Under pressure -- space exploration in our time

In the past decade, humanity has seen the birth and expansion of a commercial space sector with new, private players, addressing technological challenges -- from space launch to communication and satellite imagery of Earth. Last year, the global space industry skyrocketed launching more than 2,660 satellites into orbit, and, into the universe, interplanetary probes, landers, and much more. In the United States, SpaceX was responsible for almost 90% of these launches. In parallel to this progression is the expansion of more than 70 countries demonstrating space capabilities. It affirms the general consensus and understanding that humanity will continue to rely on space activities to better the human experience. These developments create a novel landscape of both competition and collaboration for scientists, offering both challenges and opportunities.

In an increasingly fragmented world, the scientific community stands as an example of successful international collaboration and diplomacy.

Science is based in a long-standing tradition of knowledge exchange that often transcends political boundaries for the benefit of all humanity.

Cost-effective, commercial space technologies can enable novel research or reduce the cost of investigations opening new possibilities for the scientific community.

At the same time, international partnerships can further broaden engagement, diversity, and collaboration in science and space exploration.

While this might seem like a "win-win" scenario, the interest of the scientific community is to openly share data and analysis.

Differing principles and ideals present potential areas of conflict.

As governments and private entities fund bold, new projects, leaders, academics, and legal experts are contemplating both the larger consequences, as well as potential prospects.

High stakes leadership and landing on Mars

"When every mission is a first for humanity, the stakes are very high," says Thomas Zurbuchen who led 54 missions as NASA's longest serving Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.

"When the clock is ticking, and the world is watching, a leader's most powerful asset is a highly diverse team," he says.

Within this context, diversity can emerge from international and commercial partnerships, and can give rise to new missions.

In fact, an estimated two-thirds of science missions have international partnerships.

Now, as the Director for ETH Zurich Space, in Switzerland, Zurbuchen reflects on the value of partnerships as a leadership tool.

He uses examples from recent international missions, such as Mars InSight, to discuss how diversity creates opportunities for new and different ideas to come forward -- even if some ideas pose an element of risk.

He also addresses some of the challenges arising from partnerships.

For example, some companies and countries prefer not to share their science data gathered in space, making reproducibility challenging for scientific analysis.

Cross-border diffusion -- learning from lightning on Venus

"Scientific ideas move like space plasmas," says David Malaspina, a space plasma physicist at University of Colorado, Boulder.

"When they encounter a border, they find a way across." Malaspina describes international academic collaborations as vital engines of discovery and attributes the language of science for fostering a sense of awe and wonder for the universe that transcends cultures.

In science, and in plasmas, the most interesting physics happens at the boundaries.

Malaspina engages in international and generationally diverse research teams, including a team building a sounding rocket to explore the interface between Earth and space.

He is also a member of a team that uses data from the Parker Solar Probe mission to explore Venus, seeking to understand the importance of a planetary magnetic field for habitability of Earth-like planets.

He discusses how teams that foster inclusion of diverse perspectives create new opportunities for scientific progress.

Why protect bootprints on the Moon?

Unlike ancient footprints, cave drawings, and stone-age tools found here on Earth, the first traces of human activity on the Moon, including Neil Armstrong's bootprint, are not protected under any existing laws or regulations.

Michelle Hanlon, space lawyer and Executive Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, thinks this is a travesty.

Read more at Science Daily

Scientists call for global push to eliminate space junk

Scientists have called for a legally-binding treaty to ensure Earth's orbit isn't irreparably harmed by the future expansion of the global space industry.

In the week that nearly 200 countries agreed to a treaty to protect the High Seas after a 20-year process, the experts believe society needs to take the lessons learned from one part of our planet to another.

The number of satellites in orbit is expected to increase from 9,000 today to over 60,000 by 2030, with estimates suggesting there are already more than 100 trillion untracked pieces of old satellites circling the planet.

While such technology is used to provide a huge range of social and environmental benefits, there are fears the predicted growth of the industry could make large parts of Earth's orbit unusable.

Writing in the journal Science, an international collaboration of experts in fields including satellite technology and ocean plastic pollution say this demonstrates the urgent need for global consensus on how best to govern Earth's orbit.

They acknowledge that a number of industries and countries are starting to focus on satellite sustainability, but say this should be enforced to include any nation with plans to use Earth's orbit.

Any agreement, they add, should include measures to implement producer and user responsibility for satellites and debris, from the time they launch onwards. Commercial costs should also be considered when looking at ways to incentivise accountability. Such considerations are consistent with current proposals to address ocean plastic pollution as countries begin negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty.

The experts also believe that unless action is taken immediately, large parts of our planet's immediate surroundings risk the same fate as the High Seas where insubstantial governance has led to overfishing, habitat destruction, deep-sea mining exploration, and plastic pollution.

The article was co-authored by researchers from the University of Plymouth, Arribada Initiative, The University of Texas at Austin, California Institute of Technology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Spaceport Cornwall, and ZSL (Zoological Society of London).

They include the academic who led the first ever study into marine microplastics, also published in Science almost 20 years ago, and scientists who contributed to the commitment to develop a Global Plastics Treaty signed by 170 world leaders at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022.

Dr Imogen Napper, Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, led the newly-published study with funding from the National Geographical Society. She said: "The issue of plastic pollution, and many of the other challenges facing our ocean, is now attracting global attention. However, there has been limited collaborative action and implementation has been slow. Now we are in a similar situation with the accumulation of space debris. Taking into consideration what we have learnt from the high seas, we can avoid making the same mistakes and work collectively to prevent a tragedy of the commons in space. Without a global agreement we could find ourselves on a similar path."

Heather Koldewey, ZSL's Senior Marine Technical Advisor, said: "To tackle planetary problems, we need to bring together scientists from across disciplines to identify and accelerate solutions. As a marine biologist I never imagined writing a paper on space, but through this collaborative research identified so many parallels with the challenges of tackling environmental issues in the ocean. We just need to get better at the uptake of science into management and policy."

Dr Moriba Jah, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin, said: "Ancient TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) informs us how we must embrace stewardship because our lives depend on it. I'm excited to work with others in highlighting the links and interconnectedness amongst all things and that marine debris and space debris are both an anthropogenic detriment that is avoidable."

Dr Kimberley Miner, Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: "Mirroring the new UN ocean initiative, minimizing the pollution of the lower Earth orbit will allow continued space exploration, satellite continuity, and the growth of life-changing space technology."

Melissa Quinn, Head of Spaceport Cornwall, said: "Satellites are vital to the health of our people, economies, security and Earth itself. However, using space to benefit people and planet is at risk. By comparing how we have treated our seas, we can be proactive before we damage the use of space for future generations. Humanity needs to take responsibility for our behaviours in space now, not later. I encourage all leaders to take note, to recognise the significance of this next step and to become jointly accountable."

Read more at Science Daily