# @thespacegal on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B9pgKjwF6Z_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/19515742-thespacegal-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/82c6b4df17.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-03-12T21:21:13.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Emily Calandrelli (@thespacegal) — https://gondola.cc/thespacegal

## Caption

Amidst the chaos, today I was able to interview my impressive friend, Dr. Danielle Wood.⁣
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Danielle leads the "Space Enabled" research group at MIT. Her team works to bring the benefits of space technology to *everyone* here on Earth, regardless of where they live. ⁣
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🛰️For example, they've helped a community coping with an invasive species leverage existing satellite imagery to track and mitigate the invasive species' negative effects. 🌱⁣
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♻️They are also working to help the space industry grow in a sustainable way. Danielle and others have created the Space Sustainability Rating to determine how responsible satellite operators are being (Deorbiting your sat once the mission is over, for example). ⁣
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🏢It would be like a LEED certification that building owners can apply to receive. Not mandatory, but something that looks awfully good to get! Individual nations already have laws similar to this, but it differs country to country.⁣
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🐝ANOTHER way they're working toward this goal is by testing candlewax and BEESwax as propulsion. Beeswax in particular is exciting because it's non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, and renewable. It's literally one of the byproducts of honey making!🍯 ⁣the future goal is to hopefully use propulsion like this to deorbit satellites and get rid of space junk.
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🚀I'm holding one of the beeswax "grains" that would be the propulsion on a small engine. The fact that I can literally HOLD this type of rocket propulsion is incredibly unique. Couldn't do that with most propulsions that are common today. To reach the line of space (100km) you'd need one of these to be ~10 feet tall.⁣
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Thanks to space.enabled for hosting us. Watch their full segment on #XplorationOuterSpace this fall. ⁣
xplorationstation 
Oh and fun fact! I was at MIT around the same time as Danielle! She has always been someone I've looked up to and was so thankful that she made the time to be on our show. She has her own freaking lab at MIT! This woman is unstoppable 👑

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## Tags

xplorationouterspace

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