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

_______

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.

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

_____

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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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/

______

“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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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.

April 2007: I lost our primary funding – my own personal asset of a 5 story commercial office building on the outskirts of Seattle.  The cashflow from that building was enough to sustain my small team’s daily effort.   I continually leveraged that property, and eventually the bill came due.  I lost my building, and as a result, the company collapsed.  People wrote my obituary online.  That sucked.  When all the dust settled, I had lost $1.2M in real estate equity, and had spent over $300,000 in cash, and still have over $600,000 of debt (with a couple ideas how I will pay that off… Some people scoff, but I assure you, you have to HAVE that much, to LOSE that much.  I’ve been semi-wealthy before, I’ll be back there again.)  And if all that were not enough, I was also being fined by the State of Washington, for misfiling some paperwork on fundraising – but that story got twisted all out of proportion and people were claiming (wrongly) that I was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud.  All that was untrue, but it sure didn’t help my personal outlook on things.

Over the next several months, I tried a couple different ways of reviving the company,  but in the end,  I simply could not.  So, I put it in mothballs, and spent some time trying to figure out “what’s next”?  If my original plan for building an Elevator to Space doesn’t work, then what plan can I come up with, that will?  Should I resurrect LiftPort Group, or should I let it die a noble death?  And probably the most important question of all, do I even WANT to make the effort, to continue?

So then, there was a self-imposed media blackout for most of a year.  I was inactive on the Space Elevator, while I tried to reconstruct my life.  It was a bad year, but it’s over, and now I can focus on building again.

The short answer is Yes, I can resurrect LiftPort. Yes, I have a plan, and Yes, I do WANT to keep going.

When I arrived in Barcelona, I resolved to transform my life and my project, to breath new life into it, and continue on with – what I think of as – my life’s work.

Fast forward to June 2008, here I am at “space camp” and I love it.  It is part of my ‘resurrection plan’.  And I have to tell you that it is great, and I am having a lot of fun in the process!

I am soaking up all the good vibes and good advice I can get from whatever source.  (Have you ever noticed that when you are open to it, the universe will send all sorts of signals your direction – bible verses, songs on the radio, the right books, the right people and the right environments?  I am open to it, and it happens to me all the time!)

(You can see why this speech is having an impact on me, right?  Well, I believe it’s true.  Acting on passion will have a profound effect on your life.)

Take care

Michael Laine

http://www.twitter.com/mlaine

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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.

As soon as I arrive, I am greeted by people that I had corresponded with.  Halit is in charge of logistics and Rafael worked with me as I gathered up my funds and paid tuition.  Both jumped through some hoops on my behalf, and it was nice to meet them face to face, the moment I arrived.  I thanked them for the extra effort they made for me.  It wasn’t any big deal, but it was the kind of ‘customer service’ that I appreciated, and is so rarely rewarded.  So I made sure they knew I was grateful.  They have a rough job – coordinating 120 people from 26 countries, and I am sure that each student has their own issues, problems and dilemmas.  They handled mine with grace and simplicity.

Then it was up to my room, for a much needed shower.  I had gotten one the moment I hit my hotel room last night (after 36 hours of airplanes and airports) I stank.  I had showered that morning, again, before I caught the taxi, but that was hours earlier, and the humidity and temperature warranted another before I subjected myself on to the company of others. I put my stuff away, organized a bit from my suitcases, and then headed down stairs.

There were about 40 students checked in by that time, and some of them were sitting around the lounge.  So, what do you do in that situation?  You dive in, start shaking hands, and asking:  What’s your name?  Where are you from?  What are you studying/working on? Why do you like space?

What was your name again?

Simply put, at this stage, the first few minutes, there are way to many people to remember all their names.  I will try hard to describe some of these people, as I get to know them better.

Then, the first, the adventurous group, decides they are tired of waiting around, and step out toward the front door and the awaiting city.

First, it is beautiful.  No question, everywhere I look, I see heavily peopled footpaths, both ancient and modern sculpture, and I see beautiful women.  Each of these has dangerous curves.  I enjoy the view.

If you want a walking tour of Barcelona, I suggest: (http://www.amazon.com/Top-Barcelona-EYEWITNESS-TRAVEL-GUIDE/dp/0756623901)  If you want my impressions of what my friends are calling “send Mikey to space camp”, and I am calling “my adventures at Star Fleet Academy”, read on.

Image via Wikipedia

While I will give a flavor of Barcelona along the way, my main goal is to chronicle my class – the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in Barcelona, 2008.

So a small group from my class, about 10 of us, step out to meet the city, and more importantly, to get to know each other.  The crowd morphs, greetings take place. We while away time, together.  Something catches the attention of someone and the crowd morphs again.  At times we head this way, at times, that way.  Sometimes we stop and admire street performers, sometimes we pass, externally oblivious – because we are so caught up in the conversation we are having with a new friend we’ve just met.  That happens when you put 120 very smart, committed and passionate people in the same place at the same time.  Sparks fly; I can’t wait to get in a classroom with these people!

Then it is time to head back, and grab dinner.  It’s cafeteria style, and the food is pretty good.  I aim for a table, and as luck would have it, I sit at the only table in the whole room that does not have an ISU student at it.  Two Spanish girls look at me as if I’ve lost my senses, when I ask to sit down.  They are polite, and accept me.  I sit.  Only then does it occur to me that this is not my class.  They chatter on in a language I don’t know, oblivious to me. I eat my meal.  I am essentially alone in a crowded room.  It’s peculiar.  I glance across the aisle at my classmates getting to know each other.  As soon as I finish my meal, I get up, grab dessert, and head in the right direction… and join in the conversation.

There are 5 people around me one each from: Spain, Ireland, and Israel, and two from Canada.  I can assure you, it is a very strange life, as the “Space Elevator Guy”.  In an environment like this, it is inevitable that most of them have heard of the project (with a strong bias toward anyone that regularly watches/reads English media.  I notice that we have strong ‘market penetration’ in any culture where English is really stressed.  In cultures were it is less important, the Space Elevator has barely connected.  This is an important detail to keep in mind for the future.)  Anyway, in an environment like this, the reactions when I say I am working on the Elevator to Space vary from: “Oh, I’ve heard of that”, to “OH!  I’ve heard you on The Space Show! (Hat tip to Dr. David Livingston! (http://thespaceshow.com/) ).  There are puzzled expressions, and faces that practically scream incredulity - but here, in this setting, the person is too polite to laugh in my face. (That happens some times – wait ‘til I tell you of Professor Tolyarenko’s flying carpet.)  The variety really is entertaining.  I’ve seen all this before, and am expecting it.

Image by Space Elevator Guy via Flickr

Then it is off again, for the informal welcoming session.  All the staff line up, and introduce themselves.  I am surprised and very glad to see Jim Burke there. (More on that later.  I don’t know anyone else.) He has been with ISU / SSP from the very beginning, 20 years now!  He gets a round of applause when he is introduced.  Finally, as a country is called, each student stands, gives their name, and where they were born.  We could have saved a lot of money, collectively, if the class had been held in Montreal, because over 20 are from Canada. I am surprised by this.  There are over a dozen Americans, but I hadn’t met any yet.  This also surprises me, as I thought there would be fewer.  I don’t know why.  When I write about the makeup of the class, I will try to get some details on this.  I think ‘internationalism’ is an important aspect to a program like this, and it is one of the primary reasons I chose this school.

Finally, we are excused around 10, and let loose upon the Barcelona nightlife…  Many of us head back down town to find a drink or two.  I follow along, however I have no intention of making it a late night.  I leave just as soon as the crowd gets to the destination bar/night club.  The moment I get there, I realize “this isn’t my scene”, and head back to the street.  The nightlife on ‘La Rambla’ (at the heart of the touristy part of Barcelona) is “world class people watching”.  Families walking dogs, couples making out, friends ‘fighting’, grampas drinking beer, working girls asking if I want a date (I pass, but they are remarkably attractive and persistent!  Remember the comment, earlier, about women with dangerous curves?  I’ll tell you  more about active pick-pockets later, too… Yikes!)

So then it is time to head home.  The crowd from school is still in the club, and I feel a bit of a gulf between them (average age, 23?) and me at 40.  I USED to go clubbing, and I certainly will while I am here, but not tonight.  Tonight, I want to get my thoughts down on paper, and get to bed.

It’s 2am, and we’ve got a lot to do the next day.

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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.

Two things.  First, it’s not that I’ve been avoiding the ‘hard questions’.  It’s that I’ve been avoiding ALL the questions.  All of them.  You read for yourself that I almost quit the whole project.  The last thing I wanted to deal with was questions – hard or easy ones.  So, don’t feel neglected, I wasn’t ignoring YOU, I was ignoring everyone.  Face it, you were not my biggest priority.  I came as close to declaring bankruptcy as a person can, without actually filing for it.  This project cost me everything that I own, and left me deeply in the hole.  Answering comments and questions from fans seemed liked a pointless waste of time, considering the other problems I was dealing with.

Second, I am stubborn.  I am back in the game, and will not waiver again – you can count on it.  I’ve been tested, and know what I can do.  That stubborn streak of mine will be an asset (most of the time), Derek, but I admit it’s caused problems, too.

So, now that I’m back, I will start once again to respond to people.  To give you perspective, there were over 31000 comments pending approval on the blog.  Now, we both know that the vast majority were spam, but there is no way I am going to wade through to find the few nuggets of actual value.  So, I’ve deleted all the comments of the past year, and am starting fresh.

If you sent a comment that you absolutely must have answered, please send it again.  I’ll try and get it answered.

Myopia is a form of blinkers which are fine to ensure focus but only if someone has a firm grip of the reigns with clear sight of the whole situation.

Derek, you’ve nailed it.  I certainly didn’t have a clear focus on either the current situation, nor the ongoing operation.  I made a lot of mistakes that, in hindsight, seem obvious.  I think I’ve cleared up this particular problem, and don’t think it will plague the project, or I, again.

In your case, the only people with clear view are your commenters,

Well, I disagree with this last point, but don’t feel the need to argue about it.  Moving on.

so here goes again with two questions fundamental to the function of the SE.

First on the ascent, where do you propose to gain the increased angular momentum from to prevent the SE from being dragged backwards and downwards as the line is bent at the load point.

Good question.  I wish I were exactly the right guy to answer it, but I’m not.  I will do my best. However, please understand, with the near-failure of the team about 18 months ago, most of the technical people that were my staff have moved on to other jobs.  That said, I still have access to some really great resources, and will do what I can to get your question answered.

In a VERY rough sense, there is a constant tension/tug of war between the gravity pulling the ribbon down, and the centripetal acceleration that is pulling the ribbon out and away from the earth.  While often depicted as a ‘straight line’ the ribbon actually has a very significant bow in it, ‘down’ near the earth side of the system.  That bow is thousands of miles long, but that is a direct effect of the ‘dragging backwards’ that you are asking about.  The key is to maintain a semi-balanced system, where there is more ‘outward’ tension, than there is ‘downward’ pull.  This is a factor of how big a counterweight, and how far out the weight is, in relation to the earth.

The center of mass of the system changes constantly, based on the load of the Lifter robots, as well as the position of the Lifter at any given time.  See this lesson from one of our experiments, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjcaQT_ssE4 as a great illustration.  (make sure you read the “more info” section, it’s got useful details.  It is important to remember that this is a dynamic system.

Second (which also comes into play with the first) how do you plan to shed the angular momentum of the payload when the load descends the SE, because if you do not shed the force, then it will push the SE forwards, lowering it and putting much more of the SE into a lower orbit and therefore traveling too fast for its orbit - it is a feedback loop which finishes with the cable wrapped forward around the earth.

Derek

Keep in mind that the ribbon is about 60,000 miles long.  With that much ‘energy’ pulling the ribbon out, and away from the earth, it would take an enormous force to slow down the overall orbit.  A lifter returning back to earth is not near enough to make a significant shift.  It simply isn’t big enough to make a big, (there is a small) difference.  It is the overall center of mass that is the key, as long as that remains at geosync ‘speeds’, then the lifter descending will have a minor effect.

I hope I’ve shed a little light on the problem.  Sorry it’s not a more complete, technical answer, but it’s the best I can do tonight.  Thanks for your interest in the project.

Take care.  Mjl
www.twitter.com/mlaine

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.”

Does that sound ambitious?  Good.  It is.  And the really spectacular thing about the program is that it fulfills this vision, and then some.  I spent a summer, but what I learned will last a lifetime.  If this sounds like a sales-pitch for the program, it’s not.  It is simply this, the program had a profound impact on me, and if you are lucky, skilled and determined enough to attend; then I suspect it will also make a difference in your life as well.

To do it justice however, I have to set the scene.  I had been working on LiftPort, the Elevator to Space companies for several years now.  In April last year, we hit a financial roadblock that looked like our role in building the Space Elevator was at it’s end.  No matter what I did, I could not seem to work around this problem.  It affected me, my team, and the worldwide Space Elevator research community.  And I was stuck.  To be perfectly candid, I was considering closing the company, and giving up.  (Some of you reading this would probably encourage that!)  What I needed was a personal ‘reality check’.  I was asking myself if I really cared enough to work this hard on something that most people think is impossible.  In short, I was having a ‘crisis of faith’ in what I believed in regarding space – and it’s potential to make a positive impact on the people of this planet of ours.

So, I thought I’d take some time off, and see if it was simply a case of being tired, or if I was completely burnt out.  So, I went to ‘space camp’.

Disclaimer – the admin of the school are not really pleased when you call it ‘space camp’, because it is in fact a serious school with difficult program.  I guess they think that by calling it ‘space camp’ it somehow demeans it.  On the other hand, to me, ‘space camp’ is a term of endearment, and as such, I will continue to use it.  This is the same quality that I use when I call (ex) girlfriends by nicknames – it might get on their nerves, but it’s a way of telling whether I care or not.  In this same light, Boston University did not get a nickname from me.

So, space camp.  I went because I had to know something about myself.  I also knew that the space community worldwide was not that big, and that if my goal of an String stretching into the sky was ever going to happen, then ISU was the place to start.

The Space Studies Program was held in Barcelona Spain this year.  This component of the school ‘floats’ to different campuses around the world.  Last year it was in Beijing, The year before that, Vancouver, and next year it will be at NASA Ames, near San Francisco.  That is an important aspect of the school.  By floating, it really does live up to the expectation of being an international program.

Barcelona is an amazing place.  I’ve lived in 9 states, and 5 countries, and traveled to 49 states and 9 countries.  I can honestly say that Barcelona ranks in the top 5 places to visit – and maybe to live.

My classmates – friends now! – number about 120, plus 50 or so staff and instructors and various other support personnel.  In short it was a tight knit community.  We come from 26 nations; have a variety of backgrounds and talents (some very surprising – belly dancing, Rubik’s cube in 4 minutes, and singing/musical instruments as well as other skills I’m not going to mention here!) and age ranges from 20 to 52.  I think I was the 4th oldest in the program, and no, I can’t solve the Rubik’s cube any more.

Most (56%) of the students have educational or work experience in engineering.  There is also a sprinkling of life sciences, physical sciences, information technology, humanities, policy and law, and of course, my area, business and management.

I will spend the next couple blog entries talking about my experiences over the summer, the things I learned, people I met, places I went to, and some of the things I went there to figure out.  I also learned some things about the Space Elevator that I really really wish I had known 6 years ago, when I started all this.  There were moments this summer that made me say “ah ha” and others where all I could think of was ‘oh shit!’

But most of all, it was the people.  Professors who provided moments of clarity and insight to the problems that had hindered me for years.  Staff who had understanding and patience with me. (Did I mention that I’m the sort of guy who actually believes he can build an Elevator to Space?  Imagine the stubbornness and strength of will that a guy like that must have…) Staff with grace in the midst of chaos.  And most importantly, students that start out as strangers, and become friends you know you can count on.  Students that turn out to be teachers.  Students that broaden their horizons, and by so doing, they broaden my own.

I went to Barcelona, to space camp, to the International Space University Space Studies Program as a ‘test of faith’.  I returned committed, healed and ready to wrestle tigers.

Thanks to everyone that made this summer what it was.  And I’d like to make a special thanks to the two scholarships I received.  One from ISU directly, and the other, from C. Ann Souza Family Trust.

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

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!

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!

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 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

… and here is wishing high hopes and a prosperous future to you and yours. Ad astra, y’all.

Anyway, the movers will be here in 2 hours, and my Internet access (and the computers managing it) will be packed in 45 minutes.

Wish us luck, a lot depends on this new location.

Take care.  mjl