Introducing: The Duke Space Initiative – Research Blog – Duke Today

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Engineers, medical students, ecologists, political scientists, ethicists, policymakers come one, come all to the Duke Space Initiative (DSI), the interdisciplinary home for all things space at Duke.

At Duke Polis Perspectives on Space: Introducing the Duke Space Initiative on Sept. 9, DSI co-founder and undergraduate student Ritika Saligram introduced the initiative and moderated a discussion on the current landscape of space studies both at Duke and beyond.

William R. & Thomas L. Perkins Professor of Law Jonathan Wiener began by expressing his excitement in the amount of interest hes observed in space at Duke.

One of these interested students was Spencer Kaplan. Kaplan, an undergraduate student studying public policy, couldnt attend Wieners Science & Society Dinner Dialogue about policy and risk in the settlement of Mars. Unwilling to miss the learning opportunity, Kaplan set up a one-on-one conversation with Wiener. One thing led to another: the two created a readings course on space law Wiener hired Kaplan as a research assistant and they worked together to compile materials for the syllabus then thought, Why stop there?

Wiener and Kaplan, together with Chase Hamilton, Jory Weintraub, Tyler Felgenhauer, Dan Buckland, and Somia Youssef, created the Bass Connections project Going to Mars: Science, Society, and Sustainability, through which a highly interdisciplinary team of faculty and studentsdiscussed problems ranging from the science and technology of getting to Mars, to the social and political reality of living on another planet.

The team produced a website, research papers, policy memos and recommendations, and a policy report for stakeholders including NASA and some prestigious actors in the private sector. According to Saligram, through their work, the team realized the need for a concerted space for space at Duke, and the DSI was born. The Initiative seeks to serve more immediately as a resource center for higher education on space, and eventually as the home of a space studies certificate program for undergraduates at Duke.

Wiener sees space as an opportunity to reflect on what weve learned from being on Earth to consider how we could avoid mistakes made here and try to do better if we settle another planet. He listed a few of the many problems that the Bass Connections examined.

The economics of space exploration have changed: once, national governments funded space exploration; now, private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic seek to run the show. Space debris, satellite and launch junk that could impair future launches, is the tragedy of the commons at work in space. How would we resolve international disputes on other planets and avoid conflict, especially when settlements have different missions? Can we develop technology to ward off asteroids? What if we unintentionally brought microorganisms from one planet to another? How will we make the rules for the settlement of other planets?

These questions are vast thereby reflecting the vastness of space, commented Saligram and werent answerable within the hour. However, cutting edge research and thinking around them can be found on the Bass Connections website.

Earth and Climate Sciences Senior Lecturer Alexander Glass added to Wieners list of problems: terraforming or creating a human habitat on Mars. According to Glass, oxygen isnt a huge issue: MOXIE can buzz Co2 with electricity to produce it. A greater concern is radiation. Without Earths magnetosphere, shielding of some sort will be necessary; it takes sixteen feet of rock to produce the same protection. Humans on Mars might have to live underground.

Glass noted that although we have the science to solve a lot of these problems, the science were lagging in is the human aspects of it: the psychological, of humanity living in conditions like isolation. The engineering could be rock solid. But the mission will fail because there will be a sociopath we couldnt predict beforehand.

Bass Connections project leader and PhD candidate in political science Somia Youssef discussed the need to examine deeply our laws, systems, and culture. Youssef emphasized that we humans have been on Earth for six million years. Like Wiener, she asked how we will apply what weve learned to space and what changes we should make. How, she mused, do prevailing ideas about humanity transform in the confines, the harsh environment of space? Youssef urged the balancing of unity with protection of the things that make us different, as well as consideration for voices that arent being represented.

Material Science Professor, Assistant Professor of Surgery, and NASA Human System Risk Manager Dr. Dan Buckland explained that automation has exciting potential in improving medical care in space. If robots can do the most dangerous aspects of mission medical care, humans wont have to. Offloading onto repeatable devices will reduce the amount of accidents and medical capabilities needed in space.

Multiple panelists also discussed the false dichotomy between spending resources on space and back home on Earth. Youssef pointed out that many innovations which have benefited (or will benefit) earthly humanity have come from the excitement and passion that comes from investing in space. Saligram stated that space is an extension of the same social and policy issues as the ones we face on Earth, just in a different context. This means that solutions we find in our attempt to settle Mars and explore the universe can be reverse engineered to help Earth-dwelling humans everywhere.

Saligram opened up the panel for discussion, and one guest asked Buckland how he ended up working for NASA. Buckland said his advice was to be in rooms youre not really supposed to be in, and eventually people will start thinking youre supposed to be there.

Youssef echoed this view, expressing the need for diverse perspectives in space exploration. Shes most excited by all the people who are interested in space, but dont know if theres enough space for them.

If this sounds like you, check out the Duke Space Initiative. Theyve got space.

Post by Zella Hanson

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Introducing: The Duke Space Initiative - Research Blog - Duke Today