00:00 [ Music ]
00:02 As scientists search for new ways to keep the planet from overheating,
00:06 a team of researchers is exploring an idea that may help cool the planet from space.
00:11 Scientists at the Planetary Sunshade Foundation say that they are building a prototype
00:15 that would place a giant sun shield in orbit.
00:19 Researchers say that they're using solar sail technology developed by NASA.
00:23 Their model would attach lightweight solar sails to a small satellite
00:27 as a way to block just enough sunlight to keep global temperatures within manageable climate boundaries.
00:33 Now, some in the science community claim that the idea is nothing more than science fiction.
00:37 But could it one day become reality?
00:39 Join us now to discuss is space systems engineer Dr. Mitchell Kirshner,
00:44 host of the NASA-sponsored Space Post Haste podcast.
00:48 Thank you so much for being here, Doctor.
00:49 Can you tell us a little bit more about this idea?
00:51 Is this even possible?
00:53 Of course. Thank you for having me.
00:55 So, yes, to some extent, the prototype idea is possible.
00:59 They would be able to develop their prototype with a small satellite
01:03 with solar sails attached to it to test the orbital dynamics of staying in the specific position
01:10 between the sun and the Earth, such that the sunshade will actually, at all times,
01:16 be in between Earth and the sun and shield us from the harmful radiation
01:21 and thereby reduce global temperatures.
01:23 However, the actual required temperature cooling that we would have to do to reduce things like climate change
01:32 and global warming by one and a half degrees Celsius would have to be a sunshade the size of Argentina.
01:40 This solar sail technology, though, can it be used in this manner in other ways?
01:45 Is there another way to try this before we send something up into space?
01:50 Sure. So solar sails are, it's a very fascinating technology.
01:55 It's been around in science fiction for hundreds of years, I believe, before in the 60s,
02:02 NASA engineers who eventually went down to found the Planetary Society,
02:07 developed this solar sail technology, which uses the impact of what some people call space weather
02:15 beyond the Earth's stratosphere. The space weather can propel this sail, much like wind in a ship,
02:22 to specific areas without having to use fuel for doing orbital maneuvers.
02:29 And there have been many missions since 2010 that use the solar sail,
02:33 though having something affixed to such a large size like the fully realized product
02:40 to reduce one and a half degrees of heat, that would require a lot of additional technology.
02:47 So there are ways to maybe simulate that on computers, but that is likely the best,
02:53 the closest we'll get for now until the technology catches up to the idea.
02:58 But you also talk about, you know, you don't mess with Mother Nature.
03:01 That's what a lot of people say, you know, let Mother Nature play its course.
03:04 But there are people that are concerned with something like this,
03:07 and maybe there's some drawbacks to it. Talk about that.
03:10 Yes, of course. So the nice thing about this idea is that it doesn't change anything about atmospheric chemistry.
03:17 When you start talking about ideas like stratospheric aerosol injection,
03:22 where you, or cloud seeding as it's otherwise known, that sometimes creates more rain that you might want.
03:30 It creates other atmospheric or ecological effects that you might not have known would happen
03:35 because you might have these unknown unknowns in your context of the system that you're developing.
03:42 So once you start adding things to Mother Nature, you might not always know what's going to happen as a result.
03:50 Now, with a solar sunshade, all you're not doing anything with the atmosphere here.
03:54 You're just really putting just a sunshade, an umbrella, right between you and the sun,
04:01 like you would on the beach in Florida. So here, even though it's just reducing the amount of light that is reaching the atmosphere,
04:09 it is possible it could still have unintended effects.
04:13 But for that type of analysis of changing of radiation,
04:18 that's a whole other segment of research that would need to be done separate from traditional ecological or climatological studies.
04:28 What's our timeline on something like this? How fast is the research coming along?
04:33 And is this something that we could see in our lifetime, or are we decades or generations out from seeing something like this actually take place?
04:41 Yes. So the technology is definitely coming along.
04:45 There's this concept of technology readiness levels that exist within the engineering world,
04:50 which helps determine how far along these are and how far along they need to be in order to be mass produced
04:57 or really made effective.
05:01 So the nice news is the prototype for the solar sail with the new SpaceX Falcon 9 lift technology
05:09 will be able to actually get that prototype in, I would think, within the next 10 years if those projects are funded.
05:16 This all seems out of this world, as they say, but it could become a reality.
05:20 Thank you so much, Dr. Mitchell Mishner.
05:22 I hope so.
05:23 Appreciate it. Come on.
05:24 Thank you for having me.
05:25 (upbeat music)
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