While the rise of the barbarous Islamic State and the spread of the modern day plague of Ebola has many concerned about the state of civilization here on earth, some at the White House are turning their attention beyond our planet. A Tuesday entry on the White House blog solicits ideas for “massless exploration and bootstrapping a Solar System civilization” and “how the [Obama] Administration, the private sector, philanthropists, the research community, and storytellers can further these goals.”
“Bootstrapping” is a term employed by Dr. Phillip Metzger, former NASA research physicist now on the University of Central Florida faculty. Metzger explains:
Tom Kali, deputy director for technology and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and author of the White House blog post, says that NASA is already experimenting with 3D printing with the ultimate goal of printing replacement parts for spacecraft on long voyages, and even “self-replicating large structures” in future missions to Mars. The next rover to be sent to explore Mars will attempt to demonstrate something called “In-Situ Resource Utilization,” which converts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on Mars to oxygen to provide fuel and air for future manned missions.
Anyone with ideas is invited to email the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
