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THE ROBOTIC MOON By Berit Anderson Why Read: Your shortcut to understanding international Moon politics, the minerals and context of the current-day Moon race, and which private companies will lead the way to the US's robotic Moon future. _____ Earlier this week, I was on a call with someone at a top US VC firm talking about healthcare companies. At least three times during our conversation, they referred to companies in their portfolio as "rocket ships." Of course, rocket-ship analogies at VC firms are like drunk fans at hockey games: ubiquitous. But in this case, there was a sense of personal irony to the analogy. Just before the call, I'd been researching actual rocket ships for this week's Global Report - specifically, rocket ships going to the Moon and the associated robotic payloads they may one day take with them. Historically speaking, rocket-ship companies themselves haven't been referred to as "rocket ships." Far too capital-intensive. Too long a timeline. Hardware just doesn't scale! But due to geopolitical factors, that may be about to change. A few weeks ago, Mark Anderson and I had a conversation with Future in Review advisor Larry Smarr about the future of Moon colonization. Larry had suggested we consider it as a theme for this year's FiRe conference. In addition to his pioneering work in helping to create the internet, Larry has served on the advisory council to four NASA administrators. Four. He was also chair of the NASA Information Technology Infrastructure Committee. So when it comes to space, if Larry says Jump, we at SNS & Future in Review seriously consider the logistics of jumping. Which brings me to the context of this Moon conversation. |
