STEM-Talk: NASA’s Flawed Plan to Return to the Moon – with Mike Griffin and Lisa Porter

The United States risks losing the race to return humans to the Moon to the People’s Republic of China, which will pose serious threats to our national security.

This is one of the key takeaways of STEM-Talk Episode 189, which features a conversation with Drs. Michael Griffin and Lisa Porter, two scientists with extensive backgrounds at NASA, the Department of Defense and in national security issues.

IHMC’s founder and CEO Emeritus Dr. Ken Ford’s timely interview with Griffin and Porter came just 10 days before Griffin appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to give testimony on China’s advancements in space and the risks it poses for the U.S.

“We have squandered a 60-year head start on pioneering the space frontier to a nation that, without reason or provocation on our part, has chosen to become our nation’s adversary,” said Griffin in his opening comments to Congress.

Ford’s interview with Griffin and Porter is now available on podcast apps, YouTube and on IHMC’s website. Another key takeaway of the interview is that NASA’s Artemis III Misson to return to the Moon and build a permanent lunar base is seriously flawed and should be scrapped.

Griffin and Porter are co-founders and co-presidents of LogiQ Inc., a company providing high-end management, scientific and technical consulting services.

Griffin’s background includes roles as the former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the Administrator of NASA, the Space Department Head at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as well as Chairman and CEO of Schafer Corporation.

Porter’s background includes roles as the former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the founding director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA.

In this episode, Griffin and Porter discuss:

• How the Artemis mission architecture imposes significant mission and crew risk.
• The Apollo program.
• Why it’s important for the U.S. to return to the moon before China, Russia or any other nation.
• What is driving the ambitions of China and Russia among many other nations to explore the Moon and build a permanent presence there.
• Concerns about recent NASA budget cuts.
• And NASA’s core purpose of beyond just science.

STEM-Talk is an award-winning podcast from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition that hosts conversations with the leading minds in science and technology. Listen on your favorite platform or browse our library at https://www.ihmc.us/stemtalks/