#Current Events - The militarization of space and US President Trump's Space Force proposal...

Question

I think I read somewhere that the militarization of space is illegal. So is what US President Trump is proposing regarding his "Space Force" illegal?

 Answer

My opinion is that the existing treaties concerning space clearly indicate that militarization of space is illegal. However, because of the wording of Article IV of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, there is an argument that it is legal. However, and again this is my opinion, I believe the legal framework within which the treaty was signed and exists overrules the argument that it is legal.

Analysis

Much of this answer will be coming from the International Committee of the Red Cross and their webpage that address this issue.

They first note that there is not a comprehensive treaty regarding the full range of weapons that could be put into space and used, but that there are existing treaties that can give a framework for at least an understanding of the intent behind the treaties.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty was signed by the United States and 107 countries and follows its predecessor non-militarization treaty, the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Throughout the preamble and the articles, there is a constant theme of encouraging space exploration, cooperation, and peacefulness.

However, and this is a big however, the only specific prohibition against weapons in space are in Article IV and they talk about not putting WMD (weapons of mass destruction) or nuclear weapons into space, putting them onto any kind of installation on any celestial body, or station them in any way.

States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.

Also in Article IV is the provision that military bases of any kind are prohibited, as is the testing of any kind of weapon:

The moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited. 

And so while the treaty has all sorts of language about peace in space, there is a glaring exception in the treaty in that it only addresses WMD.

That said, the following articles of that treaty make it clear that militarization of space is a no-no:

Article I:

The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind.

Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.

There shall be freedom of scientific investigation in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States shall facilitate and encourage international co-operation in such investigation.

 Article II:

Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.

 Article III:

States Parties to the Treaty shall carry on activities in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international co-operation and understanding.

Article XI:

In order to promote international co-operation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, States Parties to the Treaty conducting activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, agree to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public and the international scientific community, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable, of the nature, conduct, locations and results of such activities. On receiving the said information, the Secretary-General of the United Nations should be prepared to disseminate it immediately and effectively. 

Further, there are other agreements and treaties that expand upon the ideas first laid out in this treaty, including nuclear non-proliferation, assigning liability in the case of one State damaging another State's property, and so forth.

And so, in the end, is the militarization of space illegal? While there are many different ways to interpret the language of the treaty and the legal framework it exists within, my opinion (and this is purely my opinion) is that it would be illegal under the following reasoning:

• It would violate Article I, in that militarization of space is not in the interest of all countries nor in the interest of mankind (space being declared the province of all mankind),
• It would violate Article II, in that militarization of space, by necessity, requires the appropriation of territory through claims of sovereignty, 
• It would violate Article III, in that militarization does not promote international co-operation and understanding,
• It would violate Article XI, in that secrecy is the lifeblood of military operations. "Loose lips sink ships" goes the old adage - and so secrecy will be the hallmark of any attempt to militarize.
• I believe the focus on Article IV of the treaty by those who would argue that the militarization of space is legal is a red herring. While it's unfortunate that it only addresses WMD in terms of specific prohibited weapons in space, and also only specifies general prohibitions on celestial bodies, I believe that language, when read with all the other articles, clearly indicates that militarization in space is not to be done. 

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Questions and comments always welcome!

#Science - Do astronauts age faster in space? (Question inspired by a documentary on Albert Einstein...)

Question

Do astronauts age faster in space?

Answer

It depends... sometimes they age slower and sometimes faster. See below for more... 

Analysis

I think the best way to approach this question is to gently lead us on a trip down Science Lane...

In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton, one of the preeminent thinkers ever, wrote his Principia (also known as Mathematical Principals of Natural Philosophy). Within that great book was Newton's Three Laws of Motion (remember Action/Reaction from school? That was Newton. Remember that whole thing with observing the apple falling from the tree and then seeing the Moon not fall and realizing that the laws governing the apple should also govern the Moon? Newton.)

And so the question of "Do astronauts age faster in space?" in the days of Newton, the answer would be: No. Astronauts age the same as everyone on Earth. And by the way, what's an astronaut?

Fast forward a couple of hundred years and we have James Clerk Maxwell who wrote A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field in 1865. In it, Maxwell found that light operates the same as electrical and magnetic waves and that they all have a maximum speed (that of light).

And then, another 50 or so years later, comes a patent clerk, 3rd class from Austria by the name of Albert Einstein, who read both books and realized there was a problem.

With Newton, all events for all observers happen at the same time. Information (such as visual information - like the light bouncing off that building that lets you see it, or the light coming from your computer screen right now) would be received by everyone at the same time. For example, for someone sitting directly in front of the computer screen and for someone on the other side of the room and looking over your shoulder, the light from the computer screen arrives at the two of you at the same exact time. For Maxwell, that isn't true - the light arrives in your eyes first and then, very shortly after, arrives in the eyes of the person at the other side of the room. Einstein said "no no - this can't be! Someone is wrong". He probably said this in German, but you get the idea.

Einstein went on to work out that Newton, while approximately correct (to the degree that the two of you reading that computer screen would never notice), was ultimately wrong - that his theories needed a rework. And Einstein did just that. And the world of physics experienced a collective "mind blown" moment.

Einstein worked out that space and time are interconnected, that light indeed sets the absolute speed record for potential velocities, and that the curvature of "space time" affects everything. You, me, light... everything. These are his Special and General Theories of Relativity.

So what does this have to do with astronauts and aging? Plenty. The thing we'll be focusing on is how Time is affected by the expansion and compression of "space time".

Note the important word in the theories - Relative. We're getting into an explanation that deals with, not so much What I Experience, but What I Observe Someone Else Experience. Which can get complicated, but let's see how this works.

Before getting into that, let's first set the stage for our Astronaut (labeled A) and our Earth-bound observer (labeled E).

E is on the Earth, experiences a certain level of gravity (for argument's sake, let's have E be at sea level) from the Earth and a tiny tiny amount from the Moon and the Sun (the two celestial bodies that produce ocean tides). E also experiences a certain velocity from the movements of the Earth (revolving around it's axis to produce day and night, the revolutions about the Sun producing the seasons, the movement of the Solar System revolving around the centre of the galaxy, the movement of the galaxy in the universe, etc). That is the gravity and velocity that E experiences. For all that, E experiences 24 hours in a day and lives his life, all without being aware of most of this.

So now let's shoot A up into space. She's living a lovely astronaut life in her astronaut spaceship. She experiences a lot less gravity (being much farther away from sea level than E), but she also, being in orbit around the Earth, experiences a much higher velocity than E (she experiences all the movement that E does, except for the rotation of the Earth. That rotation speed is replaced with an orbital speed, which is much higher than the Earth's rotation). Like E, A experiences 24 hours in a day and lives her life, all without being aware of most of this.

Now remember that Newton, asked the question about A and E, would say that they age at the same rate. A and E will experience their 24 hour days in the same way - they both work, sleep, and do all the things they do in a day, all without ever feeling like their day is shorter or longer than it should be. Clocks record all 24 hours of every day - no seconds or minutes mysteriously are added or subtracted. For A and E, it all feels very "Newton" - there's no difference between the two of them.

But now let's watch as they observe each other and we'll see Einstein's theories pop up:

For A, who is experiencing less gravity than E, time will flow faster relative to E. Why? Because as gravity decreases, time speeds up.

However, also for A, since she is experiencing a faster velocity than E, time will flow slower relative to E. Why? Because as velocity increases, time slows down.

How these two effects net out is the difference A and E will observe in each other. For arguments sake in this example, let's have the effect of the decreased gravity outweigh the effect of the increased speed for A, and so she will experience time slightly faster (and age slightly faster) than E.

Let's say that the two of them decide that E will call A at 6pm exactly each day. As the days progress, A will notice that E's call comes later and later.

This is exactly the situation with every single GPS satellite in orbit around Earth. Because of relativistic effects, this difference in the passage of time experienced by the satellites as compared to the Earth-bound receiving towers needs to be programmed into system so that the satellites and the towers operate on the same time for each communication back and forth.

There is a "sweet spot", an orbit where the time flow differences from decreased gravity and increased speeds balance out and time will be experienced for A and E without a difference. That sits at roughly 0.5 Earth radii above sea level, or about 3,000 km (roughly 1860 miles) up. Orbits below that experience slower time (the International Space Station) while orbits above that experience faster time than E (GPS satellites). For GPS satellites, the difference is roughy 2 minutes per year.

So do astronauts age faster than those of us on Earth? It depends on the local gravity and velocity that the astronaut experiences.

Major help in answering this question came from wikipedia discussions of Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, and Socratic.org's discussion of this very question.

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As always, questions and comments are welcome!