The ASU 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 two-and-a-half years of operation we have created an experimental innovative research team-building process, seed-funded ~20 interdisciplinary projects including over 250 active team members and 20 outside partners, and achieved ~20x return on investment in external funding.