The East Point Lighthouse in New Jersey photographed during one of the first meteor showers of 2012.
Still sticking to those new year’s resolutions? Me neither. That’s why I’m looking forward to living vicariously through the 2012 “resolutions” of some major players in space. So what lies ahead – or above – in 2012?
Space Junk 2.0
Keep your head up on January 15th. Literally. That’s when the failed Russian Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. For those who thought 2011 was, “The Year of Space Junk,” think again. It appears as if we should get used to the idea of things falling from the sky. It was only a few months ago when the world braced for the re-entry of NASA’s UARS climate satellite and Germany’s ROSAT satellite. Now it’s the Russians’ turn. Launched on November 8, 2011, Phobos-Grunt has been stuck in the Earth’s orbit ever since. The nearly 15-ton behemoth is expected to land (read as “crash”) anywhere between a latitude of 51 degrees north and 51 degrees south – roughly as far north as England and as far south as Argentina – and at an unpredictable longitude.
Astronaut Candidate Class of 2013
For those men and women who have not yet given up on their dream of becoming an astronaut, 2012 is your year. NASA will accept applications for the Astronaut Class of 2013 until January 27, 2012. Finalists will be selected in October 2012 and announced to the public in March 2013. In June 2013, it’s time to report to Johnson Space Center for duty.
The Commercialization of Space
If 2011 was the year we began to question American supremacy in the cosmos, then 2012 is shaping up to be the year we reinvent ourselves. On February 7th, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is expected to launch its Falcon 9 rocket, the first (ever) commercial spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station. If successful, this will be a major step forward for commercial space exploration – and for America’s space program. The mission is meant to serve as a test run for future missions that will carry cargo and crew to the ISS.
SpaceX isn’t the only game in town either. The Dream Chaser, a product of Sierra Nevada Corporation, will make similar attempts. Instead of direct surface-to-station launches, Dream Chaser will hitch a ride aboard Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo before attempting a high-altitude takeoff en route to the ISS. LightSail-1, a solar sail spacecraft produced by the Planetary Society, will also launch in 2012 to explore ways in which future spacecraft can utilize the energy of the Sun to go faster and deeper into space.
Finally, for those who have an extra $200,000 sitting around, why not book a flight to space with Virgin Galactic? Nearly 400 people have already made their reservations and paid in full (that’s $80 million for those counting). Virgin Galactic is expected to begin these flights in 2012, barring no setbacks, officially kicking off the space tourism industry.
Major Milestones
Government-sponsored projects are also expected to make headlines in 2012. China’s manned space laboratory will potentially welcome its first visitors in 2012 as China continues to push itself into elite status in space.
NASA is also expected to make headlines in more ways than one. First, GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) is already circling the Moon. Its mission? Measure in detail the Moon’s gravitational pull to a degree that has never been done before.
In August 2012, NASA’s multi-billion dollar baby, the Curiosity rover, will attempt to land on Mars using a new technological approach that appears to be as risky (and rewarding) as it is innovative. When Buzz Aldrin talks about, “a permanent presence on Mars,” this is the kind of thing he wants to see.
Intellectual Property and Historical Preservation
Jim Lovell (Apollo 13) and NASA are at odds with one another over ownership of the handwritten emergency manual written by Lovell during the Apollo 13 mission. In November 2011, the manual was auctioned off for $388,000. Who owned it (and could thus auction it off), Lovell or NASA? We’ll likely find out in 2012. The result could say a lot about if / how intellectual property rights pertain to space-related materials produced and artifacts found by individuals with the support of government and corporate funding.
On a related note, with the increase in space exploration comes the need to preserve some of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. Tranquility Base, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first step foot on the Moon, is one place that is already listed in the “global history registry.” The question of whether federal preservation laws apply to off-world places was first posed in 1999. “That started the ball rolling,” says Dr. Beth L. O’Leary, a professor at New Mexico State University who has spent a lot of time thinking about how national and international legal systems apply to space. As this New York Times article mentions, over 100 countries have signed the Outer Space Treaty, agreeing not to claim sovereignty over any part of the Moon. With so many new actors in space, 2012 could be the year in which greater attention is paid, either out of necessity or foresight, to the agreed upon laws governing space.
So between rising and falling spacecrafts, a new batch of astronauts, landing on Mars, commercial competition, and an increasing need for legal clarity, 2012 promises to be an interesting year.
Just a heads up.
(Photo Source: Jack Fusco, My Shot, National Geographic)
