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10 Reasons Why Space Exploration Matters to You

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At the time of the moon landing in 1969, many people envisioned that by the beginning of the 21st century, space travel would become routine, and we would be visiting other planets in our solar system and perhaps even daring to venture into interstellar space.

That future didn't arrive as planned. In fact, humans haven't made it any deeper into space than when we landed the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, though we have operated a manned orbital outpost, the International Space Station, which has been continuously occupied for more than two decades [source: Howell ]. NASA currently is planning to resume human missions to the moon in the mid-to-late 2020s, as a prelude to astronauts eventually traveling to Mars [source: Dvorsky ].

We've also seen the rise of private space entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk, who has described his dream of building a rocket capable of reaching Mars and supporting a permanent human settlement there [source: Torchinsky ]. And other countries are looking to reach Mars as well. China, for example, aims to send its astronauts to the Red Planet by 2033 [source: Kharpal ].

But those who've long dreamed of humans becoming a truly spacefaring race argue that exploring space provides down-to-earth benefits in areas such as health, mining and security. And more inspirational benefits, too. Here are some of the most compelling arguments for continuing the exploration of space.

• Protection From a Catastrophic Asteroid
• It Will Lead to More Great Inventions
• It Will Be Good for Your Health
• Space Exploration Is Inspirational
• It's Important for National Security
• We Need Raw Materials From Space
• Nations Can Work Together Peacefully
• It Could Help Answer a Really Big Question
• Humans Need to Fulfill Their Urge to Explore
• We May Need to Colonize Space to Survive

10: Protection From a Catastrophic Asteroid

If we don't want to go the way of the dinosaurs someday, we need to protect ourselves against the threat of being hit by a big asteroid. According to NASA , typically about once every 10,000 years, a rocky or iron asteroid the size of a football field could smash into our planet's surface and possibly cause tidal waves big enough to inundate coastal areas.

But it's the real monsters — asteroids about 328 feet (100 meters) across or bigger — that we really have to fear. Such a collision would unleash a firestorm of heated debris and fill the atmosphere with sun-blocking dust, which would wipe out forests and farm fields and starve the human and animal life that it didn't immediately kill [sources: NASA , NSS ].

That's why it's vital to develop a way to neutralize such a threat to Earth. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test , set for launch in late September 2022, will be the first mission to demonstrate a technology called asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor. A robotic spacecraft will be crashed into the binary asteroid system Didymos, in an effort to show that it's possible to slightly alter the path of an asteroid. That would enable NASA to redirect potential threats to miss Earth [sources: DART , Mann ].

9: It Will Lead to More Great Inventions

A very long list of gadgets, materials and processes originally were developed for the U.S. space program but found other applications back on Earth — so many that NASA has an office that looks for ways to repurpose space technology as products. We all know about freeze-dried food, but there are plenty of others. In the 1960s, for example, NASA scientists developed a plastic coated with a metallic reflecting agent. When used in a blanket, it reflects about 80 percent of a user's body heat back to him or her — an ability that helps accident victims and post-marathon runners to stay warm.

Another more obscure but valuable innovation is nitinol , a flexible but resilient alloy that was developed to enable satellites to spring open after being folded into a rocket. Today, orthodontists equip patients with braces made from the material [source: Independent ].

According to NASA, other inventions spawned by the space program include CAT scans, LED lights, memory foam, freeze-dried food, shock absorbing materials used in artificial limbs, the computer mouse and portable computers, and a key nutritional ingredient in baby formula [source: JPL ].

8: It Will Be Good for Your Health

The International Space Station alone has generated scores of medical innovations with uses on Earth, such as a method for delivering cancer-fighting medication directly to tumors; gadgetry that a nurse can hold to perform ultrasounds and transmit the results to a doctor thousands of miles away; and a robotic arm that can perform delicate surgery inside an MRI machine.

NASA scientists, in an effort to protect astronauts from losing bone and muscle in the microgravity environment of space, also helped a pharmaceutical company to test Prolia, a drug that today helps protect elderly people from osteoporosis. Although mice and humans don't have identical physiology or biology, it made sense to test this drug on mice in space, since astronauts lose around 1.5 percent of their bone mineral density each month in microgravity, which correlates to the 1.5 percent yearly bone density loss of an elderly woman on Earth to osteoporosis [source: Kiger ].

7: Space Exploration Is Inspirational

If we want a world in which our kids aspire to being great scientists and engineers instead of reality show hosts, rappers or Wall Street financial tycoons, having a great enterprise to attract and inspire them is crucial.

As astrophysicist, author and lecturer Neil deGrasse Tyson told National Public Radio in 2012, "I could stand in front of eighth graders and say, 'Who wants to be an aerospace engineer so you can design an airplane 20 percent more fuel-efficient than the one your parents flew?' That doesn't usually work. But if I say, 'Who wants to be an aerospace engineer to design the airplane that will navigate the rarefied atmosphere of Mars?' ... I'm getting the best students in the class." This still holds true today and inspiring kids will always be the key to future space exploration.

6: It's Important for National Security

The U.S. needs to detect and prevent a hostile nation or terrorist group from deploying space-based weapons or attacking its navigational, communications and surveillance satellites. And while it and other major powers such as Russia and China are signatories of a 1967 treaty that forbids nations from claiming territory in space, it's not hard to think of examples of past treaties that were tossed aside when someone saw a benefit in doing so.

Even if the U.S. privatizes much of space exploration, it still wants to ensure that companies can mine the moon or asteroids without worrying that interlopers will usurp their claims or steal their production [source Minter ]. That's why it's crucial to back up diplomacy with a NASA spacefaring capacity that could be converted to military use, if needed. In 2019, a law passed by Congress with bipartisan support created the U.S. Space Force, a new branch of the U.S. armed forces devoted to protecting U.S. interests in space [source: Space Force ].

5: We Need Raw Materials From Space

There's gold out there in the cosmos, and silver , platinum and other valuable substances, too [source: Letzter ]. A lot of attention has been given to a private-sector venture that envisions mining operations on asteroids, but space miners wouldn't have to go that far to find riches.

The moon, for example, is a potentially lucrative source of helium-3 , which is used for certain MRIs and a possible fuel for nuclear power plants. The moon also is believed to be a potential source of rare earth elements such as europium and tantalum, which are in high demand for use in electronics, solar panels and other advanced gadgetry [source: Ouellette ].

4: Nations Can Work Together Peacefully

Earlier, we mentioned the ominous notion of international conflict in space. But it doesn't have to be that way, as evidenced by the cooperation of multiple nations on the International Space Station . And a U.S. space program could allow other countries, large and small, to join in their exploration efforts.

A 2018 paper from NASA points out the benefits of international cooperation . For one, the hefty costs could be spread around. For another, it could forge stronger diplomatic ties between nations such as the U.S. and India, and help create new jobs in both countries, for example.

In 2020, NASA awarded the first contracts to four companies to collect small amounts of lunar regolith, the loose rock and dust that sits atop the surface, when missions to the moon eventually resume in the 2020s. It could be the first step toward mining of raw materials from the moon. "Space resources are the fuel that will propel America and all of humanity to the stars," Mike Gold, NASA's then-acting administrator for international and interagency relations, explained at the time [source: NASA ].

3: It Could Help Answer a Really Big Question

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (close to 65 percent) believe that intelligent life exists on other planets, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey. In general, the public does not view UFOs as a major threat to the country. When asked to think about U.S. national security, 51 percent of Americans say that UFOs are not a threat at all, and 36 percent believe they are a minor threat.

But so far, sweeps of the sky with Earth-based telescopes for signals that might be beacons from distant civilizations have proven fruitless, possibly because the Earth's atmosphere interferes with such messages reaching us. That's why searchers for extraterrestrial civilizations are eager for the deployment of more orbital observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope. That satellite, which was launched on Christmas Day 2021, has the ability to search for the chemical signs of life in the atmospheres of distant planets outside our solar system [sources: Kramer , Howell ]. That's a start, but an even more aggressive space-based effort to look for clues of extraterrestrials might finally help us to answer the question of whether we have company out there.

2: Humans Need to Fulfill Their Urge to Explore

Our primitive ancestors spread from east Africa to all over the planet, and since then, we've never stopped moving. We're running out of fresh territory on Earth , so the only way to meet this ancient urge is to find somewhere new to go — whether it's making brief jaunts to the moon as a tourist, or signing up for an interstellar voyage that will take multiple generations.

In a speech , to the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, former NASA administrator Michael Griffin differentiated between "acceptable reasons" and "real reasons" for space exploration. Acceptable reasons would be issues like economic benefit and national security. But real reasons include concepts like curiosity, competitiveness and monument-building.

"Who among us does not know the wonder and mystery and awe and magic of seeing something, even on television, never seen before, an experience brought back to us by a robotic space mission?" Griffin added that "when we do things for real reasons as opposed to acceptable reasons, we produce our highest achievements."

1: We May Need to Colonize Space to Survive

Already, our ability to put satellites in space is helping us to monitor and combat pressing problems on Earth, from forest fires and oil spills to the depletion of aquifers that people depend upon for drinking water [source: Fowler ].

But our burgeoning population, rampant greed and thoughtlessness about environmental consequences have already done pretty severe damage to our planet. According to a 2012 survey of research, most scientists estimate that Earth has a carrying capacity of between 8 and 16 billion — and we already have a population of nearly 8 billion [source: UNEP ]. That's led some futurists to argue that we should be preparing to colonize another planet, and soon. Your life — or those of your descendants — might depend upon it.

Why Space Exploration Matters FAQs

Why is space exploration important, what are the cons of space exploration, how has space exploration benefited health and medicine, how is space exploration important for national security, what resources can we get from space, lots more information, author's note: 10 reasons why space exploration matters to you.

I was a child in the 1960s, a time when many of us believed that someday we would be flying off into the cosmos in search of adventure. I can't say precisely when that dream ended for me, but I remember that back in the mid-1990s, the British folk singer Billy Bragg recorded a song that seemed to capture some of what I felt. In "The Space Race is Over," Bragg sang of staring at the moon as a child, and dreaming that night of walking on the Sea of Tranquility.

But decades later, he stood staring at the same sky with his young son, who asked him, "Why did they ever go?" As Bragg lamented, "The space race is over, and I can't help but feel that we're all just going nowhere." Despite the beauty of his lyrics, I must differ with him respectfully on that last point. I continue to believe that humanity still has a chance to become a truly spacefaring race, and that we must find a way to do so.

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• Austen, Ben. "After Earth: Why, Where, How, and When We Might Leave Our Home Planet." Popsci.com. March 16, 2011. (July 4, 2022) http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-02/after-earth-why-where-how-and-when-we-might-leave-our-home-planet
• Bragg, Billy. "The Space Race is Over." Genius.com.. 1996. (Sept. 14, 2014) https://genius.com/Billy-bragg-the-space-race-is-over-lyrics
• Colucci, Lamont. "America Must Retake Lead in Space Exploration." Usnews.com. Dec. 11, 2012. (July 4, 2022) http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2012/12/11/america-must-retake-lead-in-space-exploration
• DART. "Double Asteroid Redirection Test. " Jhuapi.edu. (July 4, 2022) https://dart.jhuapl.edu/
• Dvorsky, George. "NASA's Artemis Moon Landing Program: Launches, Timeline, and More." Gizmodo. May 14, 2022. (July 4, 2022) https://gizmodo.com/nasa-artemis-program-moon-landing-launch-dates-1848906821
• Fowler, Wallace. "Anniversary Shows Us that NASA and Space Exploration are Worth Their Costs." Utexas.edu. July 21, 2014. (July 4, 2022) http://www.utexas.edu/know/2014/07/21/anniversary-shows-us-that-nasa-and-space-exploration-are-worth-their-costs/
• Government Accountability Office. "Actions Needed to Improve Transparency and Assess Long-Term Affordability of Human Exploration Programs." Gao.gov. May 2014. (July 4, 2022) http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/663071.pdf
• Independent. "50 years, 50 giant leaps: How Nasa rocked our world." Independent. July 29, 2008. (July 4, 2022) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/50-years-50-giant-leaps-how-nasa-rocked-our-world-879377.html
• Griffin, Michael. "The Real Reasons We Explore Space." Air & Space Magazine. July 2007. (July 4, 2022) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-real-reasons-we-explore-space-18816871/
• Howell, Elizabeth. "International Space Station: Facts, History & Tracking." Space.com. Oct. 12, 2021 (July 4, 2022) https://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html
• Howell, Elizabeth. "NASA's James Webb Space Telescope: The ultimate guide." Space.com. June 26, 2022. (July 4, 2022) https://www.space.com/21925-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst.html
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• Kramer, Miriam. "Want to Find Alien Life? It Will Take A Lot of Luck." Space.com. May 26, 2014. (July 4, 2022) http://www.space.com/25999-alien-life-search-tools-luck.html
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• Letzter, Rafi. "There’s too much gold in the universe. No one knows where it came from." Live Science. Oct 1, 2020. (July 4, 2022) https://www.livescience.com/where-did-gold-come-from.html
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The Nine Planets

What are the benefits of Space Research?

• What are the benefits of space research?
• Why do governments spend billions of taxpayers money on exploring the solar system and beyond?
• Aren’t there better things to spend money on?
• Shouldn’t our top scientists and engineers be doing better things?

Many people would say so. Certainly, there is a lot of hunger in the world. The money that has been spent on the Hubble Space Telescope, for instance, would certainly have made a big difference if it were spent instead on relieving poverty in a third world country.

Nevertheless, apart from extending our knowledge of what is out there-there are a number of significant benefits of space research. Here are a few (not necessarily in order of importance).

• Medical Research – many of the experiments that were done in the shuttle and other space stations have led to the development of new drugs and surgical techniques.
• Materials Technology – some of the new materials that have been developed have proved enormously useful in other fields, e.g. the super heat resistant tiles used on the space shuttle.
• Electronics – Because of the limited space inside a spacecraft, there has always been the desire to make electronic components smaller and smaller. This has led to the development of semiconductors and integrated circuits.
• Telecommunications – Satellite television, GPS and other communications across the globe would not have been possible were it not for space research.
• Environmental studies – From space, we can observe the Earth. We can study the surface of the Earth and its atmosphere. This can help us to understand and protect the Earth and its ecosystems.

Although the benefits above it is important that scientific research should not always be with profit in mind. Some research should be just for the sake of extending our knowledge if commercial benefits result from this then so be it. Astronomy is the oldest science. Since mankind could think it gazed up at the stars and wondered what is out there. It may be, in the distant future, that space travel will ultimately save mankind. We will journey out to find new worlds to colonise.

We will go boldly where no man has gone before.

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Why space exploration is always worthwhile

Your guide to advocating for space in a complicated world.

Most people who love space and believe in exploration have probably heard this once or twice: “We shouldn’t waste money on space exploration when there are problems to deal with here on Earth.”

While public health concerns, social injustices, climate change, and other urgent issues are important to address, solving these problems doesn’t depend on defunding space programs.

This can be a difficult conversation to navigate, so we’ve outlined a few ideas here that you can share when advocating for space.

Space research isn’t as expensive as people think

Many countries around the world invest in space science and exploration as a balanced part of their total federal budget. Public opinion research has shown that people estimate NASA to take up as much as a quarter of the U.S. federal budget, but in fact,  NASA’s budget only represents about 0.5% of the total federal budget and the proportion is even smaller for other spacefaring nations . The correct information may go a long way to reassuring critics that space spending isn’t eating up as many public resources as they think.

The United States government spent approximately $6.6 trillion in fiscal year 2020, of which just 0.3% ($22.6 billion) was provided to NASA. In this chart, shades of blue represent mandatory spending programs; shades of orange are discretionary programs that require annual appropriations by Congress. "Defense and related" includes both the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Source: Office of Management and Budget Historical Tables 8.5 and 8.7.

Space spending pays off

If someone is arguing that public funds should be spent on solving the world’s problems, they should know that money spent on NASA positively impacts the U.S. economy . We get the same kind of payoff for space spending in other countries. Spending on space supports highly skilled jobs, fuels technology advancements with practical applications, and creates business opportunities that feed back into the economy. This in turn grows the pool of public money that can be spent on solving the world’s most pressing problems.

Space research directly impacts Earthly problems

When people apply themselves to the challenges of exploring space, they make discoveries that can help the world in other ways too. Studying how we might grow food in orbit or on Mars yields insights into growing food in extreme conditions on Earth , generating knowledge that can help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Medical research conducted on the International Space Station helps us understand the human body in new ways, helping save lives and improve quality of life .

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Studying space helps us understand our own world

Studying the cosmos gives us an important perspective shift. When we learn about what lies beyond Earth, it gives us context for understanding our own planet. Studying the other worlds of our solar system and beyond makes it clear that Earth is a precious oasis for life. When we sent spacecraft to Venus we saw how a runaway greenhouse effect turned the world from a habitable planet to an absolute hellscape. When astronauts travel into space they see just how thin and tenuous Earth’s atmosphere is, appreciating the fragile balance in which we live . A cosmic perspective underscores the importance of protecting our planet’s habitability and encourages investment in that effort.

Studying space may one day save us all

All the social and environmental progress in the world won't help us if an asteroid impacts the Earth. We have to explore space to find and study the asteroids and comets in our cosmic neighborhood if we want to make sure we can  defend our planet  if an object ever heads our way.

Space is inspiring

Not every child who dreams of becoming an astronaut will get that opportunity. This is a sad truth that many of us know from experience. But to be inspired to aim for something so grand gives kids the motivation to study hard and gain skills in science, engineering, medicine, or other fields that benefit humanity and directly help overcome problems that we face as a species.

And inspiration isn’t just for kids. When we marvel at the beauty of Jupiter’s clouds or the mystery of Enceladus’ oceans , we get an opportunity to appreciate the wonder and majesty of this cosmos that we inhabit. The idea that life might exist elsewhere in the universe reminds us that we might not be the only planet struggling to achieve balance, justice, and sustainability. And even in the bleakest of times, there’s something beautiful about still striving to achieve something great and discover something that could change how we see ourselves and our cosmos forever.

There’s plenty of room at the table

There’s no denying that there are many important issues facing humanity that need fixing. But to deal with those problems doesn’t mean we have to stop looking up, stop exploring, and stop making discoveries.

Human civilization has astonishing capacity, and we can do more than one important thing at a time. If someone thinks that a particular issue should get more attention and investment, they can and should advocate for that. The problems we face don’t persist because we’re spending money on space science and exploration. And there’s no reason to pit our aspirations against one another.

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Benefits to Science

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Artemis science.

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NASA Improves Life

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Human space exploration helps to address fundamental questions about our place in the Universe and the history of our solar system.

NASA’s robotics technology has allowed us to send robotic orbiters, landers, and rovers ahead of us to study other planets and identify potential signs for life. On the International Space Station, NASA and their partners have used robotic technology extensively, to lorem and ipsum the dolor sit amets and more.

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Reasons Why Space Exploration Is Important

Space exploration is pivotal for enhancing our understanding of the cosmos and driving technological innovation, as well as fostering global collaboration. It is a testament to human curiosity and ingenuity, providing practical benefits that permeate various aspects of our daily lives.

At a Glance

• Unlocks secrets of the universe, broadening our scientific horizons.
• Spurs technological innovation with breakthroughs stemming from aerospace research.
• Improves daily life through technologies originally developed for space missions.
• Encourages global cooperation , as nations collaborate for common space goals.
• Boosts economic growth by creating new industries and job opportunities.
• Promotes STEM education and inspires the next generation of scientists and engineers.
• Prepares humanity for potential future challenges, like asteroid impacts.
• Advances medical research through unique space-based experiments.
• Offers a planetary perspective , deepening our understanding of Earth’s place in the cosmos.
• Nurtures human spirit and the relentless pursuit of knowledge and exploration.

1. Unveiling Cosmic Mysteries and Enhancing Knowledge

Embarking on space missions has been a game-changer in expanding our scientific knowledge about what lies beyond Earth. These explorations have led to remarkable achievements that have deepened our grasp of the vast universe we’re a part of.

Discoveries of new planets and exotic cosmic phenomena through various missions have provided invaluable insight into the complex machinery of the cosmos. By venturing into space, human beings have managed to collect data that sheds light on age-old cosmic mysteries , such as the origins and the fabric of the universe itself. Each milestone reveals a new layer of understanding, propelling our knowledge and curiosity to even greater heights.

Here are key highlights from the realm of space exploration:

• Identification of exo-planets that orbit stars beyond our solar system, raising questions and hopes about life elsewhere in the universe.
• Observations of distant celestial events, such as supernovae and black holes, providing clues about the life cycle of stars and the gravitational forces at work.
• Study of cosmic background radiation to enhance our comprehension of the Big Bang and the early stages of the universe’s expansion.
• Sending probes like the Voyager spacecraft beyond our solar system, turning them into interstellar messengers that carry information about human civilization.

2. Technological Advancements and Practical Benefits

Space exploration is not just a journey through the cosmos; it’s a catalyst for technological advancements that trickle down into our everyday lives. The drive to create new inventions to withstand the harsh conditions of space had led to breakthroughs that benefit various sectors, from health care to environmental management.

Advances in medicine, such as improved imaging techniques and robotic surgery devices, were developed with space technology. Likewise, space-based environmental monitoring systems have become pivotal in managing Earth’s resources and tackling climate issues, providing real-time data on deforestation, pollution, and resource depletion. These technologies equip us with the means to make more informed decisions about our planet’s health and future.

Not to mention, the space industry has developed systems that may one day protect us from potential asteroid threats , ensuring our planet’s safety from celestial hazards. The same technological capabilities that promise to monitor asteroids also contribute to a deeper understanding of climate change , as satellites give us a comprehensive view of Earth’s changing climate patterns.

Here’s how space-derived technology has impacted our world:

• Health improvements : Innovations such as advanced diagnostics, telemedicine, and enhanced fitness monitoring systems originate from space research.
• Environmental monitoring : Satellite data is crucial for tracking natural disasters, managing agriculture, and studying climate change.
• Resource management : Technologies designed for space help in searching for raw materials and sustainable energy sources on Earth.
• Asteroid aversion : Techniques to deflect or study near-Earth objects are key in planetary defense strategies.

3. Global Collaboration and Societal Impact

The realm of space exploration transcends the boundaries of nations, promoting international cooperation and camaraderie. Countries often come together, pooling their intellectual and financial resources to embark on ambitious space missions that single nations could find challenging to realize. This collaboration not only fosters peace among participating nations but also reinforces national security through shared technology and mutual interests in outer space.

Moreover, the space sector has become a significant driver of economic growth . The creation of jobs and the inspiration for new markets have contributed to a thriving space economy, encompassing everything from satellite communication to space tourism. Companies and governments alike invest in space-related ventures, recognizing the enormous potential for innovation and profit.

The societal influence of space exploration is equally impressive. It appeals to our inherent curiosity and yearning for discovery. As humans look up at the night sky or follow the latest space mission updates, inspiration is ignited across generations, inviting everyone to dream big and pursue their aspirations.

Impact of space exploration on global society:

• International relations : Space missions create a platform for diplomatic engagement and mutual technological developments.
• Inspiration for society : Astronomical discoveries and space travel achievements captivate imaginations, encouraging a sense of wonder and possibility.
• Economic vitality : Investments in the space industry stimulate technological markets, leading to job creation and economic diversification.
• Existential exploration : Pursuing knowledge in space helps humanity in grappling with and answering big questions about existence and our place in the universe.

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About research in space

Gravity affects everything we do on Earth but we know surprisingly little about how it works and how it affects life. Until recently scientists had no way of experimenting without gravity to understand what life would be like without it.

Orbiting our planet in an extended free-fall, astronauts on the International Space Station live in microgravity. Through the astronauts up there, scientists are conducting pioneering investigations, testing theories, and pushing the boundaries of our knowledge.

Research in space improves our life on Earth. Space research brings knowledge, discoveries, improvements to our daily life and – one day – the daily lives of explorers of our solar system.

Exploring nature

The studies of life and physical sciences in space are well established fields that complement terrestrial research programmes.

Biology, physiology, fluid physics and combustion, material sciences, fundamental physics and  astrobiology are all studied in space, observing how gravity affects basic phenomena on Earth and expanding our knowledge of the world around us.

Improving health

Space offers unique possibilities to study health problems related to diseases, ageing and immobility.

Research focuses on osteoporosis, muscle atrophy and nutrition, and tries to understand the effects of physiological adaptations for health and safety and ways to counteract unwanted changes in the human body. Spaceflight is a driving force behind developing advanced medical instruments for monitoring and diagnostics.

Innovating technologies

Studies in weightlessness can reveal properties that are important for energy production or environmental protection. Space research has already increased knowledge on combustion, liquids in porous substances and how dust particles behave.

These studies are expected to lead to low-pollution high-efficiency combustion for power plants, aircraft and cars, as well as  improved crude oil-recovery and innovative air and water purification techniques. Increased knowledge of life-support technology used in spaceflight  will make our diets safer.

Caring for the environment

These studies are expected to lead to low-pollution high-efficiency combustion in for power plants, aircraft and cars as well as improved crude oil-recovery and innovative air and water purification techniques. Increased knowledge of life-support technology used in spaceflight will make our diets safer.

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Stay up to date:.

• Humans are about to return to the Moon, and are working on a mission to Mars.
• Former NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan and current undersecretary for science and research at the Smithsonian explains why space exploration is so important for humanity.
• And why it can help us protect our 'pale blue dot' of a planet.

Ellen Stofan is undersecretary for science and research at the Smithsonian and former chief scientist at NASA, where she helped guide the development of a long range plan to get humans to Mars.

In conversation with the World Economic Forum's Nikolai Khlystov, who leads the Forum's work on space, Stofan explained why we should go to Mars, what other parts of the solar system we should be exploring more closely, and how the James Webb Space Telescope is effectively a time machine looking back close to the very start of the universe.

It's a fascinating discussion that digs deep into what life in space would truly look like and how exploration can help us tackle challenges here on earth. Whether you are a space nerd or know next to nothing about space, Ellen talks 'human' about what often seems a subject restricted to the experts. A transcript, edited for clarity, is below.

Have you read?

The space economy is booming. what benefits can it bring to earth, former nasa cto on how to think ‘mission first’ and what's next for a free space economy, nasa is planning to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid. here's why, these nasa images show the staggering impact of drought, transcript: former nasa chief scientist on why space exploration is vital to humanity.

This transcript has been generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors. Please check its accuracy against the audio.

Nikolai Khlystov: So Ellen, the 1960s and the seventies were a really exciting time for space. Humanity got to space in the first place. We went to the Moon. We sent spacecraft all over the solar system. And since then we've been living in the lower earth orbit continuously for the last 20-plus years on the International Space Station. We were able to do all these missions in the earlier decades without really having the computational power as we know it today. Now, the excitement from that era somewhat diminished over the years, but of course, now things are changing, lots is happening.

Can you tell me a little bit about what are your favourite missions from this year, 2022, and what are you most excited perhaps for the next one or two years?

Ellen Stofan: When you think back to the Apollo era, it was really incredible what they were able to accomplish. In the US, it actually took over 400,000 people working to make Apollo happen. And when you think of the challenge at that time, you know, it was actually really incredible, because we barely had computers, we didn't know what a spacesuit was, we didn't know how to do a spacewalk, we didn't know how to keep astronauts alive in space, full stop. And so where we were technologically and what we had to accomplish in that nine years it took from President Kennedy's challenge to get to the Moon all the way to landing on the Moon in the summer of 1969 was absolutely incredible.

And, of course, to me, again, one of the most exciting parts, since I'm a geologist, was the fact that we learned an incredible amount from Apollo, not just was it a huge technological development, it really moved forward our understanding that, for example, the Moon used to be part of the Earth. And so this incredible knowledge that was gained scientifically as well as this just amazing technological accomplishment. And I think winding through our conversation today, I also want to harp on this inspirational piece that I think is especially valuable today. When there's so much going on that, frankly, it seems really daunting to people in the public, like can humanity really overcome the challenges in front of us? So whether it's climate change, whether it's dealing with global pandemics, you know, Apollo showed that when humanity puts its mind to doing something — again, remember that eight years and what we had to accomplish — I think Apollo is something, you know, people talk about moonshots. The moonshot was a moonshot. You know, let's think back to what that word means and use it really carefully. But let's use that for inspiration. And I can't tell you how many people I've met who run companies around the world — why they did it? They did it because they were inspired by Apollo. And I think that piece, that inspiration piece, is really important.

I think one of the best-kept secrets we have in STEM, is we get to have all the fun. We get to ask, how does the world work? And we go figure it out.

Nikolai Khlystov: Apollo was absolutely incredible. And of course, there were other missions from other countries that they were doing research there. And the Soviet Union had robotic missions there, of course, as well. But now we're back to the Moon. We're supposed to be going back there with humans in the next three or four years. We've not been there for over 50 years. Are you excited about that?

Back to the Moon, five decades later

Ellen Stofan: I'm incredibly excited. I actually have been down to Florida twice last month trying to watch that first launch of the SLS [Space Launch System] for Artemis-1. You know, getting back to the Moon, when you say, well, we did this 50 years ago, what's the big deal? Well, we actually have to go and figure out an awful lot over again. First of all, we had to build a really big rocket and the Space Launch System is a huge rocket. I was actually really impressed. I've seen a lot of rocket launches in my life, but when I went down for the first and second launch attempts for the space launch system, an Artemis-1, I was really blown away by how big that rocket is. And so when that actually launches and right now it's scheduled to go on November 14th, it's going to be incredible because the force, you know, the shockwave, when that hits you, when that thing goes off the ground, is going to be incredibly exciting.

I think to me, this return to the Moon is is so important. We've been in low-Earth orbit for over 20 years, as you said. We've learned incredible things from the International Space Station. We've learned how to live in space. And some people might say, really? Is that is that really a big deal? It is a hugely big deal. If you think of it from how do we feed people over longer periods of time, really mundane things like can we get a toilet that works consistently and doesn't break? You don't want to go to Mars, you know, eight months to Mars, eight months back. You don't want to do that with a broken toilet. Life support systems — how do we keep the air clean? The carbon dioxide levels at an acceptable rate for astronaut health? How do we protect them from solar flares? These are all things we've been learning on the International Space Station, how to keep astronauts healthy in space for long durations, how to live in space. This is a really big deal.

So now we're ready to take that next step. We're ready to go back to the room and say, all right, now we practise getting farther from the Earth. And again, why is that a big deal? Right now, we're incredibly dependent on mission control. You think of this, Houston, we have a problem, right? Ground control is always right there. The time delay is low. The astronauts can get back quickly and easily if there's ever a problem. When you're going to the Moon that's over a three-day trip, it's really far away. It looks close when you see it up in the sky. But boy, the Moon is far. And so doing that can we break this tie from Earth? Get up to the Moon. Practise that kind of remote living from Earth. And then be ready to go on to Mars. So this next step to me is incredibly important. It's incredibly exciting because I'm more of a humans to Mars person. And so we need to do this to get to Mars, and we're right on the brink of actually seeing it happen.

Nikolai Khlystov: Hold that thought, Ellen, for Mars. We'll definitely get to that. And some of those challenges multiply exponentially when we talk about Mars, of course. And by the way, of course, I think I don't know if you mentioned the water filtration systems, right. We've learned a lot from the previous decades, right. And we're using that technology for some filtration on earth as well.

Ellen Stofan: Yeah, that's true. And so when you think about it, you know, water's really heavy. And one of the difficulties with human space exploration, with exploration writ large, it's really hard to get off the Earth. We're a big, we have a lot of gravity. And so the biggest cost of exploration is actually getting things from the ground to space because you have to overcome Earth's gravity to get out there. And this leads to the importance of the rise of the commercial launch industry, which is another whole topic. That's why that's so important. They're trying to bring down the cost of getting off the Earth. Water is really heavy. And so if you're launching water up into space for the astronauts to drink, that's just like a lot of money. So why not reuse water? So on the space station right now, I think they're up in the high 80% if not low 90%, of reusing water. Yes. That means they purify urine and drink it. You know, it's been a taxable problem, but it has some difficulties. When you purify the water, it leaves a brine behind. That's kind of messy. And so trying to get that system to work and have it work well has been a learning process. But we'd love to get up to the mid-90% of water reuse. That means we have to bring less water along. Water's also really important as a possible shield from cosmic radiation, which are high energy cosmic rays that come from deep space, they can do a lot of damage to the human body. It turns out water is a great shield.

Nikolai Khlystov: What do you think we're going to be doing as humans on the Moon? What are some the possibilities? We'll get there in three or four years. Maybe we'll come back. We won't stay right away. But by the early 2030s, late 2030s, are we going to have a permanent presence, maybe a small moon village? I mean, there are some plans for that internationally as well.

Ellen Stofan: I think it's a super interesting concept. And so do you have other governments, do you have the commercial, the private sector wanting to build things on the Moon, being able to, you know, are we going to get- like right now we're looking at private citizens going up to low-Earth orbit. Are we going to get private citizens going to the Moon? Are we going to have this hotel on the Moon? Is there a commercial there? Is there a profit motive? Companies don't do things unless they think I can potentially make a profit on this or I can definitely make a profit on it.

So I think as we go forward, it'll be really interesting to see where the governments want to put their investments and NASA's basic role, is that exploration piece, not the business development piece. Now they want to support the business development and get it moving, but then they want to move on and do the things that are more deep space exploration. So I'll be really curious to see how the next 10 to 15 years develops, how much government infrastructure do we want to invest on the Moon, and how much does the private sector really come in and fill behind NASA like they're doing right now in low-Earth orbit and certainly on the middle earth orbit and higher orbit where you see a lot of private investment. And so this balance between government investment, private sector investment, how that leads to the development of the Moon and then as NASA goes on to Mars, I think it's going to be super interesting.

Next stop: Mars

Nikolai Khlystov: Let's go to Mars, of course, much further away. Can you maybe share a little bit some of the difficulties you alluded to some of them already when we're talking about the Moon, cosmic radiation. But it's just the distance, it's the communication. What are some of the other challenges for us to actually not just go perhaps to the Martian orbit, but actually to land there?

Ellen Stofan: Mars is a whole lot. And so some people look at that and say, oh, it's too hard, we can't do it. And I again go back let's go back to Apollo. You know, we didn't know how to make a spacesuit. We didn't even know how to keep astronauts alive.

First of all, it's a long way there. It's about eight months to a year transit time to get there. You're going to stay for at least a couple of months and then you've got a transit time back of about eight months to a year. So we're talking probably minimum 2 to 3 year mission. That's a long time difference. You're going to be in zero gravity. You're going to be in low Mars gravity. That's hard on the human body. So we're still doing work to make sure we understand how to get humans ready for that. Practising on the Moon will be important for that. Landing on Mars is really complicated, and you see the kind of really complex systems that NASA used to land the Perseverance Rover. The amount of mass we need to land on the surface is about five times. To land these really big rovers on Mars is really complicated, really big amount of mass. Unlike the Moon, Mars has an atmosphere, but it actually helps the spacecraft heat up, but doesn't really slow you down because it's a very, very thin atmosphere. Mars is a much more kind of familiar place to us because it's a planet with an atmosphere. But landing on that surface is just really tough. You need something called supersonic retro propulsion, which is something that Elon Musk and SpaceX have worked on. Again, you're going to heat up that craft coming in and you have to slow it down really rapidly. Huge technological challenge.

Then there's that one-way light time to Mars. It takes about 20 minutes to get a signal to Mars from the Earth. That's just distance and speed of light. And so if you said, Houston, we have a problem, it's going to be 40 minutes to an hour before you hear back. So what does that say? We need computing, we need Artificial Intelligence. We need assistance for the astronauts because frankly, after eight months in space, your reaction times have slowed. And so you're going to need computing support to help you make decisions. Those are just a few of the technological challenges, let alone living on the surface of Mars, growing food, which we're practising, on the surface of Mars. So incredible technologies. They're learning to use Mars, pulling oxygen out of the Mars atmosphere, for potentially rocket fuel or using Mars water to manufacture rocket fuel on the surface. So you can make things on the surface of Mars and bring less with you. We call that in-situ resource utilisation. That's a big technological challenge that we're also going to do some practising on the Moon for.

Nikolai Khlystov: What are some of the reasons beyond the science, in your view, for us to actually go there in person? You've you've mentioned that it feels a little bit more like our own home planet. What does that mean for us as humans if we actually step foot on Mars and maybe a little bit later on, they actually decide to stay there?

Ellen Stofan: You know, I just think it's this incredible inspiration. And I do want to make it clear, you know, sometimes you read in the press issues around people saying, well, if the Earth gets really bad, we'll go live on Mars. No, Mars is really tough. It's irradiated by cosmic radiation and solar radiation because it doesn't have a magnetic field that protects you from space radiation like the Earth does. There's chemicals in the soil that are toxic to humans. Mars is really tough and we certainly need a scientific base there with humans, but we're not going to move large-scale numbers of humans to Mars, it's just a step too far.

I'm really looking forward to the day when we have bases of humans on Mars doing science, looking for evidence of past life. And I do think, again, if you look back to Apollo, look what humanity can achieve when we put our minds to it. And what I love about this journey, Mars, is it's very unlike the journey to the Moon that Apollo did, because all of a sudden you're not going to have just one space agency leading it, you're having space agencies from all around the world cooperating to get to Mars. You have people that look like all of us who are going to be the crews that go, not just two or three white men, and you're going to have real international cooperation and also public-private partnerships that I think make this very different, very exciting, very inspirational. And I think that idea of having all of us go to the Moon or to Mars together is really going to inspire the next generation of technologists, of people who help us make this planet more sustainable.

The search for life

Nikolai Khlystov: Well, we've spoken a little bit about humans going to the Moon, humans going to Mars. I mean, there are lots of other missions that are taking place right now which are being planned for as well, pushing the horizon a little bit on the distance in our solar system. So off to Mars, we have a few more planets. There is one particular planet which is very interesting: Saturn, and it has some interesting moons, of course. And you know, one of those moons very well, Titan. Can you tell us a little bit about Titan, why you know it and what's being planned for Titan in the coming years?

Ellen Stofan: Yeah. So I worked on the Cassini mission to Titan, which was really amazing. And right now I'm a co-investigator on a mission called Dragonfly . It's going to launch in the late 2020s, around 2027. It'll get to Titan in the early 2030s and it is an octocopter. So it's basically a drone that's going to land in the equatorial, so near the equator on Titan and fly around the equatorial region. Landing, going back up, landing again, sampling the surface, understanding what it's made of.

So why is this interesting? Titan is the only satellite in the solar system that has a substantial atmosphere. Its atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, like ours. It's also the only other body besides Earth in the solar system where you have large bodies of liquid, you have rivers that flow down into those seas. So you have these incredible earth-like processes going on on the surface, which help us understand the Earth better, which is why we explore the planets. But it's also, to me, just kind of magical in a way. I spent five years working on a proposal to send a boat to one of those seas on Titan that didn't go forward. But we've got Dragonfly, which I'm really excited about now.

When you go out looking for life beyond Earth, you really have to wonder, what is it exactly that I'm looking for?

Why should we care about rivers and seas on Titan? And wait a minute, Saturn, how does that work? It is very cold out in the outer solar system. In fact, it's about 90 degrees kelvin on the surface of Titan. That's not water, right, at those temperatures. The rocks on Titan are actually made of water ice. That fluid that's raining down from the sky, forming the rivers and seas is actually liquid methane and liquid ethane. Basically liquid gasoline, that's what's the fluid out with those temperatures in the outer solar system. It's really interesting to say how does a river work? How do waves form on an ocean in different gravity, different fluid? We can learn more about the fundamental behaviour of how river and ocean systems work, how they exchange gas with the atmosphere and how the climate of Titan is affected over time. So super interesting on many, many scientific levels.

The other thing that's super intriguing is we've really thought a lot about life in the solar system. Right now we have one data point that's the Earth. And so we know life formed here on Earth fairly rapidly. After the Earth formed, all the planets formed about four and a half billion years ago. By 3.9 billion years ago, the conditions here on the planet had stabilised. Life evolved almost right away, simple single-celled life forms in the oceans. So we think you definitely need water. The organic molecules were actually delivered by asteroids and comets. You see amino acids in both of those, we see amino acids in interstellar clouds. You had this combination of energy, water and organic compounds, and you've got the evolution of life. When you go to Titan, you have those same organic materials — methane and ethane are organic fluids — you've got sources of energy, we know there's volcanoes on Titan, we know it rainstorms on Titan. But remember, you don't have water. So how important is water to the evolution of life? We don't know the answer to that. So Titan is a super interesting place to go to really understand what are the limits of life? Could we have weird Titan life? We don't know. We're going to go find out. And this question of life in the solar system in the universe is so important.

Nikolai Khlystov: Well, let's let's maybe talk a little bit about that and let's talk about another huge mission, huge scientific mission: the James Webb Space telescope. Share a few details, a lot of folks may have heard about it, but some maybe have not. Another telescope which has given us amazing amount of wealth of knowledge over the last couple of decades, of course, the Hubble. Maybe mention a little bit what is the difference between Hubble and the James Webb, and maybe share a few things about James Webb. Has it uncovered anything dramatically new? It's been active for just a number of months, I think, right? Do we know something that we didn't know before it went up?

Ellen Stofan: Hubble was such an amazing telescope. You know, it's still operating now. I don't even know I'm going to get the date wrong. It's like 28 years or something like that. So it's operated way beyond its lifetime, partially because it got repaired by astronauts many times. It's in a lower orbit than James Webb is, and Hubble literally rewrote what we know about the universe. So James Webb was the follow-on telescope to Hubble. They're called the Great Observatory. We have other great observatories. The difference between Hubble is it primarily looks in the visible range of light.

If you think of the electromagnetic spectrum, all those different bands of energy give you different information. It's like putting on different kinds of glasses and being able to see different aspects of the universe and how it works because processes out there are really energetic. So you're going to learn something by looking in the x-ray like the Chandra Observatory does. You're going to learn by looking in the visible the way Hubble does. The exciting thing about James Webb is it's looking in the infra-red. So that's giving you just different information, very complementary, to what we've learned from other great observatories that are up there.

The other really big and new thing about Webb is you need a really big mirror because what you're trying to do is collect light from very far away, and the James Webb Mirror is much bigger than any mirror we have ever put before in space. And in fact, it's so big that it couldn't be put into a rocket fairing — that pointy bit at the top of the rocket — without being folded up. And now you think: that's crazy, how do you fold a mirror? Not something you would normally do, right? So this is an incredibly complicated, advanced technology mirror that was folded up, launched by the European Space Agency, Ariane rocket, and put out to a place called L2, which is the second Lagrange Point, which is basically a stable orbit. So you don't have to boost it. Once you put it there, it's in good shape. Then we had to spend about a month deploying Webb. It had some incredible number of single-point failures. If any one thing went wrong, it was not going to be successful. We had to unfold all the mirrors. We had to expand this big sunshade that blocks light so that Webb can look very deep into the universe, collect that light it needs to collect. And I was so frightened.

You know, it's one of those things I worked on Webb a little bit when I was at NASA. And, you know, the hearts and souls of the engineers and the scientists go into these missions. And I knew the science that was going to come out of Webb. It was going to be like Hubble all over again, right? It's going to be rewriting textbooks for years to come. And so when it left the Earth, it was so emotional to see that spacecraft moving away from the Earth, going through the deployment. That I can tell you every time the test images came back during that phase in the spring, it was just so incredibly exciting to see it working. The deployment went basically flawlessly and the images that are coming back: you asked, are they amazing? You know, we've been in just basically test phases. We've detected carbon dioxide planets around other stars. Imaging came out where it was reimaging something called the Pillars of Creation. It's out in the star field where we're seeing a zone where planets are forming really complimentary to Hubble, really allowing us to see these planet nurseries. How do they operate? What kind of energy processes are going on? The combination of the visible light from Hubble and the Infra-Red from James Webb are really giving us new ideas about how those zones operate. Again, these images are weeks old, so this is all like still blowing our minds.

The image that was shown there with the telescope before it was launched was its first deep-field image. Hubble had a deep field image. And what you do is you look at the darkest part of the night sky and you just leave the telescope there and you collect light. So that light is coming from very far away. This always gets people super confused because the light is coming from far away, you're basically looking back in time because that light started out a very long time ago and has now finally reached the telescope. Hubble was able to look back around 100 or so million years from the Big Bang. Basically, James Webb in this first image was able to look — it didn't even look for that long — was able to look within about 40 million years of the Big Bang. It's going to get back within a few tens of millions of years. The Big Bang, we have huge questions. What did that very early time period in the history of the universe look like? Hubble had been able to show us that very early in the solar system you had a lot of galaxies forming. If you look at this new image from James Webb of that same region, the number of galaxies has gone up exponentially. So much material, so much organization of material into galaxies already. Fascinating what this is going to tell us about how the Big Bang worked, those early tens of millions of years, which I know to most people seems like a lot of time, but it's really not in the history of our 13 billion-year-old universe, how did the universe form? And we need to know those early time periods to understand that. And you can tell I'm just getting like so excited I can't even speak. These images to me are literally mind-blowing and I'm so excited about it. This telescope is, again, going to be rewriting textbooks as we go.

Nikolai Khlystov: Well, and you're giving me goosebumps just when you started talking about the James Webb, let's maybe talk a little bit about the aspect of search for life. I mean, you've spoken about James Webb looking for the carbon signatures. Maybe you can talk a little bit about how a telescope looks for signatures of life. And I'd love to ask you another question, which perhaps becomes a little bit more philosophical, but how do we know potentially there is life hundreds or thousands of light years away?

Ellen Stofan: This is such a great question because if you again, go back to that story of how life emerged on earth, water, organic molecules, sorts of energy, again, source of energy and the organic molecules, that part we think is pretty easy. It's the conditions on a planet where water can be stable on the surface or maybe some other working fluid, depending on what we find on Titan. And then those conditions have to persist because if you look at a place like Mars, Mars had the exact same conditions as Earth at around the same time in the solar system. But those conditions only persisted for about a billion years. And here we are on Earth, three and a half billion years. You know, we're chugging along right, ish. We'll come back to that later. But what we've had certainly ups and downs, you know, massive asteroid impacts, you know, minor things like that here on Earth that have endangered the long-term existence of life. The conditions were stable enough on this planet that not only allowed life to evolve, but allowed it to thrive, allowed it to become more complex all the way from single-celled organisms to us. That's tough, right, to have that long-term stability on a planet.

So as we go outward in our own solar system, we look at Mars and say, well, wow, that's the most likely place, because we know a billion years wow on Earth life was still in the ocean after a billion years, still just single celled, multicellular, lifeforms. But life could have evolved. That's plenty of time on Mars. And so that's what we're doing on Mars. We're really looking for this question of, wow, is this the second data point where we can say, all right, those conditions, again, really easy on Earth, if Mars had the same conditions, why wouldn't life have evolved there also? If it didn't, that would actually be scientifically surprising.

Then we look out at places like the moons of Jupiter and Saturn that have water under their surface Europa, Jupiter, Enceladus of Saturn. Water oceans under an ice crust. Water. Oceans. Oceans, right, sound familiar again? Right now, there's lots of missions going on. We're going to go back to Europa and look at that body. There's a lot of missions that have been proposed looking at going back to Enceladus, this moon of Saturn. We've got Dragonfly going to Titan to look at what are the limits of life. Because if we can demonstrate that life originated in more than one body in our own solar system, it makes us much more optimistic about finding life beyond Earth. And it also widens what we're looking for, right? Because right now we think of life as life as we know it. And believe it or not, people who turned this into two acronyms: life as we know it and life as we don't know it. Because now think of Titan and now think of every science crazy science fiction movie you've ever seen, or especially, you know, Star Trek with all kinds of different life forms. Why couldn't that have happened? And so when you go out looking for life beyond Earth, you really have to wonder, what is it exactly that I'm looking for?

You know, we have very definitive ideas of life here on Earth. It has metabolism, it has reproduction. It has ability to move. So we have RNA. We have DNA. So is that what we're looking for? So we have this whole list. Actually, NASA has this great site on astrobiology where we have this logic flow of what we think of life. So now if we go beyond Earth right now, what we're looking for is sort of Earth 2.0. So when we're looking at planets around other stars, we're looking for places that have water stable on the surface. We're looking for gases in the atmosphere that here on Earth are associated with life, carbon dioxide, methane, jumping all the way back to the detection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere around the planet, around another star that James Webb detected. Finding CO2 in an atmosphere isn't proof that there's life on that planet. You can produce carbon dioxide in lots of different ways, but finding it is super interesting and makes you think, alright, now I want to look more.

Ultimately we want to detect methane, we want to detect elemental oxygen and then what we would really like to find is what we call disequilibrium. We want to find gases that are out of their chemical balance, which would tell us there's some process going on. Something is eating something and giving something off. That's metabolism. You know, if you were looking at Earth from another star, you'd actually be able to see the Earth going through seasons because it gives off big amounts of carbon dioxide and then all of a sudden it drops again. So you can see there's some sort of active process going on. That's what will be looking on as we move forward with these big telescopes. Ultimately, we want to image planets around other stars, and for that we'd be really looking for things like colour changes. Again, it's autumn here in the northern hemisphere. You've got beautiful colour out my window, so you can actually see the colour of the Earth change as we move through seasons. Those are the kinds of things we'll ultimately be looking for. But for that, we need a way bigger telescope even than James Webb, one that we'll probably have to build in space.

Nikolai Khlystov: Maybe last question on the life topic, do you think there's a difference if we were to find signs of life, say, on Mars or in Titan versus finding some kind of life signature hundreds of light years away in another star system?

Ellen Stofan: I think so, because frankly, when we find life in our own solar system, it's either going to be evidence of past life or frankly, it's going to be in this kind of single-celled multi-cell, which is crazy exciting for scientists. Does it have RNA? Does it have DNA? Those are questions I think will be profound no matter what. But I think as we move outward, looking beyond our own solar system, what we're really hoping for is could we find somewhere where there was complex life? We just lost Frank Drake recently. He was a wonderful scientist who came up with something called the Drake Equation. He tried to put into mathematical terms what's the likelihood of finding complex life, i.e. intelligent life, more or less intelligent life like us, on planets around other stars? And I think that's really tough. And we know we're not going to do it in this solar system. So as we go outward and find more and more planets, we get closer and closer to potentially finding intelligent life, which is, I think, kind of the holy grail for what humanity is curious about.

Intercepting an asteroid

Nikolai Khlystov: Absolutely incredible. Well, there is one more mission that was just was in the news a couple of weeks ago. And that's maybe another way to bring us sort of slowly start to bring us back to Earth. It's DART [Double Asteroid Redirection Test]. So this was a relatively small mission, but with potentially huge impacts. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Ellen Stofan: It did have a huge impact. In fact, there was a news story this morning about how the Hubble Space Telescope is still seeing it was able to image actually the debris trail from Didymos, the satellite. So Dart was the first time we've actually really tested can we protect the Earth when an asteroid we detect that an asteroid is headed towards Earth. The history of the planets in our solar system is a history of impact. Now, they occurred really frequently in the very early history of the solar system. You can see that just by going outside at night and looking at the Moon, of all those craters on the Moon, most of them were formed during a period we called the heavy bombardment, which is about the first 502 billion years of solar system history. After that, there was much less material around because it got incorporated into planets, got cleaned out of the inner solar system, but things still happen. You had the Chelyabinsk incident, you had Tunguska, where we had basically moderate-sized rocks coming into Earth's atmosphere, knocking down trees, breaking windows. All right, just think if something like that happened in New York City. Just think of the rock were a lot bigger. Just think if it was really big and we were looking at something, the scale of what happened at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary where a lot of life on Earth was actually wiped out.

So, we need to be able to protect ourselves from incoming asteroids. And DART was actually a test of this. We went and slammed something into an asteroid. And you can say, well, that's just physics. Certainly, we understand, you know, you hit one body with another, what's going to happen? The problem is asteroids are messy. Some of them are made of metal. So they're really dense and really you would hit it and it might not go very far. A lot of them, though, actually a huge majority that we've been able to understand, are actually piles of rubble. This is the case with the one we hit. And so you saw this just huge amount of debris that came out, again, detectable by Hubble. So, fascinating mission — really fun.

And again, the reason we do so much in space is thinking back to this planet, which as Carl Sagan very eloquently said in his pale blue dot speech, which I always urge people to go look at, you know, the Earth is where we make our stand. Of all places we've seen, of all the places we've studied, and again, he says it much more eloquently than I am, this is the only place we've found where humans can actually live and thrive.

The history of the planets in our solar system is a history of impact ... you can see that just by going outside at night and looking at the Moon of all those craters on the Moon.

Bringing the research back down to Earth

Nikolai Khlystov: You, as a planetary scientist, of course, refer to this, right? You studied Venus, you've studied Titan in detail. And you know what can happen if greenhouse gases take over. Could you share a little bit about what you have seen from from some of the other places in the solar system as examples? How do how do we related back to our planet, particularly now?

Ellen Stofan: I study planetary surfaces, so I look at things like volcanoes. And what we're trying to do is use other planets to help understand the Earth. Like if you are a doctor and you only have one patient, that's how it is. You're hampered when you're only studying one planet. So through comparative planetology, we can look at things like how do volcanoes erupt under different conditions, different gravity, different rock types across the solar system? Well, think of that with weather and climate. So when we look at Venus, when we look at Mars, when we look at Titan, we have planets with different climates, different gases in their atmosphere. One thing we have learned, if we've learned nothing else. Greenhouse gases warm a planet's surface. We understand that and a lot of the times when I talk to climate deniers, it's like, look, I've got Mars, I got Venus. I can tell you we understand how greenhouse gases behave. If we put all that oil, gas and coal into the Earth's atmosphere, this planet would become flat-out uninhabitable. That can't happen.

I've got Mars, I got Venus. I can tell you we understand how greenhouse gases behave. If we put all that oil, gas and coal into the Earth's atmosphere, this planet would become flat-out uninhabitable. That can't happen.

So we have the technology, we have the knowledge to be able to move beyond where we are now, which is a bad place with human-induced climate change. And the planets have helped us inform how to understand how to model planetary atmospheres, and we understand this planet's atmosphere well enough. Part of that, again, has been through space data. NASA has over 20 satellites and instruments looking at this planet. So does the European Space Agency. All of the space agencies of the world really work really closely together on Earth observations. How do we use space data for Earth to understand this planet, to model what's going to happen to it in the future, and to understand how to use those data for humanity to make sure we can feed this planet, to make sure we have water and these space data really help us move forward on that.

Nikolai Khlystov: So we spoke a little bit about exploration. And so one of the questions I have coming in is what sort of support is needed for the upcoming exploration missions from other sectors, other industries?

Ellen Stofan: You know, I think if you name an industry, there's a way that they need to support space exploration and even more important, planetary sustainability, because when you think about it, if you're going to be on a three-year mission to Mars or a long time duration on the Moon, you need a clean atmosphere, you need healthy food, you need stable pharmaceuticals that don't require refrigeration and are stable for long periods of time. You need to use the least amount of goods possible. I'm thinking of things like clothes. Wouldn't it be great — wear an outfit, you put it through a feed or you print out a new outfit to wear. Rather than having to bring three outfits with you, you bring one and constantly and recombobulate it. That's beyond my- I'm a geologist. And so this idea of living sustainably, living in a circular way rather than in a linear economy the way they do now, all of this is what you need to live on the Moon or Mars. And frankly, this is what we need to do to live on this planet sustainably. So I think there's not an industry out there that doesn't need to think of this idea of Spaceship Earth and that benefits spaceship to moon, spaceship to Mars.

Nikolai Khlystov: Ellen, one more question from the audience. In your opinion, when will we get to Mars with humans?

Ellen Stofan: You know, we could get to Mars with humans in five to 10 years easily. Again, remember that eight to nine years that it took us from Apollo when we knew nothing? It's a question of will and it's a question of resources. And so if the governments of the world decided this was important, we could be there in five to 10 years. If they decide it's not important, we'll get there in, my guess is, 20 to 40 years. That's a huge range, and I think it's really going to depend on the will to actually do this. And I think the other wild card in here is the private sector. I mean, you do have private companies like SpaceX saying we're going to go to Mars, whether the governments want to go or not. And so I think that's a wildcard factor. Does that get us there in more like that ten-year timeframe? So it's going to be interesting.

Nikolai Khlystov: A follow on to that in terms of international collaboration. We have obviously several international missions for the Moon. Artemis being one of them. We have several nations that have made it to Mars. How critical will international collaboration be for getting to Mars?

Ellen Stofan: International collaboration to me is key to absolutely everything and to me it's been a deep part of my career. There hasn't been a planetary mission I've worked on that has not been done internationally. I did my Ph.D. thesis on the Soviet data of Venus and worked very closely with scientists from the Soviet Union. So this is just to me, this is the way we operate and it's the best way. The smartest people are located all over the world. And you want Team Earth getting things done, not a team from one country, because you're going to get there faster and you're going to get there better if you go together.

I think the other issue is this is really expensive, right? And I would argue probably no one country has the ability to do this on their own. And so as we go together, we spread out the cost of it. But again, when a government puts its money into doing something really tough like going to Mars, you're investing in your economy, you're investing in technology, you move your economy forward. So, his isn't a i'm throwing this money away, which a lot of people I often get the question, you know, why aren't we spending money for Earth rather than for space? You spend money for space on Earth, and it's an investment in technology and moving us forward. And as I said, it's also helping us move forward on this idea of planetary sustainability.

Nikolai Khlystov: Let's come back to one of the earlier points of motivation, of generating this excitement, in the space sector, particularly, we're almost lacking talent. We're lacking folks coming out of different universities with the right skills. How important is it to motivate the younger generation on the different maths and sciences and other subjects that are required to go into this field and develop these rockets and develop these landing mechanisms and telescopes. How do we do a better job, perhaps, at communicating this?

Ellen Stofan: Well, you know, this is an incredible focus of ours at the Smithsonian, because to me, it's about great storytelling. You've got to inspire people. Not to be mean to teachers — my mom was a teacher, my grandfather was a teacher — but if you say, all right, we're memorising the formula of the quadratic formula, you're like, why? Am I ever going to use this? What good does it do? And at the Smithsonian, I think we do a really good job of trying to say, look at the amazing things that we do in science, whether it's exploring the planets, understanding how the Sun works. You can be a part of understanding these fundamental whys. Are we alone? How does our planet work? How does the universe work? And it's about storytelling to engage kids.

The other thing we've really been focused on, and I urge people where we've reopened half of the renovated Air and Space Museum on the National Mall, and I think you're going to see a really different Air and Space Museum than maybe the one that you went to 20 years ago. Because what you're going to see are stories about people who look like all of us, whether it's the African-Americans who helped with the Apollo programme, people like the hidden figures. We have Jackie Cochran's plane, not just Chuck Yeager plane, that she was the first woman to break the speed of sound.

If we tell stories about people who look like all of us, we're inspiring kids to say, I can do that. I can go figure this out. You know, I think one of the best-kept secrets we have in STEM, we get to have all the fun. We get to ask, how does the world work? And we go figure it out.

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Why go to space?

Executive Summary

Space enthusiasm can be baffling to the uninitiated.

Why are some nerds so enamored with space exploration? Why should society spend any resources to go there? Why are billionaires jockeying to realize their visions for space development?

In this research in focus piece, CGO Senior Research Fellow Eli Dourado explores the many ways space investments improve our quality of life and allow us to innovate in ways that would be impossible without space. 

According to Dourado, “We must continue to invest in space if we want to flourish as a society and as a species.” 

He breaks down important space investments into four categories: 

Improving daily life on Earth

Protecting and preserving democracy.

• Enriching science and research

Satisfying humanity’s need for a frontier

This forward-thinking piece details the essential role space plays in both maintaining and elevating our quality of life.

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Federal Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Space enthusiasm can be baffling to the uninitiated. Why are some nerds so enamored with space? Why should society spend any resources to go there? Why are billionaires jockeying to realize their visions for space development? Why do we give NASA over $20 billion per year, and the Space Force nearly as much? Why should we do any of this if we still have problems on Earth?

Imagine a switch that turned off American space capabilities.

If you flip it, there’s no more NASA. Space Force and SpaceX disappear. All the weather and climate data that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collects from space goes offline. The National Reconnaissance Office is suddenly blind.

What would happen? The quality of life on Earth would rapidly degrade. Democracies would find themselves increasingly threatened by authoritarian powers. We would lose vital scientific resources. Our institutions would experience a slow decline.

We must continue to invest in space if we want to flourish as a society and as a species.

Space already has a surprising impact on modern life. This is particularly true for satellites. Global satellite communication systems are used by the broadcast industry, but also for critical safety-of-life functions aboard planes and ships, which sometimes travel out of range of other communication methods. Workers on board oil platforms use satellites to connect to civilization. As SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellite megaconstellation continues to grow, millions of rural households may soon get access to speedy Internet service for the first time. 1 “Home,” Starlink, https://www.starlink.com .

It’s not just communication. Consider the value that satellite positioning adds. If you are on board a plane traveling through storm clouds or if you have cargo on a ship crossing the Pacific, the Global Positioning System (GPS) keeps you and your goods on track and safe. Without GPS, a lot of your smartphone’s functions would go away. Forget about the entire business model of Uber and Lyft. Say goodbye to in-dash navigation.

An underrated way that satellites improve our lives is through accurate weather forecasting. As weatherman Al Roker notes in his book The Storm of the Century , the death toll was high during the 1900 Galveston hurricane in part because there was no official warning, a decision fueled by distrust of Cuban weather forecasts passed along via telegram, concern about falsely alarming the public, and the director of the US Weather Bureau’s desire to closely control information.

With today’s reliable weather forecasts, Galveston could have prepared for the storm and saved thousands of lives. Today’s forecasts in the US are powered by NOAA’s continually improving Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system. Although some of the improvement in today’s forecasts are attributable to gains in computing, NOAA officials say “no change has had as big of an impact on weather prediction as the invention and improvement of environmental satellites.” 2 Derek Hanson, James Peronto, and Douglas Hilderbrand, “NOAA’s Eyes in the Sky – After Five Decades of Weather Forecasting with Environmental Satellites, What Do Future Satellites Promise for Meteorologists and Society?,” World Meteorological Association, November 12, 2015, https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/bulletin/noaa%E2%80%99s-eyes-sky-after-five-decades-of-weather-forecasting-environmental .

Beyond satellites, space technology has contributed to our quality of life on Earth in countless ways. NASA’s technology transfer program has generated thousands of spinoffs across dozens of areas. 3 “Home” NASA Spinoff, https://spinoff.nasa.gov/ .

To highlight just one area where NASA research has generated new possibilities and commercial opportunities on Earth, consider vertical farms, which are now delivering fresh produce to grocery stores all over the country while economizing on soil, land, pesticides, and water. Being able to grow food in orbit is essential if we want to support large populations living there, but we will have to do it with limited space, water, and supporting mass.

To meet this challenge, NASA funded research to mature next-generation aeroponic growing techniques. 4 “Aeroponics,” in Wikipedia , June 9, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aeroponics&oldid=1092342468 . NASA also contributed to vertical farming by pioneering LED growing systems and the “light recipes” that enable them to produce edible plant mass as efficiently as possible. 5 “LED Systems Target Plant Growth,” 2010, NASA Spinoff, https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2010/cg_1.html . Beginning in 2002, the agency even successfully tested these growing systems onboard the International Space Station. 6 Biomass Production System (BPS) Fact Sheet , June 2002, NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/bps.html .

The commercial space industry is also on the cusp of providing new benefits to human beings on Earth. Gravity is one of the four known fundamental forces. The ability to operate in orbital microgravity is like having an off switch for one of the laws of physics. This capability is so fundamental that it would be shocking if it had no applications.

It turns out that some articles—certain pharmaceuticals, carbon nanotubes, and silicon wafers used in semiconductor manufacturing—can only be manufactured or can be manufactured with better tolerances in zero gravity. 7 J. M. Afford, G.R. Mason, and D.A. Feikema, Formation of Carbon Nanotubes in a Microgravity Environment , NASA Glenn Research Center, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20010074067/downloads/20010074067.pdf .

The low cost per kg of SpaceX’s Starship rocket could make space manufacturing at scale viable for the first time. Varda is a startup that is offering zero-gravity manufacturing as a service. 8 “Home,” Varda Space Industries, https://varda.com/ .

Perhaps the first commercial product that will be manufactured in space for use on Earth will be ZBLAN optical fiber. ZBLAN is a fancy fluoride glass with a theoretical attenuation 20 times lower than the silica fiber optic cables we use today. Today’s undersea cables address the attenuation problem by placing a repeater every 100–150 km along the cable, at a cost of $1 million per repeater. 9 Ioana Cozmuta, Solenn Cozic, Marcel Poulain, Samuel Poulain, Jose R. L. Martini, “Breaking the Silica Ceiling: ZBLAN-Based Opportunities for Photonics Applications,” Proc. SPIE 11276, Optical Components and Materials XVII , 112760R (March 3, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2542350 .

ZBLAN fibers would require fewer repeaters, cutting the cost of undersea cables, which connect our portion of the Internet to Europe and Asia, by tens of millions of dollars. The catch is that manufacturing ZBLAN in gravity causes crystals to form in the glass. 10 Anthony Torres, Jeff Ganley, and Arup Maji, “Understanding the Role of Gravity in the Crystallization Suppression of ZBLAN Glass,” Journal of Materials Science 49, no. 22 (November 1, 2014): 7770–81, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8488-5 . Fibers manufactured in zero gravity feature much less crystallization and therefore less attenuation. 11 Dave Dooling, “ZBLAN Continues to Show Promise,” NASA Science , February 5, 1998, https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1998/msad05feb98_1 . These better fiber optics will improve long-distance connectivity and lower the cost of our information infrastructure.

Space investments enable democratic countries to continue to defend themselves against space-capable authoritarian regimes like China and Russia. The military importance of occupying the high ground has been understood for millennia, and space is the ultimate high ground.

From space, we can survey every battlefield and peer behind enemy lines. Satellite imagery from both commercial and government programs is being used extensively in Ukraine to track Russian movements. To penetrate the clouds, some of these satellites use synthetic aperture an imaging technique that uses microwaves instead of visible light. Unlike normal photographs, it works at night and in overcast skies. 12 “Spies’ Night Eyes: Once-Restricted Tech Is Helping Spot Russian Troops, Chinese Missile Sites and Raging Wildfires,” Grid News, https://www.grid.news/story/science/2022/05/23/spies-night-eyes-once-secret-tech-is-helping-spot-russian-troops-chinese-missiles-and-raging-wildfires/ .

Surveillance satellites are far from a static endeavor. Recent spy satellites operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office operate in eccentric orbits that enable them to briefly get close to their targets—for example, the satellite known as USA-245 orbits with an apogee of 1,010 km and a perigee of 276 km. 13 “USA-245,” in Wikipedia , October 7, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USA-245&oldid=1048722641 .

In other words, it swoops in close to the Earth to get a high-resolution photo. Meanwhile, MIT Technology Review reported in 2020 that this satellite is being stalked by a Russian satellite. 14 Neel V. Patel, “A Russian Satellite Is Probably Stalking a US Spy Satellite in Orbit,” MIT Technology Review , February 12, 2020, https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/03/349146/a-russian-satellite-is-probably-stalking-a-us-spy-satellite-in-orbit/ . By spying on our satellites, the Russians can get a good sense of what we are looking at.

America’s ballistic missile early warning system is also largely based in space. The main layer of satellites that performs this function is called the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). 15 Space-Based Infrared System,” in Wikipedia , March 5, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Space-Based_Infrared_System&oldid=1075364386 .

Satellites that are part of SBIRS operate in both geosynchronous and highly-elliptical orbits, while other satellites in complementary systems operate in low-Earth orbit. These latter satellites are important for tracking the flight of any launched missiles, including the decoys released by modern Chinese and Russian missiles that make shooting them down harder.

SBIRS is getting close to the end of its intended service period, and may soon be replaced by what’s known as the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared System.

America’s missile defense capabilities are for now focused on short- and intermediate-range missiles. We are still far from being able to protect the country from advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles, and maneuverable hypersonic weapons could make this challenge even more severe. Yet any level of missile defense is predicated on space-based missile tracking, so if we want to increase our capabilities, we need to continue to invest in space technology.

So far, no country has declared any space-based weapons, but they may yet be coming. One concept studied by the US Air Force is “rods from God.” 16 “Rods from God,” Popular Science (blog), June 2, 2004, https://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-06/rods-god/ . The idea is to deorbit a large tungsten rod from space and steer it into a target, which it would strike with a speed of Mach 8–10. Since kinetic energy is a function of mass and velocity squared, these heavy and fast rods would pack quite a punch for a purely kinetic weapon, being able to penetrate today’s nuclear bunkers.

Unlike conventional weapons, these hypervelocity rods would be almost impossible to intercept, could be launched with minimal risk of detection, and would take only a few minutes to hit their target, assuming a sufficient number of rod-launching satellites in orbit.

Since it is clear that warfare of the future will be ever more reliant on space, the major powers have all invested in anti-satellite weapons. The US, China, Russia, and India have all demonstrated the ability to shoot down their own satellites.

If a serious war broke out between space-faring nations, a lot of satellites would quickly get disabled. This could lead to reduced reconnaissance capabilities, loss of positioning services, and shorter missile warning times. Because attacks on satellites generate debris, there could be a chain reaction where one satellite’s debris takes out other satellites. Access to low Earth orbit could be temporarily disabled.

To protect against anti-satellite weapons, we must invest in new, “proliferated” architectures. Today’s satellites are juicy military targets. But if we used large constellations instead of single spacecraft to provide critical services, our capabilities would be more likely to survive first contact with the enemy.

In addition, we must invest in more maneuverable, evasive satellites as well as satellites that are capable of operating in ultra-low Earth orbit (between 200 to 300 km of altitude), where debris is swept away by drag in a matter of days and images have the sharpest resolution.

Enriching science

Space investment is worthwhile for pure scientific knowledge, even in the absence of any immediate practical benefit. If you love science, if you believe in science, if you think science is in any way beneficial, you should embrace space investments. We would not be as scientifically advanced as we are today if not for space.

If you care about Earth’s climate, I have news for you: Our best data on how the climate is changing comes from space

“We have this GOES [Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite] series of satellites [that] dates back to the 1970s,” says NOAA scientist Jordan Gerth. “And so, by continuing to watch geostationary satellites, we’re now getting to the point where we can have a very robust, nearly 50-year look at how the atmosphere is changing.” 17 Chelsea Gohd, “Satellites Are Critical to Fighting the Climate Crisis, Scientists Say,” Space.com, March 4, 2022, https://www.space.com/ipcc-report-climate-change-space-satellites-goest .

Newer, high-resolution imaging and Earth sensing satellites help us understand and control for effects like urban heat islands and land-use changes.

It’s not just today’s Earth that space can help us to understand. By modeling the Solar System with empirical data collected from both astronomical observatories and space probes, we can help understand Earth’s deep past. For example, we know that when Earth first formed, it was too hot to sustain oceans. Scientists don’t know for certain where the oceans came from.

Isaac Newton speculated that they were made from the tails of comets. For a while, the leading theory has been that the oceans formed from hydrated minerals deep in the Earth’s mantle. But recent evidence suggests that some or all of the water that forms the ocean was brought via collisions with asteroids or planetesimals, perhaps even in the collision that may have resulted in the ejection of the moon from Earth’s mass. 18 Gerrit Budde, Christoph Burkhardt, and Thorsten Kleine, “Molybdenum Isotopic Evidence for the Late Accretion of Outer Solar System Material to Earth,” Nature Astronomy 3, no. 8 (August 2019): 736–41, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0779-y .

Measurements from the NASA Dawn spacecraft tell us that as much as 30 percent of the mass of Ceres, the largest known asteroid, is water. As astrophysicist Martin Elvis notes in his book Asteroids , it would take only five Ceres-like asteroids to bring all of the ocean’s water to Earth. 19 Martin Elvis, Asteroids: How Love, Fear, and Greed Will Determine Our Future in Space,  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press (2021). The next time you are standing on a seashore gazing out over the water, consider that all you see may have originated in space.

While astronomy can be carried out on Earth, we can get a better picture of the universe using space telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope, for example, has not only captured stunning images of other galaxies, it has provided our most accurate estimate of the age of the universe so far. 20 Karl Hille, ed., “Hubble Space Telescope Images,”NASA.gov, August 5, 2020, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/index.html .

The James Webb Space Telescope, which is on the cusp of beginning operations, will capture photons traveling from the first stars and undoubtedly make many new discoveries. As I argued in Works in Progress , the holy grail of astronomy is a lunar telescope array, one that benefits from being located outside of our atmosphere while also being able to combine signals from multiple instruments like the arrays on Earth do. 21 Eli Dourado, “Seeing on the Far Side of the Moon,” Works in Progress (blog), October 19, 2020, https://www.worksinprogress.co/issue/seeing-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon/ .

Such an array could prove or disprove theories of dark matter while also searching exoplanets for signs of life.

Speaking of life, it is possible that life on Earth originated out there. We know that microbial life appeared on Earth almost immediately after the end of what’s known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, a period when a disproportionally large number of asteroids collided with the Solar System’s inner planets. One of these asteroids may have brought with it the ingredients for life or even live single-celled organisms.

Additional evidence for this, aside from the suspicious timing, comes from the fact that interstellar space is littered with a wide variety of organic molecules. 22 “List of Interstellar and Circumstellar Molecules,” in Wikipedia , June 6, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_interstellar_and_circumstellar_molecules&oldid=1091796864 . In 2003, glycine, an amino acid , was found in interstellar space. 23 Yi-Jehng Kuan, Steven B. Charnley, Hui-Chun Huang, Wei-LingTseng, and Zbigniew Kisiel, “Interstellar Glycine,” The Astrophysical Journal 593, no. 2 (August 20, 2003): 848, https://doi.org/10.1086/375637 . On June 6, 2022, Japan announced that it had detected more than 20 amino acids in an asteroid sample. 24 “Amino Acids Found in Asteroid Samples Collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 Probe,” Kyodo News , June 6, 2022, https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/06/9a7dbced6c3a-amino-acids-found-in-asteroid-samples-collected-by-hayabusa2-probe.html . This was the first asteroid sample larger than a few micrograms of dust, so it means the first time we really looked, amino acids were there.

The biggest molecules we have found in the interstellar medium are buckminsterfullerene, C 60 and its relative C 70 fullerene. These soccer and rugby ball-shaped molecules are rare on Earth.

Buckminsterfullerene was first theorized in the late 1960s and first generated in 1984. They have been detected in both neutral and ionized forms by the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, respectively. Their signatures are not detectable from Earth-bound observatories because they are blocked by moisture in the atmosphere.

“Our confirmation of C 60 + shows just how complex astrochemistry can get, even in the lowest density, most strongly ultraviolet-irradiated environments in the Galaxy,” said astrochemist Martin Cordiner, part of the team that used Hubble to detect ionized buckminsterfullerene. 25 Bill Steigerwald, “Hubble Finds Tiny ‘Electric Soccer Balls’ in Space,” NASA.gov, June 18, 2019, http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/soccer-balls-in-space .

And finally, space is the only place you can do physics with really high energies. The universe is home to unbelievably extreme conditions—in black holes, neutron stars, exploding supernovae, and the relativistically moving jets that occur when matter near the edge of a supermassive black hole is flung out into the cosmos at high fractions of the speed of light. 26 “Astrophysical Jet,” in Wikipedia , June 10, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Astrophysical_jet&oldid=1092482062 . High-energy astrophysics is thriving due to improvements in ground- and space-based instruments that let us observe matter at the extreme densities and other conditions that only occur in space. If we ever “solve” physics, it will be in large part because of continued investment in advanced space observatories.

From fundamental laws of physics to the origin of the universe to the origin of life to the near-inevitability of non-terrestrial life—there is plenty of science left to be done in space.

The final reason for continued investment in space—and for me, the clincher—is the need for a frontier. Human institutions develop rigidity and rot over time, and they must be renewed by striking out into new terrain and rebuilding. It’s even better if the new outpost of civilization is fraught with peril.

Our greatest advancements have come when the stakes are high and lives are on the line. There is a clarity of purpose when settlers face a life-or-death struggle. While I am grateful that modern life is safe and cushy, our society has lost the urgency that comes from a challenge to survive.

Some have suggested that there is no need to colonize Mars when Earth’s oceans, Antarctica, or even the Utah desert are unexplored and desolate. They are much closer. Yet even if these underexploited terrestrial resources are far cheaper to get to, that is part of the problem. We are not going to send scientists to Antarctica and withhold life-saving interventions from them if they become necessary, and consequently such a mission would not really embody any hope of providing institutional renewal.

On Mars, help might be two years away. The first Martian settlers will likely rely on resupply missions from Earth every two years, but if something goes wrong in between shipments, there’s no way to get emergency parts or medical supplies. The Martians will have email contact with Earth, but for the most part, they will be on their own. They will need a survival paranoia—an overriding attention to the problems that could snuff out the life of their fragile colony. In many cases, it will be innovate or die.

The ability to commit at will to an innovate-or-die outcome is something we have lost in Earthly life. We still face crises that test our mettle from time to time. We innovated our way through World War II and, to a lesser degree, the COVID crisis forced the commercialization of mRNA technology. 27 Eli Dourado, “Crises are Times of Non-Complacency,” The Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University, May 11, 2021, https://www.thecgo.org/benchmark/crises-are-times-of-non-complacency/ . But these crises come stochastically, and not because we choose them—nor would we ever choose them. Only in human space exploration can we credibly (given the high value we place on human life) put people in such precarious vulnerability for years on end.

The frontier of space is different from any Earthly endeavor also in its physical extent. Once we conquer Mars, there is the asteroid belt. The moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Maybe we can terraform Venus. If someday we have mastered the resources of the Solar System, we may have the technology to go beyond it.

In contrast, the pseudo-frontiers of Earth, such as the ocean, are one-and-done. Once we master the ocean (which we should do in any case), there’s no obvious next step.

If a genuine frontier is indispensable for the health of human institutions, then there is no choice but to expand outwards. Perhaps we could delay our expansion into space for a short time while we build new cities in the Utah desert, but at some point, very soon, we would run out of expansionary challenges on Earth. Then our only option would be to take a leap into space.

It’s very unlikely that our species, on a civilizational timescale, will regret going into space. The resources of the Milky Way are unbelievably vast. It’s extreme parochialism to think Earth is all that matters. But even in the shorter run, the frontier of space will have salutary effects on our culture and rate of innovation.

It’s time to take our place in the cosmos.

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Why Space Exploration is Important to the United States

A version of this essay was first presented at the National Society of Black Engineer's Annual Conference luncheon in Pittsburgh, PA this past April.

One of the hardest questions that is often asked of us rocket scientists is "why is  space exploration  important?" Even JFK tried to answer this question many years ago. He said, "But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why...fly (across) the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?"

Well, we may never have a good answer for why Rice plays Texas.

What kind of space program should we foster and what to do next with it remains a recurring question. One could argue that this is because we in the aerospace community have yet to articulate a satisfying answer. We talk about the survival of our species, about being made of the stuff of stars, about the romance of exploration. And we talk about spin-offs.

Yet I don't think the answer revolves around Teflon, Velcro, and Tang.

It is a fact that the general public overwhelmingly supports the space program. Excitement was initially generated by daring feats of heroism undertaken by the astronauts. We have since added to that support with the awe-inspiring pictures returned by the "right-stuff robots:" the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars. Everyone believes that space exploration is a good thing, even if we can't fully explain why. Americans are incredibly forward leaning when it comes to funding journeys of discovery and we are mostly happy with the results.

Historically, it has been the role of the federal government, when confronted with promising frontier territory, to take a leading role in the development of the infrastructure facilitating expansion into that territory. Whether it was the establishment of an outpost at Ft. Dodge, the construction of navaids across the country to support Air Mail service, or the interstate highway system, Uncle Sam was there to pave the way. Of course, much of that infrastructure also helped to establish the mechanisms for stimulating local economies. Without modern transportation systems, governance and economic opportunities would have expanded much more slowly across our great land.

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Clearly, some kind of infrastructure will also be required to expand into the space frontier and to accrue any benefits it may have to offer. Where exactly are the suspected profits to be had from space? Sure, we have profitable communications satellites pushing television signals to cell phones in some parts of the world. While commercial and market-driven, space tourism is more exploitation than commerce, in the general sense of the word. The answer to the profits question is that we just don't know yet. Following the development of an infrastructure to access the frontier, discoveries will be made. Commerce comes after discovery.

And then what will happen after we make those inevitable discoveries? Analogy may help us here. What has become of those early frontiers opened by Columbus and fellow explorers like Lewis and Clark? Look around! Most of our country's over-the-horizon frontiers are now covered with parking lots.

That's right, parking lots.

Shopping mall parking lots.

Filled with cars. Cars driven by real people, with real jobs, paying taxes for the parks that our kids play in, paying for our national security, and fixing the damage caused by Rita and Katrina.

So after we have the infrastructure to reliably get off the planet, we will make those inevitable discoveries on the moon. And those discoveries will be closely followed by opportunities for commerce. And more parking lots.

And maybe a pub or two.

In the old west, the hub of activity in frontier towns really was the saloon. Tomorrow, the lowly pub may once again help foster a burgeoning economy in some far away places. Imagine you're one of those future explorers or perhaps a space tourist coming into Lembeck's Pub on the moon. You put your five "lunars" on the bar and I'll pour you one of the finest Tang Mimosas this side of the Pleiades. Eventually, I'll need to clean my bar. I'll take two of those lunars down to the Sea of Tranquility Grocery to buy some paper towels. The kid stocking the shelves there will take one of those lunars and go see Jennifer Aniston's daughter in a movie at the theater next door. You get the idea. The moon becomes a place to send goods from earth. A trading post. An economy will be built. And wherever trade occurs among dissimilar cultures, security is enhanced.

We can begin to tie together the existence of infrastructure to discovery, to commerce, to tourism, and maybe even to national security. All with one big bow.

Look up. We recently celebrated five years of continuous presence in low earth orbit on the International Space Station. Our former enemies are now our friends and, indeed, room mates on ISS. We continue to plan a build-out of the international components of the space station in order to meet our international partner commitments. We have already dismantled some of the missiles pointed at each other. Rival has become comrade.

And a couple of tourists have already shown up.

Now look east. Have the Chinese learned from their history of looking inward, wrapping their borders with the Great Wall? Are they now looking outward to reproduce the successes we have enjoyed over the past 200 years? In the 1400's, they owned the resources to explore globally but chose to use their fleets to protect their borders, not sail past them. Are we now going to turn our backs and let them take the mantle we have carried proudly for the past 40 years?

Our first exploratory steps into the New World, the Wild West, and indeed 62 miles up were motivated by security concerns, an expression of national pride, and a desire to profit from developing markets. Exploration and discovery almost always lead the transformation of seemingly uninhabitable places into engines of enterprise, commerce, and sustainable growth. When the President gave us the Vision for Space Exploration, his stated fundamental goal was to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program. When we go to the moon, and visit Lembeck's Pub and celebrate our latest discoveries, we reduce tensions with our neighbors, and we generate new resources in the form of capital required to tackle the pressing issues back home.

So maybe space exploration is important because of Teflon, Velcro, and Tang after all. But not because they are rightly or wrongly identified as spin-offs from the space program. Tomorrow, new Teflons, Velcros, and Tangs will follow along with the other new discoveries enabled by NASA's transportation infrastructure. And they will ultimately be important because we can sell them.

And protect our country with them.

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Michael F. Lembeck is the Director for Northrop Grumman's Space Exploration Systems Houston Operations. Lembeck joined Northrop Grumman after serving as the Requirements Division Director for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and participated in the development of the nation's Vision for Space Exploration.

NOTE: The views of this article are the author's and do not reflect the policies of the National Space Society.

Visit SPACE.com/Ad Astra Online for more news, views and scientific inquiry from the National Space Society.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

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Why are Space Scientists so Interested in Black Holes?

“By looking at black holes, we can learn something about the evolution of galaxies"

The work of two professors at NYU Abu Dhabi, Associate Professor of Physics Ingyin Zaw and Assistant Professor of Physics David Russell , is on black holes and the role these massive yet obscure objects play in the formation of galaxies.

Black holes have such dense masses that not even light can escape their gravitational pull, which means that they are essentially invisible. Zaw’s focus is on supermassive black holes, which are hundreds of thousands to billions of times more massive than the Sun and can be found at the center of “every normal galaxy,” she said.

Research in the field has shown there is a correlation between the mass of a black hole and the mass of the surrounding galaxy, which indicates that black holes and galaxies may co-evolve, Zaw explained. But there are cases where the masses of the two bodies don’t correlate, and these are interesting sites for analysis.

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For example, there are a few dwarf galaxies — which, as their name suggests, are much smaller than normal galaxies — that host large black holes that are much more likely to be found in bigger galaxies. Zaw is directing some of her current research to this subset of objects.

To analyze the black holes, Zaw looks at maser emissions, which are like lasers, but instead of being in the visible light spectrum, they exist in the radio spectrum. “Masers are emitted by clouds of water vapor that orbit black holes, and by analyzing them, we can measure the mass of a black hole very well,” she said. Indeed, she explained, analysis of maser emissions is the best method for studying distant black holes that lie outside of our galaxy, as it provides researchers with a high level of accuracy about the mass of the black hole and the surrounding galaxy.

“By looking at black holes, we can learn something about the evolution of galaxies and especially about the evolution of dwarf galaxies,” and perhaps even about the beginning of the universe, Zaw explained. “These galaxies should act more like the galaxies that were present earlier in the universe closer to the Big Bang.”

Russell is interested to learn how many black holes exist in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and how these black holes influence their surroundings.

“We can’t see a black hole itself,” he explained, “but we can spot it when there is a star close by, so I typically analyze these binary systems where there is a star orbiting a black hole.”

Though it was once thought that matter that begins its descent to a black hole was doomed to fall into the void, but “it turns out that some of the matter that gets sucked towards a black hole doesn’t fall in, but ends up getting spewed out in two jets that travel close to the speed of light,” Russell said.

He and his colleagues are trying to understand how much energy and matter these jets contain and how the jets affect surrounding material. “These jets can blow holes through a galaxy and prevent star formation,” he noted, “and in the early universe, we think that this may have played a role in regulating the rate at which early galaxies were formed.”

We know from Einstein’s general theory of relativity that when you get close to a compact object like a black hole, space-time itself is being dragged around the black hole as it spins. So far, our observations fit Einstein’s theory, but we need to understand this in a better way. David Russell, assistant professor of physics

Russell has collaborated recently with the Al Sadeem observatory in Al Wathba, which is run by Thabet Al Qaissieh, to observe a nearby black hole, named MAXI J1820+070, that experiences outbursts of light. Students and postdoctoral researchers in Russell's group at NYUAD are analyzing those observations trying to determine how these outbursts affect the gas that surrounds the black hole.

“We take a series of observations over a period of 30 minutes and see how much the light flickers in that time,” he explained. “We are working to understand what causes the flickering and we’re trying to correlate the flickering in the visible light spectrum with different wavelengths and understand the inflow and outflow” of matter.

One motivation for studying black holes, Russell added, is to understand how matter behaves in extremely strong gravitational fields. “In space, there are high energies that we can’t probe on Earth by recreating them in an instrument,” he said. “We know from Einstein’s general theory of relativity that when you get close to a compact object like a black hole, space-time itself is being dragged around the black hole as it spins. So far, our observations fit Einstein’s theory, but we need to understand this in a better way.”

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Space Industry Expert: How and Why to Pursue a Space Career

D o you look up at the night sky, marvel at rocket launches, find spacecraft endlessly fascinating, or simply seek greater frontiers to explore? If so, then space may be the right career for you. As we expand our collective efforts to explore space, the number and range of job opportunities — globally — is growing at a fast clip with increasing diversity across the space sector.

The space industry is almost as vast and promising as the celestial bodies and events upon which it is centered. Whether you're interested in studying planetary phenomena, constructing advanced observatories, conducting experiments in microgravity, looking for extraterrestrial life, or personally venturing into space on exploratory missions, the space field offers countless opportunities for you. Better yet, the space industry is growing, with sectors like aerospace engineering , astronomy-based physics , and operations technology all exhibiting above-average job outlook projections in the coming years.

You may wonder how to bring such ambitious goals to fruition. Luckily, thanks to the industry's range of employment pathways, a space-related job is more than tangible with the right preparations.

Reasons to Enter the Field

Motivation for entering the space field will hinge on your unique interests, skills, and professional aspirations. These ambitions should revolve around an overarching desire to innovate and push boundaries — these values are the lifeblood of a far-reaching, fruitful industry.

Broadly speaking, reasons to join the space field may include:

• Innovation and Advancement

The space industry is a hotbed of innovation, regularly producing and implementing cutting-edge technologies, which can be vital for understanding space, bolstering applicable research, and monitoring and safeguarding our planet. A career in space allows you to continually learn and apply new skills, foster personal growth, and revolutionize an already dynamic field.

• Collaboration, Diversity, and Inspiration

Space exploration increasingly involves worldwide cooperation, promoting diversity and public/private sector collaboration. Engaging with people from around the world can enhance your cultural awareness and communication skills. Given expanded access to all sectors of society also affords women, persons of color, LGBTQ+, and disabled individuals greater opportunities to play important roles. What's more, your work may inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.

• Economic Growth

The space industry is a significant driver of economic growth, offering job opportunities, promoting entrepreneurial ventures, and supporting integration and growth in related sectors like aerospace and satellite communication. Participation in the industry spurs its substantial infrastructural investments to stimulate local economies and create educational and training-based programs to prepare future workforces. Contrary to the old notion of 'spending money in space and not on Earth,' every paycheck to every person in the space sector is on Earth (with the exception of the few people who live in space, of course).

The Path to a Space Career

Obtaining a career in the space industry requires a strategic, personalized approach. You should start by establishing an educational foundation informed by your underlying interest in the field. Go with your passions. In most cases, this will manifest as a bachelor's degree in a related concentration like aerospace engineering, astrophysics, computer science, or biomedicine. Beyond this point, a master's or doctorate degree can augment your skills en route to more specialized roles in research and development.

Along the way, consider engaging in internships or co-op programs with space-related organizations. These opportunities provide practical experiences and professional connections that can prove invaluable later. As the space sector continues to expand, construction and operations degrees will be needed — both for launch facilities on Earth and for settlements on other worlds.

Networking is always important. Attending industry conferences, seminars, and workshops can help you connect with professionals and learn about industry developments. Grabbing speakers in the hallway after a presentation or at a reception is often a great way to get advice and possibly internships. Meanwhile, space-related clubs or organizations — both on and off-campus — can also broaden your professional network and boost your foundational experience.

As you approach graduation, start researching potential employers. Major players like NASA , SpaceX , Boeing, and Lockheed Martin are well-known but don't overlook smaller, innovative startups. In the past decade, the number of start-ups has blossomed. Center your resume and cover letter on relevant skills and experiences. From here, you should begin applying and interviewing for positions, which can be highly competitive. To increase your chances of employment, be sure to highlight your passions for space research, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability skills during interviews — and be prepared to demonstrate your technical knowledge and problem-solving skills. Practicing with friends and mentors is a good way to get ready for those interviews.

Even after you land a job, you should remain open to ongoing education and development opportunities. Always improving and expanding your skill set can help you stay updated on revolving trends and paradigm shifts in an ever-changing sector. Consider pursuing certifications, attending workshops, and seeking mentorship from seasoned professionals.

Above all, stay committed to your inherent goals and values in becoming a space professional. Don't take no for an answer — most astronauts have applied multiple times as have students seeking doctoral and post-doctoral positions. The disappointments may get you down but persistence can make you stronger.

While the process of obtaining space sector employment is far from simple or easy, the rewards greatly outweigh the challenges. Through perseverance and undying vision, you can give yourself the best chance of making a positive impact on this timelessly relevant field.

Unlike nearly every other job available, there is no limit to what we can explore in space! And there is a job waiting for you. You just need to decide to go find it.

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Q&A: The World’s First Science Park in Space With Jeffrey Manber

Given the increasing maturity of the LEO ecosystem Nanoracks is ready to take the next step in driving LEO utilization operations. After intensive investigation and discussion with industry experts, Nanoracks is delighted to announce that the company’s collection of hardware on the International Space Station will henceforth be operated as a Science Park. A Science Park is a well-known business model that brings together companies and organizations in a shared endeavor.

Nanoracks is thrilled to announce that the Science Park will be named for the great American agriculture scientist, Dr. George Washington Carver.

Please enjoy this Q&A with Jeffrey Manber on why Nanoracks chose to organize as a Science Park, the meaning behind the name, and what this means for the future of commercial in-space research.

Q: Why a Science Park?

A: For the past several years Nanoracks has extensively researched and documented how Science Parks create value for their members and foster an environment in which business operations and research thrive. It is a known model which provides a pathway from research to the marketplace.

We benefited greatly by talking with officials, and becoming a member of, the International Association of Science Parks (IASP).

As defined by IASP, a science park is an organization managed by specialized professionals, whose main aim is to increase the wealth of its community by promoting the culture of innovation and the competitiveness of its associated businesses and knowledge-based institutions. Science Parks stimulate and manage the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies, and markets; they facilitate the creation and growth of innovation-based companies through incubation and spin-off processes; and provide other value-added services together with high quality space and facilities.

The IASP brings together science parks from Iceland to Dulles, Virginia, from UAE to Ann Arbor Michigan.

Nanoracks could not imagine a more aligned mission. The GWC Science Park will conduct operations based on our lessons learned from over a decade on the ISS, combining them with the wisdom of seasoned science park operators, to create a seamless experience for all our customers aboard the ISS. Taken together, we will begin developing the systems, procedures, and metrics to facilitate additional capital, allow a more sophisticated dialog with NASA and CASIS, and ultimately, prepare for the coming era of commercial space stations.

Under the organizing entity of the GWC, Nanoracks will achieve greater commercial sustainability and a clearer organizational focus on space station utilization. A science park is a well-known terrestrial business model that brings together companies and organizations. Together, under one roof, there may be researchers working on grant-funded basic research and those undertaking commercial and applied activities such as high-speed computing for genetic research. Working near one another’s research both on the Earth and in space, and adhering to science park principals and metrics, as organized by the GWC, these scientists will have the opportunity to inform and inspire each other’s work.

Q: What services and hardware comprise the GWC Science Park?

A: The GWC Science Park offers a broad range of research activities and services. Starting with the smallest hardware, scientists can perform research on our MixStix hardware, graduating to more advanced research within the Nanolabs or our Science Box, all within the short sleeve environment inside the Station. Outside the ISS in the vacuum of space, researchers and businesses use our External Platform. The Science Park will also accommodate those wishing to deploy CubeSats from the Space Station for educational, research and technology demonstration purposes. The anchor of the Science Park is the Bishop Airlock, which permanently docked to the ISS in December 2020. Via the Airlock, a range of scaled-up research applications and commercial services are possible.

All told, the GWC Science Park will continue the extraordinary history of Nanoracks, which has conducted over 1,300 experiments on and inside the ISS and deployed nearly 300 satellites. Our customers range from space agencies to high schools, from established companies to start-ups, from all around the United States and 30 countries.

Nanoracks’ Mission Control Room, the “Bridge”, and a broad range of on mission-enabling ground services offered as part of the payload flight experience, make up a key part of the infrastructure enabling customers’ research.

Q: How does the Science Park change Nanoracks’ working relationships with NASA, CASIS, and commercial customers?

There is no change to Nanoracks relationship with NASA, as we are guided by multiple established Space Act Agreements. Nanoracks and CASIS, the NGO which operates the US National Lab on the ISS, have a strong and close relationship coordinating Nanoracks’ payloads, crew time and other ISS resources which will be maintained in the service of all future customers.

The primary change will be for Nanoracks’ customers, both the researchers and for R&D executives, putting ISS activities closer to a known research model. We’re streamlining procedures and providing access to a global network.

Q: Why is it named for George Washington Carver?

My father, a writer, landed an assignment to write a book about George Washington Carver. Even though I was young, I clearly remember him on the phone interviewing people, taking trips and then sitting at the typewriter writing his manuscript. At dinner, I remember stories about this remarkable man, born into slavery, who pursued his dream of agricultural research. Dr. Carver became the first Black man to earn a Bachelor of Science, and is credited with saving the Southern rural economy by introducing the peanut and soybean into the ecosystem after the fall of cotton production in post-Civil War America. Importantly, Dr. Carver is also credited with introducing the important concept of crop rotation. “Carver learned that years of growing cotton had depleted the nutrients from soil, resulting in low yields. But by growing nitrogen-fixing plants like peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes, the soil could be restored, allowing yield to increase dramatically when the land was reverted to cotton use a few years later In all, Dr. Carver developed more than 300 food, industrial and commercial products from peanuts, including milk, Worcestershire sauce, cooking oils and salad oil, paper, cosmetics, soaps and wood stains. He also experimented with peanut-based medicines, such as antiseptics, laxatives and goiter medications. Many of these discoveries remained as curiosities, with widespread applications to come by predecessors.”

In thinking about naming the Science Park, and as we began our efforts to undertake AgTech research in the space environment three years ago, I immediately thought of Carver. I pulled down a copy of the book and was, honestly, blown away by the opening and closing pages. Allow me to share with you words from Wizard of Tuskegee, the Life of George Washington Carver:

 “ The noise is awesome and the excitement is electric as the huge slender rocket rises majestically to meet its destiny in outer space. It is a dramatic moment for mankind; a triumph for science. Yet the irony remains: in his bold leap to the stars, man must rely on synthetic substances whose origins can be traced to the humble farm. The truth is that synthetics play an important role in space flights, as well as in our daily lives. We have learned to accept synthetics as blandly as we now accept space satellites, miracle drugs and television. This was not always the case…rocket flight would have made the old Planet Doctor smile in delight. As the silver rocket roared into limitless space, a product of synthetics, he might well have marveled at how far we have come, reaching for the stars with the help of his plants.”1

I had truly forgotten that my father had weaved together the AgTech research of Dr. Carver with that of the new Space Age. How much did this influence me as a young teenager? Whatever the answer, it made the decision to name the world’s first in-space science park after this great scientist an easy one. This is a powerful way for our community to honor and continue Dr. Carver’s research.

And as always with Nanoracks, the GWC Science Park will emphasize space education and engaging students across the world in the wonders of space research and exploration.With a name as powerful as George Washington Carver’s,  we must, and will, meet the challenge of focusing on equitable and inclusive access to the next generation. We are always open to new ideas and creative solutions and welcome our community to engage with us along the way.

Q: What’s Next?

A: In the coming months we will be announcing a host of new hardware, management, and operational partners to the Science Park. We will assure that this first-ever science park in space is as robust as the scientists, innovators, and dreamers on Earth’s science parks could possibly expect of the best terrestrial science parks.

Q: Any Final Thoughts?

A: The common thread of space utilization has always been the stuff of dreams, whether those of a PhD researcher working to produce breakthroughs in materials structures, an industry team fabricating ultra-thin fiber optics, or high-school students designing experiments with their classmates and realizing the wonders present in the absence of gravity. In 2021 we live in a time of transformation and now more than ever need to assure this common thread endures in a manner that inspires and engages the next generation.

The George Washington Carver Science Park, whether on the ISS or future privately-owned space stations, will meet the most exacting industrial demands while serving as the latest spool of thread weaving our common dream of the space frontier together.

[1] https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/george-washington-carver

Why do metaphors of space help us understand time?

CNRS Postdoctoral Researcher, laboratoire Dynamique Du Langage (DDL-Lyon) / Investigadora Posdoctoral-Fundación Séneca, Lingüística Cognitiva, Universidad de Murcia

Disclosure statement

Rosa Illán Castillo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Universidad de Murcia provides funding as a member of The Conversation ES.

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Expressions linking space to time are a common part of our day to day lives. You might say the morning “flew by”, or that school exams are “fast approaching”. Right now, you might say summer is “just around the corner”, while anyone with the vaguest awareness of Game of Thrones will have heard the phrase “winter is coming”.

Unlike the physical space we inhabit, time cannot be seen or touched, though it structures every moment of our waking lives.

How, then, did humans come to talk so effortlessly about such a nebulous, abstract concept? The key lies in the way we project our understanding of space – the tangible dimensions we can interact with – to conceptualise time.

Understanding the world through metaphor

Explorations of how humans conceptualise time as space are tied closely to the study of language and cognition. Conceptual Metaphor Theory, developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson , proposes that our conception of the world is governed by metaphors, many of them anchored in the three dimensions of physical space.

Metaphors play an essential role in human reasoning, influencing how we talk about and comprehend abstract ideas. We use our awareness of space and movement as a domain in which we can better understand more complex concepts such as time.

Therefore, when we say a meeting is being “moved forwards”, we visualise time as an element that moves, and in which we move, reflecting our tendency to interpret abstract ideas through physical experience.

Different cultures, different understandings of time

The idea of linguistic relativity , originally put forward by Benjamin Whorf and Edward Sapir, suggests that the language we speak determines how we interpret the world around us.

Studies have shown that different cultures and languages do not all perceive time in the same way. In English, for example, we talk about future events as being in front of us – one might say we “have a bright future ahead” – while the past is, as per the popular expression , behind us.

However, the Aymara, an indigenous people of South America, see things the other war round . They place the past ahead, as it is already seen and therefore known, while the future is behind, because it cannot be seen, and is yet to be known.

In other languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, time is visualised as a vertical axis : events in the past are “above” while events in the past are “beneath”. “Last month” (上个月–) therefore translates literally as “the month above”.

In many Western cultures, where text runs from left to right, there is a natural tendency to associate leftward movement with the past, and rightward movement with the future . This is not only reflected on paper – when drawing historical timelines, for example – but also in the gestures we make when speaking about past or future events : speakers of languages read from left to right tend to gesture to the left when talking about the past, and to the right when talking about the future.

However, this is far from universal. In cultures that write from right to left, such as in Arabic or Hebrew, such gestures are often inverted : while a Spanish or English speaker would gesture to the left to talk about the past, an Arabic or Hebrew speaker would point to the right.

Two perspectives on navigating time

Metaphors of time can be divided into “ego moving” and “time moving” , and this distinction illustrates the different ways of perceiving the relationship between space and time. In “ego moving” metaphors, a person moves towards a fixed point in time, for example, “we’re getting close to summer”. In “time moving” metaphors, time instead moves towards the individual – “Summer is nearly here”.

A number of factors influence whether we use one type of metaphor or another. These include language structure, cultural perspectives towards an action or destination, and even a person’s emotional state. For example, in positive situations, or when speakers feel in control, they may prefer “ego moving” metaphors (“We are approaching the holidays”). When someone feels they have less control, or if the future seems to impose itself on the present, “time moving” metaphors (“Exams are coming up”) may predominate instead.

Time in motion

When analysing the spatial understanding of time, one particularly interesting linguistic phenomenon stands out: verbs of movement to describe the passage of time . Verbs like “progress”, “approach” or even “pass” are common examples.

The use of particular verbs to describe the passage of time may reflect our subjective perception of it. For example, when we say “time flies”, we know it refers to a pleasant situation. Happy moments often feel fleeting, so the verb “fly” represents an experience of joy or fun.

In contrast, when we are bored or waiting for something, we might say time “drags” to express tedium and slowness. In a lesson, for example, a student may feel that time “flies” or “drags”, depending on how interested they are in the subject, or how well it is being taught.

Read more: The frantic pace of modern life is damaging our sense of time, but nature can help us heal -- new study

This demonstrates how our emotions influence both our perception of time, and the way language can express our own subjective experiences of it.

Our choice of verbs not only communicates an objective fact, but also our emotional and psychological state: whether an event is “long” or “short” depends on how we feel about it. This demonstrates the interconnected nature of cognition, emotion and language in our perception of the passage of time.

These metaphors, and their uses, offer a fascinating window into human cognition. They reveal how language and thought relate to each other to make sense of temporal experience. Recognising and analysing these differences allows us to appreciate the richness and diversity of human thought. It also provides us with tools to explore how different cultures and languages approach one of humanity’s most abstract, yet universal, concepts.

This article was originally published in Spanish

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Money blog: Major free childcare change kicks in today as parents of younger children can now apply

From today, eligible parents of children from nine-months-old in England can register for 15 free hours of childcare per week. Read this and the rest of our Weekend Money features, and leave a comment, and we'll be back with rolling personal finance and consumer news on Monday.

Sunday 12 May 2024 11:59, UK

Weekend Money

• Free childcare applications open for new age band
• 'Loud budgeting': The money-saving trend that has nothing to do with giving up your daily coffee
• What is most in-demand period property?
• £12m tea advert, downsizing, £320 tasting menus and job interview mistakes: What readers have said this week
• Where has huge week for UK economy left us?

Best of the week

• How to avoid a holiday data roaming charge (while still using the internet)
• Mortgage rates up again this week - here are the best deals on the market
• My daughter discovered undeclared £600 management fee after buying her flat - can we complain?
• Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

From Sunday, eligible working parents of children from nine-months-old in England will be able to register for access to up to 15 free hours of government-funded childcare per week.

This will then be granted from September. 

Check if you're eligible  here  - or read on for our explainer on free childcare across the UK.

Three and four year olds

In England, all parents of children aged three and four in England can claim 15 hours of free childcare per week, for 1,140 hours (38 weeks) a year, at an approved provider.

This is a universal offer open to all.

It can be extended to 30 hours where both parents (or the sole parent) are in work, earn the weekly minimum equivalent of 16 hours at the national minimum or living wage, and have an income of less than £100,000 per year.

Two year olds

Previously, only parents in receipt of certain benefits were eligible for 15 hours of free childcare.

But, as of last month, this was extended to working parents.

This is not a universal offer, however.

A working parent must earn more than £8,670 but less than £100,000 per year. For couples, the rule applies to both parents.

Nine months old

In September, this same 15-hour offer will be extended to working parents of children aged from nine months. From 12 May, those whose children will be at least nine months old on 31 August can apply to received the 15 hours of care from September.

From September 2025

The final change to the childcare offer in England will be rolled out in September 2025, when eligible working parents of all children under the age of five will be able to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week.

In some areas of Wales, the Flying Start early years programme offers 12.5 hours of free childcare for 39 weeks, for eligible children aged two to three. The scheme is based on your postcode area, though it is currently being expanded.

All three and four-year-olds are entitled to free early education of 10 hours per week in approved settings during term time under the Welsh government's childcare offer.

Some children of this age are entitled to up to 30 hours per week of free early education and childcare over 48 weeks of the year. The hours can be split - but at least 10 need to be used on early education.

To qualify for this, each parent must earn less than £100,000 per year, be employed and earn at least the equivalent of working 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage, or be enrolled on an undergraduate, postgraduate or further education course that is at least 10 weeks in length.

All three and four-year-olds living in Scotland are entitled to at least 1,140 hours per year of free childcare, with no work or earnings requirements for parents. 

This is usually taken as 30 hours per week over term time (38 weeks), though each provider will have their own approach.

Some households can claim free childcare for two-year-olds. To be eligible you have to be claiming certain benefits such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit, or have a child that is in the care of their local council or living with you under a guardianship order or kinship care order.

Northern Ireland

There is no scheme for free childcare in Northern Ireland. Some other limited support is available.

Working parents can access support from UK-wide schemes such as tax credits, Universal Credit, childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare.

Aside from this, all parents of children aged three or four can apply for at least 12.5 hours a week of funded pre-school education during term time. But over 90% of three-year-olds have a funded pre-school place - and of course this is different to childcare.

What other help could I be eligible for?

Tax-free childcare  - Working parents in the UK can claim up to £500 every three months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of their children to help with childcare costs. 

If the child is disabled, the amount goes up to £1,000 every three months (up to £4,000 a year).

To claim the benefit, parents will need to open a tax-free childcare account online. For every 80p paid into the account, the government will top it up by 20p.

The scheme is available until the September after the child turns 11.

Universal credit  - Working families on universal credit can claim back up to 85% of their monthly childcare costs, as long as the care is paid for upfront. The most you can claim per month is £951 for one child or £1,630 for two or more children.

Tax credits -  People claiming working tax credit can get up to 70% of what they pay for childcare if their costs are no more than £175 per week for one child or £300 per work for multiple children.

By Jess Sharp , Money team 

Money saving trends are constantly popping up on social media - but one in particular has been gaining huge amounts of attention.

Created accidentally by a comedian, loud budgeting is breaking down the taboo of speaking about money.

The idea is based on being firmer/more vocal about your financial boundaries in social situations and setting out what you are happy to spend your money on, instead of "Keeping up with the Joneses". 

On TikTok alone, videos published under the hashtag #loudbudgeting have garnered more than 30 million views - and that figure is continuing to climb. 

We spoke to Lukas Battle - the 26-year-old who unintentionally created the trend as part of a comedy sketch. 

Based in New York, he came up with the term in a skit about the "quiet luxury" hype, which had spread online in 2023 inspired by shows like Succession. 

The term was used for humble bragging about your wealth with expensive items that were subtle in their design - for example, Gwyneth Paltrow's  £3,900 moss green wool coat from The Row, which she wore during her ski resort trial...

"I was never a big fan of the quiet luxury trend, so I just kind of switched the words and wrote 'loud budgeting is in'. I'm tired of spending money and I don't want to pretend to be rich," Lukas said. 

"That's how it started and then the TikTok comments were just obsessed with that original idea." 

This was the first time he mentioned it...

Lukas explained that it wasn't about "being poor" but about not being afraid of sharing your financial limits and "what's profitable for you personally". 

"It's not 'skip a coffee a day and you'll become a millionaire'."

While talking money has been seen as rude or taboo, he said it's something his generation is more comfortable doing. 

"I've seen more debate around the topic and I think people are really intrigued and attracted by the idea," he said. 

"It's just focusing your spending and time on things you enjoy and cutting out the things you might feel pressured to spend your money on."  

He has incorporated loud budgeting into his own life, telling his friends "it's free to go outside" and opting for cheaper dinner alternatives.

"Having the terminology and knowing it's a trend helps people understand it and there's no awkward conversation around it," he said. 

The trend has been a big hit with so-called American "finfluencers", or "financial influencers", but people in the UK have started practising it as well. 

Mia Westrap has taken up loud budgeting by embarking on a no-buy year and sharing her finances with her 11.3k TikTok followers. 

Earning roughly £2,100 a month, she spends around £1,200 on essentials, like rent, petrol and car insurance, but limits what else she can purchase. 

Clothes, fizzy drinks, beauty treatments, makeup, dinners out and train tickets are just some things on her "red list". 

The 26-year-old PHD student first came across the idea back in 2017, but decided to take up the challenge this year after realising she was living "pay check to pay check". 

She said her "biggest fear" in the beginning was that her friends wouldn't understand what she was doing, but she found loud budgeting helped. 

"I'm still trying my best to just go along with what everyone wants to do but I just won't spend money while we do it and my friends don't mind that, we don't make a big deal out of it," she said. 

So far, she has been able to save £1,700, and she said talking openly about her money has been "really helpful". 

"There's no way I could have got this far if I wasn't baring my soul to the internet about the money I have spent. It has been a really motivating factor."

Financial expert John Webb said loud budgeting has the ability to help many "feel empowered" and create a "more realistic" relationship with money.

"This is helping to normalise having open and honest conversations about finances," the consumer affair manager at Experien said. 

"It can also reduce the anxiety some might have by keeping their financial worries to themselves." 

However, he warned it's important to be cautious and to take the reality of life into consideration. 

"It could cause troubles within friendship groups if they're not on the same page as you or have different financial goals," he said.

"This challenge isn't meant to stop you from having fun, but it is designed to help people become more conscious and intentional when it comes to money, and reduce the stigma around talking about it." 

Rightmove's keyword tool shows Victorian-era houses are the most commonly searched period properties, with people drawn to their ornate designs and features.

Georgian and Edwardian-style are second and third respectively, followed by Tudor properties. Regency ranked in fifth place.

Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister said: "Home hunters continue to be captivated by the character and charm of properties that we see in period dramas.

"Victorian homes remain particularly popular, characterised by their historic charm, solid construction, and spacious interiors. You'll often find Victorian houses in some of the most desirable locations which include convenient access to schools and transport links."

Throughout the week Money blog readers have shared their thoughts on the stories we've been covering, with the most correspondence coming in on...

• A hotly contested debate on the best brand of tea
• Downsizing homes
• The cost of Michelin-starred food

Job interview mistakes

On Wednesday we reported on a new £12m ad from PG Tips in response to it falling behind rivals such as Twinings, Yorkshire Tea and Tetley....

We had lots of comments like this...

How on earth was the PG Tips advert so expensive? I prefer Tetley tea, PG Tips is never strong enough flavour for me. Shellyleppard

The reason for the sales drop with PG Tips could be because they increased the price and reduced the quantity of bags from 240 to 180 - it's obvious. Royston

And then this question which we've tried to answer below...

Why have PG Tips changed from Pyramid shape tea bags, to a square? Sam

Last year PG Tips said it was changing to a square bag that left more room for leaves to infuse, as the bags wouldn't fold over themselves.

We reported on data showing how downsizing could save you money for retirement - more than £400,000, in some regions, by swapping four beds for two.

Some of our readers shared their experiences...

We are downsizing and moving South so it's costing us £100k extra for a smaller place, all money from retirement fund. AlanNorth

Interesting read about downsizing for retirement. We recently did this to have the means to retire early at 52. However, we bought a house in the south of France for the price of a flat in our town in West Sussex. Now living the dream! OliSarah

How much should we pay for food?

Executive chef at London's two-Michelin-starred Ikoyi, Jeremy Chan, raised eyebrows when he suggested to the Money blog that Britons don't pay enough for restaurant food.

Ikoyi, the 35th best restaurant in the world, charges £320 for its tasting menu. 

"I don't think people pay enough money for food, I think we charge too little, [but] we want to always be accessible to as many people as possible, we're always trying our best to do that," he said, in a piece about his restaurant's tie up with Uber Eats... 

We had this in... 

Are they serious? That is two weeks' worth of food shopping for me, if the rich can afford this "tasting menu" then they need to be taxed even more by the government, it's just crazy! Steve T

If the rate of pay is proportionate to the vastly overpriced costs of the double Michelin star menu, I would gladly peel quail eggs for four-hour stints over continuing to be abused as a UK supply teacher. AndrewWard

Does this two-star Michelin star chef live in the real world? Who gives a toss if he stands and peels his quails eggs for four hours, and he can get the best turbot from the fishmonger fresh on a daily basis? It doesn't justify the outrageous price he is charging for his tasting menu. Topaztraveller

Chefs do make me laugh, a steak is just a steak, they don't make the meat! They just cook it like the rest of us, but we eat out because we can't be bothered cooking! StevieGrah

Finally, many of you reacted to this feature on common mistakes in job interviews...

Those 10 biggest mistakes people make in interviews is the dumbest thing I've ever read. They expect all that and they'll be offering a £25k a year job. Why wouldn't I want to know about benefits and basic sick pay? And also a limp handshake? How's that relevant to how you work? Jre90

Others brought their own tips...

Whenever I go for an interview I stick to three points: 1. Be yourself 2. Own the interview 3. Wear the clothes that match the job you are applying Kevin James Blakey

Two big economic moments dominated the news agenda in Money this week - interest rates and GDP.

As expected, the Bank of England held the base rate at 5.25% on Wednesday - but a shift in language was instructive about what may happen next.

Bank governor Andrew Bailey opened the door to a summer cut to 5%, telling reporters that an easing of rates at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 20 June was neither ruled out nor a fait accompli.

More surprisingly, he suggested that rate cuts, when they start, could go deeper "than currently priced into market rates".

He refused to be drawn on what that path might look like - but markets had thought rates could bottom out at 4.5% or 4.75% this year, and potentially 3.5% or 4% next.

"To make sure that inflation stays around the 2% target - that inflation will neither be too high nor too low - it's likely that we will need to cut Bank rate over the coming quarters and make monetary policy somewhat less restrictive over the forecast period," Mr Bailey said.

You can read economics editor Ed Conway's analysis of the Bank's decision here ...

On Friday we discovered the UK is no longer in recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics said.

This followed two consecutive quarters of the economy shrinking.

The data was more positive than anticipated.

"Britain is not just out of recession," wrote Conway. "It is out of recession with a bang."

The UK has seen its fastest growth since the tailend of the pandemic - and Conway picked out three other reasons for optimism.

1/ An economic growth rate of 0.6% is near enough to what economists used to call "trend growth". It's the kind of number that signifies the economy growing at more or less "normal" rates.

2/ 0.6% means the UK is, alongside Canada, the fastest-growing economy in the G7 (we've yet to hear from Japan, but economists expect its economy to contract in the first quarter).

3/ Third, it's not just gross domestic product that's up. So too is gross domestic product per head - the number you get when you divide our national income by every person in the country. After seven years without any growth, GDP per head rose by 0.4% in the first quarter.

GDP per head is a more accurate yardstick for the "feelgood factor", said Conway - perhaps meaning people will finally start to feel better off.

For more on where Friday's figures leaves us, listen to an Ian King Business Podcast special...

The Money blog is your place for consumer news, economic analysis and everything you need to know about the cost of living - bookmark news.sky.com/money .

It runs with live updates every weekday - while on Saturdays we scale back and offer you a selection of weekend reads.

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The Money team is Emily Mee, Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young and Ollie Cooper, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. The blog is edited by Jimmy Rice.

If you've missed any of the features we've been running in Money this year, or want to check back on something you've previously seen in the blog, this archive of our most popular articles may help...

Loaves of bread have been recalled from shelves in Japan after they were found to contain the remains of a rat.

Production of the bread in Tokyo has been halted after parts of a "small animal" were found by at least two people.

Pasco Shikishima Corp, which produces the bread, said 104,000 packages have been recalled as it apologised and promised compensation.

A company representative told Sky News's US partner network, NBC News, that a "small black rat" was found in the bread. No customers were reported to have fallen ill as a result of ingesting the contaminated bread.

"We deeply apologise for the serious inconvenience and trouble this has caused to our customers, suppliers, and other concerned parties," the spokesman said.

Pasco added in a separate statement that "we will do our utmost to strengthen our quality controls so that this will never happen again. We ask for your understanding and your co-operation."

Japanese media reports said at least two people who bought the bread in the Gunma prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, complained to the company about finding a rodent in the bread.

Record levels of shoplifting appear to be declining as fewer shopkeepers reported thefts last year, new figures show. 

A survey by the Office for National Statistics shows 26% of retailers experienced customer theft in 2023, down from a record high of 28% in 2022.

This comes despite a number of reports suggesting shoplifting is becoming more frequent. 

A  separate ONS finding , which used police crime data, showed reports of shoplifting were at their highest level in 20 years in 2023, with law enforcements logging 430,000 instances of the crime.

Let's get you up to speed on the biggest business news of the past 24 hours. 

A privately owned used-car platform is circling Cazoo Group, its stricken US-listed rival, which is on the brink of administration.

Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk is a leading contender to acquire Cazoo's marketplace operation, which would include its brand and intellectual property assets.

The process to auction the used-car platform's constituent parts comes after it spent tens of millions of pounds on sponsorship deals in football, snooker and darts in a rapid attempt to gain market share.

The owner of British Airways has reported a sharp rise in profits amid soaring demand for trips and a fall in the cost of fuel.

International Airlines Group said its operating profit for the first three months of the year was €68m (£58.5m) - above expectations and up from €9m (£7.7m) during the same period in 2023.

The company, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, said earnings had soared thanks to strong demand, particularly over the Easter holidays.

The prospect of a strike across Tata Steel's UK operations has gained further traction after a key union secured support for industrial action.

Community, which has more than 3,000 members, said 85% voted in favour of fighting the India-owned company's plans for up to 2,800 job losses, the majority of them at the country's biggest steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales.

Tata confirmed last month it was to press ahead with the closure of the blast furnaces at the plant, replacing them with electric arc furnaces to reduce emissions and costs.

In doing so, the company rejected an alternative plan put forward by the Community, GMB and Unite unions that, they said, would raise productivity and protect jobs across the supply chain.

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