Today is January 27th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmausus and this is T-minus. Commercial space week kicks off in Florida starting with the annual Global Space Port Alliance, the Space Port Summit. US Space Forces Central officially broke ground on the space campus at Al-Udeid Air Base. Israel has reached an agreement with NASA to include the first Israeli female astronaut in a future space mission. Blue Origin's new shepherd to launch tomorrow and mimic lunar gravity. JAXA and IT company NEC have performed the world's fastest optical communication between satellites and geostationary orbit. [Music] And today's guest is Dr. Sian Leo Proctor. Dr. Proctor is a professor, an artist and an astronaut. Her journey to space on the Inspiration 4 mission made her the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft. She's collaborating with Spacecom 2025 to design a shirt to raise funds for the Proctor Foundation for Art and Science. Find out more later in the show. [Music] Happy Monday everyone! I too am heading off to Spacecom later today. But before I help on a plane, here are today's headlines for you. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, aka JAXA and the NEC Corporation announced the success of a satellite-to-satellite data transfer over a 1.8 gigabit laser data relay, which is the world's fastest optical communication between two satellites. JAXA's EOSatellite, the Daiichi-4, sent a clear observation image at a 10 meter resolution immediately and all at once to the optical data relay satellite via a 1.5 micrometer laser. And then the relay satellite sent that image to the ground station. JAXA says normally that much data would need to be sent in pieces into multiple paths for direct transmission to the ground. Blue Origin's New Shepherd NS-29 mission is set to launch on January 28th at 10 a.m. Central Time from Launch Site 1 in West Texas. The mission will carry 30 payloads focused on lunar technology development. Key feature of this mission is the simulation of lunar gravity by spinning the crew capsule at 11 revolutions per minute, creating one-sixth of Earth's gravity for two minutes, which is a first for the New Shepherd program. The payloads will explore areas such as in situ resource utilization, dust mitigation, advanced habitation systems, sensors and instrumentation, small spacecraft technologies, and entry descent and landing systems. This initiative aims to advance technologies that are critical to lunar exploration and support NASA's Artemis program goals. Israel's Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Gila Gomeliel, announced at the annual Ramon conference in Tel Aviv that the Israeli Space Agency has initiated the selection process for the country's first female astronaut, who will participate in a future NASA mission. While specific details regarding the mission's timeline and framework were not disclosed, this initiative underscores Israel's commitment to advancing its space sector and promoting gender equality in STEM fields. President Isaac Herzog highlighted Israel's leadership in space exploration and its role in fostering international collaborations, including with nations, involved in the Abraham Accords. US Space Forces Central, aka SpaceCent, commenced construction of a new space campus at Al-Yudid Air Base in Qatar this month. This state-of-the-art facility aims to enhance space operations and capabilities within the United States Central Command area of responsibility. The campus will support mission integration, foster collaboration with regional partners, and strengthen U.S.-Katara relations. The complex is expected to play a pivotal role in supporting space-related missions, bolstering regional stability, security and collaboration. And today marks the start of Commercial Space Week in Orlando, Florida. The Global Space Port Alliance's annual Space Port Summit kicked off events with a record number of attendees. And just a reminder to all you listeners who will be at the event this week, we will be too! So just look for the N2K T-Minus booth, number 1217, on the SpaceCom floor this week. And you'll see me doing interviews right from the show floor, so do come by and say hi. And our producer Alice and associate producer Liz might also have some merch on hand for you, so just be sure to ask. And that is all for this Monday, and as always, there's more reading for you in the show notes, including a nicer update from NASA. Yes, really, check it out, space.n2k.com. Hi T-Minus Crew, if you would like daily updates from us directly in your LinkedIn feed, be sure to follow the official N2K T-Minus page over on LinkedIn. And if you're more interested in the lighter side of what we do here, we are @t-minusdaily on Instagram. And that is where we post videos and pictures from events, excursions like SpaceCom, and even some behind-the-scenes treats. The links are in the show notes for you, and you'll join us there. [Music] Today's guest is astronaut Dr. Cyan Leo Proctor. She's collaborating with SpaceCom 2025 to design a shirt to raise funds for the Proctor Foundation for Art and Science. And I asked Dr. Proctor about how this partnership came about. [Music] SpaceCom reached out to me, and you can imagine my surprise when they did. And we came together and talked about the fact that I'm the first artist selected to go to space, that I got to paint in space, and that I have this really unique story in that I've been chasing space my entire life, and then I ended up getting there in such a non-conventional way. So back in 2013, I was part of the high seas mission on the Big Island of Hawaii. It's a habitat that's a Mars analog, and I was part of the very first crew to live in that habitat. And when I was going through that, I realized that a lot of what we were doing was solving for Earth while we were thinking about humanity living on Mars. And what it will mean for us when we go back to the moon and on to Mars, and how everything that we're doing, particularly around human spaceflight, is really solving for a lot of the challenges here on Earth. And so for the last over a decade, that's been part of my messaging. And so when I got inspiration for and became a space artist during COVID, I started thinking about how I wanted to represent the future of humanity in space, and the type of messaging that would really resonate with my art. And so it just made sense to bring that message and my art together. Can you tell me about Earthlight? I was reading on your website about this, and it's so fascinating. Can you tell me about it, please? Yeah, you know, I went to space. I'm a geoscience professor who became a space artist during COVID, and then it won me a seat to space because I wrote a poem. I love that so much. But I had been chasing space my entire life, and I know that the Earth has a high reflectivity. But when I got to space, and I was in this amazing cupola, this continuous window that was on top of our dragon capsule, so that we could see the Earth, I realized that I was being bathed in Earthlight. And I've been fascinated by the overview effect before going to space. And I was wondering, why is it that astronauts can be in space and have this transformative experience, but yet you can show people a picture of our planet from space here on Earth, and they won't be transformed in that same way. And so it got me as my scientist's brain thinking, okay, you know, is it because you're floating in space, because you're adapting to space? What is it that causes this transformative shift? And then I was in low Earth orbit, and I realized how illuminated I was up in the cupola, and the fact that that was not direct sunlight. It's designed to be shielded from sunlight coming in. And it, you know, hit me. I was like, oh my goodness, I'm being bathed in Earthlight. I don't like this. Amazing light ever. And as an artist, that's where I think the connection came, because I was looking at the planet and I was like, oh my goodness, it's stunningly beautiful and bright, and it's a portrait in motion and all of these things. And then I'm like, whoa, I'm being illuminated. I'm being bathed in Earthlight. This is the most beautiful light there is. And it just hit me that we learn about sunlight. We learn about moonlight, but we don't learn about the most magical life giving light that there is. And that's Earthlight. Life would not exist if it wasn't for Earthlight. Our planet fundamentally takes sunlight, the full electromagnetic spectrum. And as soon as it starts getting into the Earth's magnetic sphere and atmosphere, our planet strips a lot of that harmful radiation away. And by the time it gets down to us, it's fundamentally been changed. It's not sunlight anymore, it's Earthlight. So we live in Earthlight. Many artists, like the conversation is often about capturing that light and chasing, trying to get that. What an amazing thing to have, and that experience. Going back to the beautiful design that you made, there's a mission behind this that I definitely don't want to miss out on speaking about. Can you tell me a bit about this mission and also why it's so important to you? Yeah, you know, when I came back from space, and you know, our mission was all about giving back. And we did a $200 million fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In the end, we raised closer to $250 million to help end childhood cancer. And I thought about my role in not only that, but also in the fact that I've been a community college professor for now 26 years. A lot of people don't realize this, that I've never been worked in the space industry. I've been a geoscience professor. I am still a full-time geoscience professor. And I learned so much about being a community college professor in particular, and how the community college is the hidden gem of education. Yes, I agree. We're a full access. Yeah, we take, I can have a 17-year-old who just graduated from high school, sitting next to a 65-year-old who is a grandmother, who hasn't been in school in, you know, 50 years, and is eager to get back and to learn. And you've got to teach everyone, you know? And there's not a lot of resources given to the community college. There's a lot for K-12. There's a lot for university and research-1 institutions. And I thought about the impact that space has had in my life. So I started the Proctor Foundation for Art and Science. And our goal is to give community college students and faculty experiential learning opportunities. And the first one that we've developed is a partnership with Space Camp. And so I said, yeah. Yeah. And so my foundation sends community college students and teachers to Space Camp, where they can go and have this experience. And I really have a focus towards the humanities. And anybody can apply, whether you're a science major or humanities major, business major. But I really want to focus on the people who are non-STEM to some extent, because I want them to know that they have a place in space waiting for them. They're super power as a business person or a lawyer or an artist or whatever their passion is that we need those skills in space exploration. You are really speaking my language as a communicator and as a person who's not a STEM person. I really, really appreciate you saying that so much. To me, you truly are a polymath. You have so many different perspectives and areas of expertise that I can only imagine how it informs each other in your mind. I guess my question is, for those of us who are humanities folks, what do you want us to know about how space can inform what we do? I mean, again, as an artist and a scientist and an explorer, what do you want us to know? Two things to this. One is that there is art in science and there is science and art. And so I really want those STEM people, those science, technology, engineering and math individuals to recognize and acknowledge the art that is in what they're doing. The beautiful designs, the Dragon Capsule is a work of art and beauty. The Falcon 9 rocket and realizing that you can have functional purpose-built items and they can still be works of art and beauty in there. And being able to see that and acknowledge that creativity that enabled you to design and build things that impact humanity in such a magnificent way. And then for the artists out there and the humanities, I want you to realize that there is science in what you do. Like whether it's the music you're listening to and the mathematics behind music, or if it's the painting and the art that you're doing, knowing that color is light and that our eyes have been designed as energy detectors. We see the world around us through color and color is energy and really kind of like understanding that there's really amazing science in that. And when we look at all of the majors or careers or things that people have a passion for, they involve both art and science in magical, beautiful ways. And then the other thing is that, you know, my call sign is Leo. So if you look at my patch here, it's Dr. Sian Leo Proctor. And so when we went through fighter jet training, I was given my call sign. And it's, you go through a naming ceremony and it was amazing because they sit you down in a chair and you have your family and your friends and your crew around you. And they're like, you know, you can't say anything and people stand up and basically nominate names for you. And so somebody stood up and said, you know, I think she should be called Picasso because she's an artist and everybody was like Picasso. Oh, that's cool. You know, and I'm sitting there like Picasso. And then the next person stood up and goes, no, Sian is not a Picasso. She is an artist and a scientist. She is a modern day Leonardo da Vinci and everybody went, oh, Leonardo. And then they said her call sign will be Leo. Love that. I love that. It's so true. What a great name. I just have to ask just your thoughts about what you're excited about in terms of what's happening in space and the space industry right now. I'm so curious to hear your thoughts like what's really got you jazzed. Oh, man, I feel so fortunate to be alive during this new era of space exploration. It's so exciting to think about, you know, humanity going back to the moon, putting the first female footprints on the moon and a first person of color and then us going to Mars and really kind of like figuring out how to not just survive off Earth, but to thrive. Because when we go and we figure out what is the best energy system for the moon and Mars? What is the best water recycling system? How do we use resources in these locations? All of these like really hard questions that need innovation and creativity to answer, that all of that is going to be done here on Earth and that's all of that technology and knowledge is going to be spun off to make us more sustainable here because, you know, there is no better planet in our solar system than Earth. And, you know, our ability to use human space exploration as a way to solve these wicked problems here so we can thrive is, you know, in the end, that is the goal. [Music] We'll be right back. [Music] Welcome back. Sometimes when we do these stories, I learn about a thing that I never knew existed before and now hey, new fear unlocked. Here's one for today, space advertising. The American Astronomical Society or the AAS is calling for a global ban on it. And did you know it was even possibly a thing? Yeah, I didn't either. The United States law already prohibits licensing any launches whose payloads could contain material that could be used for obtrusive space advertising as an advertising that can be recognized by a human and the naked eye, which is great. But globally, it's a different matter. Stop me if this phrase feels familiar, but there are currently no agreed upon global norms explicitly about space advertising and the 1967 Outer Space Treaty requires due regard for others, but again, that is open to wide interpretation. Adding to the urgency here, this past April, 2024, Russia's Avante space systems launched a prototype CubeSat to demonstrate optical light advertisements from space to us folks on the ground. And the idea is that a CubeSat constellation could form a billboard using laser light projection. Understandably, the AAS is very concerned about potential space advertising as it would be potentially harmful interference with ground based astronomy. And that seems like it's putting it lightly, if I'm being honest. Just two weeks ago, the AAS had its annual meeting and they strengthened their call to action on this, urging the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space or the CopyOS to explicitly prohibit space advertising. Because sci-fi dystopias are meant to be a warning, not a roadmap, y'all. [Music] That's it for T-Minus for January 27th, 2025, brought to you by N2K CyberWire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.n2k.com. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like our show, please share a rating and review on your favorite podcast app. Also, please fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space@n2k.com. We're privileged that N2K CyberWire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector, from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies. N2K makes it easy for companies to optimize your biggest investment, your people. We make you smarter about your teams while making your teams smarter. Learn how at N2K.com. This episode was produced by Alice Carruth. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester, with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Iben. Our executive editor is Brandon Karp. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpe is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmazis, about to hop on a plane. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. [Music] T-minus. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
