Pilot Projects 2022-2023 Earth Operations Center

Earth Operations Center

How do we become better stewards of “Spaceship Earth?

Jake Pinholster, ASU Herbeger Institute

Inspired by a traditional spacecraft operations center, such as NASA’s Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston, this project is a collaboration with MIT and NASA to create an operations center for “Spaceship Earth” that integrates both earth systems and economic modeling. The Earth science research center will track the health and status of the Earth’s ecological subsystems and enable collaborative decision-making using both virtual and physical spaces.

Impact

A virtual reality prototype of the Earth Operations Center has been created to inform stakeholders, media, climate researchers and policymakers on the effectiveness of different visualizations of climate data. The prototype will be presented this summer at NASA’s Earth Information Center showcase in Washington, D.C. in July 2023. This event is in coordination with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and will be an opportunity for the project to continue developing partnerships with external groups for practical application of the technology.

Space Exploration and Sustainable Development*

How do space exploration and development impact progress towards achieving the U.N. SDGs?

Team lead: Eric Stribling, Interplanetary Initiative

This project strives to understand how space exploration can support an equitable and sustainable future aligned with global environmental and social goals. This study uses the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for research that will inform the creation of Environment, Social and Governance benchmarks to guide the burgeoning space industry towards Corporate Social Responsibility practices at an early stage of industry development.

Impact

The team presented its findings at the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society 2022 and is finalizing a white paper on how space technology impacts global social and environmental goals. Next, the team will publish on how the current space industry is impacted by social and environmental global goals. Next year, the team will publish a series of short videos that share their findings in an engaging format to promote discussion about how the growing and changing space industry can be more inclusive and sustainable.

Preventing Space War*

How do we reduce the probability of a cataclysmic space war by redefining the way that space is understood and by laying the foundations for an innovative, interdisciplinary commitment to preserving space as a collaborative domain free from war?

Team lead: Daniel Rothenberg, Professor of Practice, School of Politics and Global Studies; Co-Director, Center on the Future of War

Space war has been a concern from the mid-20th century onwards. Yet the possibility of space war — whether a war in space or the significant use of space for enabling war — is rapidly increasing at a time when our global society lacks the tools, language and imagination to guide the conversations we need and develop the systems we require to minimize the probability of armed conflict in space. This project convened cross-sector space experts in Washington, D.C. for an open dialogue about the threats of space warfare with the goal to design better strategies for a more peaceful and sustainable use of space. Key highlights include: Keynote by Lt. Gen. DeAnna M. Burt, U.S. Space Force COO, and dynamic panels on space domain awareness, space law and conflict deterrence.

Impact

The team hosted a forum in Washington, D.C. that convened cross-sector experts to advance a common understanding of the importance of preserving a collaborative space domain benefitting all of humanity. A conference report will highlight the key themes, including the need for new norms and behaviors in space, and recommendations of next steps to advance these topics. Next year will focus on engaging a larger international audience in a workshop format for consensus-building on norms of good behavior in space.

A Global Heat Map of Space Activities*

What is the state of “space activities” globally, across countries, agencies and projects?

Team lead: Chris Bryan, Assistant Professor in Computer Science, School of Computation and Augmented Intelligence

A global perspective of space activity is currently not available. This project seeks to create a viewer of space activities through the lens of their key benefits, drivers and end goals, tracked at the project level over time, investment level and geographic location. By visualizing space activities and how they are globally spread across our planet, the heat map will provide a rich perspective about the diversity of space activities globally and allow stakeholders to engage with such information to help understand and drive future space-related activities. A visual, dynamic and interactive framing of the benefits of space will allow a broader set of stakeholders to engage with the information and take part in shaping future projects.

Impact

A prototype for the Global Heat Map of Space visualization tool has been developed. Next year, the team will refine and build out the prototype’s functionality and user interface. Once the tool is complete, it will serve to inform decision making and investment, and for general awareness of space activities.

Global Space Tech

How can key spinoff technologies from the space sector help advance new space agencies and economies?

Team lead: Eric Stribling, Interplanetary Initiative

Technology transfer is a key to increasing participation of nations and groups who do not currently have strong access to space. In the case of these new agencies, which usually require the mobilization of government resources, there needs to be justification of public value. NASA publishes extensively (NASA Spinoff) on space technology spinoff in the United States, but there is far less available research on this phenomenon in emerging spacefaring nations which need to justify related expenditures against other social concerns. This project seeks to contribute to an increasingly important body of literature on space technologies in select developing countries. Understanding the positive and negative impacts of space technology spinoffs and transfers will serve to inform government decision makers in these countries.

Impact

The team collected data relevant to space technologies transferred to society in the countries of Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil and South Korea. The data is being analyzed and will be published. Early findings from the research suggest that while the role of spinoff technology and subsequent impact on the population can be quite evident in countries like Ecuador and Brazil, this assessment can be challenging in countries like South Korea where commercial space industry and national defense are inextricably linked and information is controlled.

JEDI Space*

How do we build a JEDI (just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive) space for all of humanity?

Team lead: Diana Ayton-Shenker, AssociateProfessor, SchoolofSocialTransformation

Many organizations are creating a Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive (DEI) workplace environment. However, there is little focus on creating DEI access to space. Even more critical, there is little emphasis on the “Just” aspect of access to space and the space community. This project will seek to answer the question of what a JEDI space means and how to open space access to more of humanity through surveys, conversations and events. An important goal of this project is to inspire action to create a space community that invites people to stay, going beyond metrics to understand the root cause of the metrics.

Impact

The team created the first-of-its-kind community of individuals from around the globe activated around the common drive for equitable and inclusive access to space. A white paper reporting on consensus definitions; community perceptions and experiences challenges; and a diversity, equity, inclusion and access (DEIA) framework will be published. Next year, the project, led by Professor Lance Gharavi from the ASU School of Music, Dance and Theatre, will create a tool kit and implementation model to drive space sector organizations to meaningfully incorporate DEIA across their business processes.

SpaceHACK for Sustainability*

How does space exploration and development impact progress towards achieving the U.N. SDGs?

Team lead: Eric Stribling, Interplanetary Initiative

Earth Observation (EO) satellite data is currently central to how governments monitor progress on many of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (EO is used for nearly half of the U.N.’s 169 targets and 230 indicators). ASU is uniquely positioned to access troves of satellite data that can be used to develop cutting edge indices on measuring achievement towards the SDGs. The project’s student hackathon empowered around 150 students to address climate impacts, sustainable groundwater usage and wildfire risk to help better understand inequities and social disparity on Earth.

Impact

The SpaceHACK hackathon engaged 138 participants in person and virtually with participants from the United States, Ecuador, Brazil, Spain, Italy, India, South Korea and more. As a result of the project, SpaceHACK has now been integrated into an upper-level humanities course at ASU entitled, “Diplomacy Lab: Latin America.” Three conference papers have been submitted, with one more being submitted to the Society for the Study of Social Sciences 2023 in Honolulu, Hawaii in November. A PhD research position was created at the University of Nepal to continue research sparked by the hackathon’s track focused on Nepal. Next year, the project will seek international university partners to replicate and scale the program.

Mars on the Field*

How do we galvanize public and private support for space exploration, an arena that can seem inaccessible to most people?

Team leads: Laura Cechanowicz, School of Arts, Media and Engineering and DB Bauer, School of Arts, Media and Engineering

This project aims to make Mars data accessible and ignite public interest in the Red Planet. By stimulating XR creation and studying its use in broader educational and social environments around space exploration, Mars on the Field creates a multi-sensory experience walking participants through a history of space and Mars exploration.

Impact

The team unveiled a thrilling walkable Mars on the Field virtual reality experience at Sun Devil Stadium, featuring the vast history of our exploration of Mars. Next year will see the prototype developed further with a multiplayer experience and refined historical stories, art assets, and designs. The team will also demo the experience to more groups for feedback.

Sacred Space: Religion and Cosmic Exploration*

What does religion have to do with space exploration?

Team lead: Lance Gharavi, School of Music, Dance and Theatre

Space exploration is not isolated from culture; rather, it is imagined and practiced within it. The histories, ideologies, representations and practices of religion are central to imagining and building human space futures. This project conducted a series of four symposia where diverse guests from the space sector and from religious traditions discussed religion and space exploration— two topics that have been intertwined through human history.

Impact

Four online panel discussions among scholars took the audience on a journey that explored the intersection of religion, spiritual beliefs and practices from around the world and space exploration. Next year, the insights from these discussions will be disseminated through short videos to engage larger audiences.

*indicates that the project is renewed for FY24