Wow. OK I'm saying that a lot. Bigelow is urging us to find the fire to stand up to the Chinese challenge. One of the questions was would collaborating with the Chinese be good. His answer: yes. If the stated Chinese purpose is to lay claim to large chunks of the lunar surface and then Mars, to work in partnership with them would benefit us on two levels: it would curtail the imperial endeavor of conquest of land mass and it would put us in a position to negotiate ownership, especially if the Chinese can alter the 1967 treaty that disallows ownership of celestial bodies or if they withdraw entirely from the treaty.
Very thought provoking.
Lunch was good. Roast was cool, but the tuna was excellent as was the salad. (OK, greek salad with raspberry vinagrette is not everyone delight, but I like it.) The deserts apparently weren't all wonderful. the sort of pyramid looking things didn't get a lot of takers. <laughter>
Panels this afternoon. The first on building supply chains and partnerships. I yawned. I'm sorry, it's business and I am so not involved.The discussions were good, but aside from emphasizing commitment and trust, I don't get a lot out of it.
The second was on the industry in general and how to build the demand for the supply ... Bigelow and George from the FAA had great answers and the discussion was really good about how the American government had the populace easily in the 1960's and about how the commercial businesses need to work on their marketing, not just for market share, but to encourage students to look to aerospace as a future.
I had a question, but didn't figure it would get answered. It did. It was the last one. While it didn't get answered exactly, i did get some good information out of what was said. The Chinese program is supported by the people, they are excited. Kids here are excited also, but only up to middle school. Somewhere between the ages of 12 and 15 there is a disconnect. High schoolers are blase about the entire space thing when they tour Bigelow's facilities.
And I wonder about that. How do we convince the high school kids that science and math are worthwhile, that the exploration of space is worthwhile? The whole what has space done for me lately attitude is kinda scary.
Very thought provoking.
Lunch was good. Roast was cool, but the tuna was excellent as was the salad. (OK, greek salad with raspberry vinagrette is not everyone delight, but I like it.) The deserts apparently weren't all wonderful. the sort of pyramid looking things didn't get a lot of takers. <laughter>
Panels this afternoon. The first on building supply chains and partnerships. I yawned. I'm sorry, it's business and I am so not involved.The discussions were good, but aside from emphasizing commitment and trust, I don't get a lot out of it.
The second was on the industry in general and how to build the demand for the supply ... Bigelow and George from the FAA had great answers and the discussion was really good about how the American government had the populace easily in the 1960's and about how the commercial businesses need to work on their marketing, not just for market share, but to encourage students to look to aerospace as a future.
I had a question, but didn't figure it would get answered. It did. It was the last one. While it didn't get answered exactly, i did get some good information out of what was said. The Chinese program is supported by the people, they are excited. Kids here are excited also, but only up to middle school. Somewhere between the ages of 12 and 15 there is a disconnect. High schoolers are blase about the entire space thing when they tour Bigelow's facilities.
And I wonder about that. How do we convince the high school kids that science and math are worthwhile, that the exploration of space is worthwhile? The whole what has space done for me lately attitude is kinda scary.
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