1 . US Army veteran (退伍老兵) Mazyck remembers when doctors told her she would never walk again. She’d been paralyzed from the waist down after a serious accident while parachuting in 2003.The doctors never said anything about floating, though. In 2021,she got to do just that.

Mazyck was one of 12 participants in a Zero G flight, organized by the group AstroAccess. This type of flight recreates the weightlessness that astronauts experience without going all the way to space. Flying over the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, the modified 747 jet airplane made 15 steep dives and climbs, allowing the flyers multiple periods of weightlessness.

The experience left Mazyck feeling joyful. “The flight was something that I would have never in my wildest dreams thought I would’ve experienced,” she says, “especially the floating, the weightlessness.”

Traditionally, strict physical requirements have prevented disabled people from becoming astronauts. AstroAccess is working to make space accessible to all. “Space removes the barriers between people; now is the time to remove the barriers to space itself,” says Mazyck, “It is sending a message to people who have historically been excluded from STEM that not only is there room for you in space, there is a need for you.”

During the flight, she says, the participants did experiments and made observations. They took note of things that people without certain disabilities might not realize are issues. For example, people who couldn’t grip with their legs needed another way to hold themselves still while weightless. The group also experimented with signaling lights for the deaf and with ways of using braille (盲文) for the blind.

These types of issues are easy enough to address. Now is the time to make space accessible — before space tourism or space settlements become commonplace. “I am so proud and elated about what’s happening here,” Mazyck adds. “We are paving the way for the future.”

The Voyager Program was conceived as a grand tour of the solar system. It was actually     1     engineer in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that realized in the late ‘70s there was going to be a     2     (gold) opportunity. And that was     3     the planets were all going to more or less line up on one side of the sun. And that’s really important when you’re trying to explore one planet after another, because of course all the planets in the solar system are orbiting     4     (independent). Sometimes we’re on, say, the same side of the sun as Jupiter is     5     sometimes Jupiter is way on the other side of the sun from us, you know, many, many, many billions of miles away. So, there was this time coming in the late ’70s       6     you could launch a spacecraft and it could actually go to Jupiter, but then onto Saturn, because they were both on the same side of the sun, and you could even possibly get Uranus and Neptune and maybe even Pluto.

The fly-by trips     7     (involve) the four planets became known as the Voyager “Grand Tour.” And this was the Voyager program: Voyager I and Voyager II. NASA officials have said that when first     8     (launch), the Voyager mission was expected to last five years. Both Voyagers are the only spacecraft so far     9     (explore) interstellar (星际的) space. And over the last couple of years, we     10     (follow) them through this transition truly out of the range of our solar system.

3 . Ever since humans began adventuring into space, 227 astronauts have performed activities outside the spaceship. While 14 of those have been women, the female astronauts have always been with a male partner. On October 18, 2019, US astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir became the first all-female team to carry out a spacewalk to replace a failed battery controller.

The historic event began at 7: 38 a. m. when Koch and Meir set their spacesuits to battery power. Live-broadcast by NASA, it was watched by thousands of space fans, particularly young girls dreaming to be astronauts. The scientists, who spent seven hours and 17 minutes fixing the controller and completing other tasks for the station, were able to observe the Earth passing under their feet. Koch and Meir returned to the International Space Station at 2: 55 p.m., where they were welcomed with cheers by their four male workmates.

When asked about the importance of this spacewalk, Koch said, “In the end, I do think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing. In the past, women haven’t always been at the table. It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space program at a time when all contributions are being accepted and everyone has a role. That can lead in turn to increased chance for success. There are a lot of people who get encouragement from people who look like them, and I think it’s an important story to tell.”

Meir added, “What we’re doing now shows all the work that went in many years ago, and all of the women that worked to get us where we are today.”

8 . The first-ever fine for space junk was issued in early October in a case of off-planet environmental enforcement (执法). The television company, Dish Network, was hit with a $125,000 fine by the United States government for failing to remove a satellite in orbit that would have risked a collision (撞击) with other space equipment, a safety concern that will only grow with time as off-planet activities increase.

According to NASA, debris (碎片) orbiting in space can travel up to 15 kilometres per second, which is nearly 10 times faster than the velocity (速度) of a bullet. A huge amount of damage can be caused by something just a few centimetres in size, meaning that every effort must be taken to keep space as clear as possible. Collisions that take place in space have an effect back on Earth. Damaged satellites impact our ability to use the Internet and navigation (导航), leaving increasingly global critical infrastructure in an unstable state.

One solution for this may be to send autonomous space vehicles into orbit, which can then catch and effectively de-orbit space junk. By utilizing tools such as robotic arms, or nets, this approach will require very precise track and fine cooperation in order to be successful. Such measures are yet to catch up with the increase in space activity and pollution currently occurring. Therefore, fines and regulatory enforcement may presently be the only realistic method to hold organizations accountable.

The Dish Network satellite, fined $125,000 by the Federal Communications Commission, failed to de-orbit as a lack of fuel stopped the satellite from fully decommissioning (退役) a safe distance from Earth, falling short by around 75 miles (120 kilometres). It is hoped that significant fines like these will serve as a warning for companies, forcing them to make sure the safe decommissioning of their space operations.