September 11, 2023

41. Gen. Pete Worden: Cislunar, Interstellar, Artemis, Aliens, Space-Based Missile Defense, Asteroid Mining, Planetary Defense, Space Force 'Bluewater' Ops

1 hour 26 minutes

In this episode Peter Garretson speaks with Simon “Pete” Worden (Brig Gen, USAF, Ret, PhD), Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. They discuss the purpose of spacefaring, the importance of Cislunar, the Moon, Clementine, the Near-Earth and Main-Belt Asteroids, NASA's Artemis mission, Moon-to-Mars Objectives and Artemis Accords, DARPA (and it's NOM4D, DRACO, B-SURE and LunA-10 effort), "Bluewater Spacepower," movement & maneuver in deep space, the need to protect commerce, and the U.S. Space Force, 'War Prevention' vs Warfighting'. They explore dissuasion, deterrence, the recent Fractional Orbital Bombardment Test, SDI and Space-Based Missile defense. They delve into how Breakthrough is going after the big questions of is there life, is there intelligent life, and can we reach other star systems through Breakthrough Watch, Breakthrough Listen, Breakthrough Starshot (including its StarChips, Solar Sails and Gigawatt Lasers). They assess the importance of asteroids to science, as a resource, and as a threat, discussing his role in starting Luxembourg Space Agency's Space Resources program for Asteroid Mining, his long-standing role in planetary defense, what became DART. They close discussing Boyd's OODA Loop and philosophy of officership, and the attitude it takes to do innovation.