[X] My Assistant

[elakdawalla]

On Friday I'll be giving a presentation to the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, which is being convened for the following purpose:

A new generation of space vehicles capable of economically delivering payloads and researchers is coming on line beginning in 2010. These vehicles will revolutionize space access by providing frequent, low-cost access to space and the capability to carry research and education crew members. They will also carry experiments for technology demonstrations, for scientist in-the-loop research, and for educational/public outreach demonstrations.

Fields including atmospheric science, solar physics, microgravity science, planetary science, space life science, space physics, and education and public outreach (EPO) stand to benefit from these vehicles.

NSRC2010 will provide a forum to learn about the research and EPO capabilities of these new systems, their experiments, and EPO integration processes. NSRC2010 will also provide input on vehicle design requirements for science and education.

The conveners include people like Alan Stern and David Grinspoon, who are really interested in public engagement. I was invited to give a talk on how to engage the public, and I plan to focus my talk on engaging the "interested public" -- that is to say, you guys. I've just outlined my talk and wanted to invite anybody interested to review and suggest any additions or changes. In particular, I would really like to know if you all have any suggestions that are more specific to the focus of the conference, suborbital flight experiments that are going to be enabled by the new private launch capabilities coming online soon?

My talk outline is attached.

Attached File(s)

 Social_Networking_Planetary_Science_Outline.doc ( 41K ) Number of downloads: 442

 

[mcaplinger]

Pardon the skepticism, but I fail to see what suborbital research has to do with planetary science in anything but the most general way.

I remain to be convinced that this initiative is anything more than a solution in search of a problem.

[hendric]

Pardon the skepticism, but I fail to see what suborbital research has to do with planetary science in anything but the most general way.

Testing of new instruments in a near-space environment? There's a whole slew of opportunities there.

Training future planetary scientists? Giving them a chance to PI and launch an instrument.

Studies above the atmosphere, in bands normally absorbed?

[mcaplinger]

Testing of new instruments in a near-space environment? There's a whole slew of opportunities there.

Pardon me, but that doesn't stand up to any scrutiny IMHO. Far more cost-effective to use a thermal/vac chamber. Testing in zero-gee is rarely anything more than an excuse to get a free plane ride, not an engineering need.

Sorry, still not seeing the connection.