Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson debate the future of space exploration

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist best known now as host of Fox's Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, hosts an annual debate at the Hayden Planetarium in the memory of the prolific science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who died in 1992.
This year, the topic under discussion was the commercialization of space, specifically: How much risk should businesses assume in space exploration? How can space businesses mitigate risk? How big are the potential opportunities of extraterrestrial resource mining, products, and real estate? What role does government play in the new paradigm of commercial space exploration?
The panelists included a host of space industry luminaries: The Aerospace Corporation president and CEO Wanda Austin; Michael Gold, director of DC operations and business growth for Bigelow Aerospace; John Logsdon, professor emeritus of space policy and international affairs at George Washington University; Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham; Space Adventures president Tom Shelley; and Robert Walker, executive chairman of Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Watch the entire debate below. --John Aziz
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
John Aziz is the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate editor at Pieria.co.uk. Previously his work has appeared on Business Insider, Zero Hedge, and Noahpinion.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are we watching the ocean floor?
Podcast Plus, what can we learn from a football club on the brink? And which jobs will fall to AI first?
-
Quiz of The Week: 2 – 8 August
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A volcano stirs, a deathly flower blooms, and more
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's study
Speed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-off
Speed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Speed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands