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Return to the Moon VI Panel Descriptions
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Structure
The primary structure of the program will be panel discussions with substantial audience involvement punctuated by presentations by Stand-Alone speakers. While meant to be intensive to create maximum interaction, the audience involvement will be moderated to focus the conversations and ensure the credibility of the process. The stand alone speaker position will allow us greater program flexibility as we begin to nail down key panelists and allow for input of additional VIPs as we confirm their availability.
Theme
The theme of RTM VI is implicit in the working title that we have been using for this year’s conference: "RTM VI Reality Check." In line with this theme, this year’s conference is being designed to raise questions and explore issues about humanity’s genuine near-term ability to return to the Moon. In both the private and government sector there are ongoing discussions about an actual return to the Moon. The purpose of this conference is to explore the different facets of those discussions and of ongoing programs and initiatives to explore how close we really are to a return to the Moon and what needs to change if we are to succeed in such an endeavor.
Panels
Mistakes in Space
The road to space development is littered with failed businesses and government programs alike. A project as ambitious as a human return to the Moon featuring a permanent settlement, is a concept nearly as fraught with as it is with promise. This panel will feature several speakers intended to focus the conference on answering the questions posed by the mistakes of the past so as to ensure that this return to the Moon is not a failure.
How do we get to the Moon?
The question of Space transportation has long been the sticking point of any discussion of going beyond earth orbit. There are a number of different approaches being taken by NASA and others to address the requirement of Earth to Orbit (ETO) and Cis-Lunar transportation. This two part panel will seek to address these issues.
ETO: There are a number of smaller emerging companies that are on the verge of demonstrating cheap commercial access to space.
Cis-Lunar: The actual Transit to and landing on the Moon is an extraordinarily daunting engineering challenge. A number of more established companies have laid out plans for accomplishing this mission under the Vision for Exploration (VSE)
How do we live on the Moon?
What are the key technologies and approaches that we must pursue if we are going to be establishing a long term human presence on the Moon? Not since Apollo have there been in-depth discussions about the construction of systems that can function for prolonged periods in a lunar environment. As such, these systems will be a key component to entrepreneurial and NASA’s plans for the Moon, addressing them is critical.
What will we do on the Moon?
Many have argued that there are both scientific and commercial benefits to be gained in returning to the Moon. These activities are imagined to be the primary task that will occupy the time of people living on the Moon. What specifically are these goals? What will lunar operations look like? This two part panel is designed to look at these questions from both a scientific and a commercial perspective.
Science: There are a number of major potential opportunities for science when it comes to operations in the lunar involvement. If NASA is successful in initiating a sustained human presence on the surface of the Moon, what scientific opportunities await us?
Commercial: real innovation on the lunar surface need not be limited to government employees. If transport to the surface of the Moon becomes a real possibility within the next decade, what are the commercial opportunities that exist for truly adventurous entrepreneurs?
Legal/Regulatory/Policy
That the legal and policy implications of a return to the moon by governments and private entities alike are daunting is a well known fact within the entire space sector. What are the most likely sources of trouble for both NASA and the private sector? Are there critical regulatory or policy roadblocks that must be surmounted if a return to the Moon is to succeed? This panel is being constructed to take these issues head on and identify the major challenges that we face as we consider a return to the Moon.
Enabling Technologies
It appears likely that there are certain key technologies that will prove to be major deciding factors on the achievability of a return to the Moon. We know we can get there, but, can we do it efficiently enough to make this mission far more than a flags and footprints approach? What are the key technologies that will make or break various business plans for living and working on the Moon? This panel is intended to be an interactive showcase for the critical technologies that will take us back to the Moon.
International Partners
Moving permanently into Cis-Lunar Space necessarily involves with other international entities and international partners. What are the issues and opportunities that lie before us in the next 10 years? Are there players we haven not had as partners before that we should be considering? Are there unforeseen barriers in the International community? This panel is intended to try and answer these questions.
Lunar and In-Space Business Development Models
A number of companies have begun submitting ideas about how to make money from different aspects of lunar exploration/development. How realistic are these ideas? Are there major holes in these business models? Is it really possible to make money in an environment as unforgiving as the Moon? This panel seeks to explore the notion of profitability on the Moon.
Space Property Rights
How private companies will operate on the Moon, what rules and regulations they will be subject to and most critically, who can own the Moon will be one of the defining debates of our time? As real lunar development emerges, these questions will only increase in relevance. There is no shortage of strong opinions in this area and this panel aims to air some of the best known.
What have we learned? (wrap up)
Have the speakers made solid cases? Are there issues that were not addressed? How well did the speakers answer the questions posed by the opening speakers?
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Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon is the definitive guide to the Apollo program. Click above to order from Amazon.com.
Robert A. Heinlein's classic, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, is a must read for all Lunar enthusiasts.
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