The Greatest Obstacle to Human Space Travel

Norman R. Augustine
Chairman of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee
Retired Chairman and CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation

View Lecture Video

LECTURE
7:00 pm
McMurtry Auditorium
Duncan Hall

There will be a reception before the lecture at 6:30 pm in Duncan Hall (Martel).

EVENT PARKING
Space Frontiers lectures are free and open to the public; seating is limited and available on a first come basis. Paid parking is available by credit card at visitor lots on either side of the Founders Court lawn, near Duncan Hall. Plase enter the campus at Gate 1 or Gate 2 on Main Street, just south of Sunset Blvd. Click here for a campus map.

ABSTRACT
America’s human spaceflight program is in many respects at a crossroads. The initial competitive force driving that program was the Soviet space effort. Today, in contrast, Russia provides the only means America will have to put astronauts in space for the next half-dozen years. The competition within the U.S. between robotic discovery and human exploration continues—as does the danger of setting goals substantially greater than the means available to achieve them.

Several major independent studies have been conducted over the years seeking to point the way forward. It was the author’s privilege to participate in two of these reviews sponsored by the White House, including the most recent one. Some alternative futures for the U.S. space program will be postulated…and the greatest obstacle identified.

Norman R. Augustine was raised in Colorado and attended Princeton University where he graduated with a BSE and MSE in Aeronautical Engineering. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi.

EDUCATION
B.S.E., Aeronautical Engineering, Princeton University, Magna cum laude
M.S.E., Aeronautical Engineering, Princeton University

EXPERIENCE
In 1958 he joined the Douglas Aircraft Company in California where he worked as a Research Engineer, Program Manager and Chief Engineer. Beginning in 1965, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering. He joined LTV Missiles and Space Company in 1970, serving as Vice President, Advanced Programs and Marketing. In 1973 he returned to the government as Assistant Secretary of the Army and in 1975 became Under Secretary of the Army, and later Acting Secretary of the Army. Joining Martin Marietta Corporation in 1977 as Vice President of Technical Operations, he was elected as CEO in 1987 and chairman in 1988, having previously been President and COO. He served as president of Lockheed Martin Corporation upon the formation of that company in 1995, and became CEO later that year. He retired as chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin in August 1997, at which time he became a Lecturer with the Rank of Professor on the faculty of Princeton University where he served until July 1999.

AFFILIATIONS
Chairman and Principal Officer, American Red Cross (nine years)
Chairman of the Council, National Academy of Engineering
President and Chairman, Association of the United States Army
Chairman, Aerospace Industries Association
Chairman, Defense Science Board
Former President, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Former President, Boy Scouts of America
Former member, Board of Directors of ConocoPhillips, Black & Decker, Proctor & Gamble and Lockheed Martin
Member, Board of Trustees of Colonial Williamsburg
Regent, University System of Maryland
Trustee Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University
Former member, Board of Trustees of Princeton and MIT
Member, Advisory Board of the Department of Homeland Security
Member, Advisory Board Department of Energy
Member, Hart/Rudman Commission on National Security
Served for 16 years on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
Member, American Philosophical Society, National Academy of Sciences and Council on Foreign Affairs
Fellow, National Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellow, Explorers Club

HONORS & AWARDS
National Medal of Technology, President of the United States
Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Public Service Award
Distinguished Service Medal, U. S. Department of Defense  (five times)
Who’s Who in America and the Library of Congress as one of “Fifty Great Americans”
26 honorary degrees held

PUBLICATIONS
Augustine’s Laws
Augustine’s Travels
The Defense Revolution and Shakespeare In Charge (co-author)

Professor Augustine has traveled in 109 countries and stood on both the North and South Poles of the Earth.