Newt talks with Joel Sercel, PhD., Founder and CEO of TransAstra, a venture-backed company pioneering asteroid mining and the future of the space economy. Sercel shares insights into the company's mission to use asteroids as refueling stations for rockets, potentially enabling extensive space travel across the solar system and beyond. Sercel, a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory technologist and a seven-time NASA NIAC Fellow, discusses his journey from a childhood fascination with space to leading major space engineering efforts. He highlights the strategic importance of asteroid mining for the United States, emphasizing the potential for space industrialization and the creation of a transportation network in space. Their conversation also covers the technological innovations of TransAstra, including the development of a Capture Bag for asteroid mining and the Sutter Telescope Network for detecting asteroids. Sercel envisions a future where space resources are harnessed to build vast new industries and enhance military capabilities, with a focus on robotic operations and the potential for solar thermal propulsion.

<p>Newt talks with Joel Sercel, PhD., Founder and CEO of TransAstra, a venture-backed company pioneering asteroid mining and the future of the space economy. Sercel shares insights into the company's mission to use asteroids as refueling stations for rockets, potentially enabling extensive space travel across the solar system and beyond. Sercel, a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory technologist and a seven-time NASA NIAC Fellow, discusses his journey from a childhood fascination with space to leading major space engineering efforts. He highlights the strategic importance of asteroid mining for the United States, emphasizing the potential for space industrialization and the creation of a transportation network in space. Their conversation also covers the technological innovations of TransAstra, including the development of a Capture Bag for asteroid mining and the Sutter Telescope Network for detecting asteroids. Sercel envisions a future where space resources are harnessed to build vast new industries and enhance military capabilities, with a focus on robotic operations and the potential for solar thermal propulsion.</p>

Join former House Speaker, professor, historian, and futurist Newt Gingrich as he shares his lifetime of knowledge and access to the world’s most interesting minds in a new series that covers all aspects of our society. From history to health, national security to science, Newt offers stories, conversations, and context to uncover new perspectives, knowledge and insight. This podcast isn’t about politics; it’s about exploring the past, present, and future to understand where we’ve been and where we’re going. Welcome to Newt’s World, a podcast for independent thinkers.

Newt's World

Episode 900: Engineering the Future of Space

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7018241d-211f-4c14-8b49-b373013a20be/transcript

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