Space Race 2.0: Get ready for commercial space exploration within YEARS, says expert – Express.co.uk

We could witness commercial space exploration turn into a sustainable and frequent occurrence in the decade after

Daniel Inocente

However, Daniel Inocente, senior architectural designer with New York-based architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), has stressed the need for international cooperation as mankind moves into a new era - while warning of potential challenges to the landmark 1967 Outer Space Treaty adopted by the United Nations, which declares the Moon and other celestial bodies cannot be owned by any of Earths nations.Mr Inocente, who is preparing to give a talk at this years New Scientist Live event at ExCel London on Friday, said: NASAs goals are to return humans to the Moon by 2024 and sustain our presence there by 2028.If industry plays a major role in collaborating with international partners to achieve this goal, we could witness commercial space exploration turn into a sustainable and frequent occurrence in the decade after.

His talk will focus on a pioneering partnership between SOM, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which he described as a major paradigm shift.

He explained: We will discuss the importance of international cooperation between industry, academia, and government as a way to progress space exploration and development.

This project is addressing the challenge of supporting living systems in highly constrained environments, and of extending the human experience beyond our world through architecture.

Our goal is to inspire new ideas that could achieve these human exploration endeavours. We want to push the boundaries of what architecture can do for human exploration, because that will ultimately lead to advancements in science, engineering, architecture, biology, and so much more in unpredictable ways.

Mr Inocente acknowledged there was significant renewed interest in a return to the Moon, partly but not solely because of the publicity surrounding the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, which saw Neil Armstrong take his famous first step on the lunar surface.

He said: Its much larger than that. Its a result of visionary alignments between government, industry, and other players around the world. In September 2017, at the IAC in Adelaide, Elon Musk gave a presentation about the new reusable rocket that his company was developing.

Many saw this as a turning point; entrepreneurs and governments were inspired to develop new partnership opportunities and to refocus their efforts on travelling into space. Now, companies around the world including Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Space IL, Axiom Space, Firefly, Rocket Lab and others are producing innovative solutions to space exploration. And that, in turn, is continuing to drive interest.

However, he stressed innovation and progress could only be sustained by a shared vision coupled with the resources to sustain them, acknowledging space travel and habitation to be an enormous challenge.

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He said: Many people believe that settlements on the Moon are impossible. Yet, we have seen examples of extraordinary accomplishments by visionary people in the most inhospitable parts of the world, and even in low earth orbit. It is up to the new generation to make the next step possible.

The Apollo era demonstrated that we can certainly travel to the Moon and back and that was 50 years ago. There have been many advances in space flight technologies since then. SpaceXs reusable rockets would be an example. There is no doubt that we can get there and back with todays technology.

The Apollo missions were extremely costly however, and Mr Inocente said in order to make the dramatic progress necessary, it will be crucial to enhance reusability and reduce overall cost per launch.

Once Mr Musks Starship comes online, he said, pioneering space explorers would have reached a significant milestone in our transportation capabilities, adding: And as a result of that, we will see space open up to the public and to the commercial realm.

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Partnerships between Governments and the private sector would be vital to future spacefaring missions, Mr Inocente said.

He explained: Commercial and government sectors have always collaborated to achieving human exploration goals.

A sustainable human presence in space and on the surface of the Moon requires challenging traditional business models, because only public-private partnerships will be able to develop the technologies to make it a reality.

However, huge challenges lie ahead, not least developing technologies to mitigate the harmful effects of radiation exposure in environments where people are not shielded by Earths magnetic field in an environment which is regularly bombarded by solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun.

Mr Inocente said: While radiation exposure can be mitigated by certain materials and habitable systems, it still effects human health and specific life-supporting technologies. We will also need to learn how to work and operate in a very constrained environment.

Lunar dust is harmful to both humans and machines and will need to be managed in order to achieve ISRU capabilities. Extracting natural resources such as water, oxygen, and minerals will be necessary if we are to successfully live outside of Earths protection.

However, groundbreaking new technologies are being developed which could tilt the balance in mankinds favour.

Mr Inocente explained: Materials are being developed to decrease radiation effects on human health. There are several key technologies that we can use to reduce radiation to the allowable limits set by NASA.

The first habitable systems SOM has proposed features radiation-reducing materials such as Graded-Z composites and hydrogen rich bladders filled with water, and will protect astronauts for long-term mission durations.

However, he had disappointing news for anyone hoping permanently to relocate to the Earths celestial companion anytime in the near future.

He explained: NASA, the European Space Ageny (ESA), the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) and others have verified that first we will need to have several unmanned robotic missions.

Then, a teleoperated support system will need to be established, habitable systems will have to be emplaced, and ISRU capabilities and surface systems will need to be proven before we can begin thinking about lunar colonies.

Infrastructure can be built and maintained to be permanent, but permanent human habitation on the Moon will more difficult.

We already have permanent infrastructure in extreme environments on Earth, such as McMurdo station in the Antarctic, and in low earth orbit with the international space system.

But people spend limited durations at these locations. While we expect that visitors to the Moon will have limited stays, the ecosystem of a lunar base could be in operation permanently.

Nor there much prospect of terraforming the Moon, he said, explaining: This would be highly improbable on the Moon, unlike on Mars where there is an atmosphere and which Elon Musk said he would see as the ultimate solution.

Nevertheless, setting up bases there could have enormous benefits. Mr Inocente said: Important science can be conducted from the Moon, particularly from the far side. For instance, orbiting satellites have gathered evidence that water resources exist in subsurface areas and in the polar regions. It would be incredible to discover how much water is there.

The greatest benefits of building a base would come not only from answering scientific questions but also from learning how humans can exist beyond Earth all while we continue improving existing technologies and develop new ones.

As mankind moves into a new era of space exploration, Mr Inocente stressed big challenges lay ahead - and even the potential for worrying future conflicts.

US Donald Trump has plans for a Space Force, while, speaking at the UK Space Conference earlier this month, defence and procurement minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan admitted the UNs 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which declares it the preserve of all mankind, was becoming increasingly obsolete.

He said: Entrepreneurs and new private companies are making space more accessible both economically and technologically. But any new frontier comes with unpredictable risks that might affect natural environments.

The competition to harness resources for future space development is no longer only between nations.

Private companies are now developing the ability to land payloads on the Moon to eventually conduct ISRU experiments. China,

India, the United States, Russia, Israel, and countries throughout Europe are also interested in learning how to make use of resources on the Moon. Figuring out how to use those natural materials will be one of the most important aspects of making space habitation sustainable.

As we progress towards a sustainable presence in space, attitudes and demand for natural resources on the Moon will not be much different from that on Earth.

For this reason, the future coordination of information and governing principles is key to making sure that national entities will communicate with each other when developing their own legal frameworks to ensure proper conduct..

Mr Inocente pointed out that the treaty in question says nations are free to explore and use celestial bodies.

He said: Existing treaties have faced various challenges recently. In 2015, the United States passed the Space Act of 2015.

Then, in 2017, Luxembourg became the first European country to adopt such legislation with the Space Resources Act.

Welcome to Lunarville is on the Cosmos Stage on October 11 from 6.20pm to 7pm.

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Space Race 2.0: Get ready for commercial space exploration within YEARS, says expert - Express.co.uk