Plenary Panel Space 2.0:

The Promise and Challenges of the New Space Age

Sunday, May 28, 8:30 am – 9:45 am, Frisco 1&2

Space 2.0: The Promise and Challenges of the New Space Age

Join former astronaut Eileen Collins, bestselling author Daniel Suarez, and Thunderbird School of Global Management professor Dr. Greg Autry as they discuss the vast potential, and friction points, of our new era in space exploration and development. Topics will include near and far future developments in cislunar space, planetary defense, space solar power, space settlement, and our interactions with China. Moderated by Ad Astra Editor-in-Chief Rod Pyle.

Panelists:

Rod Pyle

Eileen Collins

Daniel Suarez

Greg Autry

Panelist:

Rod Pyle

Author, Journalist, Filmmaker

Panelist:

Rod Pyle

Author, Journalist, Filmmaker

Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, television producer, and Editor-in-Chief of Ad Astra magazine. He has written 17 books on space history, exploration and development, including “Space 2.0,” “Innovation the NASA Way,” and “Destination Mars,” and writes for space-related periodicals including Popular Science, Space.com, LiveScience and “Sky at Night.” Pyle co-authored the “Apollo Leadership Experience” for NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He has produced, directed and written for The History Channel, Discovery and National Geographic TV, and is the host of iHeart’s “Cool Space News” podcast. Pyle is a frequent guest on national radio and television on space-related topics. Earlier in his career, Pyle produced television commercials, educational films, and was a visual effects coordinator on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and the reboot of “Battlestar Galactica.” He holds a degree in filmmaking from the Art Center College of Design and a Masters of Arts in communication research from Stanford University.

Panelist:

Eileen Collins

Former NASA Astronaut

Panelist:

Eileen Collins

Former NASA Astronaut

Eileen M. Collins is a former NASA astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman pilot and first woman commander of a space shuttle. Collins graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1990. She was selected by NASA and became an astronaut in July 1991. After tours at Kennedy Space Center (shuttle launch and landing) and Johnson Space Center (shuttle engineer and capsule communicator), she flew the space shuttle as pilot in 1995 aboard Discovery. This mission was the first space shuttle to rendezvous with the Russian Space Station MIR. She was also the pilot for Atlantis in 1997, where her crew docked with MIR. Collins became the first woman commander of a U.S. spacecraft with shuttle mission Columbia in 1999, the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Her final space flight was as commander of Discovery in 2005, the “Return to Flight Mission” after the tragic loss of Columbia. She has logged more than 6,751 hours in 30 different types of aircraft and more than 872 hours in space as a veteran of four space flights. Collins is a member of the National Space Council User Advisory Group and is currently serving on the National Academy of Science ASEB (Aerospace Science and Engineering Board) as well as the Astronaut Memorial Foundation. 

Panelist:

Daniel Suarez

Science-Fiction Author

Panelist:

Daniel Suarez

Science-Fiction Author

Daniel Suarez is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and former senior systems analyst to Fortune 1000 companies. His nearly two decades designing mission-critical software informed his 2006 breakout cyber thriller, Daemon — a book that anticipated the rise of AI-powered social media manipulation, cryptocurrencies, augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, and much more. Daniel’s unique brand of high-tech fiction explores the causes and impacts of rapid technological change, and he has a track record for anticipating what’s next. He has since written a total of seven techno-thrillers and science fiction novels on topics ranging from cyber war, autonomous robotic weapons, human agency, genetic editing, and private space exploration — with space the focus of his two most recent books, Delta-v and Critical Mass (part of a planned trilogy).

With an enduring fascination for space, Daniel was inspired at a young age by the works of Gerard K. O’Neill, Carl Sagan, and many others. Daniel is currently working on the third novel in his Delta-v trilogy, an epic narrative about private space exploration that depicts the journey from our climate-imperiled, Earthbound present to a dynamic and growing interplanetary civilization. Informed by numerous consultations with leading scientists, successful space entrepreneurs, and government officials, the Delta-v series utilizes real science, technology, and to the greatest degree possible, economic and astropolitical realities to dramatize humanity’s transition to a true spacefaring species.

Panelist:

Dr. Greg Autry, PhD

Director and Professor of Space Leadership, Policy and Business at Thunderbird School of Global Management
Former NASA CFO Nominee

Panelist:

Dr. Greg Autry, PhD

Director and Professor of Space Leadership, Policy and Business at Thunderbird School of Global Management
Former NASA CFO Nominee

Greg Autry is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Thunderbird Initiative for Space Leadership, Policy, and Business in the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an Affiliate Professor with the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University. Professor Autry holds a BA in History from California Polytechnic University at Pomona and an MBA and PhD from the Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.

Prior to joining the Thunderbird faculty, he taught entrepreneurship with the Lloyd Greif Center at the University of Southern California from 2013 to 2020. He taught entrepreneurship, strategy, and macroeconomics at the University of California, Irvine, between 2002 and 2014. Autry has also taught space entrepreneurship at the Kennedy Space Center as part of a graduate certificate program in commercial space from International Space University and the Florida Institute of Technology (2019-2021).

Autry’s research focuses on the governmental role in the emergence of new industries, and he has researched within the commercial space industry since 2003. His extensive experience in space policy includes serving on the 2016 NASA agency review team. Autry served as NASA White House Liaison in 2017, and in 2020 the President nominated him to serve as the space agency’s Chief Financial Officer. He also served as Chair of the Safety Working Group in the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) at FAA. Autry has been a notable advocate for space exploration and development. Currently, he serves as Vice President of the National Space Society a non-profit organization dedicated to extending humanity’s presence into our solar system.

Before entering higher education, Autry had a career as a serial entrepreneur, founding several technology startups. These ventures included a video game developer, computer services firm, and an enterprise software development company in the clinical healthcare space.