MichSpace

Space Exploration Technologies is gearing up for the first demonstration of its Dragon space capsule aboard the Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, December 7. Back up flight windows are on December 8 or 9. The flight will pave the way for SpaceX to provide cargo resupply to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Student Ambassadors in conjunction with S3FL and SEDS@UM are going to have a public viewing of the launch!

Atmospheric science Ph.D. student Harvey Elliott [that's me!] spent the summer chasing dust storms and measuring their electrical charges. My travels took me to Niamey, Niger and Boulder City, Nevada where I was working with AOSS Professor Nilton Renno to better understand the phenomenon of the electrification of dust and sand particles as they bounce along a surface. I wont say too much here, but my experiences were covered recently in the November 2010 issue of Discover Magazine [page 34] and on Michigan Engineering's blog, LabLog, here.



Read more about Professor Nilton Renno

Learn more about Professor Renno's ENG 450 class

Attention: The first student built satellite from UM is launching this Friday, Nov 19. There will be a launch party in the Boeing Auditorium, FXB, starting at 8pm. Live web-coverage is available here.

Well a few days ago we got back for the SEDS Space Vision conference and I have to say it was an experience. We arrived on the second day of the conference and saw the majority of the talks. They really addressed the current state of space.

Now on to the awesome. The point of a conference is not (in my unqualified opinion) the talks, its the people you meet. Sure someone can get up and show you some pictures of what their company is doing or what they think the future will be like, but nothing compares to talking with someone one on one. Try it, look up a space mission then ask someone to tell you about their work in space and see which is more interesting. There is something engaging about the passion that can be conveyed in a conversation that is nearly imposable to convey in a presentation.

The people at Space Vision are amazing. Its a great place to meet the people who will make the future cool.

SpaceVision, the largest spacey student run conference in the known universe, is awesome. Unlike other gatherings of the illuminati, the young blood at SpaceVision is infinitely more approachable, more female, and yes-more female than any other conference I have attended. Granted, ISDC is amazing, but SpaceVision is AWE inspiring. No gray beards here. Only students for the exploration and development of space. Odd, seems like that's a acronym or something.

SpaceVision isn't just some technical conference, it's YOUR CONFERENCE. This is the place where you rub shoulders with the best and brightest in the industry. Because you're the best and the brightest in the industry. Okay, a little ego, but it's true. Humanity is doomed. When you see Jeff Fiege, CEO of Orbital Outfitters, up there quivering with excitement about the proprietary information he's about to reveal (no pictures please!). You know it's something special. Jeff is one of those guys who's still just a kid at heart. He's here because he's you. He's here because he was kicking ass in the space industry by age 30.

I want to kick ass in the space industry by age 30. I don't mean some high paying successful job at Lockheed, or Boeing, or Northrop Grumman, or even NASA. I mean like Peter Diamandis kick ass. I mean like George and Loretta Whitesides kick ass. I mean like Luke Skywalker kicking imperial space ass. Will Pomerantz, one of those X-Prize guys - also kicking ass, has a theory as to how you too can kick ass in the space industry by age 30. It all comes down to this, "Do something!" That's it. That's the answer! Do something! Do something you love! Do something you care about! It doesn't matter what, so long as you do something! You go Will and take your kick ass-ness with you.