WHAT:The second Luna Philosophie will bring together environmental, clean tech, and space communities to discuss some of the most challenging problems facing the planet today.

As suggested by attendees from the first Luna Philosophie, we will first begin with a short (~20 minute) presentation to set the tone for the subsequent discussion.

Some topics for discussion include:

• the concept of Spaceship Earth and a systems approach to environmental research on Earth and Space
• how Space research and technologies address environmental and sustainability issues on the Earth, including their potential application to the entrepreneurial Clean Tech community in the Bay Area
• how NASA as a Federal agency might play its part to reduce or eliminate its carbon footprint

Aligning Human and Earth Life Support Systems

Learning from NASA Systems Engineering

This presentation will examine the relationships between the complex array of systems we humans employ for our own life support and Earth Life Support Systems (ELSS), which are the physical, chemical and biological systems that sustain life on our planet. Global sustainability, which is rapidly gaining recognition as a vital goal for this century, may be viewed as requiring the successful alignment of human and Earth life support systems. As NASA has been successfully designing and operating spacecraft human life support systems for nearly fifty years, it provides a particularly rich source of experience in this endeavor. The presentation will explore NASA’s pragmatic systems engineering principles, and their potential application in guiding the design of sustainable human life support systems.

John A. Hogan, Ph.D.

Dr. Hogan is an environmental scientist who has specialized in the development and integration of human life support systems for space habitation. Before coming to work for the Bioengineering Branch at NASA Ames Research Center in 2004, Dr. Hogan was an assistant research professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. During the last ten years, he has participated in designing and building systems for space-related waste, water and air management and food production. He has also been involved in systems analysis and integration studies, information technologies and issues concerning extraterrestrial planetary protection.

WHEN: Thursday, May 31, 2007 (Full Moon) at 6:30 PM; socializing 6:30-7PM; "Aligning Human and Earth Life Support Systems" Presentation by John Hogan 7-7:30PM; Spaceship Earth Discussion 7:30-8:30PM; socializing 8:30-9PM

WHERE: Citizenspace, 425 Second Steet, 3rd Floor, in San Francisco (http://citizenspace.us/)

WHO: All are welcome, from space professionals to those who are unsure what N-A-S-A stands for!

MISC: Please bring food and drink to share.

RSVP: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/192607/
(not required but helpful for planning for space requirements)

CONTACT: Delia Santiago (dsantiago@arc.nasa.gov) with any questions.

Please bring refreshments!

For more information on NASA CoLab, visit: http://colab.arc.nasa.gov

For more information on Luna Philosophie, visit: http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/luna