The Symposium Chair was an internationally known innovative scientist, Dr. John D.G. Rather, who formerly served as a senior executive at NASA HQ and is now President of RCIG, Inc.  The Co-Chair and Treasurer was an internationally recognized operations research analyst, Dr. Dean S. Hartley III, now Principal of Hartley Consulting. 

The picture to the right shows John Rather (left) and Dean Hartley with scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars as they prepared for the symposium.

John Rather

Dean Hartley

BACKGROUND

Leaders from NASA, DOE, DOD, large & small industries, and academia converged in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in October to advocate and authenticate breakthrough opportunities for accelerating human space development. The symposium was held October 23-25, 2018, at the Y-12 New Hope Center in Oak Ridge, TN.  The key proposition was that before 2030 the U.S. can capture and industrialize small near-earth asteroids while establishing a permanent self-sustaining moon base and successfully completing the first human round-trips to Mars. All of this is believed to be affordable and feasible if a new partnership is stimulated among the best resources of traditional government agencies and enthusiastic private industries. The central focus of the Power of Synergy symposium was that game-changing technologies already exist, which, combined creatively, enable end-runs around slow and cumbersome traditional practices. The participants of the meeting made the case for rapid open-ended industry in space, with large-scale human work opportunities. This will engender major human progress in the solar system and significant steps to the stars.

The Symposium was divided into four themes, introduced by four keynote addresses and followed by a final synthesis.  The complete set of videos can be found on YouTube.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

John Rather opened the symposium and introduced the purposes and structure of the presentations.  Throughout the three days, each was begun with one or more Keynote addresses.

• Morgan Smith, President and CEO of Consolidated Nuclear Security: Y-12 and Pantex, presented the first keynote address on Tuesday.  He discussed three major national programs, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project 85 years ago, the Manhattan Project 75 years ago, and the Apollo Program 50 years ago, and compared them to the proposed Mars effort.
• Hon. John Vonglis, Acting Director of the Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), presented the second keynote address, also on Tuesday.  He described the technology development mission of ARPA-E and how it fits with our symposium efforts.
• Alan Icenhour, PhD, ORNL Associate Lab Director for the Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate, presented the third keynote address on Wednesday.  He discussed the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the synergies it provides with our symposium efforts.
• Mark Uhran, ORNL and previous Director/Assistant Associate Administrator, International Space Station Division, presented the fourth keynote address on Thursday.  He discussed the enablers for the future of human space flight, both technical and political.

Morgan Smith

John Vonglis

Alan Icenhour

Mark Uhran

John Rather Opening the Symposium
 

THEME 1:  Enabling Large-Scale Space Development & Human Expansion

 John Mankins, Theme 1 Chair and member of the National Space Society Board of Directors, set the stage by discussing limitations of current space states-of-the-art and opportunities for improvements.

• Franklin Chang-Diaz, PhD, six-mission astronaut who spent 66 days in space and is now CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company, participated by Skype and discussed the practicalities of living and working in space.
• James Powell, PhD, retired physicist from Brookhaven National Laboratory and inventor of both the most advanced nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) rocket, the Particle Bed Reactor (PBR), and also of superconducting MagLev (magnetic levitation) now in advanced development in Japan was not able to attend in person.  His work was presented by John Mankins and John Rather.
• Michael Houts, PhD, Nuclear Research Manager for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the principal investigator for NASA's Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) project, discussed NTP and the Y-12 Kilopower, small nuclear power plant, project.
• Joel Sercel, PhD, well-known physicist focused on development of space resources and founder of TransAstra Corp, discussed the capture and uses of small asteroids.

John Mankins

Franklin Chang Diaz

James Powell

Michael Houts

Joel Sercel

John Mankins Opening Theme 1
 

THEME 2:  Catalytic & Affordable Synergistic Breakthrough Concepts & Technologies

Jason Derleth, Theme 2 Chair and Program Executive in charge of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, set the stage by discussing the NIAC program and its relation to the concepts and technologies of this Theme.

• Jonathan K. Witter, PhD, Chief Engineer for BWXT's Advance Technology Programs, talked about Particle Bed Reactors (PBR) and their history of testing in the 1990s.
• Roger Lenard, the DoD Timberwind PM for the PBR testing, discussed the history of that project.
• Philip Lubin, PhD, professor of physics at UC Santa Barbara and director of the NASA Starlight program, discussed directed energy propulsion and power beaming.
• Robert Bagdigian, NASA's Deputy Chief Engineer for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, discussed environmental control and life support for space missions.
• William Peter, PhD, Director of DOE's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), discussed large-scale 3D printing and complex structures and the possibility of using lunar or asteroidal regolith in 3D printing.
• Jeffrey Slostad, Director of Strategic Missions at Tehters Unlimited Inc., discussed the in-space manufacturing supply chain and a service chain built around water as a key resource.
• Mark Carter, PhD, Senior Vice President of Technology Development for Ad Astra Rocket Company, discussed the VASIMR plasma propulsion system.
• Ken Roy, an engineer in Oak Ridge, discussed the affects of low gravity on human physiology and a possible solution using superconducting MagLev technology.
• Siegfried Janson, PhD, senior scientist at Small Satellite Concepts group at The Aerospace Corporation, discussed Brane Craft (fabric space craft) and smart propellants.

Jason Derleth

Jonathan Witter

Roger Lenard

Philip Lubin

Robert Bagdigian

William Peter

Jeffrey Slostad

Mark Carter

Ken Roy

Siegfried Janson

Jason Derleth Introducing a Speaker

THEME 3:  Transformative Decadal Plan

Matt Hollingsworth, Theme 3 Chair and CEO of Carta Healthcare, set the stage by discussing how technology development is funded - or not.

• James T. Early, PhD, retired from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), discussed how the technologies fit together to accomplish the plan.
• John D. G. Rather, PhD, the President of RCIG, listed and discussed the synergistic technologies and concepts.  He focused on methods for capturing small (10 meter) asteroids passing through cis-lunar space and the many uses of these asteroids.
• John Mankins, President of Mankins Space Technology and member of the National Space Society Board of Directors, discussed the critical nature of space solar power and presented a design for arbitrarily large phased array, hyper-modular solar power satellites.
• Dean S. Hartley III, PhD, Principal of Hartley Consulting, described the integration requirements for the decadal plan, starting with the goal of reaching Mars by 2030 and emphasizing the multiple areas of deconfliction that are required in such an integration (YouTube video).

Matt Hollingsworth

James Early

John Rather

John Mankins

Dean Hartley

      Theme 3 Panel

THEME 4:  Ultimate Paths to the Future (Science Fiction to Fact Relationships)

Catherine Asaro, PhD, Theme 4 Chair and noted Science Fiction author, set the stage by discussing plausible approaches to extend human populations into the solar system and beyond, including the possibility of circumventing the light speed barrier through complex speed, introduced in her paper in the American Journal of Physics.

• Marc G. Millis, Tau Zero Foundation, described the nature and history of breakthrough technologies and the implications for future breakthroughs.
• David Brin, PhD, scientist, inventor and New York Times bestselling author, participated through Skype, discussing options for future destinations and the possibilities of modifying their environments or modifying ourselves, either biologically or through cybernetic means.
• Arlan Andrews, Sr., PhD, founder of the Science Fiction think tank, SIGMA, was physically unable to attend; however, his slides and speaker's notes were presented by Catherine Asaro.  Andrews discussed repurposing asteroids and presented a valuation metric, called the Pournelle Value, equalling the annual world production of a particular metal.
• Ruth E. Kastner, PhD, professor of Philosophy of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, described the Transactional Interpretation of quantum mechanics.
• Buck Field, Professional Ethics and Information System consultant, discussed the history of revolutionary concepts from cosmologies to quantum interpretations.
• Allen M. Steele, noted Science Fiction author, participated through Skype, discussing the evolution of starships in Science Fiction.

Catherine Asaro

Marc Millis

David Brin

Arlan Andrews, Sr.

Ruth Kastner

Buck Field

Allen Steele

Catherine Asaro Introduces Theme 4 

SYNTHESIS - RECAPITULATION

Dean Hartley closed the symposium with a review of the presentations (YouTube video).

Discussions included the following Technology Enablers:

• Propulsion and Transportation
  • Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
  • VASIMR
  • Chemical propulsion
  • Photonic propulsion
• Power
  • Nuclear
  • Solar
  • Photonic Power Beaming
• Materials and Uses
  • Lunar regolith and asteroid materials
  • Additive manufacturing, solar concentration, superconductors
• Environmental Control and Life Support
• Synergies

The nature of the presentations can be characterized by the following:

• Each presenter was passionate about his or her presentation
  • The science needs to be tested
  • The engineering needs to be tested
  • The results for each option must be compared with the results from the other options for cost, efficiency, synergy, etc.
• Other technologies are relevant
  • We have gathered the best that we could find
  • We may have missed identifying some
  • Some may be missing because presenters for them were unable to attend the symposium
• We are advocating for broadened technology developments to
  • Open the option space
  • Benefit from synergies 

A Sense of Wonder is deserved

• "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosopy"
  • Hamlet I.5: 159-167
  • We know a lot
  • But there is more we don't know
• Science Fiction permits
  • Search for novel technologies
  • Examination of ramifications
  • Gedanken experiments
  • Exploration of concepts
  • Demand for Loopholes

Dean Hartley Closing the Symposium
 

Participants (most of them)