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Protecting the Planet

Ed Lu, Asteroids, and Protecting the Planet


The meteor exploding over Russia, and the much bigger asteroid passing later in the day, shows the risks and dangers of "flying blind" through the solar system.  On February 1st, former astronaut Ed Lu was our final speaker at the SIEPR Policy Forum on Space Entrepreneurship, and talked about what we can do to spot dangerous asteroids and do something about it.   The key idea:  put a space telescope in orbit near Venus looking back at Earth.  Within a few years we can map out almost all of the dangerous asteroids - and do something about one capable of striking Earth.

 
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To watch his speech, choose a clip below:

Part 1:  Ed Lu, Explaining the B612 Foundation




Part 2: Comparing asteroids with other risks




Part 3: Risks of "Big" asteroids and deflecting them from Earth




Part 4:  Mapping the Near-Earth Asteroids - a satellite near Venus.




Part 5:  The B612 Plan - infrared mapping.



Check out the NY Times article covering Ed and the B612 Foundation.

Our Next Policy Forum - Space Entrepreneurship


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Friday, Feb 1st:


The U.S. space program is undergoing a major transition from government control to an entrepreneurial space industry.  Leading this initiative are companies such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Bigelow, and many others.  At the same time, U.S. government leaders at NASA and the FAA are working to support this private-public partnership in space.
 
On Friday, February 1st the SIEPR Policy Forum (with co-sponsor the Stanford Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation) will have a fascinating discussion of the challenges and opportunities for private space ventures.  Among the questions discussed will be the:
 
  • - Opportunities for space industry entrepreneurs
  • - Lowering the cost of space launches 
  • - Market opportunities for space tourism, exploration, mining, and communication
  • - Using economic incentives to foster new technologies and explorations

Key space industry speakers, economists,  and companies include Lori Garver of NASA, George Nield of FAA, Bill Nye, Ed Lu, Petra Moser of Stanford, SpaceX,  Virgin Galactic, XCOR, Google Lunar X Prize, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and United Launch Alliance.  
 
Full Agenda Here.

ALL Stanford Students and faculty welcome. Others by invitation.   Registration is Now Closed Due to Capacity.  A limited number of students arriving before 9:30am Friday will be able to register.   Event is free.  

 
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For more information, please contact Ward Hanson or Dafna Baldwin.




Thursday, January 31st:

For those especially interested in space policy, we will have a Policy Workshop on Thursday afternoon, January 31st.  Following an overview of the market by Ken Davidian of the FAA and Scott Hubbard of Stanford, we will look closely at two policy areas where economics can especially inform and contribute to the policy analysis.  The first is the issue of the ITAR policy, where many U.S. space activities  are restricted due to security concerns.  The second is the use of auctions to help allocate launch rights and efficient use of launches.  Participating economists include Paul Milgrom and Greg Rosston of Stanford.  For more information, please contact Ward Hanson .

Thursday's agenda here.
 











Trevor Potter at the SIEPR Policy Forum

Campaign 2012 saw record spending on political activity.  The SIEPR Policy Forum considered the impact of money and politics in our last policy forum, held May 11th 2012.   A keynote address was given by Trevor Potter.   As one of the leading experts on campaign finance law, including serving as Chair of the Federal Elections Commission and General Counsel for the McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign, Mr. Potter describes the current situation of Super Pacs in the wake of the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court.
 



For additional clips from the day, please use the menu on the left.   
 

 

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