9 research outputs found
Environmental Considerations in the age of Space Exploration: the Conservation and Protection of Non-Earth Environments
This document is an abbreviated version of the law review, led by Alexander
Q. Gilbert, entitled: "Major Federal Actions Significantly Affecting the
Quality of the Space Environment: Applying NEPA to Federal and Federally
Authorized Outer Space Activities." Here, we discuss the future of the space
environment, and how it is increasingly becoming a human environment with
regard to continued robotic and human presence in orbit, planned and proposed
robotic and human presence on bodies such as the Moon and Mars, planned space
mining projects, the increase use of low-Earth orbit for communications
satellites, and other human uses of space. As such, we must evaluate and
protect these environments just as we do on Earth. In order to prioritize
mitigating threat of contamination, avoiding conflict, and promoting
sustainability in space, all to ensure that actors maintain equal and safe
access to space, we propose applying the National Environmental Policy Act, or
NEPA, to space missions. We put forward three examples of environmental best
practices for those involved in space missions to consider: adopting
precautionary and communicative structure to before, during, and after missions
taking place off-world, environmental impact statements, and transparency in
tools that may impact the environment (including radioisotope power sources,
plans in case of vehicle loss or loss of trajectory, and others). For
additional discussion related to potential space applications of NEPA, NEPA's
statutory text, and NEPA's relation to space law and judicial precedent for
space, we recommend reading the full law review
The Social Sciences Interdisciplinarity for Astronomy and Astrophysics -- Lessons from the History of NASA and Related Fields
In this paper we showcase the importance of understanding and measuring
interdisciplinarity and other -disciplinarity concepts for all scientists, the
role social sciences have historically played in NASA research and missions,
the sparsity of social science interdisciplinarity in space and planetary
sciences, including astronomy and astrophysics, while there is an imperative
necessity for it, and the example of interdisciplinarity between social
sciences and astrobiology. Ultimately we give voice to the scientists across
all fields with respect to their needs, aspirations and experiences in their
interdisciplinary work with social sciences through an ad-hoc survey we
conducted within the Astro2020 Decadal Survey scientific community
An Unusual Transmission Spectrum for the Sub-Saturn KELT-11b Suggestive of a Sub-Solar Water Abundance
We present an optical-to-infrared transmission spectrum of the inflated
sub-Saturn KELT-11b measured with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(TESS), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 G141 spectroscopic
grism, and the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer) at 3.6 m, in addition to
a Spitzer 4.5 m secondary eclipse. The precise HST transmission spectrum
notably reveals a low-amplitude water feature with an unusual shape. Based on
free retrieval analyses with varying molecular abundances, we find strong
evidence for water absorption. Depending on model assumptions, we also find
tentative evidence for other absorbers (HCN, TiO, and AlO). The retrieved water
abundance is generally solar (0.001--0.7 solar
over a range of model assumptions), several orders of magnitude lower than
expected from planet formation models based on the solar system metallicity
trend. We also consider chemical equilibrium and self-consistent 1D
radiative-convective equilibrium model fits and find they too prefer low
metallicities (, consistent with the free retrieval
results). However, all the retrievals should be interpreted with some caution
since they either require additional absorbers that are far out of chemical
equilibrium to explain the shape of the spectrum or are simply poor fits to the
data. Finally, we find the Spitzer secondary eclipse is indicative of full heat
redistribution from KELT-11b's dayside to nightside, assuming a clear dayside.
These potentially unusual results for KELT-11b's composition are suggestive of
new challenges on the horizon for atmosphere and formation models in the face
of increasingly precise measurements of exoplanet spectra.Comment: Accepted to The Astronomical Journal. 31 pages, 20 figures, 7 table
Astro2020 Must Issue Actionable Recommendations Regarding Diversity, Inclusion, and Harassment
The 2010 Decadal survey failed to issue any recommendations on diversity and inclusion.Astro2020 cannot make the same mistake. Findings can be ignored by funding agencies;recommendations cannot. In the past decade, multiple groups have assembled detailed actionplans to fix a broken climate within our profession. Astro2020 should play a key role, bysynthesizing this work to produce actionable recommendations to support diversity andinclusion and stop harassment within our profession
The Social Sciences Interdisciplinarity for Astronomy and Astrophysics -- Lessons from the History of NASA and Related Fields
In this paper we showcase the importance of understanding and measuring
interdisciplinarity and other -disciplinarity concepts for all scientists, the
role social sciences have historically played in NASA research and missions,
the sparsity of social science interdisciplinarity in space and planetary
sciences, including astronomy and astrophysics, while there is an imperative
necessity for it, and the example of interdisciplinarity between social
sciences and astrobiology. Ultimately we give voice to the scientists across
all fields with respect to their needs, aspirations and experiences in their
interdisciplinary work with social sciences through an ad-hoc survey we
conducted within the Astro2020 Decadal Survey scientific community