Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Tower of Babel

I was just made aware of another book (published in August of 2011) that has a Space Elevator as a “major player”.  This book, The Tower of Babel: NASA’s Great Endeavor, was written by Dr. Victor Nelson.  We hadn’t heard of him and he hadn’t heard of ISEC until very recently.  After some brief correspondence with ISEC’s Bryan Laubscher, Dr. Nelson made the very generous offer that any revenues he receives from selling his book from now until the end of the current Space Elevator Conference will be donated to ISEC.

Thank you Dr. Nelson!

Bryan has ordered his copy and I’ve just ordered mine (via Kindle – I love my Kindle – thanks wife!).

The obligatory ‘dust jacket’ description:

Earth has survived into the third decade of the twenty-first century, but the United States and Communist China have become embroiled in a deadly space race. Whoever succeeds will have a dominant advantage in colonizing Mars and producing military bases in deep space and on Earth’s moon. Although the Chinese have a head start with their project, a recently revivified NASA has developed new technologies that will gain for them a competitive edge. The Chinese will stop at nothing to obtain this classified information and to destroy the American scientific leadership. Magnus Kolden, a brilliant scientist, was oblivious to the ominous signs of trouble and disaster when he was appointed as NASA’s project leader. He has never had an interest in the military applications of this technology, but only in its use for the advancement of science. Nevertheless, he will have to lead the Americans to victory in the largest space endeavor in the history of humankind. A life-long dream of creating a better way to travel into deep space has come with a heavy price. Magnus finds himself pitted against a ruthless enemy agent organization and also against Islamic extremist terrorists. Both organizations will stop at nothing to terminate his pursuits. He is fighting for the safety of his family, his life, and his dreams. Many internal and external forces may sabotage his success. A cataclysmic event will change the course of the story. What revelation will be thrust upon Magnus Kolden?

It sounds very interesting and I will probably delve into it during my plane ride home.

So, buy the book and benefit ISEC – thank you again Dr. Nelson, and I hope to get to meet you at a future event.

The BBC talks about the Space Elevator Conference

Space Elevator Conference chair David Horn was interviewed by BBC’s Richard Hollingham recently and the result of that interview is posted here, on the BBC Future website.

It’s a good article and gets the basic facts right.  It does incorrectly state that ISEC has been the organizer of the Space Elevator Conferences for the past 10 years (this is the first year that ISEC is the organizer), but that’s a minor nit.

All in all, well worth a read…

Space Elevator Conference registration deadline approaching…

Just a reminder that registration closes for the upcoming Space Elevator Conference on Sunday, August 19th, so you have 12 days from today to register if you want to attend (and you do want to attend, don’t you?).

The latest press release from the Conference:

Tether Strength Competition and Pacific Science Center Exhibits at the 2012 Space Elevator Conference

The technical conference will be held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington August 25th through August 27th, 2012.

undefinedRegistration for the 3-day technical conference closes August 19, 2012 in order to get our final attendee and catering counts to the museum and to the caterer.  All 3-day registrations will be entered in a raffle to win one of two Android Tablets (a 10” and a 7” model) provided by Leeward Space Foundation.  Raffle winners will be announced at the Saturday night dinner banquet.

The Family Science Fest on Saturday, August 25th is included with Museum of Flight admission. You do not need to register for the Saturday Family Science Fest.

3-Day Technical Conference

The presentation schedule for the technical will be finalized by August 10th.  There may be a few changes to the presentation order and start times between now and August 10th.  Check out the fantastic presentations we have lined up this year, register to come see them, and participate in the discussions!

Tether Strength Challenge:  ISEC is funding the prize purse for this year’s Tether Strength Competition and the rules have been updated to lower the bar a bit and increase the chances that someone will win the competition this year.  Competition rules are now available on the conference web site.  One or two teams are interested in competing this year and we’re working to get them registered for the challenge.

Family Science Fest

The Family Science Fest on Saturday, August 25th is included in the Museum of Flight admission price. We have recently added the Pacific Science Center to the list of activities.  They will have physics exhibits and instructors to provide hands-on experience with various physics concepts for kids of all ages.  The Family Science Fest also includes the Space Elevator 101 and 201 presentations, the ever-popular youth robotics competition (rules and registration instructions are on the web site), and much more.  This is a great event for the whole family!

About the Space Elevator

The Space Elevator is one of the most magnificent Engineering projects ever conceived. It promises abundant access to space and a multitude of benefits for humanity. Come to the Conference and hear presentations and discussions with people working to make the Space Elevator a reality!

Many thanks to the Museum of Flight for being a “Counter Weight” level sponsor of this year’s conference.

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