IASC News and Announcements

ESF/ESA/ESPI Conference
Humans in Outer Space – Interdisciplinary Odysseys
Vienna, Konzerthaus
11‐12 October 2007

The space‐faring nations are heading for the human exploration of the Moon, Mars and Near‐Earth Objects. They might be soon prepared with regards technology development. But they also need to benefit from the humanities (history, philosophy, anthropology), the arts as well as the social sciences (political science, economics, law).

This conference, co‐organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) will be the first comprehensive trans‐disciplinary dialogue on humans in outer space. It will go further than regarding humans as mere tools for exploration, or better robots, and will investigate the human quest for odysseys beyond the atmosphere and reflect on the possibilities to find extraterrestrial life.

The conference shall open up new perspectives in assessing humankind’s present and future outside the Earth and document this in a “Vienna Vision on Humans in Outer Space”.

Conference web site
http://www.esf.org/research‐areas/space/activities/inif‐activities.html

Draft Programme

Thursday, 11 October
10.00 – 10.15 Welcome by the Chairmen of the Programme Committee -- BMVIT, Codignola, Schrogl
Introduction of the ESF project -- van Donzel, Worms

10.15 – 11.45 Setting the scene ‐ Keynotes -- Moderator: Codignola
Encounters -- TBA
Are we alone? Searching for life in the universe and its creation -- Haerendel
Space and religion -- Tanzella‐Nitti TBA

11.45 – 12.15 Space and the movies -- Ballhausen

12.15 – 12.30 Next Generation Visions for the Next 50 Years in Space -- Lukaszczyk

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.15 Can we compare? -- Moderator: van Donzel
Exploration in the 16th century -- Muldoon
Exploration inside the human being -- Palsson
Better drop analogies -- TBA

15.15 – 15.30 Break

15.30 – 17.00 Spatiality ‐ Space as a source of inspiration -- Moderator: Francis
How we talk and write about space -- Landfester
Marketing and branding space -- Keck
Inspiration through international cooperation -- Peter

19.00 Dinner at Heurigen

Friday, 12 October
09.00 – 10.30 First Odyssey: Humans around the Earth ‐ what effect does it have? -- Moderator: Egli
With the eyes of an astronaut -- Nicollier
Human spaceflight, technology development and innovation -- Tremayne‐Smith
Human‐machine cooperation in space environments -- Cortellessa
Space law in the age of ISS -- von der Dunk
The view we get from outer space -- TBA

10.30 – 11.00 Break

11.00 – 12.30 Second Odyssey: Humans in exploration ‐ what effects will it have? -- Moderator: Swings
Humans – more than the better robots for exploration -- Baumjohann
Philosophy of humans leaving the Earth -- Arnould
Human spaceflight as a matter of culture and national vision -- Lingner
In need of a legal framework for exploration -- Bohlmann

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch

13.30 – 15.00 Third Odyssey: Humans leaving the Earth ‐ why we should think! -- Moderator: Worms
Mars as a place to live? -- Horneck
Religion and the question: what happens, if we meet somebody out there? -- Musso
E.T. Culture -- Battaglia
SETI: social effects of a confirmed positive detection -- Wason TBA

15.00 – 16.00 Reports by session moderators – Conclusions:
The Vienna Vision on Humans in Outer Space -- Moderator: Schrogl