6/28/2011 Topic Affirmatives

6/28/2011 Criteria for a Good Aff—Musts  Topicality—little reason to lose on T  Interest—affs take a lot of work, need to be willing to read a lot about your topic  Government Key Warrant—reason why a private actor cannot do the plan  U.S. Key Warrant—reasons why another government cannot do the plan  Short-Term Advantage—impact claim that you can leverage against politics et al. DAs

6/28/2011 Criteria for a Good Aff—Plusses  Link angle on politics  “Trick” that can be used to confound generics—often uniqueness based  Internal links to a wide array of potential advantages

6/28/2011 Topic Advantages  Alien contact  Colonization/get off the rock  Competitiveness (industry-based)  Aerospace  Defense  Economy/space commerce  Energy/resource access  Environment  Hegemony/space leadership  Overview effect  Science/knowledge is good  Space weaponization good/bad

6/28/2011 Colonization  Mechanisms  Develop propulsion mechanisms  Facilitate space access  Increase resource availability  Advantages  Cultural development/stagnation  “Eggs in one basket”  Economy/space commerce  Energy/other reousrces  Overview effect  Weaponization

6/28/2011 Mars Mission  Mechanisms  Robotic exploration  “Traditional” crewed mission  “Mars Direct” mission  Advantages  Colonization  Competitiveness  Frontier mentality (cultural advancement)  Science

6/28/2011 Moon Mission  Mechanisms  Build a Moon base  Establish a property rights regime  Advantages  Colonization (esp. Mars… “energy cheap” resources for space missions)  Competitiveness  Leadership—win the “moon race”  Resource access—particularly energy

6/28/2011 Energy  Mechanisms  Lunar He3 mining  Lunar solar power  Solar power satellites  Advantages  Climate change/other environmental  Colonization  Competitiveness  Economy/space commerce  Energy shortages/conflicts  Leadership—space and terrestrial

6/28/2011 Non-Energy Resource  Mechanisms  Asteroid mining  Lunar mining  Advantages  Colonization  Platinum Group Metals (PGM) good— electronics/tech for military, green applications  Rare Earth Elements (REE) good—same

6/28/2011 Military  Mechanisms  R&D vs. deployment (or potentially both)  Space-based missile defenses  Space-based ASATs  Space-based STEW weapons  Space Force/Spaceguard  Advantages  Competitiveness  Deterrence  Leadership—terrestrial and space

6/28/2011 Space Access  Mechanisms  Constellation (reusable crewed vehicle)  Railguns  Reusable uncrewed vehicles  Space elevator  Transorbital railroad  Space junk removal  Advantages  The topic

6/28/2011 Propulsion  Mechanisms  Antimatter  Ion drives (electric)  Nuclear propulsion—fusion and fission  Plasma/electrothermal  Solar sails  Tethers  Advantages  Colonization  Competitiveness  Science  Weaponization

6/28/2011 Asteroid Defense  Mechanisms  Detection—ground and space-based  Characterization  Defense—nuclear, non-nuclear kinetic, tug/mass driver  Advantages  Armageddon  Colonization (via mining)  Competitiveness  Weaponization

6/28/2011 Exploration Missions  Mechanisms—go check out…  Asteroid belt  Comets  NEAs  Jupiter & its moons  Kuiper belt  Pluto  Advantages  Science?—good real world, less good debate world

6/28/2011 Remote Sensing  Mechanism—fund one or more of the missions that NASA has cancelled (climate, soil moisture, precipitation, etc.)  Advantages  Competitiveness  Environment (warming and agriculture)  Science

6/28/2011 Deep Space/Origins  Mechanism—fund it more  Advantage—science

6/28/2011 International Space Station  Mechanism  Invite someone else  Add a module or mission  Life extension  Advantages  Coop good (country specific)  Leadership—soft power based  Science

6/28/2011 SETI  Mechanism  Give UC-Berkeley some money (general funding)  Space-based platforms  Advantages

6/28/2011 Space Tourism

6/28/2011 India  Mechanism—joint cooperation on  ISS  Launch vehicle/access  SSP  Advantages  W/e you cooperate on is good  India soft power  India-U.S. relations

6/28/2011 China  Mechanism—joint cooperation on pretty much any aspect of the topic  Advantages  W/e reason the program is good  China soft power  China-U.S. relations

6/28/2011 Export Controls  Mechanism—remove one or more restrictions on tech transfer/technological collaboration  Advantages  Competitiveness  Coop good (relations)  Economy/space commerce  Leadership (soft power internals)