This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Three of Five.  Keep those comments coming!  Thanks.  Take care.  mjl

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The Action Matrix is a system that allows the managing, processing, and correct labeling of enormous amounts of information garnered from the Challenges and Stakeholder parts of the Noumenia Process. By creating a spreadsheet of combined Stakeholders and Challenges one can have categorical sub-projects defined and developed.  It provides an organized method of establishing expectations, providing deliverable dates, and assigning a champion. In using the Action Matrix, the consequences of failure, inaction, or success become clearer.

Creation of the Action Matrix is a sub-component of the Noumenia Process. The second step is the proper identification of Stakeholders, who are aware and actively interested in the company, project etc.  This is also the part where one figures out if the project Stakeholder is a hindrance or a help.  So, Challenges have already been classified and organized and Stakeholders have been identified prior to the Matrixs’ creation.  Then taking the Challenges and the Stakeholders, one builds a spread sheet with Stakeholders on top, Challenges and their sub-components on the side.  Where Stakeholder and Challenges intersect, insert specific tasks to accomplish in that zone.  Stakeholders and Challenges/component remain the same through the length of operation, tasks and dates change.

This Action Matrix is an essential part of the Noumenia Process.  Any project needs a sound plan.  Without it, the ability to make day-by-day and long term decisions would be severely limited.

Second of Five.  Again, please post comments (either here, or tweet them to me: @mlaine) Thanks.

Take care.  mjl

_______

Thousands of pages have been written regarding the Hardware aspect of building an Elevator to Space.  But that is only one of five essential parts.  Despite the deep interconnection between the “fashionable” Hardware element and the others four, these additional elements have been virtually ignored. These essential parts are: Hardware, Outreach, Business, Framework and Temporal.  By identifying the key issues in the Challenges of Space Elevator development, the solutions can begin to grow in a coordinated fashion.

The set of Challenges for a project with the enormity of the Space Elevator is usually under-appreciated. In Hardware, the first level is known as Science/Discovery, this is where most of the public and research attention is focused and where the Space Elevator “conversation” tends to stick.  In Outreach, the main issues lie in making the connections and gaining active involvement.  For the Business part, a valid pricing model is very important; as is an in-depth analysis of Space Elevator cost-effectiveness (complete with a cost/benefit analysis and a credible and executable financing plan) – none of which exist.  In the topic of Framework,  things like insuring a space elevator is one of many many valid concerns.  Finally in Temporal, this is the need for a constant, real-time, and objective, assessment of all Challenges and the ability to make forecasts.  This ‘Challenges’ tool is a sub-level of the more encompassing Noumenia Process.  It is a simple tool, but the task is ongoing: Make a list of the Challenges and their components and then add, remove and adapt problems/issues as things change.

The Challenges and their sub-components are paradigm constructs of the Noumenia Process; valuable in their ability to provide a tool to identify problems.  These problems are many, and can be fluid, but this process is the best tool available for identifying the issues.  By using these Challenges, the total sum of all the issues that span this project are covered and the relationship between them taken into account.  A short example list has been developed for this paper, however an exhaustive list must be developed.  It is hoped that this conference will provide a venue to expand this list.  This is a very important tool for the future development and implementation of an Elevator to Space.  It is a “problems identification tool”, not a “problems solving tool”.

The following is the abstract for one of five papers I am submitting for the www.SpaceElevatorConference.org.  I’d love to have some comments on it – grammar, typos, content – anything at all.  I value your opinion.  I have to turn it in tomorrow, so whatever suggestions you’ve got will have to be incorporated quickly.  Thanks for your help.

Take care.  mjl

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The “Noumenia Process” is a tool that was specifically designed for use in the Space Elevator community, yet it can also be used in any ‘large project’ environment.  It is a “To-Do” list, a calendar, and a project management tool rolled into one.  It picks up where Gantt charts and dependencies leave off.  The Noumenia Process is a tool to help the manager put a sub-project into context of the greater, much larger, program.  To be blunt – I don’t know how we are going to build an Elevator to Space without this tool.  The project is simply too big to succeed without an organizational structure behind it.

That said, there are no blueprints for building our Elevator. So, I have drawn on knowledge gained from: Naval warship construction, US Marine Corp operational planning doctrine, specialized education and communications training, portfolio management, skyscraper construction, “failed” projects in the space community, and public works infrastructure.  Also, there are a lot of lessons to be drawn from projects where ‘capital’ is plentiful – energy projects (pipelines, opening oil fields, and wind farms).

Let’s face it – building the Elevator to Space is not merely the task of sending a strong-string into space, and climbing back and forth.  It requires a complete global infrastructure – and it needs to be built from scratch. Its construction is on a scale that surpasses the Great Wall, and particularly on a scale that dwarfs any “modern” construction like the Brooklyn Bridge or Three Gorges Dam.  Which means, before we start to build the “biggest thing, ever”, we need an operational management tool that is up to the task.

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.

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“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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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