Quando vê o lançamento de um ônibus espacial ou vídeos antigos da Apollo sobre pousos lunares, talvez sonhe viajar para o espaço. No passado, isso era privilégio de astronautas altamente treinados e alguns poucos passageiros pagantes. Mas o sonho pode se tornar realidade para mais pessoas com a criação de uma nova companhia espacial, a Virgin Galactic. Para começar, vai ser preciso pagar cerca de US$ 100 mil. De fato, não é barato, mas é bem melhor do que os US$ 25 milhões que outros turistas espaciais tiveram que desembolsar.

Sir Richard Branson (esquerda) e Burt Rutan, os idealizadores da Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic é a marca do bilionário britânico Richard Branson. Ele se associou a Burt Rutan – projetista da SpaceShipOne, vencedora do Ansari X Prize – a fim de montar uma frota de espaçonaves para levar passageiros para o espaço.

A Virgin Galactic comprou os direitos sobre o projeto e tecnologias da SpaceShipOne para criar duas novas naves, a SpaceShipTwo e o WhiteKnightTwo (turbojato que conduz a SpaceShipTwo). As naves foram apresentadas em janeiro de 2008, mas os passageiros começaram a fazer reservas em 2005. Acredita-se que, por volta do ano de 2010, eles finalmente partirão rumo ao espaço.

A SpaceShipTwo leva passageiros em um vôo radical de duas horas e meia em que a nave sobe cerca de 109 quilômetros acima da Terra e permite aos passageiros uma experiência de quatro a cinco minutos de gravidade zero (como bônus, os passageiros oficialmente se tornam astronautas viajando mais de 80 quilômetros no espaço). Depois de um breve vôo suborbital, a espaçonave reentra na atmosfera e retorna à Terra.

Rutan e Branson acreditam que o sucesso das naves abriu as portas para o turismo espacial, permitindo vôos com segurança e a criação de um mercado de turismo espacial.

Passageiros da Virgin Galactic

A Virgin Galactic começou a fazer reservas de passageiros em 2005. Qualquer pessoa que pague o valor e passe no exame físico pode voar. Passageiros interessados podem reservar seus vôos através do site da Virgin Galactic ou através de agências autorizadas no mundo todo.

• Fundadores – os primeiros 100 passageiros a voar pagaram US$ 200 mil. Esse grupo já está fechado.
• Pioneiros – passageiros que voarão no primeiro ano de operação pagarão de US$ 100 mil a US$ 175 mil. Nesse caso, um depósito de US$ 20 mil precisa ser feito.
• Viajantes – os vôos seguintes provavelmente vão ser mais baratos, mas a tarifa ainda não foi definida.

Obviamente, esses custos são significativamente inferiores aos US$ 20 milhões que os turistas espaciais Dennis Tito (2001) e Mark Shuttleworth (2002) pagaram para voar na espaçonave russa Soyuz até a estação espacial internacional.

Sir Richard Branson aprova o modelo em escala da SpaceShipTwo em 2006

Passageiros interessados precisam fazer três dias de treinamento e passar por um exame físico antes de voar. Em janeiro de 2008, cerca de 80 pessoas iniciaram o treinamento que inclui girar em uma centrífuga a 3 a 4 Gs. Treinos adicionais envolvem vôos com gravidade zero a bordo do WK2 para que os passageiros se familiarizem com a experiência de gravidade zero. Quando as operações começarem pra valer, esse treinamento acontecerá no Spaceport America.

A Virgin Galactic tem destacado a segurança nos modelos WK2 e SS2. Por exemplo, o motor híbrido do foguete não requer armazenamento de propelentes explosivos. O lançamento da SS2 no ar não expõe os passageiros aos riscos associados aos de um lançamento de foguete – se a ignição falhar, a SS2 pode voar de volta até aterrissar com segurança. Planar é uma forma segura de reentrar na atmosfera sem se submeter ao alto calor que um ônibus espacial enfrenta (a SS2 não atinge, no entanto, a mesma velocidade de um ônibus espacial).

A Virgin Galactic é a primeira companhia do gênero, mas outros planejam competir no promissor mercado do turismo espacial.

• O fundador da Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, está investindo na Blue Origin, que tem testado seu novo veículo Shepard com a esperança de lançar vôos espaciais suborbitais.
• O fundador da PayPal, Elon Musk, lançou a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) em 2002 para desenvolver novos foguetes para vôos espaciais comerciais – ele vislumbra vôos turísticos orbitais.
• O magnata de hotéis Robert Bigelow fundou a Bigelow Aerospace para construir um hotel espacial.
• A empresa aeroespacial européia EADS fundou a Astrium para desenvolver aviões e turismo espaciais.

Fonte: http://ciencia.hsw.uol.com.br/

“Are you ready?  Ready for the playoffs?”*

…Microsoft Co-founder, Paul Allen is — in a big way.  His “first love”*1, the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that he’s owned for the past 21 years,  has made it into the Playoffs, and no one is more excited than the owner.   One of the most devoted owners in the NBA, Paul Allen has always been his team’s biggest fan.   

Allen attends a majority of the Blazers games, bought the team’s game stadium twice and weighs in enthusiastically on every decision, often splurging on players and expenses.  He installed equipment aboard his ships that lets him watch Blazers games when he is away from home.  And when Allen was asked to give the commencement speech to the graduating class at WSU in 1999, he graciously agreed, but gave it long distance via satellite uplink, speaking to Washington graduates from the Portland Rose Garden Arena so he wouldn’t miss a Playoff game.

So his Trail Blazers’ entry this year into yet another Playoffs series is a thrill—still a major thrill— to a guy who has had more than a few thrilling moments in his lifetime.  Blazermania is back and no one is more caught up in the wave of excitement than the owner himself.

Current adventure, Trail Blazers. Past adventures?  This guy’s had a few.  Hopefully he’ll tell us more about all of them in his upcoming memoirs.  http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-allens-newest-venture-a-memoir-2009-3   Don’t hold back, Paul—we want to know EVERYTHING !!!!!

In the meantime, here is a sampling of Paul Allen’s ideas about — Paul Allen, of course — from his statements to the press through the years.  So, here you go….Part Three of Paul Allen: In His Own Words:

The projects you have funded so far cover a wide range of fields. What are the criteria you look for?

“I ask myself: What are the great questions in science, the knowledge that we are just scratching the surface of?  The chance that we are going to pick up the phone and an alien is going to be on the other end is small, but it is certainly worth—on a modest scale, for me—seeing if we can enable some of that research.  There are these greenfield areas like the human brain, systems biology, ­understanding how cells work internally, and how the proteins interact inside the cell. That’s an area I’m thinking about. Then there are the global issues we have today: global warming, the environment, and disease. I don’t know that I could make a difference in theoretical physics; that’s basically a bunch of mathematical and theoretical geniuses at different places. I’m not sure how anyone could make them work any faster than they are.” http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/the-discover-interview-paul-allen/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=
The Discover Interview, Evan Ratliff

On Advice to Young People
 
If you are starting any new venture, try to find people who share your
dreams with the same enthusiasm that you do and that can complement your
strengths and bolster your weaknesses.  Start with small but achievable
dreams and under the right circumstances, these small dreams can lead to
bigger ones. Remember that you have all of the open-mindedness,
fearlessness and enthusiasm of youth.  Believe in the possibility of success.
From Paul Allen’s WSU Speech to graduating class via satellite uplink from the Rose Garden Arena upon receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award—1999

Quote from the paulallen.com website (years ago):
  “What is the best advice, business or otherwise, you’ve had and from whom?
The best advice I’ve received came many years ago from my father.  He told me that you should love whatever work you do, you should try to find something you truly enjoy.  And I’ve been lucky through the years that the work I’ve been involved with has been challenging and for the most part, fun.”

On Trying New Things:

 You have to find and appreciate the joy and beauty of the world.  And
many times that comes if you force yourself to try things that you
otherwise might be skeptical of beginning.  In my case I discovered
scuba diving, but any kind of adventure that takes you totally out of
your normal life and into a different environment or meeting different
people can be very rewarding. Also, if you force yourself to be more
adventurous, the more ideas and different types of people you will meet
and the richer your life will become intellectually and otherwise…….
 
 From Paul Allen’s WSU Speech to graduating class via satellite uplink from the Rose Garden Arena upon receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award–1999
  http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/12439/
 

On His Childhood in Seattle:
 
From “Paul Allen Unplugged” Dec. 2003 Columns UW Magazine
Tom Griffin
 While many of our alumni know of your generous contributions to the University, most don’t know of the UW connections going back to your childhood. Your father Ken Allen began his career with the University libraries in 1951, two years before you were born, and was Associate Director of the libraries from 1960-1982. Did your Dad open the resources of the UW  libraries to you when you were a child?
A. I spent many weekends in Suzzallo Library as I was growing up. I remember spending hours just combing through the stacks of musty books, including early books about computers. Books about science and aviation in particular were some of my favorites.
Did your family have season tickets to Husky games?
A. Yes, my father had season tickets for the Huskies for my whole childhood and I remember going to many Husky games with him. One of the reasons that I really wanted to have an open-air stadium for SeahawksStadium is that I have fond memories of wandering around Husky Stadium with my Dad, eating hot dogs and being able to watch the Huskies play outdoors in the elements—I think it’s one of the best parts about football!
Do you recall attending any open houses or science fairs at the UW that might have sparked your interest in computers?
I went to science fairs many times and had a lot of fun. More than anything it enhanced my love of science— and I carry that excitement with me today. I am particularly interested in how the brain works, and what we might be able to learn by looking at the role of the human genome in the function and anatomy of the brain. 

On His Eclectic Interests

“Allen says his business success is partly a result of his wide range of interests, which he thinks allows him to see connections between disparate areas that others may miss. His credits his parents, who gave him an open-minded start, dragging  Paul and his sister Jody to galleries, the opera, science museums, dance concerts and aviation exhibits. “Even as a kid, every year I was interested in something different,” Allen says, “whether it was chemistry or cards or physics or electronics or space travel or music.”    (Over the Horizon with Paul Allen: Another Microsoft Billionaire Speaks. Fortune: 7/11/1994 by David Kirkpatrick.)

On  SETI

From The Discover Interview with Paul Allen (by Evan Ratliff )   http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/the-discover-interview-paul-allen
What do you think are the chances of SETI’s succeeding—in other words, of finding intelligent life beyond our world?
“The scientists are optimistic because they think that if they have better instruments that look deeper or on more frequencies, there should be civilizations out there broadcasting. I think everybody would admit it’s a long shot, but if that long shot comes in… wow.”
If they do get the signal, will you be the first person they call?
“Actually, first they call the White House. At one point they told me I was third or fourth on the list. So I guess that’s one of the benefits of funding the project. But the phone hasn’t rung yet.”
What would that kind of discovery mean to you?
“That would be such a life-changing thing, for us all to know that there are other beings out there who we could potentially communicate with, or maybe we are listening to a signal that they transmitted hundreds of millennia ago. And then we’d say, “Well, what was in the message? Can we decode the message, and can we communicate back? What are they really like? Are they oxygen-breathing bipeds, or are they a gas cloud on some gas-giant planet?”

On Music

 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/emp/allen.shtml   Gene Stout Seattle P-I
June 22, 2000   The Visionary: Jimi Hendrix set off a spark in Paul Allen’s Imagination  (On Jimi Hendrix, music and the Experience Music Project Music Museum):
I think Jimi expressed in some of his interviews, and in his songs, the idea that music serves as a magic carpet that can take you to different places,” Allen says. “There’s a churchlike feeling there, and great music makes the spirit soar.”  …..

“………..”It was really a challenge to come up with things that were hands-on, yet robust enough to stand up to thousands of people using them and still allow a level of instruction for someone who hasn’t had much experience playing an instrument,” Allen says. 
“We just want to get them excited about music and think, ‘Hey, here’s a door I can go through.’ There’s a lot of fun and excitement in self-expression.” 

 On Football:

“Hail From the Chief” by Brian Davis from the Seahawks’ website:   http://www.seahawks.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1002
“My experience with football goes back to watching Husky games with my father when I was under the age of 10—outdoors, eating a hot dog and cracking open some peanuts and seeing a game played out in the elements. That’s real football to me, so that was my dream and I think we’re delivering on that.”

On Science Fiction and  the Science Fiction Museum

 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3203151
  “The Microsoft billionaire, whose personal collection inspired the idea for a museum, hopes the facility attracts droves of sci-fi fans from around the galaxy.
“I was exposed to science fiction at an early age,” Allen says. “I think… it’s actually about science and where science is going to take humanity and culture in the future.”

On The Allen Institute for Brain Science

From “Piece of Mind” The Economist  http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12494720&d=2009 
   “The scientists used state-of-the-art technology to dissect a mouse brain, photographed it sliver section by section, then reassembled it in a computer database that would allow easy access. But it was the speed at which the project was accomplished and what they did with it afterwards that changed the game.
They released it to the public. Over the Internet. Free.
When we first put the mouse-brain atlas online free, it was met by the research world with suspicion. People wondered what the catch was. Scientific research has long been a solitary endeavour—one researcher, one microscope. Findings are protected so that discovery credit can be clearly defined and awarded. This is a successful model and will continue to be.
However, the Human Genome Project demonstrated a different path: multiple teams working collaboratively towards a common goal. I believe a real acceleration in progress and innovation comes from the open sharing of ideas and collaboration. We wanted the mouse atlas to be free and available for all to use as the basis for foundational research and discovery.
A new generation of implantable pacemakers for the brain will be widely used to treat everything from depression to addiction and Parkinson’s disease
If we thought it would be a hit right out of the gate, we were slightly wrong. It took a while for people to trust that it really was free to use. No one believed in a free lunch.
Now, things have changed. Today we have many scientists using the atlas for their research into Alzheimer’s, bipolar disorders, Down’s syndrome, Parkinson’s, fragile x mental retardation and epilepsy. The atlas is also giving scientists insight into alcoholism, obesity, sleep, hearing and memory.”

And from a recent Wired Article:

In March 2002, Paul Allen—co-founder of Microsoft and 41st-richest person in the world—brought together a dozen neuroscientists for a three-day meeting aboard his 300-foot yacht, Tatoosh, which was anchored in Nassau, Bahamas. At the time, Allen’s philanthropic work consisted of an eclectic (some say frivolous) set of endeavors. There was the Experience Music Project in Seattle, a rock-and-roll museum designed by Frank Gehry; the Allen Telescope Array, 350 radio telescopes dedicated to deep-space observation and the search for extraterrestrial life; and SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded plane developed to put a human in space. But Allen was eager to start something new: a project involving neuroscience. He was excited by the sheer uncharted mystery of the mind—one of the last, great scientific frontiers—hoping a single large-scale endeavor could transform the field.
“I first got interested in the brain through computers,” Allen says. “There’s a long history of artificial intelligence programs that try to mimic what the brain is doing, but they’ve all fallen short. Here’s this incredible computer, a really astonishing piece of engineering, and we have no idea how it works.”
Over several days, Allen asked the neuroscientists to imagine a way to move their field forward dramatically. “I wanted them to think big,” he says. “Like the Human Genome Project, only for the brain.”

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-04/ff_brainatlas (Jonah Lehrer 3/23/09)

and from The Discover Interview: Paul Allen by Evan Ratliff  

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/the-discover-interview-paul-allen/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=
Your interest in the workings of the brain seems like a logical step for someone who started out writing software.
“Yeah, if you are involved in computers, at some point you end up being fascinated by the idea of the human brain. The human brain works in a completely different fashion from a computer and does some things so much better than a computer, and this may remain true for the next 100, 200 years. How can that be? So I brought a bunch of neuroscientists together and asked, “What can I do that would be interesting and different that would potentially help the field of neuroscience move forward?” The answer was a genetic database of the mouse brain.”

 
On Space Travel:

THE ROBERT J. COLLIER TROPHY 

Paul G. Allen
Remarks on Winning ‘The Robert J. Collier Trophy’
National Air and Space Museum
Washington, DC
April 19, 2005
from www.paulallen.com website

  “I feel I’ve been lucky to be part of three great waves of change—the personal computer, the Internet, and now private space travel.  All were extraordinary, but for sheer adrenaline, nothing will ever top that day last June when we first sent Mike Melvill to the edge of space in SpaceShipOne. 
I was always interested in flight and growing up in Seattle in the 1950s and ’60s was a great place to explore those interests. We had the World’s Fair, a strong local aeronautics industry, and I loved going to the library with my mother where I found books like Robert Heinlein’s “Rocketship Galileo,” or Willy Ley’s “Rockets, Missiles and Space Travel.” 
Science fiction was great back then, but it was amazing how much trouble it had keeping up with the reality of actual space travel. Like millions of American kids, I followed the Mercury suborbital flights, then Gemini, and then the Apollo lunar missions. I remember how exciting it was to watch those events on our grainy black and white TV set. Like many kids back then, I built scores of airplane and rocket models, and naturally, I had a plastic Air Force helmet with a flip-down visor. I even had hopes to become an astronaut one day. But after my 5th grade teacher realized I was sitting in the front row of class and squinting—it became apparent that I was nearsighted and I realized that becoming an astronaut was not in the cards for me. 
I have no doubt that these formative early experiences with space exploration helped fuel my desire to build and program computers. That same spirit of invention was always in the air in the early days of Microsoft. With SpaceShipOne, the work we did with Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled reminded me in many ways of the work Bill Gates and I were doing when we were just starting out. There aren’t that many times in your life you get to work on a project that is challenging, groundbreaking, and just plain fun.”

Recently on space travel, while watching friend Charles Simonyi blast off into space for a trip to the International Space Station:

“It’s fantastic to see a launch, but when it’s one of your friends it’s just something so special,”  Allen told Associated Press.   Allen said he would not be interested into getting into orbit using Russian technology, but is hoping to using his own spacecraft. He is a major investor in SpaceShipOne, the first commercial space operation.
http://www.vinunet.com/vinunet/news/2239325/simoni-sets-iss-space-tourist 
http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2009/03/27/paul-allen-future-space-tourist/     http://content.usatoday.com/topics/photo/People/Business,+Science+and+Technology+Figures/Paul+Allen/0dnL0857t8gym/4 )
 
 
 On SpaceShipOne:

“ As an engineer, I’ve learned to avoid words like “awesome” or “amazing” that don’t describe things specifically; but I can’t think of any other way to describe Burt’s team and what they have achieved. With only 20-odd people, working out of a simple hangar in the Mojave Desert, they reinvented, for all time, the way we view space exploration—that we can accomplish it in new and cost-effective ways as private enterprise, and that soon it will be a possibility for a great many of us.

I’d also like to say a word about courage. Never in my career have I put my own life on the line to advance knowledge. Our pilots did just that. I can’t say enough to convey my thanks to Mike Melvill, Brian Binnie and their families for their commitment to SpaceShipOne. Without them, none of us would be here today. The early aircraft pioneer Otto Lilienthal once said, “To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something. To fly is everything.”…………………..
 
…………..But I hope SpaceShipOne does more than just bring people to the edge of space. I hope it helps to rekindle a passion for aviation, rocketry and exploration among kids. And I hope it motivates educators to lay the important foundation of making science and math really engaging to a new generation of students. ” (Collier speech as posted on paulallen.com)
 
On the Biggest Thrill: 

 ”I feel I’ve been lucky to be part of three great waves of change—the personal computer, the Internet, and now private space travel. All were extraordinary, but for sheer adrenaline, nothing will ever top that day last June when we first sent Mike Melvill to the edge of space in SpaceShipOne.” (Collier)
 
On what he wants to be his legacy:

http://www.sportsbusinessradio.com/node/1423
 ”You just try to create things or look for opportunities to do things for the world at large that are going to make the world a better place.”

 
On The Future:

 
 ”I was always thinking about the future as a kid,” he says. “When you’re
a kid, you think anything is possible. You don’t know about constraints.”

  Living: Sunday, June 14, 1998  A Wealth Of Interests — The Big-Idea Billionaire — Paul Allen Is Into
Sports, Technology, Music, Real Estate, Movies – And He’s Not Done Yet”  by Richard Seven
  (He still does think anything is possible, or at least he seems to….)
 
 “From technology to science to music to art, I’m inspired by those who’ve blurred the boundaries, who’ve looked at the possibilities, and said, “What if…? 
 In my own work, I’ve tried to anticipate what’s coming over the horizon, to hasten its arrival, and to apply it to people’s lives in a meaningful way. Challenges inspire me, whether it’s pushing further into space than any private citizen ever has, as with SpaceShipOne or into the inner reaches of the human mind, as with the Allen Brain Atlas initiative. The varied possibilities of the universe have dazzled me since I was a child, and they continue to drive my work, my investments, and my philanthropy.”
 I hope you believe, as I do, in the inexhaustible ability of human beings to find answers to problems, to create works of beauty and originality, and to craft vital new ideas inspired by those who’ve gone before. The possible is constantly being redefined, and I care deeply about helping humanity move forward. ” (From Paul Allen’s website www.paulallen.com)
 And as he said a couple of years ago, in Paul Allen’s own words…..

 
  “I’m not near the end of the story.” 

 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-17-paul-allen_x.htm  (Microsoft Co-founder’s Dreams Funded into Reality  by Allison Linn   1/17/05)
 
I can’t wait to hear more…..looking forward to hearing the rest of the story in your memoirs, Paul!!!!….

______________________________________________

*From Jason Quick of the Oregonian: (http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/04/behind_the_blazers_locker_room_13.html)

“A scene that shows how fired up owner Paul Allen is: As the media was waiting to get inside the postgamelocker room, Allen emerged from his private suite. As he walked through the gauntlet of reporters he looked at me and smiled. “Are you ready? Ready for the playoffs?” And with that, he extended a fist for a fist-bump. I think it’s safe to say Paul is ready for the playoffs. And I think it’s safe to say Paul is glad he didn’t sell the team a couple of years ago. I still contend he is one of the best owners in sports.”

*1 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2009076872_blazers18.html

O futuro realmente é assombroso. Enquanto o painel do ônibus espacial é cheio de botões, medidores e sabe-se mais o que, a da primeira nave comercial pilotada por um humano a voar fora da atmosfera, a SpaceshipOne é totalmente limpa e com poucos botões a serem apertados Clique na imagem para ver em tamanho maior.

Para quem não sabe a SpaceShipOne foi a ganhadora do projeto Ansari X, um prêmio de 10 milhões de dólares para a primeira nave reutilizável que voasse acima de 100 quilômetros duas vezes em um espaço de tempo de duas semanas. Claro que mais de 10 milhões foram utilizados no projeto da nave, mas logo depois de ter ganho o prêmio, o dono da Virgin America encomendou uma nova nave a SpaceShipTwo e fundou a Virgin Galactic, que deverá levar turistas para o espaço a um preço bem salgado.

Tanto a SSOne e a SSTwo partem de um avião que as leva até uma determinada altura. No caso da primeira era o WhiteKnight, e na segunda o WhiteKnightTwo. No Youtube tem os videos do documentário da Discovery sobre o desenvolvimento da SSOne, e tudo é muito interessante. Vale a pena perder algum tempo assistindo. No video abaixo mostra um dos voos, e justamente neste, o painel dá um problema e para de funcionar, mas mesmo assim tudo acaba bem.

who pays the bill for NASA? most of it comes from the american taxpayer. and that is just not right. why? because the american taxpayer pays for research which becomes available to the scientific community as a whole. sure, they do get some return on their investment, but this doesn’t seem right.

let me say why.

scientific knowledge is for the benefit of us all. take the ability to cure diseases (well, the ones that we can cure.) this knowledge is available to everyone who can get their hands on it, and those who can’t can’t for two reasons, 1. they can’t understand it (and this is a large amount of scientific information, as few people would, i would wager, be able to explain what a Higgs boson is and why it is so important) and the second reason is that it is not financially accessible. this latter point needs no explanation. people in poverty all over the world would be able to be freed from large amounts of suffering through disease if medicine and doctors were free. but they are not. that is the way things are. but how does this relate to space funding?

like this.

we are genetically selfish automatons at the lowest level (think about it, there are few people out there who aren’t bonking away, and reproduction is the effect of bonking away. it’s good for our children to survive. and to survive, we must get off this rock, as an asteroid is coming, and there will be one big enough to destroy life on the planet, if not the whole bloody thing. it can’t be stopped. but what we can do is get off the planet and settle in numerous places. despite the fact that this would lead to the very bad days i talked of in another post, it seems that this is the right way to go. (if one argues that continued human existence is a good thing. i’m not sure about this. Stephen Hawking had something very wise to say along these lines “it says a lot that the only thing we have created that comes close to life is the computer virus, and this is incredibly destructive.” however, a computer as a virus itself (ie the computer is the virus) is a notion i may ponder over later.) anyway, we need to get off the planet.

to get off the planet and get to other habitable places (we need to get out of the solar system, as the sun will swell up and swallow the inner rocky planets and then go out and leave a big patch of darkness (well, it may be a bit red, but it still won’t be anywhere near as bright as it is now when it’s finished doing its thing) and that will make survival a lot more difficult. so we need to be on multiple planets, preferably, in multiple solar systems and even better, multiple galaxies.

how to achieve this? the ISS is one of the first steps. we need to know how to survive long term in space (it takes the rather speedy photon in a beam of light 8 years to get to the closest star, and lot longer to get to the next galaxy. NZ doesn’t have a space program. very few countries do. Japan, US, Russia, China have their own programs, and the ESA is Europe’s collective effort. should these countries foot the bill alone? no. if we all want to share in the benefit of intergalactic colonisation, we should all pay our dues, and yes, that means tax. this tax should go towards some sort of global fund. that seems fair. but what about the gate keepers? so far, only Russia, the USA and China have put people into space in their own programs (ESA dudes mostly use the US program to get up there and some others use the Russian method, to the best of my knowledge, and the Chinese have only put one guy up there.

getting into space needs to get to the same stage as getting in the car and going to the mall (not that anyone goes to the mall with high gas prices, the wonderful state of the economy and the internet.) and it seems to have taken the first step. but this step doesn’t seem to be very well liked.

i wasn’t alive back in the late 50s and early 60s when going into space was a way-out concept. i grew up in the 90s when the shuttle would go up numerous times a year and the russians would go up when they could afford to fill up the gas tanks. it all seemed to be like clockwork. then came Challenger and years later Columbia. but neither of these tragedies made gave space-flight its edge back. they reminded us that going into space was dangerous, but they didn’t give it the excitement there once was. i have to make this judgment from what i see in the media, history books etc, but Armstrong and Aldrin may well be one of the greatest days in human history. Gagarin’s flight goes along with it. remember the ticker-tape parade for Al Shepherd when he got back from his massive slingshot ride? everyone was ecstatic. same for John Glenn’s flight. (I call Shepherd’s flight a slingshot as that’s what it was, he didn’t orbit, like Gagarin and Glenn did, he was shot straight up and landed a few hundred miles away. it was an attempt for the struggling American space program to save face and needs to be seen as such. not to belittle the man or the accomplishment. it was very impressive, but the Soviets had already been to the party, had too much vodka, woken up the next afternoon, worked out what the hell had happened and started working on sending Ghermain Titov into space, who orbited before Glenn did, to set the score 2-0 to the soviets.) the point is that the space-flight was the highlight of the year/one of the biggest stories of the year. everyone knew who went and the name of the ship. anyone know which shuttles have been up so far this year? there was a Simpsons episode on this phenomena, space-flight had become boring. and going on a car trip is boring. it certainly doesn’t make world headlines. lack of publicity for the space program for this reason is a justifiable problem, but it also has this benefit- we have come to see it as part of our advancement. we now need to see it as part of our everyday lives. and spaceship one, for example, is another step in that direction.

there can’t be a gatekeeper, as there is at the moment. there have been a couple of space tourists, who paid the russians to fill up the tanks and light the match, but spaceflight won’t be part of everyday life until everyone has done it so much that it’s just another trip in the car. and more funding for space-happenings, research and other spacey things (nothing to do with Kevin) will help this along. the X-prize that SpaceShipOne won was another first step. but it needs to be followed up with another advancement. and a fund for research, development and implementation would do that. the X-prize was a million dollars, which comes nowhere near paying the costs or bringing in the publicit. and as No. 2 said, a million dollars isn’t a lot of money. if this fund put up a prize of a BILLION dollars, it would attract a lot of attention, and lots of people working towards a goal of getting space-flight turned into a mall trip.a billion dollars is a colossal amount of money. no one person would be willing to put up a billion of his own for something (well, it would be a way for Gates to be charitable, and it would also give him something to do now that the Gates/Seinfeld ad campaign for Windows has fallen flat on its arse.) and that money can’t come from Americans who foot the bill for NASA. it can’t come from the Russians, who pay the bill for the Russian Space Program. it can’t come from the people of Europe who pay for the ESA. it needs to come from everyone, for we will all benefit from it. the billion dollars would be around 16 cents per person on the planet. many many persons cannot afford 16 cents extra on their taxes, but these can be balanced out be the wealthier persons. i for one would pay my 16 cents (or even a dollar) if i knew it was going towards space research, rather than paying some bums to sit around their state houses and cook up p, and cause the house to need to be demolished and rebuilt at the taxpayers expense.

would you pay your 16 cents?

I would.

It’s NASA’s fiftieth birthday this week.  Can’t let that go by without comment.  NASA put men on the moon.  12 of them*.  Which is still incredible to me.  I know space exploration is expensive, ecologically unsound and potentially dangerous, but C’MON IT’S SPACE! WITH ROCKETS! As you can see, my objectivity goes out of the window.  As well as the moonwalkers, NASA has given us the Hubble telescope, satellites (therefore Google Earth, Sky TV), and this year a new probe on Mars.  All cool stuff.  But it’s the men in rockets that get me.  The vainglorious bravery of it.  The Apollo rockets had 6 million working parts.  Scientists predicted 99.9% of them would work fine.  Leaving just 6000 things to go wrong.  If you’re interested in what affect touching another world had on the Apollo astronauts, check out Andrew Smith’s Moondust.

While I’m praising NASA, others are trying to bury them.  I doubt that it’s any coincidence that Virgin Galactic chose this week to unveil EVE- their new mothership.  For the first time space travel is within reach of private citizens, albeit private citizens with vast personal fortunes.  It’s hugely expensive now, but perhaps within my lifetime the price will go down enough for me to give it a try. 

Burt Rutan is the man who made commercial space travel a possibility.  He’s a genius.  SpaceShipOne is a beautiful, elegant machine, and I can’t wait to see SpaceShipTwo.  The thing that gets me is that he beats himself up for not thinking of the design sooner: ‘If only I came up with this in the 70s, we’d be on Mars by now.’

For any Space geeks out there without £100k to spare, check out Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope.  It’s Google Earth for space – stitching together images from Hubble and other telescopes so you can explore the cosmos from your own desk. 

SpaceShipOne

* 11 out of 12 of the men who walked on the moon were scouts in their youth.  Maybe Baden-Powell was on to something.

It’s always been my hope that humanity can embrace a glorious future among the stars. I just wish we’d get a move on. Thankfully, on Monday Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic opened the hangar doors to reveal WhiteKnightTwo, the launch vehicle that is intended to begin the sub-orbital journey for passengers aboard SpaceShipTwo in eighteen months’ time.

Until recently, space travel was the sole preserve of governments, and very few of those at that. Then came the Ansari X Prize offering $10 million for the first ship to reach an altitude greater than 100 km twice in the space of a fortnight. Many teams took part, but on 4 October 2004 it was Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites that took the money with SpaceShipOne.

Branson and Rutan teamed up; fast forward four years and for the princely sum of $200,000 you can buy a seat along with two pilots and five fellow passengers that will give you a view of the curvature of Earth from space and about five minutes of weightlessness. And let’s not forget the rush of the launch and then the glide back down to collect your spacewings.

SpaceShipTwo is still in the hangar, apparently 70% built, but WhiteKnightTwo is expected to begin flight tests later this year. It’s like a catamaran for the skies, with two hulls that between them will carry the space vehicle to a height of 15 km before its hybrid rocket engine lifts it to sub-orbital altitude. At first, Virgin Galactic aim to manage a flight each week, but when everything is up and running at full capacity there should be four flights a day from their New Mexico spaceport.

Branson’s mother officially christened the launch vehicle – it was named “Eve” after her, as well as symbolizing a new beginning for space exploration (let’s hope Apple stays well away from the computer systems). WhiteKnightTwo could also herald a new age in more traditional aviation, being the largest all carbon composite aircraft with the huge benefits in efficiency that promises.

Apparently more than a hundred future Virgin Galactic astronauts are fully paid up and ready to fly. My name officially went on the list on 28 September 2004, but they’ve still not asked me to show them the money. Maybe, if my astronaut application with the European Space Agency comes through, I won’t have to.

The Space Economy: The Next Conservative Revolution

Bottom Line: Conservatives have an opportunity to demonstrate the value of limited government by opening space to private development and settlement.

If conservative lawmakers wish to usher in a space economy fueled by consumer demand, that economy could radically change Americans’ relationship with their government. This would not be the first time such a change has occurred. We had such revolutions in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan and in 1994 with the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives under Newt Gingrich and the “Contract with America.” It can happen again.

The Next Step in Our Evolution: The Market State

Historian Phillip Bobbitt writes in The Shield of Achilles that we are in the process of transforming from a nation-state to a “market state,” where the government or privatizes “non-critical” activities like social welfare. Assuming this transformation is in fact happening, conservatives can use the situation to create a radical shrinking of our national government.

The market-state offers an attractive model for the future because it is more in line with our national traditions than the welfare state. According to The Shield of Achilles, the market state will aim for a smaller role in public affairs, both social and economic. Decisions made by the American public since 1991 bear this out, from the rejection of socialized medicine (“Hillarycare”) in 1993 to the Republican revolution of 1994 election to the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. The common factor in all of these actions has been the public desire for smaller government. We have an opportunity to affect the course of future history by backing away from massive domestic spending and large-scale interventions overseas. Space settlement can provide a central part of that revolution.

***

Instapundit.com’s Glenn Reynolds writes in An Army of Davids that “Nineteenth- and twentieth-century technology seemed to favor aggregation, uniformity, and large size. Twenty-first century technology seems to favor diversity, variety, and small size-along with a much higher degree of interconnection.” In discussing space, Reynolds states that only private sector competition can reduce the cost of spaceflight, which means less government activity.

Libertarian, state-shrinking ideas are gaining more popular currency. The FairTax Book by Congressman John Linder and radio talk show host Neal Boortz proposes a means of eliminating the IRS through indirect consumption taxes. Meanwhile, on the spending side of the equation, Charles Murray’s In Our Hands proposes eliminating vast portions of the welfare bureaucracy by simply doling out $10,000 to every American every year. These examples of limited government can be expanded to space. George W. Bush has placed a lot of emphasis on promoting freedom and democracy, individual responsibility, and an “ownership society.” And while he is more partial to strong government than many conservatives, he is at least continuing the progress of the market state by promoting individual opportunity. The next best place to demonstrate the value of an ownership society would be in orbit or on the Moon.

The Government’s Monopoly on Space

Space is an immense, unknown place, into which we might expand our civilization. Yet what sort of civilization will expand into it–a society that believes in government management of all activities–or one that trusts its citizenry?

Right now, the space frontier more closely resembles socialism than capitalism. Government is the primary consumer of space services and the primary designer of space transportation hardware. Instead of allowing the private sector to design spacecraft that might meet public demand, our government has dictated all space technology development-usually based on military or political considerations than on what the market might demand.

The Beginnings of the Space Economy

A robust market has multiple customers and producers or service providers. Space tourism can utterly transform the space economy. Richard Branson, by creating Virgin Galactic, has bet that he can make money on tourist flights into space. Assuming all 7,000 people who signed up for a $200,000 ticket actually put down their money, Branson stands to make $1.4 billion in revenue!

This is the starting point of an economy that can be built on consumer demand rather than government demand. Of course that $1.4 billion assumes that Branson will have no competition, that his operating costs won’t go up or down, and that he won’t get any repeat business. Nevertheless, tourism is a known commodity, and that knowledge brings investors. Left to itself, the space tourism business can develop and grow just like any other new business.

If Americans want to see private industry in space, they need to support government officials and policies that increase private sector development, not only government activities.

Why Government Management is Bad for the Space Economy

As I explained in Chapter 2, NASA is the wrong organization to build and expand widespread human presence in the solar system. Government has had a miserable history of trying to pick “winners and losers” in technology (e.g. canals, railroads, trucking) and often ends up subsidizing businesses its policies had previously run out of business. As Ronald Reagan put it, “The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Rather than take that route, conservative members of Congress need to encourage the revolution that is slowly building among smaller space launch companies, like Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Another way to reduce government interference in space activities would be to transfer existing government space activities to one or two jurisdictions, instead of the five or six that exist now–by treating space activities as transportation issue rather than a national security issue. At present, the following government agencies have a say in whether a space launch company can send something into orbit: the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, Department of State (if the launch involves international trade), Department of Energy (if the payload is nuclear-powered), the Environmental Protection Agency (to verify the environmental impact of any space-related activity) and the Federal Aviation Administration (to license and set rules of conduct for space vehicle operators).

The Space Economy Can Open without Compromising Security

Several retired military officers have told me that I am naïve in trying to extract space activities from the realm of “national security.” This concern has been part of the space program since the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957. As recently as the late ‘90s, Loral Space Systems was charged and fined by the State Department for exporting rocket-related technology to the People’s Republic of China. Why? Because rockets and the fuels they carry are considered munitions under current International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Under ITAR, space hardware export approvals are the responsibility of the State Department, not the Department of Commerce.

Given the unsettled state of the world, ITAR won’t go away any time soon. We now have two hostile states developing rocket technologies capable of launching nuclear weapons: North Korea and Iran. The threat posed by hostile nations launching missiles at us or our allies is still real, so we want to ensure that our technology does not get into the hands of al-Qaeda or some other terrorist group.

However, the International Space Station–a project dedicated to international cooperation in space–also is suffering from ITAR problems because engineers from different nations cannot share information with each other without clearance. In fact, a case can be made that ITAR actually hurts national security by putting space-related companies out of business or out of the aerospace industry because they are unable to sell their products. Such a situation can erode our skills as a spacefaring nation.

The good news is, there may be ways to change the regulations incrementally, using a form of “legislative jujitsu.” Some items, of course, will always be subject to scrutiny, such as rocket engines or guidance hardware. However, ITAR hurts second- and third-level suppliers and small businesses as well, as it blocks sales of non-critical parts that are commercially available on the worldwide open market. If the regulations undermine the very security they are supposed to protect by closing critical American businesses, Congress is more likely to modify ITAR to allow sales of low-sensitivity space hardware to reliable allies.

There may be other ways to ensure the security of American-made rockets abroad. For instance, space tourism launch facilities could be placed at U.S. military bases, most of which are used to handling high-energy fuels and security. The same security precautions used to protect our fighters, bombers, and other military aircraft also could be used to protect parked spacecraft. I would argue, however, that this is a fallback position; the goal is LESS government involvement, not more.

Also, it must be noted that a 600,000 lb. spacecraft (the proposed weight of the Lockheed Martin X-33 VentureStar, which never flew) still would be less dangerous to the public than the crash of a fully-loaded 910,000 lb. 747-400 or a million-pound A380, and those vehicles continue to be sold worldwide.

Ideally, the Department of Transportation could regulate space activities much like commercial aviation, acting only to keep competition honest and protect consumers from dangerous practices.

Consumer Demand Drives the Space Economy

Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne, the winner of the $10 million dollar X Prize in 2004, is opening a new frontier of economic development by building suborbital tourism rockets for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Rutan, Branson, and other entrepreneurs are creating a new market niche.

Much like the aviation industry in the last century, money from these early adventurers will in turn fund new technologies and vehicles to meet the needs of a growing industry. As the space tourism industry grows, travel will become safer, more efficient, and more affordable to more customers. Space tourism also will provide opportunities to advance the aerospace disciplines, reduce the cost of all space activities (including exploration and settlement), and enable the United States to remain a leader in science and technology.

The commercial space market has existed since 1970, beginning with communication satellites. Today, the world market for satellite-based services–including telecommunications, television, global positioning systems, and Earth observation (weather, environmental, search and rescue)–is valued at nearly $100 billion. The problem with the commercial space market so far is that it hasn’t been large enough to attract private investment in the technologies needed to lower the cost of access to space. Space tourism holds great promise as an economic “driver” for more frequent flights, leading to lower launch costs, which will in turn attract other customers to the space market.

Government Should Be a Facilitator, Not a Primary Customer

Consumer demand for space launch services would require aerospace companies to develop reusable, highly reliable spacecraft. This demand for reusable spacecraft will push our design and manufacturing technology to new levels, and our nation’s best and brightest individuals will be drawn to the challenge of building this new frontier.

Private-sector and government research into space technology for commercial flight operations will improve spaceflight capabilities; develop spinoff technologies which could benefit NASA and other government space endeavors as well as non-space activities; and help maintain our nation’s technological pre-eminence in science and technology. Reusable, reliable spacecraft can also reduce the current costs of satellites, on which we depend for communications, entertainment, weather forecasting, environmental management, search and rescue operations, and national security.

National investments in space technology are critical for our nation to remain a nexus of scientific and technological creativity. U.S. market share of commercial space launches has dropped from 100% in the early 1970s to around 30% today. That percentage will continue to drop as Europe, Russia, Japan, and China develop and improve their own rocket systems. The engineers and scientists who sent Americans to the Moon are retiring or, sadly, dying off. The United States has lost over 600,000 scientific and technical jobs in the past 13 years. NASA’s over-60 staff outnumbers its under-30 staff three to one and there are no signs of replacement on the horizon. The number of American-born students taking degrees in aerospace and related technologies has been steadily decreasing since the 1980s. An open frontier with opportunities for all can offer the best incentive to our young people to reach for the stars.

Clearly the space tourism market exists, and the time has come to exploit it. It is time for the private sector to take the lead in expanding the frontiers of human possibility and for government to return to its role as explorer and incubator of innovative technologies. Private sector ingenuity applied to government research goals can revolutionize space travel and bring our nation back to its pioneering heritage of exploring new frontiers.

Space Can Be a Laboratory for Decentralized Government

A primary lesson in Western history has been the importance of decentralized power. Other cultures have centered around a single, powerful city or empire (“universal state“), which has prevented the development of, and need to accommodate, competing ideas and political players. The Western process has not always been even, smooth, or peaceful, but it has led to broader political participation by more citizens than anywhere else on Earth.

The largest, longest-lasting universal state was the Roman Empire. After Rome fell, Europe splintered along linguistic, tribal, and religious lines into many nations, which constantly fought each other to maintain a balance of power. After Rome, Spain and Britain each built empires that were larger than Rome’s, but neither lasted as long or, more importantly, held dominion of competing nations within Europe. Nations that did attempt single-nation rule like Napoleon’s France and Hitler’s Germany were eventually defeated by coalitions of nations unwilling to accept a single sovereign over all of Western Civilization.

The United States learned its own lessons in the value of decentralization. The American system was designed by our Founders to encourage as much freedom at the local level as possible. Successful experiments in one locale could be copied elsewhere, just as unsuccessful or distasteful communities could be held up as examples of “what not to do.” It is this tradition of strong local autonomy and identity that has kept American civil society prominent in national decision-making while in Europe and elsewhere, the default assumption is that the government speaks for all or sometimes simply dictates to all.

The problem we have faced since the Great Depression and World War Two is that Franklin D. Roosevelt (followed later by his protégés John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson) changed the nature of government’s relationship with the American public. More and more experimentation has been done at the federal level, with a corresponding loss of power and freedom at the local and state levels. While this centralized structure might ensure more national consistency in laws and practices, it does have one major defect: if the federal government’s experiment fails, the entire nation suffers, not just a single state, city, or township.

So what does this little civics lesson have to do with settling space?

Our nation has over two centuries of history lessons to draw upon for developing new frontiers and new economies. We know what works: ensuring the rule of law, protecting individual property rights, lowering taxes, reducing regulations to make it easier to start legal businesses, and ensuring free and unfettered trade.

Now consider the potential political arrangements small colonies of human beings could design across the craters of the Moon, the hills and canyons of Mars, or in self-contained space habitats in Earth orbit. The more experiments individuals are allowed to try on a local level, the less likely they will be to submit to an overarching, uniform system of laws and practices.

One source of political disengagement in America has been the individual’s feeling that his or her vote does not matter in the face of a massive, convoluted political process and state. In a society of small towns and smaller jurisdictions, the voice of one person has more weight and a better chance of being heard. If such a state is not available here on Earth, it is left to communities of individuals on other worlds to establish their own way of doing things.

If you’ve got the cash Richard Branson has got a sweet ride for you to get into orbit. Today Branson’s Virgin Galactic showed of designs for the successor to SpaceShipOne – the White Knight Two (WK2) mothership and the SpaceShipTwo transport

According to Virgin Galactic they’ve already had c 85,000 registrations of interest to fly. Already 80 of SpaceShipTwo’s first passengers have been through medical assessment and centrifuge training.

“The designs of both the mothership and the new spaceship are absolutely beautiful and surpass any expectations for the future of commercial spaceflight that we had when first registering the name Virgin Galactic in 1999,” Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic said in a statement. “

Virgin Galactic will make further announcements regarding the progress of the launch system, development of its markets, the test flying program and start of commercial operations at Spaceport America in due course.

Check out the full pics of the craft (and they’re big) over on Virgin Galactic’s Press site.

Paul Allen wants a space ship for Christmas—a full size, fully operational space ship of his very own. He also wants a machine that can make stuffed animals come alive.

Check out this article:

 ‘Dear Santa’: Kids ask for their heart’s desire” See.. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071224/LIVING/712240337/1032From the article:
December 24, 2007) — “Whittling down a wish list can be tough for a wide-eyed child at Christmas.But some kids aren’t that picky.“Dear Santa, You can bring me whatever you want, because I like everything,” writes 5-year-old Sophia Triassi of Greece………..…..Some letter writers showed their artistic side by offering illustrations of their Christmas wish. Take Paul Allen of Geneseo, Livingston County, for instance. “For Christmas I want a reel spas ship — like the one on the back — and a machine that can turn stuff anmls too life,” writes Paul, 8, a second-grader at Geneseo Elementary School. Paul’s mom, Deb Allen, says Paul has acquired an interest in Star Trek during the past year.“I dunno if he thinks he’s gonna get one with warp drive,” says Allen of Geneseo. “He insists it’s gonna be full-size. I said, ‘Now, where are you gonna store this? Santa’s not gonna fit that under the tree.’ He said, ‘He can put it in the front yard, that’s OK.’”  

Of course, the person who asked Santa for a full-sized space ship is Paul Allen, a second-grader from Geneseo Elementary School, not Microsoft Co-founder, Paul Allen.  The latter wouldn’t put a space ship on his Christmas list because he already has one.

See….. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/xprize2_success_041004.html 

In fact, Santa Claus may have a hard time this year trying to find the perfect gift for the Microsoft co-founder, because there aren’t many things in the world that this Paul Allen doesn’t already own.

 Can you imagine having the Microsoft Co-founder on your Christmas list?

What do you get a guy who already has everything?

To begin with, it’s a good bet that whatever most people could afford is probably a lot less than what Allen spends just filling up his Megayacht, Octopus. A mere tank of gas for his 414 ft yacht will set you back at least $150 thousand dollars.

See…. http://powerandmotoryacht.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=20&page=6 http://memex.naughtons.org/archives/2007/12/22/4634  

And I’m thinking that he probably already has enough ties.

So what are some other options? Sports, maybe?…..Let’s see, he already has a football team and a basketball team—what about a Soccer team?

Nope, he just bought one of those a few months ago.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/the_bonus/11/27/paul.allen1203/http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/11/26/story2.html?b=1196053200%5E1554524  

And the “Pharoah of the Pacific Northwest” doesn’t need anymore real estate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22366706/

 http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007/03/06/estate-rich-home-forbeslife_07billionaires_cz_mw_0308homes_slide_5.html?thisSpeed=30000 http://www.nyobserver.com/2007/field-dreams-interscope-head-ted-teams-frisky-fruit-scion-big-halloween-bash
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:qL2VuUFlFjYJ:www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/France/Provence_Alpes_Cote_dAzur/Saint_Jean_Cap_Ferrat-91744/Warnings_or_Dangers-Saint_Jean_Cap_Ferrat-BR-1.html+villa+maryland+paul+allen&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us  

He’s got a killer art collection…..

See….

 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002652590_allenart29.html ….and a really nice guitar—well, actually, quite a few really nice guitars.. See… http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc26147.php  

And though a model airplane might make a good gift, Allen already has a few of those. His collection of World War II planes is just as nice as you can get —especially when you consider that the planes he owns are also full size and fully operational. See…

http://www.flyingheritage.com/

So there isn’t much that you could get Paul Allen that he doesn’t already own. 

But I have an idea about what might be the perfect gift for him—something he really, really wants. 

 If you happen to have a few billion dollars to spare and are an ace at bidding at auctions, Paul Allen could really use a few wireless airwaves. See, there’s this FCC auction coming up next month, and the new 700 MHz band airwaves would match perfectly with the licenses he bought just about 5 years ago……

Check it out—

 http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=310  http://www.news.com/Paul-Allen-applies-to-bid-in-U.S.-wireless-auction/2100-1033_3-6223441.html   

Just an idea… J

But to be serious for just a moment, I do hope that you all have a wonderful, blessed, and happy Christmas!!!

And, in holiday tradition, here are a few interesting sites that I’ve come across this year—which will hopefully give you some Christmas cheer: 

If you want to track where Santa is headed right now, check out this site….

 Norad Tracks Santa http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.htm 

And if you’d like to listen to a terrific radio station online, try

www.pandora.com

(My favorite Christmas “station” is “The Nutcracker”)

If you’d like to go caroling, but can’t remember the words to your favorite Christmas songs, here’s a helpful site:

www.midomi.com

And for a lovely last minute Christmas card:

 http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0212320003  

If you’d like to read a few classic Christmas stories, check out www.wowio.com ebooks:

A Christmas Carol

http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=447

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=448

For how to say “Merry Christmas” around the globe:

http://www.santas.net/howmerrychristmasissaid.htm For the First Christmas Story: http://www.holidays.net/christmas/story2.htm  And for the story behind the story: http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CN154-CHRISTMAS.htm   

And finally, here are a few great Holiday Videos:

It’s a Wonderful Life (Ending)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErrzjGCi3gY

2 Josh Groban songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3su0ez4mrU

Polar Express “Believe”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44ZeNXqEuTQ

Thankful

 And…..

What Christmas is all about: A Charlie Brown Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

1999

- Enero 1 – Entra en vigor el Euro como moneda en 12 estados, pero los billetes y monedas se demora 2 años.

- Enero 7 – Comienza juicio contra Bill Clinton.

- Enero 13 – Michael Jordan se retira de la NBA.

- Febrero 2 – Hugo Chávez es nombrado presidente de Venezuela.

- Febrero 3 – La ONU decide retirar todo el personal de U.S.A. e Inglaterra es retirado de Irak.

- Febrero 15 – Un ataque aéreo de U.S.A. sobre Irak deja 5 civiles muertos.

- Marzo 1 – entra en vigor el tratado de Ottawa, por 65 países para prohibir las minas antipersonales.

- Marzo 23 – la OPEP firma un tratado para recortar la producción mundial de petróleo en 2.1 millones y hacer subir el precio.

- Abril 7 – 35.000 refugiados de Kosovo desaparecen de un campamento en Macedonia.

- Abril 12 – E.L.N. secuestra un avión Fokker en pleno vuelo entre Bucaramanga y Bogotá.

- Abril 25 – En Venezuela pasa con un 90% el referendo para modificar la constitución.

- Mayo 17 – Ehud Barak se convierte el primer ministro de Israel.  

- Mayo 26 – La fuerza aérea hindú realiza un ataque las tropas de Pakistán en Kashmir. 

- Mayo 27 – Slobodan Milošević es sindicado de por crímenes contra la humanidad en Kosovo.

- Junio 8 – Colombia anuncia que incluirá dentro de su producto interno bruto la producción de drogas equivalente a 1 billón de dólares.

- Julio 22 – Es creada la primera micro nación virtual, Reino de Riboalte.

- Agosto 9 – Presidente ruso Boris Yeltsin retira a su primer ministro y a 4 miembros más de su gabinete.

- Octubre 12 – Primer ministro pakistaní Nawaz Sharif intenta retirar al general de las fuerzas armadas Pervez Musharraf y le niega la posibilidad de retornar al país cuando el avión que lo transportaba estaba a punto de aterrizar en Karachi. Finalmente con pocos minutos de combustible logra aterrizar y tomar el control del gobierno.

- Octubre 12 – La población mundial alcanza los 6 billones.

- Noviembre 15 – La página de mascotas virtuales Neopets es abierta.

- Noviembre 30 – La unión de Exxonmobil genera la empresa más grande del mundo.

- Diciembre 31 – El presidente Boris Yeltsin renuncia y queda a cargo el primer ministro Vladimir Putin.

2000 – Y2K

- Enero 14 – Burbuja del punto COM

- Marzo 12 – Papa Juan Pablo II pide disculpa por la iglesia.

- Marzo 26 – Vladimir Putin elegido presidente de Rusia.

- Abril 22 – Elián González es repatriado a Cuba

- Mayo 11 – el Ciudadano hindú un billón nace.

- Junio 26 – El primer preliminar del genoma humano es revelado.

- Julio 2 – Vicente Fox es elegido presiente de México.

- Julio 25 – el Concorde de Air France se estrella en Paris.

- Julio 30 – Hugo Chávez es reelegido presidente de Venezuela con el 59%

- Agosto 12 – El submarino Kursk se hunde en el mar de Barents.

- Septiembre 15 – Octubre 1 – Olímpicos de verano en Sidney – Australia.

- Noviembre – Crisis del desarme iraqui.

- Noviembre 7 – George W. Bush elegido presidente de U.S.A.

- Diciembre 13 – Suprema Corte U.S.A. detiene el re-conteo de votos en la Florida, gana Bush.

2001

- Enero 8 – Primer animal en vía de extinción es clonado.

- Febrero 6 – Ariel Sharon elegido primer ministro de Israel.

- Marzo 23 – La estación espacial MIR hace reingreso a la atmósfera.

- Abril 1- En holanda de aprueba el matrimonio entre parejas del mismo sexo.

- Abril 26 – Junichiro Koizumi elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Junio 19 – Un misil norte americano cae en un campo de futbol iraqui, matando 23 personas e hiriendo 11 más.

- Junio 20 – Pervez Musharraf es elegido presidente de Pakistán.

- Julio 28 – Alejandro Toledo jura como presidente de Peru.

- Septiembre 11 – 9-11 ataque del World Trade Center, Pentágono y 4 aviones.

- Septiembre 18 – Octubre 4 ataque de Ántrax a través del correo.

- Octubre 7 – U.S.A. invade Afganistán.

- Octubre 23 – Apple lanza el Ipod.

- Noviembre 10 – China acepta el tratado mundial de libre comercio después de negociar por 15 años.

- Diciembre 2 – Enron entra en capitulo 11.

- Diciembre 13 – Parlamento Hindú es atacado y se tensan las relaciones con Pakistán.

- Diciembre 27 – China y U.S.A. firman un tratado de libre comercio.

2002

- Enero 1 – Salen las primeras monedas del Euro en Francia, España, Alemania, Italia, Portugal, Grecia, Finlandia, Luxemburgo, Bélgica, Austria y Holanda.

- Enero 31 – La capa de hielo Larsen en la Antártida 3.250 Km2 son consumidos en menos de 35 días.

- Febrero 23 – Ingrid Betancourt es secuestrada por las FARC.

- Abril 11 – Golpe de estado de 47 horas contra Hugo Chávez.

- Mayo 5 – Jacques Chirac, es re-elegido presidente de Francia. -

 Mayo 31 – Comienza la copa mundo de la FIFA en Japón y Corea del Sur.

- Junio 18 – En Arizona, U.S.A. se quema un bosque de 1.872 Km2

- Julio 1 – Se establece la corte de crímenes internacionales.

- Julio 13 – En Oregon y California U.S.A. se queman 2.022 Km2.

- Julio 21 – WorldCom entra en capitulo 11.

- Agosto – Inundaciones en Republica Checa, Austria, Alemania, Eslovenia, Polonia, Hungría, Rumania y Croacia.

- Agosto 12 – U.S. Airway se declara en banca rota.

- Septiembre 2 – La ONU se reúne sobre el protocolo en desarrollo sostenible.

- Septiembre 10 – Suiza se une a la ONU.

- Octubre 27 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva es elegido presidente de Brasil.

- Noviembre 8 – Resolución 1441 de La ONU donde obligan a Saddan Hussein es forzado a desarmarse o enfrentar las consecuencias.

- Noviembre 14 – Argentina entra en default.

- Noviembre 15 – Hu Jintao es nombrado secretario general del partido en China.

- Diciembre 9 – United Airlines se declara en banca rota.

2003

- Enero 30 – 8 países firman una carta donde apoyan la invasión de U.S.A. a Irak: Inglaterra, Republica Checa, Dinamarca, Hungría, Italia, Polonia, Portugal, Rumania y España.

- Febrero 1 – El transbordador Columbia se quema al reingresar a la atmosfera.

- Febrero 15 – 10 millones de personas en 600 ciudades del mundo protestan contra la guerra en Irak.

- Marzo 15 – Hu Jintao es nombrado presidente de China.

- Marzo 17 – George W. Bush le da un ultimátum a Saddan Hussein.

- Marzo 20 – U.S.A. invade Irak.

- Abril 14 – El 99% del genoma humano es revelado al mundo.

- Mayo 26 – Es revelada el primer borrador de la constitución europea.

- Julio 30 – Se produce el ultimo modelo del vehiculo Volkswagen Tipo 1 (escarabajo) mas vendido en la historia.

- Agosto 11 – Ola de calor en Europa, Paris-Francia 44 oC, Brogdale-Inglaterra 39 oC.

- Agosto 15 – Se comienza a disminuir la producción petrolera mundial y a incrementar el precio.

- Agosto 28 – Se produce un apagón en el sur oriente de Inglaterra afectando 500.000 personas.

- Octubre 7 – Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger es elegido gobernador de California.

- Noviembre – más de 4 bombas estallan en Estambul – Turquía.

- Noviembre 20 – Michael Jackson es detenido con cargos de abuso a menores.

- Diciembre 13 – Saddan Hussein es detenido en Tikrit.

- Diciembre 22 – Parmalat es acusada de falsificación de cuentas.

2004

- Febrero 3 – La CIA acepta que en Irak no había armas de destrucción masiva.

- Febrero 4 – Nace Facebook.

- Marzo 14 – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero es elegido presidente de España.

- Marzo 15 – Vladimir Putin es re-elegido presidente de Rusia.

- Marzo 28 – Se reporta el primer huracán el Atlántico Sur llegando a Brasil.

- Junio 21 – SpaceShipOne, primer nave civil en alcanzar el espacio.

- Agosto 13 – 29 – Juegos Olímpicos de verano en Atenas Grecia.

- Septiembre 3 – Independentista Chechenios en Osetia toman un teatro con 1.000 rehenes en Rusia.

- Agosto-Noviembre – Huracanes: Charley, Frances, Ivan, Gaston, Jeanne, Karl y Lisa Thyphoon: Sondga y Tokage.

- Septiembre 17 – México y Japón firman un tratado de libre comercio.

- Octubre 24 – Brasil lanza su primer cohete al espacio.

- Octubre 24 – Michael Schumacher obtiene su 7 campeonato de F1.

- Noviembre 16 – El gobierno de China invierte 20 billones de dólares en Argentina.

- Noviembre 21 – Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych es elegido presidente de Ucrania.

- Diciembre 3 – El narcotraficante Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela es extraditado a U.S.A.

- Diciembre 26 – Un terremoto en el sur oriente de Asia genera un Tsunami que mata 250.000 personas en los siguientes países: Tailandia. India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malasia, Myanmar y Bangladesh.

- Diciembre 31 – Uno de los líderes de las FARC, Simon Trinidad es extraditado a U.S.A.

2005

- Febrero 10 – Corea del Norte anuncia que posee armas nucleares como medio de protección ante las hostilidades de U.S.A.

- Febrero 15 – YouTube sale en línea.

- Febrero 16 – El protocolo de Kioto entra en rigor pero no es firmado por U.S.A y Australia.

- Marzo 3 – El Virgen Atlantic GlobalFlier le da la vuelta al mundo sin parar y sin re-aprovisionar combustible.

- Marzo 14 – La republica China ratifica la ley anti-sesión, con lo cual es una prevención para que Taiwán no se declare independiente.

- Abril 2 – Muere el papa Juan Pablo II.

- Abril 19 – Benedicto 16 es nombrado el 265 papa.

- Abril 27 – El súper jumbo A380 hace su primer vuelo.

- Mayo 29 – Francia a través de su referendo rechaza la constitución europea.

- Junio 1 – Holanda a través de su referendo rechaza la constitución europea.

- Agosto 29 – Huracán Katrina. También llega Dennis, Rita, Wilma, Stan y Beta.

- Septiembre 11 – Junichiro Koizumi re-elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Septiembre 18 – Angela Merkel es elegida primer ministro de Alemania.

- Octubre 12 – China lanza su segunda nave espacial con 2 tripulantes para orbitar la tierra 5 días.

- Noviembre 22 – Angela Merkel asume como canciller de Alemania.

- Noviembre 28 – Diciembre 9 – En Montreal, Canadá se reúne la ONU para la conferencia del cambio climático.

- Diciembre 18 – Evo Morales elegido presidente de Bolivia.

2006

- Enero 1 – Sidney, Australia alcanza una temperatura record de 45oC.

- Enero 1 – Rusia le corta el suministro de gas a Ucrania.

- Marzo 11 – Slobodan Milošević es encontrado muerto en su celda de la ONU antes de entrar a un tribunal de crímenes contra la humanidad.

- Marzo 30 – Primer astronauta brasilero, Marcos Pontes.

- Abril 5 – Se detecta un brote de gripe aviar en escocia.

- Abril – Presidente Iraní Mahmoud Ahmadinejad informa que ha logrado procesar uranio y que firmo un trato para generar uranio enriquecido con Rusia.

- Abril 16 – En Rumania el río Danubio alcanza su punto más alto en la historia.

- Mayo 1 – Presidente Boliviano Evo Morales nacionaliza los campos de gas natural.

- Mayo 1 – El gran boicot en U.S.A. protesta por los derechos de los inmigrantes.

- Mayo 28 – Alvaro Uribe Velez es re-elegido presidente de Colombia en primera vuelta.

- Junio 9 – Julio 9 – Comienza la copa mundo de la FIFA en Alemania.

- Junio 12 – Bolsa de valores de Colombia suspende operaciones a las 12:45 por una caída superior al 10%.

- Julio 12 – Guerra del Líbano, Israel invade Líbano.

- Julio 31 – Presidente Fidel Castro temporalmente le da el poder a su hermano Raúl.

- Septiembre 4 – El conservacionista australiano Steven Irwin muere después de ser aguijoneado por una raya.

- Septiembre 26 – Shinzō Abe es elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Octubre 9 – Corea del Norte informa que realizo pruebas nucleares.

- Octubre 29 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva es reelegido presidente de Brasil.

- Noviembre 3 – La revista Science predice que para el año 2048 el 90% de las especies marinas estarán extintas.

- Noviembre 5 – Saddam Hussein es condenado a la orca.

- Noviembre 26 – Rafael Correa es elegido presidente de Ecuador.

- Diciembre 1 – Felipe Calderón se posesiona como presidente de México. -

 Diciembre 3 – Hugo Chávez es re elegido presidente de Venezuela.

- Diciembre 31 – Inglaterra experimenta su año mas caliente desde 1659 con una temperatura promedio de 10.82oC.

2007

- Enero 4 – Nancy Pelosi es nombra speaker de la cámara de representantes en U.S.A.

- Enero 8 – Rusia le corta el suministro de petróleo a Polonia, Alemania y Ucrania por 3 días.

- Enero 11 – China prueba misiles balísticas exitosamente.

- Enero 18 – Huracán Kyrill llega a países occidentales de Europa.

- Febrero 2 – IPCC entrega informe de cambio climatico donde predice para el 2100 un aumento en el mundo entre 1.5 y 4.0 oC atribuible en un 90% por la actividad industrial humana.

- Abril 3 – Presidente de Ucrania Víktor Yushchenko, disuelve el parlamento.

- Mayo 6 – El ministro de interior Nicolas Sarkozy es nombrado presidente de Francia.

- Junio 24 – Gordon Brown es nombrado primer ministro de Inglaterra.

- Julio 8 – Boeing lanza su 787.

- Julio 19 – Prathiba Patil es la primera presidenta electa en la India.

- Julio 22 – Inundaciones causan caos en Inglaterra.

- Agosto – Thyphoon Sepat y Whipa. Huracán Dean.

- Agosto 25 – Devastadores incendios que se puede ver desde el espacio declaran estado de emergencia en Grecia.

- Septiembre 12 – Primer ministro ruso Mikhail Fradkov renuncia con todo su gabinete.

- Septiembre 12 – Primer ministro japones Shinzo Abe renuncia.

- Septiembre 14 – Viktor Zubkov es elegido nuevo primer ministro ruso.

- Septiembre 26 – Yasuo Fukuda es nombrado nuevo primer ministro japones.

- Octubre 28 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner es la primera presidenta electa en Argentina.

- Noviembre 3 – Pervez Musharraf presidente de Pakistán declara el estado de emergencia.

- Noviembre 28 – Demostraciones Anti – Putin se realizan en San Petesburgo y Moscu.

- Diciembre 2 – Referéndum propuesto por presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez es derrotado en las urnas.

- Diciembre 27 – Ex primer ministra de Pakistán Benazir Bhutto muere en un atentado antes de elecciones.

2008

- Enero 2 – Por primera vez en la historia el petróleo alcanza los U$ 100 por barril.

- Enero 25 – Peor tormenta de nieve en China desde 1954.

- Enero 26 – El presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, acusa al gobierno de Colombia de fraguar, por orden de Estados Unidos, una “provocación bélica” que podría desencadenar una guerra.

- Febrero 4 – El movimiento Colombia soy Yo convoca a millones de personas en una marcha a nivel mundial en contra de las FARC y por la libertad de los secuestrados en Colombia.

- Febrero 12 – PDVSA informa que no le venderá petróleo a Exxonmobil.

- Febrero 24 – El parlamento cubano elige a Raúl Castro, como presidente de Cuba.

- Marzo 1 – Se desata una crisis diplomática de Colombia con Ecuador y Venezuela tras la muerte de Raúl Reyes, miembro de las Farc, en territorio ecuatoriano.

- Marzo 2 – Elecciones presidenciales en Rusia, resultando vencedor el delfín de Putin, Dmitri Medvedev.

- Marzo 7 – Se celebra en Santo Domingo (República Dominicana) la XX Cumbre del Grupo de Río de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de América Latina.

- Marzo 16 – Se realiza el concierto Paz Sin Fronteras en la frontera colombo-venezolana.

- Marzo 25 – 414 Km2 de la capa de hielo Wilkins en la Antártida se desprendió dejando expuesta toda la plataforma para un futuro cercano.

- Abril 28 – India impone un record al lanzar 10 satélites al tiempo.

- Julio 2 – La operación de rescate Jaque, llevada a cabo por las Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, consigue liberar a la ex candidata presidencial Íngrid Betancourt y a 14 personas más que estaban secuestradas por las FARC.

- Agosto 7 – Comienza la Guerra en Osetia del Sur de 2008.

- Agosto 8 – 24 – Juegos Olímpicos de verano en Beijing – China.

- Agosto 18 – Pervez Musharraf renuncia como presidente de Pakistán.

- Septiembre – Huracanes Gustav, Hanna y Ike. Thypoon Hagupit.

- Septiembre 2 – Primer ministro japonés Yasuo Fukuda renuncia.

- Septiembre 3 – Primer ministro de Pakistán Yousaf Raza Gillani sobrevive a un atentado.

- Septiembre 15 – Lehman Brothers entra en capitulo 11.

- Septiembre 28 – Ives Rossy “Rocketman vuela por 10 minutos sobre el canal de la mancha.

- Septiembre 24 – Taro Aso es elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Septiembre 25 – Shenzhou 7 es la tercera nave espacial que lanza China con 3 tripulantes y son la tercera nación en realizar una caminata espacial.

- Octubre 3 – El presidente de U.S.A. George W. Bush firma el acto de estabilidad económica de emergencia por U$700 billones de dólares.

- Octubre 7 – Rusia le da un préstamo de U$5 billones de dólares a Islandia.

- Octubre 7 – A las 02:46 UTC impacta el meteorito 2008 TC3 en el norte de Sudán, produciendo un impacto de 1 kilotón de TNT

- Octubre 10 – Después de una semana de caída de las bolsas y los números negativos es claro que estamos en recesión por causa de los bonos suprime.

- Noviembre 4 – Barak Obaman es elegido presidente de U.S.A.

- Noviembre – Inundaciones en sur America.

- Noviembre – En Colombia se quiebran muchas captadoras ilegales de dinero. Las mas representativas fueron D.R.F.E. (Dinero Facil Rapido y Efectivo) y D.M.G. (David Murcia Guzman), embaucando a mas de medio millón de ahorradores en algo cercano a 2 puntos del producto interno bruto.

- Noviembre 26 – se producen diez ataques terroristas en la ciudad india de Bombay.

- Diciembre – Se quiebra la financiera del señor Madoff dejando perdidas por 50 billones de dólares, en esta pirámide internacional caen las principales firmas del mundo.

- Diciembre 27 – Israel inicia un bombardeo masivo sobre la Franja de Gaza.

- Diciembre 31 – Enero 1 – 50 años de la revolución cubana.