The International Space Development Conference (ISDC) kicked off yesterday, here in Huntsville, AL. The conference aims to bring the movers and shakers in the space industry together for an opportunity to share their progress and look for new opportunities. In addition to policy makers, and space industry insiders, there are also many space enthusiasts attending who want to learn about space and what's is actually being done to bring wide spread space development and settlement closer to reality. This year there are also quite a few students present, most of who are competing in the Space Settlement Design Competition, sponsored by NASA and the National Space Society.

This year, the official theme of the conference is "From the Ground Up." While there is a lot of discussion about the technological, economical, and political obstacles that still need to be overcome, there is also a palpable sense that we are in the midst of a significant transition in the way space exploration is being carried out. This transition has already started to manifest itself in numerous ways; most notably in the shift in US Space Policy towards obtaining more commercial launch services, but also in the substantial increase in the numbers of smaller companies and organizations who are now building and flying hardware in space.

Mood and Motivation (by Eric)

Many attendees have been remarking on a more subdued mood this year at the ISDC. The first day of the conference got off to an inauspicious start, with very little fanfare. The first session of the day was a plenary panel entitled "How Space Gets Done." As exciting as that title sounds, it would have been more accurate to have titled it "How Space Policy Gets Done." What followed was an hour and a half of listening to six individuals describe their role in the shaping of the current US Space Policy. While this is arguably a very important topic for people who need to know how to maneuver in the shark infested waters of the US space industry, the presentation left some of us underwhelmed and slightly bored.

The breakout sessions were a bit more interesting. The first session I attended was by Les Johnson, who described current and near term advanced in-space propulsion technologies that might enable an interstellar probe to be sent to nearby star systems. This is very cool technology, and it's amazing to think that we have the scientific and engineering capability to build a spacecraft that can travel between the stars. Now, granted it would take hundreds of years, and for the moment we would only be able to send unmanned probes, but it's still cool. Manned missions would require significant breakthroughs in physics or propulsion technology, but Les was quick to point out that there are still plenty of unsolved problems in physics that may yet provide us with a means to reach the stars.

Later in the day, Michael Doornbos of evadot.com gave a very passionate presentation about inspiring kids to dream big by attempting bold things in space. Michael argues that space travel has got to be one of the coolest things ever, and probably one of the best topics for getting kids excited about the future. The only problem is that many adults have lost that sense of excitement and see only obstacles where kids might see opportunity. Michael believes that it's time for us take a second look at why we got interested in space to begin with and try to rekindle that childlike spark within us. This change in attitude might be what is necessary for us to regain our sense of purpose and point us in the right direction, but most importantly, it is vital that we use that spark to engage our children.

I admit to being an adult who has lost his spark, but not his enthusiasm. I still want to live on the moon. I still want be the first to discover something new out on the frontier. But somewhere along the way, I lost the inner spark of imagination that saw around obstacles and allowed me to fully visualize what I believed life would be like living and working in space. I miss that feeling, but I am looking forward to finding it again. After all, I have three children to inspire, and who just might inspire me to think big again.

Momentum (by Wes)

I've just attended the first day of the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. This comes after yesterday's Space Investment Summit 9 (SIS9) at the same venue. The one concept that keeps coming up is momentum.

Yesterday, the kickoff speech by Richard Phillips was about using momentum as a model for how we build space-related businesses. He presented a well thought out method of measuring a business by its mass, velocity, and direction - momentum. Good advice (and easy to remember!) for any technical person running a business. His challenge still echoes in my head: What have you done to create momentum?

Not just business momentum, but physics momentum is on everyone's minds today. Sit down for a tasty meal with 7 strangers and you'll find out that most are talking about propulsion. Big rockets. Little rockets. Balloons and rockets. Lifting bodies and rockets. Electric rockets. Giant rubber bands. Propulsion. Any propulsion that gets things and people from the ground into low earth orbit. No idea is too wild to consider. The attitude is that we've tried or are retrying all the normal ideas, so it's time for something new, something wonderful, something that will bring momentum.

In between meals and Tweeting, I'm attending The Foundry at ISDC. This is a 2 day intensive idea-planning boot camp for anything aerospace, complete with a presentation to a judging panel. Perhaps my presentation should start: "Hello I'm Wes with Part Time Scientists. Let me tell you about momentum!"

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