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A New Paradigm for a New Vision of Space

A paper by Louis Friedman and Jacques Blamont

Presented at the International Astronomical Federation Congress
Glasgow, Scotland, September 2008

Click here to download paper

Send this story to a friend or share it at: Slashdot - Digg this - Reddit - Del.icio.us - Newsvine - NowPublic Click to enlarge > Louis D. Friedman Executive Director of The Planetary Society Credit: The Planetary Society

On the last week of September 2008 Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society, will travel to the International Astronomical Federation Congress in Scotland to propose a new paradigm for space exploration for the 21st century. In his presentation Friedman will argue that the ground is shifting beneath the space program in the United States and around the world, and we are entering an age of severe budgetary constraints.

The solution, according to Friedman, is to internationalize space exploration by creating "a new paradigm of sharing." This will bring the resources and expertise of different nations as well as companies and organizations from around the world to bear on the challenges of space. The inspiration for this approach is the "Wiki" model that has proved so successful on the internet: a large number of contributors each adding to a joint project that is far greater and more complex than any single contributor could possibly achieve on their own.

Friedman co-authored the paper with Jacques Blamont, a long-time Planetary Society advisor, former Chief Scientist of the French space agency, and a leader in the space science community. Blamont has a long track record in international cooperation in space, serving as lead scientist for a Russian spacecraft and working on numerous American space missions as an associate of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is known to members of The Planetary Society as a leader in development of planetary balloons -- like the one that he flew on the Vega mission to Venus in 1985-86, and the ones he helped develop for future Mars and Titan missions. Blamont is a strong believer in the internationalization of space exploration, and has often expressed his view that joint ventures in space enhance global peace and security.

"This paper," Friedman said, "suggesting a new paradigm for space exploration planning, is the result of a collaboration between Jacques and myself, motivated by the setbacks to space science in the budget plans of the United States. "Our conclusion is that if human and robotic planetary exploration is going to realize its potential for science and engineering accomplishment, a new type of international planning will be required. "We are inspired by the idea of 'Wiki' -- open source contributions to create a product that is greater than any one source can make.   "We suggest that openness can create a greater space program than can the traditional nationalist space agencies acting on their own."

Click here to download "A New Paradigm for a New Vision of Space"