SpaceVision

What's Next? National Space Society and the Space Frontier Foundation 2008

Making Constructive Trouble

• Find out what the connection is between your University and the Space Business?

  • Find out who is publishing and/or bringing in research money related to space

    • Make sure they know you

  • No funding currently?

    • Start your own research project

    • Team with your department to apply for grants

    • Universities understand money and people that get things done, take advantage of this fact

• You want to learn how to make things happen. If you do it right you can mentor others along the way, get credit for what you do, and eventually get paid for the skills you develop.

• Start looking for scholarship and Intern opportunities now!

  • Write an Internship proposal to NSS Headquarters

  • Set a goal of having a funded graduate program before you start graduate school

• Sign up for the applicable professional Society AIAA, IEEE, ASME, etc. and let them know what the future you are interested in is and that you want to work to make it happen.

• Go to the National Space Society (NSS) Website, there are opportunities to learn about space advocacy, space technology, space policy, and for getting involved at a national level.

  • Come to the NSS International Space Development Conference a key networking opportunity for the space community in Orlando 2009, Chicago 2010, Huntsville 2011?

  • Come to New Space 2009 at Ames Research Center July 2009.

  • Participate in the Legislative Space Blitz with the NSS/Space Exploration Alliance every Spring in Washington D.C.

• Figure out the context of your research interest

  • What is the basis of policy?

  • Who are the actors?

  • What is the critical path of research?

• Graduating SEDS membership qualify for a complementary one year membership in NSS

• Learn that what really matters is what you actually build, not Power Point presentations.

• Control your own destiny - get your research work funded

10 Things you can do to make constructive trouble today

1. Make sure you are registered member of SEDS, your resume is in the database, and you get involved with you SEDS local/national/international

2. Apply for the NSS 2009 International Space University (ISU) scholarship for the 2009 summer session at Ames Research Center in 2009 http://www.nss.org/education/ISU_scholarship.html

3. Find a way to come with a group to the Moffett Field (Ames Research Center) for the "The business case for space based solar power technology" debate on December 9, 2008. We need volunteers to help foment the conspiracy to support a Second Life simulcast/live web feed. http://nssdocs.xisp.net/nsswiki1/SsafeWiki

4. Find a way to come with a group to Washington D.C. for the Space Exploration Alliance legislative blitz February 22-24, 2009 http://www.nss.org/legislative/

5. Sign up to help at the NSS International Space Development Conference in Orlando 2009, student's have a special rate and staff volunteers get a free registration http://isdc.nss.org/2009/

6. Want to fly in space for real? NSS & Virgin Galactic want you to sign up as a Space Ambassador http://www.spaceambassadors.com. As part of their duties, Space Ambassadors will communicate the value of space research and exploration to their local communities, and one special Space Ambassador will be selected to fly on a Virgin Galactic space flight!

7. Pick a thesis topic that is on the critical path of space development

8. Read the NSS Strategic Plan http://www.nss.org/docs/NSS_Strategic_Plan.pdf and the Implementation plan http://www.nss.org/docs/NSS_Implementation_Plan.pdf and tell us what is missing and what you are willing to work on.

9. Join NSS and get involved in an NSS chapter and/or affliliate and be part of one of the new national & international level transformational projects, a http://www.nss.org

10. Join SFF, get involved and become a Space Advocate http://www.spacefrontier.org

Key Heuristics

• You need to come to understand what you know you know, and what you know you don't

• You must understand that it is a given that you can fail. What is extraordinarily interesting and special is the extent to which you actually succeed.

• You need to have no unnecessary sense of self limitation

• Success through cooperation grows the space movement