Prefatory comments  I am not an expert. I hold degrees in political science and communication, not theoretical physics.  The only morally permissible space jokes are Star Wars related.

The Resolution  Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.

Mesosphere  Who are the ad wizards who came up with that one?  What it is: the zone of the Earth’s atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere.  What it is not (at least not now): a subterranean section of the Earth’s mantle.

Mesosphere, cont’d.

So, what is out there?  Planets  Stars  Nebulae  Galaxies  Orbitals and NEOs  Dark matter and black holes  Solar System

The Solar System  Terrestrial planets  Jovian planets  Trans-Neptunian region  Asteroid belt  Oort cloud

American Space Policy  Cold War origins (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo)  Space Shuttle  Space Dominance (Reagan/Bush)  End of crewed space flight (Obama)

America’s Space Infrastructure  NASA  DOD  NOAA/OSC

International Space Context  Russia  China  European Union  Japan  India  ISS  OST

Space policy at a Cross-Roads  Cost, cost, cost  Physics  Human space flight  Private Sector  Leadership or Dominance

Global space issues  Debris  Appropriation  Finite resources  Equitable development  Environmental factors

Affirmatives 7 Major categories:  Colonization  Resources  Military  Space access technology  Propulsion Technology  Space science  Pseudo-topical mechanisms

Extra-solar colonization.  Inter-generational flight.  Von Neumann probes  Life-seeding.

Inner-solar Colonization  Mars:  A) Robotic  B) Manned  C) One-way/Two-way  Moon  Titan

Resources  Asteroid/NEO mining  Lunar mining  Lunar solar power  Space Based Solar Power

Military affirmatives  Space weaponization  SBI/BMD  ASATs  SBL  KEWs

Space Technology  Constellation  Reusable launch vehicle  Rail-guns  Space elevator

Propulsion technology  Solar sails  Nuclear detonations  Ion engines  Anti-matter

Remote exploration  Asteroid mapping/defense  Deep space/origins research  ISS (expand or new)  Remote sensing  Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Pseudo-topical Mechanisms  Property rights recognition.  Consortiums  New international regimes

Impact/advantage controversies  The Lifeboat  Hegemony/Leadership  Economy  Energy/Environment  Space weapons  Space debris  Whacky stuff  Contamination/Viruses  International law  International relations