The Phos(phorus) & The Furious
Finding life-building phosphorus on Enceladus, MAVEN drops some Martian stunners, the call for a “Greta for space,” and a sad week for explorers everywhere
Hello Celestial Citizens and Continuum readers,
It was a challenge to write this week’s newsletter given the unfortunate sequence of events surrounding the now lost OceanGate submersible and its crew of five - many of which were well-known figures in both space and exploration communities. It goes without saying that our hearts break for the families of all those who lost loved ones in this terrible accident.
And perhaps if you are like us, then you found a moment of levity this week in the continuing “Stars on Mars” saga. And spoiler alert, we saw Richard Sherman make the exit from the show that I’m pretty sure he was hoping for since Sol 1, Tom Schwartz realizes he “might be passive,” and Lance Armstrong continues to believe he will emerge victorious. You didn’t ask, but here are my predictions of how the rest of the season will go…
Extraction #4: Natasha Leggero
Extraction #5: Marshawn Lynch
Extraction #6: Tom Schwartz (with generous help from producers)
Extraction #7: Porsha Williams Guobadia
Extraction #8: Ariel Winter
Extraction #9: Adam Rippon
Extraction #10: Lance Armstrong
Final two: Ronda Rousey and Tinashe
Winner: Ronda Rousey
Time will tell folks! And now onto the space beat you came here for…
Top Headlines
OceanGate – While we’re typically focused on the sky, this week we, along with the rest of the nation, had to look down – into the deep waters of the Atlantic after a Titanic-touring submersible went missing on Sunday, June 18th and subsequently found destroyed on Thursday, June 22nd. Now presumed deceased, most of the submersible’s occupants were members of the space community: SETI trustee Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, and former Blue Origin flier Hamish Harding. The others included Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate – the company behind the submersible. According to OceanGate, their ocean vehicle has ties to NASA, receiving feedback and consultation from some engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center on the composite manufacturing of the submersible. Tragic losses such as these certainly raise questions around the safety and regulation of tourism in dangerous environments, and we’ll have to see how space tourism companies like Virgin Galactic – who’s sending up their first commercial flight in a matter of weeks – Space Perspective or Worldview react.
Tempting Phos-Fate – You might recall just last month the JWST captured a colossal water plume erupting from Enceladus, one of Saturn’s icy moons. Turns out, the JWST’s stunning image was only an appetizer to the entrée we received last week, when a team of scientists published new findings based on data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which swooped through these water plumes from 2004 to 2017. The international researchers were able to confirm high concentrations of phosphorus in the ice, suggesting that this ocean from which the plumes originated could potentially be home to life as we know it, as phosphorus is an integral component in DNA production and in cell membranes. German planetary scientist and lead study author Frank Postberg celebrates that this is the “first time this essential element has been discovered in an ocean beyond Earth,” and while it may not promise that life exists or has existed within this icy ocean, it certainly excites the possibility. Maybe JPL’s space snake can bring this one home in the coming years.
Seasons of Mars – On the note of awe-inspiring imagery, NASA just released a set of dynamic renderings from their MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft, which has been orbiting the red planet since 2014. Over the course of the last year, MAVEN captured the planet in two opposing seasons, using an ultraviolet spectrograph to interpret wavelengths outside our visible spectrum. Today, we get to experience Mars like never before – well, maybe not like William Shatner experiences it with Stars on Mars – with vibrant images depicting atmospheric haze, shrinking polar ice caps and swirls of built up ozone.
Summit for Space Sustainability – Space resource protection was all the rage last week at the Summit for Space Sustainability held in New York City. While sustainable practices can often feel like abstract ideals as opposed to tangible plans of action, the UN has put a clock on things to create some structure. From now until September 2024, at which time the UN will hold the Summit of the Future to address “broad challenges the world is facing,” there are fifteen months to improve international space governance and policy around orbital debris and resource management – such as human extraction of lunar material. Along these lines, the World Economic Forum has offered a new set of debris mitigation guidelines, and U.K. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology director Rebecca Evernden has called for a “Greta for space.”
NASA Booted Off the Gravy Train – The U.S. space agency – for which government funding is considered “discretionary” as opposed to “mandatory” – may have to make some serious program cuts going forward after the House suspended the nation’s debt limit last week. NASA could get lucky, if the subcommittee allocating their funding chooses to maintain their current cash flow. But if that’s the case, then the ax will come down on other organizations in their category, like NOAA or the National Science Foundation. This being said, it’s fairly safe to assume the 2024 NASA budget request will have to take some L’s. With their financial lifeline in the balance, the agency sent their shiniest pennies up the hill – the four Artemis astronauts, who met with members of Congress to caution that these cuts could be “devastating” not only to NASA’s wide array of research programs but to the “crew that is taking us back to the moon after half a century,” in the words of NASA admin Bill Nelson.
A Currency of Trade Secrets – While NASA may not have cash to spend, they have one thing the House can’t take away, and that’s their decades of space expertise. The agency announced a series of seven commercial partnerships on June 15th, in which no cash will be exchanged – only good advice. The agency-company agreements include one with fan favorite Blue Origin and one with SpaceX, in the hope this will “foster more competition for services.” With this invaluable partnership, Bezos-owned Blue Origin will develop a new, “affordable” crewed space vehicle – separate from the contracted Artemis lander – and SpaceX will imagine an additional purpose for their massive Starship as an “in-space low-Earth orbit destination element.”
5515 Naderi – The passing of prominent Iranian-American NASA scientist Firouz Naderi was just announced this week. He was 77. Among many accomplishments with the agency, Dr. Naderi oversaw at least five missions to Mars during his time at NASA, including that of the Odyssey, which launched in ‘01 and still orbits the planet today. Dr. Naderi’s work with NASA inspired young Iranian scientists, and his activism to support human rights in Iran inspired just about everyone. Dr. Naderi lives on through his immeasurable legacy at NASA, and via his asteroid, “5515 Naderi,” which orbits the sun between Jupiter and his beloved Mars.
The JWST Download
Forget Boomers, we’re talking about Pop III, aka the oldest generation of stars – two generations older than the sun – of which scientists finally believe they’ve found evidence, thanks to the JWST.
Well folks, it looks like we may be TRAPPIST in this galaxy after all: the JWST found a second atmosphere-less exoplanet in this promising planetary system that’s been studied for potential habitability.
Every Batman needs a Robin, and the James Webb Space Telescope is no different. Enter the MANTIS, a cubesat that will focus on star activity while the JWST looks at the star’s nearby planets. Together, they’ll be unstoppable (in deciphering how stellar energy affects the atmospheres of its surrounding planets).
A Global Space
India – After a period of hesitation, India has now signed the Artemis Accords. Perhaps it was the urging from NASA associate administrator Bhavya Lal who expressed the agency’s eagerness to cooperate with India in an interview with Press Trust of India (PTI) last week. Of course, the decision has not been so black and white.
recently broke down the key facts around the Accords and India’s space collaborations which may have contributed to the nation’s cautious approach, including potential conflicts in other existing international agreements around resource policy.Ecuador – On June 21st, Ecuador also signed the Artemis Accords. While the nation may not have a huge presence in space at the minute, there will likely be a spaceport in their future, as developed by Ecuadorian company Leviathan Space Industries. The nation was the 26th to sign the Accords.
Luxembourg - The small nation of Luxembourg recently put down €195 million ($211 million) on some sweet, sweet broadband for itself and its NATO allies. Signing a contract for future access with SES’s highly anticipated O3b mPower constellation, Luxembourg’s government sets itself apart from others, who may not commit to a service until it’s tried and true. But this powerful MEO broadband network – and its promise in regard to future defense and disaster relief missions – is just too golden to not get in on the ground floor.
Brazil – The Brazilian Space Program may be in trouble after a team of researchers found a loss in coastal shark populations by the program’s launch site (cue Jaws music). As we know from the reckless//flagrant Starship launch in April, launches can be brutal to the surrounding environment. It’s likely that the noise, vibrations and/or electromagnetic charges forced the coastal sharks away from their natural habitat, but this isn’t even the only problem. The team also discovered rubidium –used in rocket fuel and harmful to animals’ reproductive systems – in the muscle tissue of some sharks close to launch areas. Despite the positive momentum of the nation’s space agency, there will hopefully be some protections put in place for the surrounding ecosystem.
ESA & NASA – Yoda said that “once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” In the case of ESA’s new Euclid Space Telescope, which will launch next month, we hope Yoda’s words are true. The telescope will examine both visible light and infrared light, in the hope of discovering more about the dark energy that dominates our cosmos. While NASA has provided the infrared detectors for ESA’s Euclid Mission, ESA has provided NASA with an integral piece of hardware for the Artemis mission. NASA will integrate the “European Service Module” into their Orion spacecraft, which will provide the four Artemis astronauts with water, electricity, air, temperature control and propulsion on their two-week mission to and from the moon.
ESA & JAXA – On June 19th, the BepiColombo spacecraft – a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency – completed its third flyby of Mercury. The images captured by the spacecraft thus far – as well as future imagery from its six total flybys – will inform scientists on the volcanism and tectonic history of the planet, providing valuable insight into the “evolution of a planet close to its parent star,” according to planetary scientist and BepiColombo imaging team member Jack Wright.
Indonesia – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket deployed a communications satellite last Sunday for Indonesia, called the SATRIA, or the Satellite of the Republic of Indonesia. The SATRIA – built by French company Thales Alenia Space – which is central to an approximately 8 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($550 million) endeavor to provide rural Indonesia with internet service. Once the satellite has reached its designated position in a few months, it will provide around 150 gigabits per second to areas like the 6,000 inhabited islands where other methods of communications connections – like terrestrial fiber – are not possible.
Egypt – On June 21st, Egypt’s House of Representatives officially decided the nation would become home to the continental African Space Agency. The geography makes sense, as Egypt already houses a Space City, within which the AfSA headquarters will certainly integrate. The exciting news comes years after the bidding process began back in 2018.
Russia – Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency has taken a pretty big leap away from neutrality in regards to the Russian war in Ukraine. While the Roscosmos cosmonauts and NASA astronauts are currently playing nice up in the ISS, the Russian space agency is now clearly behind a new series of army recruitment advertisements. This could mean that Roscosmos – which has up until now avoided sanctions from the US – will no longer receive any grace from the American space agency. It’s unclear if this will affect NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission, which intends to fly Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov to the ISS along with a NASA, JAXA and ESA astronaut.
Sweden – Out of over 22,000 applicants, Sweden’s Marcus Wandt was selected in November 2022 as an ESA reserve astronaut. Now, only a half of a year later he’s been added to Axiom’s next mission, the Ax-3. Talk about a fast track, Wandt has entered into an intensive training program to be ready for the mission as early as November of this year.
Space Reads!
Can’t get enough stellar content? Here are some longer format space morsels we’ve been enjoying:
While the intention is for our Earth countries to “share” space, we don’t have an excellent track record in this department. When it comes to resource management and pollution, how do we decide who is responsible for what when nobody owns space?
As if the conspiracy theorists need more ammo in their crusade to prove the Apollo as a deep fake, a new archival study suggests the post-mission quarantine was just for show.
Interested in learning more about the future of space pharmacies? Read about how one startup has taken advantage of microgravity and weightlessness to facilitate stronger protein crystal growth and hence more effective drug production.
And space pharmacies may be in high demand, with a new study that finally explains why astronauts have weakened immunity from space travel. Big deal, space travel weakens immunity…try surviving winter with four kids under 6.
And that’s a wrap on this week in space news! Keep an eye out this coming Monday for MOONSHOT, our paid subscriber newsletter covering the commercial space sector. A big thank you to Tess Ryan for writing this edition with me and for keeping up with the cosmos! We hope you enjoyed reading Continuum this week and will share it with your friends. And if you really, really like us, then consider becoming a paid subscriber or gifting a subscription to someone that is as excited to go see Asteroid City as you are.
Keep it celestial people,
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum
This edition of the newsletter was brought to you by:
Multiverse Media (Gold Sponsor)
Colorado School of Mines Space Resources Program (Silver Sponsor)
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Thank you for sharing my writing on some of India's key considerations for the Artemis Accords! Now that it’s actually signed, more thoughts are on the way in the next Moon Monday! 🇺🇸🌗🇮🇳