One of NASA’s Most Important Deep Space Observatories Hit by Spanish Wildfires
Wildfires in Spain have threatened a critical NASA deep space communications observatory, forcing the evacuation of personnel. While the facility's status is being assessed, NASA has successfully rerouted mission operations to a site in California to ensure continuity.
Why it matters
The incident underscores the vulnerability of critical global scientific infrastructure to the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-driven natural disasters.
Climate change has now become a problem for the whole solar system. On Friday, wildfires in Spain overran one of three observatories the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses to connect with spacecraft, including Voyager 1, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the recently completed Artemis mission around the Moon.
Spain declared a wildfire emergency as multiple blazes burned out of control near Madrid, with evacuation orders in place for 60,000 people. The affected area includes Robledo de Chavela, a municipality near the Deep Space Communications Complex run by NASA.
Dramatic images captured by news photographers showed the radio telescopes surrounded by smoke and fire. A NASA spokesperson said in an email to WIRED that the agency successfully evacuated all personnel.
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