LiftPort Staff Blog

Below is a long comment that I posted here: http://twurl.nl/gh2jef

I think that Social Media is about to be a major factor in developing the

Elevator to Space.  I’ve alluded to this before, and over the next few weeks, I think you will begin to see this unfold.

Beverly and Troy,

I am spending (what feels like) every waking minute online.  I’ve invested countless hours creating and posting images to Flickr.  I was an early-adopter and I’ve kept people in the loop, telling them “what I am doing” on Twitter (and I’m in the top five, nominated for a ShortyAward).  Against my will, and because I caved under peer-pressure from my friends at the International Space University, I got a Facebook account – and use it!  I’ve been co-published (With Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams) for my work on, and belief in, wikis and I am in the process of a building a major collaborative tool - that has not been finalized yet, so that is all I am going to say about this now.  I share bookmarks of ‘interesting stuff’ and critical technology breakthroughs on Del.icio.us.  I use Lifestreaming tools and RSS to bring the ‘story’ of building an Elevator to Space to a single online home.

I don’t update the LiftPort Blog as often as I probably should – and that is a going to be one of my New Year’s Resolutions to post three times a week.  I am now blogging about advanced technology and other topics for Science Friday’s Ira Flatow on TalkingScience.com and for Discovery Channel’s technology blogs.  

Why am I doing this?  Because it matters.  To build an Elevator to Space, you need a legion – and right now, we don’t have one.  You need a legion of engineers, and another of scientists.  You need a legion of lawyers and another of teachers/professors – and a crazy-big group of students.  You need a legion of artists and another of business development professionals.  And we have none of these.  Sure, we have a couple pretty bright guys that are working in small teams or individually.  All told, there are about 40 universities working on different parts of the problem.  Put simply, that is not enough.  And if that is the way this thing grows, it will never, ever be enough.  And to expand the problem further, those 40 universities are not coordinating their efforts in any significant way.

So, I’m investing my time in social media…  Why? Because it is the only way I know of, to tell the story that NEEDS to be told – That an Elevator to Space is difficult, but worth the effort.  Because even an as-yet-unbuilt Space Elevator is an economic engine that can transform regions, nations and the world.  Because there are “Civilization Shifting” technologies that result in building the ‘Biggest Thing Ever’.  Because building a legion means you’ve got to be able to communicate with everyone.  And these Social Media tools are the best way I can think of to build what I want to build.  

I think I’ve only just scratched the surface of how to use these tools, but  I think there is gold  - figuratively and literally – in them, thar, hills.  

The issues you raise: transparency, policy, ‘control’, reputation and privacy; these are real problems, and so far, there is no clear solution.  My small team of LiftPort is embracing Web 2.0 technologies as a means of reaching out, and connecting with the kinds of people that can help our project move forward.  Yet not everyone ‘sees the light’.  I can’t coerce them into cooperating; all I can do is act as an example.  As they say in Science Fiction, “resistance (to social media) is futile”.

Thanks for the post.  I look forward to future articles.

Take care.  
Michael Laine, President
LiftPort Group
www.LiftPort.com
www.Twitter.com/mlaine

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• What Happens in Silicon Valley… Matters

I wrote the following in response to Mark Reiboldt’s “Mark to Market” blog.  I read his blog fairly often, for insights and education in the Venture Capital world.  And while it might not seem like ot, today, The VC environment is an important component to the revised LiftPort business plans.

For this post to make a lot of sense, I suggest you read to articles first:

http://twurl.nl/w0lqom and http://twurl.nl/xxsapk

Mark,
Thought provoking as always.  Loved the comments about not caring, re: Jobs+Apple, Silicon Valley unemployment, or the Tesla.

I Agree with Twitter ‘being cool’, but no business model is a BIG problem.  I’d rather they stay independent, and figure out a paying version (There are several tools/services I would gladly pay for.  It seems a no-brainer, so it makes me wonder why they are delaying so long.)  Google already bought the microblogging tool, Jaiku.com and let it stagnate.  Jaiku was superior to Twitter, but G simply let it collapse.   And I don’t see the natural connection to Yahoo or anyone else.  Selling to Facebook simply does not make sense to me.

But the main points I wanted to comment on was the idea of Menlo Park vs. Boston vs. Seattle vs. Atlanta vs. etc…..  As you’ve said a few times, VC is changing.  Everything about it is changing, so why expect the dominant location to stay the same? My bet is on Boston and Research Triangle, but I think it’s too soon to tell with any confidence.  Both have LOTS of advanced technologies in development.  Boston edges forward because of its capital base, and proximity to New York.  Personally, I’d like to see Seattle come out on top, but I think that is unlikely.

Finally, I think the concept of “clean tech” is too vague, and will be refined in 2009.  Clean tech makes for a good buzzword, and helps your investors think you care about carbon emission and climate change.  But in practical terms, we are talking about technologies in seven “Civilization Shaping” sectors - Energy, Communications, Computing, NanoTechnology (Materials Science), Space, BioSciences and Robotics/Electronics.  Each of these has elements that can be brushed with the broad label of “clean tech”.  And any entrepreneur that can put “clean” into their business plan, stands a better chance of getting it funded.  So I predict a couple ‘dogfood.com’ business models in 2009, too. Whether it makes sense or not… Whenever there is a bandwagon, you will find people willing to jump aboard.

Yet as we’ve discussed before, none of these fit the Silicon Valley Model of VC.  So I am curious to see how this all plays out, because I can assure you, no one is going to rename SV as the “green valley” any time soon.

Take care.
MJL
President, LiftPort Group
www.twitter.com/mlaine

For link-back and tracking, here are the full website addresses.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11304174?source=rss
http://reiboldt.com/?p=374

I’m in the midst of writing two epic-length posts… but in the meantime, two other things of interest…

First, a couple days ago “Paul” wrote a series of posts related to the elevator.  I answered him, in depth, and thought you might like to see what I wrote.  I’ve decided that I will spend more time responding to other peoples blogs, because I think it will help build up the overall space community.  Hopefully some of “their people” see what we are doing over here.  Also, if “they” are writing about the Elevator to Space, then odds are, they have other interesting things to blog about and our readers might find that useful, too.

So here are the links to Pauls articles.  Read my comments below his.  I’d appreciate it, if you do comment, that you comment in both his page and ours.  Thanks. (right this exact moment, my comments are ‘awaiting moderation’, so I am assuming by the time you read this, that they will be live…)

http://twurl.nl/ffeaym

http://twurl.nl/g3bfof

http://twurl.nl/8vofbt

Second, I have been nominated for a “Shorty Award”.  and here.  As you may or may not know, I use twitter – a lot.  It has become a pretty powerful tool, as I rebuild this project.  Anyway, I’ve been nominated for an award because of my usage of twitter,  and trying to build a community that promotes advanced technology.  Naturally the tech I have been promoting is the Space Elevator, but through that, there are hundred of techs that need developed: Robotics, NanoTech, Energy, Communications, Informatics and all the related sub-topics.

The way the award works is simple.  The top five votes by New Years will get in the semifinals, then, those people compete.  The most votes wins.

So, I would like it, if you voted for me – because as you know, it is not ‘about me’, it’s about building something great and working together to make it happen.  If you don’t have a www.twitter.com account it, is effortless to make one – and you should make one… I’ll tell you why, with my next epic post.  In the meantime, if you don’t have one, get one.  If you DO have one, follow me at www.twitter.com/mlaine

And if you think that me getting an award will help the overall visibility of this project – then vote for me – and use the correct syntax – here: http://shortyawards.com/about/

Award categories I’d like to be considered for are #Science, #Startups #Business and the one I really like is #ChangeTheWorld.  I am in Third place for Science, and ChangeTheWorld is a brand-new-made-up category.  If enough people vote for CTW, then it will be added to the main group.  But I have a reasonable chance of getting into the Top Five, for science, so if you do vote, make sure you vote for that one.  You can vote the same person for more than one category.  “Vote early, Vote often!”

O.k., enough ‘self-aggrandizing’…

I will try and post my first epic tomorrow.  (Weather permitting, BIG snow on it’s way, and we might lose power because trees might fall…)

Take care.  Mjl

p.s.  because of the way linkbacks work, I am posting the actual link to Pauls site, here, but if you click the reduced URLs above, they go to the same place.

http://superpaul3000.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/nasa-and-the-next-president/

http://superpaul3000.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/new-africa/

http://superpaul3000.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/the-space-elevator/

This is another edited-out element/addition to the Discovery Channel Blogs.  Talking about Peter Diamandis and the informal speech he gave to ISU.

______

“Drinking Kool-Aid” is a real world example of the story of the pied piper – the man that played a tune so well, that he was able to lead all the rats out of town.  And then, when not paid by the townspeople, played a different tune, and led all the children from town away…

Typically, “Drinking Kool-Aid” has a very very negative connotation.  It was derived from this horrible incident, in Jonestown Guiana. James (Jim) Jones was a cult-leader that convinced his followers to murder/kill themselves. Somehow he talked them into mass murder/suicide, just by the power of suggestion and his will.  The method of this gruesome death was – you guessed it – by drinking poisoned Kool-Aid.  (that’s the myth anyway, reality is that only some of the victims did this, others were forcefully injected with poison) Some people knowingly drank Kool-Aid from a glass that they saw the person that drank before them Fall. Over. Dead.  So you can see that this “Drinking Kool-Aid” image is not a very positive one.  Yet, there we sit, our class at the International Space University, mesmerized by the brewmaster of Space Kool-Aid himself, Dr. Peter Diamandis.

Honestly, I am not trying to insult they guy.  In fact, I’d like to congratulate him on his ability to convey a vision of the future, and his ability to lead in a positive direction.  Some people have complained that he doesn’t have a solid sense of practical reality to ground him.  My friends at the Space Cynics often complain that the “NewSpace” culture is often firing without having worked all the numbers (business case as well as engineering requirements).  Some people believe that Diamandis’s Kool-Aid speeches harm more than they help.

On the other hand, I think that ‘hope is contagious’ and ‘a vision is worth fighting for’.

I had an ex-girlfriend call me a ‘hope-junkie’ once.  She said it in a mean, derisive way.  I smiled, and took it in as a compliment.  (That was the least of our disagreements!)

So when I see Peter go into ‘brewmaster mode’, I already know the flavor Kool-Aid he is serving, and I drink deep.

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• First impressions of Barcelona
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The following was cut/edited from the text I submitted to Discovery Channel Blogs.  It made sense to cut it, but I think there is a certain ‘richness’ if you’ve got the whole story.  So I am posting this “preamble” and “Space Kool-Aid” as separate posts – so that the Discovery readers can find it.

But first, a little preamble - I think most of you know what I’ve been going through over the 20 months, and why I took the notes I did.  These concepts connect with me.  Hopefully the might inspire you, when you are having a bad day/week/month/year/lifetime.

For new readers, here is the synopsis.  For details, see the LiftPort Blog here (especially back in spring-fall 2007)

Jan-2002 – March 2003: I worked with a small team on the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (and here)  research project for the Space Elevator.  Worked with Edwards on HighLift Systems and launched the inaugural Elevator to Space conferences.

March 2003 – April 2007: I built a small company (LiftPort Group) and worked night and day to push that idea forward.  As a result, we built a Carbon Nanotube furnace and made our own CNT (which was junk). We planned on opening a factory in New Jersey to ramp up production, but the quality/quantity simply didn’t justify it.  We built 18 robots and had the FAA, Navy and Air Force approve 14 high altitude or long duration flights of tethered helium balloons.  We built these test-platforms so that our robots could climb up and down a string hanging in the sky.  This isn’t easy.  We authored books and technical roadmaps, and came up with about 1000 critical questions that need to be answered in order to build this Elevator to Space.  We enlisted hundreds of volunteers and have more than 60 schools doing research on different parts of the problem.  We helped develop a NASA competition to push the technology of ‘strong string’ and robotic lifters. Read the rest of this entry »

Image via Wikipedia

The edited (much shorter) version of this post is here: http://twurl.nl/4zuun5  The Discovery Channel blog

has a hard limit of about 600-800 words.  As some of you know, I’d rather write essays, than news-pieces, so I tend to run very long.  While I am glad DCB is covering my stuff, Iike my original versions better.  They are more ‘my voice’.  So here is the painful  and excruciatingly, detailed and rich version.  (Comments appreciated (also comment on DCB site, if relevant.  Thanks. PS the beginning of this story starts here: http://twurl.nl/omfjff)

Image by Space Elevator Guy via Flickr

First impressions of Barcelona

Advice to anyone traveling to another country, especially if the trip involves a stay of almost 3 months… learn the freak’n language.  Learn something, anything.  I got lost the moment I left the airport. I’d like to say that the cabbie drove in the wrong direction, but I have no doubt that he was trying his best to be helpful, and it was the ‘stupido americano’ that caused the problem.  I would like to be able to blame the taxi driver, for getting lost and driving in completely the opposite direction than I wanted to go, but that blame isn’t fair.

So, $70, 12 hours and a different taxicab later (after complete exhaustion kicks in, I finally direct him to a hotel – any hotel – and sleep) I arrive at my correct destination.  I will live in this dorm for about 5 weeks, until mid-terms. Note to ISU summer session planners:  while it is important to have the information packet contain the destination of the place we are staying in English (because the full course is taught in English), it would also be helpful to have taxi directions in the native language of the host country.  I will try hard to pick up some of the language.  In my head I’ve got the typical words most Americans know, but giving directions in Spanish is completely beyond me. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, for the first time in almost a year, I posted to our blog…  more on why the delay, later.  If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll see that a lot is coming.

I suspected that our blog was ‘dead’.  Dead, in the sense that there was little or no traffic on it, considering the state of the project.  Still, I am working to resurrect LiftPort v2.0 and so naturally, I posted a message about the work/school in Spain.

But I was surprised by a comment we got from Derek.  Now, I don’t know Derek.  But I thought he had some good thoughts.  Rather than post them in the comments, I chose to write another blog, to answer in more detail.  Here’s his text, in italics, with my response.

Michael,

I have often wondered why you have ignored the hard questions posed in the comments, but today you have explained this in your claims to stubbornness and strength, which can lead their owner into a myopic focus on their goals. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first draft (and my favorite version) of what went into the Discovery.com Blog.  The final version, edited and cut down is here: http://twurl.nl/omfjff)

What I did on summer vacation – “Space Camp in Barcelona”

This summer went by entirely too quickly.  I have never had so much fun or learned as much or played as hard.  It was a blur of nonstop activity, but that frenzy had a purpose – to teach ‘space’ and the many facets and aspects of it, from as many perspectives, as fast as possible.

Let me tell you a bit about the International Space University, Founded 21 summers ago, by Todd Hawley, Rob Richards (Odyssey Moon) and Peter Diamandis (X PRIZE Foundation, Zero Gravity Corp, SEDS, Space Adventures).  Its founding credo states, among other things:

“ISU is an institution founded on the vision of peaceful, prosperous and boundless future through the study, exploration and development of Space for the benefit of all humanity… dedicated to international cooperation… where students and scholars seek to understand the mysteries of the Cosmos and apply their knowledge to the betterment of the human condition.”
Read the rest of this entry »

I just posted a comment on this site: http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/01/2008-space-elevator-goals-1-kilometer.html Read the article, and then the comments. I hope this is helpful to other people. I really am concerned about the proposed competition and have expressed my opinions to Ben over at Spaceward. We had two 20 minute conversations and in the end, I think my opinions were completely dismissed. That’s fine, really, this is his competition, and I resigned over a year ago from the Board of Directors, so he really does not have an obligation to listen to me. He thinks he has it covered and I hope that he is right. However, my team and I have flown 15 missions, with 18 different robots (”only” 13 robots ever flew, the rest were lab studies). That said, Balloons + Robots = Tricky and Damn Complicated. Balloons + Robots + 3 Tethers + Lasers + Solar Cells = Tricky, Complicated and Potentially Dangerous… I leave this as an exercise for the student - figure the kinitic energy of dropping a 25kilo object from 1k in the sky… We KNOW that ribbons and safety lines get tangled. We KNOW that robots and safety lines get tangled. We KNOW that tethers can snap, and balloons can float away into the sky (”ya got the FAA on speed-dial, right Nyein?”). We KNOW that balloons are complicated beasts in the best of times and wrestling with them can be a nightmare (”David, the weather report was clear! Where the Fuck did these dust devils come from?!?”) We KNOW that robots fall… (right Tom/Maureen?) We KNOW that electrical energy builds up in the lines and touching it HURTS LIKE HELL (right Nyein?). If they are not very very very careful, there will be a crater at the end of this competition. And we KNOW that objects that fall off of robots/rigging while they are climbing into the sky HURTS LIKE HELL (right Stevo?) So, while I am enthusiastic of this competition, and commend all the hard work that the teams and especially Ben and Spaceward commit to, I would like to add a note of caution. Be careful. This competition has just gotten to the dangerous level, (as if risking your “remaining eye” with the lasers was not spooky enough) and is extremely difficult. Victory is worthy of a large check! Good luck to everyone. Take care. mjl p.s. the following images (about 450) might illuminate some of the issues… http://www.flickr.com/photos/space_elevator/collections/72157600298668940/

I just posted a long response to Jeff Foust’s website: Space Politics.

I think it is worth reading, but rather than simply copy/paste it here, I think it is better if you go to his site, read the original post, and the following comments.

http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/01/18/prospace-agenda-and-activism-issues/#comment-34675

On thing I can say - for sure - is that this form of political activism is working.  Maybe not the way CNN expected, but working none-the-less.

Finally, I am a big supporter of ProSpace, and will try my damnedest to get to DC for the March Storm.  It was a great experience a few years ago, and i think this year will be amazing.

Take care.  mjl

 This morning, I got a great email from J, he should be the guy that gets some credit for getting this ball rolling, he emailed a bunch of people, initially.

Nothing about space on last night’s debate, but we didn’t have much time to organize that. However, we have about 2 weeks left - and a lot to do.

Please pass the word - vote on current questions (Rep and Dems) and create your own question. (http://dyn.politico.com/debate/) And let’s see if we can get a “story” generated with the help of the press.

Thanks.

MJL

P.s. This is NOT a “space elevator” task, but a “we need to get ourselves out into space - for everyone” mission. The following is the message I got from John!

mjl

_____

Mjl:

I want to be involved with organizing and supporting the space communities involvement in the political process. I identified the process on politico and sent messages to the operators of spacepolitics.com, nasawatch.com, space.com, marssociety.org, SpaceX.com, spacehab.com , faculty in planetary geology and science at several universities, thespaceshow.com, bigelowaerospace.com, members of Boeing Space Exploration down in Houston, some members of Science at NASA podcast’s publication team, the facebook marssociety members, the operators of the facebook groups: “support space exploration,” “supporters of mars direct,” and “the official nasa facebook group,” to name a few. I started sending out these messages on Saturday night, and I believe that they have had a major impact.

I believe that we can organize the space community into a forceful tool that can speak loud and clear in a unified way.

One of the problems that I see with the current organizations is that they are often to specific, and while there needs to be groups that are pushing specific initiatives, the fact that they charge to be members and that they exclude some of the space community hampers their growth and effectiveness. Perhaps we should have a new website ( spaceactive.com or something) that was free and had a constantly updated list of current legislation, debates, important politicians; as well as tools like fax.marssociety.org that allowed you to call, write, fax, or text message politicians and legislators. It could become a regular place for people to stop on the Internet and do something frequently to push the space agenda.

Let me know what you think.

Ad Astra,

John

____

I think he has a great idea. So, if you want to get involved, send an email (and comment on this page) to info at liftport dot com with the subject “Political Will” and we will contact you.

Take care. mjl

***Update*** www.actionforspace.com is now live, and ready to get to work!

I just posted the following over at Jeff Foust’s site:

http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/01/15/getting-space-questions-into-campaign-debates/

This blog post of his got me thinking, and I decided to take some action.

Read the entry and the comments over there, and then commit to taking this same action yourself, please.

This is a golden opportunity. My comments are below, and I would love to hear some remarks. If you do decide to post something on your own blog, feel free to use my words, or create your own. But please link in my info at liftport dot com address for email, as I think a mailing list of space activists might be very powerful in the future… and I think/hope your blogs and newsletters will reach beyond the typical space advocacy community.

Thanks. Take care. Mjl
________

Well, with 2 weeks left until the events, “Space” has 2 questions in the top 10, and 4 questions in the top 20… so, if we can keep up the presence and activity, and make sure we vote on each others topics, we are bound to get some of our questions asked/answered.

My request/suggestion - to forward to whatever mailing lists you have available, and ask that every person in the space activist/advocacy/think-its-cool community, respond to the space questions and ‘vote’ for what is important to them.

Does anyone remember that during dark-ages of the Internet, People magazine posted a poll for the “most beautiful person in the world”… and Howard Stern fans nominated (and won in a landslide - Hank, the Angry Drunken Dwarf… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_the_Angry_Drunken_Dwarf).

I would submit that ‘where this country goes, and what we do in space’, is significantly more important than who is the prettiest person. SO, why not rally the troops, and flood this site with the questions we want answers to? Why not vote on the issues that are important to us, and make a political statement in the process?

I’ve got a mailing list. So do many of the people that read and contribute to this site. Why not see what kind of muscle we have, and make our voice heard. The Mars Society has already sent a notice to its members. What about the Planetary and National Space Societies? What about Space Generation and Yuri’s Night? What about the students and the professors and people that work at Boeing and LockMart? What about the NASA, FAA, and NRO folks? What about the army of Science Fiction fans (worldwide) that are “true-believers” and think that ‘going to space matters’.

I propose we each do 3 things:

• Register with Politico (http://dyn.politico.com/debate/) and write 1 question for both the republican and democratic debates. I used the same question, and posted it 3 times, under the headings of “Leadership”, “Economy” and “Education”, to each party.
• Then vote on at least 15 space-themed questions that other people proposed. Remember to vote for your own question, too. I followed links from “most recent”, “most popular” and by “topic” to find the questions I wanted to vote on.
• Finally, pass this message on, via blogs, newsletters or direct comments. If you have the power to Digg or Slashdot a message, and get wider distribution, do it. If you have media influence and can get a story written about this coordinated effort, do it. Personally commit to 5 people that will follow these 3 steps.

The way I figure, it can’t hurt, and it would be a rare case of the space ‘community’ acting as a true community. You do not need to be a citizen of the US to participate. And the way I figure it, this set of space questions will affect the whole planet, so we might as well get the global space community involved.

One thing that I want to caution against – please – you can write your own question, and vote on whichever questions matter to you. But, please, don’t divide “US” into:

• Mars vs. Moon,
• Manned vs. Robots,
• Earth Studies vs. Solar System,
• NASA vs. Commercial vs. Military, or
• California vs. Texas vs. Florida.

My goal in this is not to set an agenda of “my vision is better than your vision”. That sort of in-fighting is too common in our community. My goal here is to have, at the end of the day, our (potential) political leadership hear that “WE” care about space - and that there is Federal level support for our combined goals. Once the national budget and goals are affirmed, we can then continue with our informed debate on the merits of one vision over the other.

I am not a “single-issue” voter. And I suspect that most of you are not either.

However, wouldn’t it be interesting if, by banding together, we were able to influence whom the next President of the United States were? These debates are perfect leverage points for us. We have the ability, and the reach, and the passion and the vision to make a statement that could change the world. Why not use it, and do some good? Wouldn’t it be worth the effort, if we, through these 3 simple steps, were to influence who was chosen as the leader of the United States of America. Wouldn’t it be worth the effort of these 3 simple steps if that leader were chosen because they inspired hope, and were – in fact – leading this nation (and the world) in the direction of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. And wouldn’t it be even better if they actually understood why STEM mattered in the first place.

We have a unique opportunity. Let us take it!

I will do my part. Will you do yours?

Take care. Mjl

P.s. If you want to email me, please do. Info at liftport dot com, and use the subject “political will”. I would love to get a feel for what sort of grass root activism is available ‘out there’. If there is enough, I will formalize things a bit, and create a mailing list, to keep people informed and updated. I think this particular action is short-lived (the debate is in 2 weeks), but if there is demand for it, and unity, then this list might have value later in the year.
Mjl.

***Update*** www.actionforspace.com is now live, and ready to get to work!

Del.Icio.Us updates for the day.

Well, that code from Del.Icio.Us didn’t work the way I hoped it would. It is constantly updating. As I add in new links, (8 new ones today) they rise to the top, and the links that I actually posted today, are shifting to the bottom, and eventually out of the field. While I can see that this would be helpful to most people using this tool, this is not what I wanted at all. I guess there isn’t anyway to just ‘lock down’ certain links, without massive edit of the code, and if I were going to do that, I would just write my own damn HTML file, and be done with it. Not going to happen.

Well, if it has to be this way, hopefully you will take the time to review my links, and that this commentary makes sense.

I think the ones that are the most connected to the Space Elevator are the 2 regarding the Chinese test of their Anti-Satellite rocketry last year. Further, the essay (Bob Munck alert, it is a 3M Pdf) from Patti Grace Smith is a “must read” for anyone in the space industry. It is a great pep-talk, about why we are doing what we are doing.

More tomorrow. Take care.
MJL

I must spend at least 2-3 hours every day, reading and reviewing news on the ‘net. It is often illuminating and fascinating, and occasionally depressions and, rarely, inspirational. About a month ago, I got very serious about using Del.Icio.Us bookmarks to tag the news that I thought was worth paying attention to. Currently, I have almost 150 links. Specifically news that I thought was relevant to building the Elevator to Space. As part of my criteria, I use the “Four Pillars of Infrastructure Development” and the “Five C’s”. Sometimes, I will link to things, just for the fun of it, but usually, the sites directly relate to the Elevator.

I hope you like it, and are curious enough to follow the links. Feel free to Set up an account and follow what I am linking to. I will post on the blog, with new links, and you can remark, here, if you wish. I am going to do this a couple times a week. I will do my best to provide some sort of commentary on each of the links, as to why I think it matters.

I’d appreciate comments on the articles; if they are helpful in understanding the project better, if they are interesting, if they spark some thoughts or questions about the direction I am taking, or whatever else crosses your mind?

Take care. Mjl