Accelerate space exploration with HPE
Quick, reliable data transmission
Dr. Eng Lim Goh, Hewlett Packard Enterprise's vice president and CTO for high-performance computing and AI, helped develop the Spaceborne Computer, which recently accomplished its one-year mission of proving that a commercial off-the-shelf supercomputer can survive space’s harsh conditions. During its mission, Spaceborne did so using autonomous softwarein the non-optimal conditions of space. The Spaceborne Computer took a licking (“one power supply failure” and “four reboots”), but it’s kept on ticking.
Prioritizing STEM education
Several public organizations are committed to encouraging students to pursue STEM education with a focus on space. NASA has a plethora of projects, including its Zero Robotics competition for middle- and high-school students, wherein the winners run their code on the ISS. The Girl Scouts of America created badges to encourage future space cadets, who perform activities such as operating a telescope and observing the night sky. And Teachers in Space teaches teachers to instruct students on creating experiments that are flown on microgravity balloons, high-altitude flights, and in two cases, the ISS.
No Money, no honey
Space companies received $3.9 billion in investment in 2017, and according to industry analysis by investor group Space Angels, $1 billion has been invested in 2018 in space launch companies alone, with a further $370 million going toward satellite businesses. The group now tracks more than 1,300 businesses, from relatively new startups like Vector Launch to established players like NanoRacks. It should be noted that most of the money going into private space enterprises are currently focused on small launchers and satellites rather than human spaceflight. However, companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have plans to put space boots on the space ground.
Space medicine
NASA has current plans to keep its astronauts well-dressed, with a radiation vest, too. In the future, perhaps, a radiation shield in a Mars transfer orbit and even underground colonies on the Red Planet will keep us from developing unsexy mutations. Also NASA created the Prospective Observational Study of Ocular Health in ISS Crews. The results are currently pending, but astronauts are looking forward to seeing them.
Social and political guidelines
Stephen Jurczyk, associate administrator of NASA, said spacefaring countries have a planetary protection policy, known as COSPAR, which states that no country will contaminate space.
“We’re going to need new standards, because commercial entities want to go to other planets and we need to figure out how we make sure these commercial entities follow those standards,” Jurczyk said. Is there an enforcement mechanism to ensure that no country or company releases some sort of Earth-based Andromeda Strain on a planet or exoplanet? No, but “the most important aspect of [COSPAR] is shaming,” Jurczyk said.