SPI and USRA Co-host “Return to the Moon: A Partnership of Government, Academia and Industry”

The Space Policy Institute and Universities Space Research Association co-hosted their annual conference on Wednesday, March 28th, 2018.

SPI Director Henry Hertzfeld and Apollo Astronaut Jack Schmitt

Program brief:
Sending American astronauts back to the moon for the first time since 1972, eventually to Mars and other deep space destinations called for under President Trump’s Space Policy Directive will require new technologies, funding and collaboration among universities, businesses and governments, both domestic and international. Innovative aerospace entrepreneurs and experts will be joined by top U.S. and European policymakers to explore:

  • Use of the moon as a staging platform for testing new systems and mining its valuable resources
  • Strategies for aligning U.S. commercial, civil and defense space initiatives with those of other nations under the Outer Space Treaty

Speakers:
Henry Hertzfeld, Director – Space Policy Institute, George Washington University
Robert Lightfoot, Acting Administrator – NASA
Jan Woerner, Director General – European Space Agency (ESA) (video message)
Hon. Harrison H. Schmitt – Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. Senator
Ellen Stofan, NASA Chief Scientist (former) – NASA Headquarters
James Carpenter, Strategy Officer, Strategic Planning and Outreach Office – European Space Agency (ESA) Space Research and Technology Center
Clive Neal, Professor, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences – University of Notre Dame
Carle Pieters, Professor, Dept. of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences – Brown University
Philippe Lognonné, Professor, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris – Université Paris Diderot-Sorbonne Paris Cité
Harrison H. Schmitt, Author, Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space
Jason Crusan, Director, Advanced Exploration Systems – NASA Headquarters
Christie Iacomini, Head, Advanced Systems – Blue Origin
Angel Abbud-Madrid, Director, Center for Space Resources – Colorado School of Mines
Dan Hendrickson, Vice President of Business Development – Astrobotic Technology, Inc.
Jeff Isaacson, President and CEO – Universities Space Research Association (USRA)
Steven Ackerman, Chair, Council of Institutions – Universities Space Research Association (USRA)