In this episode, Senior Fellow in Defense Studies Peter Garretson interviews Dr. Bhavya Lal, senior advisor to the NASA Administrator on Budget and Finance. They discuss NASA's Artemis Lunar Program, the Chinese Space Program and Commercial Sector, why the Moon and human presence is important, the promise of nuclear power and propulsion, and NASA's relevance to the Climate Change task force. They examine the soft-power implications of sustained presence and how leadership translates into benefits that accrue to the first-mover. They consider how NASA is fulfilling its charter to maximize commercial participation through investments in space commercialization, space industrialization, the scale of space resources, in-situ resource utilization and on-orbit servicing assembly and maintenance (OSAM), public-private-partnerships, and the role of government in building a vibrant commercial sector. They review whole-of-nation tie-ins to Artemis, including DOE, USGS, and cooperation memos with USSPACECOM and USSF. They cover the key technologies the US must advance for a spacefaring future of development and settlement. They examine NASA's role in planetary defense and resource mapping. They discuss NASA's charter to " to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space." They conclude with the actions necessary for America to sustain its leadership.
Bhavya Lal:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/bhavya-lal-senior-advisor-for-budget-and-finance/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavya-lal-520b45b/
Artemis:
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
CLPS: Commercial Lunar Payload System:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services-overview
Space Policy Directive 1: ‘‘Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system
and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities. Beginning with missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations;
https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspm/spd-1.pdf
NASA Charter: "(c) The Congress declares that the general welfare of the United States requires that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (as established by title II of this Act) seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space" AND "the United States is committed to maintaining world leadership in space transportation;
making the Space Transportation System fully operational and cost effective in providing routine access to space will maximize the national economic benefits of the system"
https://history.nasa.gov/spaceact-legishistory.pdf
China International Lunar Research Station:
http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465652/n6465653/c6812150/content.html
China Commercial Space:
https://www.ida.org/-/media/feature/publications/e/ev/evaluation-of-chinas-commercial-space-sector/d-10873.ashx
Wolf Amendment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Amendment
NASA-USSF MOU:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_ussf_mou_21_sep_20.pdf
Roles for other Agencies on the Moon:
https://www.ida.org/-/media/feature/publications/p/po/potential-roles-of-federal-agencies-in-creating-a-sustainable-presence-on-the-moon/p-12071.ashx
National Academies Study on Nuclear Propulsion:
https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/02/for-humans-to-reach-mars-advances-are-needed-in-space-nuclear-propulsion-technologies
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/space-nuclear-propulsion-technologies
NASA Nuclear Thermal:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-nuclear-thermal-propulsion-reactor-concept-awards
DARPA DRACO:
https://www.darpa.mil/program/demonstration-rocket-for-agile-cislunar-operations
NASA Fission Surface Power:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/fission-surface-power/index.html
Executive Order Promoting Small Nuclear Reactors for Space Exploration
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/14/2021-01013/promoting-small-modular-reactors-for-national-defense-and-space-exploration
NIAC: NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/index.html
NIAC examples of resource mining:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2020_Phase_I_Phase_II/Lunar_Polar_Propellant_Mining_Outpost/
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2019_Phase_I_Phase_II/Mini_Bee_Prototype/
SEE my DEEP DIVE with JOEL SERCEL of TRANSASTRA:
https://www.afpc.org/news/media/space-strategy-episode-12-there-is-gold-in-them-hills-a-deep-dive-into-asteroid-mining-space-logistics
MOXIE:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-perseverance-mars-rover-extracts-first-oxygen-from-red-planet
NASA LEO Freeflier:
https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/freeflyer
NASA Private Astronauts:
https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/private-astronaut-missions
Planetary Defense Coordination Office:
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/overview
DART:
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart
NEOSM:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-approves-asteroid-hunting-space-telescope-to-continue-development
Inspiration 4:
https://inspiration4.com/
Activities of Last Space Council:
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Final-Report-on-the-Activities-of-the-National-Space-Council-01.15.21.pdf
A New Vision for Deep Space Exploration and Development:
https://fas.org/spp/eprint/new-era-2020.pdf
National Space Council User's Advisory Group:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/national-space-council-users-advisory-group
https://aerospace.org/sites/default/files/policy_archives/NSpC%20Users%20Advisory%20Group%20Charter%206Dec17.pdf
Climate Change Task Force:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/24/readout-of-the-fourth-national-climate-task-force-meeting/#:~:text=As%20outlined%20by%20President%20Biden's,implementation%20of%20a%20whole%2Dof%2D
China Maps its Space Program onto Climate and UN Development Goals at 1hr 28 min in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvi4dHeBwZU
NASA Space Manufacturing:
https://www.nasa.gov/oem/inspacemanufacturing
NASA OSAM-1:
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/nasa-s-on-orbit-servicing-assembly-and-manufacturing-1-mission-ready-for-spacecraft
NASA COTS:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-orbital-transportation-services-cots
NASA Commercial Crew:
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
John Marburger: "Incorporate the Solar System into Our Economic Sphere"
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=19999
