Zealots in Space Habitation

You need dreamers and visionaries to make space exploration a success. Von Braun was a dreamer and I don't think we would have made it to the moon (certainly not as quickly) if he'd not been there.
We will always need zealots. ~Stephanie B of The Rocket Scientist and Ask Me Anything commenting on We Should Not Be Catered To

Don't get me wrong, the Evangelical Space Cadet and the Interstellar Zealot are two very important units in the war for public support of space habitation. These types of participants in the space movement are the people who change opinion by just speaking about their passions. They are the one's who paint a vision of the future that inspire hope for future generation. They are the ones who tirelessly work without getting paid and we are lucky to have had men like Von Braun in the past who pushed the huge boulder that is this movement when it has no momentum. But, I think these grunts of the space movement have major flaws that must be complimented with something. Just how tanks, infantry, and aircraft compliment each other on the battlefield.

My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light.

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

I think this points out exactly what zealots mean for the space movement. We are passionate about space, but we do not have the strength to be present continuously through out his multigenerational plan. If your dual-burning candle burns out during the night, one could very easily replace it, but there will be a few moment of darkness. In this darkness, I fear the space movement could be lost.

The problem is in the passing of the touch from one generation of zealots to another. This would not be a problem if you could pull interstellar flight off in 20 years, we can't. We can not guaranty that the older zealots will resonate with younger people to produce more zealots. This is a multigenerational plan and the movement will morph with each generation.

Having zealots in this movement makes it easy for us. Our passion; our space infused blood is shown through out all our works. That, in addition to our logic, cuts down our enemies who do not have a passion for destroying space flight. Furthermore, we serve as an inspiration reminding those cadets who may have been discouraged why they are in this field. I stopped blogging for about 2 months, but came back because I was still reading the works of those in the field.

Zealots are just an unpredictable blessing, we must plan for when they are not there. Because of the amount of time involved with realizing this vision, we must insure our movement is sustainable. A sustainable process have all it's inputs be predictable.

Reactions

What do you think the zealot's place is in this movement? Will they cause trouble for us each time the movement is handed off to the next generation?

We Should Not Be Catered To

Evangelical space cadets, like me, should not be catered to. I had this idea after reading two of Seth Godin's blog posts: The paradox of the middle of the market and Fast in, fast out. Basically, people like me are not the market we have to convince to get space habitation off the ground. It is easy to get people like me excited about any idea in space. Yet, we need to average Joe to be excited about commercial space. But, there is also a bigger problem. I fear people like me will not be in the movement when the idea is less new.

Gone After The First Settlement

For this movement to live off evangelical space cadets, we will need about 10 generations of evangelical space cadets. This generation of evangelical space cadets is locked in for life, but that may be because we will not live to see humanity bask in the light of another star. I fear people like me will not exist when interstellar space flight is common and rocket launches are unimpressive. When the space field falls away from the cutting edge; when space stops being a symbol of the future; when this dream is achieved, then the space movement will loss it's current supporters if the evangelical space cadet supports the space movement because it's a dream and it's a new idea.

After reading Seth Godin's posts, I thought about why I'm in the field; why I have a passion for space. I watched a rocket launch on TV and was forever inspired by it. But, I don't think I would be in this field if I saw a rocket launch everyday. I was impressed by NASA and other space agencies. I think they are legendary. But, I don't think I would be found in the space field in the world of Star Trek, were space flight is average. In the world of Star Trek, I think I would be blogging about another, far off, dream.

Replacing The Cadets

This is a graph of percent of each group active in the space movement, verses number of generations. I think such a graph will look like this. Right now, generation number two is taking over the space movement. The type of people who could be evangelical space cadets will not become a space cadet in the space movement as we accomplish this dream. We can not assume the evangelical space cadet will be active through out this multi-generational plan. So, we must convince the average Joe. I'm sure the core of the space movement can archive this dream, but they will not have the strength to colonize every star in the universe. Today, we have an army of supports, convince the meat of the market, and we have an unstoppable force.

The Meat Of The Market

The solution, if there is one, is to enter a market to the enthusiastic cheers of those in search of the new, but to build a product/service that appeals to those in the middle. After the initial wave of enthusiasm, you hunker down and ignore those that first embraced you, obsessing instead on the needs and networks of the middle. It's a difficult balancing act, but it's the only one that works. ~ Seth's Blog

A message to the leaders of the space movement: Ignore us, but use our enthusiasm. Make a space vision that will meet the needs for the average Joe. Do not make a future that will only appeal to people like me because that future will never happen if it only appeals to me.

Reactions

I need to polish this idea. What do think? Should the evangelical space cadet be ignored?

Updated: July 7, 2009

SPC #8: ASTEN Report

Welcome to the Sunday Paper Club. Every Sunday, this blog will offer analysis of a paper on space habitation and other related topics. These are my opinions on a weekly scientific paper; basically I read the paper and write down my thoughts are I read it. They are subject to my perspectives and believes. I am open to debate, so if any reader believes I have misinterpreted something in a paper, please point it out. I'm only a student and I'm still learning how to read these papers and interpret them. All quotes are from the paper unless otherwise noted. All papers I review are available for free online.

This week we are reviewing the ASTEN Report, the paper which made a kid from Canada famous.

From the first 2 pages of the report, I was impressed. What this kid did was minimize the human extinction argument and presented it in a way the made his point not something to fear, but something that if we address would bring the improvement of mankind. He also points out the positives of a space habitation by writing about how space habitations will promote space and make it more useful.

The paper's assumptions are fairly solid. The writer has assumed that solar panels and Aerogel will have their manufacturing costs reduced. Also, sustainable public opinion is critical for this to work. This will be a major piece of a society's work and the whole society must stay behind it for a long time.

The report goes through the author's thought pattern for designing this station by showing the reader pro and con lists for each element. He presents a very good argument for smaller space stations, stating increased size would "make the project financially unfeasible".

I don't understand why the author stated that the ability to look across and see the other side of the space station as a negative. It might confuse some people and it also might not allow for the space station's residents to be immersed in the illusion of a Earth like environment. But, I don't think the later is a big deal and people eventually stop being confused in spinning structures. However, the paper does choice to use a cylindrical design, which would disprove an early concept I posted about which was spherical. Basically, cylinders allow for even gravity across all surfaces. This student's idea also allows for the modular design which also caused me to call that earlier post's idea brilliant.

What was interesting was the industrial sections are in the middle of the sphere, while the living areas are on the outside. This allows for micro-gravity to be used in industrial applications and the residents while not have all the bone zapping negative effects of Zero-G. Another design advantage over the idea which I held up as brilliant is the inflatable of this space settlement. Also, any industrial accidents would be contained to the center.

This station uses a algae oxygen recovery system. With such a critical system, a natural processes will reduce the moving parts and thus the failure rate of the system. It truly is brilliant. The station uses Demron to protect it's self from radiation.

In short, this is a very interesting idea and this kid is the next Gerard K. O'Neill. I can't wait to see his doctoral paper.

Class of 2009, Impossibilities Accomplished by our Class

While at my graduating ceremony on Monday, I thought back to my last Sunday Paper Club post and felt I was a little too harsh. I didn't know why I had this feeling, we are a very dark class, but while looking up at an airplane which happened to be flying many feet above us, I knew I needed to revisit the character of my class.

 
Photo by yui.kubo

A graduation is a reflection of the class; everything that the class as a whole holds dearly is presenting during this ceremony. We had speeches which consisted of the message of honesty and relaxation, but it is this song that was sung at my graduation which makes me believe my class could be the one's who leads humanity to all the goals it wants to achieve.

I think this song really reflects my class. The reason my class is so dark is "we've been looking for a song to sing - search for a melody - searched for someone to lead". That's why I think when we get boots on the moon, you'll see this nation's young repay that investment 100 times over. Right now, we don't really have a mission, this generation or this nation.

But, I also think we are at a fork in the road. One of my teachers said that senioritis was inevitable, yet didn't see that. I saw the same, if not better, work out of my classmates. I believe my and my class mates are more self motivated then any other generation. But, we could also complete the same mission by receiving a purpose from a outside force. I also found it interesting that the line "The future started yesterday and we're already late" was in the song. The vision given by futurists should have been accomplished. We are well into the space age and, yet, it still feels like the post-industrial age.

While looking up this song for this blog post, I also read the comments on this youtube video and I found that this song was chosen for many other high school graduations. So, my character of my class is not the character of my class, but the character of my generation. This is why we will be the generation who will have space habitations, who will solve hunger and every other social problem and who will inspire this world.

We're the generation

We can't afford to wait

The future started yesterday and we're already late

This might not be my best post, I'm sure every generation came out of high school like this. But, it's interesting that we selected this song and this song can be applied so well to space habitation. A question to my experienced readership: what was the song at your graduation? Why do you think your generation did not achieve space habitation?