Guests: Dr. Angie Bukley, Karen Jones; Topics: The value of space, LEO assets, satellite data for monitoring climate change and the space environmental impact on climate on a global basis, green rocket fuels, environmental justice, SPS and more.
Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.
We welcomed back to the show both Dr. Angie Bukley and Karen Jones of The Aerospace Corporation. The focus of our 64 minute discussion was the value of space in general and the critical importance of LEO assets in climate monitoring for the Earth, environmental protection, and related fields. Our guests broke these general topics down into smaller segments for a more detailed discussion during our program. Additional related topics included the development and use of advanced AI, different forms of energy now in use, even a mention for the future for nuclear fusion. Karen referenced the U.N. Conference of Parties #26 which recently concluded with 199 participating countries.
It terms of LEO assets, the very large LEO communication satellite constellations such as Starlink and One Webb were mentioned given there was a listener question about the use of commercial satellites to collect climate related data for the database and other purposes. The answer was yes, that partial data from space was available with the comsats, with improved resolution and information. Next, I got an email question from listener Todd wanting to know how enforcement would work out for commercial satellite and space parties in terms of providing data or following rules, regulations, or even hardware changes that may result from future data analysis. Our guests talked about commercial participation including that of well known companies and that so far was voluntary. Don't miss all of what was said on this subject. Government agency satellites and tools were mentioned as well. Thus, all satellites were working to make obtaining satellite data from space regarding monitoring Earth's climate more relevant. Our guests discussed this issue in some detail over a good part of the program so again, don't miss a word of it. Also, post your comments on what you hear on our blog as we want to hear from you.
Listener Beth from Seattle asked about the inclusion of cislunar space in their climate monitoring models. We learned about the potential for including cislunar in the data models but it was mentioned that with GEO satellites we were already getting good data looking down on Earth. One area frequently mentioned during our conversation was the discovery and monitoring of methane leakage from Earth. However, clearly the monetary parameters were focused on the LEO assets. Given my early history with Angie on Space Show programs regarding space tourism, I asked her about space tourism as a concern in their overall view and if it was in any way an issue for Earth's climate or a risk to Earth's environment. Angie did say that the human factor played a significant role in looking at the planet and she reference a type of Overview Effect look. Don't miss all of what Angie said about the significance of the human factors in space.
Karen spoke about the impact of space enterprise and introduced us the to concept of the circular economy which became a major discussion topic during the balance of the program. In her discussion, she talked about an upcoming aerospace sector report that would look at spaceports, rocket launches and reentry, fuels and more, with the goal of achieving environmental sustainability. Rocket emissions were discussed as was developing better tools to understand rockets, their emissions, and their impact on the stratosphere. This led Angie to comment that KSC, a super spaceport, was doing a good job in these areas given it is in a wildlife refugee which is doing very well in protecting wildlife. Our guests then moved us forward to discuss space debris problems. Don't miss what Angie said plus my comments on the apparent slowness of progress in LEO debris removal and mitigation.
Listener Ben asked the next question, one about satellite quantity and orbits by referencing the plan by Rwanda to permit 300,000 LEO constellation sats. Another listener brought up the fact that both China and Russia don't seem to be eager to join in the efforts being discussed by our guests. Once again, don't miss what our guests said in response to the China and Russia question. In their response, the Chinese efforts toward SSP were mentioned and that opened the door for an SSP discussion with a conclusion that the U.S. should be doing more on R&D and SSP efforts given the potential good that would probably come from such efforts and expenditures. From space solar power we went to talking about the potential for green rockets, then I asked our guests how they make the case for space when confronted by a naysayer. Listen to their replies. How would you make the case for space? How about telling us by posting your response to the question on our blog for this show. By the way, a bit earlier we had a brief discussion about climate, electric cars, the grid for electricity and how and where the electricity came from to power the electric car. Don't miss the conclusion to this segment
As we were nearing the end of the program, Karen talked about mitigating environmental justice. I stopped her and asked for a definition of the term environmental justice which she defined for us both in statutory language in every day conversational language. She had much to say on this matter so listen up and don't miss a word of it. In the context of this issue, monitoring methane emissions came up and she mentioned a company doing that, SkyTruth (https://skytruth.org). Please check it out when you can. I took the prerogative of the last question, taking a lead from the end of the recent show with Greg Klerkx from Friday, Feb. 18. As we were ending the show with Greg, he was asked that in terms of the general public being on a commercial space bandwagon, it did not seem that traditional commercial objectives were enough to win the day so Greg was asked if he thought something was missing. He said yes, I suggested my usual rant comment about the path to a better world goes through space including commercial space and then I asked our two guests the question. Angie and Karen, do you think something might be missing in talking commercial space to the public over and above the usual commercial and industrial benefits. Karen drew me out more in defining and narrowing the question but both guests answered the question. You will hear what they said as we then moved to summarize and close the show. What are your thoughts? Is something missing in the context of this final question with Karen and Angie? If you think so, let us know with your blog comments. Make sure you tell us what you think might be missing, if anything.
Please post your comments/questions for Angie and Karen on our blog for this issue. You can reach both through me and their papers and work through the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at the Aerospace Corporation.
The Space Show
