreciation.

The global satellite market is expected to grow by 9% from 2023-2029, accelerated by advances in the internet of things (IoT) and increased capacity in wireless interconnection between terrestrial and space-based technology. It’s an attractive market because global internet traffic will grow over 20% – annually. But there are vast differences in connectivity, with 7x difference between fastest and slowest internet speeds. In addition to the above companies, contenders include SES, Viasat, Intelsat, Telesat, General Dynamics, Cobham Limited, Gilat Satellite Networks, EchoStar, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Hughs Network Systems, Arqiva, Russian Satellite Communications Company, Thaicom, Globecast, Telespazio, and Telstra, according to the World Teleport Association.

A computer-generated image of objects that are currently being tracked including orbital debris like non-functional satellites. Image: “Debris-GEO1290” by NASA, 2005. Image is in the public domain and included with appreciation.

It’s getting crowded up there, with so many satellites vying for optimal position. One concern is how to retrieve non-functional satellites before they become orbital debris. As of November 2022, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network found 5, 465 operating satellites in orbit. But these are among 25,857 objects circling the Earth. That tally only accounts for objects large enough to track. There are more than 128 million pieces of space debris smaller than 0.4 inches (1 centimeter). Even a tiny fleck can damage a satellite. There’s a tech term for such flecks: Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD).

**Can we cooperate to achieve global connectivity and orbital justice?** Image: “Animation of Orbital Eccentricity” by Phoenix7777, 2020. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Orbital justice: law and governance of space. A McKinsey report summarizes the challenges and opportunities for global governance of this shared frontier. The European Space Agency (ESA) introduced in 2022 the “Statement for a Responsible Space Sector” espousing principles of governance, inclusive social benefit, fair access to space, preservation of Earth through space-based monitoring, and promotion of human rights. Space, and the communications spectrum, belong equally to everyone on the Earth. How can you choose your internet provider with these principles in mind?

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Gatto, Giacomo and Alyssa Goessler. “Can better governance help space lift off?” 22 February 2023. McKinsey. Includes AUDIO article. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/our-insights/can-better-governance-help-space-lift-off

Gehhardt, Chris. “U.K. government acquires OneWeb in curious move.” 3 July 2020. Nasa Space Flight (NSF). https://www.nasaspaceflight.com

Goguichvili, Sophie, et al., “The Global Legal Landscape of Space: Who Writes the Rules on the Final Frontier?” 1 October 2021. Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/global-legal-landscape-space-who-writes-rules-final-frontier

Imarc Group. “Top Players in the Satellite Communication (SATCOM) Market.” 29 November 2021. https://www.imarcgroup.com/satellite-communication-companies

Krisman, Victoria. “World Teleport Association Publishes Top Operator Rankings for 2021.” https://www.worldteleport.org/news/594359/World-Teleport-Association-Publishes-Top-Operator-Rankings-f0r-2021.htm

Pierce, John Robinson. The Beginnings of Satellite Communications. History of Technology Monograph. Berkeley, California: San Francisco Press, 1968. ISBN: 0911302050, and 9780911302059.

United Nations. Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). “United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.” https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/spaceobjectregister/index.html

Whalen, David J. The Origins of Satellite Communications, 1945-1965. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781935623601

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U