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After Falcon 9 Rocket Anomaly, SpaceX Seeks Rapid Return to Flight

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Wednesday, July 17, 2024

After Falcon 9 Rocket Anomaly, SpaceX Seeks Rapid Return to FlightSpaceX has filed a request with the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether the company can resume launches of its recently grounded workhorse rocketBy Elizabeth Howell & SPACE.comScreenshot from the webcast of a SpaceX Starlink launch on July 11, 2024, showing a buildup of white material on the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is seeking a rapid return to Falcon 9 launches following a rare failure of its workhorse rocket during a satellite launch last week.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received a request from SpaceX on Monday (July 15) to continue launching Falcon 9 flights during the mandatory mishap investigation following the ill-fated Starlink 9-3 mission in which the rocket's upper stage experienced a liquid oxygen leak. SpaceX has asked the FAA to make a public safety determination, which would allow the company to resume launches if the administration determines the anomaly "did not involve safety-critical systems or otherwise jeopardize public safety," SpaceflightNow reported reported on Tuesday (July 16). The FAA also provided Space.com with the statement, after a request."The FAA is responsible for and committed to protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations," the agency wrote in the e-mailed statement. "The FAA is reviewing the request [by SpaceX] and will be guided by data and safety at every step of the process."On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.If approved, SpaceX could potentially meet its schedule in launching two human spaceflight launches in the coming weeks. Falcon 9 uses different variants of the rocket for both crewed and uncrewed launches. The first astronaut launch, slated for July 31, is the privately-funded Polaris Dawn mission (financed by American billionaire Jared Isaacman) that will include the first commercial spacewalk in high Earth orbit. The second, expected in mid-August, is the Crew-9 launch to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA.NASA is following SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch failure investigation and its potential impact to future agency astronaut missions, the space agency said in a July 12 statement."Crew safety and mission assurance are top priorities for NASA," NASA officials wrote in the statement. "SpaceX has been forthcoming with information and is including NASA in the company's ongoing anomaly investigation to understand the issue and path forward. NASA will provide updates on agency missions including potential schedule impacts, if any, as more information becomes available."SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which has launched 364 missions to space and suffered only two failures in 14 years, suffered a liquid oxygen propellant leak in its second stage during its July 11 launch."After a planned relight of the upper-stage engine to raise perigee — or the lowest point of orbit — the [single] Merlin Vacuum engine [on the second stage] experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn," SpaceX wrote in a July 12 update."Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission," SpaceX added. "This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km [84 miles], which is less than half the expected perigee altitude."In its July 16 statement, the FAA said the public safety determination request would be evaluated on matters including "safety-critical systems, the nature and consequences of the anomaly, the adequacy of existing flight safety analysis, safety organization performance, and environmental factors.""If the FAA agrees no public safety issues were involved," the statement added, "the operator may return to flight while the investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met."The FAA has not provided a timeline for its evaluation of the request, which is common practice in aerospace safety investigations due to the complex nature of spaceflight. Missions with humans on board, such as Polaris Dawn and NASA's Crew-9, would likely receive an extra level of scrutiny.The vast majority of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets are for Starlink satellites, also made by SpaceX, to push out its broadband satellite internet business. But the rocket is also used for critical national security missions as well as a selection of high-profile government satellite launches used for Earth observation, for example.Falcon 9 also launches the most frequently of any rocket today, having sent 69 launches to space so far in 2024 (including the one failure). China, the second-greatest launching entity in the world after SpaceX, has 30 successful launches this year so far.Copyright 2024 Space.com, a Future company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SpaceX has filed a request with the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether the company can resume launches of its recently grounded workhorse rocket

After Falcon 9 Rocket Anomaly, SpaceX Seeks Rapid Return to Flight

SpaceX has filed a request with the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether the company can resume launches of its recently grounded workhorse rocket

By Elizabeth Howell & SPACE.com

Screenshot from the webcast of a SpaceX Starlink launch on July 11, 2024, showing a buildup of white material on the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket.

Screenshot from the webcast of a SpaceX Starlink launch on July 11, 2024, showing a buildup of white material on the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX is seeking a rapid return to Falcon 9 launches following a rare failure of its workhorse rocket during a satellite launch last week.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received a request from SpaceX on Monday (July 15) to continue launching Falcon 9 flights during the mandatory mishap investigation following the ill-fated Starlink 9-3 mission in which the rocket's upper stage experienced a liquid oxygen leak. SpaceX has asked the FAA to make a public safety determination, which would allow the company to resume launches if the administration determines the anomaly "did not involve safety-critical systems or otherwise jeopardize public safety," SpaceflightNow reported reported on Tuesday (July 16). The FAA also provided Space.com with the statement, after a request.

"The FAA is responsible for and committed to protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations," the agency wrote in the e-mailed statement. "The FAA is reviewing the request [by SpaceX] and will be guided by data and safety at every step of the process."

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If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

If approved, SpaceX could potentially meet its schedule in launching two human spaceflight launches in the coming weeks. Falcon 9 uses different variants of the rocket for both crewed and uncrewed launches. The first astronaut launch, slated for July 31, is the privately-funded Polaris Dawn mission (financed by American billionaire Jared Isaacman) that will include the first commercial spacewalk in high Earth orbit. The second, expected in mid-August, is the Crew-9 launch to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA.

NASA is following SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch failure investigation and its potential impact to future agency astronaut missions, the space agency said in a July 12 statement.

"Crew safety and mission assurance are top priorities for NASA," NASA officials wrote in the statement. "SpaceX has been forthcoming with information and is including NASA in the company's ongoing anomaly investigation to understand the issue and path forward. NASA will provide updates on agency missions including potential schedule impacts, if any, as more information becomes available."

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which has launched 364 missions to space and suffered only two failures in 14 years, suffered a liquid oxygen propellant leak in its second stage during its July 11 launch.

"After a planned relight of the upper-stage engine to raise perigee — or the lowest point of orbit — the [single] Merlin Vacuum engine [on the second stage] experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn," SpaceX wrote in a July 12 update.

"Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission," SpaceX added. "This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km [84 miles], which is less than half the expected perigee altitude."

In its July 16 statement, the FAA said the public safety determination request would be evaluated on matters including "safety-critical systems, the nature and consequences of the anomaly, the adequacy of existing flight safety analysis, safety organization performance, and environmental factors."

"If the FAA agrees no public safety issues were involved," the statement added, "the operator may return to flight while the investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met."

The FAA has not provided a timeline for its evaluation of the request, which is common practice in aerospace safety investigations due to the complex nature of spaceflight. Missions with humans on board, such as Polaris Dawn and NASA's Crew-9, would likely receive an extra level of scrutiny.

The vast majority of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets are for Starlink satellites, also made by SpaceX, to push out its broadband satellite internet business. But the rocket is also used for critical national security missions as well as a selection of high-profile government satellite launches used for Earth observation, for example.

Falcon 9 also launches the most frequently of any rocket today, having sent 69 launches to space so far in 2024 (including the one failure). China, the second-greatest launching entity in the world after SpaceX, has 30 successful launches this year so far.

Copyright 2024 Space.com, a Future company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Can Diet and Exercise Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease? What the Research Says

Early studies suggest that lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise and social engagement may help slow or prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms—but the evidence is inconsistent, and many doctors remain cautious

This article is part of “Innovations In: Alzheimer's Disease” an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Eisai.When Juli comes home after work, her husband doesn’t regale her with stories about his photography business the way he once did. Instead he proudly shows her a pill container emptied of the 20 supplements and medications he takes every day. Rather than griping about traffic, he tells her about his walk. When they go out to a favorite Mexican restaurant, he might opt for a side salad instead of tortilla chips with his quesadilla. “He’s actually consuming green food, which is new,” says Juli, who asked to be identified by only her first name to protect her husband’s privacy.Over the past year Juli’s husband has agreed to change his daily habits in hopes of halting the steady progression of Alzheimer’s disease, which he was diagnosed with in December 2023 at age 62. Juli and her husband are both self-employed, and their insurance plans didn’t cover the positron-emission tomography scans for disease tracking that a neurologist prescribed, which would have cost thousands of dollars. So they decided to spend that money on a doctor who promises that diet and lifestyle changes can treat Alzheimer’s. He recommended a keto diet, along with light cardio exercise and strength training. He also prescribed a bevy of supplements, such as creatine, which Juli’s husband takes alongside the memantine and donepezil prescribed by his neurologist. Juli doesn’t expect the diet and daily walks to cure her husband, but she hopes the healthy lifestyle will help manage and even improve his condition. It feels like common sense. “You stop eating fried food, you move your butt, and you feel better,” she says.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Increasingly, evidence suggests that addressing health problems such as vision and hearing loss, stress, poor diet, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure can help slow or even prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms. It’s a tantalizingly simple solution to a complicated condition that has proved difficult to treat. For families like Juli’s that have been left with a grim diagnosis and few options, lifestyle changes bring a much needed sense of hope and agency. But researchers worry about overpromising on the efficacy of these changes, especially for people already experiencing dementia symptoms. Evidence around the importance of different diets, exercises and activities—when to start them and which to prioritize—is mixed, and only in a few high-quality studies have researchers examined large, diverse groups of people. It’s a promising but nascent field of research, one that scientists worry gives patients dangerous and heartbreaking hope for a cure that doesn’t exist.“There are a lot of claims,” says Miia Kivipelto, a dementia researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. She worries about expensive but unproven regimens that promise to reverse cognitive decline, restore and protect the brain, or significantly improve cognition for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s or other dementias. “Of course, people want to have hope,” she says. But she cautions against making promises that can’t be upheld. “It’s risk reduction,” she says. “That’s maybe what we can promise.”Kivipelto led the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER), a trial that enrolled more than 1,200 residents of Finland between the ages of 60 and 77. Results were published in 2017. They showed that after two years, participants who were given nutritional advice, exercise regimens and brain-training games had improved their executive function, processing speeds and complex memory by about 83, 150 and 40 percent, respectively, compared with those who didn’t take those measures. Kivipelto has continued to follow that initial FINGER cohort and found that several years after the initial trial, their health in general continues to be better than that of their counterparts. The participants had a lower risk of stroke, had fewer medical emergency room visits and needed less inpatient care. Now Kivipelto is running World Wide FINGERS, a global network of studies investigating the same interventions in different countries and populations.It’s not clear whether these interventions prevent disease onset or simply delay it.Similarly encouraging data have come from the Systematic Multi-Domain Alzheimer Risk Reduction Trial (SMARRT), a two-year randomized, controlled study. Researchers tested the effect of treating modifiable risk factors such as uncontrolled hypertension, social isolation and physical inactivity with more than 170 septuagenarians and octogenarians at high risk for dementia. Participants chose a few interventions to prioritize out of eight options, such as improved physical fitness or social connection. After two years, no matter which intervention people opted for, those who received individualized treatments had reduced risk factors for dementia and a 74 percent greater increase in cognition compared with their counterparts in the control group.It’s not clear whether these interventions prevent disease onset or simply delay it. At a certain point, prevention and treatment become almost the same thing: if people can postpone the onset of symptoms until they’re 85 or 90 years old, Kivipelto says, “they might die of something else.” A report from a commission on dementia from the Lancet Group—which comprises experts who make recommendations on health policy and practice—suggests that addressing a range of these lifestyle-based risk factors could help reduce the global incidence of Alzheimer’s and dementia by 45 percent population-wide. For people with a genetic predisposition to dementia, introducing diet, exercise, and other modifications before symptoms appear might be particularly important for fending off illness.The idea that diet and exercise could curb a disease that currently affects more than 55 million people globally is an exciting prospect. But scientists say the field is simply too young for anyone to make bold assertions that lifestyle interventions could act as treatments or cures. “We don’t have mature information,” says Howard Feldman, a neurologist at the University of California, San Diego.One big caveat is that studies such as SMARRT and FINGER were conducted with people who had mild cognitive decline, not full-blown dementia. “There are people who are really exaggerating some of these claims,” says Kristine Yaffe, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and the lead author on the SMARRT study. “There’s very little evidence that these [interventions] work when people have the disease.”Also, the list of possible risk factors gets longer as more data emerge. When Kivipelto started FINGER, she didn’t look at elements such as poor sleep and stress. But more evidence suggests that these factors could increase risk for Alzheimer’s. Meanwhile interventions that had shown initial promise, such as the MIND diet—a diet geared toward brain health that combines elements of Mediterranean and hypertension-focused diets—weren’t backed by further research.Answering questions about lifestyle changes—what works, what doesn’t and why—is particularly challenging because these interventions are not as easy to quantify as medications are. When researchers test pharmaceuticals, they’re often investigating how a molecule interacts with a specific receptor. “We’re gonna look at making sure that we’ve got target engagement, that we’ve got the right amount of medicine for the target and that we’re getting the right effects,” Feldman says. Nonmedical interventions don’t work in that way. Take exercise: There’s no particular receptor to examine. Instead exercise might lead to better blood flow in the brain. It might affect cerebral metabolism. It could affect insulin levels or increase oxygen flow. All these factors have been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s in some way.Then there’s the matter of dosage: What is the right amount of exercise? How much should people exert themselves and for how long? And how can researchers assess compliance? When researchers test pills, they can easily dispense medication and count how many pills are left at the end of a trial. It’s much harder to know whether someone in a lifestyle study has done the assigned exercises or whether all participants worked out at the same intensity.Another big unknown is when these interventions should begin. Some research suggests that to reduce risk factors, middle age might be the most impactful time. Kivipelto says that it’s never too late to start but that the most effective interventions may vary with age. Stress and sleep might be bigger risk factors in middle age, whereas social isolation might become more important as people grow older. “You should have a kind of check wherever you are in your life,” she says.Perhaps the biggest limitation, however, is that scientists can’t measure all the biological and environmental systems at play, nor can they follow enough people for a long enough period to understand which systems are most important. One theory suggests that health interventions—such as diet, exercise and social stimulation—work because they boost cognitive reserve, or the ability of a person’s brain to resist dementia. People with more cognitive reserve might not show symptoms even if they have the same pathology as someone else who is symptomatic. Researchers think being active, eating right and socializing might help build up that cognitive-reserve buffer. But they can’t measure it. There is no known biomarker for cognitive reserve and no way to measure its effects over time. “It’s an evolving concept,” Kivipelto says.Even while scientists work on more high-quality studies of lifestyle changes for Alzheimer’s—with large, diverse patient populations, control groups, and careful measurements for the intensity of the intervention—numerous commercial companies claim to offer scientifically backed cures. These products, including the approach Juli and her husband are trying, are often based on research in predatory journals, which charge authors high fees to publish papers that look scientific but have none of the oversight of peer-reviewed publications. Others lack rigorous trials and rely only on case reports that don’t describe study methods and can’t be replicated. Still others haven’t been tested in large groups or in humans at all. For example, small studies have suggested ketosis could help improve cognition, but no large-scale clinical trials have tested the hypothesis. Similarly, creatine supplements have shown promise in mice but have not been tested extensively in humans. No large, high-quality clinical trials have shown that supplements can improve human cognition or brain health, but companies selling these products now represent an industry valued at more than $6 billion globally.Some people spend their life savings to follow a protocol that requires them to remediate mold in their homes, even though the evidence linking mold and dementia is debated. Other families report that sticking to a restrictive diet ultimately feels cruel when a parent or spouse has few pleasures left. Neurologist Joanna Hellmuth, then at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote an article in 2020 in the Lancet Neurology about pseudoscience and dementia, warning that fraudulent solutions can be financially and emotionally harmful for families. “Hope is important in the face of incurable diseases and intuitive interventions can be compelling,” she wrote. “However, unsupported interventions are not medically, ethically, or financially benign, particularly when other parties might stand to gain.”Even under the best of circumstances, changes to diet and exercise cannot ward off Alzheimer’s for everyone. Yaffe has seen patients who play bridge, go running and practice über-healthy lifestyles only to be astonished to learn they also have Alzheimer’s. “There’s something called bad luck, and there’s something called genetics,” she says. Scientists measure the impact of lifestyle modifications in population-wide estimates that don’t translate to individual risk. Diet, exercise, hearing aids, and other interventions might reduce the global incidence of dementia by 45 percent, but that doesn’t mean they will reduce your specific risk by the same amount. Yaffe estimates that roughly half of a person’s Alzheimer’s risk is based on genetics, and half probably depends on their activity level, diet and luck. But the biggest risk factor is age.Even as Juli is gently prodding her husband to eat more broccoli, she’s also preparing for his inevitable decline. The couple is in the process of moving from their two-story home in a Dallas suburb to a single-story house they are having built in a nearby gated community. Her husband will trade in his car for a golf cart, and Juli will work almost entirely from home to make sure he stays safe. She knows they are incredibly lucky to be able to afford to build their new home from the ground up. She’s already designed it with a shower and doors wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair.Juli acknowledges that it’s impossible to know whether the changes to their health routines are working. There’s no control group, no way to assess how her husband’s disease might have progressed if they’d stuck to only medications. Right now they can afford the supplements ($150 per month), extra visits to doctors ($900 per hour twice a year), blood draws ($500 every six months), and memberships to their doctor’s practice and to a platform that promotes the protocol they are following ($3,000 per year).For Juli, the costs are justified by the change she sees in her husband. Their daily regimen gives him a sense of agency, which has alleviated some of the anxiety and depression that plagued him after his diagnosis. “It’s given him work to do—and hope,” she says. “If that’s all we take away from it, it’s worth it.”

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Replacement Interstate 5 bridge inches towards construction

Oregon and Washington lawmakers were told Monday that final federal approval could be received early next year. Skeptics worry the $7.5 billion price tag will balloon.

A replacement for the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River could get its final environmental and federal approvals early next year and move into construction shortly thereafter, planners told a joint committee of Oregon and Washington lawmakers on Monday.But questions remain about the overall cost of the project, toll rates, whether it will be a single span or a lift bridge, and whether the project will receive a final $1 billion in federal funding.The new bridge connecting Portland and Vancouver is officially expected to cost as much as $7.5 billion. But lawmakers from the two states pressed Greg Johnson, administrator of the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, Monday whether that’s still a reliable estimate, given inflation that’s driving up the cost of major construction projects.Oregon lawmakers also said planners should have provided them an updated cost estimate before the special session on transportation that began Aug. 29 and is expected to conclude Wednesday.“It would be helpful if we could get that updated cost estimate as soon as possible,” said Sen. Khanh Pham, a Portland Democrat.Construction prices continue to rise.The replacement Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, for instance, was originally expected to cost $1.9 billion. It’s now expected to cost more than $5 billion.“We are seeing this type of inflationary spiral on major projects here in the Portland area as well as nationally,” Johnson said. “We are tracking what we are seeing all over. It is not a pretty picture.”As much as $1.6 billion of the replacement bridge’s cost will be paid for by tolling. As previously announced, tolls could range from $1.55 to $4.70, depending on several factors. They’re expected to start in the spring of 2027, a year later than first announced.Also unresolved is whether the center of the bridge will be able to lift to accommodate marine traffic. Coast Guard officials previously said a fixed bridge would be too low. If the Coast Guard ultimately requires a movable span, Johnson said, it will add an estimated $400 million to the project. He expects a decision from the Coast Guard early next year.The final $1 billion in federal funding for the new bridge also isn’t expected to be secured until 2028. During the public comment portion of the meeting, civic, business and construction groups mostly spoke in favor of the project, but critics continued to question the bridge’s cost.“A safe and modern bridge is an investment in Oregon and Washington’s future,” said Khanh Tran of the Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors, calling the project a “generational” opportunity for disadvantaged businesses.“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to watch infrastructure this critical in nature being put off and put off and put off,” said Dee Burch, a director of the Oregon Columbia Chapter of the Association of General Contractors, who noted a replacement interstate bridge in Minneapolis got built in just over a year, although it was a significantly smaller project that cost $234 million. But critics, including economist Joe Cortright, with the Portland policy think tank City Observatory, said lawmakers need to contend with escalating costs that he expects will be “squarely in the $10 billion range,” telling lawmakers that would mean Oregon and Washington will each need to come up with another $1 billion in funding.Cortright also questioned whether the traffic assumptions on which tolling estimates are based are inflated and whether it’s prudent to count on the final $1 billion in federal funding, given ongoing cuts to the federal budget.“Federal funding is very, very much in doubt,” Cortright said, later calling it “reckless to embark on this project” when all the funding isn’t secured.The group of lawmakers, formally known as the Joint Interim Committee on Interstate 5 Bridge, will meet again in December.If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

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Trump’s EPA Just Released an Infomercial for Conspiracy Theorists

“To anyone who’s ever looked up to the streaks in the sky and asked, ‘What the heck is going on?’” Lee Zeldin has an answer for you.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images You’d be forgiven if you mistook Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin’s new three-minute video released Thursday as an infomercial for some obscure science fiction literature. Shared on social media and touted as proof of the Trump administration’s “total transparency,” Zeldin’s video gives a heavy nod to conspiracy theorists, even as misinformation is fueling death threats over flooding in Texas that some extremists claim was caused by a “weather weapon.” Directing viewers to new EPA resources on “geoengineering” and “contrails,” Zeldin encourages the public to ask questions, even if those questions have already been answered over and over again. “Concerned Americans have urgent and important questions about geoengineering and contrails,” Zeldin insists, lamenting that “for years” people asking such questions were “vilified” by both the media and the government. “That era is over,” he says. “Instead of simply dismissing these questions and concerns as ‘baseless conspiracies,’ we’re meeting them head-on.” “To anyone who’s ever looked up to the streaks in the sky and asked, ‘What the heck is going on?’ Or seen headlines about private actors and even governments looking to ‘blot out the sun’ in the name of stopping global warming, we’ve endeavored to answer all of your questions,” Zeldin says. “In fact, EPA shares many of the same concerns.” In a bait-and-switch likely to frustrate any devout conspiracy theorists, however, one of the new EPA webpages actually debunks the “chemtrails” theory Zeldin appears to wink at in the video, stressing that condensation is a “normal effect” of air travel and not a result of any malicious, weather-related shenanigans. The page on geoengineering is not so unequivocal, however, listing a series of techniques meant to “cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the amount of sunlight” but mentioning only briefly that these ideas are “being studied” and not widely practiced. Solar Geoengineering has been studied by scientists for years as a way to potentially counter climate change, but it’s still largely conceptual. “Solar geoengineering, a theoretical practice which would modify the atmosphere to shade Earth’s surface by reflecting sunlight back into space, is not taking place at scale anywhere in the world,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last fall. Zeldin’s announcement seems only to have emboldened some fringe voices who had linked weather modification to the Texas floods. Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of “Jewish space lasers” fame was among the controversial figures to suggest the disaster was caused by geoengineering. She welcomed Zeldin’s announcement on Thursday and used it to push for legislation making weather modifications a “felony offense.” The CEO of Rainmaker, a California-based cloud-seeding company that had done work in Texas prior to the storms, said the company has received “in excess of 100 explicit death threats” after being falsely blamed for the disaster. Cloud seeding, which involves adding aerosols to clouds in order to clear fog or trigger precipitation, is not capable of creating storms, experts have said. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world.

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Editorial endorsement: Elect Splitt, Greene, La Forte and Engelsman to Portland Public Schools board

Christy Splitt, Herman Greene, Virginia La Forte and Stephanie Engelsman emerge as the strongest candidates with the experience, independence and vision to lead the board of Portland Public Schools, the editorial board writes.

Portland Public Schools is decidedly not in the best of times. Roughly half of students are struggling to master reading and math, and enrollment is declining. Mistrust and anger are lingering after the 2023 teachers strike, and additional layoffs loom as expenses outpace funding increases. Yet each of the four seats on the May ballot for the district’s board of directors has attracted multiple candidates. That interest is a testament to Portlanders’ loyalty to the city’s public schools, even when there’s much that needs fixing. Good intentions alone won’t steer PPS through its challenges. The board needs members who can work collaboratively to hold the district accountable for educating students, make tough budget cuts and rekindle civic enthusiasm for the district. It needs members who are individually able to withstand pressure and pushback – from the administration, teachers union, legislators and others – to make decisions that are unequivocally centered on students and opening doors to their future. And it needs members who will advocate for more funding while recognizing the imperative to improve student achievement with the resources Portland already has.For PPS, those candidates best equipped to lead the district are Christy Splitt in Zone 1; Herman Greene in Zone 4; Virginia La Forte in Zone 5; and Stephanie Engelsman in Zone 6.While our endorsements focus just on Portland Public Schools, voters across the state are making similar decisions for their local districts. They should similarly look for candidates who demonstrate a focus on accountability, financial stewardship, commitment to student achievement and growth and, crucially, independence. Zone 1 – Southwest Portland including Wells High SchoolChristy Splitt: Splitt, 47, was appointed by Portland school board members just three months ago after former director Andrew Scott stepped down from his seat due to his move out of the Southwest Portland zone. A former teacher who has been involved in state politics as a lobbyist, staffer and environmental advocate, she works for the Oregon Department of Energy as its governmental relations coordinator. That experience navigating policy through the Legislature will be valuable as districts across the state seek greater funding to address rising labor costs as well as legacy pension contributions that sap money intended to help current students. In her short tenure on the board so far, she helped draft a framework for how the district should explore potential cost savings for the modernization of three high schools in the $1.8 billion school construction bond that’s also on the May ballot. The resolution, developed with departing board members Gary Hollands and Julia Brim-Edwards, reflects the kind of balancing act needed, weighing new high school construction with improving decrepit conditions in many elementary and middle schools.Her opponent, Ken Cavagnolo, works in artificial intelligence and notes his commitment to student-focused initiatives and higher salaries for teachers. But his campaign seems driven more by ideological stances than a deep understanding of what’s happening in PPS schools. He acknowledged in his endorsement interview that he has not volunteered at or worked with any Portland schools, nor does he have children in the system. Splitt has shown her commitment for years as a PPS parent, volunteer and PTA leader and is the clear choice.Zone 4 – Parts of North and Northeast Portland, including Roosevelt High School Herman Greene: The race for the seat representing parts of North and Northeast Portland proved to be the toughest of the four to decide. Both the incumbent, Greene, and his opponent, Rashelle Chase-Miller, are dedicated and qualified candidates who either had or currently have children in PPS.But Greene, 51, has already demonstrated his commitment to keeping students’ needs front and center, even when that means going against conventional wisdom or holding firm in contract negotiations with the powerful teachers union. He was among the first to raise alarms about the proposed cost of the new high schools on the May bond measure, urging the district to review the plans’ expenses.In October 2021, he was one of the three board members opposing the majority’s push to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all students 12 and older to attend school – even though health authorities were not recommending such a move. He called out the potential impact of such a policy on pushing away Black students, noting the community’s long history of medical mistreatment. Ultimately, the board agreed, unanimously putting aside the well-intentioned but ill-conceived proposal.He successfully advocated for clarifying district policy to allow high schools to offer a U.S. Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, similar to other career and technical education opportunities. Nothing would require high schools to do so, but many community members objected to the idea of a military-affiliated program. But that shows Greene’s focus on serving students – not Portland sensibilities. School districts should not be in the business of shutting down avenues to a student’s future or prescribing which career paths are politically acceptable. The district’s role is to help students explore their interests and gain the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their futures. And as one of the three directors at the bargaining table during the 2023 teachers strike, he fulfilled a board member’s toughest role. Despite intense pressure to give teachers concessions the district could not afford, Greene stood firm. He has correctly pointed out that without massive new state funding, the district would have to cut school days and other student services if it were to adopt caps on class sizes – one of the most expensive changes sought by teachers. While Greene has repeatedly called for more state funding, the teachers union has still targeted him for replacement as part of its “Flip the PPS Board” campaign. But had the district agreed to more of the union’s demands, ongoing cuts at PPS would be even deeper.Chase-Miller, 43, is a formidable opponent, with her background as a literacy advocate and program director for SMART Reading. She offers deeper analysis of some of the educational policy questions facing board members than Greene, who often seems to make off-the-cuff statements. She provides greater clarity in her priorities for special education and literacy initiatives in the face of budget cuts. And while she supports class size caps, she would preserve the district’s focus on smaller class sizes in Title 1 schools where such an investment makes a more meaningful difference than in high-income neighborhoods.But as a parent leader who prominently embraced the teachers union’s narrative of the strike despite public information to the contrary and whose campaign has received more than $10,000 from the teachers union, she doesn’t project the independence necessary for a board member whose constituency is students. Greene is quick to admit that he’s not politically polished, but he is comfortable advocating for the diverse needs of a broad student body, even if it goes against conventional wisdom. With the departures of Hollands and Brim-Edwards, the board is losing key accountability-minded members. Greene’s voice is an important one to keep.Zone 5 – Northeast Portland including Grant and McDaniel High SchoolsVirginia La Forte: As the mother of a current PPS high schooler and a 2024 PPS graduate, La Forte has shown up for years as a volunteer, advocate and, when needed, challenger to the district. More than a decade ago, she pressed PPS to clean up hazardous lead paint at schools. She served on the advisory group helping develop the district’s 2017 bond to rebuild three high schools and mitigate environmental hazards, including lead in schools’ drinking water. The 54-year-old marketing strategist most recently has been leading the charge for the district to install lights at the field next to Grant High School, allowing sports teams to hold more games at their home field rather than traveling off-site – missing class time as a result. Proceeds for the bond measure on the May ballot would address this need.Those efforts reflect one of La Forte’s strengths – her ability to identify, create and execute a solution to big problems. She would bring that approach to her top priorities of addressing chronic absenteeism, low literacy rates and the district’s crumbling infrastructure.Among her ideas is to explore how to braid together schools and community partners to provide full-day summer programs that offer high-dosage tutoring as well as sports and recreational opportunities. She noted the importance of trainings for teachers in literacy techniques and the need to target the causes underlying chronic absenteeism as factors in boosting reading proficiency.But she also would strengthen the board with an understanding of what accountability entails. When asked how she would hold the district superintendent accountable, she discussed the components of creating shared goals, establishing a plan, identifying metrics to measure progress and then regularly checking in with multiple groups – an often skipped step.Opponent Jorge Sanchez Bautista, 18, is a senior at McDaniel High School who has experienced first-hand some of the shortcomings of the district and the challenges borne by students as a result of insufficient resources. Part of the teachers union’s “Flip the PPS Board” slate, Bautista has been politically active on a number of social justice issues, picketed regularly with teachers during the 2023 strike and brings an affable and authentic enthusiasm. He identifies himself as a member of the Oregon Board of Education – although in actuality, he has a student advisory role – but his platform lacks the specificity, focus and depth that La Forte brings. While his commitment to engage the community to guide his decisions is a crucial part of representation, he did not show a clear vision of what he would seek to achieve. We look forward to hearing more from Bautista, who plans to attend Portland State University and, possibly, University of Oregon afterwards. But for getting big things done now, La Forte is the stronger choice.Zone 6 – Southeast Portland including Cleveland and Franklin High SchoolsStephanie Engelsman: Few board members have shown the level of rigorous oversight as Zone 6 Director Julia Brim-Edwards, who is finishing her second consecutive term on the school board. Whether they liked it or not, fellow board members knew she would come to meetings armed with specific questions derived from reading board packets and talking with administrators and community members. With Brim-Edwards not running for re-election, the candidate who will best fill her shoes and provide that scrutiny to district policies and decisions is Engelsman.Engelsman, 47, brings her experience not just as a parent of PPS elementary school kids, but also her years as a public defense attorney working with youth in juvenile cases and foster care. She notes the hardships that families face and how they connect with students’ ability to succeed in school – or even to just attend. She identifies how specific policies, such as automatic unenrollment for students who are absent without academic engagement for 10 consecutive school days, can contribute to chronic absenteeism, especially for those without the parental assistance to re-enroll. While she hopes to lower class sizes, she recognizes the necessity of ensuring Title 1 schools’ classrooms get priority in lean budget years. She said she would look for other creative ways to bring in more community resources, from student-teachers to nonprofits that can help provide that assistance and attention that current staffing levels cannot.She emphasizes the importance of doing the reading for board meetings, being prepared and asking the tough questions. She also intends to regularly visit schools – a key component of understanding issues and building trust with school community members. Her two opponents, business owner Rob Galanakis, 40, and disaster resilience consultant Simone Crowe, 37, don’t provide the same education-focused agenda that Engelsman offers. Galanakis often spoke of education as an afterthought, focusing his priorities around housing and transportation policies – areas over which the school board has limited influence and control. Crowe also lacked the familiarity with district budget concerns that are critical to strong oversight. While we did not agree with some of Engelsman’s answers, she has shown that she will bring a critical eye and informed viewpoint that the board needs. -The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung and John Maher. Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles. If you have questions about the opinion section, email Helen Jung, opinion editor, or call 503-294-7621.

Business
Education
Energy

An Irish hotelier, Qatari royals and a federal lawsuit involving a Beverly Hills hotel

Irish hotelier Patrick McKillen is suing members of the Qatari royal family, accusing them of defrauding him and his company. The family has denied the allegations.

As Irish hotelier Patrick McKillen tells it, he met the former emir of Qatar on a yacht in Doha to discuss a business opportunity in California, more than 8,000 miles away.McKillen and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani were discussing the purchase of a Beverly Hills hotel, which McKillen said he committed to managing and redeveloping.Now that hotel — the Maybourne Beverly Hills — is at the center of a civil racketeering complaint filed in the Central District of California on Tuesday, in which McKillen accuses Qatari royals of orchestrating “a global scheme” to defraud him and his company of hundreds of millions of dollars for work completed on several luxury properties.In the lawsuit, McKillen, who reportedly co-owns a whiskey distillery with U2 frontman Bono, said he and his team “undertook a massive redevelopment effort” on the Beverly Hills hotel — where rooms go for more than $1,000 a night — over a two-year period, but were not paid millions of dollars allegedly owed for the work done.McKillen, a citizen of Ireland and the United Kingdom, brought the complaint against senior members of the royal family, including Hamad bin Khalifa; and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister known as “HBJ”; as well as the family’s agents, representatives and controlled businesses.In the complaint, which encompasses claims already being litigated in courts around the world, McKillen alleges that the schemes against him and his company, Hume Street Management Consultants Limited, “are part of a years’ long pattern of illegal racketeering orchestrated by the Qatari royals and are in line with a history of illicit, lawless actions.”McKillen’s lawyers declined to comment.“This is the latest of many vacuous claims made by Paddy McKillen and associated parties across multiple jurisdictions, all of which are either on-going or have been struck out by the courts,” the Qatari-owned Maybourne Hotel Group said in a statement. “As with the other claims, we will contest this latest claim and prove the allegations to be entirely false.”The federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles is the latest action taken by McKillen in his long-running legal dispute with the Qatari royal family, a conflict that has made headlines around the world. He has filed actions in the U.S., France and the United Kingdom.The Maybourne Beverly Hills is also the subject of a breach of contract lawsuit that was filed by McKillen’s company in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2022. That court denied a motion by the company that owns the hotel to force McKillen’s company into arbitration. The decision is under appeal.“It appears that Mr. McKillen would prefer to litigate in the press rather than continue the actions he initiated in the United States, UK, and France and await their outcome,” Jason D. Russell, who is representing Hamad bin Jassim in California actions, said in an email. “Our client remains confident that these claims, like the myriad others he has filed, will be found to lack merit in a court or by an arbitrator.”Earlier this year, the High Court in London set aside McKillen’s company’s permission to serve a claim on Hamad bin Jassim outside of the jurisdiction, finding it had failed to show a real prospect of success, according to court documents. The claim, for around £3.6 million (about $4.8 million), was tied the development of a private home in London for Hamad bin Jassim. The company’s appeal was refused earlier this month, according to British court records.McKillen was also convicted in Paris earlier this year of being physically and verbally aggressive to a bailiff who was in his apartment in the city because of the alleged nonpayment of a loan to the Luxembourg-based Quintet Private Bank.McKillen’s lawyers told the Irish Times that their client “vigorously denies any violence or any wrongdoing” against the bailiff and claimed the allegations against him were “false.” McKillen, who was reportedly fined €10,000 (about $11,377) over the incident, has appealed the conviction.By the time the Qatari royal family approached McKillen about the California hotel in 2019, he said he had been working on projects with them for years.According to the federal complaint filed in California, in 2004, McKillen acquired shares in a group of luxury hotels that came to be known as the Maybourne Hotel Group. Despite later selling his shares in the group to a company owned by Hamad bin Jassim, McKillen said he continued to manage and redevelop the Maybourne Hotel Group and its hotels at the direction of the royals.Hamad bin Khalifa later acquired an interest in the Maybourne Hotel Group, according to the complaint.McKillen said he and his company had been tasked with the management and redevelopment of the refurbishment of a Manhattan mansion owned by Hamad bin Jassim in 2018; the construction and development of a new Parisian hotel on the site of the historic Îlot Saint-Germain building in 2019; and the management and redevelopment of the newly branded Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel in 2019.McKillen alleges that for each of those projects, the Qatari royals told him he would be compensated through fees for services performed, but that at some point, “the Qatari Royals decided, in secret, that they would not, in fact, be compensating Mr. McKillen or HSMC.” McKillen alleged in the complaint that he and his company were strung along “under false representations” that they would be paid.The complaint detailed the October 2019 meeting on a yacht in Doha, Qatar, between McKillen and Hamad bin Khalifa to discuss the opportunity for the royal family to acquire the California hotel, then known as the Montage Beverly Hills.McKillen said he presented a vision for the hotel to Hamad bin Khalifa and “gave his commitment to manage and strategically redevelop” it. A holding company owned by Hamad bin Khalifa purchased the hotel later that year, according to the complaint.In the complaint, McKillen said a representative of the family confirmed that he and his company would be compensated with fees paid for work performed on the hotel. During the next two years, McKillen said he and his team transitioned the hotel to the Maybourne brand and led the hotel’s development and management.In July 2021, according to the complaint, McKillen submitted a fee proposal to an advisor to the Al Thani family, stating that his company was owed $6 million in project management fees on an annual basis, to be paid quarterly, from January 2020 to January 2025. That proposal was “met with stonewalling by the Qatari Royals,” the complaint alleges. After months passed with no payment, McKillen said, he wrote a letter to Hamad bin Khalifa and Hamad bin Jassim telling them about the refusal to pay him fees owed and stating that he could no longer work on the project.McKillen later sent an additional invoice for $12 million in project management fees for work performed in California in 2020 and 2021, according to the complaint. He alleges that none of those fees had been paid.The Qatari royals are facing a separate legal battle over the Maybourne Riviera, after French authorities sued them for allegedly breaching planning and environmental regulations and illegally building on land exposed to “seismic risks,” according to an Irish Times article. The newspaper reported that, at a recent hearing, a representative for the Al Thani family blamed McKillen. McKillen told that news outlet that the alleged breaches occurred two years after he was fired from the project in April 2022. “The damage was done after we left,” he told the outlet. “The French state isn’t suing me, it’s suing the Qataris.”

Business

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