Space: the final frontier. Outer space has been in the news a lot recently. The recent discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 in February excited many people at the possibility to explore further into space. What’s more, different companies have been conducting successful experiments to launch commercial flights to space. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have both been conducting successful tests of their burgeoning passenger spaceships.

SpaceX launches previously used cargo capsule, a big stride toward eventually reusing spacecraft carrying astronauts https://t.co/QSMb8K0nHj

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 3, 2017

The allure of space goes beyond the human need to explore new places and see new sights. The financial gain could be huge as well. There are asteroids full of valuable elements, such as platinum. According to a 98-page client memo, Goldman Sachs said that a craft could be built for $2.6 billion and could extract anywhere from $25 to $50 billion worth of platinum from an asteroid.

Of course this raises many issues, one of which is the risk of inundating the market with platinum and tanking its value.

via GIPHY

Another potential issue is the Outer Space Treaty, drafted in 1967 by the U.S. and the USSR. The countries’ main fear was nuclear weapons being put in space, but the treaty laid the groundwork for space exploration. Essentially what the treaty established was that the act of space exploration should be used to benefit humankind. In fact, one line of the treaty explicitly says:

…Believing that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development…

When the treaty was signed, national governments, and not private companies, had the capital available to venture into space exploration. In 2017, the economic landscape is a bit different. If Goldman Sachs wants to send its own personal spaceship to an asteroid to mine it for platinum, will the profits be used “for the benefit of all peoples” as the treaty would require?

Article VI of the treaty, the only article that addresses “non-governmental entities,” says that the nation the private entity is located in would have to police its actions. It states:

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty…

The U.S. would have to ensure that Goldman Sachs use the profits of its mining to benefit all peoples.

Space, as of right now, is technically res communis, or common territory, like a park or the high sea. Unfortunately, what you can and cannot do there is not as clearly defined as it is in these territories. The treaty prohibits “national appropriation by claim of sovereignty,” so does that mean that no one can build a hotel on Mars? And what about that gold mine (well, platinum mine) in the asteroid? Does Goldman Sachs even have the right to mine it, even if it can get there?

For now, space is a legal gray area. We have a long way to go before we become like The Jetsons or Zenon. But it’s still fun to think that one day we could get there.

via GIPHY

Anne Grae Martin

Anne Grae Martin is a member of the class of 2017 University of Delaware. She is majoring in English Professional Writing and minoring in French and Spanish. When she’s not writing for Law Street, Anne Grae loves doing yoga, cooking, and correcting her friends’ grammar mistakes. Contact Anne Grae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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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