"You’ve probably heard about the Mars Rover and space weapons a la China, but do you know about plans to build a space elevator? Or to mine asteroids? Do you know about the 181 things scientists hope we can accomplish by returning to the moon?"
Today's Open Source Radio show will "deal largely with the new frontiers of what some people call alt.space - private enterprise trailblazing the way forward. So adjust your antennae to think about the role of the market in space exploration."
Open Source Radio streams live at 7 PM EST, Monday-Thursday through WGBH and on XM Public Radio, channel 133. It is available via RSS or iTunes and is carried by various public radio stations around the USA. Details and links available here.
There are 39 comments in the pre-show listener discussion and no shortage of passion about space issues.
--PB--
As covered on the Space Elevator Blog, NASA Centennial Challenges staffer Ken Davidian stated on the February 11th edition of Dr. David Livingston's podcast The Space Show, "NASA's not interested in space elevators" and only sees the Space Elevator Games as a means to develop technologies.
Personally I'm disappointed to hear this but not surprised. NASA's a rocket culture and, barring some cataclysmic culture shock, always will be (IMHO).
I think the SE will be to space what the PC was/is to computing. IBM only released the design for the PC after they decided it was a 'toy'. The 'big iron' culture (of the time) led them astray. Sound familiar?
Liftport's Brian ("Kilroy") Dunbar comments to the effect that this is as it should be and NASA should leapfrog space elevator development efforts by stepping out of the "Space Truck business and worry about exploration and R&D" is a sensible and plausible sentiment. My problem with that is that NASA is the big money pipeline.
You heard it here first. Carbon nanotubes won't be the factor delaying SE construction - it will be money, money and more money. The kind of money only governments can afford to invest.
The purse-string holders in the world's various governments are using to listening to presentations they don't understand then doling out galaxy-sized budgets to their respective space agencies. Everyone's comfortable with this.
If the space agencies a) don't take the space elevator seriously and b) fear SE projects will undercut their funding they will not only not support SE's, they will actively undermine them.
Setting up a new funding infrastructure may take longer than actually building the space elevator itself. Especially since there's likely to be more than one country involved.
Winning the hearts and minds of both the public and their governments is going to take longer and be harder than developing working carbon nanotube tethers or power-beaming systems. The scientists and engineers have it relatively easy because they will know when they are done.
The entrepreneurs, lawyers and lobbyists advocating for the space elevator will not only have to build the supporting legal and political infrastructure that will have to be in place before the money starts to flow, they will have to maintain it even after the space elevator is working.
--PB--
Space Exploration 2007 (SEC 2007) is the place for space elevator professionals, academics and enthusiasts to be Sunday, March 25 to Wednesday, March 28.
The program (in MS-Word format) for the Second International Conference and Exposition on Science, Engineering and Habitation in Space and the Second Biennial Space Elevator Workshop on the Space Engineering and Science Institute site includes three (out of a total of 8) keynote speakers on topics related to the space elevator.
Dr. Brad Edwards speaking on The Space Elevator: Problems, Progress, and Plans.
Dr. Bryan Laubscher gives a talk on the conceptual design of and benefits to mankind from the space elevator.
The history and current state of the Space Elevator Games will be covered by Ben Shelef of the Spaceward Foundation.
In another part of the program Dr. Laubscher returns to moderate a three-hour panel 'brainstorming session' in which the audience is welcome to participate entitled Global Space Elevator Road Map Workshop.
SEC2007, which is cosponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers' Aerospace Division, is taking place in the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Please mention you heard about the conference on the Space Elevator Journal when you either register for SEC2007 via the online registration form or mail in your payment and registration form to:
SES Institute
91 Mira Mesa
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
92688
Labels: Space elevator, space habitat
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