Space Studies Institute

Not to be confused with Space Science Institute.
Space Studies Institute
Founded 1977
Founder Gerard K. O'Neill
Type Space advocacy, 501(c)3 Education
Focus "open the energy and material resources of space for human benefit within our lifetime"
Location
  • Mojave, California
Key people
 President and CEO Gary C Hudson; Trustee Freeman Dyson;[1]
Website http://ssi.org

Space Studies Institute is a non-profit[2] organization that was founded in 1977 by the late Princeton University Professor Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill. The stated mission is to "open the energy and material resources of space for human benefit within our lifetime".

In 2009 SSI moved its operations from its long-term base in Princeton, New Jersey, to Mojave, California. SSI is involved in several initiatives, including a solar sail project that it is developing with Carnegie Mellon University and an effort to find asteroids that could be mined for valuable materials. The use of extraterrestrial resources in space settlement has been an area that has received very little attention in recent years.[3] [4]

SSI's research priorities:

  1. Low cost space access
  2. Fully reusable propulsion systems
  3. Mass driver engines
  4. Use of non-terrestrial materials
  5. Produce evidence that establishes that manufacturing and extraction industries on the Moon or on asteroids is cost-effective
  6. Develop closed environment life support systems for space.

The Institute has sponsored research studies on several transport systems for the development of space. Their first program was in the development of prototype mass driver systems. They are also studying the use of an Orbital Transfer Vehicle as a component of space manufacturing. Other areas of research include a search for Earth-Sun Trojan asteroids, a design study of a Lunar Polar Probe to search for water and useful volatiles at the poles of the Moon, and studies of reuse of the Space Shuttle external tank. Dr O'Neill performed a pioneering study of a large space habitat named Island Three that could house 10,000,000 people.

Conferences

SSI began hosting a bi-annual Space Manufacturing Conference in 1977, although the conference had actually begun in 1974 at NASA Ames Research Center. This is a list of conferences hosted or co-hosted by SSI.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SSI Update December 2011". Space Studies Institute. 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  2. ↑ "Space Studies Institute (SSI)". Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  3. ↑ "Space Studies Institute Heads West, Plans Renewed Effort". Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  4. ↑ ""Where first for space resources?" Jeff Foust, The Space Review, November 22, 2010". Retrieved 2010-11-22. Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "SSI Track at ISDC 2006". Space Studies Institute. 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  6. ↑ "Space Manufacturing 14". Conference Archive. Space Studies Institute. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
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