This week, we had a lot of aerospace-related schedules. On Monday, the company took a day off for Memorial Day. On Tuesday, LiftPort got bigger by finishing Fabio's Self-quarantine. As you all know, the historic launch of SPACE X was scheduled on Wednesday. Unfortunately, it was postponed until Saturday. NASA's Competitive Program Webinar was on Thursday. Finally, Space Force Drama was launched on Netflix. Please wait a little longer. I'll tell you everything.

Fabio went to work for the first time on Tuesday after he finished Self-quarantine. We greeted each other warmly and shared our daily lives lightly. Fabio is working on creating a software tool by participating in the SmartWiki project. I'm summarizing and organizing a lot of articles that are based on the program and uploading them to the database.

Space X's Crew Dragon spacecraft was scheduled to launch on Wednesday, May 27. Although all of the LiftPort employees were waiting for the countdown to launch the spacecraft, we had to wait for the next time. The countdown suddenly stopped with about 20 minutes left, and the announcer announced that the launch was delayed on Saturday. Fortunately, I think it's a relief that the launch was canceled due to the weather, not because of technical problems. I'm looking forward to launching a manned spacecraft that works with Space X and NASA. I hope the launch will be successful on Saturday and recorded as a historic day. If the launch is successful, it will have a huge impact on LiftPort. There could be an advantageous situation to reduce the cost of launching satellites and to consider options from several companies. I looked my head off searching at hundreds of articles about this launch but I'm going to have to watch it for three more days because the launch has been delayed.
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On Thursday, we attended the Payload Contest Webinar hosted by NASA's Tournament Lab. I'd like to give you a brief introduction to the contest: design payload that's up to 100mm x 100mm x 50mm in size for the lunar probe. The total prize money is $160,000 and the prize money varies according to the ranking. In fact, we participated in this Webinar with interest in the exterior of the luggage, not the inside of the luggage, or the box. These days, Michael is reading a book about containers and transportation history, and with the knowledge he gained from the book, he is considering whether to participate in a project on baggage design. I thought the box was so small that it would be good to use a balloon-like or expandable material. It's because when the size gets bigger, it stands out better and you can put more in the box.
This week, all the schedules were in the aerospace field. So I want to call this week Space Week. After work, I will watch Space Force drama and leave a review on my blog next week. Everyone, we have Space X launch left on Saturday. Let's all cheer for a successful launch.

​Byungik Jung

This blog is starting to look like the beginning of the apocalypse. Not only a widespread pandemic but protests everywhere, worsen things up. I do sympathize with the cause and think its important to do something to ensure a change is made in society itself, but I also believe some people are taking advantage of the situation and even confirming the bias in many cases. Oh, the irony. What a time to be in the USA!
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Although things at Tacoma are a lot better compared to other big cities, I hope demonstrations turn more peaceful so local businesses and public transportation operate without problems. Some people really depend on those!

On the other hand, things here at Liftport, are getting better. Michael made a pitch deck that feels like a first step for really funding this idea. It seems we are all making some progress on our own tasks. The online course I bought is so detailed that those 40 hours of material may easily turn in a 160-hour learning process. I’m learning a lot on Web development, but also catching a little on how to build a start-up from the ground considering fundraising, networking, and operations. And we even cleaned the office a little (we really needed it) which personally gives me some peace of mind.

Our word of the week is optimism, things will get better sooner or later (hopefully). Next week we will have our reviews as interns and see what to do for a brighter future.

​Fabio

Out of confinement once again! And I’m still healthy, good for the people around me. I was excited to see how the place I will be spending most of my time, looks like. It’s really cool! Being surrounded by space art like pictures, sculptures, books, and past prototypes definitely create a motivating environment. I’ll take notes on that for whenever I try to set up an office for myself.

First day, all suited up (just like in New York). I got a ride from my house to the office, even if I live just a few blocks away, that’s nice from my boss. After all the explanations of the office operations I was introduced to some technical detail about the current mission we are working on. Again, interesting and ambitious. Let’s not forget I got to know the most important codes, the bathroom code, and the WiFi password.

During this week I had to process a lot of new information, including the grand architecture. Which is a little more complicated than I thought but seems very reasonable once you connect all the threads. Even after countless science fiction shows, this field still feels totally unknown for my way of thinking. I have to be honest, I’m still a little skeptical if some of the details of this project are really viable to develop and I would like someone with advanced space physics knowledge to verify it. But I also think it is worth the effort to work on the concept. It can change many things in the space industry and, actually be relevant for the human species.

One of the main projects I’m assigned to work on is the smart-wiki. First, It will be an internal tool to manage and sort information, but it can possibly be an income source in the future. I have to build it from scratch and I was already recommended a language and framework. More things to learn!
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I feel comfortable enough to start working hard but my brain is still a little lazy, I have to eat better, get used to a new schedule, and organize my tasks to improve my performance. Let’s see how I do next week.

​Fabio

The SmartWiki project started this Monday. SmartWiki is a project that combines documents with a variety of topics and keywords into a single Web browser tool. This project will be the basic work needed to build LSEI. My role in this project is to organize articles carefully selected by Michael. It's similar to the Star database that I've been working on before. Read the article, organize the contents, and enter the information in the database. I made a list of different topics and contents in the database so that it is easy to organize them all at once. Keywords and phrases in each list can be easily searched and checked through programming. In short, it is my role to create the contents of the program.

The SmartWiki team had its first meeting this Monday. At the team meeting, all participants in the project gathered at Google Meet to brief themselves and discuss the direction of the project. Hardware engineers do not participate in SmartWiki projects because there is no physical work involved. Michael is leading the project and the rest of the people are in charge of the software. We haven't decided which tools and programming languages will be used for this project yet. I'm trying to create a database that I'm making in many ways. Once the methods and the tools needed for production are determined, it won't take much time to be made.

On Wednesday, Michael attended the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group meeting. Of course it was a digital meeting. Briefly speaking, The LEAG is a community-based, interdisciplinary form. Therefore, the members and participants of the LEAG consist of experts from a wide community.

Michael explained the Lunar dust. The most memorable thing is that Moon Dust Is Super Toxic to Human Cells, for example asbestos. As I listened to it, I became interested, so I looked for more about moon dust.
Astronauts who have been to the moon have commonly complained of similar symptoms, such as allergies, and a study by the European Space Agency's ESA showed that moon dust clings to clothing and poses serious health risks to astronauts. Yes, Lunar dust is made of sharp, abrasive, and nasty particles.
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A recent article reminded me that the U.S. unemployment rate is really serious. Another 2.4 million Americans filed for first-time benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis. It's an unbelievable figure. Even as the economy is beginning to reopen in parts of the country, layoffs and furloughs have taken hold of the US labor market. I hope we can fill up the article with good news as soon as possible.

Byungik Jung​

Finally in Washington!

​After a few months trying to survive this pandemic in New York, it is actually encouraging to be in a safer place. I just hope I didn’t catch it during my journey.

New environment, new house, new boss, new colleagues, and new work. Michael and Byungik are very cool and helpful people, I think I will enjoy working with them. I like that there is so much nature around here but dislike the unreliable Wi-Fi at my house.

Even though I have to serve a 2-week quarantine (just in case), we started digitally working in a new project called Smartwiki. Quite interesting and ambitious. I like challenges, so I’ll try my best to learn and develop new skills to work on it. Also, involved in this project, we have three knowledgeable guys that I was told I can consider my mentors. I really appreciate that this time, I have the option to ask for help and guidance if I need it.

Even after working on several companies that claim to use agile methodologies on daily basis but don’t practice it at all, LiftPort is the first one actually using that approach (And Michael didn’t even mention ‘agile’ a single time). Sprints, daily meetings, reviews, feedback, and small tasks to reach big objectives. So far, the closest to agile theory I learned in school.
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Next week, I will be able to go to the office. I haven’t shown any clear symptoms so far, I guess I didn’t catch it or maybe I was a symptomless case since statistics state 1 in 5 New Yorkers got it, and most of them didn’t even realize. Who knows?

Fabio

Finally! On Friday, May 8th, 2020 NFL League schedule was announced. I was very worried that the season would be canceled because of the coronavirus. But we can cheer for the Seattle Seahawks this September. And there's one thing to brag about. ESPN is broadcasting Korean professional baseball, not the NBA. With the NBA game canceled and postponed, an American broadcaster has purchased and broadcast broadcasting rights for Korean professional baseball. Don't miss the chance to see a bat throw that's hard to see in the NBA! I support team KIA.

Next is bad news. Please look at the link attached below. Unemployment in the U.S. stood at 14.7 percent, the highest level since the economic meltdown. That's a shocking figure. It's so sad to hear that many people are losing their jobs and not doing their economic activities. However, this is only a reported figure. More people are losing their jobs and self-isolation at home. Ladies and gentlemen, please avoid outdoor activities for all of us and follow the government guidelines. I'm sure our little practice will produce tremendous results.

We had a really important meeting this week. Originally it was supposed to be held in New Mexico, but it was changed to a digital meeting due to the influence of the coronavirus. The meeting was held from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon. It started at 7'o clock every morning, but I'm sorry that It didn't start more flexible. Michael came to work early every morning and was very tired to prepare for the meeting. I couldn't participate because of the meeting policy. Fortunately, after the meeting, Michael summarized the important details and told me. We met a lot of celebrities at this meeting. Michael said their presentation was very helpful to our business plan. We expected to find new colleagues at this meeting and are contacting them and waiting for an answer. He praised this meeting as the most beneficial meeting that Michael participated in. I respect Michael for focusing on the meeting for 4 days.

I finished looking for information about the Two Star page and started looking for information about the One Star page. There are almost three times as many people as there are two stars. It is expected to take much time. We're creating a tier on each page to sort out the people with the highest priority among Two Stars. Some were added and others were demoted to One Star. We're doing our best to get this database done early. Please wait a little longer!
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Finally, a new intern, Fabio, will fly in next Monday. Michael and I are going to pick him up and I'm helping him find a place to live. You'll be able to see a more advanced LiftPort before June. Thank you!

​Byungik Jung

A lot has happened this week. First of all, the cumulative number of coronavirus patients in the U.S. exceeded 1 million on the 28th of March. And more than 58,000 people died from the virus, surpassing the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War. According to Worldometer, an international statistics website, the cumulative number of patients confirmed to be Corona 19 worldwide is 3,003,352 on the 26th. The cumulative number of confirmed cases exceeded 2 million on the 15th and then exceeded 3 million in 12 days. The effects of the virus are seriously affecting the global economy, including the U.S. stock market and international oil prices. I hope this situation will be resolved as soon as possible and good news will come out on the news.

NASA says it has signed agreements with three private companies - Space X, Blue Origin, and Dynamics - to develop a lunar lander to carry out the Artemis Project, which sends humanity back to the moon by 2024. NASA plans to send two astronauts back to the moon in 2024 with the Artemis project after the manned lunar probe Apollo 17 in 1972. When the spacecraft reaches lunar orbit, the astronaut takes the lunar lander off the moon and returns to the spacecraft on the lunar lander. It's the most eye-catching part of the Manned Moon Exploration Artemis project. I'm looking forward to seeing the landers made by the three companies over the next 10 months and NASA's evaluation results.

So there's a tremendous development going on in the space industry. Following last week's Space X rocket recycling video, Space X is scheduled to launch a manned spacecraft later this month, and I'm happy to see exciting videos every week. I think this kind of development in the space industry can be of great help to save the LiftPort budget and proceed with the project. I hope the day will come soon when a satellite is made and loaded into a rocket.

This week, we selected the most important of the more than 1,000 business cards in the Notion. We selected people who will be of great help to LiftPort's project and people who have done great work. We started this work because we need someone to join us in our business. We have identified the information and contact information of the VIP and are entering them into the items created in the Note. Quite a few people were chosen and couldn't get their information easily, so they haven't done it yet.
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At 9 am on Friday, Michael had a video interview with Fabio from Peru. Fabio will soon be an intern for our LiftPort. Fabio had an hour of the interview with Michael and talked to me for five minutes. I introduced the contents of my work from March until now and about the Formal Monday that happened yesterday. Fabio is good at software and programming. I could see him as early as this month. I look forward to the future of LiftPort!

Byungik Jung

Have you seen Space X's Falcon 9 launch video? SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 StarLink satellites was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:30 p.m. on April 22.
I watched this live video with Michael on Youtube. Falcon 9 was a success.
Space X failed to recover the propellant in the last launch, but this time it succeeded in recovering the rocket.

After the rocket launch, the second stage rocket propellant and communications satellites headed into space low orbit, and the first stage rocket propellant landed on a marine Drone barge in the Atlantic Ocean and was safely recovered. On the 27th of next month, Space X's manned spaceship Crew Dragon will conduct its first flight test.

So far, Space X has launched seven rockets, increasing the number of communications satellites to 420 in total. Reclaiming a rocket is very useful because it can save a lot of money on launching.
In other words, as the recycling technology of rockets advances further, Liftport's communications satellite launch will be cheaper.

This week, we are making a Pitch Deck to submit to investors. First, I figured out what Pitch Deck is and how to make it. Pitch Deck is a simple presentation used to provide our audience with a brief overview of our business plans. To create a Pitch Deck, I found PowerPoint Templates, copied, and pasted the link to the Note. A pitch deck should be no longer than 20 slides in length. Ideally, it should be as concise as possible. Finally, I created a sub-title for 10 slides on the Note page. Michael is completing the page by writing down the details of each item.

Let me tell you about the progress of the Database I'm making. I've entered almost all of my 1000 business cards into the Note. I numbered each item to sort out the business cards. Then I entered the number on the business card into all the business cards on the Note page. After classifying them as numbers, we can easily manage people with similar characteristics in the Note. The database took more than three weeks to build, and it will all be finished by early next month. I'm so excited to contact my colleagues who will be working on our project soon.
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Michael said, if Pitch Deck and its investment plan are approved by investors, we could get $1,000,000 after the end of May. I will do my best to help Michael get the budget.

Byungik Jung