The Mars Society is pleased to announce that a formal debate on NASA’s proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a human-tended facility in orbit around the Moon, will be held at the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention on Thursday, August 23rd at 8:00 pm in the Pasadena Convention Center’s main ballroom.
The discussion will involve the following proposition: “Resolved: The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is the right next step for NASA’s human spaceflight program to take to support the human exploration and development of space.” Speaking in the affirmative will be John 
Mankins, while arguing in the negative will be Dr. Robert Zubrin.
John Mankins, President of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions LLC, is an internationally recognized leader in space systems and technology innovation, and is considered a highly-effective manager of large-scale technology R&D programs. In addition, Mr. Mankins spent 25 years at NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory working in fields ranging from flight projects and space mission operations to systems level innovation and advanced technology research and development management.
Dr. Robert Zubrin, founder and President of the Mars Society, is viewed as one of the world’s leading experts on the Red Planet and planning for human Mars exploration. He has authored numerous Mars-related books, including “The Case for Mars: The Planet to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must”, and has testified in front of Congress on the future of America’s human space flight program. Dr. Zubrin is also President of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company, and served formerly as a staff engineer position at Lockheed Martin Astronautics.
The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway debate is scheduled for one hour, allowing each side 20 minutes for an opening statement, 10 minutes for rebuttal and the remaining time will allow the speakers to take questions from the floor, with one minute answers followed by one minute rebuttals. The full event will be open to the public and the media.
For more information about the 2018 International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for August 23-26 in Pasadena, California, please visit our web site at: www.marssociety.org.
