Plus: Getting ready for lunar planetary defense
By Dan Robitzski
Welcome back to our weekly newsletter highlighting the opinions and perspectives of the SpaceNews community.
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If NASA and other agencies ever intend to send human crews to Mars, there are a series of technological and mission design challenges that must be studied, solved and implemented before too many mission elements get cemented in place, according to a commentary article by Bruce Jakosky, Scott Hubbard, Jennifer Rochlis and Timothy Kokan. Alongside building a spacecraft capable of ferrying a crew to Mars, a successful mission must consider scientific priorities, understanding, tracking and ensuring human health as well as planetary protection and contamination risks, the coauthors argued.
"These very different components must be developed together and integrated from the very beginning into a single mission concept and plan, before some designs have already been fixed," they wrote.
Read the full SpaceNews article here.
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In order to develop, operate and maintain a lunar base, the Space Force must be able to detect and counter any asteroid threats heading towards the moon, according to a commentary article by Peter Garretson.
As he put it, "a permanent lunar presence also means a permanent target," underscored by the moon's impact-scarred surface and recent near flybys of large asteroids. Planetary defense for the moon requires Congressional action to enhance Space Force capacities and competencies, Garretson argued, in order to ensure that the military branch "is fulfilling its statutory duties to protect American interests in space."
Read the full SpaceNews opinion article here.
SpaceNews is committed to publishing our community’s diverse perspectives. Whether you’re an academic, executive, engineer or even just a concerned citizen of the cosmos, send your arguments and viewpoints to opinion (at) spacenews.com to be considered for publication online or in our next magazine. If you have something to submit, read some of our recent opinion articles and our submission guidelines to get a sense of what we’re looking for. The perspectives shared in these opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent their employers or professional affiliations. |
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