NASA AND COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES TO HOST FIRST SPACE RESOURCES ROUNDTABLE OCT. 27-29
GOLDEN, Colo., Oct. 1, 1999 - NASA's Lunar and Planetary Institute and the Colorado School of Mines will convene the first Space Resources Utilization Roundtable October 27-29, 1999.
New developments and trends, such as the recent discovery by NASA of the possibility of water on the moon, have opened up prospects for space commerce. Companies interested in space resource development would be able to use the moon as a base for launching exploration and recovery missions.
The purpose of this event is to bring together visionary people from around the world to generate ideas about deriving useful products and services from the space environment -- from tourism to manufacturing on the Moon.
Papers are being solicited from both the academic and business worlds. These "white papers" will address critical technical and economic issues, forming the basis for a space resources development handbook.
Please feel free to use any of the following information. Call us if you have questions or would like additional information. Photos are available upon request.
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o Among the invited talks will be sessions on the following topics:
* Lunar Polar Ice: Methods for Mining the New Resource
* Prospecting Near-Earth Asteroids
* Implications of Space Tourism
* Property Rights and Space Resource Development
Self-replicating Machines
An Industrial-Scale Resource Facility on the Moon
o Presenters will speak from agencies and organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Georgia Tech, CSM, University of Wisconsin, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United Societies in Space, Space Transportation Association, and NASA's Goddard, Johnson, and Marshall Space Flight Centers.
o Apollo 17 astronaut and scientist Dr. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt -- "the last man to walk on the moon" -- will be a presenter.
o The roundtable will be held in the Green Center on the CSM campus. More information on speakers and the agenda is available on the following Web site: http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/meetings/resource99/
Quotation:
"Several trends are converging to open up commercial development of space resources. For example:
o The cost is declining for small spacecraft for missions in near-Earth space, with significant decreases in launch costs expected in the next few years.
o The International Space Station will begin carrying experiments next year (some designed by CSM scientists and engineers).
o The recent discovery of the possible presence of lunar ice has renewed interest in studies of the Moon.
o The first experiments (including some designed at CSM)are being conducted testing in situ Martian resources as propellants for the 2001 Mars Mission return flight.
o There is renewed interest in large-scale space projects, such as beaming solar power from space to Earth.
o There is growing interest on the part of Congress and the Administration in commercial space possibilities
o There is an exponential growth occuring in our knowledge of space resources.
This emergent environment encourages serious consideration of the development of a space materials and products industry, ranging from mining on the Moon and near-Earth asteroids to manufacturing products in the weightlessness of free space."
Bill Sharp Program Committee Member Space Resources Utilization Roundtable
Associate Research Professor
Colorado School of Mines
Contact:
Leah McNeill
(303) 273-3302
Pager 266-2652
[email protected]
Web Site: http://www.mines.edu/All_about/public
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