Icarus-DARPA-093011-mdThomas Hoffman graduated from the UH Foresight program in 2004 and has been active in the futures space since. While a student in the program, Thomas began exploring ideas that became a paper recently published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. The paper, titled “Sacred Space: A Beginning Framework for Off-Planet Church” imagines the role of the Christian Church in exploring, colonizing, and commercializing inter-planetary travel:

“Historically the Church has always been part of the first waves of explorers and colonizers, with its ideological interests being easily supported by generous resources and strong infrastructures. The exploring Church has not always been a friendly guest, however, and at times has initiated or condoned great harm. This paper offers a beginning framework as one way of insuring an appropriate presence in space for the Church.”  (JBIS)

Thomas Hoffman originally presented his framework at DARPA’s 100-Year Space Ship symposium. The symposium is a public forum held by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that invites scientists, academics, and private institutions to discuss far-out ideas for building a spaceship to visit another star.