For many space advocates, the ultimate goal of human space exploration and development is the eventual creation of large, thriving, self-sustaining in-space communities and the beginning of an off-world civilization.
Of course, advocates perennially ask how we accomplish that future vision. This Beyond Earth Webinar will take a serious look at the challenges of constructing large-scale space habitats. Speakers will discuss the technical and cost barriers, as well as the policies that could help accelerate critical capabilities. We’ll also ask the important question of “why” we should want to extend human civilization beyond Earth at all.
The speakers will include Daniel Inocente, a space architect who designed a Moon Village for the European Space Agency when he was with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Melodie Yashar, also a space architect with ICON; Grant Anderson, CEO and founder of Paragon Space Development Corp; and George Pullen, Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy. Steve Wolfe, Beyond Earth President, will moderate the session.
Panelists:
- Steve Wolfe, President & Co-Founder, Beyond Earth Institute (Moderator)
- Melodie Yashar, Space Architect, ICON
- Daniel Inocente, Space Architect
- Grant Anderson, President & CEO, Co-Founder, Paragon Space Development Corp.
- George Pullen, Chief Economist, MilkyWayEconomy
Steve Wolfe, President & Co-Founder, Beyond Earth Institute (Moderator)
Steven Wolfe is Beyond Earth Institute President and Co-Founder. He is also Deputy Executive Director for Global Spaceport Alliance and partner at CWSP International. He serves as the Space and Board of Editors for the Journal of Space Philosophy. Steve served in Washington as the executive director of the Congressional Space Caucus and drafted the Space Settlement Act of 1988. The bill was signed into law as part of the NASA Authorization bill. Steve is the author of The Obligation: A Journey to Discover Human Purpose on Earth and in the Cosmos.
Melodie Yashar, Space Architect, ICON
Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and researcher. She is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Melodie oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally-performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supports the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. Notable projects of hers include Mars Ice House and Mars X-House, both first prize winners in design within NASA’s Centennial Challenge for a 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars, as well as design and construction of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Her TED talk, ”How to Build for Human Life on Mars” has been viewed over 1.4 million times.
Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios at Art Center College of Design. In previous roles Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction for Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. She geeks out on new material & fabrication technologies. She likes tiny robots. She would like to visit the Moon (though not yet Mars) in her lifetime.
Daniel Inocente, Architect
Daniel Inocente is an Architect, Space Architect and Professor of Practice in Architecture at Arizona State University. He approaches every project through a creative process that combines building science, design principles and technology. His experience includes working on projects across multiple sectors, including commercial, transportation, aviation, government, culture, science, education, and space architecture. Daniel is driven by a wide range of interdisciplinary experience and integrates diverse ideas, leveraging his combined knowledge of architecture, technology and design. Daniel has also given lectures at MIT, John Hopkins, IAAC, Politecnico Di Milano and other universities.
Grant Anderson, President & CEO, Co-Founder, Paragon Space Development Corp.
Mr. Anderson co-founded Paragon in 1993. From the time of inception of the company until fall 2014, he was the VP of Engineering and Chief Engineer of the company and was responsible for the design and implementation of not only many of Paragon’s technical achievements, but also its processes of engineering rigor in a stepped approach of requirements, design, build, test and delivery. This process has been cited by many customers as unique, disciplined and highly productive. Coming from a background of not only technical but financial and managerial training, he has held diverse positions at Paragon including Treasurer/Secretary, CFO, Sr. VP of Operations, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Manufacturing.
Recognized as a leader in the life support in extreme environments field, Mr. Anderson has led the systems and conceptual design of multiple spacecraft under contract to Lockheed Martin, NASA, Inspiration Mars Foundation and others. He holds multiple patents in a diverse range of disciplines including testing systems, isolation systems, radiator systems and overall systems design. He has led development and qualification of experimental flight hardware for five shuttle flights, two Mir missions, a Russian Progress, and the first commercial payload on ISS. Prior to starting Paragon, Mr. Anderson was the Chief Design Engineer for the International Space Station Solar Array Program–the largest solar arrays ever built–while employed at Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale, CA.
Mr. Anderson holds two degrees from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.) and Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (M.S.) and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California. His diverse education/training included non-technical roles such as Controller for a Palo Alto, CA real estate firm during college where he implemented some of the first computers into the company’s financial systems to track and monitor property financial performance. Working at an aviation consultancy, he participated in the start-up of two airlines through route analysis, equipment analysis and strategy advice. One went on to be America West, now part of American Airlines. Mr. Anderson is also a graduate of the International Space University 1991 summer session with emphasis on space business and management.
George Pullen, Chief Economist, MilkyWayEconomy
George is a free-market economist, who for the last decade has been refining his economic philosophies as a Senior Economist at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, DC. He is driven by a curiosity and passion for convergence, connecting people and ideas across diverse disciplines and finding new questions that need answers.
Prior to joining the CFTC and launching the Milky Way Economy, LLC, George learned his craft serving as an executive as a banker, broker, hedge fund trader, economist and lecturer. His areas of market expertise, research and publishing include: healthcare finance, energy speculation, blockchain policy, rare earths, derivatives trading, defense innovation, AI/ML, risk modeling, fourth industrial revolution tech, equity crowdfunding and Space Economics.
