Dr. Angel Abbud-Madrid is the Director of the Center Space Resources and the Space Resources interdisciplinary graduate program at the Colorado School of Mines, where he leads a research and academic program focused on the human and robotic exploration of space and the utilization of its resources. He has more than 30 years of experience in space projects on NASA’s facilities, including the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. He received the NASA Astronauts' Personal Achievement Award given by NASA's astronaut corps for his contributions to the success of human space flight missions. He holds a B.S.E. degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from ITESM, México and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the President of the Space Resources Roundtable and is a member of the Committee on Planetary Protection of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Throughout human history, resources have been the driving force for exploration and the engine of economic expansion. However, as we continue our exploration of space, our efforts will eventually become limited by the materials that we can carry from Earth. In recent years, space agencies around the world and the private sector have increasingly realized that further exploration and growth of commercial opportunities in space will require extraction of materials, production of propellants, and power generation from extraterrestrial resources for more affordable and flexible transportation, construction, manufacturing, energy production, and life support systems. This rising interest for the search, extraction, and use of resources in space and planetary bodies is about to radically influence not just future space missions, but also the expansion of economic activity beyond our planet.
The Colorado Foothills World Affairs Council programs are free and open to the public and meets at the Mount Vernon Canyon Club at 24933 Club House Circle, Golden, Colorado 80401.