Shuttle, sea, clouds and birds

OK, I did not take these pictures of the Shuttle launch myself, but I was on the Florida Space Coast near the launch site on the scheduled launch date April 29 and I would have loved to take similar pictures. I have extracted these from the launch video recorded by Fred Chamberlain, and thanks Fred for the nice dedication!

Thoughts on space, on the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first flight

This is a follow-up to my last post on Cosmists Knocking on Heaven’s Door on 50th Yuri's Night, and to my older Thoughts on space, on the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing. In the picture, the very nice banner appeared on Google's main search page on April 12.

Please read the two posts. A short summary of the main points:

The Cosmist thinking of Nikolai Fedorov and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky has inspired the daring and sexy space program of the 60s and early 70s.

Despite their scientific value, later phases of the space program have been dull, boring, uninspiring and less sexy than a washing machine. I have worked for many years in public space agencies, for example in ESA in the eighties and nineties.I used to say that the emphasis on cost-effective pragmatic mission with only a scientific return and no PR value would kill both public and political support for space, and the facts have given me reason.

We need new initiatives able to ignite the imagination of people, especially young people, all over the planet. In order to support spending money in space, people need to see other people in space taking risks to do momentous things. On this 50th Yuri's Night, we Cosmists and space enthusiasts should think of going back to space, back to the Moon, and onward to Mars and the stars.

But things are not going to change as long as the only actors are governments and industry. In today's world, the obsolete nation-states are part of the problem and not part of the solution. International organizations are paralyzed by power struggles between different national interests. And industry cannot be expected to see beyond next year's financials. Why not forming a global P2P space agency of the people, by the people, and for the people? Such a World Space Agency, whose members are not nation-states but individual citizens acting as a focused P2P laser (reference to The Millennial Project of Marshall T. Savage), could act in the best long-term interest of our species and prepare the way for its, our, journey to the stars.

Cosmists Knocking on Heaven’s Door on 50th Yuri's Night

This show must not be missed, as a Cosmist and a space enthusiast I hope I will get a digital copy soon.

BBC - Knocking on Heaven's Door: April 12th 2011 is the fiftieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space, hailed by the Soviet Union as a triumph for socialist science over capitalism. But the true story is much stranger. George Carey's film shows how the Russian space programme was kick-started by a mystic who taught that science would make us immortal, and carried forward by a scientist who believed that we should evolve into super-humans who could leave our overcrowded planet to colonise the universe. Stranger still, Carey shows how those ideas have survived Communism and adapted themselves to the science of the modern world.

The Telegraph - Knocking on Heaven’s Door, film-maker George Carey explains the mystic secrets of the cosmos and the Soviet space programme: The man some people say is the true father of space travel in Russia was not a scientist at all, but a reclusive mystic who was the illegitimate son of a prince called Gagarin. His followers today say the name is not coincidental - because it was that mystic, Nikolai Fedorov, who set Russians on course for Yuri’s moment of glory. In the 19th century, Darwinism and modern science seemed like enemies of God. But Fedorov came up with an extraordinary counter-suggestion: that science was a tool given to us by God to enable us to resurrect the dead and, as promised, enjoy immortal life. And, with curious practicality, he added that because the Earth could not sustain a population that never died, we must first learn to conquer space... the person who really injected his philosophy - known as Cosmism - into the bloodstream of Russian science was an unknown teenager (Konstantin Tsiolkovsky) who turned up in that library one day looking for advice about what to read... [Danila Medvedev] calls himself a Transhumanist, and believes that he will achieve his own immortality by uploading his personality into cyberspace.

As the article says, Cosmist thinking has inspired the daring space program of the 60s and early 70s. On this 50th Yuri's Night, we Cosmists and space enthusiasts should think of going back to space, back to the Moon, and onward to Mars and the stars.

European Space Agency: virtual reality MMOG technology for space education and outreach

After the announcement of the NASA Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), whose first demo Moonbase Alpha is scheduled for public release in early 2010, also the European Space Agency is adopting virtual reality MMOG technology for space education and outreach. The first demo of a future ESA MMOG has been produced by Mindark with its Entropia Platform powered by Crytek's Cry Engine, possibly the most advanced game engine available at the moment. See the project video on Youtube. I recommend using Miro to download and watch it at full resolution. Another emerging MMOG platform based on Crytek's technology, Avatar Reality's Blue Mars, has recently raised additional capital.

As a person who has always been interested in space, and a former employee of the European Space Agency, I have been frustrated by the lack of rapid and radical progress in space. Where are the cities on the Moon and Mars that we were promised in the 60s? I believe space-themed MMOGs can contribute to radically improve space education, outreach and marketing, and make space "sexy" again, especially for younger people. This may re-ignite public support for space, which is a necessary condition for ambitious space projects.

European Space Agency - ESA Highlights Online Games as Key Future Technology: "Might ESA have something to learn from gaming? A new Agency study says the answer is yes. It comes from ESA's Technology Observatory, which is tasked with scanning non-space sectors to look for developments with potential for spin-in or joint research. The study, Online Game Technology for Space Education and System Analysis, looks at potential applications of different online game-playing technologies from the simplest content-oriented games through to Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) virtual worlds. The study highlights a number of ways in which these technologies could benefit ESA aims: immersive environments based on these technologies could enhance collaborative working of project scientists and engineers. It was also recognised that exciting online games could prove an excellent tool for promoting space and supporting the teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths...". Also on SpaceRef and Space Daily.

Digital Producer Magazine - MMORPG and Virtual World Platform Provider MindArk Completes Online Games Study Contract for European Space Agency: "MindArk PE AB, developer and publisher of Entropia Universe and Entropia Platform, announced today that a study on the use of online game technology for space-related purposes has been completed. The contract for the study was awarded to MindArk by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009 and a film presenting the main findings is published on YouTube... The study ("Online Game Technology for Space Education and System Analysis") was performed to assess options for the European Space Agency with regards to using online game technology, specifically in the areas of outreach/promotion, education and collaborative engineering...". Also on Mindark.

ITEspresso.fr - : "Le développeur de plate-forme de mondes virtuels et de MMORPG MindArk termine un contrat pour une étude sur les jeux en ligne pour l’Agence Spatiale Européenne: "L’étude, intitulée « Online Game Technology for Space Education and System Analysis » a été effectuée pour évaluer les options dont dispose l’Agence Spatiale Européenne en ce qui concerne l’utilisation de la technologie de jeu en ligne, en particulier dans les domaines de la diffusion/promotion, l’éducation et l’ingénierie collaborative. Pour illustrer la faisabilité des conclusions de l’étude, MindArk a produit un factice visuel basé sur un environnement de jeu en ligne dans Entropia Universe. Il est disponible sous forme de vidéo sur la chaîne de MindArk sur YouTube..."