Monument to the Stars

August 30, 2026, marks the start of the journey for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman or NGRST) that will reside in relatively close proximity to the John Webb Space Telescope (Webb or JWST) at Lagrange point (L2) – (see Seeing Beyond 2021).  While Webb uses mid-infrared and near-infrared to see deep into the universe performing high resolution narrow field investigations, Roman uses near-infrared to chart wide, panoramic sections of the universe.  As an analogy, JWST is to a zoom camera lens, as NGRST is to a wide-angle camera lens.  According to NASA, Roman “will also be able to block starlight to directly see exoplanets and planet-forming disks, complete a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy, and settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics." Here on Earth, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory located near Cerro Pachón, Chile uses visible light from an 8.4-meter mirror to also map wide sections of the southern sky.   For centuries, humans have been fascinated with the heavens with ancient Earth-based astronomical observatories such as Chaco Canyon, El Caracol at Chichen Itza or Ulugh Beg Observatory.  This brings me to the question: What would an ancient astronomical observatory look like if recreated in the modern age?

Photo: courtesy of Charles Ross

Star Axis is a monumental earthwork first conceived by Charles Ross in 1971 and located between Las Vegas and Santa Rosa in northern New Mexico.  Ross spent the first five years trying to identify a site suitable for his grand idea.  I visited Star Axis in June 2026, where Ross tells a story of driving throughout the southwestern US and finally New Mexico to scout the perfect site.  It was in northern New Mexico where Ross met a cowboy while surveying a cattle ranch.  After hearing about the idea, the cowboy proceeded to hand him a business card (yes, a cowboy with a business card) for Ross to contact the cowboy’s father, W.O. Culberton, who owned the ranch.  Ross explained to Culbertson that he had a vision to build a sculpture that would mark Earth’s axial procession by observing the current North star, Polaris and he needed about a square mile of land to develop the sculpture.  Culbertson replied, “Well, hell, we’ve got plenty of those.”, and deeded the land to Ross to build Star Axis in 1976. 

This modern artwork is intended to observe the star as ancient civilizations would have centuries before.  There is no modern technology in the built environment, no computers, scientific equipment, or light sequences – only the stars above to view in the dark skies.  The artwork is comprised of five main sections including the Star Tunnel, the Solar Pyramid, the Shadow Field, the Hour Chamber and the Equatorial Chamber and serves as a lasting monument for astronomy as well as to mathematics and engineering. 

Photo: courtesy of Charles Ross

In the early 1960s, Charles Ross studied physics and later mathematics at UC Berkeley when he enrolled in a sculpture class to complete the requirements for graduation.  Creating sculpture allowed Ross to transform the theoretical into the physical and completely sparked his creative use of mathematics.  After earning a BA in Mathematics, Ross continued his education at UC Berkeley to earn a MA in Sculpture. 

Star Axis is scheduled to open in 2026 marking its 50^th anniversary. Anticipate that visits will be limited and by reservation only.  Until public visits are available, please check out the Dwan Light Sanctuary at United World College in nearby Montezuma, New Mexico. 

#StarAxis #CharlesRoss #JWST #NewMexico #Roman

The New Nuclear Age

The end of the Cold War in 1991 brought about the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.  Unfortunately, it did not eliminate the threat of nuclear war.  However, the 1987 INF Treaty and later the START Treaty signed by US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on July 31, 1991, had good intentions to limit the number of Intercontinental Ballistic Missles (ICBMs), Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers (collectively “strategic delivery vehicles”) each country could possess. 

“Conscious that nuclear war would have devastating consequences for all humanity, that it cannot be won and must never be fought,

Convinced that the measures for the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms and the other obligations set forth in this Treaty will help to reduce the risk of outbreak of nuclear war and strengthen international peace and security…”. – Introduction to the START Treaty

Licorne test, 1971, French Polynesia. Photo:The Official CTBTO Photostream/UN File

Given recent conflicts throughout world coupled with intimidation between states possessing nuclear weapons including the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and possibly Israel, is it conceivable that humanity is heading into a cold(er) war, a new nuclear age?

2025 commemorated the 80^th Anniversary of the first nuclear test, code-named Trinity, which occurred on July 16, 1945.  During the 2023 “Summer of Oppenheimer”, I serendipitously met Brye Steeves, Director National Security Research Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Charles Oppenheimer with his family at his grandfather’s (J. Robert Oppenheimer) house on Bathtub Row in Los Alamos.  Through Mr. Oppenheimer, I was able to learn more about the Oppenheimer Project, which is “committed to honoring the legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer and advancing a safer future in the face of technological change”.  The central idea to the Oppenheimer Project is to promote nuclear disarmament and advance nuclear energy initiatives.  In a Time article published August 17, 2025, Oppenheimer states, “the nuclear renaissance is here. From powering the development of nations in the global south while lowering carbon emissions to potentially curing cancer through repurposing nuclear reactor waste, nuclear energy is already being used for peaceful purposes. However, we have not fully explored the peaceful potential of nuclear energy.”  Oppenheimer proposes to 1) explore the untapped potential of nuclear energy, 2) revitalize philanthropists and foundations who are willing to fund a new generation of innovative thinkers, and 3) maximize global abundance by collaborating on the peaceful applications of nuclear energy.

I hope that nuclear war will never become a reality.  I recently listened to a RadioLab podcast, Double Blasted, which details a personal account of Tsutomu Yamaguchi who in August 1945 was directly impacted by the atomic bomb fallout on the morning of August 6 in Hiroshima and then again three days later as he traveled to Nagasaki to escape the destruction left by the first atomic bomb.    The story is unimaginable as Yamaguchi is “double blasted” and his journey to overcome the trauma and long-lasting effects of the first nuclear bombs.  It is a truly remarkable story, and I encourage you to listen by clicking the link above. 

Non-Violence by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd. UN File Photo/Michos Tzovaras

I have been searching for resources to learn more on how I can make a difference.  The United Nations (UN) has established August 29 as International Day Against Nuclear Tests and September 26 as International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons to bring awareness and set nuclear disarmament as a top priority.  In 2019, the UN also established Youth4Disarmament , an “initiative to connect geographically diverse young people with experts to learn about current international security challenges, the work of the United Nations and how they can actively participate”.  In fact, The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) working with the Youth4Disarmament recently hosted an online program titled Atomic Bomb Survivor Stories Through Art and offers Disarmament Toolkit certificate courses through a series of expert briefings, real-world examples, and interactive exercises. These programs empower global youth with educational resources to affect change in their communities.

I would like to think that the new nuclear age is a nuclear renaissance as described by Charles Oppenheimer with opportunities for an unlimited, renewable energy resource available for everyone. I plan to explore nuclear energy in future posts to follow. Stay tuned!

#OppenheimerProject #UnitedNations #Youth4Disarmament #UNODA #LANL #RadioLab

Fail Better

NASA flight director Gene Kranz is credited for saying "Failure is not an option", but in an interview, he shared that he never actually said those words. It was actor Ed Harris, portraying Kranz in the film Apollo 13, that said those very important, inspirational and memorable lines. While it is true at times that failure is not an option, failure is an important step in growth and innovation. So why is there so much stigma associated with failure?

If you watch enough rocket launches, you understand that there are always clearly established objectives with each mission. The bar should be set high with hope that all the mission objectives will be achieved. You should also allow room to stretch even further for the possibility of reaching goals to be established in subsequent missions. The reward for setting the bar seemingly just out of reach is that it may actually lead to success, but if not, there is extremely valuable data collected in the failed attempt. By analyzing the data extracted from the failure, we can focus on the areas to improve for next time and give birth to innovation.

I thought this quote by Samuel Beckett, with whom I share his namesake, seemed applicable.

Ever tried.

Ever failed.

No matter.

Try again.

Fail again.

Fail better.

-Samuel Beckett

No one ever enjoys failing, but it is only through this iterative process of trying, failing and failing better that allows us to grow and hopefully be successful to innovate in our endeavors. Let's try again!

#NASA #GeneKranz #SamuelBeckett