Technical Advisory Council

Heya, Today was an interesting day. 

At long last, we’re beginning development and rolling out our formal “Technical Advisor Council” (TAC).

What is this? What does it mean for the Lunar Space Elevator? What does it mean to our Backers?

For years, since the earliest days of the project, we’ve had many very smart people swirling around on the edges of this thing. Most are engineers (space/electrical/mechanical etc.), but some are senior military officers and anthropologists, others are political experts, economists, and others are knowledgeable in theology, mining, energy, and international law… You get the picture – a broad range of talent and skills. Academically, these folks have PhD’s and Masters’ degrees; professionally, they have 10-25 years of experience. Many of these folks got involved during the time LiftPort was focused on Earth’s Elevator. However, since we began working on the Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure, a whole new crop of experts have stepped in.

I think we have something north of 400 or so that could join our TAC. But the truth is, I don’t really know. Also, not all of these folks are going to like the terms of the proposed agreements.

So one of the tasks I’ve set for myself in this re-invigoration process, is to identify current allies, and to formalize these individual alliances with documentation. I’m doing this for a number of reasons:

• To know who I can count on – long term
• Produce a skills/gap analysis
• Identify a likely overall budget for certain research projects
• Have experts ‘at my fingertips’ when particular issues arise
• Begin to understand the myriad questions that need answers

I believe this is the first significant step in getting this Elevator of ours designed, launched, deployed and constructed.

With this in mind, I’m writing our agreements, policies, and procedures, and testing these with a few experts. Once we work through this process, I’ll expand my efforts, and begin active recruitment and enrollment. My goal is 100 by the end of the year.

That said, if there are backers in this community that would like to get involved in the TAC (given the above required credentials), please let me know. Within the next two weeks, I’ll have a dedicated set of forms on the website, with links.

Additionally, I will also (within two weeks) begin sending out surveys to the folks that committed at the $100 (or more) levels. I value your insights.  

Take care, mjl