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I'm at the International Space Development Conference in San Jose and we've just wrapped up todays presentations. I've focused on the Enterprise and Lunar tracks so I'm sure there are things I've missed. The presentation last night was by Jill Tarter on SETI. The major takeaway from that presentation was the Allen Telescope Array which is a SETI project consisting of approximately 350 6.1-meter offset Gregorian dishes that is capable of simultaneous SETI and astronomical observations.

The Space Frontier Foundation sponsored the Enterprise Panel that was interesting from a purely networking point of view (about 75% of the people in the room were either in a startup or had already done a startup). What was disappointing was the fact that the session was sparsely attended. The discussions between the panel didn't really open any new ground. They mostly covered the current conventional wisdom (incremental development, multi-market products, immediate ROI, etc). While most of the people in the room who understood business knew this stuff, I think the 'typical' attendee probably hasn't heard this stuff.

As far as buzz, everyone is paying attention to people like XCOR, Zero-G, etc. But as far as something new, the buzz is about the Colony Fund which is an attempt to build a space investment community that is accessible to the small investor. This is something many organizations have discussed for several years: some way for the non-qualified investor to help support the companies that are pushing the frontier. If they execute I think this will rank as more of the more enabling accomlishments of the year.

The other buzz is around the space elevator work being done by Liftport. They have been paying close attention to the business needs and are focused on building the investment environment that can handle their capital requirements.

Now I'm off to this evenings banquet. More to come latter tonight!

Update: The speaker at dinner was Erik Drexler (the guy who wrote Engines of Creation and who is responsible for the term 'nanotechnology'). The main thrust of his comments was in introduction to the background and issues behind his open letter to Richard Smalley who is the primary mover behind the current 'nanotechnology' bill that's in Congress. Drexler is basically saying that the bill is a bait and switch since it actually contains no money for molecular manufacturing which is what the congress-critters think it actually is. There were multiple comments from people in the room that we've had the same problems and our solution is to simply forego the government route and figure out how to build businesses around it.

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Pat Gordzelik of Potrocs forwarded this to the Thunderflame list and I thought it was just to perfect not to post:

bq.

Since the “small stuff” may become the future of the hobby

Not on our watch it won't.

I'll second that. Small stuff is what got us in the hobby. Its not what brought us back. Small stuff doesn't hold interest very long for most kids, let alone adults. Small stuff doesn't create mfgs/vendors, it only benefits Estes, etc. Small stuff does not ignite the imagination of future Aerospace engineers, etc in our youth either, if thats the future, then our youth will find another hobby, like cars….or girls/boys, etc. And small stuff, while necessary, is not what I'm fighting for, because small stuff don't have a dog in this fight.

And while I'm on the subject, this fight isn't entirely about rockets. Its about freedom. Its about resentment of being treated like a criminal. Its the denial of a govt not allowing their citizens to expand their minds in a safe and legal environment. Its about refusing to participate in the “Dumbing down of America”, all in the name of keeping us safe from ourselves. I don't want to live in a future where I drive a car that only does 15 MPH, where my kitchen knifes are dull, and my house is padded. I want to make the decision of acceptable risk, based on what “I” find acceptable, based on “my” perceived capabilities. All in a framework of my peers, not some outsider that don't know squat about our area of expertise.

– Pat G

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It looks as though Dave Triano of Shadow Composites has gotten into electronics with the XTime highly rugged, USB capable timer.

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John Wickman has posted the following: bq. “WARNING: Based on multiple sources of information it is believed that the ATFE will make a major national enforcement effort on hobby rocketry on May 24th or shortly there after. The objective will be to arrest hobbyists in clear violation of the Homeland Security Act. The people arrested will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. ”

You may want to forward this to the clubs you are affilated with.

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and five of his Senate colleagues have asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to delay for 90 days the implementation of regulations concerning hobby rockets.

The regulations would require federal explosive permits for people who purchase or transport ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP), which is used by hobby rocketeers to fuel their model rockets. Enzi said the regulations, which are set to take effect May 24, needlessly threaten a safe, harmless and productive hobby.

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the full press release and the text of the letter is available online at

http://enzi.senate.gov/delay.htm

• iz

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Andrew Case has been working on a bi-prop igniter that is engineered to be able to handle multiple propellant types (GOX/Propane, NO2/Isopropanol, even Ethane if he can find it). In response to a discussion on ARocket about a 'group project', Andrew volunteered to 'donate' the information that he had developed so far. Duncan McDonald has begun using the Rocket WorkBench project on Sourceforge as a project repository. He is also blogging the project as well. While the project's main goal is to build an input-flexible bi-prop igniter/gas generator; a much more important secondary goal is to figure out what it takes to really use Open Source techniques for rocketry hardware.

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[ by Erik Ebert, reposted with permission ]

On Tuesday, May 13th, members of AeroPac (http://www.aeropac.org) and LUNAR (http://www.lunar.org) met with Micheal Walker, a field representative on Senator FeinsteinÂ’s staff, to discuss Senator EnziÂ’s rocketry exemption bill, S.724. Senator Feinstein is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary committee, so she is obviously a key person to win over to our side. This is my attempt at a report on that meeting.

We covered at a very high level why it incorrect to classify APCP as an explosive. We tried to emphasis the impact of the HSA on the aerospace industry, to tie it into the California economy.

Aeropac vice-president Tony Alcocer went into detail on his odyssey in trying to get a LEUP. Stanford Professor Robert Twiggs covered the ARLISS program(http://www.arliss.org). LUNAR president Jack Hagerty, covered the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Tony mentioned the positive impact involvement with rocketry has had on his son AJ, and that seemed to particularly impress Mr. Walker. Nothing like a first-hand testimonial.

As we were leaving them, we handed him a documentation package with pictures from Team America and ARLISS, the text of the Enzi, bill and Senator Enzi's speech when he introduced the bill, and contact information for ourselves and Senator Enzi.

Our planning notes, a copy of the final presentation, and pictures of rocketeers in suits can be found at:

http://www.eebert.com/Rockets/Feinstein/

ThereÂ’s a detailed post-meeting report at the bottom of that page, but overall, I thought the meeting went very well. The pacing was good, we made good use of our available hour, we covered everything we wanted to cover. Aeropac member Steve Preston led the presentation, and did a great job.

Mr. Walker seemed attentive and interested. He obviously wasn't going to right then and commit to recommending Senator Feinstein support S724, but he did at least say he would look into the issue and talk to “the people back East,“ which is about the best we could expect.

A very positive experience. Thanks to everyone involved!

Erik Ebert, L2

TRA #09105

NAR #79868

[ posted by iz ]

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p. In John's latest Space Faring Web entry, Smells Like Teen Spirit, he mistakenly attributes a Space Settlement Initiative release to the Moon Society/Artemis Society. Yes, the Moon Society endorsed the Space Settlement Initiative. But they also have endorsed the recent space settlement summits which John has been organizing. Basically the Moon Society will probably endorse just about anyone who a) works at developing space for regular human habitation and b) asks. I'm not going to berate John to much about it since the SSI release does sound an awful lot like the Moon Society/ASI wrote it. Honest mistakes happen.

p. I do think John takes that one release a little far by assuming that because of it, both the Moon Society and Artemis are adolescents not willing to do the hard work it takes to get into space. Leveling that charge at the Moon Society which is an educational/scientific organization acting as umbrella for all things lunar is way off. And the fact that many of the Artemis Project participants are busy building companies that can afford to purchases payload space on a CATS rocket suggests that Artemis is directly in line with John's views. As Randall Severy, Moon Society Chairman and CEO of CyberTeams, said, “We're all on the same side. Honest.”

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It seems that Google's page ranking algorithm chokes on blogs due to their number of links (which is what hypertext is all about!). So much so that they're segregating blogs into their own tab on Google. I'm not sure what I think of this since many of the 'not so net savy' out there never look at the other tabs.

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p. (via ARSA News May 11, 2003) - Senate bill S724 is currently being reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee staff. While S724 has not yet passed the Senate, the House Judiciary Committee has taken a preliminary look at the bill. The staffs of both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have had discussions on the bill. There will be changes made to the section of the bill listing prohibited payloads on rockets. Biological agents will be added to the list and the list of prohibited gas payloads will be clarified.

p. On May 9th, a meeting was held with Senator Enzi's staff and the Senate Judiciary Committee staff. The committee staff was sympathetic towards the plight of rocketeers and was willing to work on finding a solution to the problem. The letters and faxes have definitely been effective. It appears that both the Senate and House committees agree that the ATFE explosive storage requirements for APCP are an excessive burden and should be eliminated. The respective committee staffs are still uncertain about the remaining provisions of the bill with the House committee staff being the most uncertain. However, as more information is provided to the staffs, reservations on the bill seemed to be reduced. It is not surprising that the House committee would have the most reservations as the letter and fax campaign has not yet been directed towards the House. This is expected to change very soon.

p. You will notice that we have done an end run on the normal schedule by engaging the House Judiciary committee before the bill passes the Senate. The Senate and House staffs have had extensive discussions on the bill so that what is approved by the Senate should be approved by the House. This is to save time. Finally, Senator Enzi is going to request an extension of the May 24th permit deadline for rocketry as we work our way through the legislative process.

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