Hunting for Space Treasure

Forget Silicon Valley: could outer space be the next place to make your fortune?

Planetary Resources is developing technology that could enable humans to fly spacecraft to asteroids and mine minerals that could be worth millions of dollars. The company is backed by luminaries like Larry Page and Richard Branson and raised $21 million in May.

As part of the technology, the company is working on to reach asteroids, it created an earth observation system called Ceres. This platform’s infrared and hyperspectral sensors far surpass the capability of human eyes. Through this technology, Ceres could enable more sophisticated tracking of climate change, crop growth, forest fires and many other environmental changes.

Chris Lewicki has been intimately involved with the lifecycle of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers and the Phoenix Mars Lander. He performed system engineering development and participated in assembly, test and launch operations for both Mars missions. He was Flight Director for the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and the Surface Mission Manager for Phoenix. The recipient of two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals, Lewicki has an asteroid named in his honor: 13609 Lewicki. Chris holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona.

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