This document summarizes the growing issue of space debris and Australia's role in addressing it. It discusses how space debris is accumulating and could eventually lead to a catastrophic chain reaction that makes space inaccessible. Australia is working on developing technology like laser telescopes to track small debris and an AI framework to enable satellites to avoid collisions autonomously. The responsibility of avoiding further debris creation while maintaining satellite operations falls to international cooperation on responsible practices for space activities and AI systems.

1. NATAGE A032
32 NOVEMBER 7, 2021 SUNDAY AGE
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Australia taking a role in combating the
Alan Duffy
As the amount of
man-made
debris in space
increases, so
does the
possibility of a
series of crashes.
Photos: European
Space Agency,
NASA
N
ASA space debris
expert Dr Don
Kessler was the first
to observe that once
the amount of space
debris reaches a critical point,
unavoidable collisions will cause
more debris, in a disastrous chain
reaction that will make space
inaccessible to us. This has been
termed the Kessler Syndrome.
Once the cascading collisions
begin, they cannot be stopped.
For the past two decades, some
low-Earth orbits may already have
accumulated that critical amount
of debris – or so Kessler has
calculated. We are like the skier
beneath the avalanche-prone
ridge, with dangerous amounts of
snow built up and awaiting the
smallest shift to trigger
catastrophe. Already, space
experts estimate there are 12,000
pieces of debris 10 centimetres
long and larger that we can track,
but nearly 1 million from one to 10
centimetres, and more than 100
million pieces smaller than a
centimetre that we can’t see
coming. At the speed with which
such pieces of debris travel in
orbit, a single screw has the energy
of a grenade upon collision.
Since we rely on satellite
technology for everything from
navigation to weather reports to
communication to security
networks underpinning your local
ATM, if space were to become
inaccessible it would dramatically
change our way of life.
Many scientists are working on
identifying and removing space
debris from orbit. Some use old-
fashioned techniques inspired by
the age of sail, such as harpoons
and nets, to remove larger pieces
of debris. But smaller pieces can
hardly be seen, let alone captured.
Earth’s atmosphere is always
shimmering, like the road ahead on
a hot day. It makes it hard for
astronomers to see objects in
space, particularly the smallest of
space debris. That’swhereElectro
OpticSystems(EOS)technology
comesin.FromMountStromloin
Canberra,Australianastronomers
affixalasertotheirtelescopeand
shootitintothesky,whose
shimmeringactionthendistortsthe
laserlight.Asastronomersknow
thelasershouldbeapointoflight,
theycandeformthetelescope’s
mirroruntilthelaserimage
sharpensbacktothatpinpoint.The
effectsoftheatmospherehavebeen
correctedandnowtheyhavea
telescopethatcanseetheobjects
behindthatlaserpoint.
With this sharpened view
astronomers can spot debris and
advise countries and companies to
move spacecraft, satellites or
astronauts away from danger.
They are also planning to use a
different high-powered laser to
shoot small pieces of debris – the
pressure from the laser slowing
the debris so it lowers its orbit
towards the Earth, hitting the
upper atmosphere and eventually
burning up on re-entry.
Australia has an important role
in this global issue, as we monitor
vast skies with space technologies
few others in the southern
hemisphere have.
Fifty years ago, Led Zeppelin gave the
world Stairway to Heaven. It’s impact was
monumental, writes Martin Boulton.
There’s a
song we all
know that
still glitters
I
t’sthesongthatmade
countlessguitaristswantto
shredlikeJimmyPage–and
50 yearslater,aswewindon
downtheroad,theimpactof
StairwaytoHeavenisstill
reverberating.
ThefourthsongonsideoneofLed
Zeppelin’suntitled1971album,
StairwaytoHeavenwasnotreleased
asasingle,contrarytocommon
practice.However,thesong’s
popularityandinfluencegrew
quicklyasthealbumthatbecame
knownasIVrocketedthebandto
stardom.Afterpositioninghimself
asrock’n’roll’spre-eminent
vocalist,RobertPlantprovedwith
StairwaytoHeavenhecouldblend
surprisingtendernesswithhis
famoushowl,whilePageusedthe
song’snowiconictemposhiftsto
buildtowardsaguitarsolothatstill
ranksamongthegreatest.
Earlierin1971,itwas
Birmingham’srockbehemothBlack
SabbathreleasingMasterofReality,
whileTheWho’sfifthalbum,Who’s
Next,wasahugesuccess.The
RollingStonesreleasedSticky
FingersandTheDoorsreleasedL.A.
Woman,whileDavidBowie,the
AllmanBrothers,Faces,Janis
Joplin,PinkFloyd,JethroTulland
T.Rexalsohadnewalbumsthat
year.LedZeppelin’sfourthalbum
wasunleashedonNovember8,
withoutanywordsoreventheir
nameonthecover–itwassimplya
photothatPlant,thenaged23,had
pickedupinanopshop.
‘‘AtnostagedidLedZeppelin
seemtoaccommodatethethings
thatthemarketexpected,’’writes
DavidHepworthinNeveraDull
Moment:1971–theYearThatRock
Exploded.Thealbum,says
Hepworth,‘‘startswiththeslurring
ofatapebeingrunbacktoacue
point,followedbyabriefmomentof
silence.Thenthesnortingofa
wakenedbeast,thefirstcoughofa
semi-truckonacoldmorning,a
noisethatannouncessomethingis
abouttooccur’’.
Theimpactofthatalbum,and
StairwaytoHeaven,wasfeltaround
theworld.InAustralia,Hoodoo
GurusbassplayerRickGrossman
remembershearingthealbumsoon
afteritwasreleased,whileblues
musicianKerriSimpsonwasamong
thoseintheearly’70stryingto
imitatePage.JimmyBarnes,You
AmI’sAndyKentandAshNaylor
frombandsEvenandTheChurch
recalltheband’sinfluenceontheir
music.
JimmyBarnes
‘‘Stairway to Heaven makes me
think about when we were touring
and going to parties somewhere –
in fact, anywhere – up the east
coast of Australia. If they were
playing Stairway to Heaven, we
knew there were too many stoners
for our liking, so we’d change it ...
put on Black Dog.
‘‘I liked the band more than the
singing, but Robert Plant was an
amazing frontman. I wanted to
sing like Little Richard but with a
band like Led Zeppelin.
‘‘I like the fact they were doing
things on their own terms. They
had an
amazing
drummer
and
guitarist, a
brilliant
bass player
and a singer
who could
scream with
the best of them. Cold Chisel
played a few of their songs in our
early sets – usually after we’d
exhausted our repertoire and
needed to pull out an encore that
would flatten an audience. Led
Zeppelin influenced the way we
wanted to sound as a band. Big
guitars and even bigger drums.
Blues-based hard rock with one
guitar player that could fill out a
song.’’
Ash Naylor
‘‘From trying to tape Stairway to
Heaven and Black Dog off 3XY in
the early ’80s, trying to nail the
Telecaster solo in Stairway, to
working out what tape player my
Kmart copy of IV sounded best on,
to finally owning a coveted vinyl
copy as a pimply teenager and
subsequently buying every LP
they ever made, Led Zeppelin’s
untitled album still fills me with joy
and wonder.
‘‘Double-tracked Fender
Electric XII, triple-tracked Les
Paul straight into the console,
mandolins, mountains of reverb,
op-shop cover art, John Paul
Jones, drums recorded in
stairwells, blues songs rejigged,
folk songs unleashed, rock ’n’ roll
untamed
and that
voice ... holy
mother of
God.
‘‘It’s been
a long time,
but I will
never tire of
this album.’’
Kerri Simpson
‘‘I first heard of Led Zep through
Go-Set magazine. I saved up my
pocket money and took myself off
to Brashs and bought a copy of IV,
proudly clutching it all the way
home on the bus.
‘‘The album became a seminal
soundtrack of my formative years.
I sat in my bedroom night after
night with my guitar playing it
continuously, working out the riffs
for Black Dog and Rock and Roll,

2. NATAGE A033
SUNDAY AGE NOVEMBER 7, 2021 33
EXTRA
snowballing threat of space junk
Space debris damage to the
Endeavour space shuttle’s radiator.
It is vital we avoid causing
more space junk. Since the 1950s
we have sent thousands of rockets,
satellites and assorted objects into
space. That number is growing
exponentially. Just this year,
SpaceX set a record for the
number of satellites sent to space
on a single rocket: 143.
Given our reliance on space and
the incredible potential of satellite
technology, we cannot expect
countries and companies to stop
sending satellites into orbit, nor
should we want to. But as space
becomes more populated, we will
no longer be able to rely on human
reaction to move satellites and the
International Space Station out of
the way in time. More collisions
will cause more debris and
eventually the avalanche will be set
in motion.
But what if satellites could move
themselves out of the way?
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be
used to create a system of satellites
smarter than their predecessors,
able to avoid debris and remain
whole and operational.
However, if these AI-enabled
satellites cannot work together,
the worst-case scenario could see
them catalyse the very disaster we
are trying to avoid. A satellite
avoiding a single screw could shift
out of the way, causing another
satellite to move and another until
a domino effect causes crashes –
perhaps into the International
Space Station, our slowest-moving
asset and home to our astronauts.
Swinburne University of
Technology has partnered with
professional services network EY
(formerly Ernst & Young) and its
space technology and AI lead for
Oceania, Dr Olivia Sackett, the
CSIRO’s data science research
and engineering arm, Data 61, and
the Australian space industry
consortium SmartSat CRC to
develop an industry standard for
AI in space, so that systems from
different owners can operate in the
same space, literally.
The project, called ‘Responsible
AI in Space’, is a collaboration
between space scientists, law and
policy experts, the space industry,
government and practitioners in
the emerging field of AI assurance.
AI assurance is about
maximising the benefits and
minimising the harms associated
with AI-enabled systems.
The team will create a
framework that companies,
satellite operators, regulators and
insurers can use to assess the
trustworthiness of AI-enabled
systems in space.
Responsible AI is the new final
frontier in space – and it may be
our final hope to preserve it too.
Professor Alan Duffy is an
astronomer and director of the Space
Technology and Industry Institute at
Swinburne University of Technology.
Scan this QR code to watch Tom
Compagnoni’s incredible montage
of musicians across the globe
performing Stairway to Heaven.
blasting
them out of
my double-
stack
Eminar
amp ’til
ornaments
fell off the
shelves.
‘‘Being able to play Stairway to
Heaven then was like a badge of
honour, the mark of absolute
mastery among guitar players, at
least at my high school. I was
determined to nail it, so I laboured
away for months ’til I could play it.
‘‘Guitar wasn’t something girls
did back then, boys in bands
laughed at the very thought of a
girl on stage
playing. I
can still
remember
how
gratifying it
was to stand
up on the
stage at the
old Memorial Hall and pull out
Stairway. They never laughed at
me again after that gig.’’
Rick Grossman
‘‘[Album] number four hit my
heart big time and I could not stop
playing it – 1971 was a very special
year for music, but this album was
the soundtrack to my teenage
years. It was kind of painfully
magical.
‘‘I scoured music mags for any
information I could find about the
band and stared endlessly at the
posters that started to cover my
walls at home.
‘‘I saw them play live in 1972,
playing many of the songs off
number four. It was a profound
experience. I knew from that day
what I wanted to do: play in a band,
to be part of a gang and, so far, it’s
been true.
‘‘Still to this day, if I see an
article, a book about them or a clip
of Zeppelin, I’m still captivated.
What still rings true, after all these
years, is what a great band they
were. Any rock band from the ’70s
to now would cite them as being
very significant. They were
pioneers in production, on stage
improvisation, originality and
staying true to themselves.
‘‘As a 15-year-old, they created a
yearning in
me that
turned into
an obsession
to be part of
something
bigger than
me: a band.
It’s hard to
pick a
favourite track – that changes over
time – but maybe When the Levee
Breaks.’’
Andy Kent
‘‘I grew up at the end of a cul-de-
sac in suburban Wellington, New
Zealand. I was young, but I
remember Led Zeppelin’s IV was
still a big record, its tunes were
ubiquitous, bouncing around the
hillsides and up the driveways.
‘‘Most of my early musical
influences came wafting across
that cul-de-sac – live Hendrix,
Pharoah Sanders, Bruce
Springsteen, Zeppelin. It was all
emanating from one house and the
record collection of the father, a
big band leader, who lived there.
He and his stepson would both play
Stairway to Heaven. The song was
everywhere.
‘‘Any kid with a guitar battled
those first-picked chords. And
every New Year’s Eve, the
weekend music video show would
count down the big hits and for
years it was Stairway to Heaven
coming in at No.1.
‘‘Later, I went to high school at
Onslow College, a huge state
school with no uniform where kids
were encouraged to be themselves.
At lunchtime, huge PA speakers
were rolled out by students and
music was pumped out over the
entire school. Stairway to Heaven
was still being played, only now it
was alongside Joy Division and
The Clash.
‘‘Eventually, the behemoth
bands of the
’70s were
moved on,
replaced by
new
generations
of music,
although by
then
Stairway to
Heaven had seeped, or maybe been
poured, into the collective psyche
and it was there for good.
‘‘And here we are, 50 years on,
still talking about it.’’
10 twists on a Stairway
Country music stars, Australian
punk rockers and chart-topping
glam rock bands have covered
Stairway to Heaven, each
interpreting one of rock ’n’ roll’s
most famous songs their own way.
Dolly Parton recorded Stairway
to Heaven for her 2002 album,
Halos and Horns, and Finland’s
Leningrad Cowboys performed the
song live in 2003. Frank Zappa also
performed the song live and
released his cover version on the
1991 album The Best Band You’ve
Never Heard in Your Life.
Australian punk rock stalwarts
the Hard-Ons briefly turned their
talents to covering Led Zeppelin
on 1990 album Yummy!, while R&B
and soul singer Mary J. Blige
recorded the song for the
international version of her 2009
album, Stronger with Each Tear.
Heart’s Nancy and Ann Wilson
performed the song in 2012 at the
Kennedy Centre, on a night
honouring the band members, who
were in attendance.
Complete with a choir, the Heart
sisters’ backing band included
drummer Jason Bonham, son of
the late John Bonham.
Bluegrass band Iron Horse,
from Alabama, covered the song
on 2005 tribute album Whole Lotta
Bluegrass: A Bluegrass Tribute to
Led Zeppelin.
Mexican acoustic duo Rodrigo y
Gabriela recorded a shortened
version of the song for their self-
titled 2006 album. American
singer, actor and TV personality
Pat Boone recorded a jazz version
of Stairway to Heaven for his 1987
album, In a Metal Mood: No More
Mr Nice Guy, and the London
Symphony Orchestra did a
classical version in 1981.
FAITH
Barney Zwartz
F
aithandpoliticsisa
delicateissue,asstaunch
CatholicDominic
Perrottet’srecentpromotionto
NewSouthWalesPremier
demonstrated.
Allpoliticians–Christian,
Muslimoratheist–formtheir
opinionsfromtheirworldview
andtheirconvictions,andsothey
must.Thealternativeisno
convictions,justexpediency.
Politiciansofallstripeshave
historicallybeeneagertoclaim
theendorsementofreligion,but
it’sneversosimple.Anarticlein
theindependentUSmagazine
ChristianityTodaythisweek
reportsthatsociallyconservative
evangelicalchurchesintheUS
havebeendeeplydamagedby
theiruncriticalsupportofDonald
Trump:‘‘Oneinfour[Americans]
sayevangelicalsupportfor
Trumpreducedtheirdesireto
participateinreligion.And
amongevangelicals,33percent
saytheirleaders’supportof
Trumpmadepersonalwitnessto
friendsandfamilymoredifficult.’’
TheBibledoesnotback
politicalphilosophiesorparties.
ThetrendinAustraliatowards
politicisingfaithistroubling,and
asymptomofdeepeningdivisions
andintolerance.
Godisfarmoreinterestedin
characterthanpolicy(notthat
policyisirrelevant,butitis
merelyapathway).TheApostle
Pauldescribestherequirements
forleadersinhisfirstletterto
Timothy:theyaretobefaithfulin
marriage,temperate,self-
controlled,respectable,
hospitable,abletoteach,not
giventodrunkenness,notviolent
butgentle,notquarrelsome,not
loversofmoney.
Trump,whofamouslysaidhe
didn’tneedGod’sforgivenessas
hehadneverdoneanything
requiringit,istheantithesisofall
these,excepthedoesn’tdrink.
Thefactis,mostpoliticians
wouldstruggletofulfilallthose
requirements–because
politiciansarehumanbeings,and
humansstrugglewiththese.
Paulhasnopraiseforpolitical
astuteness,theartofthedealor
interpretingthepolls.What
mattersarethevirtuesoffaith,
hope,charity,fortitude,justice,
temperanceandprudence.
Whendifficultdecisionsmust
bemade,whenintegrityis
required,itisstrengthof
characterthatenablesan
individualtoholdfirm.Winston
Churchill,NelsonMandela,
FranklinRooseveltandthelike
wereforgedinthecrucibleof
disappointmentanddesperate
difficulty,whichenabledthemto
fulfiltheirimmenseroleslater.As
GodtellstheprophetSamuel:
‘‘TheLorddoesnotlookatthe
thingspeoplelookat.Peoplelook
attheoutwardappearance,but
theLordlooksattheheart.’’
BarneyZwartzisaSeniorFellowof
theCentreforPublicChristianity.