Topics

• Risk and human health in manned exploration;
• the social, political, and economic dimensions of solar exploration;
• the problem of orbital debris;
• the building of a Moon base along with other private
  development on the Moon;
• asteroid mining and asteroid and comet deflection;
• planetary protection from biological contamination;
• plans for the manned Mars mission proposed by President Bush;
• issues related to the possible terraforming of Mars and other planets; the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the ethical issues that would be raised by the discovery of such life;
• the aesthetic beauty of the Solar System; and
• the privatization of space and space tourism.