AIAA to Hold Capitol Hill Dialogue on Deep Space Exploration
Panel Will Consider Obstacles and Solutions for Expansion of Deep Space Exploration
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will sponsor a panel discussion: “Deep Space: Relaunching American Exceptionalism” on Tuesday, July 24 on Capitol Hill. This luncheon event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street, Washington, D.C. 20003.
The panel will examine the next steps in deep space exploration for the United States, the medical barriers that must be overcome before increased exploration is possible, and the costs and benefits of relying on robotic rather than human exploration. Other topics of discussion will include possible exploration destinations, the future of international partnerships for exploration, and possible fuel sources for exploration missions.
The panel discussion will feature opening remarks by U.S. Congressman Randall M. Hultgren (Ill.-14th), and will be moderated by Dr. Scott Pace, director, Space Policy Institute, The George Washington University. Panelists will be: Dr. James Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA; Col. Brian Duffy, U.S. Air Force (retired), vice president and Johnson Space Center program manager, Exploration Systems, ATK; James “Jim” Crocker, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Corp.; Dr. Kris Lehnhardt, M.D., attending physician and assistant professor, George Washington University; Dr. Ralph L. McNutt Jr., physicist, and the Science and Analysis Branch Scientist for Space Science, Space Department, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
AIAA President Mike Griffin stated, “Human history is the story of societies expanding the frontiers of their time, exploiting and consolidating their gains on those frontiers, and moving on again. That history is not written by or about the people who stayed home. We now face the new frontier of space, what President Kennedy called ‘this new ocean,’ and the question is not whether humans will sail upon it, but whether Americans will be among them. The next stop on that frontier is the moon, and it is indeed still new. It is no longer enough to point to our past achievements; most of today’s world cannot recall the time when our astronauts could voyage to the moon. It is for us to resolve that they will do so again, and soon. We can lead the way on the space frontier, or we can watch as others do so. Today that choice is still ours to make. Within a very few years, it will belong to others.”
For more information on “Deep Space: Relaunching American Exceptionalism,” or to reserve a seat at the event, please contact Duane Hyland at 703.264.7558 or duaneh@aiaa.org. The event is open to credentialed members of the press.
AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and nearly 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 500, Reston, VA 20191-4344
Phone: 703.264.7558 Fax: 703.264.7551 www.aiaa.org
Contact:
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Duane Hyland, 703-264-7558
duaneh@aiaa.org
