July 03, 2025

Better Satellite World: The Road Less Traveled, Season 2, Episode 4 - Heaven Help Us: Grappling with the Faith and Ethics of Space and Technology

47 minutes

In the second season of The Road Less Traveled series, SSPI's Tamara Bond-Williams speaks with people whose lives and work inspire us because they walk "the road less traveled," the one leading us to a wider view of space, satellites and our quest for the dwelling of light we call "The Truth." This episode features a roundtable conversation with Chris Impey, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona; Dr. Claire Nelson, Chief Ideation Leader of The Futures Forum; and Frank White, Professor at Kepler Space University and author of The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution.

Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. He has over 450 publications on education, observational cosmology, galaxies, and quasars, and his research has been supported by $20 million in NASA and NSF grants. He has won eleven teaching awards and has taught four online classes with over 420,000 enrolled and 8 million minutes of video lectures watched. Chris Impey is a past Vice President of the American Astronomical Society, and he has won its career Education Prize. He's also been NSF Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Carnegie Council's Arizona Professor of the Year, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. He has written 120 popular articles on cosmology, astrobiology and education, two textbooks, a novel called Shadow World, and ten popular science trade books: The Living Cosmos, How It Ends, Talking About Life, How It Began, Dreams of Other Worlds, Humble Before the Void, Beyond: The Future of Space Travel, Einstein's Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes, Worlds Without End: Exoplanets, Habitability and the Future of Humanity, and most recently Recipe for a Universe: Cosmic Chemistry from the Big Bang to You.

Dr. Claire Nelson, Chief Visionary Officer of The Futures Forum, is listed among Forbes Top 50 Female Futurists. The author of the game-changing book SMART Futures for a Flourishing World: A Paradigm Shift for Achieving Global Sustainability, is a Board Member of the World Futures Studies Federation and Editor of its flagship magazine Human Futures. The Convenor of Space Futures Forum is noteworthy for her advocacy for global and space sustainability and serves as Advisor to various groups including Engineering for One Planet and Space for Humanity. A social entrepreneur, Nelson is Founding Convenor of June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month. A dynamic keynote speaker and storyteller, her one-woman show 'Moon Runnings: The Life & Times of the First Jamaican on the Moon' is aimed at advancing planetary consciousness. Honored as a White House Champion of Change, she holds a Doctorate in Engineering Management from George Washington University.

Frank White is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a Rhodes Scholar. He earned an M.Phil. in Politics from Oxford University. White's book, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, is considered by many to be a seminal work in the field of space studies. He has authored or co-authored numerous additional books on a wide range of topics, including SETI, AI, and climate change. In addition to his writing career, White is co-executive editor of Sentient Media, LLC, President and Board Chair of the Human Space Program, a Professor at Kepler Space University, and a Curator of Space and AI information for Intro-act.

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