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RSID: <<2023-09-28T23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>


Welcome to program 324 of Shortwave Radiogram.

I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.

Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:

  1:40 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:48 MFSK32: Likely asteroid debris found on NASA probe*
  7:39 MFSK64: Copper theft hits German infrastructure*
13:41 MFSK64: This week's images*
28:28 MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)


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From AFP via Phys.org:

Likely asteroid debris found upon opening of returned NASA probe

September 27, 2023

After a seven-year wait, NASA scientists on Tuesday finally pried
open a space probe carrying the largest asteroid samples ever
brought back to Earth, finding black debris.

Researchers "found black dust and debris on the avionics deck of
the OSIRIS-REx science canister when the initial lid was removed
today," the US space agency said, though without specifying
whether they definitely belonged to the asteroid.

Scientists are eagerly awaiting researching the bulk of the
sample, which will require "intricate disassembly" of the probe.

OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016, landing on the asteroid Bennu and
collected roughly nine ounces (250 grams) of dust from its rocky
surface.

Even that small amount, NASA has said, should "help us better
understand the types of asteroids that could threaten Earth."

It ended its 3.86-billion-mile (6.21-billion-kilometer) journey
after touching down in the desert in the western state of Utah on
Sunday, following a high-stakes, fiery descent through Earth's
atmosphere.

The residue on the avionics deck found Tuesday was likely a
result of issues during the collection, which NASA said were
eventually solved, allowing the secure transfer of the sample.

The lid was opened in an airtight chamber at the Johnson Space
Center in Houston, Texas.

A news conference is scheduled October 11 in which the bulk of
the sample will be revealed to the public.

The analysis of the asteroid, scientists believe, will help
researchers better understand the formation of the solar system
and how Earth became habitable.

Most of the sample will be conserved for study by future
generations. Roughly one-fourth will be immediately used in
experiments, and a small amount will be sent to mission partners
Japan and Canada.

https://phys.org/news/2023-09-asteroid-debris-nasa-probe.html
 

Image: NASA's Osiris-Rex mission shortly after it landed in the
western United States on September 24, 2023.


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Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...
 

RSID: <<2023-09-28T23:37Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>


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From Deutsche Welle:

Germany: Copper theft hits crucial infrastructure, business

Metal theft by criminal gangs in Germany is alarming the
public and businesses. The resulting disruptions will worsen
as copper prices rise.

Dirk Kaufmann
September 26, 2023

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn has been struggling for
quite a while now. Decades of neglect have left the state-owned
company's infrastructure and rolling stock in tatters and its
finances in disarray.

Deutsche Bahn's precarious funding is now being additionally
burdened by a rising number of copper thefts that in 2022 alone
cost the company about €6.6 million ($7 million), according to
German business daily Handelsblatt. This year, the newspaper
found, copper thefts have already led to 2,644 train delays,
totaling well over 700 hours.

As criminals destroy cable ducts to get hold of the valuable base
metal, supply chains are disrupted and hundreds of thousands of
passengers are getting increasingly frustrated about Deutsche
Bahn's unpunctuality.

But it's not only the German national railway company that
suffers from the rising theft of so-called nonferrous metals like
copper. Copper wiring and pipes are stolen from construction
sites. Even church roofs that are often laid with copper plates
are no longer safe from acts of criminal wrongdoing.

The most spectacular copper theft of all time in Germany, though,
happened at copper manufacturing and recycling company Aurubis in
August. The Hamburg-based company disclosed it was a victim of a
major theft involving nearly $200 million (€188.7 million) worth
of the base metal.

Copper: Critical raw material in short supply

After the news of the theft broke at the end of August, Aurubis,
Europe's largest copper producer, said it suspected a criminal
gang had stolen some of its metal. The company disclosed that due
to "considerable discrepancies" in its inventories it would miss
its full-year profit guidance.

Copper is a base metal that is used in multiple appliances and
applications due to its good electrical conductivity. It's become
even more critical in the transformation of entire industries
toward carbon neutrality, says Joachim Berlenbach, founder and
CEO of the Earth Resource Investment (ERI) consultancy. He added
that he has no doubt that "the demand for copper will increase
massively in the future."

"Think of a wind turbine generating electricity by spinning a
copper coil through a magnetic field. For each megawatt of wind
energy, you need five to nine tons of copper, depending on
whether the turbine is onshore or offshore," Berlenbach told DW.

Prices will continue to rise, he said, because "we simply don't
have enough of this critical raw material for achieving our
decarbonization goals. This is often ignored by advocates of the
energy transition."

Economic development to drive up copper prices

Berlenbach thinks that a main driver of future copper prices will
be the economic development in emerging countries like China and
India where rising standards of living will lead to "more cars
being driven, more air conditioning systems being installed and
more houses with better electrical wiring being constructed."

The ERI CEO said humans have mined 700 million tons of copper in
total so far. "We will need about the same amount of copper in
the next 30 years," he added, basing his assumption on
calculations done at his company.

At the same time, it's becoming "increasingly difficult to
explore and mine copper deposits," he said, noting that those are
mainly to be found in countries with high geopolitical risk such
as Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)), where
companies will only invest "if it's economically worthwhile."

Where has all the stolen copper gone?

The Aurubis copper fraud took place in the realm of financial
bookkeeping which made it possible for the criminals to remain
undisclosed for a long time. After all, selling stolen copper on
the hugely regulated European recycling market isn't easy, says
Ralf Schmitz from the Association of German Metal Traders and
Recyclers (VDM).

Every deal or delivery has to be recorded, he told the German
daily Tagesspiegel recently, adding: "What gets stolen is known
to the traders. This also applies to our eastern neighbor Poland
which has a similar system."

Schmitz suspects that metal thieves mainly sell their contraband
outside of Germany because open borders facilitate illegal
shipments. Or even further afar: "The bulk of the stolen metals
is no longer sold in Europe. Most of the material, in my theory,
goes overseas in containers."

'No substitute for copper'

As the prices of copper and other metals rise, criminals are
becoming better organized and more ruthless. Police investigating
the Aurubis theft have seized firearms and ammunition alongside
more than €200,000 ($212,000) in cash and several cars.

ERI CEO Berlenbach said when he hears about copper thefts in
Germany he often is reminded about his time in South Africa,
where he once worked. "The problem of copper theft was similarly
dramatic in South Africa. At one time, all the telephone lines in
my neighborhood in Johannesburg were ripped out. It must have
been a well-organized gang with contacts to professional buyers."

And yet, Berlenbach can't think of any effective method to
protect critical infrastructures like railways and electrical
grids from metal theft. "Unfortunately, there is no substitute
for copper cables, it's a matter of physics."

This article was originally written in German.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-copper-theft-hits-crucial-infrastructure-business/a-66919116
 

Image: An Aurubis employee checking on copper coils in a company
plant ...

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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
 

This week's images ...


Young Icelandic mares graze on a meadow in Wehrheim near
Frankfurt, Germany. https://tinyurl.com/2y6jbpza ...

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The sun, near its maximum cycle, with a large flare to the left
of the image. https://tinyurl.com/27o99bux ...

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A late-season flower at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia.
https://tinyurl.com/28j5yyea ...

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A fox cub explores -- near its mother -- in Kirkcudbright,
Scotland. https://tinyurl.com/235od2xb ...

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House Finch at Sunken Meadow State Park, Long Island, New York.
https://tinyurl.com/28pszwwb ...

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Sunset at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania.
https://tinyurl.com/288yjyun ...

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Building reflected in water from Post Tropical Low Ophelia in Old
Town Alexandria, Virginia, September 23.
https://tinyurl.com/2cnexmlu ...

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Our painting of the week is "The Time Between" (2022) by Mike
Gough (Canadian). https://tinyurl.com/28jfebad ...

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