Since Alan Shepard's historic flight in 1961, NASA human space exploration's mission has been reinvented several times to meet the needs and address the opportunities of its changing environment. This talk will examine the “trajectory" of human space exploration from its storied past into its emerging future, a future shaped by its role in the commercial development of space to pursue enduring national interests, to enhance the sustainability of the exploration enterprise and, ultimately, to expand permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit.

Event Date: 2/5/2014

As many nations explore the utilization of space, the issue of a country's liability for its space activities becomes critical. Current agreements were decided via treaties in the 1960s and 70s, but they focus on nation-to-nation liability. As private space companies become more prevalent, liability issues are becoming more complex. In 1988, Congress addressed some issues relevant to commercial space operators, but the relationship between spaceflight participants and would-be commercial human space operators was left open. States have attempted to fill the void, but politics and policy quickly interjected. The ways risk, liability, and indemnification are distributed is steeped in national notions of personal responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit, support for the industry, and questions of social cost, as well as political and financial clout. All of these factors contribute to the current space law landscape in the U.S. Carminati will illuminate this legal landscape and how it impacts the developing commercial space industry.

Event Date: 11/19/2013

A generator in space, 150 million km away, heats the Earth, structures its atmosphere, and organizes the surrounding space environment. The Sun's energy output exhibits pronounced variability on all time scales, from minutes to 11-year cycles and longer, with myriad Earthly consequences all the way from its surrounding space environment, to the surface. How might the Sun affect navigation, communication, and Earth-orbiting objects that can impact economic and security operations? How much of atmospheric ozone depletion and surface warming is solar rather than human-induced? How well can we forecast future changes in Earth's extended environment for societal, economic, and security applications? Scientific curiosity and societal utility both call for a robust understanding of the Sun-Earth system-our home in space that extends well beyond the surface where we live.

Event Date: 4/3/2013