Rockets Get You to Orbit. Culture Gets You to Stay.

Getting to orbit is a rocket problem. Staying there is a culture problem. Join us at the Ion for a morning built around that idea. Rick Tumlinson, author of Why Space? The Purpose of People, makes the case for why we go. Scott Solomon, author of Becoming Martian, explores what we'll actually become, generation by generation, if humans stay in space long enough to call it home. David Alexander and Alexander Regier, from Rice's new Space Humanities Initiative, explore how culture, language, ethics, and imagination shape our push into space, and how space reshapes them right back. Grab breakfast at 8:30. Settle in for three conversations, hosted by EarthLight Foundation Director Junaid Mian. Leah Doolittle, EarthLight Foundation Executive Director, closes the morning with a look at what's coming next: New Worlds Faire, Houston's December gathering for anyone excited about the future of space.