NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy has selected five teams from various universities to receive space sustainability research funding with a combined value of $550,000.
Two of the teams will focus on lunar surface sustainability, including the protection of valuable locations and human heritage sites on the moon, while the rest will perform research to tackle the growing number of orbital debris and defunct human-made objects in space, NASA said Tuesday.
The research awards align with the agency’s Space Sustainability Strategy, which aims to ensure future generations can explore space in a safe, peaceful and responsible manner.
According to Ellen Gertsen, deputy associate administrator for the OTPS, the research projects will help NASA understand the economics, the policy considerations and the social elements of sustainability by generating new tools and evidence that enable better-informed decisions.
The selected proposals for lunar surface sustainability research are:
- “A RAD Framework for the Moon: Applying Resist-Accept-Direct Decision-Making,” submitted by Caitlin Ahrens of the University of Maryland, College Park
- “Synthesizing Frameworks of Sustainability for Futures on the Moon,” submitted by research scientist Afreen Siddiqi of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The awardees for orbital debris and space sustainability research are:
- “Integrated Economic-Debris Modeling of Active Debris Removal to Inform Space Sustainability and Policy,” submitted by researcher Mark Moretto of the University of Colorado, Boulder
- “Avoiding the Kessler Syndrome Through Policy Intervention,” submitted by aeronautics and astronautics researcher Richard Linares of MIT
- “Analysis of Cislunar Space Environment Scenarios, Enabling Deterrence and Incentive-Based Policy,” submitted by mechanical and aerospace engineering researcher Ryne Beeson of Princeton University