Beyond the Moon

Date: 12 April 2021
Time: 12:00 am - 12:00 am
Location: Virtual
BIS Events

Marking Cosmonauts’ Day and the 60th anniversary of humanity’s first space flight by Yuri Gagarin, the British Interplanetary Society’s ‘Beyond the Moon’ symposium, will be on 12 April 2021.  Announced in an article by Gerry Webb, President of the Society, in the January 2021 issue of SpaceFlight, the symposium, will be virtual, allowing participation from around the world.

The full programme is now available!

Presentations will include a keynote speech celebrating Yuri Gagarin, and papers on the future space industry, optimal load launch, interplantetary ships, European plans, microbial risks, long distance human space flight, space colonies, and belief and faith on deep space missions.

Tickets are now available to buy here.

The BIS is keen to stimulate the study of the 10 most important barriers to human expansion into the solar system.  They are:

Radiation – both en-route and on planet surfaces.

Extended Flight Time – crew survival, resupply and advanced high speed propulsion systems.

Zero or Low Gravity – both en-route and on planet surfaces.

Self-Sustainable Communities – with zero replenishment.

Infection – pandemics in densely-populated communities.

Mental Robustness – long-term isolation and loneliness.

Machine Intelligence – reliance on Artificial Intelligence and the fear of ‘HAL’.

Economics – State or commercially funded.

Socio-Cultural – the right choices for colony survival.

Political/Ideological/Religious – successful societies will evolve their own belief systems.

It is hoped that this will become an annual event, appropriately on Cosmonauts Day, 12 April, and will be a focus for future space activity, anticipating the steps that the human race will have to take to ensure its long-term survival.

Picture (c) ESA