Recently, along with the rise of advancing technology and accessibility, the number of countries participating and having successful space missions have increased.
“I think it’s good for [other countries to participate in space exploration] so that it’s not only the U.S. and Russia dominating the space field,” said Thomas S. Wootton High School junior Lauren Yao.
According to BBC, on July 16, India’s Aditya-L1, the country’sits first solar observation space mission, captured data that helped scientists estimate the exact time a coronal mass ejection (CME) began. A CMEcoronal mass ejection is when massive fireballs blow out of the Sun’s outermost corona layer. This data can help predict the next time another CME occurshappens and prevent damage to infrastructure on Earth and in space that the world heavily relies on for daily use.
Meanwhile, according to CNN, on July 25, China’s Chang’e-6 moon mission returned to Earth, bringing along the first samples of the far side of the moon. The analysis of these samples could help China figure out how to utilize the moon’s resources for further lunar exploration as well as shed light on how the moon, Earth and the solar system has changed and evolved.
Additionally, in 2023, both India’s Chandrayaan-3 and Japan’s SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) mission had successful lunar landing missions. Moreover, Israel, South Korea and many country members of the European Space Agency (ESA) sent robotic spacecraft into lunar orbit.
“Given the history of space exploration and the landing of the moon, it’s predictable that many countries are in the race to explore and be the firsts to discover the possibilities of space,” Richard Montgomery High School junior Ellen Bu said.
However, there is cause for concern. With increasing space exploration, there is a high possibility that “we would wreck the planet,” said Yao.
The rise of moon missions have been a cause for concern because of their potential impact on international relations and policy. “[Space exploration] can also cause polarization in our society,” Ellen added. However, many organizations and countries anticipated this. According to NASA, in 2020, NASA in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, along with other countries established the Artemis Accords. As of right now, there are 48 countries participating in the Accords including India, Japan, Australia, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
The main purpose of the Artemis Accords is to create clarity on space exploration while adhering to the United Nations’ 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The Outer Space Treaty focuses on maintaining peaceful space exploration by ensuring no country can lay claim to any part of space, enforcing the peaceful use of space, and forbidding the placement of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction in space.
TMeanwhile, the Artemis Accords is also a non-binding agreement that asks countries to send information and updates on their space policies and missions, encourages the use of the same system and standards, gives emergency assistance to any astronaut when needed, registers space objects and publicly shares and releases scientific data and results.
With these rules and guidelines, there is hope for safe and peaceful space exploration. Many look forward to what space exploration will discover. “It [will] be a great opportunity for us to learn more about the world and… learn more around extraterrestrial life and possibilities of the future,” said Bu.
Written by Anushka Gulla