Earth's Astronauts Meet
Over 100 astronauts to attend Riyadh, Saudi Arabia meeting, Arabnews
“The conference will be attended by more than 100 astronauts from 18 different countries along with experts in the space and aeronautics sector from all around the world. … The event will be addressed on the first day by Prince Sultan bin Salman. Other speakers include KACST President Mohammed Al-Suwaiyel and Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud. Among the foreign speakers will be Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu, president of ASE and the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space; George W. Abbey, former director of Johnson Space Center, USA; Charles Elachi, director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US; and Thierry H. Duquesne, director for strategy, programs and international relations, Center National d’Etudes Spatiales — CNES, France.”
Association of Space Explorers
Wait, you mean the United States isn’t the only space faring nation in the world?
Someone better get Bill Posey, Bill Olsen, and Lamar Smith on the phone and let him know his “Space Leadership and Protection Act of 2012” can’t stop the rest of the world from advancing their space programs.
Our American Government is turning inward and failing its citizens in space policy. But MSFC, KSC, and JSC are doing “just fine”. Instead of opening up the new market where America can be the biggest benefactor, they are cutting us off from the rest of the world.
This isn’t 1960. You do not need to be a superpower to design a rocket or have a space exploration and settlement program.
Other countries will go to space, with or without us. We better advance what we have instead of holding what we have “close to the vest”.
Respectfully,
Andrew Gasser
TEA Party in Space
Andrew,
The problem that I see is that you have too many people in both the Senate and the House who seem to believe that we are still fighting the Cold War, and worse, the “enemy” isn’t just the USSR anymore, but half the planet. Until these old fools die off the US is going to keep putting its foot in its mouth diplomatically. It only takes one old fool to make millions of Americans look bad, and yet it’s those same Americans who continue to reelect the fools, which suggests to me that instead of “representing” their constituents, these guys are somehow un-educating them. Far from being the world leader, I would say that America is in danger of become a third world country on its present course. But, of course, no one wants to hear that.
Steve
Space is for the US and we need to protect our interest. If others advance their interests, thats great, as long as we protect ours.
It is in our interest to avoid war. Collaboration with our rivals in space (particularly China) can help to accomplish this. Regarding the conference, obviously there must be some good reason it is in Saudi Arabia. Sponsorship?
Collaboration is fine too, but there has to be a leader and it is not in our interest to be in second place.
Space4US,
Why, exactly, does there have to be a leader? I thought we “came in peace for all mankind.” A cooperative effort, with cooperative oversight, would be a large step in the direction of a sustainable world peace, something which mankind has always needed but never managed to achieve. And nationalist thinking is the prime culprit in that failure. It’s good to take pride in one’s heritage and history, but any attitude that smacks of “us and them” is ultimately devolutionary and destructive. They tell me that on the ISS there is hardware built by different countries, but none of the modules have national borders painted on them. This, I believe, is the attitude that we should strive for in space, in the hope that it will eventually spread back down to Earth. United we stand; divided we fall; is an idea with a lot of proof behind it.
Steve
Its not about us versus them its about leaders and followers and which stakeholders contribute the most or have the most to lose We can’t let US jobs flow overseas again (or in this case overhead to those who could cut us off).
Our commericialization effort is not being cutoff by NASA or any of its space centers. It is going to go forward regardless of budget cuts next year. In fact, I predict there will be MORE cooperation with the space centers and commerical efforts, including the Stennis center and MSFC and of course KSC. I will also make a prediction that the Orion space capsule will not get cut. It is the only BEO vehicle being built among any of the nations attending this conference. According to the latest article by Elon, he too is building a BEO Dragon space capsule that could be used for a Mars mission. It, however, won’t get tested for several more years. The Orion capsule is getting tested in 2013 or 2014. So NASA has a proactive plan that the other nations could only dream about. The SLS may get cut next year, but NASA can still proceed without it. All is not doom and gloom even with the budget cuts coming up.
I am curious about how many female space explorers are in attendance and how they’ve been treated. You can drive a spaceship but no-driving-a-car-for-you? Or is this a gathering of international male space explorers? If Saudi Arabia is so concerned about becoming an intellectual power house, maybe they should see to the 50% of their population they marginalize first.
Andy Turnage from ASE asked me to post this:
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The Saudis have treated our female fliers with great respect and dignity (we have 13 female fliers here). There has been no harassment, segregation, or anything else untoward or even remotely unfriendly. All have been welcomed extremely warmly.
The Congress is held in a different country every year, hosted by the (a) national astronaut from that country.
Sultan bin Salman (STS 51-G) invited the ASE to KSA for the XXV Congress; he also hosted the V Congress in 1989. This is why the Congress is here this year, as opposed to somewhere (anywhere) else….
The situation with “where the money comes from” over here is such that there is government support, private support (from the Royal family) and sponsorships from Emirates, GE, Boeing, etc. I couldn’t even guess at a breakout of how much comes from what.
I do know that the Saudi government (in the form of the King Abdullah City for Science and Technology) paid for the airfares for folks to get here. The hotel is paid for by sponsorships, and the margins are covered by contributions from the royal family.
I have the opportunity to double my daily sleep allotment tonight, but I’ll be up for a little while more to clarify anything else you might have questions about…