The National Space Society (NSS) announced today that the 28th annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC) will feature substantive panels and keynote speakers from multiple NASA programs on Friday May 29, 2009.

At 9:00 a.m., the program will begin with NASA senior advisor George Whitesides taking part in a discussion about NASA under President Obama’s administration. NASA’s proposed budget as it relates to future civil space initiatives will also be among the topics covered. Whitesides, a former Executive Director of the National Space Society, was most recently a member of the Obama transition team for NASA.

At 10:00 a.m., senior officials from Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the NASA Constellation Program Office will engage in a panel discussion and Q&A that will provide an update on the design, production and development of the new Orion crew capsule, a chief component of the Constellation program that will replace the Space Shuttle as America’s human spaceflight system. On hand for this panel will be Geoffrey L. Yoder, Director of the Constellation Systems Division at NASA, Laurence A. Price, Deputy Program Director, Crew Exploration Vehicle, Exploration Systems Division of Lockheed Martin and James Chilton, Boeing, Vice President and Program Manager, Exploration Launch Systems.

At 11:00 am, the conference will highlight another major component of the Constellation Program, the Ares I and proposed Ares V rocket system that will propel the Orion Crew Capsule. Featured in this one-hour long panel will be NASA Ares Program Manager Steve Cook, Charlie Precourt, Astronaut and Vice President at ATK Launch Systems and
Dean Nunez, J-2X Deputy program manager at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Orion and Ares have been the subject of debate due to cost, development time and an estimated five-year gap in America’s ability to fly its own manned missions to orbit. Attendees at both sessions will have the opportunity to hear presentations and updates directly from the people in charge of building this next generation of space exploration hardware.

Rounding out the day’s focus on NASA will be a special limited seat luncheon featuring a keynote presentation by Janet Petro, Deputy Director of Kennedy Space Center. Florida residents, especially on the Space Coast, which includes Titusville, Cocoa, Rockledge, Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne and Palm Bay have been preparing for the potential loss of as many as 7,000 highly skilled jobs in the wake of the Space Shuttle retirement that will occur in less than two years. Although job creation from the emerging privately funded aerospace sector may soften this potential loss, the temporary suspension of human spaceflight by NASA will create a gap that will have a profound effect not only on the space industry, but also on complimentary industries such as energy, life sciences, travel, education and telecommunications. Ms. Petro will address how Kennedy Space Center will look and act when the Constellation Program becomes the central focus of the American civil space program.

Seats to this lunch are very limited and are available on a first come first serve basis. Registration details for the meals will be available on the ISDC website prior to the conference, as well as on-site (if still available) at the registration desk.

ISDC 2009 will take place from Wednesday May 27th to Sunday May 31st at the Omni Hotel at ChampionsGate in Orlando, FL. The conference provides a unique opportunity for students, space enthusiasts, and the general public to engage aerospace entrepreneurs and executives, NASA officials, academics and key decision and policy makers in an open and positive discussion about space exploration, research, and development.

To register for the 28th Annual International Space Development Conference please visit http://www.isdc2009.org or call (202) 429-1600.

All media interested in attending the conference can do so by emailing Ian Murphy at ian.murphy@nss.org or calling (310) 689-6397.

Specific Details of the entire conference are included below:

On Wednesday May 27, 2009, the conference will kick off with an exclusive pre-event, the 6th Space Investment Summit (SIS), bringing together the emerging privately funded space industry with the established world of finance in order to exchange goals, ideas and advice. Investors and established aerospace firms will be presented with business plans from some of the most exciting new companies in space-related business, while expert panels will discuss important issues like exit strategies for aerospace startups, as well as early and mid-stage financing.

On Thursday May 28, 2009, entrepreneurial and commercial space enterprises will discuss the current state of efforts to decrease the cost of access to space. The recent successes of privately funded space companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic have signaled the emergence of a new privately funded sector of aerospace. The featured speakers will be SpaceX Founder Elon Musk, Space Adventures CEO Eric Anderson, Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn, and NASA Manager of Commercial Crew & Cargo Program Alan Lindenmoyer.

On Friday May 29, 2009, ISDC will focus on NASA’s plans to explore the Moon, Mars and beyond. At the core of NASA’s future space exploration is a return to the moon, where we will build a sustainable long-term human presence. As the space shuttle approaches retirement and the International Space Station nears completion, NASA is building the next fleet of vehicles to bring astronauts back to the moon, and possibly to Mars and beyond. This new generation of space vehicles under Project Constellation includes the Ares launch vehicle family, the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and the Altair lunar lander. Featured content will be a NASA Space Policy panel, and an in-depth look at the status of Orion and Ares I by senior managers from Lockheed, Boeing ATK and Aerojet. The featured event will be the annual NSS awards Gala on Friday evening.

Saturday May 31, 2009 will include numerous speakers, panels and discussions on aerospace sciences and education. The United States currently ranks 17th in science amongst the world’s 30 richest countries and U.S. students are even further behind in math, ranking 24th. If this gap is not closed we run a serious risk of not providing our next generation with the skills necessary to maintain the United States as a spacefaring nation. Space is widely considered one of the most exciting activities we can share with students to inspire them to pursue an education in math and science. Another critical problem our country faces is dwindling supplies of energy and resources. Some of the answers to these critical problems await us just beyond the atmosphere of our planet. Harnessing the virtually unlimited power of the sun, through the development of an infrastructure of space-based solar power satellites (SSP), for example, would create energy independence for our country.

Sunday May 31, 2009 will feature visionaries, scientists and entrepreneurs looking to the future of space settlements, ways to use and inhabit Mars and the methods to protect our planet from near Earth objects such as asteroids. Sunday is the final day of the conference and will also host sessions and meetings focused on space advocacy and space outreach.

To register for the 28th Annual International Space Development Conference please visit http://www.isdc2009.org or call (202) 429-1600.

All media interested in attending the conference can do so by emailing Ian Murphy at ian.murphy@nss.org or calling (310) 689-6397.

About the National Space Society

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, grassroots organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Founded in 1974, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen’s voice on space. NSS counts thousands of members and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world. The society also produces the annual International Space Development Conference. For more information on the society or the conference, please visit: http://www.nss.org.