With all that is going on in the world today, it’s easy to forget that an alien life force could come and wipe out all of civilization as we know it at any moment. Thankfully, NASA has an entire office dedicated to keeping up with the dangers that lurk above our atmosphere. Now, the agency is looking for someone to lead the Office of Planetary Protection.

The application to be NASA’s “planetary protection officer” opened last month. The primary job description: to prevent alien contamination during NASA space missions, and to keep alien microorganisms from reaching Earth, according to the federal government’s official employment site. The job will reportedly pay between $124,406 to $187,000 a year, plus benefits.

The United States is not the only country to have this position. Other international space programs usually have it as a shared or part-time role. However, the U.S. is one of two places where one can be a planetary protection officer full-time–the other being the European Space Agency, according to Catharine Conley, NASA’s current planetary protection officer.

While the position may sound like one where a person would be in charge of directing forces during an intergalactic invasion, it appears to be more tame than that. Conley told Scientific American in 2014 that her job mostly involves making sure that the U.S. is complying with a 50-year-old international treaty that set space-based biological contamination standards for all space missions. According to the treaty, any space mission must have a less than 1-in-10,000 chance of contaminating an alien world–a risk assessed by the planetary officer.

In missions to Mars, for example, Conley would be in charge of equipment, protocols, and procedures to reduce the risk of contamination in samples taken from the red planet. She is also in charge of making sure that missions from Earth don’t contaminate other planets. As a result, Conley travels to various space stations around the world to make sure other countries’ planet-bound devices don’t contaminate new worlds through a crash-landing or other methods.

Even though Conley has described the job as having a “a moderate level” of difficulty, the qualifications for it are anything but that. Applicants must have at least one year of experience as a top-level civilian government employee, plus have “advanced knowledge” of planetary protection and all it entails. You will also need an advanced degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics, as well as “experience planning, executing, or overseeing elements of space programs of national significance.”

Applicants still have time to get their resumes in order–NASA will be accepting applications for the position until August 14. You can apply for the job here.

Gabe Fernandez

Gabe is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is a Peruvian-American Senior at the University of Maryland pursuing a double degree in Multiplatform Journalism and Marketing. In his free time, he can be found photographing concerts, running around the city, and supporting Manchester United. Contact Gabe at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Comey Testifies in Front of the Senate

This morning at 10, the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing of former FBI Director James Comey began. The hearing is intended to address President Donald Trump’s interactions with Comey regarding the FBI’s investigation into Russian hacking of the 2016 elections. Yesterday, Comey’s prepared testimony was released and many people said the content was troubling. It described, among other things, the president’s request for loyalty during a private dinner with Comey–followed by an “awkward silence” and a staring contest. Comey then spoke to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and asked to not be left alone with the president again, as the request made him uneasy.

At the entrance to the Comey hearing room, one of the cops tells me he’s never seen anything like this pic.twitter.com/GpZx8kJ3oZ

— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) June 8, 2017

This is a pretty big deal, so a lot of bars opened early to let people watch the hearing live. A D.C. bar served discounted Russian vodka with “FBI sandwiches” and wrote on Facebook, “Grab your friends, grab a drink and let’s COVFEFE!”

Only in DC would a restaurant/bar play the Comey Hearing live and feature themed food and drinks. If you haven’t heard it’s at Shaw’s Tavern pic.twitter.com/iIJzxUYsKN

— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) June 5, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: June 8, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

The past few months have been uncertain for NASA: President Donald Trump, after all, has shown greater affection to the private space industry than the public one. The space administration received a shot in the arm on Tuesday, however, when the House passed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, which sets an ambitious path for the space administration’s future, and earmarks $19.5 billion to finance its agenda for the coming fiscal year. Unanimously passed by the Senate in February, the bill is a bipartisan effort, and the first NASA-related legislation Congress has passed in over six years.

Along with outlining NASA’s funding–the largest allotment being “for science,” and the second largest “for space operations”–the bill is a blueprint for future programs. For example, the “TREAT Astronauts Act” section of the bill approves a NASA request “to provide medical monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment to former United States government astronauts for psychological and medical conditions associated with human space flight.”

Other approved programs involve probes into deep space, including a plan to eventually send astronauts to Mars. The bill enjoyed wide support from Democrats and Republicans, and its passage was applauded by NASA and space advocacy groups. Mary Lynne Dittmar, the executive director of the Coalition of Deep Space Exploration, a space advocacy group, said in a statement that the bill “sends a clear message to the American people and our international partners that our nation remains committed to NASA’s space exploration program.”

“We appreciate the hard work of both the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee over the last two years that have led to approval of this bipartisan legislation,” Dittmar added.

The Trump Administration now seems to favor an “Old Space” (NASA) versus “New Space” (Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin) approach to space exploration. And while the government’s $19.5 billion in funding is not much of a bump, it is also not less than NASA’s previous yearly budget, which usually hovers around $19 billion. The bill should placate concerns that Trump was going to slash NASA’s budget, but it also might not satisfy scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has called on the government to increase NASA’s budget. But Congress was proud it passed a bill that promises a bright future for the furthest reaches of space.

“This bipartisan and bicameral bill grew to maturity through many long and serious discussions about the future of our nation’s space program,” said Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX). “I’m encouraged by the bill’s persistent emphasis on the continuity of purpose and stability.” And Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Science Committee, said in a statement that the bill “reiterates the importance of maintaining NASA’s continuity of purpose to ensure America remains a leader in space exploration.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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While President Donald Trump seeks to build walls around the United States, his administration is pursuing a robust plan when it comes to further frontiers–like space. According to internal White House documents obtained by POLITICO, the Trump team is looking to encourage competition between “Old Space” (traditional contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing) and “New Space” (private firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin) to develop new technologies and push the boundaries of U.S. space exploration.

Trump has yet to name a NASA director–a top contender is Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma–but his administration is shooting for the stars: they’d like to see a return to the moon by 2020; space stations built and operated by private companies; and a return to “the large-scale economic development of space,” according to the internal documents.

During an October rally in Sanford, Florida, Trump gave the most recent public statement regarding his vision for space exploration: “A cornerstone of my policy is we will substantially expand public private partnerships to maximize the amount of investment and funding that is available for space exploration and development,” he said. “This means launching and operating major space assets, right here, that employ thousands and spur innovation and fuel economic growth.”

A major competition could be brewing between traditional space players and new, ambitious projects from private tech titans like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. NASA, which currently has an annual budget of $19 billion, could be in for budget cuts. And more government investment could be poured into private efforts like Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin.

According to a briefing the administration provided NASA during the transition period, Trump plans to “see private American astronauts, on private space ships, circling the Moon by 2020; and private lunar landers staking out de facto ‘property rights’ for American on the Moon, by 2020 as well.” It went on to instruct NASA on how it should direct its activities moving forward. “NASA’s new strategy will prioritize economic growth and the organic creation of new industries and private sector jobs, over ‘exploration’ and other esoteric activities,” it said.

However Trump’s space strategy plays out, its clear that NASA will not necessarily be the nucleus of America’s forays beyond Earth. Former Rep. Robert Walker (R-PA) who helped draft Trump’s space policy plans, and is currently involved in discussions on the plans, sees NASA as somewhat of the stalwart of a bygone era. “There are billions of dollars at stake. It has come to a head now when it has become clear to the space community that the real innovative work is being done outside of NASA,” he told POLITICO.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What Will Space Exploration Look Like Under Trump? appeared first on Law Street.

Apparently NASA’s version of getting people to the polls is the motto “vote while you float.” And if Shane Kimbrough could do it, everyone should! The astronaut–who is the only American citizen currently not residing on planet Earth–cast his vote from the International Space Station, by sending it to Earth via an electronic delivery system specially designed for this purpose.

Voting in space: astronaut Shane Kimbrough is the only American to casts a vote from space. https://t.co/qn2CtvVXFS pic.twitter.com/nOEzhRpz79

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) November 7, 2016

There is even a specific “space voting” law in Texas, which allows every American astronaut to cast their vote from space and have them registered through the county clerk’s office in Texas. It is all handled via email. A statement from NASA in 2008 described it like this: “An email with crew member-specific credentials is sent from the county clerk to the crew member. These credentials allow the crew member to access the secure ballot.”

.@astro_kimbrough voted from space. What’s your excuse? #ElectionDay https://t.co/zsx0tJKOtF

— Emilee Speck (@EMSpeck) November 7, 2016

After that, the space crew member returns the ballot to Texas, United States, Earth, via the electronic delivery system. Kimbrough’s current expedition has only been in space since mid-October, and will stay up for four months. His predecessor Kate Rubins cast an absentee ballot in case her mission was delayed, listing her address as “low-Earth orbit.” But she did make it back last week, and said: “It’s very incredible that we’re able to vote from up here, and I think it’s incredibly important for us to vote in all of the elections.”

Kimbrough tweeted an amazing picture from when he switched shifts with Rubins.

Farewell #AstroKate, Takuya, and Anatoly! Thanks for leaving the @Space_Station in great shape! pic.twitter.com/2G1InLMtcs

— Shane Kimbrough (@astro_kimbrough) October 30, 2016

According to Kimbrough, astronauts are “pretty much apolitical,” and he said he would be glad to welcome the new commander in chief, whoever it may be.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Voting is Out of this World: U.S. Astronaut Casts Ballot from Space appeared first on Law Street.

President Obama likes space. In fact, he likes it so much that he wants people to go there–and not just to visit. In an op-ed published by CNN on Tuesday, he wrote that his goal is to have people get to Mars by 2030.

“We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America’s story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time,” he wrote.

Obama says will reach red planet by 2030. #Mars pic.twitter.com/7otf3aMhgW

— michael allison (@mike9wood) October 11, 2016

And it’s not only empty talk. He is already working with commercial companies on how to execute the mission. Obama said:

The next step is to reach beyond the bounds of Earth’s orbit. I’m excited to announce that we are working with our commercial partners to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts on long-duration missions in deep space. These missions will teach us how humans can live far from Earth–something we’ll need for the long journey to Mars.

In fact, Obama has talked about space in several speeches over the years–in his very first address to the people after becoming President he promised to focus on science and space research. In the op-ed he pointed out how last year alone NASA discovered water on Mars, ice on one of Jupiter’s moons, and mapped Pluto.

And Obama doesn’t appear to have lost hope, even though a 2014 report from the Committee on Human Spaceflight concluded that there is not enough federal funding for space programs for humans. According to the committee’s numbers, the interest for commercial investment in that kind of stuff has surprisingly decreased since the 1960s when we first walked on the moon.

It sounds like the move to Mars could be an option either for sending unwanted criminals far, far away, or to go there to get away from the disastrous Earth. Either way, Twitter users knew which option they wanted.

There are some people I’d really like to send to mars whether we figure out the whole human habitat thing or not lmk

— peteachu (@petewentz) October 4, 2016

Barack Obama: Wants to send first humans to Mars https://t.co/u0XIAUeyvM Could he send the entire Trump clan first? Asking for a friend.

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) October 11, 2016

The president concluded with the words:

Someday, I hope to hoist my own grandchildren onto my shoulders. We’ll still look to the stars in wonder, as humans have since the beginning of time. But instead of eagerly awaiting the return of our intrepid explorers, we’ll know that because of the choices we make now, they’ve gone to space not just to visit, but to stay–and in doing so, to make our lives better here on Earth.

In the age of global warming, terrorism, and various catastrophes, it’s nice to think we have that option.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post President Obama Wants People To Move To Mars by 2030 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Meet Henry Lee, the ‘Rosa Parks’ of Charlotte, N.C.

He’s being called the ‘calmest man in Charlotte.’ After a new wave of protests broke out last night over the death of Keith Scott, a picture taken by a Guardian reporter of 51-year-old Henry Lee surfaced online.

The calmest man in Charlotte is protester Henry Lee, 51, who silently refuses to leave his chair. pic.twitter.com/8abgzPwoDZ

— Matthew Teague (@MatthewTeague) September 22, 2016

As rioters raged violently, Lee sat in this chair and refused to move–his own version of dissent. Some Twitter observers are cheering him on, while others question whether this is actually an effective way to protest.

I never put my political imput on social media but this image is so powerful. This is protest, this is peace but not all will sit silent. https://t.co/8aabU17wUF

— Mind of Sol (@Mindofsol) September 22, 2016

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: September 22, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Donald Trump “Art” Installments Causes A Stir

“The Emperor Has No Balls.” That’s what the plaques say under the true-to-size sculptures of a naked Donald Trump that have suddenly appeared in parks across the United States. These statues were obviously meant to mock the hell out of the Republican nominee.

Naked Donald Trump statue leaves New York in giggles https://t.co/STBfXwxkfg pic.twitter.com/fWNYwGiJgT

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 18, 2016

One park, however, did not get the joke and ripped the statue out of the ground almost as soon as it was installed. New York City Parks and Recreation released a statement which, no matter how carefully worded it is, is QUITE the statement: “NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small.”

Take that as you will. NYC Parks took the statue down Thursday.

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: August 19, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

The U.S. government just gave a Florida-based company permission to travel beyond the Earth’s orbit and land on the moon, making it the first company to be cleared for a private space mission. Moon Express announced on  its website Wednesday that it received the green light to send a robotic spacecraft to the moon in 2017, potentially ushering in a new era of commercial space exploration and discovery.

The approval for the Moon mission came from a collection of government agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the White House, the State Department, and NASA, after the company submitted an application for the mission to the FAA on April 8.

Moon Express is currently in competition for the Google Lunar XPrize, which promises to award a $20 million grand prize to the first team to successfully land a privately funded rover on the moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit back high definition video and images.

The space startup, with a home base in Cape Canaveral, was co-founded in 2010 by billionaire entrepreneur Dr. Bob Richards, Naveen Jain, and serial entrepreneur and computer scientist Dr. Barney Pell. Aside from hopefully establishing commercial space travel, the trio also wants to help solve the nation’s energy crisis with help from the moon. In the video below, Naveen explains Moon Express’ plans to eventually harvest valuable natural resources like Helium-3 and water from the Moon, to then transport back to Earth.

“The Moon Express 2017 mission approval is a landmark decision by the U.S. government and a pathfinder for private sector commercial missions beyond the Earth’s orbit,” said co-founder & CEO, Bob Richards in the company’s media kit. “We are now free to set sail as explorers to Earth’s eighth continent, the Moon, seeking new knowledge and resources to expand Earth’s economic sphere for the benefit of all humanity.”

According to Reuters, the company said that the spacecraft will carry a number of science experiments and some commercial cargo on its one-way trip to the lunar surface, including cremated human remains, and will beam back pictures and video to Earth. The mission will last two weeks and will use a suitcase-sized lander provided by Rocket Lab, another private aerospace company its in contract, which has yet to launch a rocket into orbit.

Unfortunately, this is not a precedent-setting case. While the U.S. government has approved Moon Express for one landing, it will continue to address future requests on a case-by-case basis until space laws can be passed that govern the practice.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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SpaceX recently announced that its Dragon spacecraft, designed to deliver both cargo and people, could be touching down on Mars as soon as 2018. Mars has long fascinated space agencies, and the U.S., Russia and the EU have all landed spacecraft on the planet, but SpaceX would be the first private company to complete a mission to Mars.

SpaceX is seeking to land its Dragon using rocket power alone, as opposed to the system of parachutes and airbags that are usually involved in landing spacecraft. In April, SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket ship on a platform at sea, following up a successful landing on a ground-based site in 2015. SpaceX is conducting another rocket launch and landing this week, but the company expects the landing to be unsuccessful, citing “extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing unlikely.” Even if this week’s landing is unsuccessful, SpaceX engineers are still confident in the feasibility of launching their product within a few years rather than a matter of decades.

SpaceX may be a private company but it is not looking to keep NASA out of the loop on its Mars project. SpaceX has agreed to gather data for NASA and will utilize technical support from NASA, including use of the Deep Space Network for communications. SpaceX will be the financial power behind the project but the Dragon launch is a collaboration rather than a competition with traditional space agencies. This type of cooperation marks a new era in space exploration. Whereas the initial space race of the past century was defined by U.S.-Soviet competition, we are now seeing space travel as a team effort that brings creative minds together rather than setting them up as mortal enemies. Rocket launches in the private sector are concerned with the goals of the company and its engineering staff rather than a victory for the nation.

National space agencies are not extinct and may even be revived to rival their boom years in the future, but at this moment they are taking on a support role and perhaps making space exploration more cooperative by doing so. Instead of framing the journey to Mars as a race, we need to construct it as a project that all the brightest minds can contribute to, no matter where they come from. The 2018 launch date for the Dragon may come and go without a successful launch, but if SpaceX keeps up its open collaboration with NASA (or expands it to include other space agencies and companies), then the company and its engineers will have made a substantial contribution to the future of space travel on Earth–even if they don’t make it to Mars.

Jillian Sequeira

Jillian Sequeira was a member of the College of William and Mary Class of 2016, with a double major in Government and Italian. When she’s not blogging, she’s photographing graffiti around the world and worshiping at the altar of Elon Musk and all things Tesla. Contact Jillian at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com

The post Mars by 2018? SpaceX’s Ambitious Plan for Interplanetary Expansion appeared first on Law Street.

Stephen Hawking has spent decades challenging the world to broaden its concept of the cosmos and last week he signed onto a research project connected to that goal. The billionaire Yuri Milner, backed by Hawking, has launched Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million effort to develop computer chip-sized “star ships” that would travel further into space than any craft previously designed by man.

The project would aim to launch a thousand of these tiny star ships, each equipped with a “solar sail” that would push the ships along using light energy. In order to complete such an ambitious task, scientists will have to pour significant time and energy into miniaturizing instruments and developing solar sails strong enough to survive for a long-term journey through space. During  a recent press conference, Hawking stated that his hope for Starshot was a successful launch to Alpha Centauri–a star system approximately 25 trillion miles away–within a generation. Whether such an undertaking is even technologically possible remains to be seen. Read on for a look inside Breakthrough Starshot and the future of space exploration.

Who is Yuri Milner?

Hawking grabbed headlines when he committed to the project this week but the financial titan behind Starshot is an important figure in his own right. Yuri Milner, through his venture fund DST Global, has backed some of the most disruptive companies of the millennium: Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, and AirBnB to name just a few. Milner’s financial commitment to expanding scientific exploration has developed over time, peaking in the last two years.

He began working as a specialist in private sector banking at the World Bank in the 1990s but eventually shifted into investment brokerage. In the 2000s, he began investing in internet companies, serving as CEO and Chairman of a variety of holdings. In 2009, he purchased a 1.9 percent stake in Facebook for $200 million. In 2012, he stepped into the world of philanthropy by founding the Breakthrough Prize along with a host of other Silicon Valley talents. The Breakthrough Prize, which results in a $3 million grant to the recipient, is divided into three categories (Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics). In 2015, Milner launched Breakthrough Initiatives, a program tasked with exploring the universe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. It is through this program that Milner and Hawking joined forces. Milner is one of many tech savants who have turned their energy and personal wealth towards funding the future of the human race, but his connection with the most notable scientific names of cosmology make him stand out as more than an amateur enthusiast.

Solar Sails

Although the Starshot team has hailed their use of solar sails as the first new approach to propulsion for a century, the concept of using light to propel spacecraft is not entirely novel. NASA’s Kepler space telescope uses the pressure from photons to maneuver and light sails have been deployed in the past in the Japanese spacecraft IKAROS. Starshot would differ from these spacecraft because it would utilize lasers to push the star ships along, accelerating them to 20 percent of the speed of light. With such an acceleration, the star ships could arrive at the nearest star within a matter of decades (as opposed to thousands of years from now).

However, as NPR reported, there are obstacles to building and controlling a laser powerful enough to give the solar sails the necessary push. There are lasers currently capable of delivering enough laser power to a point to initiate nuclear fusion but the blast only lasts for a microsecond. Starshot team members estimate that to launch its nanocraft, it would need a laser capable of sustaining that laser power for ten minutes.

There is a need for international approval and cooperation on creating the laser and satellites would have to be shifted out of the way of the laser in order for it to fire. Multiple permits will need to be approved from a variety of countries, and changing political climates could make or break Starshot’s success. An administration that has minimal or no interest in space exploration will not move satellites and approve the laser–which could be considered a weapon in the wrong hands–so Starshot will need to seek powerful political allies before beginning to construct the laser. Milner has proposed constructing the laser in a location such as the Atacama Desert, but conservationist interest groups may protest such a large scale construction and the national government of the country where the laser is built would ultimately have to balance environmental concerns with commitment to Starshot.

Funding the Project

The $100 million price tag on Starshot may seem high but when we account for potential problems with production, the need for materials and staff, and the lobbying costs of getting the laser approved, that sum may only be a fraction of the actual cost of getting Starshot off the ground. Milner’s financial commitment is essentially a launching pad that will need to be padded and refurbished in the coming years. His investment will be funneled into research grants, whose conditions are as yet undetermined.

Uniting that research into a single nanocraft will require significant logistical and financial cooperation between various teams. Milner has estimated that the project could cost anywhere from $5 to $10 billion by the time it is completed, and that estimate could even be conservative. The timeline for Starshot is counted in decades, not months: approximately twenty years to start the mission, another twenty for the nanocraft to reach Alpha Centauri and four years for the information to then return to Earth. This means that financial planning for such an extensive time presents a unique challenge for the Starshot team. In periods of economic stability, governments may be more likely to fund space exploration projects but at the moment, space exploration has largely been funneled into the private sector–which means Starshot will need to target a very selective set of potential investors. There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires in the world, but how many are willing to invest their funds in a space exploration project that will most likely not be finished within their lifetime?

However, having Hawking as a supporter boosts Starshot’s credibility and visibility in the press, and Hawking is not the only major cosmological name attached to the project:

The project will be directed by Pete Worden, a former director of NASA’s Ames Research Center. He has a prominent cast of advisers, including the Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb as chairman; the British astronomer royal Martin Rees; the Nobel Prize-winning astronomer Saul Perlmutter, of the University of California, Berkeley; Ann Druyan, an executive producer of the television mini-series ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ and the widow of Carl Sagan; and the mathematician and author Freeman Dyson, of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that their commitment will draw in a sufficient number of investors. Milner’s financial commitment to Starshot may come to naught if the project gets halfway through its initial phase of development only to run out of funds and become defunct before it has ever launched a nanocraft.

Conclusion

Starshot, like many space exploration projects of the past several years, was motivated by the fear that the Earth may no longer be habitable for humans in the near future. Stephen Hawking has discussed multiple potential threats to human existence on Earth, ranging from global warming to asteroids to supernovas. The idea of becoming a multi-planetary species may seem like the stuff of science fiction but an increasing number of the leading minds of science and technology are committing to distributing the human race across the stars.

While proposals like Elon Musk’s plan to put humans on Mars by 2025 are still being written off as overambitious and perhaps alarmist, there is a growing shift in the message behind space exploration: it is less for our own curiosity and more for our own survival. Projects like Breakthrough Starshot require a massive amount of technological innovation and financial investment, which makes their feasibility seem slim at best–but considering how rapidly space travel has developed since the 1950s, it is not absurd to consider that Milner’s nanocraft could be reaching the stars within a matter of decades. At this time, the most pressing limitation on Starshot’s capacity is financial, but if sufficient investment is provided, we may be visiting the stars before the century is out.

Resources

BBC: Hawking Backs Interstellar Travel Project

Sci-Tech Today: Starshot: Russian Billionaire and Stephen Hawking Back New Space Program

TIME: Yuri Milner, Digital Sky Technologies

NPR: Stephen Hawking’s Plan For Interstellar Travel Has Some Earthly Obstacles

Inverse: Apocalyptic Fears Drive Stephen Hawking’s Support for Breakthrough Starshot

Popular Science: Stephen Hawking Answers Our Questions on the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative 

Cosmos Magazine: Space Lasers and Light Sails: the Tech Behind Breakthrough Starshot

Christian Science Monitor: Stephen Hawking Proposes to Hunt for Aliens with a Fleet of Tiny Spaceships

New York Times: Reaching for the Stars, Across 4.37 Light-Years

Editor’s Note: This post has been edited to update the Breakthrough Starshot timeline. 

Jillian Sequeira

Jillian Sequeira was a member of the College of William and Mary Class of 2016, with a double major in Government and Italian. When she’s not blogging, she’s photographing graffiti around the world and worshiping at the altar of Elon Musk and all things Tesla. Contact Jillian at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com

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The latest class to complete the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) two-year astronaut training is comprised of only eight people. It is the smallest class in the organization’s history, but it is also the first class to be gender equal.

Four men and four women began the course in 2013, chosen from over 6,000 applicants to endure the rigorous training necessary to prepare future astronauts for outer space adventures. Now, NASA says these women and men will have the opportunity to apply for the first mission to Mars–along with the other astronauts currently working there–15 years down the road.

Would you go to Mars? Meet the four women astronauts who can’t wait to go: https://t.co/NvlyzmyUfr Via @glamourmag pic.twitter.com/BRjoyZX1C3

— NASA (@NASA) January 7, 2016

Which means that women like mission commander Melissa Lewis in “The Martian,” played by Jessica Chastain, may no longer be simply fiction.

Of course, these are not the first females to complete astronaut training, but this class does have the highest percentage of female contenders. According to NASA, that was not done on purpose. “We never determine how many people of each gender we’re going to take, but these were the most qualified people of the ones that we interviewed,” said Janet Kavandi, NASA’s director of flight crew operations, after the class was announced in 2013.

Regardless of whether NASA meant to make the training gender equal or not, these women have proven they have what it takes to undergo a mission to space. Astronaut training is not for the faint of heart. Candidates must endure numerous simulations for a variety of situations, including a fun little ride affectionately known as the “vomit comet,” which lets you float around feeling weightless.

They will now join NASA’s 49 other astronauts preparing for space travel. “From space you can’t see borders,” said newly-minted astronaut Anne McClain. “What you see is this lonely planet. Here we all are on it, so angry at one another. I wish more people could step back and see how small Earth is, and how reliant we are on one another.”

An elite few will be chosen for the planned Mars mission, and while the ones who go should not be chosen simply because they’re men or women, this gender equal class bodes well for a profession that has been historically male.

And regardless of how many of each gender make the trip, we can all hope our real life astronauts have a better time on Mars than Matt Damon.

Morgan McMurray

Morgan McMurray is an editor and gender equality blogger based in Seattle, Washington. A 2013 graduate of Iowa State University, she has a Bachelor of Arts in English, Journalism, and International Studies. She spends her free time writing, reading, teaching dance classes, and binge-watching Netflix. Contact Morgan at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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After police in Irving, Texas arrested 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamad Monday for bringing what they thought was a bomb, but was actually just a clock, to school, internet outrage ensued (justifiably so). Now, I am not generally the biggest fan of widespread social media reactions to very specific events, but this time around there was a genuinely encouraging response–ranging from celebrities to President Obama.

Shortly after the news of Ahmed Mohamad’s arrest, #IStandWithAhmed began trending on Twitter:

370K Tweets have expressed #IStandWithAhmed & currently rising at approx 2K Tweets per minute http://t.co/XTyvFnJlqrpic.twitter.com/r4Tq8z2jAS

— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) September 16, 2015

At its peak, there were around 2,000 tweets per minute supporting Ahmed. And eventually, he got some pretty high-profile attention.

One of the first politicians to address what happened to Ahmed was Hillary Clinton, who encouraged him to follow his passion and warned against prejudiced assumptions.

Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building. https://t.co/ywrlHUw3g1

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 16, 2015

Arguably the most popular tweet came from none other than President Obama himself, in which he invited Ahmed to the White House and encouraged him to keep following his passion.

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great. — President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015

Meanwhile, Ahmed Mohamad’s arrest was also trending on Facebook–so much so that the company’s founder made a show of support for the 14-year-old. Mark Zuckerberg criticized the arrest and extended another invitation to Ahmed, this time to Facebook’s headquarters. His post said:

You’ve probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he took it to school.

Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed.

Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building.

Twitter later got into the mix, offering Ahmed an internship:

Hi @IStandWithAhmed, we building things at @twitter too. Would you consider interning with us? We’d love it — DM us! #IStandWithAhmed

— Twitter (@twitter) September 16, 2015

Ahmed, who was wearing a NASA shirt on the day he was arrested, got an outpouring of support from several NASA workers.

Bob Ferdowski, a popular NASA engineer, tweeted:

Hey Ahmed, give me a call in a couple years. We could always use smart, curious & creative people. https://t.co/02a4feMrk5 — Bobak Ferdowsi (@tweetsoutloud) September 16, 2015

Mike Seibert, the Flight Director for the Mars Rover, said:

Ahmed, I’d be happy to show you how we drive the Opportunity rover. Come visit us at JPL any time. #IStandWithAhmedhttps://t.co/VtesUugxj3

— Mike Seibert (@mikeseibert) September 16, 2015

Dr. Fred Calef III, the “keeper of the maps” at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) said:

Anytime you wanna see Mars rovers Ahmed, let me know. #IStandWithAhmed

— Imperator MARSiosa (@cirquelar) September 16, 2015

He later tweeted:

It’s not about the shirt, it’s the dreams that shirt represents, the crushing of innocence and intelligence by fear, ignorance & hatred.

— Imperator MARSiosa (@cirquelar) September 16, 2015

When the day was over, Ahmed had received an outpouring of support from all over the internet, but the most sincere seemed to come from the group of NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab. From Mike Seibert’s series of tweets, to Dr. Calif’s impassioned defense of Ahmed, you can tell their support is truly genuine.

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

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When we envision space, we tend to imagine an intense beauty unknown to this world. We certainly don’t imagine a junk yard. But what is space actually like? Well, unfortunately it seems to be moving a bit more in the junk yard direction. Last year, Alfonso Cuarόn’s Oscar-winning film “Gravity” brought attention to the issue. Although the movie was dramatized and at times inaccurate according to NASA standards, the problem of orbital debris–space trash–is very real.

There are millions of objects of varying sizes orbiting the Earth at any given moment, and even though these objects are visually hidden to us and thousands of miles away, orbital debris affects everyone. Satellites control aspects of our everyday life like On-Demand features, cellphones, Google Earth, weather reports, and navigation systems. More importantly, satellites facilitate military communication and intelligence. In response to the problem, a second generation Space Fence run by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) should be up and running by 2019. Read on to learn everything you need to know about orbital debris and the Space Fence.

What is Orbital Debris?

Orbital Debris, or space trash, consists of man-made objects currently orbiting the Earth that do not serve a useful purpose. Debris is created every time a spacecraft separates from its launch vehicle. It is also created from dead satellites, explosions, collisions, chipped paint from spacecrafts, and small particle impacts. Since humans started placing objects in orbit over the last 50 years, the amount of debris has only increased.

Orbital debris is placed into three categories based on size. Larger objects, above ten cm, account for some 21,000 pieces of orbital debris. Medium particles, between one and ten cm, account for approximately 500,000 objects. Smaller pieces, less than one cm, account for over 100 million objects. These pieces move extremely fast, reaching speeds of up to five miles per second or 18,000 miles per hour. A collision at this rate is devastating. NASA equates being hit by an orbital object less than half an inch around and moving at six miles per second to being hit by a bowling ball moving at 300 miles per hour.

Space Safety

All of this debris is ultimately dangerous for astronauts and the International Space Station. Spacesuits are designed to protect against micrometeoroids, which are pieces of orbital debris the size of grains of sand. They use materials like those used for bulletproof vests. The International Space Station is the “most heavily shielded spacecraft ever,” able to withstand impacts from smaller debris. The station can also alter course to avoid larger objects coming toward it. Space shuttles generally return to Earth with cracks and evidence of impacts on their windows. For this reason, windows are protected three fold and replaced every mission.

Orbital Duration

Most other orbital debris disintegrates reentering Earth. In the rare occurrences that objects do make it back, they generally fall into bodies of water or unpopulated land areas like the Canadian tundra or Australian Outback. Over the past 50 years, approximately one catalogued piece of orbital debris has landed on Earth each day and there have been no reported human injuries. The higher the altitude, the longer an object will stay in orbit. Debris in a lower orbit will remain for only several years. On the opposite side of the spectrum, debris above 1,000 km from Earth can remain in orbit for over a century.

What is the Space Fence?

The Space Fence aims to tackle the problem of orbital debris. The project is led by the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command’s Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. It is a system designed to track debris in the Space Surveillance Network in order to initiate a warning system. The idea is very similar to that of hurricane or tornado tracking systems. The term “fence” comes from the “narrow, continent-wide planar energy field in space” created from the transmitters and receivers used in the project. High frequency radar acts like a “flashlight beam in a dark room that illuminates the bits of dust swirling around.”

The first Space Fence was decommissioned in 2013. It initially tracked 5,396 objects in 1980 and was tracking 15,639 objects by 2010. There were a total of nine transmitters and receivers located at three transmitter sites: Jordan Lake, Alabama; Lake Kickapoo, Texas; and Gila River, Arizona. The six receivers were located at Tattnall, Georgia; Hawkinsville, Georgia; Silver Lake, Mississippi; Red River, Arkansas; Elephant Butte, New Mexico; and San Diego, California.

The new Space Fence’s higher frequency system, operating in the S-band frequency range, will allow the detection of much smaller satellites and orbital debris. Its “modern, net-centric architecture” will also allow more effective tracking in Earth’s lower and medium orbit. Over its lifetime, the new Space Fence is expected to be valued at $6.1 billion. The system will include “geographically dispersed ground-based radars to provide timely assessment of space objects, events, and debris.” There will be one large S-band radar placed in Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, with an option for a second based on funding. The projects also rely on international cooperation as part of global Space Situational Awareness efforts.

Who is building the Space Fence?

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, located in Moorestown, New Jersey, won the initial $914.7 million contract to build the second generation Space Fence in June 2014. Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company dedicated to researching and developing advanced technology systems, products, and services.

 Why are we building a new Space Fence now?

There are a few things we need to keep an eye on. The first major source of large orbital debris came from China’s intentional and sloppy destruction of its Fengyun-IC weather satellite in January 2007. The satellite was destroyed by an anti-satellite device that caused hundreds of pieces of varying sizes of orbital debris.

The second major event was the 2009 collision of the active American satellite Iridium and the defunct Russian satellite Cosmos. The American satellite weighed about 1,200 tons, making it the first large collision in space. The impact resulted in over 2,000 pieces of metal orbital debris. The video below shows a model of the collision and the debris it created.

Aside from these major events, researchers also fear the Kessler Syndrome. It is a theory, developed in 1978 by Donald Kessler, that describes a “self-sustaining cascading collision of orbital debris.” Essentially, the Kessler Syndrome is a domino effect. Two objects collide to cause pieces of debris that ultimately collide with one another to form more debris, and so on. The theory isn’t so far-fetched. In 2012, the United States issued over 10,000 close-call warnings that resulted in 75 avoidance maneuvers by satellite owners.

U.S. Policy on Orbital Debris

The U.S. first took an official stance to minimize orbital debris in 1988. A more recent June 2010 National Space Policy specifically addresses the issue of a clean space environment and orbital debris. NASA created an Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. Its mission is to find ways for ventures to create less orbital debris and clean existing debris. Other U.S. agencies, like the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also need to follow specific guidelines for their spacecrafts. U.S. Orbital Mitigation Standard Practices were approved in 2001.

Guidelines are also followed by Russia, China, Japan, France, and the European Space Agency. Although there isn’t an international treaty surrounding orbital debris, the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee was created among the leading international space agencies. Orbital debris is also a priority for the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Legal Issues

There are some legal issues inherent to cleaning up all the space debris. Each piece of large debris, like a defunct satellite, is technically owned by a country. For example, the U.S. doesn’t have authority to destroy a Chinese or Russian satellite. As Professor Johnson-Freese from the Naval War College said, “there are no salvage laws in space.” Under the current laws, one has to seek out permission from a satellite owner to go anywhere near it. This can make cleaning up space pretty tricky.

Conclusion

Orbital debris affects us down on Earth. We depend on a clear and safe space for many of the luxuries we take for granted. The Space Fence is one tool in the mission to create a clean space environment, but it is not enough. The Space Fence is only a tracking system; a plan needs to be enacted to deal with the orbital debris already in space. Moreover, guidelines for minimizing debris creation don’t remedy the harm that’s already been done. Some have proposed an international user fee for every launch to go into a global fund for space clean up. That idea has its own problems to sort through, like fair division, but it’s a start. We need to start taking the issue of the space environment seriously before the next major collision.

Resources

Primary

NASA Orbital Debris Program Office : Orbital Debris

NASA: What is Orbital Debris?

Additional

Defense Industry Daily: Don’t Touch Their Junk

Washington Post: Air Force to Award ‘Space Fence’ Contract to Track Orbital Debris

The New York Times: Debris Spews Into Space After Satellites Collide 

Space Answers: How Have Space Technologies Affected Life Back on Earth?

Space News: China’s Anti-Satellite Test

Space Safety Magazine: Kessler Syndrome

Washington Post: Space Trash is a Big Problem

Jessica McLaughlin

Jessica McLaughlin is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in English Literature and Spanish. She works in the publishing industry and recently moved back to the DC area after living in NYC. Contact Jessica at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Can a Space Fence Really Fix the Problem of Space Trash? appeared first on Law Street.

On July 20, 1969, man set foot on the moon for the first time in what Neil Armstrong famously called “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” After these first dusty steps, people pondered what giant leaps might be next, dreaming about lunar colonies, outer space tourism, and most recently, space mining.

Read More: Thanks to New Discovery Your Seat on Mars One is Looking Good

Recent unmanned moon expeditions detected a bounty of 1.6 billion tons of water ice and other rare earth elements (REE) lingering beneath the moon’s surface. Combine this enticing bounty with speedily developing technologies that make space travel more accessible and you’ve got a budding space mining industry. Space exploration technology has become infinitely cheaper, better, and smaller than it was back in 1969, pushing what was once only possible for national governments into the hands of private companies gearing up to tap into outer space resources

But one little hitch might hold them back. The only acknowledged international regulation on space travel, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, left space property rights ambiguous. Companies and nations seem free to embark on all manner of expeditions, but the treaty doesn’t mention if they legally own any resources they pick up on the way. With hefty investments behind their ventures, space-faring companies demand assurance that they’ll be able to profit from the resources they might collect.

Will an old agreement keep businesses from capturing the teeming resources space has to offer?

Businesses With Extra-Terrestrial Aspirations

Lunar mining? Piece of cake. Tapping into outer space resources has officially graduated from being a remote possibility to a reality. Already many commercial companies are wooing investors and toiling over in-depth plans, all gearing up to get a piece of the space pie.

• The Shackleton Energy Company (SEC) plans to build the first space fueling station. Remember that 1.6 billion tons of water ice just waiting on the moon? When converted to liquid form, the hydrogen and oxygen in this ice creates a powerful chemical propellent–the most powerful we know of. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen already power most space shuttle engines. SEC plans to mine the moon’s ice and set up a fuel station in Earth’s orbit. Fueling from this location instead of Earth could decrease costs by a factor of up to 20 to one.

• Moon Express developed a revolutionary vehicle, the MX-1 lunar lander, powered by sunlight and fueled by hydrogen peroxide. It will send the craft on speculating missions to investigate resources that might be mined. This company plans to perfect the safety and efficiency of lunar landings, making the moon as accessible as an eighth continent.
• Planetary Resources fixed its eye on asteroids, the most abundant sources of water that can be converted into hydrogen and oxygen rocket fuel. The company uses an algorithm to find asteroids and determine which ones might be resource rich.
• The Google Lunar X Competition offers incentives for discoveries that make getting to the moon easier and cheaper. Teams hoping to snag the $30 million grand prize have to land a robot on the moon, move it around, and send back HD Mooncasts for earth-dwellers. The competition is well under way and will wrap up in December 2016. Teams have already innovated promising robots, including this animated prototype rover named Uni from Team AngelicvM featured in the short video below.

Despite dazzling technology and high hopes, unclear space property laws pose major risks for commercial companies. Space travel costs have decreased relative to 1960s costs, but it’s still not cheap. Certainly not cheap enough that companies will launch rockets without solid assurance that they’ll own whatever resources they find on their missions. As you can see, these companies listed above, as well as many others, are ready to go. Let’s see what’s holding them back.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 stands as the only cooperative international agreement governing space travel. The treaty clearly forbids countries from declaring sovereignty over celestial bodies in 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.

Mining isn’t specifically mentioned, but then again mining the moon was an outlandish possibility in 1967. The provision stood to bar nations from lassoing the moon, so to speak. Now as we look to extract resources from these common areas, many desire explicit, legal guarantees that they may do so–both for financial reassurance and to avoid conflict with other nations and companies wrestling over the same resources. Established property rights would provide the certainty necessary to encourage cultivating outer space for abundant natural resources.

Read More: FAA Allowing Companies to Call Dibs on the Moon

One company, Bigelow Aerospace, pushes adamantly for clarification on real property rights in space. In an internal report issued to NASA, Robert Bigelow, founder and president of the company, summarizes its desires well:

Without property rights, any plan to engage the private sector in long-term beyond LEO activities will ultimately fail. Companies and their financial backers must know that they will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor relative to activities conducted on the Moon or other celestial bodies, and own the property that they have surveyed, developed, and are realistically able to utilize.

Who bears the burden of deciding the fate of Bigelow Aerospace and other hopeful companies? Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 specifies that governments bear responsibility for the activities of their nation and subjects in outer space, including the decision to authorize activities. Many U.S. government entities have a say in space happenings, but it’s the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST) and its advisory committee, the U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), that bears the burden of responding to recent requests to clarify commercial space laws.

During the most recent FAA-AST meeting in September 2014, Ken Hodgkins, Director of the Office of Space and Advanced Technology, acknowledged the number of private companies planning commercial ventures and how their activities question the legal frameworks around space exploration. He stressed balancing investment incentives with U.S. foreign policy obligations. Hodgkins stated concerns about proposed commercial activity falling in line with the Outer Space Treaty and encouraged further dialogue between private companies and U.S. agencies. He does not believe attempts at changing the treaty would result in faster resolution of the questions and assured meeting attendees that they are working with foreign nations to discuss the provisions in question.

Past Space Property Challenges

Very few cases have tested the limits of the Outer Space Treaty, so its enforceable interpretations remain unclear. However, a few incidents might influence the direction of space property rights decisions.

In one space property court case, Nemitz v. United States, a San Francisco district court ruled against a man’s claim of ownership on the asteroid 433, also known as Eros. Nemitz had filed a claim of ownership on the asteroid through a now-unpublished online database known as the Archimedes Institute. When NASA landed on his asteroid in 2001, Nemitz attempted to charge them parking fees. When they rejected him, he took his claim to court, where judges also dismissed his claim, stating that his assertion of ownership had no ground in law.

In a more powerful non-court precedent, moon materials from the Apollo landings in the 1960s have already been traded and sold. NASA traded lunar samples with the Soviet Union in exchange for their samples from robotic moon missions. Private individuals in Russia have even sold samples. These transactions imply outerspace materials can be owned, traded, and sold, giving hope to mining hopefuls.

New Space Legislation

Representative Bill Posey (R-FL) introduced H.R.1508 on March 15, 2015,

To promote the development of a United States commercial space resource exploration and utilization industry and to increase the exploration and utilization of resources in outer space

A more in-depth summary is not yet available, but you can be certain the measure will tackle legal barriers barring exploration of space resources. The bill now stands with the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Last month  the House passed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2015, a near repeat of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2014, which died in the Senate. The act authorizes NASA activities like space exploration, research, and education. While the bill doesn’t expressly cover commercial enterprise and space property rights, the sentiment of encouraging space-related innovation will serve commercial interests well.

Where no man has gone before…

As we speak, dreams of space colonies, moon mining, and even landing on Mars come closer to reality. This pulls legal questions and concerns to the surface, but only because we plan to go where no man has gone before. Establishing procedures will take time, cooperation, and patience, but it will be worth it to tackle our final frontier.

Resources

Primary

Federal Aviation Administration: Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee

U.S. Congress: Summary: H.R.810 — 114th Congress (2015-2016)

U.S. Congress: Summary: H.R. 1508 — 114th Congress (2015-2016)

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs: United Nations Treaties and Principles On Outer Space

Additional

Institute of Physics: Mining the Moon Becomes a Serious Prospect

Space.com: Mining the Moon? Space Property Rights Still Unclear

Washington Post: Looking for an Exotic Vacation? Here’s Why Moon Travel May Be Only 20 Years Away

Space.com: Moon Mining Idea Digs Up Lunar Legal Issues

Space Future: Real Property Rights in Outer Space

Wired: Space Law: Is Asteroid Mining Legal?

NASA Space Flight: Moon Property Rights Would Help Create Lunar Industry

Space Policy Online: Legislative Checklist 114h Congress: Major Space Related Legislation

Moon Express: Missions

Planetary Resources: NASA and Planetary Resources, Inc. Announce Results of the Asteroid Data Hunter Challenge

Space Foundation: U.S. Government Space Programs

SF Gate: Final Frontier For Lawyers — Property Rights in Space/Land Claims, Commercial Schemes and Dreams Have Legal Eagles Hovering

Space Policy online: House Passes 2015 NASA Authorization Bill

Ashley Bell

Ashley Bell communicates about health and wellness every day as a non-profit Program Manager. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics from the College of William and Mary, and loves to investigate what changes in healthy policy and research might mean for the future. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Who Owns the Moon? Space Property Rights Are Nearing appeared first on Law Street.

The popular image of an asteroid field–a chaotic clutter of rocks so dense that the odds of successfully navigating one in a spacecraft are immensely slim–is something of a misnomer. In reality, most known fields are spread over such a vast distance that there are titanic spaces between each body; it would be more like driving on a gently winding road through the mountains; however, there is a dense and dangerous field much closer to home. It orbits tightly around the Earth, and is composed of man-made objects and debris and poses many dangers and problems to those on space missions as well as those of us at home.

Space missions, particularly the earlier ones at the dawn of the space age, have left many things behind. Sometimes it has been accidental from equipment or crafts breaking, other times it has been a discharge of unnecessary material. In this sense, missions are inefficient. Further, there have been reckless and irresponsible actions that produced enormous quantities of space debris. For example, in 2007 China demonstrated its missile defense program by shooting down a satellite orbiting in space. “Shoot down” is a misleading term, because in did not come back down to Earth. Instead, it blew into countless pieces that now orbit us.

Imaging of space debris in a tight cloud and an outer ring. Courtesy of NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, photo gallery via Wikipedia.

Estimates suggest that there are at least 500,000 pieces of debris. In addition to the fact that NASA can only know of and track so many pieces, they all travel at velocities of around 17,500 miles per hour. This is a phenomenal speed, and can inflict massive damage. Debris has collided with satellites and spacecraft, damaging or destroying them, thus adding more debris to the field. The International Space Station is particularly vulnerable. The impact from a larger object can tear away an entire section of a spacecraft, dooming it. Even the smallest pieces traveling at such speeds can tear the airtight suits of astronauts, shatter their face shields, or conjure up other horrifying images we only thought existed in science fiction.

Courtesy Fragile Oasis via Flickr.

Back on solid ground, human society’s ever-growing network of communications deeply depends on orbiting satellites and space relays. This is more than just getting a signal on our cell phones; our entire way of life is tied into outer space relays. Man-made objects in space often face decaying orbits in time. This means that they come back down to Earth. The smaller ones are likely to burn up in the atmosphere, and the ones that make it through face large odds of crashing in the ocean. Hopefully they are subsequently retrieved, as garbage and man-made objects in the oceans is a problem in and of itself; however, there is a chance that these things will hit land. In 2001, the upper stage of a rocket that launched a satellite in 1993, which had been orbiting the Earth as space debris, crashed down in the Arabian desert. Although there have yet to be any deaths or injuries reported in conjunction with space debris, it is an ever more likely scenario.

The crashed rocket module. Courtesy of NASA via Wikipedia.

NASA has protocol for tracking space debris and maneuvering spacecraft in evasive manners if necessary. But what do we do about trying to reduce the problem? We can’t exactly send people up in orange vests to pick up the pieces one by one. There exist some proposals regarding specific trips to the larger objects with the intention of dragging them down, as well as lasers for destroying and redirecting some of the smaller ones. These ideas would be incredibly expensive and highly inefficient. Ultimately, the problem seems irreversible.

The best course of action is to reduce further debris from becoming part of the field. This comes in the form of making parts of rockets and ships that are reusable. As we continue to face questions of sustainability on Earth, our presence in space demands the same standards. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, one of the companies that NASA has hired to bring supplies to and from the International Space Station, is working on multi-use rockets. The CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, stated that using a one-time rocket is equivalent to flying a 747 on a transcontinental flight once and then throwing it away. In this sense, SpaceX’s endeavors are largely motivated by financial concerns. Musk projected that reusing all the stages of a rocket could cut operational costs to a hundredth of what they are now. Nonetheless, a couple of weeks ago the company launched a rocket intended for a cargo run to the International Space Station, a stage of which they subsequently intended to land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean; however, the piece landed in a rough manner and exploded. Nonetheless it was a good attempt and has positive implications for the future.

After several hundred years of living high environmental impact lives, we only recently have begun to ask serious questions about the damage we have been doing, how to fix it, and how to change for the future. After half a century of venturing into space, we have already left an ugly mark on that environment too. The fact that we are now seeing attempts to address that is optimistic. As we contemplate how to live sustainably on Earth, we attempt to venture sustainably into space.

Franklin R. Halprin

Franklin R. Halprin holds an MA in History & Environmental Politics from Rutgers University where he studied human-environmental relationships and settlement patterns in the nineteenth century Southwest. His research focuses on the influences of social and cultural factors on the development of environmental policy. Contact Frank at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Near Space is Choked With Debris That We Put There appeared first on Law Street.

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover detected changing methane gas levels on the much-talked-about planet, spurring reports this week of the possibility of life. According to Sushil Atreya, a member of the rover team, “This temporary increase in methane–sharply up and then back down–tells us there must be some relatively localized source…biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock.” This is great news for the many hopeful applicants to Mars One, the human colony project slated for 2024.

Click here to read Mankind is Mars-Bound: All the Facts on Mars One.

NASA is very clear about one thing: the discovery of fluctuating Methane levels does not mean that there absolutely life on Mars, but rather that life is one possibility among many that could account for this activity. According to John Grotzinger of the rover team,

That we detect methane in the atmosphere on Mars is not an argument that we have found evidence of life on Mars, but it’s one of the few hypotheses that we can propose that we must consider. Large organic molecules present in ancient rocks on Mars is also not an argument that there was once life on ancient Mars, but it is the kind of material you’d look for if life had ever originated on Mars.

This is not the first time that scientists have made a discovery like this one. Smaller methane fluctuations have been detected several times over the last several years, and the team was able to tap into the “hydrogen isotopes from water molecules that had been locked inside a rock sample for billions of years,” the analysis of which added to knowledge of martian water on Mars.

This illustration portrays possible ways that methane might be added to Mars’ atmosphere (sources) and removed from the atmosphere (sinks). NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has detected fluctuations in methane concentration in the atmosphere, implying both types of activity occur in the modern environment of Mars. Courtesy of NASA/JPL -Caltech/SAM-GSFC/Univ. of Michigan.

Law Street writer Madeleine Stern wrote an in-depth explain about the Mars One program that I highly suggest you read in light of this new information coming out of NASA. Mars One, the brain child of Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders, is a nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands that is working toward colonizing Mars. The colony, slated to be established in 2024, will be filled with selected individuals who will make the one-way trip after a three-round selection process to weed out the competition. The first round of Mars One applicants are going to be trained for their life on Mars beginning in 2015, with aspects including physiotherapy, psychology, and exobiology–the study of alien life.

So while we wait for more answers to the questions of what the latest Mars methane discovery means and where it is coming from, you can still throw your hat into the ring to become one of the planet’s first inhabitants. Or hey, at least you can buy a $50 sweatshirt to offset the projects $6 billion price tag.

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Thanks to New Discovery Your Seat on Mars One is Looking Good appeared first on Law Street.

As the saying goes, what was once old will eventually become new again. It is not surprising then that three years after the United States–the world leader in space exploration–ended its shuttle program and in essence shuttered its space program altogether, the nation is poised to begin anew with the unveiling of its new rocket system. This time around the United States will be joined in space by an ever larger group of nations and space agencies hailing from Russia, India, China, Japan, and various European nations, just to name a few. Space exploration is also undertaken by private groups that hope to emulate national space agencies or carve out their own niches in space tourism. In short then, space exploration appears to be experiencing a renaissance. Nevertheless, in order to boldly go where no man has gone before first it is necessary to understand where we began, where we are, and what’s next on the launch pad.

Space Exploration History in Brief

The space race initially kicked off in 1957 when the Soviet Union became the first nation in the world to successfully launch a satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. The United States followed suit less than two months later with its own satellite, Explorer 1. In 1961 the race went to the next level when cosmonaut Yuri Gurgen became the first person in space. Once again the Americans were in close pursuit sending their first astronaut, Alan Shepard, into space less than one month later. The competition between the two nations continued to intensify culminating in the first lunar landing by the United States in 1969. Watch the video below for more information about the space race.

While the Soviets and eventually the Russians continued to use various models of the Soyuz rockets, beginning in 1981 the United States launched the first shuttle mission, the world’s first reusable spacecraft. Over the course of the next thirty years the United States conducted 135 missions with the space shuttle including everything from transporting parts of the international space station and satellites to conducting experiments. The space shuttle program itself came to an end in 2011. Since the original race between the two countries, space has opened up to a larger number of entries.

In fact most countries have a space program of some sort; however, very few still have anything close to the capabilities of the American or Russian programs. Even today more than fifty years after the first manned space flight only three countries have proven that they possess the ability to put a human into space: the United States, Russia, and China. Furthermore, China only relatively recently acquired the capacity to send humans to space, which it did with its first manned space mission in 2003. In fact even sending an object into space remains an elusive goal, and the list grows only slightly longer–nine–when it includes the number of countries capable of launching objects into orbit. However, there is more to space exploration than manned flight and as recent events suggest space exploration is intensifying.

Where We Stand Now

Government Efforts

When the United States space shuttle program ended in 2011 it seemed to signal the end of an era as more than 40 years after landing a man on the moon the driving force for space exploration was given up in order to focus on more terrestrial concerns, like budgets. Nonetheless, in the past few months the tide has seemed to signal a turn.

On November 12, 2014 scientists from the European Space Agency successfully landed the first ever object on a comet, completing a ten-year mission. Coupled with this success is the scheduled launch of the first Orion Rocket by NASA on December 4. This launch signifies more than just the United States reentering the space race, but also an ambitious plan that one day hopes to culminate in bringing people to near earth asteroids and even Mars. The video below details the Orion space program to come.

Coupled with these efforts is the continued work by other nations, such as Russia, which the United States has relied on heavily for resupplying the International Space Agency since the U.S. terminated its program. Another is China, which recently completed work on a new launch pad and during one week in October had three separate launches. India successfully landed a rover on Mars, becoming the first Asian country to do so. As these and even more examples show space exploration efforts by governments are in full swing, commercial enterprises are also taking an ever increasing interest in space as well.

Commercial Space Race

Along with government efforts, corporations and private individuals have increasingly been competing to stake their own claim to space. The two most successful so far are SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. Both of these companies have already received multi-billion dollar contracts from NASA for cargo flights to the International Space Station. SpaceX is seeking to go even further by establishing a reusable rocket required to travel to and colonize Mars.

Along a slightly lower trajectory Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic are aiming for a different market. Instead of ferrying supplies and establishing colonies, Branson is attempting to turn space flight into the ultimate consumer experience. Branson, along with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is attempting to develop a ship that for $250,000 per person will take people into low-earth orbit. The video below gives a peek into private space exploration.

Setbacks

While government and private efforts for space exploration ramp up and meet with new success, there is also a significant price to pay. First off this price can be physical, as recent accidents have shown. On October 29 an Orbital Sciences rocket intended to resupply the International Space Station exploded seconds after takeoff above its launch site in Virginia. Not only did this highlight NASA’s current reliance on outsourcing its space flights and on using Russian equipment, it also brought into question the use of private space companies for missions.

This question was only further exacerbated mere days later when Space Ship Two, the craft Branson hoped to use in commercial space flight, crashed in the Mojave Desert killing its pilot. As these two crashes show, setbacks in space travel are common, expensive, and even deadly.

The second major concern with space exploration is also physical; this time, however, that is with regard to a physical budget. In 2013 the United States spent about $40 billion on all space-related activities. This number seems very large compared to the second highest spending country, China, at $11 billion; however, of the 40 billion around only 18 billion was allocated to NASA. Even if the entire allotment had gone to the space agency it is still just a small portion of the overall US budget. The reduced and insufficient funding that NASA has to operate with has forced it to do much of the outsourcing it is criticized for when commercial crashes do occur. Thus while space exploration enjoys a second wind it is continuously in danger of being underfunded and will be riddled with costly setbacks that the public may not have the stomach to suffer.

Conclusion

More than 50 years ago President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University in which he extolled why the United States was going to the moon. As he said so eloquently then:

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

These were powerful and prophetic words for a generational change that nearly tore the country apart. But what didn’t kill the United States then only made it–and the rest of the world–stronger too. Now in 2014 we find ourselves in similar conditions, overrun with uncertainty. At moments like these as the president alluded to it is easy to hide and not embrace change. As the recent uptick in space exploration has shown, there are many governments, groups, and even individuals ready to answer the challenge. Through the continued collaboration of these characters perhaps it will be possible to travel to infinity and beyond.

Resources

Primary

CRS Report for Congress: China’s Space Program: An Overview

Additional

Christian Science Monitor: Five Groups Making Private Space Flight A Reality

Windows to the Universe: A History of Manned Space Missions

Chartsbin: Countries Capable of Manned Space Flight

Space Answers: How Many Countries Have Rockets Capable of Reaching Space?

History Place: John F. Kennedy

Guardian: SpaceShip Two Crash Casts Doubt on Space Tourism Project, Says Branson

Guardian: Antares Rocket on ISS Resupply Mission Explodes Seconds After Launch

Diplomat: India’s Impressive Space Program

Space Flight Now: China Launches Third Space Mission in a Week

NBC: Testing NASA: How Space Exploration Will Work in the Orion Era

Discovery News: Philae May Have Grazed a Crater and Tumbled over Comet

English Club: First Satellite Launched Into Space

Space: Explorer 1: The First U.S. Satellite

Astronomy Today: Space Shuttle: The First Reusable Spacecraft

RT: $40 Billion: U.S. Space Budget Still Exceeds Rest of World’s Combined

Michael Sliwinski

Michael Sliwinski (@MoneyMike4289) is a 2011 graduate of Ohio University in Athens with a Bachelor’s in History, as well as a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia with a Master’s in International Policy. In his free time he enjoys writing, reading, and outdoor activites, particularly basketball. Contact Michael at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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