Special Session
Special Session: Michel T. Halbouty Lecture
Wednesday, 27 August | 5:25 p.m.–6:15 p.m. | George R. Brown Convention Center
The Michel T. Halbouty lecture series – funded by the AAPG Foundation – is an ongoing special event. Lecture topics are designed to focus either on wildcat exploration in any part of the world where major discoveries might contribute significantly to petroleum reserves, or space exploration where astrogeological knowledge would further mankind’s ability to develop resources on Earth and in the solar system.
In contrast to the Apollo reconnaissance missions of 1–3 days on the surface, NASA is preparing to embark on the human Artemis missions to return to the Moon with extended exploration durations. These missions will operationally test the systems and technologies that will eventually take humans to Mars.
The International Space Station, with its predecessor Mir Space Station, has given us experience in living and working in space for months to years. The ISS program has built on the Mir experience and delivered the knowledge on how to maintain human health and performance as a true remote research station.
The next phase is to develop a base supporting long-duration human exploration missions on the Moon, likely at the South Pole in the vicinity of the Shackleton Crater where water resources are thought to exist. The environment will be challenging and will require a different logistics support philosophy. One lunar example, as it will also be on Mars, is exposure to the environment where even the ISS was protected. This will require a habitat as a protective “safe harbor” prior to crew arrival. Using conventional manufacturing techniques as used for ISS will be too expensive, and new methods of using in-situ resources (ISRU) and autonomous robotic systems will be required.
The Moon is only 240,000 miles away, approximately the distance of 10 orbits in LEO. Logistics costs are likely to be approximately 10× that of the ISS. Mars is 600–1000× farther away and costs will be estimated to be around $120 billion for just one human mission. Everything will have to be done differently—from ISRU to reuse, recycling, regeneration (3Rs for Mars)—to minimize the volume and cost of the Martian supply chain. Mission control will be done “at the edge” and digital twin technologies will be required for everything from systems monitoring to human crew health and performance.
Everything done more efficiently and “at the edge” will deliver solutions to terrestrial problems and reduce the costs of operations on Mars, where we will see the first human geologists put their footprints in the red dust in our lifetimes.
In contrast to the Apollo reconnaissance missions of 1–3 days on the surface, NASA is preparing to embark on the human Artemis missions to return to the Moon with extended exploration durations. These missions will operationally test the systems and technologies that will eventually take humans to Mars.
The International Space Station, with its predecessor Mir Space Station, has given us experience in living and working in space for months to years. The ISS program has built on the Mir experience and delivered the knowledge on how to maintain human health and performance as a true remote research station.
The next phase is to develop a base supporting long-duration human exploration missions on the Moon, likely at the South Pole in the vicinity of the Shackleton Crater where water resources are thought to exist. The environment will be challenging and will require a different logistics support philosophy. One lunar example, as it will also be on Mars, is exposure to the environment where even the ISS was protected. This will require a habitat as a protective “safe harbor” prior to crew arrival. Using conventional manufacturing techniques as used for ISS will be too expensive, and new methods of using in-situ resources (ISRU) and autonomous robotic systems will be required.
The Moon is only 240,000 miles away, approximately the distance of 10 orbits in LEO. Logistics costs are likely to be approximately 10× that of the ISS. Mars is 600–1000× farther away and costs will be estimated to be around $120 billion for just one human mission. Everything will have to be done differently—from ISRU to reuse, recycling, regeneration (3Rs for Mars)—to minimize the volume and cost of the Martian supply chain. Mission control will be done “at the edge” and digital twin technologies will be required for everything from systems monitoring to human crew health and performance.
Everything done more efficiently and “at the edge” will deliver solutions to terrestrial problems and reduce the costs of operations on Mars, where we will see the first human geologists put their footprints in the red dust in our lifetimes.
Fee:
Included with registration