Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle. You can also submit opinion essays to us for our consideration for posting on our new “Bright Ideas” op-ed page.
We wrote earlier this week that President Trump issued an executive order establishing a policy that calls for the U.S. to mine and exploit the other resources like water on the moon. As Axios explained, the order “directs the State Department to find international partners that are interested in collaborating with the U.S. on creating ‘sustainable operations’ related to commercial use of space-based resources.”
A nation that won’t be a partner in this new scheme? Russia.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos has condemned the order this week, likened it to colonialism and said in a statement that “There have already been examples in history when one country decided to start seizing territories in its interest — everyone remembers what came of it.”
Moreover, Russia seems to be paying little attention to Trump’s wants. After he urged Russia and Saudi Arabia to drastically cut their oil production last week in an effort to stabilize oil markets, the nations only agreed to a tentative deal to moderately limit production.
Why This Matters: Meanwhile as oil companies are collapsing and solar energy keeps growing, Trump has made no indication he’ll help the renewable energy industry during the coronavirus recovery. We need our President to focus less on the moon and more on what’s happening on Earth (like pandemics and climate change).
Cartoon by Alex Bowman
Have you ever wondered what space smells like? Now we know. According to astronauts, it is “a mix of gunpowder, seared steak, raspberries and rum.” Hmmm. CNN reports that the fragrance was invented to help astronauts train for space — so that nothing about it would be surprising to them (seems like that would take […]
Continue Reading 118 words
Using inexpensive tracking technology and a large antenna installed on the International Space Station, a consortium of researchers is hoping to gather a wider range of data than they had using previous tracking technologies, including long migration patterns, allowing them to better understand how climate change and habitat loss impact wildlife.
Why This Matters: In addition to better understanding of wildlife migration and threats, the technology could be used for a range of other goals.
Continue Reading 502 words
Elon Musk’s company Space X is behind the latest NASA chapter, in which the Dragon Capsule launched by the Falcon 9 rocket will deliver astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley in style (wearing Tesla emblazoned custom-made Space X pressure suits) to the international space station – liftoff is set for today 4:33 pm ET.
Why This Matters: When it comes to the future, for better or worse, we are in Elon Musk’s hands, even as he argues to rapidly re-open the economy.
Continue Reading 552 words