NASA takes a $10B gamble on Webb – what could go wrong?
Space wars, bitcoin heists, and billionaire litterbugs for starters…
Space billionaires
The paradox of wealth is that, at some point, you can have so much of it that it becomes entirely meaningless. Take Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for example.
Their combined ambition is so great that either of their fortunes alone would count as themost wealth amassed by a single human in history. Together, they’ve pushed the boundaries of technology and commerce. Their empires are so vast that each has extended the reach of their companies beyond the planet itself.
Now what? If Musk and Bezos spent a million dollars every single day, it would take them each over 500 years to go broke. They could build dozens of James Webb space telescopes and still have some change left over.
What’s stopping either of them from littering the Lagrange two point with commercial satellites that clog Webb’s view or, worse, end up smashing into it?
Musk’s already done as much with the orbit around Earth. Scientists say thatone in every 15 points of light in the sky visible from Earth will be artificial soon.
There are 2,755 billionaires in the world right now andalmost nothing stopping themfrom doing whatever they want to in space. It’s possible the day could soon come when NASA won’t be able to find an orbit beyond big tech’s reach.
Space Hackers
There are, however, more nefarious concerns beyond a bunch of bumbling billionaires just trying to make a buck.
NASA’s enemies range far and wide and it’s becoming increasingly posh to hack government systems and hold them for ransom thanks to the advent of cryptocurrency.
So, the question is, could the James Webb space telescope be hacked? The answer’s asoftyes. Just about anything can be hacked. But, in this case, satellites are notoriously easy to hack.
However, that also works in Webb’s favor. Because the US government is quite aware ofthe potential cybersecurity issues with spacecraftand it’s heavily-invested in protecting those assets.
That makes the conversation surrounding a potential Webb takeover a bit moot – we may as well speculate on how the Pentagon could be successfully hacked.
However, there’s almost no such thing as “unhackable,” and that means we shouldn’t rule out a near future where the headlines read “Hackers demand bitcoin for space telescope’s release.”
Space wars
The entire universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere is currently up for grabs. And the US is poised to seize a lion’s share of any available resources –of whichthe value is virtually unlimited.
And, historically speaking, whenever a new frontier is exploited for resources in such a way that it effects the global economy,war follows.
With Space Force already in place and relations between NASA and Russia’s ROSCOMOS reachinga low point in 2021, there’s every reason to worry about an impending cold war in space.
And, with China and its owndivergent plans for expansion into spacebeing kept under cloak and dagger, there’s even more reason for concern.
It’ll be especially interesting to see how the next few decades play out when it comes to political theater in space. Russia, for example, may not be able to build and launch its own James Webb space telescope, but there’s nothing stopping it from building a craft capable of smashing NASA’s.
From the Russian government officially accusing a US astronaut of sabotaging a ROSCOMOS spacecraft tothe currently unfolding situation in Ukraine, it’s clear that political tensions are rising between the two nations.
While there’s probably no tactical purpose for targeting the Webb telescope, the political implications would be immense, it would make a great initial test of combat capability, and the potential for unintended casualties would be virtually nonexistent.
At the end of the day, there’s no telling what could go wrong. The most likely scenario is that Webb arrives safely at its intended orbit and helps humanity explore the cosmos. But in this new era of political drama, we should be prepared for anything.Even aliens.
Story byTristan Greene
Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns:(show all)Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns: He/him
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