The Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative: Envisioning and Creating Our Human Space Future

Creating a positive human space future, both beyond the Earth as well as on it, necessitates that we connect all disciplines. We need sociology, philosophy, art, and so much more, in addition to the current strong work being done in science, engineering, and law. The Interplanetary Initiative is a pan-university venture at Arizona State University that is pioneering a new model for integrated research and learning to investigate, communicate, and define our human space future. We connect the private sector, universities, and government, and we train students how to solve problems and create knowledge in teams as both leaders and collaborators. In our 3 years of operation, we have created an experimental innovative team-building research process, seed-funded ∼20 interdisciplinary projects, which have included >250 active team members and 20 outside partners, and in 2019 achieved ∼11 × return on investment in external funding.