Editing Harrison Schmitt (section)

=== Post-Senate career ===

Following his Senate term, Schmitt has been a consultant in business, geology, space, and public policy. Schmitt is an adjunct professor of engineering physics at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/faculty/schmitt_harrison.html|title=Harrison J. Schmitt|website=engr.wisc.edu|publisher=University of Wisconsin—|access-date=November 20, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202223728/http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/faculty/schmitt_harrison.html|archive-date=February 2, 2007}}</ref> and has long been a proponent of lunar resource utilization.<ref>{{cite journal|bibcode=1988lhfp.rept...35K|title=The moon: an abundant source of clean and safe fusion fuel for the 21st century|date=September 1, 1988|last1=Kulcinski|first1=G. L.|last2=Schmitt|first2=Harrison H.|pages=35–64|journal=Lunar Helium-3 and Fusion Power}}</ref><ref>''Return to the Moon: exploration, enterprise, and energy in the human settlement of space'', Springer, 2006 {{ISBN|0-387-24285-6}}</ref> In 1997 he proposed the Interlune InterMars Initiative, listing among its goals the advancement of private-sector acquisition and use of lunar resources, particularly lunar [[helium-3]] as a fuel for notional [[nuclear fusion]] reactors.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1061/(ASCE)0893-1321(1997)10:2(60) |title=Interlune-Intermars Business Initiative: Returning to Deep Space |year=1997 |last1=Schmitt |first1=Harrison H. |journal=Journal of Aerospace Engineering |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=60–67|s2cid=108656783 }}</ref>

[[File:Presidential Space Directive - 1 Signing (NHQ201712110001).jpg|left|thumb|Schmitt (second from right) attends President [[Donald Trump]]'s signing of Space Policy Directive-1, directing NASA to resume human flight to the Moon and beyond]]

Schmitt was chair of the [[NASA Advisory Council]], whose mandate is to provide technical advice to the NASA Administrator, from November 2005 until his abrupt resignation on October 16, 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oct/HQ_08-261_Scmitt_Leaves_NAC.html|title=NASA – Schmitt Completes NASA Advisory Council Service; Ford Named Chairman|date=October 2008|website=nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|access-date=December 7, 2009|archive-date=June 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609184155/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oct/HQ_08-261_Scmitt_Leaves_NAC.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In November 2008, he quit the Planetary Society over policy advocacy differences, citing the organization's statements on "focusing on Mars as the driving goal of human spaceflight" (Schmitt said that going back to the Moon would speed progress toward a crewed Mars mission), on "accelerating research into global climate change through more comprehensive Earth observations" (Schmitt voiced objections to the notion of a present "scientific consensus" on climate change as any policy guide), and on international cooperation (which he felt would retard rather than accelerate progress), among other points of divergence.<ref name="PlanetarySociety">{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=29813 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910164725/http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=29813 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 10, 2012 |title=Former NASA Advisory Council Chair Jack Schmitt Quits Planetary Society Over New Roadmap |website=SpaceRef.com |date=November 17, 2008 |access-date=August 4, 2018 }}</ref>

Schmitt also serves as a visiting senior research scientist at the [[Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ihmc.us/groups/hschmitt/|title=Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt}}</ref>

In January 2011, he was appointed as secretary of the [[New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department]] in the cabinet of Governor [[Susana Martinez]], but was forced to give up the appointment the following month after refusing to submit to a required background investigation.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17353325 | title=Harrison Schmitt withdraws nomination for New Mexico energy secretary | work=El Paso Times | date=February 11, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906025728/http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17353325 | archive-date=September 6, 2012 }}</ref> ''El Paso Times'' called him the "most celebrated" candidate for New Mexico energy secretary.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Simonich|first1=Milan|title=Harrison Schmitt withdraws nomination for New Mexico energy secretary|url=http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17353325|access-date=October 6, 2014|newspaper=El Paso Times|date=February 11, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906025728/http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17353325|archive-date=September 6, 2012}}</ref>

Schmitt wrote a book entitled ''Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space'' in 2006.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schmitt |first=Harrison H. |title=Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IerrQGC6S2YC|access-date=March 23, 2013 |year=2005 |publisher=Springer London, Limited |isbn=978-0-387-31064-0}}</ref> Schmitt is also involved in several civic projects, including the improvement of the Senator Harrison H. Schmitt Big Sky Hang Glider Park in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bernco.gov/Parks/|title=Parks|access-date=May 3, 2013|archive-date=May 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515201301/http://www.bernco.gov/Parks/|url-status=dead}}</ref>