This weekend's International Space Development Conference, held in Dallas, and produced by the National Space Society, brought together entrepreneurs, NASA staff, astronauts and scientists hash out the big question: how do we get there from here? NSS director George Whitesides talked to Wired News about one of the events, a screening of Alan Chan's indie short film Postcards from the Future, about George Bush's disappearing space initative, New Visions for Space Exploration, and how Rutan, Musk et. al. are becoming the engine of the new push towards space colonization.
Wired News: Give me your theory about why Chan spent years of his time making a movie to promote a government project, New Visions for Space Exploration. It's hard to imagine anyone doing that for Medicare or the FDA.
George Whitesides: A lot of the creative community grew up inspired by space. … To a certain extent they get it naturally. You don't have to explain why space is important and why it’s a good investment. They understand it instinctively, and have dedicated their lives to exploration, but they are doing it in a virtual sense. … Alan's an exceptional case. He has donated a whole bunch of personal resources and leveraged this thing to push forward this production, which does talk about the future vision of space exploration. I think that's pretty remarkable and that's why we are trying to support him.
WN: Why is Alan's work necessary? Shouldn't the President getting up in front of the country and making a stirring speech be enough?
GW: Unfortunately, not this President. He doesn't have that ability anymore with the general population, and I mean that in an independent bipartisan way. And I think that we've reached a new time in culture in general, not just in our society, where top-down initiatives are no longer accepted at face value. There is enormous criticism -- a critical attitude -- towards any new large initiative and the subsidiary cost-benefit analysis. Why are we spending money on this versus that? In our society you actually have to have grassroots support. This particular (space exploration) vision or plan really needs the storytelling abilities of Alan's community to effectively share why it really is important in a long-term way.
WN: What's changed since the Apollo missions?
GW: Our society has a challenge in our general with mid-to long-term problems. That's clear when you look at social security or global warming or space. There are a handful of big, long-term problems in this country and in the world, and we aren't doing a great job on solving any of them. It's hopeful that we are start to engage on global climate issues. I take heart from that. From that perspective, I don't think (the lack of support for) space is particularly weird. We have a culture that prioritizes the short term and the utilitarian. What is so valuable about Alan is that he communicates the importance of space on an emotional level. He paints the picture of how (space exploration) might roll out. It's hard to do that with just a speech. People want to see it.
WN: Does space exploration depend on an injection of energy from citizens and entrepreneurs? I'd guess more Americans have heard of Burt Rutan than have heard of Bush's New Visions for Space Exploration.
GW: (laughs) I think you are right. Absolutely the future of space is participatory. One of the things that NASA needs to break out of is rigid control over product. It really needs to throw opens its processes, its produces and the results of its exploration to the broad population, and not just the elite of science. Make it feel like it not just "the space program," which is over there, but an effort that we are all part of. I don't actually think New Visions will work if NASA pursues a rigid, top-down approach to development.
WN: Even if it does, can NASA get it done? Hasn't its effectiveness been compromised in the decades since the Apollo?
GW: I haven't lost faith to that extent. NASA has internal structural challenges. If it can focus on building infrastructure, it will open up the space frontier. But if it tries to doing everything itself, it will never work. The people at the top, (Michael) Griffin and Shana Dale, really understand that. Look at GPS or comsats -- those have been the great successes in space. The agency has served a catalytic role and then gotten out of the way. If NASA could do that with the moon, it will open it up.
WN: But private enterprise seems to be taking the lead role in space colonization.
GW: We all believe in the long-term goal of a spacefaring civilization. The question is: what is the best, fastest, and most sustainable way to get there? We've now had five decades of a government-dominated space exploration program. What is exciting today is the prospect of public-private partnership in the realm of space exploration -- that is truly new. The COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems) program is a big first step, but the lunar outpost will be the crucible for that partnership. Alan's film fits into that larger theme.
WN: How will the conference be exploring this public-private partnership?
GW: Our conference will have the head of the COTS program, the manager of the global lunar exploration strategy, as well as the heads of the major entrepreneurial programs. We're also putting on a special symposium on space venture finance -- the intersection between big private money and new space projects. The involvement of Branson, Allen, Bezos, Musk and Bigelow have brought billions of private dollars to bear on the challenges of human spaceflight -- that is another fundamentally new development.
WN: Why did JFK's launch of Apollo energize Americans, and Bush's launch of New Visions become just another press release?
GW: The central difference between Bush's announcement and JFK's is, of course, the Cold War. The prism of that conflict brought together several strands -- bilateral superpower competition, the feared novelty of ballistic missiles, new forms of nuclear weapons -- that are either not present today or have faded into the background. There was a public agreement then that space was the field on which greatness would be proven.
