SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Roger Launius, senior curator of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, will discuss “Why Go to the Moon: The Many Faces of Lunar Policy” on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Marburger Science and Engineering Auditorium at Lawrence Technological University (LTU), 21000 West Ten Mile Road, Southfield.

The Michigan section and LTU student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics are hosting this seminar about the Moon as a target for human exploration and eventual settlement. Launius will cover the more than 50 years of efforts to reach the Moon, highlighted by Apollo landings 1969-72. He will discuss efforts to make the Moon a second home, including post-Apollo planning, the Space Exploration Initiative, and problems and opportunities in the 2004 Vision for Space Exploration.

Launius is senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where he was division chair 2003-07. He served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1990 to 2002.  He has written or edited more than 20 books on aerospace history.

He served as a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio and all the major television network news programs.

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. Bloomberg Businessweek lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 20 percent of universities for return on undergraduate tuition investment, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area.  Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Students benefit from small class sizes and experienced faculty who provide a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.