Overview

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Today space is the source of everyday goods and services: cell phones, the Internet, cable television - to name a few examples.  Established space industries have already taken a foothold in the everyday lives of most people. This was the result of concerted efforts within the outer space development regime. Space scientists, space engineers, space lawyers and space policymakers have been meeting and making plans for space development for over 40 years.

Mission Statement

The Outer Space Development Research Association's mission is to make knowledge concerning outer space development more accessible to the general public by increasing public awareness and appreciation, by encouraging a popular understanding current events, and by broadening and advancing public education by providing information concerning outer space development.

Outer space is in the process of being developed. According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, outer space was deemed to belong to the "Province of Mankind". This is the subject of great debate and varying interpretations. Meanwhile, pockets of activities towards the development of outer space have started. Actions and activities have been and are being proposed and carried out. Gaps exist between plans. This could prove problematic in years to come.  With this concern in mind, our mission is to create a bridge between the various outer space development groups, organizations, corporations, policymakers, lawmakers and other actors. It is time for humankind to work towards bridging the gaps if the next phase of outer space development is to occur in a peaceful manner. The Outer Space Development Research Association will provide a forum for exchanging views, voicing concerns and taking concerted action towards the peaceful development of the final frontier.

This research project began in 1992, stopped for a while and then began again in 1998. It bridges two worlds: the general public and the space development community. A general awareness to what is happening is important and necessary because outer space colonization is not far off. Hundreds of space companies exist, earning billions annually. Spaceports are popping up all over the world. Space tourism companies are selling trips to space. Public perceptions about space travel are changing. Activities are underway to develop the final frontier for human visitation and extended habitation, and most people, around the globe, know nothing about it.

Consider this, at the beginning of the space age, the public viewed space travel as a government enterprise for highly trained astronauts. The race to space was a race between two nations - the US and the former Soviet Union. This competition was for the sake of national prestige and in the interest of science.

Recently, many nations have drastically increased their spending on space programs, and many have pledged to go to the Moon and to Mars. Moreover, discoveries have been made on these two celestial bodies and on various asteroids and comets. New industries involving space stations, space tourism, space mining and space settlement are impending. Development plans and the technological capability to develop outer space are very real and very concrete.

The Outer Space Development Research Association:

The Outer Space Development Research Association is a new organization currently in the planning stage. Within five years it will become an outlet for bridging gaps that exists between professionals from various fields such as space law, space politics, space technology, space engineering, space entrepreneurship, environmental science, space medicine, space education, space organizations, space agencies, space interest groups, school children, college students and members of the general public, to form a think tank in order to develop and execute strategies to bridge the gaps between key space organizations and groups. It will become an highly international enterprise.

BIO: Dr. Edythe E. Weeks, Esq. Founder

A visionary and creative researcher, Dr. Weeks has recently completed a Dissertation (2006) entitled The Politics of Space Law in a Post Cold War Era: Understanding Regime Change. She has a message for us. Many exciting things are on the verge of happening within the arena of outer space development. Humankind is in the midst of change as significant as the industrial revolution - outer space development. New industries are being formed and with them new forms of inequality gaps between those who know, and those who do not.

In order to understand and explain these changes, Dr. Weeks began the Ph.D. program in Political Science/International Relations in 1998. This included course work, exams, conferences, presentations and research. During the summer of 2002, Weeks conducted preliminary research. This included speaking with space experts across Europe, and visits to: the European Center for Space Law in Paris; the Institute of Air and Space Law and the German Aerospace Center both in Cologne, Germany; the United Nations Office on Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, Austria; the United Nations library in Geneva, Switzerland and the International Space University in Strasbourg France. Dr. Weeks participated in the 7th Annual International Space University Symposium in 2002, the World Space Congress in Houston, Texas in 2002,and the International Astronautical Federation Congress and International Institute of Space Law Colloquium in 2003 in Bremen, Germany. More recently, Dr. Weeks presented her research findings at the 57th International Astronautical Federation Congress to the members of the International Institute of Space Law in Valencia, Spain in October, 2006.

Dr. Weeks currently lectures in the Department of Political Science and with the Ethnic Studies Program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona in the United States of America. She has taught courses such as World Politics, Outer Space Development, the Politics of International Law, Global Race and Ethnic Relations, Diversity, Politics and Law, and Race, Power and Politics.

Weeks has published articles in several international journals, participated in international space conferences and is a member of the International Institute of Space Law, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the National Space Society. After earning a bachelor's degree in economics, Weeks completed a J.D. with an emphasis in international law from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of law in 1987. Weeks worked in a number of law firms and corporations conducting legal research on issues where little or no precedent existed. After years of working as a professional, Weeks decided to pursue the unrealized goal of attaining a Ph.D. in international relations and becoming a lecturer, a writer, an author and an academic.

Contact Me for more information and consultations.

The space tourism industry is connected to the burgeoning commercial spaceport business. These are two industries that only an elite few know about.

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Dr. Edythe E. Weeks, Esq.

Independent Scholar and Researcher

Adjunct Faculty and Coordinator of International Relations Online Program

International Politics, Space Law Politics and Race/Ethnic Relations

Department of History, Politics and International Relations

Webster University Worldwide

H. Samuel Priest Center for International Studies

Webster Groves, MO 63119

United States of America

email: EdytheWeeks59@webster.edu

phone: US + 314.968.3982

website: http://sites.google.com/site/outerspacedevelopment/

© 2007 E.E. Weeks. OuterSpaceDevelopment. All Rights Reserved.