Living in Space, it's getting closer this week on planetary radio.

I'm at Kaplan of the Planetary Society with more of the human adventure across our

solar system and beyond and I've got a special episode for you. Your friendly

Plan Rad host was a guest of the National Space Society at its Space Settlement Summit

last October, will devote today's show to conversations I had at that two-day event in Southern California.

Never fear Bruce Betts will still drop by for this

week's What's Up, including his guide to seeing the January 31st total

lunar eclipse. The National Space Society has quite a vision.

People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth and the use of the vast resources

of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity. Its mission is to

promote progress toward that lofty goal. Never before has it seemed so

achievable. It's why the society invited a select group of space leaders

to the second space settlement summit. Mark Hopkins helped create the

organization more than 30 years ago. He had been a leader of the L5

society that preceded the NSS and has occupied other leadership positions

ever since, serving now as chair of the Society's Executive Committee.

This meeting, the Space Settlement Summit

seems to be right at the core of that mission.

That's exactly right, the Fundamental goal of the National Space Society and our precursor organization, the L5 Society before it,

is space settlement and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.

We started this all in 1975 when things like space settlement were considered to be pretty crazy ideas,

but what has happened in the last few years is

...