SpaceSooner Experiences

Sunnyvale weather facts from weather.com

2008-09-07T10:25:00.001-07:00

Sunnyvale, CA (94085) Weather Facts

July is the average warmest month. (avg temp 84F)

The highest recorded temperature was 109°F in 2000.

December is the average coolest month. (avg temp 59F)

The lowest recorded temperature was 19°F in 1990.

The maximum average precipitation occurs in January.

New Student Aeronautics Competition from NASA

2007-11-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

Aeronautics Competitions for High School and College Students

The Fundamental Aeronautics Program of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters announces a new aeronautics competition for high school and college students for the 2007-2008 academic year.

High school students are challenged to write a research paper to explain ideas for a future aircraft that could become the "DC-3" for cargo and passengers in the year 2058. Descriptions should be well-informed and include sections on fuel, environmental effects, noise levels, runway length and condition, operating costs, passenger and cargo loads, and service operations. Notice of intent for high school entries is due on Dec. 15, 2007.

College students are invited to design the next generation, 21^st-century, "DC-3"-type aircraft. Some of the design considerations include reduced environmental impact, reduced noise, daily operations on short runways, cost analysis for production and operation, passenger and cargo limits, structure and materials, and engines. Students should also briefly describe three valid scenarios for potential use of this vehicle in the year 2058. Notice of intent for college entries is due on Jan. 19, 2008.

Any U.S. student enrolled in an accredited high school, secondary school, or home school in the United States or its territories is eligible to enter the competition for cash prizes. Non-U.S. citizens and students in international locations can enter as well, but they are not eligible for cash prizes. Trophies and certificates will be awarded to each winner, regardless of citizenship.

For complete details, visit: http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/competitions.htm "

SGC Starts!

2007-09-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

(I promise I'm listening, Bill!)

Kevin does a short overview of schedule and rules.

Sanjoy talks about having arrived early in India to track down his family history (in particular, an old book of family trees, photos, etc. that his father last remembers seeing when he five years old) and *actually finding* the book, relatives, and an old family home in an area near Calcutta.

Bill Nye speaks on moon missions, national pride, applying to be an astronaut, skeptical feelings toward current moon mission strategies and the lack of innovation in the last decades of space. He's very knowledgeable and entertaining. :-) Now he's talking about the X-15, "Defend America Act", planetary exploration, some environmentalism, Pluto, Apophis, the "Passion, Beauty, and Joy of Science", and is now answering questions.

Time for the first coffee break!

After the break, Will Marshall, SGAC Co-Chair, goes over a lot of the history of SGAC, through SEDS, ISU, Space Generation Foundation, Space Generation Forum at UNISPACEIII, Space Generation Summit in Houston in 2002, and the Space Generation Congresses since then. Then he talks a bit about aspiring toward very lofty goals, because that's how we can make big changes. He hits on how the tools we have today with the ease of travel and using the internet have allowed us to communicate more than ever before. This allows us to work with each other with almost a "collective intelligence," where we present individuals can brainstorm and ask problems to let others work with them to solve them.

(Web 1.0 was static web pages that inform. One group putting out information for others to digest.
Web 2.0 is interactive web pages that work toward this collective intelligence of all being able to contribute and collaborate. Individuals exchanging ideas and helping each other.)

How do we keep it going after SGC to make these changes? Will suggests very frequent telecons or chat sessions (once a week, maybe) with at least 3-4 other people dedicated to communicating each week. This makes people accountable to each other and more likely to make and keep commitments. Plus it keeps everyone inspired because they're reminded that there are others who share the same passions and dedication.

After Will, the project team leaders did short intros of their projects. See summaries of the teams at the links here:
http://www.explorerswanted.com/?q=node/40

Then it was time for us all to get to know each other a little better... we went around the entire room doing short intros of who we were, where we were from, and what we do at home (work/school/etc.). We have several from our host country of India and from the rest of Asia Pacific region, several from the European and North American regions, one from the Middle East, two from Africa, and two from South America!

We have a short first meeting of project teams where we break into our groups for the first time.
Several teams may post their notes in their team forums, so check those out here:
http://www.spacegeneration.org/forum

Lunch time!

Part way into lunch, Agnieszka, the SGAC Executive Officer gives us an overview of a recent survey (with an SGAC tool) she conducted for the UN about food security. She is an excellent resource as a connection directly into the UN branches we deal with, and has the ear of many important people who love hearing about SGAC activities. Let her know when you do things for SGAC!

When we fully resume after lunch, Kevin goes over several of the tools we have at our disposal within SGAC, including Mission Forge (a project management tool with interactive task lists, schedules, and other powerful features)

Jessica takes a few minutes to review what the SGAC Communications team (formerly the PR and Media & Promotion team) is working on with everyone, and offering their services to the participants in their own home nations and regions and within their project teams.

Then half the delegates go with Will to talk about fund-raising strategy, which all teams will likely need, and the other half stays to talk more personally with the Communications team.

The Communications team talks more about what their goals are for the time at SGC and the scope of the team within SGAC. They also speak on what they can do for the other project teams. Next, Jessica reviews several communications tools that could be used by the project teams, including the SGAC blogs (http://spacegeneration.org/blog), Twitter (http://twitter.com/spacesooner) and Jaiku (http://jaiku.com/channel/SGC2007), Facebook (SGAC group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2218401662), and RSS feeds (http://www.whatisrss.com/) which can be read with readers like Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader). If any delegates are blogging anywhere, sharing photos, etc., please tag your entries with "SGC2007" so that we can easily do web searches and find you later!

Then (through a few power outages) Alex called Space Adventures via Skype (http://www.skype.com) and he flipped through charts while Tom Shelley announced a very cool opportunity to suggest experiments and activities for Space Adventures' next client to go to the International Space Station for a two week stay. More information will be up on the main page of the Space Generation website shortly, and the presentation with specific details will likely be uploaded below.

After a few short announcements, we broke for an hour before resuming with a local DJ for the opening social dance party!

Space Generation Congress 2007: Day 0

2007-09-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

So tonight will mark the end of prep and the beginning of Space Generation Congress 2007. Kevin and I have been here in Hyderabad for two weeks now (finally did some touristy things last night with the staff which was here!).

We have most of the staff and the team leads here, and we're having the first staff meeting, pretty much now.

Talking about tasks left, which are
* man the booth at IAC (we'll have lots to hand out)
* hand out lots of SGAC things at IAC
* help out setting up the IAC booth on Sunday
* get the wireless working in the main room
* alert the media
* finish name tags
* sort SpaceX bags by shirt size
* stuff the Space Generation messenger bags with all the printed stuff which is completely done!
* get info together for culture night and free time

Just took some pics as part one of a gagillion of my team's promo collection tasks, which will make an awesome database of raw materials for SGC and SGAC promotion.

Talking about more logistics and preparation, and there's really very little left to do. Whoo!!

In Hyderabad, India with Kevin

2007-09-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

We're here! (after some few dozen hours of travel...)

Hotel is hip and awesome; staff is super friendly; haven't seen much of the city yet... probably going to go out shopping on Monday. :-)

Will put pictures up soon!

Twitter

2007-08-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

I have my twitter feed piped in on the right. I update it quite often on what I'm doing day-to-day.

http://www.twitter.com/spacesooner

Jac is visiting

2007-08-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

And we're having a lovely time.
Did SF yesterday. Got my vaccinations and visa, so I'm ready to go for India. Leave Sept 5.

space survey for all!

2007-08-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

From Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, SGAC Executive Officer:

Dear all,

On behalf of SGAC I am currently conducting a study for the UN/IAF workshop
on the topic of "Space Technology for Sustainable Development: Towards Food
Security." The Workshop will be held in conjunction with the 58th
International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which will take place from 24 to
28 September 2007 in Hyderabad, India.

The aim of this study is the analysis of the attitudes/opinions of young
people around the world towards the subject matter. In order to gather a
proper data a survey was developed. This survey will feed in to the SGAC
report to the workshop.

I would kindly like to ask you to complete this survey
http://www.spacegeneration.org/node/601 and forward it to as many people as

you can (friends, colleagues, students, etc.). Participants do not have to

have a prior knowledge of space matters as I want to measure general
trends/awareness in regards to the topic of the workshop.

Your help and participation is greatly appreciated!

Best Wishes!

letters

2007-07-23T16:41:00.001-07:00

Came across this historic letter from Von Braun to Johnson posted by the history office. Really interesting stuff.

http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/vp_ljohnson.pdf

Space Gen Space Agency, go!

2007-07-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.spacegeneration.org/space_missions

Space Generation Space Agency, go!

2007-07-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/19/DDG52R22EV1.DTL

Interesting... probably have to go see this fairly soon...
will there be vrrrooming in space?

some links for July; and June

2007-07-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's your flying cars. Or where they'll come from, anyway.
http://cafefoundation.org/v2/pav_why.php

Lots of stories about CoLab going around.
http://news.com.com/Next+NASA+mission+Twitter+and+Facebook/2100-11397_3-6193493.html?tag=nefd.lede
(although this conference was supposed to be non-attribution, and the writer gets a LOT of facts quite wrong)

http://www.nasa.gov/nasaedge/
I actually like this :-) You can subscribe at iTunes.
Need to get them out to CoLab as soon as we get the real building.

I'm now working on NGEC-2 and NGEC-3. And CoLab and the Small Spacecraft website, and of course the internship (there's about 15 direct interns I'm interacting with most every day and another 15+ indirect ones I'm supposed to interact with sometimes).

Also microblogging at http://spacesooner.jaiku.com/

Oh, hey, you know what JPL and NASA DIDN'T do? Beagle 2. Yeah, Transformers. NOT US. That was ESA, headed by British people. Also: lander, no rovers. No roving at all. Oh, and pretty much everything else about that mission/Mars/mission ops they got wrong. Kinda insulting, movie. Thanks.

space flowers

2007-05-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

Martian winner at Chelsea

Sarah Eberle's Mars-themed garden upsets the odds to win the Chelsea Flower Show.

Cool link that was brought to my attention.

stories of astros past

2007-05-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

There's your drama, baby.

Just got to tell the story.

Some things you should probably know

2007-05-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

Things you should probably know:

1. NGEC-II. It's a thing. More later.
2. Colab Luna Philosophie tomorrow.
3. NASA CoLab in general.
4. This is still the funniest thing ever.
5. This is still the best album ever. You should probably go buy it right now. If you already own it, still go buy it right now and give it to someone else.
6. While we're at it, this is the best show ever. You saw that coming. Buy it, see above.
7. This clip, while hilarious, is quite indicative of the things wrong with the space program. Also indicative of the fact that Steve's wacky fun.
8. Mel is awesome. And probably cold right now.
9. The interns are coming.
10. Second Life. Are you there yet? You can't get there from here.

OVER

2007-04-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

GREAT press! Good collection of a lot of it at NASA Watch, including Keith's incredibly kind and awesome words.

Most awesome pics from Scott Beale at Laughing Squid:
Tours
PARTY

Thanks for coming out... we estimate our attendance, including volunteers, exhibitors, etc. to be about 4,000. How's that for reaching out and sharing NASA? And as many many of the bloggers and press have said... the 18-30s were as much into the science/tech/space and our speakers and demos as they were for the music and dancing. How cool!? People just have to be exposed to it, first hand and in their face, not on paper, and they love it. That's how space and science are.

biggest YN party ever

2007-04-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

Can't make it?
(few tickets still on sale, though... www.worldspaceparty.com)

Fake it:
live webcast HERE
starts at 7:30 PDT

OR in party in Second Life

You should get an account set up there, anyway, and this is a great time to do it!

Also, I'd like to personally thank Our Sponsors, because these orgs ROCK.

officemates in the news

2007-03-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

This is the kind of *awesome* stuff that's going on in my office.
(Jessy, who's quoted here, is also in charge of Yuri's Night Bay Area.)

YN VIP / ZERO G

2007-03-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

I know you guys want to fly.
Or know someone who does...

$5k for an unforgettable experience, people, and it supports The Party.

Lose all your weight at once.
Be Superman.
Feel your eyeballs float in your head.

It's amazing.

Do it!
Tell people about it!

FLYER

It's like this:

Stephen Hawking's going to do it, too, a couple days later on the same plane!

Full on infotastic: Yuri's Night Bay Area

2007-03-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

**************************
Prepare for Liftoff!

WWW.WORLDSPACEPARTY.ORG

Get ready for something entirely different.

On April 13th the Bay Area joins the world in celebration of space exploration in a unique convergence of artists, scientists, astronauts, performers and musicians.

Yuri's Night is a commemoration of humankind's first venture into space, by Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. This gathering bridges national, cultural, generational and social barriers to ignite excitement about what is new on the horizon in space exploration and to remind us of the magnificent feats humanity is capable of.

Yuri's Night Bay Area will be held at Moffett Field in the NASA Ames Research Center's massive SOFIA hangar, home to the world's largest aerial observatory. Our host for the evening is pioneering space traveler Anousheh Anasari, the first privately funded female to reach orbit. She is joined by Dr. Chris McKay, world renowned expert in astrobiology and terraformation with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames Research Center. Then, explore a dazzling array of interactive art installations and science demos, interwoven with musical performances by some of the world's finest electronic musicians.

Cutting-edge interactive technology, including:

Exploration of the world through NASA World Wind
Gigapan, explorable high resolution panoramas from around the world
A portal into Second Life
Burning Man Earth, Google's Black Rock City browser

Science demonstrations and innovations from the worl ds of robotics, engineering, chemistry, and astronomy, will also be on display:

Magnetic bacteria
Human powered vehicle show and tell
Do-it-yourself booths from Squid Labs, TechShop, and more
NASA robotics, including the next generation of rovers
Robotics competition, streamed in live

Engage with space-inspired art installations and video documentary screenings:

StarZipper, created by internationally renowned artist Michael Light and collaborator Dave Rattray
Large-scale sculpture from Michael Christian
Peter Foucault's Motion Sensor Drawing Robots
Visual artists Celestine Star and Kosho will be Spinning Light into Space throughout the night

Experience rare video works documenting art in space:

Matières Chorégraphiques by Kitsou Dubois, celebrated French dancer, choreographer and artistic director of Ki Productions

Projects from the Zero Gravity Arts Consortium, Lowry Burgess's monumental project The Seed of the Infinite Absolute, Lorelei Lisowsky, and local Bay Area artist Frank Pietronigro ' Drift Painting' in Microgravity
Meet Japan's space artist Ayako Ono
Jean Luc Soret's Space Art project videos curated direct from Paris's International @rt Outsiders Festival.

Enter the Documentary Dome and immerse yourself in the world's greatest space-related documentaries, including screenings of:

HBO's original production, 'From the Earth To The Moon'

Dr. Maryanne Galvin's 'What's Going On Up There?'

'Hubble: 15 Years of Discovery': a project of international cooperation between European Space Agency & NASA that dramatically documents The Hubble Space Telescope.

Witness awe-inspiring space-themed performances featuring:

KC Bella Fuega and Spiral Hoop Dance (orbital hooping and bellydance)
Flowtoys (celestial light performance and UFO flowplanes)
VigilAntiUP (intergalactic stilting)
A Parade from the Future (with cutting edge Bay Area circuit benders and other worldly creatures).

Live dance and acrobatics fused with audiovisual performances, will be coordinated with a world-class lineup of live electronic music:

PLAID - Warp Records

TELEFON TEL AVIV - Hefty Records
BLUETECH - Aleph Zero, Native State
OOAH + BORETA - Glitch Mob, LA/SF
SUTEKH - Context, Soul Jazz, Leaf
MR. PROJECTILE & JONAH SHARP (aka SPACETIME CONTINUUM) - Reflective, Astralwerks
RD - Designed Disorder, Glitch Mob
WELDER - Cyberset
MOZAIC - Nexus
DR. TOAST - False Profit

Meanwhile, outside on the tarmac, the SPACE COWBOYS will have their own dynamic lineup of djs aboard their interstellar party transporter, the UNIMOG. Also on the tarmac will be Rabbit in the Moon's outside VJ set PLUS large scale sculpture and multimedia installations from some of the bay area's most talented artists.

This year's theme is the greenification of space. The event is bio-diesel powered, a variety of organic food and drink will be available, waste products will be composted and recycled, and one tree will be planted for every ticket sold in an effort to offset the event's carbon emissions.

Come join us in celebrating the accomplishments of mankind on a collective cosmic journey to the depths of space and beyond.

**********************
Friday, April 13^th, 2007
Event opens at 6:30pm

NASA Ames Research Center* Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA, 94035

Tickets are on sale now. Limited $25 presale tickets still available, but not for long!

Purchase advance tickets at: www.worldspaceparty.com/tickets

Limited VIP tickets available. Privileges include: VIP room overlooking the main floor, open bar and food throughout the evening, a chance to meet silicon valley innovators and dynamic thinkers, exclusive Bay Area Yuri's Night memorabilia and much more to be announced.

PLUS! Space Cadets are invited to go weightless and experience zero-gravity on Sunday, April 22, 2007! This unique VIP experience will provide you with a ZeroG flight flown from San Jose International Airport PLUS exclusive access to all Yuri's Night Bay Area 2007 events. 3-2-1 Liftoff! VIP Flight Tickets $5,000.00 each. Email zerogartists@mac.com to reserve your seat today. Don't let this zero gravity opportunity to fly float by!

As always, please check www.worldspaceparty.com for the latest…

Yuri's Night Bay Area Crew, Over and Out.

End Transmission.
-----------------------------------------------
References to NASA Ames shall not be construed as official NASA approval or endorsement of any non-Governmental or commercial entity or activity.

Yuri's Night Bay Area ZERO G VVIP tickets on sale

2007-03-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

Click on fly-er for hi-res info

Bay Area Yuri's Night World Space Party
www.worldspaceparty.com
April 13, 2007
6:00 pm until late...
Freakin' awesome schedule here
(and that's not the half of it...)

Early tickets: $25
Later tickets: $40
VIP tickets: $200
VVIP tickets (with ZERO G flight): $5000
BUY

Moving time

2007-03-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Starting the drive to Arizona tomorrow.
Spending a couple days with Kevin.
Then we'll be heading to Los Angeles on Sunday.
Then toward Mountain View on Monday.
Start work on Wednesday!

Call if you need me.

new car!

2007-02-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

Got to get to Ames in California in a couple weeks, and the wagon wasn't going to do it...
Honda Element SC in "Root Beer Metallic"
Will edit this and add an interior pic when the sunlight isn't crazy bright...

exhausted

2007-02-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

Boy, I'm tired. Between the 30+ (official) hours at the Oklahoma Space Grant, about 7 hours a week of NASA Academy-related Activities, talking to Kevin during his India trip as much as humanly possible for both of us, and maybe 20 hours a week of Space Gen working on email, Recruitment, and the SGAC PR Team, and of course working on the details of that job I'll tell you about as soon as it's finailized... whoo. Plus I just thought of an awesome real way to do a program I've wanted to start for a long time now, and now I have three possible outlets to do it that could even work together... pure rock.

I was playing some Majora's Mask last weekend as a relaxing stress-relief, and it took all my darn "free" time. Must. Learn. Not. To do addictive good video games as a stress-relief. Stick to a couple sudoku puzzles every now and then. Feel free to challenge me at websudoku.com, btw. I can take ya.

Oh, The Daily Show

2007-02-08T17:14:00.000-08:00

Aw, The Daily Show. Often you cover news in a less ridiculous way than "actual" "reporters."

Engaging vs Justifying

2007-02-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is a great essay on getting the public back through actually really really engaging them that captures a LOT of the things I've been thinking of lately. A quote:

"By identifying with the players, by caring about what they care about, by seeing their world and what’s unfolding in it through their eyes and with their feelings, the audience becomes emotionally linked with a story’s characters and their motivations. When that happens, the story becomes the audience’s story, the conflict their conflict—this is the magic of becoming “caught up” in a story. With a good storyteller to guide us, we can’t help but share in this experience whether it is by book, movie, or well-crafted documentary. Participation in storytelling is as firmly ingrained in our nature—no, probably more so—than that deep-down desire to explore which we in the spaceflight community so often cite.

Thus, the task before us is to get a larger percentage of the public caught up in the story of real spaceflight again (support for spaceflight will follow naturally) by emotionally linking them to the people on the inside who are having all the fun."

And another statement he attributes to his father (I've believed this since even before I started having teachers who were more interested, well, pretty much anything, than they were in actually teaching students new information):

“If you can’t explain something to a ten-year-old then you don’t understand it yourself.”

* * *

Taking the other point of not engaging, but justifying (really well), is a good speech by Mike Griffin. A quote:

"Let's think for a moment about national security. What is the value to the United States of being involved in enterprises which lift up human hearts everywhere when we do them? What is the value to the United States of being engaged in such projects, doing the kinds of things that other people want to do with us, as partners? What is the value to the United States of being a leader in such efforts, in projects in which every nation capable of doing so wants to take part? I would submit that the highest possible form of national security, well above having better guns and bombs than everyone else, well above being so strong that no one wants to fight with us, is the security which comes from being a nation which does the kinds of things that make others want to work with us to do them. What security could we ever ask that would be better than that, and what gives more of it to us than the space program?"

* * *

Sterling, one day will you write me a space engineer/astronaut TV pilot? Pretty please?

Explorers Wanted: Space Generation Congress 2007

2007-01-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's on people.
I'm Recruitment Coordinator and the SGAC PR Team lead (check it).
Let's get every space person on the planet in on this!
Explorers Wanted!

*********************************************************
EXPLORERS WANTED: REACH OUT, ENGAGE YOUR FUTURE

*********************************************************

Space Generation Congress Applications Open 22 January

The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is pleased to announce the 2007 Space Generation Congress (SGC) from September 20-22, 2007, in Hyderabad, India. Organisers are requesting that interested university students and young professionals 18-35 years of age who have a passion for space and the ambition to act on it visit http://www.explorerswanted.com. There they can begin participating in the various online project groups, which will build over the next several months and culminate at the Congress in Hyderabad. In addition to onsite workshops and relevant speakers, training, and networking with top space professionals, several cultural events are also being planned to spotlight the host location in India.

Workshop project teams include the MoonMars Workshop, the Case for Human Exploration, Lunar Waystation, Students Reaching Students, Yuri's Night World Space Party, SGAC Public Relations, and SGAC Project Research, as well as competitions for Habitat Design and Space Transportation Papers. Travel and lodging sponsorship will be available for some delegates.

Applications open on 22 January and close on 15 April; however, selection is partially based on the online collaboration and participation in the forums before the Congress on the Explorers Wanted website. Please share news of this awesome event with your space networks!

*************************************

*** ABOUT SPACE GENERATION CONGRESS ***

*************************************

Space Generation Congress (SGC) is the annual event of SGAC and is held each year in conjunction with the International Astronautical Congress. SGC is a youth forum that unites passionate young space professionals, students, and enthusiasts from all over the world. Each year, more than one hundred delegates come together to discuss issues facing the international space industry. Over three days, delegates brainstorm and develop ideas that both motivate and promote the space industry and bring the benefits of space exploration to the wider community. Delegates work before, during, and after the Congress to make these ideas a reality.

*******************************************
*** ABOUT SPACE GENERATION ADVISORY COUNCIL ***
*******************************************
Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is a non-governmental organization created at UNISPACE III by a recommendation in the Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development ("…to create, within the framework of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, a consultative mechanism to facilitate the continued participation of young people from all over the world… in cooperative space-related activities"). SGAC has official observer status in the United Nations (UN), and represents students and young professionals (mostly 18-35 years old) from all backgrounds, all countries, and all organizations to the UN, national governments, and space agencies. Nearly 100 countries are represented by National Points of Contact, which are organized into six regions of the world.

Space Generation identifies a large group of young volunteers who have an interest in space and an ambition to act. Past products include Yuri's Night World Space Party, the MoonMars Workshop, and Under African Skies. Over 2500 international participants are members of the SGTalk email list that allows discussion and dissemination of information relating to space topics and events across the globe.
Subscribe at www.spacegeneration.org.

This is the 6th annual SGC event organised by the SGAC, which is supported by SERCO.

**********************
*** IMPORTANT DATES ***
**********************
22 January 2007 – Applications and online collaboration tools open
15 April 2007 – Applications close
15 May 2007 – Delegate selection announced
20-22 September 2007 – SGC 2007 in Hyderabad, India
24-28 September 2007 – IAC 2007 in Hyderabad, India

*************
***WEBSITE***
*************
http://www.explorerswanted.com

xkcd webcomic

2006-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I like webcomics.

xkcd.com is especially good, and this particular comic about YouTube speaks to my heart and my mission at the same time. Beware the bad words if you don't like the four-letters.

NASA Academy at GRC 2006

2006-12-23T12:36:00.001-08:00

Also, I finally got around to putting up the slideshow for the NASA Academy at GRC 2006 that I made at the end of the summer. Had to edit it down to 10 minutes, so it's not everything, and it doesn't have our names in it, which is a good thing. But I think it's a good representation of what the NASA Academy students do all summer.

Mission for the Holidays

2006-12-23T11:59:00.000-08:00

Hmmm. I was trying to think of a holiday break space mission, and I think it would be nice if, as you all visit family and friends during the holidays, you bring up (at least once) space exploration and all the amazing things that have come of it that help everyone on Earth. The Space Coalition website has a quick summary of benefits that you can check out for reference: http://www.spacecoalition.com/benefits2.cfm

I have never heard a good reason against space exploration and the space program that could not be countered, usually by just looking to the future a bit. It helps education, it helps medicine, it helps American security, it helps the economy, and it will definitely eventually help the future survival of humanity. Definitely read that little mini-list of facts linked above.

All of the name puns have been done already

2006-12-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

Buzz Aldrin was on NUMB3RS on CBS this evening. I'd never seen the show (which seems to be about people solvin' crime with math, so that's neato), but apparently one of the characters was chosen to go on a "NASA space mission" for six months, and Buzz Aldrin helped walk him off into the sunset. I'm not quite sure what the lead in was like, but hopefully the dude, you know, did some training before the launch (which occured in the next scene)...

This article is much like the one I read this morning in our own Daily Oklahoman (although I have to admit I was digging around in it for the sudoku) which informed me of the appearance with a little info on the show and the actors' reactions to working with Aldrin.

This article has a different angle that talks more about him. "Dr. Aldrin is determined to inform people all over the world that space is not only the next frontier, but it is their frontier. He hopes his appearance on 'NUMB3RS' will direct people to learn more about space and space travel on ShareSpace Foundation’s new website." Which I thought was very cool.

This is his ShareSpce Foundation website which I hadn't heard about yet, and hasn't really launched yet, but it'll be cool to see what they do with it.

No way!

2006-12-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! You won't believe it...

A major US news outlet wrote a positive story on space, and it's not even on exploration! It's about the incredibly positive life-changing side effects that actual taxpayers get from the space program. No, we don't know what's coming when we do space R&D, but we do know that it has consistently had outcomes that have unquestionably improved life on Earth. NASA discovers amazing things and processes (or pays other people to), then gives them away to companies that want to develop it into something that will go on to make them rich and help (or at least convenience) humanity. That's how we roll.

Thank you, ABC News, for doing some real research and writing a great story!
Space Spin-Offs Alter Life on Earth

Real Space Fashion

2006-12-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Space tourism to be fashion's final frontier

Orbital Outfitters website

It better be a top story on cnn.com

2006-12-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

Yep, we have "recent water activity" on Mars.

craigslist to the stars

2006-12-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I don't remember hearing about this (in 2005), but I came across it today, and it was interesting:

Site: http://www.craigslist.org/about/space.html
Story: http://www.craigslist.org/about/space.v09.html

Theme

2006-11-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

Funny...(?)More NASA mentions on the Colbert Report tonight.
Always up in the air whether this is good or bad... :-)

Fear
http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2006/11/fear_strikes_us_out.html
This also applies to us in the government space business, and probably a lot of other things, but interesting to think about.

Floating bed

Article
Actual website

Familiar Martian Crater Names

2006-11-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

New names have been approved and announced for some Martian craters.
Among the special ones you may recognize:

Soffen - For Dr. Gerry Soffen, founder of the NASA Academy program
Ada - After the Oklahoma (USA) town

Looking through the list, one was also specifically named for Freedom, OK. Is there a reason, or did someone just want to call it "Freedom" and found out we had a conveniently named town? Anyone know?

The rest of the new ones.

The full listings for craters.

Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (AKA "Lists of Named Space Stuff")

Space Fashion... kinda

2006-11-20T10:59:00.000-08:00

Anyway, space themes are in, so says Harper's Bazaar.

The shoot was done at the US Space and Rocket Center (AKA Space Camp)in Huntsville.

Plus they mention Virgin Galactic. Go Team Space-is-Hott!

More pics at the Fashion Addict Diary flickr page.

SGAC on Facebook and MySpace

2006-11-16T11:08:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me while talking to Kevin last night (and after some searches to confirm it) that Space Generation Advisory Council did not have a Facebook OR MySpace group. We're trying to get youth involved, and we don't hit up the two biggest young people websites around to get info out there? That's not good. He's the official guy, but he's busy, so I made the groups. Please join and spread the word!

Facebook

MySpace

And the ACTUAL Space Generation site: http://www.spacegeneration.org/

If you don't know, Space Generation is, "...a non-governmental organisation which brings the views from its members to and works with the United Nations, space agencies and other organisations. Members are students and young space professionals." Basically, they say it's a "global volunteer base, working on projects that are related to space." To get involved, simply join the mailing list on the main page. On the list, there's tons of info on space goings-on from around the world, as well as opportunities to get involved in awesome projects.

Some space stuff going around...

2006-10-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

Postcards to Space

The nice dude in the campsite next to ours has started a company to send postcards to space, and you can do it for only $25!

He talks about the experience of X Prize Cup here. Mike, Kevin, and I get a mention :-)

--------

SI Time Capsule

A cool time capsule project by Yahoo! and the Smithsonian Institute.

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NSS Space Settlement Calendar Art Contest

From the NSS website:
"The National Space Society (NSS) is looking for artists to create visions of a spacefaring future — a future of space settlement, be it on the Moon, on Mars, on asteroids, or orbiting independently in space. To bring attention to our goal of creating a spacefaring future, NSS is sponsoring a contest for such artwork to be used in a calendar promoting a future of humans living and working in space. The best of the submitted artwork will be selected for inclusion in the 2008 NSS Space Settlement Calendar. "

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Fly Your Name to Mars on Phoenix

From the Planetary Society website:
"Simply fill out the form below and your name will be included on the Phoenix DVD along with Visions of Mars, a collection of Mars literature and art, and personal messages to the future by space visionaries of our time such as Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke."

Cool project

2006-10-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

Cool project:
http://timecapsule.yahoo.com/capsule.php

X Prize Cup pictures

2006-10-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

XPC Best of

Space Week on The History Channel

2006-10-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

It's Space Week on The History Channel!
Here's the schedule of space shows from their website:

Space Week Schedule

Monday, October 16 @ 7pm EST
Modern Marvels: Apollo 11
As mankind's greatest achievement of the 20th century, Apollo 11 stood as the apogee of science, exploration, flight, and technological prowess. In scarcely 10 years, America went from rocketing monkeys to landing a man on the moon. Leaving Earth on July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Mike Collins pushed the limits of skill and endurance. See and experience the flight of Apollo 11 through the eyes of the astronauts, mission controllers, engineers, and designers who made it happen.

Tuesday, October 17 @ 7pm
Modern Marvels: Apollo 13
The Apollo 13 mission was intended to be a "routine" trip to the moon. But when an oxygen tank exploded, the spacecraft was crippled and its 3-man crew placed in mortal danger. The Lunar Module, intended for deployment on the moon's surface, instead became a lifeboat. Scientists and engineers on earth fought a race against time to save the crew. We'll examine the mission, which nearly ended in tragedy, but instead was a resounding success, and in some ways became NASA's finest hour.

Wednesday, October 18 @ 7pm
Modern Marvels: ET Tech
In 2003, with Mars closer to Earth than it had been in 60,000 years, scientists launched three life-seeking planetary landers. If the long journeys prove successful, all should be hard at work on the Red Planet's surface by January 2004. NASA's Spirit and Opportunity and the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 represent the pinnacle in the history of the search for extraterrestrial life. Leading scientists, who believe life may exist beyond Earth, explain skepticism about ETs having visited Earth.

Thursday, October 19 @ 7pm
Modern Marvels: Observatories: Stonehenge to Space Telescopes
From Stonehenge to the Hubble Telescope, man has always been a species of stargazers. Unforgettable film footage and expert accounts reveal the facts of astronomy's most mind-boggling discoveries.

Friday, October 20 @ 7pm
Modern Marvels: Satellites
Strong enough to survive their fiery launch into orbit, sophisticated enough to provide life-saving images or relay tens of thousands of phone calls at the same time. By monitoring weapons systems and troop movements, these "eyes in the sky" may be the difference between security and annihilation. From the futuristic visions of a British sci-fi writer to creations of a German rocket designer for the Nazi war machine to the Cold War technological race, we review the satellites that link our world.

Friday, October 20 @ 8pm
How William Shatner Changed the World
You've got a cell phone at one ear, an iPod at the other. You know that Blackberry is now a verb and Spam is not only canned meat. But just how did we get here? Blame William Shatner--yes, that William Shatner--Captain Kirk. We'll boldly go where few have gone before to reveal how scientists, inspired by the series, would revolutionize medicine and are surpassing the far-out vision of the future foreshadowed in Star Trek in the 1960s. From cell phones to computers to even leading-edge medical advancements, this 2-hour special explores how those sci-fi inventions have now permeated everyday life as we know it. Hosted and narrated by Shatner and based on his book, I'm Working on That, we'll meet the brightest minds of Silicon Valley and the Trek-inspired inventions that have help change the world.

That last one is actually really good and talks a lot about how our top scientists and engineers have been very inspired by science fiction.

The History Channel also has a contest to win a trip to KSC for a Shuttle launch.

I'm off to Arizona, then New Mexico on Wednesday for the X Prize Cup and NASA Academy Alumni Event. Pics next week!

"NASA Announces New Student Aeronautics Competition"

2006-10-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

NASA Press Release:
"NASA Announces New Student Aeronautics Competition

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Washington, announced a new aeronautics competition for high school and college students. The competition is sponsored by the directorate's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, and it is part of NASA's mission is to inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists, and explorers.

High School students are challenged to put themselves 50 years into the future to describe how air transportation systems have evolved with vehicles flying at various speeds. Entries are due by March 15.

College students are invited to propose solutions for complex technical problems in hypersonic and supersonic flight; subsonic fixed and rotary wing transports; or Mars entry, descent, and landing. College entries are due by April 27.

Monetary awards ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 may be available for first place winners in each category. There will be awards for second and third places and honorable mention recognition. Winning university students may be offered a 10-week summer internship at a NASA field center.

For details about this competition, visit:

http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/competitions.htm
"

believe it

2006-09-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

I always believed that's what he said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4225505.htm

podcast competition

2006-09-27T14:28:00.001-07:00

Another NASA contest:

Podcast (audio or video) competition, for ages 11-18:
http://www.explorationpodcast.com/
Deadline: Oct 10 or when they get 1000 entries in each of the caterogies (11-14 Audio, 11-14 Video, 15-18 Audio, and 15-18 Video)

All kinds of info about making your entry at that website. Tell some kids about it!

SGC delegates

2006-09-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Three of my GRC RAs are in Valencia for Space Generation Congress 2006 and International Astronautical Congress. Kevin is one of the organizers, and I was talking to him online when I saw the three of them sitting in the lounge on the hostel webcam. I asked him to go down and tell them I was watching over them again, and he did, and I got screen caps :-) I'll always be watching over my RAs.

NGEC

2006-09-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

Ryan wrote a piece on the Next Generation Exploration Conference (NGEC) that we went to a month ago for space.com. Big mentions of awesome Melissa, who invited me, too :-)

2006-09-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Back from Pasadena again. Hopefully I'll be spending a lot more time there in the near future...

There's a contest with very little publicity going on called "NASA's Biggest Fan." (There are so many things we wouldn't know about if not for NASA Watch.)

Anyway, the deal is if you're 13-24 years old and really like NASA, you can make a 30-second video about how cool space is to you, and the winner gets a trip to KSC for a launch. More info and rules at the website (linked above).

2006-09-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

More NASA in the pop culture, on the Colbert Report.
http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=75472

We get a "Wag of the Finger" but from his world of super parody, that's usually a good thing.

Interesting links

2006-09-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

Dr. Mike Griffin on Science, Exploration, and NASA
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=22033
I really trust this guy to make *the right* decisions for exploration. There's probably only one thing more complicated than making the hardware and software for exploration work. That's making the several hundred people representing the several million people whose money you have to use happy with how you're doing it. Oh, and the several million have to at least be interested, too. It's going to be impossible to make all of your employees happy with the limited money you have, so you have to make hard decisions, or else everyone's going to end up with $1.50 and no one can do anything. I especially like this part, and it's brave (or at least not typical of people who have to play political games) of him to say it:
"...[Exploration] is about the expansion of human activity out beyond the Earth. Exactly this point was very recently noted and endorsed by no less than Stephen Hawking, a pure scientist if ever there was one. Hawking joins those, including the Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council, who have long pointed out this basic truth: The history of life on Earth is the history of extinction events, and human expansion into the Solar System is, in the end, fundamentally about the survival of the species."
You'd think everyone would be interested in that, wouldn't you? I think it's important enough to dedicate my life to it.

An older link that Kevin sent me is about light reaching "superluminal speeds."
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/07/20/speed.of.light.ap/index.html
"Researchers... sent a pulse of laser light through cesium vapor so quickly that it left the chamber before it had even finished entering."
How cool is that?

NASA Watch linked to some old surface pictures from Russian Venus missions, and they're pretty amazing.
http://www.mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogVenus.htm

The second space tourist is making an OS available for free, especially for places that can't afford MS products.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/09/11/space.tourist.microsoft.reut/index.html

And the next space tourist is female, which is pretty cool.
http://www.anoushehansari.com/

2006-09-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

More trivia.

2006-09-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

Then some space trivia for prizes... although someone might have been rigging it...

2006-09-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

More learning.

2006-09-06T23:00:00.001-07:00

Learning

2006-09-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Then workbooklets were handed out so the students had something with info in it to take home.

2006-09-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

Every group at one RA to help.

2006-09-06T22:57:00.001-07:00

Rocket explanations.

2006-09-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Then they broke out into groups to put together the model rockets.

2006-09-06T22:56:00.001-07:00

Hard at work.

2006-09-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

The RAs handed out paper to the kids and asked them to draw what they thought the next spaceships to replace the Shuttle would look like.

2006-09-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Week 9 brought the actual group project outreach, at a YMCA day camp in Megan's town.

2006-09-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

Cool buildings

2006-09-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hey, look, it's Cleveland.

2006-09-06T22:47:00.002-07:00

I got to see a freakin' Harrier demo, which was the highlight of my day.

2006-09-06T22:47:00.001-07:00

Lots of cool airplanes.

2006-09-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

That weekend we went to the Dayton Air Show, and it was cool.

2006-09-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Btw, this was at a place in the Metro Parks that we drove past everyday on the way to work. I called it Bear Field because it has AWESOME lighting that really makes you feel like there should be a bear in it every morning as you pass it at 7:30 am.

2006-09-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

Setting up, much enthusiasm. See how much cooler it was to take pics into the sun?

2006-09-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

I think this is probably one of my top 5 favorite pictures (of the 5000 or so I took) for the summer.

2006-09-06T22:42:00.001-07:00

Here they go.

2006-09-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Teamwork. No, they're not actually going to launch it from the hood of the car.

2006-09-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

And now a series of my favorite pics from the summer, when the RAs did their test launch for their outreach rockets... look at that light; it was very pretty.

2006-09-06T22:40:00.001-07:00

Kathryn expertly handled the elevator.

2006-09-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

I love 3D printers.

2006-09-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

They let a couple of the students try it out.

2006-09-06T22:38:00.001-07:00

At CSU, we were welcomed by lots of people, many of whom were Segway experts.

2006-09-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

And this icing research tunnel

2006-09-06T22:37:00.001-07:00

Then he took us on a tour of some CWRU engineering facilities, like this wind tunnel.

2006-09-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Later this week we visited Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University in downtown Cleveland. At CWRU, backup Mission Specialist Dr. Joe Prahl talked to us about Shuttle missions.

2006-09-06T22:31:00.001-07:00

I like this picture of the boys.

2006-09-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

This F-18 doesn't belong at GRC, but was in town for the airshow.

2006-09-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Now, wouldn't it be nice if NASA Academy One would exist to fly the BFD Academites around...?

2006-09-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

One of the research aircraft in the hangar.

2006-09-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

This week I'd also arranged for us FINALLY to see what they keep in that big hangar at Glenn.

2006-09-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Megan's B-day started out Week 8

for real

2006-09-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, then. Today's the day. Update day. Everything starting with skydiving in Florida to now. GO!

2006-08-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

Back in Oklahoma.

Tomorrow is update day.

Since Florida... (preview)

2006-08-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so a month goes by and we miss the last two weeks of the Academy, my five hours in OK, the conference at Ames, seeing about half of my Academy (MB, MB, DS, SD, KA, and CR), trip to Pasadena, Lewis Black, JPL interviews, Magic Castle, and tomorrow more JPL interviews (and more Academy... JM!).

I'll hit the updates when I get back to Oklahoma, oh, let's say, Thursday-ish. Lots of pics, lots of stories. You'll get pics.

for those about to rock...

2006-08-14T17:38:00.001-07:00

When was the last time we had a rainy dreary day in Cleveland? Weeks, right? Weeks.

Today: Drear City, USA.

What's funny is that it started off sunshiny enough. I left late because I was doing packing stuff. I had planned to drive through the Metroparks and up Aerospace to catch some nature and some airplanes landing on the commute. But my turn to come up by the airport was blocked by two police cars, flashing their lights and sirens at a big ol' wild turkey. I slowed down and almost got out to help... whatever they were doing? They weren't really, you know, persuading it to leave the middle of the road. So I drove away down the curvy parksy road and then turned around and came back, and they were to the other side of the intersection by then, so I could drive up to the airport perimeter road that goes into Glenn. I took some video, but it's probably not going to come through. Then there were lots of security guys all over the place and a big truck parked in that little hollow-dip thing. Kinda some weird stuff like that.

So then the day got cloudy, then rainy, then poury, and it stayed that way until just at sunset when the clouds parted a little bit and gave me some pretty red sunset action. Way to try to make it up, Cleave-land. But it was pretty. Pics later. Probably before all the other pics because these will be on top.

Flight leaves at 7 am tomorrow. Back to OKC from CLE for about six hours, then on to SJC to be at Ames by nighttime!

PS: I actually heard the title song on Toni's radio today.

That's it.

2006-08-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

They're gone. Three last night... the ones that really wanted to get out of here. Dropped Kelly off at the airport this morning, which was super hard and cry-y. But I'll see her again. I wore my high heels that she made me get, and like, and I can totally walk in them like nobody's business. Not even a thing anymore. Then one last bagel and coffee breakfast, then Kathryn and Kat got on the road in their different directions (NY and SC), and then Frank at about 11 am. But I totally got to put off saying goodbye to him because he wants me to drive to Buffalo this afternoon and watch football with his family and friends and hang out (what else do I have to do but pack? And all that work, but there's all afternoon tomorrow and Monday for that...). Plus, I know I'm going to see my GNC in the future. No doubt.

I think Ivan's still here right now. He's leaving this afternoon? Have I ever known what's going on with Ivan? No. So we're not worrying about that one.

My end present from these guys was a thank-you video they (KP) put together which is pretty much the most glorious tear-inducing thing you've ever seen. If you're me, or some of them. Just... perfect. Their segments captured each one of them so well, and it's just... Thank you, guys. SO going to miss you all.

BUT this time next week, I'll be in Northern California with Doug and Christy, Melissa, Marshal, David, Shannon, and potentially Kelley, Graylan, Christian, Kakani, and Joannah. That's most of my Academy at Ames. How much does that freaking rock?!?

And Mad Academy Props to Marshal Blessing, who freakin' SURPRISE FLEW INTO CLEVELAND for a day to see us and the final presentations of the 2006 Glenn Academy and induct the students into the NAAA. So awesome! Thank you!

Thank you to so many people for making this summer glorious.

Thank you.

2006-08-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

Frank and I had the same tandem guy.

2006-08-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

More getting into the plane

2006-08-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

Omar was our alumni host, and jumped with us (along with his friend Max).

2006-08-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah, flight suits

2006-08-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

I appreciate any chance to wear a flight suit. Even if it's purple.

2006-08-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here we were during prep time...

2006-08-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Taking off...

2006-08-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's my purple leg hanging out of the door. The door wasn't closed for a lot of the trip up... Ascending to 18,000 feet while slightly hanging out of an airplane is a pretty wild ride.

2006-08-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Getting in the airplane