Topic: Space Exploration--Where should we explore next? And where have we explored so far?

Subtopics: mining the asteroids (the billionaire Peter Diamondis has announced the he will do it); nuclear propulsion systems (including one that uses a series of small nuclear warheads exploding against a giant pusher plate); looking for life in the ocean which sits under the ice on Europa; successful landings on Venus; colonizing the moon (the Chinese are going even if no one else will); colonizing Mars (including reasons to wait and not do it for many decades); manned missions verses unmanned missions--the pros and cons of each; looking for life on Titan; and the fact that we have verified to everyone's satisfaction that there is indeed water on earth's moon--frozen in valleys at the lunar south pole.

Today's speakers: Jim Craig, Paula S. Jordan, Dr. Ben Davis, James Maxey and myself as moderator. Jim Craig is the director of the James H. Lynn Planetarium at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia NC. Paula S. Jordan is a former orbit analyst for NASA and NOAA, and more recently a science fiction author. Dr. Ben Davis has a doctorate in Nuclear Physics, and is an IT professional. James Maxey is an author of science fiction and fantasy novels, and often introduces himself as "a big science geek."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 16, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 64 minutes] This panel was recorded on May 31, 2014 in Charlotte NC at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.