Space exploration could be Earths saving grace – DW (English)

The first time German astronaut Alexander Gerst took off into space, he was overwhelmed. Hed seensatellite photos of Earthbefore, but they were nothing in comparison with the real thing.

I [saw] the Earth with my own eyes for the very first time and all of a sudden, this huge, gigantic planet that I thought was infinite, maybe with infinite resources or things like that, appeared dauntingly small in the light of the blackness of infinity. And that caused me to see Earth differently."

Gerst was part of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 40 and 41 from May to November 2014. Hereturned to space again as part of Expedition 56 and 57 in June 2018.

German astronaut Alexander Gerst

"It was revealing [for me] to fly to space for the first time, he said. As a geophysicist, we know exactly the diameter of the Earth, the thickness of the atmosphere. I thought I knew it all."

Gerst, who spoke during last week's 14th European Space Conference, said space exploration can offer a solution to the climate crisis by taking a step back and looking at the "problem from the outside."

"We astronauts have to transport that view, that change in perspective [back] to Earth."

Before satellites were first launched into space in the mid-20th century, we knew very little about the dynamics of our climate. Today, numerous satellites collect information which helps us piece together the story of our changing planet. In 1985, they helped discover the hole in the ozone layer, and data from space remains key to tackling global warming.

Some satellites monitor signs of climate change, such as melting ice caps, rising sea levels and amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. The Jason-3 satellite (pictured), launched in 2016, can make precise measurements of global sea levels, a key indicator of climate change. The data will give us a stronger understanding of just how our oceans are being affected by increased temperatures.

Space technology has paved the way for the development of increasingly sophisticated surveying and monitoring tools which can track everything from deforestation to illegal fishing ships and even oil spills. This way, researchers know exactly when and where environmental and legal action needs to be taken.

Satellites play a vital role in tracking natural disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires and floods. As well as providing an early warning for those on the ground, they also help authorities track the intensity of the event and understand the scale of the devastation. Monitoring storm systems helps generate better climate models to predict future disasters.

Growing plants in space has already taught us valuable lessons which can be applied to sustainable agriculture on Earth. Astronauts on the International Space Station have discovered they can use less water to grow vegetables, and China recently made history by germinating a cotton seed on the far side of the moon. As our planet warms, this knowledge could be vital for farmers.

Unfortunately, space technology has also had a negative impact on the environment. Every time a rocket is launched it produces a plume of exhaust smoke filled with bits of soot and a chemical called alumina, which can build up in the stratosphere and deplete the ozone. Space agencies are looking to lessen their use of "ozone-depleting substances" and are researching more eco-friendly fuels.

There are currently more than 20,000 trackable pieces of space junk in orbit around Earth, including everything from old rockets to bolts and screws. They're not technically part of Earth's ecosphere, but if we're not careful the junk may become so dense that satellites won't be able to function properly and provide us with the data we so desperately need.

Author: Ineke Mules

While space exploration demands a considerable amount of money from the EU budget, Gerst argues that its worth it.

The benefits of technologies developed to support space exploration are not merely restricted to sustaining human life in space, he said.

Space experience helps lead researchers to develop technologies that we can use on Earth, things that we need to save the planet," Gerst said.

Gerst said they conducted experiments on the space station that investigated how plant roots know which direction to grow. This question is being heavily researched in order to develop plants that can grow their roots more quickly to find water deep in dry soil.

"That is something that will come in very handy if climate change really changes a lot of areas that formerly were green and now they're dry, he said.

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher noted that more than half of the climate parameters such as sea surface temperature, glacier melting, the melting of the polar ice caps and sea level rise are measured in space.

Without satellites, we wouldnt know the extent of climate change," Aschbacher said, adding that without this information, it would be difficult to make and implement decisions related to the climate crisis.

During a virtual interview with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from space last week, German astronaut and materials scientist Matthias Maurer, who is currently on a six-month SpaceX science mission, noted the many climate change-related details observable from space.

Flying at the height of around 400 kilometers above the planet and circling Earth 16 times a day, Maurer said they can see slashed and burned forests, drought and lakes that used to be on the maps.

"We can also see that human mining puts a lot of scars into the surface of our planet, he said.

Maurer said they are also able to observe natural events happening in real time, like the recent flooding in Brazil or theeruption of the underwater volcano in Tonga.

He added that the Copernicus Earth observation fleet provides data that is important for politicians to act upon.

Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation program. It offers information services that draw from satellite and non-space data.

Maurer launched in November last year on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft for a mission to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions.

An issue frequently brought up with space exploration is the debris it leaves floating around in space.

There are fears that with more private companies vying to go to the moon, such as billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, more junk will fill the atmosphere.

According to the ESA's January 2022 update on space junk, there are some 30,600 debris objects regularly tracked by Space Surveillance Networks.

Maurer said his space station experienced a space debris collision warning just two weeks ago. The stations planning teams on the ground had to calculate if the debris had the potential to hit them.

"That shows us that there is a lot of debris here in space, and it's a very important topic, not only for the ISS because it puts us at risk, but also because of the older satellites that we have."

Maurer noted there needs to be action taken to avoid future space debris. The ESA has declared that by 2030, they want to have a net contribution to space debris. Maurer said this would not onlymean they need to take action to remove massive parts from space, but also to reduce the introduction of new space particles.

Both Maurer and Gerst are optimistic that the findings from space exploration could help politicians and scientists find solutions to the climate crisis, using the famous words "there is no Planet B."

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Space exploration could be Earths saving grace - DW (English)