Developing Lunar Resources

HYBRID: The [Rice Space Institute](https://rsi.rice.edu/) presents a [Houston Spaceport Frontiers Lecture](https://rsi.rice.edu/spaceport-lectures) featuring Dr. George Sowers, retired Vice President and Chief Scientist at United Launch Alliance.

Description: “Earth’s Moon is rich in resources from volatiles like water, to metals, rare earth elements, and Helium 3. Lunar resources will be critical to a sustained human presence in space. Water for propellant and life support will likely be the first economically viable lunar resource, enabling the creation of a refueling economy in cislunar space. Metals and other raw materials from the Moon can be used to create large scale space structures like solar power satellites to provision unlimited green energy to Earth. He3 from the Moon can be used to fuel clean fusion power plants on Earth and in space. Space development begins by developing lunar resources.”

**Dr. George Sowers** has 30 years of experience in the space transportation field working for Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin and the United Launch Alliance (ULA). In 2017, he retired from his position as Vice President and Chief Scientist at ULA where his team developed an architecture for fully reusable in-space stages fueled by propellant mined, refined and distributed in space. Dr. Sowers is now a professor at the Colorado School of Mines as part of the world’s first and only graduate program in space resources. His current research interest is developing the water ice resources of the Moon to fuel the cislunar economy. He

The lecture will take place at Rice University’s Keith Weiss Geological Laboratory Room 100. A pre-lecture reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. The talk will begin at 7 p.m.

Interactive map: [https://map.concept3d.com/?id=473#!ct/71276,71275,71277?m/120225?s/Keith%20Weiss%20Geological%20Laboratory](https://map.concept3d.com/?id=473#!ct/71276,71275,71277?m/120225?s/Keith%20Weiss%20Geological%20Laboratory)

Please make sure to register for the event either on Eventbrite or on our Rice events page if you are attending in person. If you cannot attend the lecture in-person, we will also host a live Zoom. We hope to see you there!

[Eventbrite Registration](https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Fdeveloping-lunar-resources-tickets-1002147037767&data=05%7C02%7C%7C734473f5294c402d356708dcdc1213da%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638627217597325666%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=P5CMSxrBcvRAa1%2Fecy73E74d7jO1Uf9av2yWcS4yYqk%3D&reserved=0 “Protected by Outlook: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/developing-lunar-resources-tickets-1002147037767. Click or tap to follow the link.”)

[Rice University Events Page](https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.rice.edu%2Fevent%2F362754-developing-lunar-resources&data=05%7C02%7C%7C734473f5294c402d356708dcdc1213da%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638627217597350638%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lJS9EfjS1Pd0vZZbQJyVXeO7FhpokLmaUa1NU5dy1o0%3D&reserved=0 “Protected by Outlook: https://events.rice.edu/event/362754-developing-lunar-resources. Click or tap to follow the link.”)

[Zoom Registration Link](https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Friceuniversity.zoom.us%2Fwebinar%2Fregister%2FWN_ta35TQAeSuystufNrO42AA&data=05%7C02%7C%7C734473f5294c402d356708dcdc1213da%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638627217597366910%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Rt4buf%2BxMd3S%2Bnvlv1pCjJcE23eIjS3MIgkNLVz6K74%3D&reserved=0 “Protected by Outlook: https://riceuniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ta35TQAeSuystufNrO42AA. Click or tap to follow the link.”)

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Rice Space Institute: [Rice Space Institute | Rice University](https://rsi.rice.edu/)

RSI Space Frontiers Lecture Series: [Space Frontiers Lecture Series (rice.edu)](https://spacefrontiers.rice.edu/)

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