Category Archives: Space Travel

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | May 10, 2021, 4:28 p.m.

As visitors observe the work of museum conservators in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, they may hear the echoing refrain Use The Force, Luke. Let go! in the background of the cavernous facility, part of the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, which recently reopened after being closed due to Covid-19. It might not be the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but rather a wisecracking visitor staring at the Smithsonians newest artifact: an X-Wing Starfighter.

The famous but fictional spacecraft of the blockbuster Star Wars film franchise is on long-term loan to the Smithsonian from Lucasfilm Ltd. Fans can now watch while the X-Wing undergoes conservation at the Restoration Hangar alongside World War II aircraft and other historic airplanes and space vehicles. Late next year, the famed film prop will go on display outside the Albert Einstein Planetarium at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

We are thrilled to have an X-Wing on exhibit, says Margaret Weitekamp, space history chair at the museum. It is a real screen-used vehicle from the 2019 film Rise of Skywalker. This display speaks to that crossover connection between people who are excited about space flight and have been inspired by the visions Star Wars has been putting out since 1977.

The massive movie prop, which has a wingspan of 37 feet, is being cleaned and checked closely for any damage that may have occurred while in transit from Industrial Light & Magic, the LucasFilm division that created and built the X-Wing Starfighter. The full-size model was shipped in pieces and is being reassembled so it can be hung by rigging from the ceiling at the National Air and Space Museum building in Washington, D.C., in 2022.

Star Wars is a lived-in universe, Weitekamps says. This is a battle-scarred X-Wing fighter. We want to distinguish between any scratches that occurred during shipping versus something that was built into the vehicle.

I was on the floor looking at it and I pointed out a place where it looked like it had what pilots would call hangar rash. Thats where you get scrape marks on the side of aircraft when they are moved around. I pointed it out to the conservator, who had a big smile and said, No, thats simulated. Its part of the detail by the artist!

This is not the first time a Star Wars artifact has been displayed at the Smithsonian. In 1997, the museum exhibited props and costumes in the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth exhibition, which also explored the legendary themes of George Lucas, director, producer and screenwriter of the film franchise.

In 2016, the Star Trek television series and movies were featured in the Boldly Go 50 display, which included the studio model of the Starship Enterprise. Other exhibitions have included displays on the publics fascination with space travel through science fiction, including early literary works, film and television series.

The X-Wing Starfighter made its debut in the very first film in 1977, which has been redubbed Star Wars: Episode IVA New Hope. Pilots used the spacecraft to battle Imperial TIE Fighters and attack the Death Star before it could deliver a lethal blow to a rebel base.

It has since been reprised in various forms in eight other Star Wars films, including the last one in 2019, The Rise of Skywalker. This model is a more advanced version of the first X-Wing Starfighter that zoomed across the big screen nearly 35 years ago. Apparently, even fictional attack spacecraft have to have technological improvements.

This is a T-70 X-Wing, Weitekamp says. Its the next generation. The one Luke Skywalker flew in the original trilogy was a T-65B. The big visible difference is the X-foils that split apart. Each had an engine. The T-70 was designed to include one large engine on each wing. When X-attack formation is deployed, the engine splits into two semi-hemispheres.

There was even a third-generation X-Wing Starfighter: the T-85, which appeared in the Star Wars Resistance television series in 2018.

No matter which model is displayed, Star Wars fans are likely to recall the X-Wing Starfighter in the climactic battle scene of the very first movie. Luke Skywalker, portrayed by Mark Hamill, is leading a suicidal attack to disable the Death Stars superlaser, which is preparing to destroy the planet Yarvin.

The Rebel Alliance is trying to exploit a weakness in the Death Stars design by dropping proton torpedoes in a thermal exhaust port. Several attempts have already failed and many pilots have been killed in the process.

Luke decides to lead a desperate final assault on the Death Star as time ticks down. With archvillain Darth Vader ready to blast our hero into nanoparticles, Luke suddenly feels the presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the deceased Jedi Knight who was once his mentor. He speaks to Luke from another dimension, urging him to forgo technology and rely on The Force, the supernatural Power of the Cosmos that can guide him to success:

Use the force, Luke. Let go!

Luke flips up his blast visor, turns off his targeting sensor, closes his eyes and lets The Force lead him to victory from the cockpit of his X-Wing Starfighter.

And if you close your eyes again while standing near this fabled spacecraft in the Restoration Hangar, you just might see this scene play out once more a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

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Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter Lands at the National Air and Space Museum - Smithsonian Magazine

For most people, getting to the stars is nothing more than a dream. But on May 5, 2021, the 60th anniversary of the first suborbital flight, that dream became a little bit more achievable.

The space company Blue Origin announced that it would start selling tickets for suborbital flights to the edge of space. The first flight is scheduled for July 20, and Jeff Bezos company is auctioning off one single ticket to the highest bidder.

But whoever places the winning bid wont be the first tourist in space.

On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito, a wealthy businessman, paid US$20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to be the first tourist to visit the International Space Station. Only seven civilians have followed suit in the 20 years since, but that number is poised to double in the next 12 months alone.

NASA has long been hesitant to play host to space tourists, so Russia looking for sources of money post-Cold War in the 1990s and 2000s has been the only option available to those looking for this kind of extreme adventure. However, it seems the rise of private space companies is going to make it easier for regular people to experience space.

From my perspective as a space policy analyst, recent announcements from companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are the opening of an era in which more people can experience space. Hoping to build a future for humanity in space, these companies are seeking to use space tourism as a way to demonstrate both the safety and reliability of space travel to the general public.

Flights to space like Dennis Titos are expensive for a reason. A rocket must burn a lot of costly fuel to travel high and fast enough to enter Earths orbit.

Another cheaper possibility is a suborbital launch, with the rocket going high enough to reach the edge of space and coming right back down. This is the kind of flight that Blue Origin is now offering. While passengers on a suborbital trip experience weightlessness and incredible views, these launches are more accessible.

The difficulty and expense of either option has meant that, traditionally, only nation-states have been able to explore space. This began to change in the 1990s as a series of entrepreneurs entered the space arena. Three companies led by billionaire CEOs have emerged as the major players: Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. Though none have taken paying, private customers to space, all anticipate doing so in the very near future.

British billionaire Richard Branson has built his brand on not just business but also his love of adventure. In pursuing space tourism, Branson has brought both of those to bear. He established Virgin Galactic after buying SpaceShipOne a company that won the Ansari X-Prize by building the first reusable spaceship. Since then, Virgin Galactic has sought to design, build and fly a larger SpaceShipTwo that can carry up to six passengers in a suborbital flight.

The going has been harder than anticipated. While Branson predicted opening the business to tourists in 2009, Virgin Galactic has encountered some significant hurdles including the death of a pilot in a crash in 2014. After the crash, engineers found significant problems with the design of the vehicle, which required modifications.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, respective leaders of SpaceX and Blue Origin, began their own ventures in the early 2000s.

Musk, fearing that a catastrophe of some sort could leave Earth uninhabitable, was frustrated at the lack of progress in making humanity a multiplanetary species. He founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of first developing reusable launch technology to decrease the cost of getting to space. Since then, SpaceX has found success with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceXs ultimate goal is human settlement of Mars; sending paying customers to space is an intermediate step. Musk says he hopes to show that space travel can be done easily and that tourism might provide a revenue stream to support development of the larger, Mars-focused Starship system.

Bezos, inspired by the vision of physicist Gerard ONeill, wants to expand humanity and industry not to Mars but to space itself. Blue Origin, established in 2004, has proceeded slowly and quietly in also developing reusable rockets. Its New Shepard rocket, first successfully flown in 2015, will be the spaceship taking tourists on suborbital trips to the edge of space this July. For Bezos, these launches represent an effort at making space travel routine, reliable and accessible as a first step to enabling further space exploration.

Blue Origin is not the only company offering passengers the opportunity to go into space and orbit the Earth.

SpaceX currently has two tourist launches planned. The first is scheduled for as early as September 2021, funded by billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman. The other trip, planned for 2022, is being organized by Axiom Space. These trips will be costly for wannabe space travelers, at $55 million for the flight and a stay on the International Space Station. The high cost has led some to warn that space tourism and private access to space more broadly might reinforce inequality between rich and poor.

While Blue Origin is already accepting bids for a seat on the first launch, it has not yet announced the cost of a ticket for future trips. Passengers will also need to meet several physical qualifications, including weighing 110 to 223 pounds (50 to 101 kg) and measuring between 5 feet and 6 feet, 4 inches (1.5 to 1.9 meters) in height. Virgin Galactic, which continues to test SpaceShipTwo, has no specific timetable, but its tickets are expected to be priced from $200,000 to $250,000.

Though these prices are high, it is worth considering that Dennis Titos $20 million ticket in 2001 could potentially pay for 100 flights on Blue Origin soon. The experience of viewing the Earth from space, though, may prove to be priceless for a whole new generation of space explorers.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on April 28, 2021. It has been updated to include the announcement by Blue Origin.

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Space tourism is here 20 years after the first stellar tourist, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to send civilians to space - The Conversation US

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Southwesterns upcoming Physics and Astronomy Lecture spotlights the work of Southwesterns own Zinzi Konig, RN, assistant professor of nursing. The lecture, The Effects of Space Flight on Human Health and Infectious Agents will be presented Thursday, May 13, at 6:30 p.m. via Southwestern's Livestream at https://livestream.com/swocc/physicsandastronomy2020-21.

Konig will present results from her past work studying infectious agents in space, carried aboard two of the final missions of the Space Shuttle Program.

She shares the following as a preview, Conducting both short and long-term human space flight missions require investigating and understanding the effects of spaceflight on both infectious agents and the hosts immune system. In the first experiment described, (designated as Streptococcus pneumoniae Expression of Genes in Space or SPEGIS-2), changes in gene expression of the infectious bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae in response to culture during spaceflight were investigated. In the second experiment described, (designated as Mouse Immunology-2) parts of the immune system, particularly those within the respiratory tract, that leads to increased susceptibility to infection in spaceflight were challenged with spaceflight and a viral agent. Taken together, these applied research studies have helped to build our knowledge of how microorganisms interact with their host, other environments, both on earth and in spaceflight.

The Southwestern Physics and Astronomy Lecture Series is sponsored in part by the Southwestern Foundation. For further information about this month's lecture and future events, please contact Dr. Aaron Coyner, Associate Professor of Physics, at aaron.coyner@socc.edu. To learn more about physics and engineering degrees at Southwestern please visit https://physics.socc.edu/.

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Southwestern to explore the health effects of space travel at the next Physics and Astronomy Lecture - Coos Bay World

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An Israeli mission plans to send four astronauts on a SpaceX rocket early next year to test dozens of new technologies that could enable the next generation of space travel.

The Rakia Mission, which will include Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, will test more than 40 locally developed technologies in the International Space Station, Israels Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement on Wednesday. Technologies being tested include super-fast-charging batteries and viscous liquid telescope lenses that pack more magnifying power in a smaller, simpler package, it said.

The project is part of U.S. firm Axiom Spaces bigger ambition to operate the first commercial space station. Space travel is poised to get a boost with companies like Axiom, Elon Musks SpaceX and Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin trying to commercialize what was once reserved for government agencies. And a number of countries are angling to send astronauts to Mars in the coming decades. More than 100 people will fly into space over the next 10 years, according to Ran Livne, Chief Executive Officer of the Ramon Foundation and head of Rakia.

Read More: New Space Race Shoots for Moon and Mars on a Budget: QuickTake

The project is conditional on the missions ability to raise funds to cover the cost and NASAs approval of the technologies, the ministry said in the statement. The Israeli government will issue a call for assistance in fundraising once the states budget has been approved, and the Ramon Foundation, created in honor of the first Israeli astronaut, will look for alternative sources of funding, it said.

Developing more efficient ways to monitor astronaut health will be key to the growth of this industry as missions become more frequent and complex. About 75% of the experimental technologies on board will be life support systems, Livne said.

When people talk about going to Mars, its a two- to three-year mission, and we just dont know how the body will react, he said.

Among the technologies that will be tested are Healthy.ios urine diagnostic platform, which processes pictures of dipsticks taken by smartphones into clinical results within minutes, and is now in use in the U.K.

Our promise to the world is to turn any place with a limited bandwidth and a basic camera into a medical lab, said Healthy.io CEO Yonatan Adiri. Space offers an extreme test to our technology and an opportunity to serve humanitys bravest women and men.

The experiments could also have significant impact on terrestrial industries, too.

StoreDot Ltd., backed by investors such as Samsung Electronics Co. and BP Plc, is sending 10 fast-charging car batteries on the mission to replicate the process for charging and depleting them at zero gravity. This will improve understanding of the chemical reactions that cause the silicon used in StoreDots batteries to expand during the fast-charging process, CEO Doron Myersdorf said.

The time to recharge electric vehicles is one of the major impediments to the growth of that industry. Replacing the graphite on the batterys anode with silicon is a way to reduce the cost and StoreDot is working with samples that can be charged in five minutes, Myersdorf said. The drawback is that the silicon in the batteries needs to be replaced more quickly than other materials.

This is our number-one challenge, to really increase the life cycle dramatically, Myersdorf said. A breakthrough is needed on the material science level in order to really have a very sustainable, cost effective, reliable and safe product.

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Israeli Mission to Test Tech for Next Generation of Space Travel - Bloomberg

A bottle of red wine that spent more than a year in space could end up being the most expensive wine ever sold.

Christie's is selling a bottle of Ptrus 2000 that was aged for 14 months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) before returning to Earth in January. And the British auction house estimates will ultimately fetch a price "in the region of $1 million."

That would make the space-aged vintage the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. (The current record for a single bottle of wine came in 2018, when anonymous buyers paid $558,000 for a bottle of 1945 Romanee-Conti French Burgandy, sold by Sotheby's.)

A bottle of wine from Chateau Ptrus, a winery in France's Bordeaux region, from the year 2000 typically fetches more than $7,000, according to Wine-Searcher. And whoever buys the space-aged wine will also receive a bottle of the same vintage of Ptrus 2000 that was aged on Earth, in order to compare differences in how the two taste.

A dozen bottles of the Ptrus 2000 spent 14 months aging in zero-gravity aboard the ISS, orbiting the Earth while traveling 17,000 miles per hour. They were placed on the ISS by European research company Space Cargo Unlimited with the aim of studying the effects of space travel on the wine-aging process.

In March, a panel of wine experts and oenologists assembled by the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences in Bordeaux conducted a taste test of the space-aged bottles of Ptrus 2000 that are not being sold. They compared the space-aged wines to bottles of the same vintage that had been aged on Earth, finding distinct differences in the wines' taste, color and aroma.

One panelist, a correspondent from Decanter magazine named Jane Anson, even said in March that the space-aged wine tasted as if it had been aged for two to three years longer than the wine aged on Earth.

The experts called the space-aged wine "great," according to Christie's, with the auction house writing in a blog post that some of the panelists said the space-aged wine's flavor "resembled rose petals, and that it smelled like cured leather or a campfire, and shone with a burnt-orange luster."

Meanwhile, bottles of Ptrus 2000 aged on Earth are typically known for having tasting notes of smoke, blackberries, cherries, licorice, and truffles, according to Wine.com.

Space biologist Michael Labert told website euronews that difference in taste happens at least in part because a particular reaction during the wine aging process on Earth, called convection, does not happen at zero gravity.

Space Cargo Unlimited, which also sent hundreds of wine grape vines along for the trip, hopes the experiment will aid research into the maturation process of wine, including how wine and grape vines adapt to new conditions. According to Christie's, the group found that the grape vines actually grew faster in space than on Earth, despite less access to light and water.

"It will be hugely exciting to see the data on how zero gravity, changing temperatures, humidity and radiation have affected the wine on a molecular level," Tim Triptree, the international director of Christie's Wine & Spirits Department, said in a statement. "And who knows, perhaps this will be the beginning of cosmic viticulture, or even a Martian Merlot."

Indeed, Space Cargo Unlimited says it will use the proceeds of the sale of the space-aged wine bottle to fund future space missions and additional research into how zero-gravity and low-gravity conditions affect agriculture and viticulture (the cultivation of grapes, specifically). The company says hopes to discover how to grow grape vine varietals that are more resistant to changes in climate and other growing conditions, as a way of "reinventing the future of agriculture" at a time when climate change is affecting growing conditions on Earth.

The wine will also come with a decanter, glasses and a corkscrew crafted from a meteorite, all of which is presented in a custom trunk handcrafted by Parisian art house Les Ateliers Victor that features celestial designs, including a miniature solar system.

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A bottle of wine aged in space could sell for $1 million how and why it tastes different than Earth-bound wine - CNBC

A mothership that emits power with a laser beam to manipulate a probe craft in deep space. A robot that extends its arms to climb in Martian caverns and grasp objects.

Sigrid Close and Marco Pavone. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero/Rod Searcey)

These are innovations you might expect to see in a science fiction movie one where the hero embarks on interplanetary travel across the solar system. But they are also are visionary ideas from the minds of Stanford University researchers that have already received funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program.

As 2021 NIAC fellows, Sigrid Close and Marco Pavone both associate professors of aeronautics and astronautics are being given the chance to prove the feasibility of their inventive concepts, known as SCATTER and ReachBot. Close and Pavone are among 14 other NIAC Phase I recipients who are receiving $125,000 to fund nine-month studies on their research ideas. Though their ideas might seem out of this world, should they succeed, theyd drastically impact space exploration.

Over the course of her funding, Close is working on proving her concept SCATTER, which stands for Sustained CubeSat/CHIPSat Activity Through Transmitted Electromagnetic Radiation. The idea is that a spaceship on a mission to deep space will be able to power and control a probe with a transmitter.

SCATTER focuses on a mission to Uranus, but according to Closes collaborator Nicolas Lee, a research engineer in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, it can be applied to other deep space missions as well.

Illustration of mothership and probe subsystems in the SCATTER concept. (Image credit: Sigrid Close)

In general, small spacecraft have been powered by either solar or batteries, said Lee. But on a mission to a planet far out in the solar system, like Uranus, using the Suns rays isnt feasible. In terms of the other options with batteries, you have limited life so you can use that for very short-term missions.

By beaming a laser from the mothercraft onto a probe, which can then convert the energy from the laser into electrical energy, the team believes they can sustain long-term missions, especially with small, low mass probes.

A few years ago, we started thinking, Well, were always talking about protecting satellites from the space environment, said Close. Then, they wondered, What if we can harness some of that energy?

Even though its different from how it started, we started looking at different ways to power spacecraft using the space environment and then just kind of extended it from there, she explained.

In the coming months, Close and Lee will be working on figuring out how small and simple they can make the deployable spacecraft so that they can use the laser to not only power the spacecraft but communicate and control pointing with it.

According to Lee, the funding they receive will really allow the researchers to explore the mission concept side of SCATTER.

Its an honor, said Close. Im really grateful to NASA and the NIAC committee for giving us this opportunity.

When asked about the inspiration behind ReachBot, Andrew Bylard, a graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics who works in Pavones lab, is quick to cite an unlikely couple: Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus and lovable Star Wars sidekick BB-8.

The idea of ReachBot was born from this kind of technological gap that exists in robotics today, said Stephanie Schneider, who is also pursuing her PhD in aeronautics and astronautics while a member of Pavones lab.

In microgravity environments like the International Space Station or when climbing under gravity on Mars or the moon, crawling robots have to grab anchor points to move and manipulate objects without floating away or falling. If anchor points are few and far between, the robots are limited by how far they can reach.

ReachBot increases its reach using extendable booms, which extend out from its sides, like measuring tape. The booms can be rolled up compactly and, when unrolled, they are sturdy cylinders with lightweight grippers on the ends which can grab objects, be used to anchor the bot to a certain point or push off of surfaces like a leg to move ReachBot around.

One compelling use for a bot like this is the exploration of Mars. While the Mars rovers are great at rolling along the surface, ReachBot would be capable of climbing on cliffs and through caves.

Right now, the team is in the early stages of working on a hardware prototype of the bot. Over the course of their NIAC Phase I funding, they plan to focus on proving the feasibility of ReachBot concept, including working with mechanical engineering professor Mark Cutkosky and geological sciences professor Mathieu Laptre to design new lightweight spiny grippers and to refine the science objectives for a climbing mission on Mars.

The biggest challenge to overcome will be working on the motion and maneuvering of ReachBots arms. But the rewards for a robot that masters mobile manipulation under such challenging gravity restraints are high.

The ultimate pay-off for space robotics is really to enable your science, said Pavone.

Not all NIAC fellows make it past Phase I. The projects are often described as high-risk, high-reward: ideas that may seem technologically out-there, but should they succeed, theyd have a huge impact on space exploration.

I think its really important that, as a community, we fund these kinds of cutting-edge ideas and take those risks, said Close, whose concept for a small satellite to characterize asteroid surfaces received NIAC Phase I funding in 2018.

Pavone, who was previously awarded a NIAC Phase I fellowship in 2011 for his concept of a hopping robot for navigating on asteroids and comets, thinks its important to have a different outlook on what failure means.

Even if we fail or in general one of these concepts fails typically what happens is that during the process you discover some other things, or some parts of the concept that you develop could be useful for other purposes, said Pavone.

So yeah, many of these concepts fail in the sense that the precise proposed mission is often never flown but if you look at the broader picture, I would actually argue that most of the concepts succeed.

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Bringing sci-fi concepts to real space exploration | Stanford News - Stanford University News

HOUSTON (CW39) When NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams looks up at the sky, he sees more than just bright stars. He sees his incredible past. He is one of less than 250 people on the planet, that have been to the International Space Station. Going just once is a remarkable accomplishment. But, he has been more than once, and is no stranger to accomplishing remarkable things.

Hes a retired U.S. Army Veteran Officer, he trained as a test pilot, and even served as commander of the NEEMO 3 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, both living and working underwater for six days. With NASA, he has also been on numerous missions and spent hundreds of days in outer space.

CW39 Anchor Sharron Melton sits down to talk with Jeff Williams. In part one of her interview they talk about so many new projects and plans being made for NASA. They talk about what its like seeing everything thats happening with NASA. The Mars Rover Perseverance and Ingenuity Helicopter, and partnerships with Space X taking new Astronauts to the International Space Station, and more, keep NASA moving to the next frontier.

In Part two, Williams shares what he thinks this all means for NASA and the world.

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Veteran NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams talks about the future of space travel, Mars, and a Woman on the Moon - CW39

The majestic Milky Way above the four domes of the Very Large Telescope. Credit: John Colosimo (colosimophotography.com)/ESO

One of the great privileges of my role in external relations at theEuropean Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere(also known as ESO) is to represent the Organisation at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The Committee wasestablished as a permanent bodyof the UN General Assembly in 1959 and developed the Outer Space Treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1967. COPUOS is the only global policy forum at the highest political levels of the UN at which space science, and therefore astronomy, is discussed. One of my goals in attending the Committee is to champion the broader role of astronomyand particularly ground-based astronomyin space exploration.

There are many exciting things happening now in the space domain from SpaceXs and other companies efforts to build large constellations of communications satellites, to NASAs reinvigorated plans to return humans to the Moon. These developments are attracting greater attention from governments and funding agencies, resulting in a boost and possiblyreallocation of fundingto support space exploration and development. While personally I believe that astronomy and other fundamental sciences are justified and important to society on their own merits, its nevertheless important to define and translate these benefits for those policymakers focusing on the immediate goals of developing a space economy. The basic conclusion of this article is that astronomys critical role in space exploration and space issues can be considered as an important spin-off benefit from investment in fundamental astronomy research. Here are five reasons why space agencies and industry should care about astronomy.

1. Astronomy facilities support many critical functions of space exploration and space science.

Did you know that many aspects of space exploration and space capabilities are dependent upon the role of ground-based astronomical observatories? Certain space assets require their three-dimensional position to be known to very high precision. The European Space Agencys (ESA) Gaiasatellite, launched in 2013, is observing over one billion stars in the Milky Way to determine their proper motions and positions. To achieve this astrometry data for target stars requires Gaias velocity to be known to within 2.5 millimetres per second, and its position in the sky to within 150 m a significant challenge given that it operates at 1.5 Million kilometres from Earth! To overcome this challenge, the mission concept included a regular observing campaign by anetwork of optical ground-based telescopes, includingESOs VLT SurveyTelescope (VST) to determine with high precision Gaias location against background stars.

Essential data forspacecraft positions and trajectoriesare also obtained from optical and radio ground-based observatories to determine ephemeridesthe positions of solar system bodies. This involves dedicated observing campaigns of solar system bodies over long periods of time. Similarly, star tracker guidance systems for satellites rely on high precision locations for background stars, which are provided by data from both ground and space observatories. Just recently,ESAannounced the launch contract for its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), which includes a further test of thePlanetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiments (PRIDE). This experiment uses Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI): a network of radio telescopes to measure the difference in Doppler shift and signal arrival time from a distance spacecraft to the Earth in order to determine its position very precisely. This gives important information about the trajectory of spacecraft which can be used in turn to inform us about the gravitational field and composition of a planetary body. VLBI is also usedhere on Earthto measure the motions of tectonic plates and provide important validation to satellite global positioning systems.

Another important role of ground-based observatories is to allow detailed characterisation of solar system objects to support space mission design and also to provide complimentary scientific findings. Saturns moon, Titan, wasextensively studied using ground-basedtelescopes prior to and during ESAs Huygens probe landing on the surface. ESOs Very Large Telescope and many others were used tocharacterise Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenkobefore the Rosetta probe arrived with its Philae lander. In addition to this preparatory work, the contribution of ground-based telescopes is crucial to give the context to spacecraft observations. For instance, ground-based observations were able to observe thefull coma of comet 67Pwhile Rosetta was deep within its cloud, collecting exquisitely detailed images of the comets surface.

As the rate of space missions in our solar systems increases, the requirements for ground-based astronavigation and observation will substantially increase. We need a pool of astronomers skilled in the required observational techniques and instrumentation, both to conduct the work of space exploration but also to innovate in the sector. We know that ofteninnovations resultfrom solving challenging observational problems in fundamental astronomical science.

2. The best science requires both space and ground astronomy facilities.

Space and ground assets operate in a synergistic manner, based on each capabilitys complementary strengths. In terms of astronomy and planetary science, space-based observatories are free from the optical disturbances and absorbing properties of Earths atmosphere and can view all wavelengths of light, yet it is usually either impossible or very costly to repair or change instrumentation once they are launched. Consequently, space observatories are generally higher cost and are subject to morestringent design-mission trade-offs. On the other hand, ground-based observatories rely on computer-controlled and laser-assistedadaptive opticssystems to mitigate for the atmospheric turbulence, and cannot see all wavelengths, but their instrumentation packages can be rapidly and flexibly adjusted and maintained to meet new scientific requirements.

Astronomical observations are coordinated between ground and space observatories to provide maximum scientific return by monitoring faint and/or time-sensitive objects, and allowing more rapid deployment of specialist instruments. NASAsKeplerspace mission launched in 2009 observed thousands of stars to detect drops in brightness due to transiting planets orbiting around the star. Each planet candidate requireddetailed follow-up observationfrom ground-based telescopes using specialised instruments to determine whether the light curves may be due to another factor such as a binary star system or variable stellar activity. Similarly, the scientific goals of many otherplanned exoplanet space missionsdepend strongly on the supply of a wide range of ground-based facilities at different wavelengths.

3.Astronomy is an important source of technology and capacity development for a global space economy.

The first way in which many potential scientists and explorers in developing countries experience exploration of the cosmos is through ground-based astronomy, often by using small commercially available telescopes, building and operating small ground-based observing facilities, or using publicly available archive data. This builds capacity, increases the visibility of space as a vehicle for development and often acts as a gateway to develop a national capability in space science. The International Astronomical UnionsOffice for Developmentplays a key role in facilitating this goal. Many of the national delegates from developing countries sitting at the United Nations COPUOS are former astronomers, and the astronomy sector in the country is often one of the driving forces for establishing a space sector.

Astronomy has traditionally been at theforefront of providing open-accessdata, developing techniques and policiesadopted now by other scientific fields. Many observatories provide their data to the public. After a proprietary period for the principal investigators, ESO provides all data taken on its telescope through its publicly-accessiblyESO Science Archive. TheESASkyinitiative is an amazing facility catering to both generalist and specialist uses. With right skill set, anyone in the world can access data and perform research. The UN Office of Outer Space Affairs recently sponsored theOpen Universeinitiative, which raises awareness of the critical role of publicly and globally available data sources for astronomical science.

The development of sensitive astronomical instruments for satellite- and ground-based observatories relies on common technologies in optics, detectors, and cryogenics, and draws from the same pool of technical and scientific expertise.Astronomy capacity is not only relevant to space exploration. The quest to expand our knowledge continually pushes the technical limits of scientific instruments to higher precision, sensitivity and efficiency. This requires a large pool of technological expertise that both feeds and draws from industrial needs. In the case of astronomy, scientific and technical needs generate many industry-relevant and transferable skills in data science, data visualisation, computer programming, mathematics, optics, electronics, mechanics, control systems and energy production and conservation. The need, and ability, to coherently integrate so many different and diverse disciplines is a particular hallmark of astro-technology. Universities are now supporting this synergy through the inclusion of industry skills units in astronomy curricula.

Science and innovation have a beginning: a spark of curiosity about the natural world, or a pressing problem that drives the creation of innovative solutions. Yet science and innovation cannot occur without a technically and scientifically competent mind, and this begins with education. Astronomy and space sciences are important because they attract the attention of, andstimulate interestin, young people all over the world. They are akey driverfor student uptake in academic and industrial science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Astronomy may be the only scientific field with its own category of public outreach centre the planetarium which takes advantage of the awe-inspiring imagery from the cosmos. Under the guidance of professional scientists, astronomy projects have involved millions of amateurs and a worldwide community, which engages in ambitious and fruitfulcitizen science projects.

4. Astronomers may one day save humanity on Earth, and then the Moon.

From climate change to nuclear war, humankind faces many mostly self-inflicted threats, yet one from which we are completely free from blame is that posed by asteroids or comets, collectively termed near-earth objects (NEO). One only has to look at thehighly cratered surface the Moon, which lacks the protective envelope of the atmosphere, to understand the problem. Earthwill likely be impactedby at least one rocky / iron asteroid of 100 metres in size on thetimescale of 10 millennia, causing devastating regional effects or global tsunamis. Yet given the incomplete knowledge about the local population of NEOs, we dont know exactly when such an impact could occur. Thankfully, due to the work of astronomers we can rest safely.

As a result of the scientific interest about understanding how our solar system formed, planetary scientists and astronomers have studied asteroids and comets. The practical benefit of this study is that we know a great deal about the composition of such objects. Many high profile space missions have visitedasteroidsandcomets. A number of agencies and observatories participate in the UN-mandatedInternational Asteroid Warning Network(IAWN) to detect, track, and physically characterise NEOs to determine which are potentially dangerous to Earth. Another international body, theSpace Missions Planning Advisory Group(SMPAG) works with IAWN but focuses on the planning and future coordination of an international response to a threatening asteroid.

A recent exercise led by theNASA Planetary Defence Officetook advantage of the close approach of the binary asteroid1999 KW4to rehearse the global response to the discovery of a threatening asteroid. A wide variety of optical, infrared, millimetre wave and radio telescopes were used to track and refine the orbit and determine objects chemical and physical composition, includingESOs Very Large Telescope. This exercise andothersbefore it have shown the ability of the worlds astronomy community to collaborate and rapidly characterise a potentially threatening object, providing vital information to space agencies who would be charged with designing a mission to redirect the object. This work is not only important on Earth. If humankind is to create large-scale, permanent settlements on the Moon and then Mars, asteroid monitoring and defence must be a component of these plans, especially asthe Moon(and to some extent, Mars) lacks the relatively thick and protective atmosphere of our home planet.

5. Astronomy has playedand continues to playa foundational role in driving humankinds passion for space exploration.

Humankind has looked to the heavens for millennia in search of meaning and understanding about how the Universe works. The endless frontier of the cosmos has spurred our curiosity to explore and to develop scientific methods to do so, with wide-ranging impacts on our society. Astronomy has given us essential knowledge about the fundamental forces of the Universe in addition to multiple technology spin-offs and a large body of skills and technologies in optics, detectors, radio receivers and communications, which are essential to space travel. There is no reason to doubt that further discoveries from the nature of the solar systems rocky bodies to a fundamental understanding of gravity, will contribute to further possibilities in exploring space. In turn, improved capabilities in space exploration will open the door to new possibilities in astronomical research. A robust human presence on the Moon, for example, would allow foramazing astronomy projects.

After the great astronomer, planetary scientist, and public communicator, Carl Sagan, convinced the operators of the Voyager 1 probe to take a photograph of Earth from six billion kilometres, he distilled the ultimate message of astronomical science in his book, The Pale Blue Dot [1]:

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home weve ever known.

As humankind expands throughout the solar system, astronomy will continue to give us a collective knowledge of where we fit in the vastness of the cosmos. Astronomical discoveries have taught us that we are not the centre of the world, that the laws of physics are the same throughout the Universe, that the Universe had a beginning and started with the Big Bang, that our current understanding can only explain approximately 5% of the matter in the Universe, and that there are other planetary systems, some of which include habitable planets. Our notions of time, seasons, nature, navigation, and agriculture originated from close study of celestial objects. Astronomical knowledge about our place in the cosmos has yielded several transformationalparadigm shifts, with sometimes dramatic societal consequences, by giving us an objective picture of our existence, location, and importance.

Building from thousands of years of observations of the heavens from scholars around the world, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and others developed the first physical explanations underlying the movement of planetary objects, thus laying the foundations for exploration of space. The modern era of astronomy and space science is now culminating with the exploration of worlds outside our own solar system. In the near future, ground and space observatories will be built that allow direct imaging of exoplanets, and detailed analysis of the chemical make up of exoplanet atmospheres, which could yield the answer to the ultimate question are we alone?

As humanity takes its first tentative steps from the comfortable boundary of Earths atmosphere, itis paramount that the global vision for space exploration remains founded in its peaceful scientific origins to understand our surroundings for the purpose of knowledge for all.

Authors note: I am indebted to multiple colleagues from ESO and many other astronomy organisations who provided comments and suggestions. Parts of this work began life as a document I wrote forASTRONETand also anESO statement for the UNISPACE+50event.

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#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Five reasons why astronomy is important to our future in space. - SpaceWatch.Global

The National Air and Space Museum holds some of the most hallowed objects of the aerial age.

Visitors can marvel at the 1903 Wright Flyer that skimmed over Kitty Hawk, N.C., the bright red Lockheed 5B Vega that Amelia Earhart piloted alone across the Atlantic Ocean and the bell-shaped Friendship 7 capsule that made John H. Glenn Jr. the first American to orbit the Earth.

Now, the museum said, it will display a spacecraft that has flown only onscreen, in an entirely fictional galaxy where good and evil seem locked in eternal battle.

Thats right: An X-wing Starfighter will grace the museums newly renovated building on the National Mall sometime late next year, the museum said on Tuesday, which was celebrated by Star Wars fans as a holiday because it was May 4 (May the 4th be with you).

The Hollywood prop, with a wingspan of 37 feet, appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019 and is on long-term loan from Lucasfilm, the movies production company.

While air and space purists may grumble about precious exhibition space being turned over to a pretend craft that played no role in advancing actual space travel, the exhibition is not the first time the museum has allied itself with the franchises crowd-pleasing power. In the late 1990s, it presented Star Wars: The Magic of Myth, a show based on the original Star Wars trilogy; that show went on tour across the country.

Despite taking place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars introduced generations of fans here on Earth to outer space as a setting for adventure and exploration, Margaret Weitekamp, the museums space history chairwoman, said in a statement. All air and space milestones begin with inspiration, and science fiction so often provides that spark. She added that the X-wing displayed amid our other spacecraft celebrates the journey from imagination to achievement.

Designed as the nimble fighter that Luke Skywalker used to destroy the Death Star in the original 1977 Star Wars movie, the X-wing was named for the distinctive shape of its strike foils when in attack position, the museum said.

Artists at Industrial Light & Magic, the special-effects studio founded by George Lucas, the movies creator, depicted X-wings and other Star Wars spacecraft with miniatures as well as full-size models and cockpits, enhanced with visual effects, the museum said.

This particular X-wing will undergo conservation also known as cleanup and prep work in the Restoration Hangar at the museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., where it will be visible to the public before it goes on display at the museum next year.

While this will be the first Star Wars prop on long-term display at the museum since the Magic of Myth exhibit in 1997, the museum has also displayed a studio model of the starship Enterprise from the original 1960s Star Trek series as well as a Buzz Lightyear toy, from the animated Toy Story films, that was flown to the International Space Station in 2008.

A photo released by the museum showed the orange X-wing in a hangar next to a real twin-engine bomber, nicknamed Flak-Bait, that survived more than 200 missions over Europe, more than any other existing American aircraft during World War II.

Look whats arrived in the shop for a tune up, the museum said on Twitter. If you see Poe Dameron around, let him know work on his X-wing is coming along nicely, and itll be ready for display soon.

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Smithsonian Will Display Star Wars X-Wing Fighter - The New York Times

A 15,000-foot-long (2.83 miles) runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida that used to be the touchdown site for NASA astronauts returning from the International Space Station will soon be used again by a private space company for the first time since NASA retired its space shuttle program.

Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corporation announced Tuesday that it had entered into a use agreement with Space Florida to land its future space plane Dream Chaser at the Kennedy Space Centers Launch and Landing Facility (LLF). The runwayfacilitated 78 space shuttle missions from 1981 to 2011.

Sierra Nevada has a NASA contract to fly at least six cargo missions to the ISS with Dream Chaser. The maiden flight is expected in early 2022. A Dream Chaser will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, right next door to LLF.

This is a monumental step for both Dream Chaser and the future of space travel, Sierra Nevada CEO Fatih Ozmen said in a statement. To have a commercial vehicle return from the International Space Station to a runway landing for the first time since NASAs space shuttle program ended a decade ago will be a historic achievement.

The use agreement makes Sierra Nevada the first commercial user of Space Floridas Federal Aviation Administration Re-entry Site Operator License, the statement said. Sierra Nevada still needs to apply for its own FAA re-entry license before flying its first Dream Chaser mission.

Sierra Nevada was a contender against SpaceX and Boeing competing for a NASA contract to regularly fly astronauts to the ISS under the agencys Commercial Crew Program. NASA ended up selecting SpaceX and Boeing for the project in 2014, prompting Sierra Nevada to focus on developing uncrewed cargo spacecraft.

However, the company hasnt completely given up on human spaceflight.Sierra Nevada recently announced that it will spin off its Space Systems Group as an independent company called Sierra Space. The unit is developing an expandable space habitat called the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE). If successful, the habitat could be expanded into a commercial space station in low Earth orbit, a concept increasingly explored by governments and private companies around the world.

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NASAs Defunct Space Runway Will Be Used By a New Spaceplane in 2022 - Observer