Today I’m going to go over the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Colonization Technical Committee. This twenty seven member committee does the same the that the Space Settlement Act of 1988 requires NASA to do. They identify technology correctly available that could be used for space habitation and they list the tech that still needs to be developed. They also support the development of the technology.
Reading over the charter, this committee seems to be aiming for a leadership role in space habitation. They study every major topic in the field. They have not limited themselves to one colonization site or do they ignore robotics in this effort. They seek to strengthen their understanding and to inform the world about space settlement. This committee has many subdivisions, but the most active subdivision is the Space Resources Working Group.
The only downside to this group is that they haven’t updated their website since 2006. I’m going to contact the chairman of the committee and see if they are still active. The major highlight of the committee is its position statement titled “Robust Implementation of Lunar Settlements With Commercial and International Enterprise”. The statement set a time line for the establishment of a moon base which seems very doable. In fact, I would say that we are on time with the development of a moon base in light of this committee’s timeline.
I’m going to review the works of this committee and find out in if they are still active. I just wanted to introduce the group to you.
Resources
“AIAA Space Colonization Technical Committee” AIAA. n.d. Web. Accessed 31 December, 2009. <http://www.aiaa.org/portal/index.cfm?adview=12&tcspageid=910&getcomm=195>
"H.R. 4218". National Space Society . Oct. 23, 2009 <http://www.nss.org/resources/library/spacepolicy/SpaceSettlementActOf1988.pdf>
In Case You Skimmed
- The AIAA has a committee dedicated to space colonization that basically follows the Space Settlement Act of 1988.
