Future U.S. space policy topic of talk

As the new administration takes hold in Washington, a former NASA administrator will discuss the future of non-military space policy in the upcoming Henry Russel lecture.

(File photo, Marcia Ledford, U-M Photo Services)

Lennard Fisk, the Thomas M. Donahue Distinguished University Professor of Space Science, will give a talk titled "Civil Space and the National Agenda" at 4 p.m. March 10 in the Rackham Amphitheatre.

Civil space includes all non-military space efforts — the science and human exploration missions of NASA, the weather satellites of NOAA, and commercial satellites that offer services such as television and remote sensing.

"We often don't realize how pervasive civil space is in our society. We can watch television signals from all around the world, for example. That has a major impact on our knowledge of what is happening in the world," Fisk says. "Civil space has been instrumental in creating the global economy we live in, and in shaping our knowledge of the universe and our understanding of earth science and climate change."

The United States doesn't have a national civil space policy, Fisk says. And the country should adopt one in order to maximize the benefits and interact effectively with other nations.

Fisk is a solar and heliosphere plasma physicist in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences. He is vice chair of a National Academy of Sciences study on the rationales and goals of the U.S. civil space program. That study is due to be released in late spring.

The Henry Russel Lectureship is one of the highest honors given to a senior member of the faculty, and recognizes exceptional achievements in research, scholarship and creative endeavors.