October 1, 2022

Dangerous, Expanding Satellite Population Poses Policy Challenges to US Government (Source: Breaking Defense)
The rapid increase in constellations comprising large numbers of satellites pose serious environmental hazards in space and to the atmosphere, but mitigation is challenging — in large part because there hasn’t been enough research on what can be done, finds a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report explained that there are “almost 5,500 active satellites in orbit as of spring 2022, and one estimate predicts the launch of an additional 58,000 by 2030.” Large constellations in low Earth orbit “are the primary drivers of the increase,” the report said. (9/29)

Sex in Space Will Look Like Nothing We’ve Ever Seen Before (Source: Daily Beast)
Between the climate crisis, ongoing wars, the specter of future pandemics, and a whole host of other potential calamities on the horizon, many humans are already seriously pondering life beyond Earth. Werner Herzog and his son are exploring the feasibility of space colonization by humans in their new show, Last Exit: Space. Scientists are trying to figure out how to harvest water on the moon to drink and to use as rocket fuel, grow plants on Mars, and construct sustainable extraterrestrial homes that can keep us feeling warm and comfy.

But there’s one critical part to being human that we have not yet figured out: How are we going to bang in space? Since the dawn of civilization people have found out how to get busy in even the strangest and most extreme environments. The vacuum of space and the alien terrain of other planets and moons will be no exception. And even if it’s not solely for pleasure, people will want to have sex off the planet in order to procreate and raise children.

NASA doesn’t like to talk about sex in space, and most astrophysicists shy away from speaking candidly about the topic. But space sexology is a real thing. Trying to imagine humanity’s future in space requires us to seriously understand and explore how sex in space is supposed to work. After all, space seems almost like it was purposely designed to be as sexless as possible. Low gravity or even a complete lack thereof will make it a challenge to hold on to each other and stay close; the small confines of a spacecraft or extraterrestrial home might foster intimacy between people, or drive them apart to where they can’t stand each other; and if the billions of hazards in space don’t outright kill you, they may just kill the mood anyway. (9/23)

Scientists May Have Discovered a Lake on Mars (Source: Time)
The Mars that was and the Mars that is are two very different things. Three billion years ago, the Red Planet was awash with water. But when the planet lost its magnetic field, it lost its protection from the solar wind, which stripped away much of the planet’s atmosphere and allowed most of its water to escape to space. A new study suggests that in the south Martian pole, there may be a liquid water lake buried beneath the ice, measuring as much as 30 km across, kept warm by geothermal heating, similar to the kind generated on Earth by radioactive isotopes or subsurface magma.

One clue to the possible presence of water beneath Mars’s south pole came from soundings taken by ESA's Mars Express orbiter, which revealed an area that was highly reflective, consistent with a large deposit of liquid water. But that finding wasn’t conclusive. NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor also took the measure of the region using a laser altimeter—and that scan revealed a surface undulation—with the ice at one end dipping as low as 4 meters below the surrounding terrain and at the other end rising 7 meters above it.

That up and down pattern has analogs on Earth, where buried bodies of water display precisely the same pattern, caused by upstream and downstream water flow. The question of just what is going on beneath the ice in Ultimi Scopuli has lingered since the twin spacecraft took their sightings, but now, an international team of researchers has taken on the mystery and come to the conclusion that the south pole of Mars is indeed home to a lake. The investigators based their findings on computer modeling. (9/30)

Space Force Studying Requirements for Cislunar Space Domain Awareness (Source: Space News)
The Space Force expects to know by next spring what capabilities it will need to carry out space domain awareness activities in cislunar space. Col. Marc Brock, commander of Space Delta 2, the unit responsible for space domain awareness for the Space Force, said a study is underway by the 19th Space Defense Squadron (SDS) on what’s needed to monitor activities beyond geostationary orbit, called xGEO by the Space Force, and out to the moon.

That study, he said, will look at requirements to create an “operational capability” for cislunar or xGEO space domain awareness. That includes training, technologies and centers needed to carry out the mission. He said that report should be ready by next April or May. “Following that, the timeframe to have a viable capability is dependent on the resourcing that we have as a service,” he said. Some existing ground-based resources already exist to carry out that mission, he said, but said there will likely need to be new space-based systems. “We need a space-based capability to really provide the surveillance of xGEO or cislunar and so I can’t give you a timeframe for when that is,” he said. (9/30)

National Space Council to Seek Industry Input on Future Regulatory Framework (Source: Space News)
The National Space Council plans to hold “learning sessions” with industry in coming weeks on how to develop a new regulatory framework for novel commercial space activities. Diane Howard, director of commercial space policy for the National Space Council, said the council would soon publish formal notifications of those sessions to get input on both the types of space activities and how they should be supervised in order to comply with the Outer Space Treaty.

“I’d like you to start thinking about supervision: what it would look like, what are some ways to provide meaningful supervision of the operational phase of missions that doesn’t burden business models and doesn’t hinder innovation,” she said. One learning session, scheduled for a little more than a month from now, will invite industry to discuss their planned missions “so we can better understand them and be more effective in crafting a flexible framework that can grow with them,” she said. A second session will focus on how to implement that supervision.

The sessions are part of an effort kicked off by Vice President Kamala Harris at the Sept. 9 meeting of the National Space Council, where she called for ideas to develop a new regulatory framework for commercial space activities that don’t fit into current systems. Those activities include in-space servicing and debris removal and commercial space stations. Harris asked for recommendations on that framework in 180 days. (9/30)

Colombian Woman is NASA's New Flight Director (Source: Al Dia)
NASA has appointed Colombian aerospace engineer Diana Trujillo as one of its new flight directors. The Colombian will oversee the Artemis program to return to the Moon, the International Space Station (ISS), and commercial crew missions. "These highly qualified individuals will be responsible for keeping astronauts safe and executing manned spaceflight missions," said NASA Director of Flight Operations Norm Knight. (9/29)

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