Panels Will Discuss Low Earth Orbit And Heavy Lift
Missions
The roar of a successful Ares 1-X
test launch will have barely subsided when aerospace industry
leaders meet November 2 to debate the future of America’s
space programs in light of the recent findings by the Augustine
Commission.
The half-day event, “Does the Final Frontier Have a
Future? Debating America’s Next Steps in Human Space
Flight,” will feature panelists from leading space
exploration companies as well as from NASA and academia.
AIAA President Dave Thompson stated: “With the release of
the Augustine Commission report it is clear that America faces
several obstacles in its quest to remain at the forefront of space
exploration and development efforts. Events such as these are
crucial toward sparking the types of conversations that allow us to
begin laying a substantive framework for future exploration and
development efforts that can surmount the obstacles that the
Commission has identified.”
Attendees will hear from two
panels. The first panel, “Access to Low Earth Orbit and
International Space Station Servicing,” will be moderated by
aerospace consultant Patti Grace Smith, former FAA associate
administrator for commercial space transportation. Featured
panelists will include Scott “Doc” Horowitz, former
NASA astronaut and president and CEO of Doc’s Aerospace; Ken
Reightler, former NASA astronaut and vice president, NASA program
integration, Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mike Kahn, executive vice
president, ATK space systems; Mike Gold, director of the
Washington, D.C. office of Bigelow Aerospace; and Larry Williams,
vice president, strategic relations, Space Exploration Technologies
(SpaceX).
The afternoon’s second panel, “Heavy Lift and
Exploration Beyond Low Earth Orbit,” will be moderated by
Roger D. Launius, senior curator for the division of space history
at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum,
and will feature Stephen Metschan, co-founder of the DIRECT shuttle
derived heavy-lift vehicle team; Douglas Stanley, principal
research engineer, Georgia Institute of Technology; and a
representative from NASA’s Constellation program office.
Edward Crawley, Ford Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology has also been invited to participate.
The event, being held in Washington, DC, is open to the media
and the public at no charge, but space is limited.