Category Archives: Space Exploration

Chris Kemp, founder and CEO of Astra, speaks during the Skybridge Capital SALT New York 2021 conference in New YorkREUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Astra CEO Chris Kemp said the space industry will enable new technologies on Earth.

Kemp compared the growing industry to the internet boom in the '90s.

He said the industry will need a global governance system in order to succeed.

Astra CEO Chris Kemp said the space industry is on the verge of becoming as ubiquitous as the internet.

"Space will be the next big platform," Kemp told Insider in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "There is a tremendous amount of opportunity to solve problems here on Earth in space," he added.

Kemp, who cofounded the aerospace company in 2016, highlighted several practical uses for space technology, like satellites, including tracking anything from water levels and energy to weather on Earth.

As space travel in the US has become more privatized, thousands of companies have stepped into the sector. The Astra CEO compared the recent interest in the space industry to the internet boom in the 90s.

In December, Space Tech Analytics found that there are over 10,000 private space tech companies collectively valued at over $4 trillion in the world. Earlier this month, Citigroup reported the space industry should reach $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2040.

Space exploration isn't just about colonizing Mars or putting boots back on the Moon. Tech entrepreneurs like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have long presented space travel as a solution to climate change by moving people or industrial work off Earth, but Kemp sees its potential for everyday commercial use.

"The thing about Astra is we are a space tech company, we aren't a space travel company, space tourism, space solutions company," he said. "There are a bunch of companies out there that are focused on rockets. We are focused on space services that can be consumed by our customers."

Astra is breaking into the satellite launch market and competing for contracts with companies building broadband satellite constellations like OneWeb and Amazon's Kuiper competitors to SpaceX's Starlink service. In March, Astra successfully deployed its first group of satellites after failing its very first operational payload launch the month before, Space.com reported.

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But as interest in space continues to grow, Kemp said it cannot go unregulated, pointing to laws like the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 which have gone decades without scrutiny. The CEO said satellite data could quickly raise ethical concerns or issues related to national security.

Over the past few years, the number of satellites that have been launched into Earth's lower orbit (LEO) have skyrocketed. In 2021, there were over 7,000 satellites in LEO, according to the United Nation's Outer Space Objects Index.

And the number is expected to grow exponentially in coming years. SpaceX has said it plans to create a megaconstellation of over 42,000 Starlink satellites. NASA and astronomers have expressed concern over the growing number of satellites.

In February, the federal agency said the satellites could increase the potential for collisions in outer space and potentially interfere with future NASA missions. Astronomers have said the satellites could negatively impact astronomical research.

"We are trying to find this balance," Kemp said, speaking of regulations. "It could be chaos, but with the appropriate level of governance we could have a global network of networks that connects every single billions devices on the planet."

"We have to create an economy that in order to participate you have to conform to the norms and somebody has to find the norms," Kemp added.

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Astra CEO says space will be the next big platform as more satellites take orbit, but we need some regulations to avoid chaos - Yahoo News

New Delhi [India] May 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): In its effort to introduce new learning experiences and innovation, WhiteHat Jr will be enabling its students to access a live satellite to encourage space exploration and give a first-hand experience in space science. The satellite, named Ayana, has been developed by leading space service organisation EnduroSat with inputs from and expertise of the WhiteHat Jr team. Ayana was part of the payload carried by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare rocket, launched on May 25 at 18:35 GMT, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. Ayana will create a one of a kind applied science opportunity for thousands of students who will be able to send commands to, and access data from a live satellite operating in space.

Ayana is a result of the WhiteHat Jr's "Code A Satellite" programme, which is designed for WhiteHat Jr students to ideate, create, and explore space with the help of Ayana. Before accessing Ayana, students will be required to possess a basic understanding of coding to ensure that they are able to unlock the true potential of the program. Students will get a unique opportunity to: - Track and monitor Ayana's journey in real-time through an exclusive 90-degree camera

- Observe Earth's landscapes and weather - Understand the correlation between power and sun sensor values

- Simulate satellite behaviour by tinkering with the sensor values Speaking about the initiative, Ananya Tripathi, WhiteHat Jr CEO said, "We always believe in creativity, exploration and innovation-beyond the limits. Satellite and space technology are often considered out of reach and difficult to access by students. With the Code a Satellite programme, we will be able to democratise space technology and provide our students with an exceptional opportunity to interact with an orbiting satellite in real time. We are confident this will excite and encourage thousands of brilliant young minds across the globe and help them code like space scientists as they build their projects."

From analysing sensor data (there are 30+ sensors onboard the satellite, including infrared, temperature, solar, and gyroscopic) to controlling cameras and taking pictures, to relaying messages to and fro, the applied science opportunities that students can access are vast. More than 500 kids have already enrolled for the 'Code-a-Satellite' program to become space coders through this program. WhiteHat Jr is the first edtech company in India which is making live satellite accessible to children through this program. WhiteHat Jr was launched with the singular mission of empowering kids to become creators versus consumers of technology. The company has channelled students' natural creativity through an engaging curriculum and personalised, live teacher attention. WhiteHat Jr's 11,000+ strong teacher workforce conducts thousands of LIVE online classes every day on its proprietary platform. Cumulatively, the company has conducted more than 8.5 million classes to date. WhiteHat Jr was acquired by BYJU'S, the world's leading and India's largest Edtech company, in 2020.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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WhiteHat Jr and EnduroSat partner to enable kids to "Code a Satellite"; launched Ayana Satellite to encourage space exploration -...

In 61 years of human space exploration, NASA has sent 336 people to space. But how many of these astronauts are women? 45.

In the 1950s, before any American had been to space, Dr Randolph Lovelace considered women as good candidates for spaceflight. In fact, the doctor began to test female pilots at his clinic in New Mexico in 1960. In his tests, Lovelace found women to be just as capable as their male competitors, with a much higher percentage of women passing the rigorous tests. In fact, women excelled in some of the most crucial aspects of the assessment including isolation tests.

NASA vows that the Artemis project will land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon by 2025

But despite these promising results, Lovelace raised concerns about the potential for the menstrual cycle to alter performance during spaceflight, and it was another 23 years before Dr Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Even in more recent years, female astronauts continue to find themselves greatly outnumbered. However, the upcoming Artemis missions hold the promise of fresh air (excuse the pun) and new opportunities.

NASA vows that the Artemis project will land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon by 2025. The project is a series of three increasingly complex missions, starting with a test flight that will launch an uncrewed Orion capsule into a distant orbit around the Moon before returning to Earth. After several delays and setbacks, including a failed wet dress rehearsal in April that resulted in the rocket being rolled back off the launchpad, Artemis I is now due to launch no earlier than August 2022.

Despite being an uncrewed mission, the Artemis I rocket will carry three very important passengers: mannequins. These mannequins will be used to study the effects of space travel on the human body. In particular, two of the mannequins are designed to allow NASA scientists to study the effects of radiation in female astronauts.

The female mannequins, Helga and Zohar, are specially designed to measure the effects of radiation by mimicking the female body and the organs within

For over half a decade, women have fought against a multitude of arguments stating why they should not be allowed in space. These arguments included menstruation, differences in personality and strength, and a lack of military training. Although many of these concerns have been resolved (or debunked), one discomforting possibility remains: female astronauts may be at greater risk of radiation-induced illnesses.

Sources of powerful radiation are abundant in space, and during flight, astronauts are no longer naturally protected by an atmosphere as we are here on Earth. Some organs such as breasts and ovaries are particularly sensitive to radiation, putting female astronauts at greater risk of developing cancer than their male colleagues.

The female mannequins, Helga and Zohar, are specially designed to measure the effects of radiation by mimicking the female body and the organs within. Designed by Thomas Berger and his colleagues at the German Aerospace Centre in Cologne, the two mannequins host radiation detectors in sensitive regions within the torso. While Helga will act as a control study, Zohar will wear a specialised radiation-blocking vest called AstroRad built by the Israeli Space Agency. AstroRad vests have been trialled by astronauts on the International Space Station to test their fit, comfort, and mobility. The difference in the two mannequins attire will allow scientists to determine the effectiveness of the vests at protecting vital organs.

Each of the two mannequins will host 5600 passive radiation sensors that will count the total radiation dose over the course of the mission. They will also contain a series of battery-powered sensors to create a timeline of the radiation dose each mannequin experiences throughout the trip. Researchers can use this data to create a 3D image of the radiation exposure of the mannequins and identify the most vulnerable areas on the female body.

The use of female bodied mannequins in the Artemis I mission is key for the future of female astronauts, allowing scientists the opportunity to create inclusive designs, and compile vital, sex-specific data. Furthermore, NASA has shown that their promises arent empty and that moving forward we can, and should, expect support for female astronauts.

NASA intends to use the Artemis project to establish a long-term presence on the Moon. They will apply the knowledge they gain from areas on and around the Moon to make their next big leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars. Perhaps we will see true female representation there too.

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Artemis I: The uncrewed space mission carrying unusual passengers - The Boar

Before humans return to the Moons surface by 2025 through NASAs Artemis program, the space agency is sending a rover to scope out the hydration situation.

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is about as large as a golf cart. Its expected to spend 100 Earth days searching the moons south polar region for water ice deposits below the surface in 2023.

You can see VIPER for yourself this Memorial Day weekend at Chabot Space & Science Center, which is introducing the first full-scale replica of the robot to the public as part of the NASA Artemis Preview Weekend hosted by NASAs Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The event is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29.

VIPERs mission will follow up work done by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite in 2009 that detected evidence of water ice at the Moons poles. VIPER is making the trip to better learn how much water ice is up there and in what form. Scientists at NASAs Ames Research Center in Mountain View are leading the VIPER mission and already created high-resolution maps of the lunar surface to plan routes for the rover.

The Artemis missions will return astronauts to the Moon and land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface.

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Photos: NASA previews a new water-hunting lunar rover in Oakland - The Mercury News

LONG BEACH, Calif. Supply chain disruptions continue to pose a challenge for the space industry, but some see those disruptions as an opportunity for new approaches and innovation.

During a panel discussion on supply chain issues at Space Tech Expo here May 24, government and industry officials said the industry continued to feel the effects of broader supply chain issues that was slowing its growth.

We want to buy products and services at scale, said Brig. Gen. Steve Bucky Butow, director of the space portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit, citing efforts like satellite constellations for the Space Development Agency (SDA) for missile tracking and communications. You cant do that without healthy supply chains.

Chris Winslett, Lockheed Martin program director for its work on the SDA Transport Layer, said that many smallsat manufacturers had, in recent years, shifted away from space-grade components because of their long lead times in favor of more widely available commercial and automotive-grade alternatives. But with the issues of the pandemic, we actually saw a lot of commercial and automotive parts have longer lead times than space parts, he said. Its been an interesting few years.

Ron Faith, president and chief operating officer of RBC Signals, which operates a network of ground stations, said his company has seen a significant impact in lead times for components such as antennas, radios and other electronics. Theyve stretched out from what used to be weeks to now many, many months, he said.

Supply chain issues have also affected logistics. Faith said the company traditionally transported six-meter antennas, manufactured in the United States, to ground stations around the world through traditional shipping, but now transports them by air freight. It does increase costs, but quite frankly the time compression is way more important right now given the other challenges that are in the supply chain.

Those problems can slow the growth of companies. We see companies that, during a healthy supply chain and healthy markets, would be thriving, said Jordan Noone, co-founder and general partner at Embedded Ventures who previously cofounded Relativity Space. Today, many of those companies have major struggles.

Those struggles, he said, also present an opportunity to shore up the supply chain. He cited technologies like additive manufacturing and digital engineering to speed up the design and production of components. You can modify the factory at the speed of software, he said. That brings that flywheel of software to the aerospace manufacturing world.

The current supply chain disruptions, some panelists said, are a sign that some technologies, like electronics, whose production shifted to outside the United States in recent decades to reduce costs should be onshored, or brought back to the United States. Doing so could reduce supply chain reductions but increase costs.

Does onshoring have to be more expensive? countered Jeffrey Smith, element architect for deep space logistics for NASAs Gateway program, arguing innovative technologies can reduce costs. We have to find a way to do it, especially for space exploration.

Its really imperative that we evolve and pull our acquisition heads out of the 1960s, said Butow. Look at how the industry is postured today, how to be more innovative, how to rapidly adopt and incentivize new technologies and new methodologies, and build and grow a healthy supply chain.

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Supply chain challenges also present opportunities for the space industry - SpaceNews

West Elementary School sixth graders recently visited the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, as part of an annual field trip that was added back to the calendar following a hiatus due to the pandemic the past two years.

Sixth grade students spent part of their science classes studying space exploration and planetary systems earlier this year and the trip was a chance to expand on those lessons and see the concepts in action.

We began with understanding our place in the universe. In this, we discussed our solar system and did group research on each of the planets. The history of space exploration was next, sixth grade science teacher Jessica Posey said. We did research on Project Mercury, Gemini, Skylab, and even the International Space Station. We discussed the Apollo missions and watched a documentary. The students were so excited to have the chance to actually see, in person, all this space history up close and personal.

As for highlights from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, students most enjoyed the G-Force ride, and learned about cutting-edge NASA tech currently in the works, including a new suit with a helmet that will allow astronauts to have a 360-degree view.

I got to ride on the Multi-Axis Trainer. It was very fast. I couldnt tell which direction I was going, because it was going everywhere at the same time, student Brittlee Hopper said. It felt like I was drifting off into space. Also, it felt like there was no gravity while on the ride.

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To infinity and beyond - Cullman Times Online

HOUSTON, May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Axiom Space, a leader in human spaceflight currently building the world's first commercial space station, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Italian government to further their existing collaboration, including the potential for the development of space infrastructure integrated with the future Axiom Station. The agreement was signed by the President and CEO of Axiom Space, Michael Suffredini, and Italy's Minister for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition, Vittorio Colao, on 19 May in Rome, Italy.

While the MOU is exploratory in nature, areas of cooperation outlined in the agreement include mutual definition of potential user requirements as well as technological solutions and operational concepts for an Italian module that could later be developed and integrated into the Axiom Space Station. The project could take the form of a public-private framework with the governance and business models developed over time. Other areas of cooperation include collaborative development and implementation of research supporting space exploration and technology, including advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, on-orbit manufacturing, space security, aerospace medicine, simulation and robotics, and other areas of mutual interest as determined by the two parties, as well as training and mission operations.

The MOU a first-of-its-kind approach between the Italian government and a private international corporation - is the latest effort between Italy and the Houston-based Axiom Space. Earlier this year, Axiom announced Italian Air Force (ItAF) Colonel Walter Villadei as the company's first international professional astronaut. He is currently in training in Houston. Col. Villadei has been selected by Axiom as a backup on the Ax-2 mission, and an initial agreement has been signed for a reservation on a mission targeting late 2023. Based on ItAF's significant competencies in the field of astronautics, modeling and simulation, and aerospace medicine, such a mission will allow the implementation of multidisciplinary scientific and technological experiments from the Italian research and industrial community and will further strengthen the relationship being established under the MOU just signed.

Together, these agreements between Axiom and Italy demonstrate the promise and viability of business to government (B2G) relationships that can help grow and expand the commercial space economy across multiple industries and market sectors. A Joint Working Group, composed of representatives from Axiom and institutions and industrial representatives appointed by the Italian Government, will pursue the implementation of the MOU.

"As one of the first European countries invested in the International Space Station, this agreement with the Italian government will bring an experienced partner to Axiom Station, helping to open a new paradigm as we build this next generation microgravity platform in low Earth orbit", said Michael Suffredini. "The MOU is a significant addition to Axiom Space's long-standing relationship with Italy and reflects our shared commitment to expand global access to space and grow the LEO economy while advancing science and technology to benefit all of humanity."

Axiom Station will provide the international community with a modern, efficient, and cost-effective space infrastructure that enables microgravity research, further technological developments, and operations to continue seamlessly after the ISS end of life. The collaboration between Axiom and Italy will harness microgravity for the development of advanced scientific research, innovative technologies, on-orbit manufacturing, and space exploration.

"The agreement intends to deepen cooperation for the development and implementation of projects in the aerospace sector[it represents] the enrichment of the excellent and historical bilateral relations between the United States and Italy, with cooperation also in the field of commercial space flight seen as an opportunity to develop a new chapter of the human presence around the Earth and on the Moon for the benefit of the whole humanity", according to a statementreleased by the Italian government.

The agreement with Italy adds to Axiom Space's list of recent accomplishments in its efforts to grow the commercial space industry. Earlier this month, Axiom Space celebrated the groundbreaking at the company's new, long-term headquarters at Houston Spaceport, which will be home to the development and construction of Axiom Station. Axiom Space also recently welcomed home the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew after successfully completing the first all-private astronaut mission to the ISS. The company has also signed agreements with several nations, including Hungary and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to fly on future space missions.

About Axiom SpaceAxiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leading provider of human spaceflight services and developer of human-rated space infrastructure, Axiom operates end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately building its successor, Axiom Station, the first permanent commercial destination in Earth's orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home.

SOURCE Axiom Space

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Axiom Space and Italian Government Sign Historic MOU to Expand Commercial Utilization of Space - PR Newswire

Figuring out how to feed people in space is a major part of a larger effort to demonstrate the viability of long-term human habitation of extraterrestrial environments. On May 12, 2022, a team of scientists announced that they had successfully grown plants using lunar soil gathered during the Apollo moon missions. But this is not the first time that scientists have attempted to grow plants in soils that typically do not support life.

The greenhouse at McMurdo Station in Antarctica is the only source of fresh food during winter. [Photo: Flickr user Eli Duke]I am a historian of Antarctic science. How to grow plants and food in the far southern reaches of Earth has been an active area of research for more than 120 years. These efforts have helped further understanding of the many challenges of agriculture in extreme environments and eventually led to limited, but successful, plant cultivation in Antarctica. And especially after the 1960s, scientists began to explicitly look at this research as a steppingstone to human habitation in space.

The earliest efforts to grow plants in Antarctica were primarily focused on providing nutrition to explorers.

In 1902, British physician and botanist Reginald Koettlitz was the first person to grow food in Antarctic soils. He collected some soil from McMurdo Sound and used it to grow mustard and cress in boxes under a skylight aboard the expeditions ship. The crop was immediately beneficial to the expedition. Koettlitz produced enough that during an outbreak of scurvy, the entire crew ate the greens to help stave off their symptoms. This early experiment demonstrated that Antarctic soil could be productive, and also pointed to the nutritional advantages of fresh food during polar expeditions.

Early attempts to grow plants directly in Antarctic landscapes were less successful. In 1904, Scottish botanist Robert Rudmose-Brown mailed seeds from 22 cold-tolerant Arctic plants to the small, frigid Laurie Island to see if they would grow. All of the seeds failed to sprout, which Rudmose-Brown attributed to both the environmental conditions and the absence of a biologist to help usher their growth.

There have been many more attempts to introduce non-native plants to the Antarctic landscape, but generally they didnt survive for long. While the soil itself could support some plant life, the harsh environment was not friendly to plant cultivation.

By the 1940s, many nations had begun setting up long-term research stations in Antarctica. Since it was impossible to grow plants outside, some people living at these stations took it upon themselves to build greenhouses to provide both food and emotional well-being. But they soon realized that Antarctic soil was of too poor quality for most crops beyond mustard and cress, and it typically lost its fertility after a year or two. Starting in the 1960s, people began switching to the soil-less method of hydroponics, a system in which you grow plants with their roots immersed in chemically enhanced water under a combination of artificial and natural light.

Hydroponic systems grow plants without the need for soil. [Photo: Flickr user Eli Duke]By using hydroponic techniques in greenhouses, plant production facilities werent using the Antarctic environment to grow crops at all. Instead, people were creating artificial conditions.

By 2015, there were at least 43 different facilities on Antarctica where researchers had grown plants at some time or another. While these facilities have been useful for scientific experiments, many Antarctic residents appreciated being able to eat fresh vegetables in the winter and considered these facilities enormous boons for their psychological well-being. As one researcher put it, they are warm, bright and full of green life an environment one misses during the Antarctic winter.

As permanent human occupation of Antarctica grew through the middle of the 20th century, humanity also began its push into space and specifically, to the Moon. Starting in the 1960s, scientists working for organizations like NASA began thinking of the hostile, extreme and alien Antarctic as a convenient analog for space exploration, where nations could test space technologies and protocols, including plant production. That interest continued through the end of the 20th century, but it wasnt until the 2000s that space became a primary goal of some Antarctic agricultural research.

In 2004, the National Science Foundation and the University of Arizonas Controlled Environment Agriculture Center collaborated to build the South Pole Food Growth Chamber. The project was designed to test the idea of controlled-environment agriculture a means of maximizing plant growth while minimizing resource use. According to its architects, the facility closely mimicked the conditions of a Moon base and provided an analogue on Earth for some of the issues that will arise when food production is moved to space habitations. This facility continues to provide the South Pole Station with supplementary food.

Since building the South Pole Food Growth Chamber, the University of Arizona has collaborated with NASA to build a similar Prototype Lunar Greenhouse.

As people began spending longer times in space toward the end of the 20th century, astronauts began putting to use the lessons from a century of growing plants in Antarctica.

In 2014, NASA astronauts installed the Vegetable Production System aboard the International Space Station to study plant growth in microgravity. The next year, they harvested a small crop of lettuce, some of which they then ate with balsamic vinegar. Just as Antarctic scientists had argued for many years, NASA asserted that the nutritional and psychological value of fresh produce is a solution to the challenge of long-duration missions into deep space.

EDEN ISS is the newest experiment designed to mimic a food production facility on the Moon and can successfully feed a six-person crew. [Photo: DLR/Flickr]Antarctic research plays an important role for space to this day. In 2018, Germany launched a project in Antarctica called EDEN ISS that focused on plant cultivation technologies and their applications in space in a semi-closed system. The plants grow in air, as misters spray chemically enhanced water on their roots. In the first year, EDEN ISS was able to produce enough fresh vegetables to comprise one-third of the diet for a six-person crew.

Just as in Antarctic history, the question of how to grow plants is central to any discussion of possible human settlements on the Moon or Mars. People eventually abandoned efforts to cultivate the harsh Antarctic landscape for food production and turned to artificial technologies and environments to do so. But after over a century of practice and using the most modern techniques, the food grown in Antarctica has never been able to support many people for very long. Before sending people to the Moon or Mars, it might be wise to first prove that a settlement can survive on its own amid the frozen southern plains of Earth.

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How 100 years of Antarctic agriculture is helping scientists grow food in space - Fast Company

Exploring space is one of humanitys most hopeful activities. By going out into the great unknown of the Universe, we hope to extend our reach, find new resources and life forms, while solving many of our earthly problems. But going to space is not something to take for grantedit can actually become impossible. There is a scenario, called theKessler Syndrome, that can cause the end of all space exploration and dramatically impact our daily lives.

In 1978, the NASA scientistDonald J. Kesslerproposed that a chain reaction of exploding space debris can end up making space activities and the use of satellites impossible for generations. He predicted that the number of objects that we keep launching intoLow Earth Orbit(LEO) can create such a dense environment above the planet that inevitable collisions could cause a cascading effect. The space junk and shrapnel generated by one collision could make further collisions much more possible. And if you have enough collisions, the amount of space debris could overwhelm the orbital space entirely.

What makes that situation possible is the fact that there are millions of micrometeoroids as well as man-made debris that is already orbiting Earth. The danger posed by even a small fragment thats traveling at high speeds is easy to see. Ascalculated by NASA,a 1-centimeter paint fleck traveling at10km/s (22,000 mph)can cause the same damage as a550-poundobject traveling 60 miles per hour on Earth. If the size of the shard was increased to 10 centimeters, such a projectile would have the force of7 kilograms of TNT.Now imagine thousands of such objects flying around at breakneck speeds and crashing into each other.

Distribution of debris around Earth. (Credit: ESA)

If a chain reaction of exploding space junk did occur, filling the orbital area with such dangerous debris, the space program would indeed be in jeopardy. Travel that goes beyond the LEO, like the planned mission to Mars, would be made more challenging but still conceivably possible.

What would, of course, be affected if the Kessler Syndromes worst predictions came to pass, are all the services that rely on satellites. Core aspects of our modern lifeGPS, television, military and scientific researchall of that would be under threat.

NASA experienced a small-scale Kessler Syndrome incident in the 1970s when Delta rockets that were left in orbit started to explode into shrapnel clouds. This inspired Kessler, an astrophysicist, to show that there is a point when the amount of debris in an orbit gets to critical mass. At that point, the collision cascading would start even if no more things are launched into space. And once the chain of explosions begins, it can keep going until the orbital space can no longer be used.

In Kesslers estimate, it would take30 to 40 yearsto get to such a threshold.NASA saysthat its experts caution that we are already at critical mass in the low-Earth orbit, which is about 560-620 miles (900 to 1,000 kilometers) out.

According to NASA estimates, the Earths orbit currentlyhas500,000 pieces of space debrisup to 10cm long, over21,000pieces of debris longer than 10cm, and more than100 million piecesof space debris smaller than 1cm.

A 2009 incident dubbed theCosmos-Iridium collisionfeatured a space collision between Russian and American communication satellites that provided a preview of potential attractions in the massive debris field it created. The accident resulted in more than 2,000 pieces of relatively large space junk.

While there are some safety measures being taken, like theSpace Surveillance Networkrun by the military, the sheer amount of stuff already floating in space makes the domino effect of explosions a likely possibility.

Check out this video about the Kessler Syndrome that features Don Kessler himself.And heres Kesslers original paper on the subject, titled Collision Frequency of Artificial Satellites: The Creation of a Debris Belt.

This article was reprinted with permission ofBig Think, where it wasoriginally published.

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How the Kessler Syndrome can end all space exploration and destroy modern life - Freethink

Inside All About Space issue 130, on sale now, explore the chaos theory and how it influences the world around us and also applies to the wider universe.

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For this cover feature, All About Space dives into chaos theory and explores how it affects everything around us from traffic jams and stock markets to star formation and the death of planets.

Learn about the history of chaos theory and why it's important for unlocking the secrets of the universe in the latest issue of All About Space.

Related: Do parallel universes exist? We might live in a multiverse.

Elsewhere in the issue, you can explore five NASA spacecraft that have ended up on interstellar trajectories and learn about their discoveries to date as well as what may be in store for them in the future.

The latest issue of All About Space also features an interview with ESA astronaut Andr Kuipers, who has flown into space twice the only Dutch astronaut to do so.

We also have an in-depth stargazer section filled with useful information on what to look out for in the sky, including naked eye and binocular targets and a deep sky challenge.

Take a peek below at All About Space issue 130's biggest features and check out All About Space's brand new look! Thanks to a full redesign our sister publication looks more like Space.com than ever before.

When it comes to surviving in space, the tiniest things can be the difference between life and death. As Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said: "An astronaut who doesn't sweat the small stuff is a dead astronaut." That may be the case for human space travel, but astronomers are increasingly suspecting that the same mantra also applies to the wider universe. When it comes to the cosmos, it seems chaos theory is king.

Chaos theory traces its origins back to the 19th century. French polymath Henri Poincar was attempting to win a prize of 2,500 crowns a third of a professor's yearly salary offered up by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway to celebrate his 60th birthday. To win you had to predict the orbits of the planets.

Read the full feature in the latest All About Space.

We humans aren't particularly good at cleaning up after ourselves on Earth, and it turns out we may be even worse when we leave our planet. In over 60 years of space exploration, we've rapidly filled Earth's orbit with junk, and that could become a serious problem in the not-too-distant future.

The Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 became our first piece of space junk in October 1957 after it became the first human-made object ever to orbit Earth. By January 1958 its orbit had decayed enough that it re-entered our atmosphere and burned up, never to cause any trouble. But since then we've launched thousands of satellites into space, and many of them have been left in Earth orbit even after they have stopped working.

Read the full feature in the latest All About Space.

Walk carefully over to a fire and you'll find it gets hotter the closer you get. As you walk away you start to feel cooler again. But if you were to do that at the surface of the sun, the opposite would happen. You'd walk away from the intense heat, start to feel cooler and then suddenly begin to feel hot again.

Moving far away from this hot source only puts you in the middle of an even hotter upper atmosphere. Although the sun's surface burns at a blisteringly hot 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit (6,000 degrees Celsius), the outermost layer of our host star's atmosphere which extends thousands of miles above the visible surface reaches temperatures of around 1.8 to 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 2 million degrees Celsius). It's a mystery that's perplexed scientists around the world for decades.

Read the full feature in the latest All About Space.

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Are we in a chaotic universe? Find out with All About Space magazine - Space.com