Ruth Ann Weiderhaft
Global Policy Research Institute
Purdue University
The Schowe House
1341 Northwestern Ave.
West Lafayette, IN 47906
- gpri@purdue.edu
- Phone: 765.496.6788
- Fax: 765.463.1837
Events
Space as the Final Frontier: Fact versus Fiction by Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese
March 6 @ 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM - ARMS 1109
˙Star Trek has imbued generations of people worldwide with the idea that space connotes “the future.” America has led the way into space, and by extension the future, since the 1960’s. Now, however, questions are being asked regarding whether America is “Lost in Space,” if there is a new space race – and if so, who is racing - whether space should be weaponized, and about the sustainability of the space environment. Complicating these already complex questions is the environment of increasing budget austerity within which they are being asked. Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese will address these questions, considering not just what America is doing in space but other countries as well, and the dual-use nature of space technology. Both of those parameters make space activity subject to geostrategic and security considerations that often make fact versus fiction difficult to distinguish.
