Preventing Large Asteroids from Striking the Earth - Part 2
(Please read Part 1 before reading this post.)
Preventing Large Asteroids from Striking the Earth - Part 1
In recent posts I talked about asteroids in the context of exploratory probes, mineral resources and international property rights. Today, I want to talk about the threat to Earth of asteroid strikes and some possible ways of diverting approaching asteroids. The Earth was originally formed from many collisions of smaller bodies in the primordial solar disk. The lunar surface displays the many asteroid impacts that is has suffered.
The United States MAVEN Mars Probe
My last post dealt with India's homebuilt Mangalyaan Mars satellite. The United States recently launched a Mars probe. Today I am going to discuss the U.S. satellite. The U.S. Mars probe is called MAVEN. This stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission. The satellite was launched on an Atlas V launch vehicle in November of 2013.
How India Built An Inexpensive Mars Probe
In my last post, I talked about the recent Indian mission to Mars called the Mangalyaan which is Mars in the Hindi language. The first Mars probe from India achieved Mars orbit on September 24th of 2014. In the previous post, I mentioned that the Indian probe with much less expensive than the recent MAVEN probe that was launched to Mars by the United States.
Indian Satellite Now In Orbit Around Mars
I have covered the Indian space program in previous posts. While not as sophisticated or extensive as some other national space programs, India reached an important milestone with its first interplanetary mission. India's Mars probe entered orbit around Mars on September 24, 2014. The Mars Orbital Mission (MOM) or (Mangalyaan in Sanskrit) was launched in November of 2013 from the Satish Dhawa Space Center on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
Boeing and SpaceX Awarded NASA Contract for Reusable Manned Spacecraft
My last post was an introduction to asteroid mining. I had intended to continue with that subject but there has been a bunch of space related stories in the last week so I thought I would explore some of those before returning to asteroid mining.
What is Asteroid Mining? - Part 1
I have stated in previous blogs that when you consider all the different factors such as economic, political, social, technological, public health and environmental, it is obvious that nuclear energy is not a good way to produce electricity. I have often said that the only reason nuclear power is still being discussed as a viable power source is because there is so much money involved in their construction and operation.
The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs
I have been blogging about the United Nations and the body of international space law. The United Nations created the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in 1958 to serve as a group of experts to provide advice to the new ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. It became an agency within the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs (DPSCA) in 1962 when the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space became a permanent U.N. committee.
Space Law 5 - Asteroid Mining - Part 2
My last blog was about the question of private ownership of celestial bodies by firms that mine asteroids. Current United Nation international space law prohibits any such ownership. There is a new bill named the ASTEROIDS Act pending in the U.S. Congress that would at least allow asteroid mining companies to own what they mine and return to Earth. This appears to be prohibited by internal space law.
Space Law 4 - Asteroid Mining - Part 1
My last few blogs have been about the framework of international law under the United Nations that is supposed to govern how space faring nations conduct the exploration and exploitation of space for the benefit of all nations. I felt that this was topical because of increasing discussion of mining asteroids.