An idea to re-ignite public passion for space

[vulture4]

>>better propulsive technologies

I certainly agree, except i would also consider a fully reusable RLV, manned or unmanned, that could reach LEO for <$10M to be a better propulsive technology as well.

 

[neutrino78x]

Or selective imagination, since it wasn't aired live on CBS, NBC, or ABC. I know, because I was monitoring all 3 at the time.

hmm that's odd, I'm 31 and I clearly remember watching it on a big screen in the library in 6th grade. Previously, a NASA astronaut demonstrated how you can hold a shuttle tile and have it heated on the other side by a blowtorch, and not feel anything. I have no idea what network it was on or whatever, but we had a live TV feed from somewhere.

--Brian

 

[mj1]

Basically, public interest and support is crap. I recall the Apollo days, and it was exciting for everyone. Every age, every nationality was captured up in this magnificent endevour, and everyone talked about it. Now, flash forward to 2009, and we now see complete apathy from the general public. And without support from the general public, no politician is going to push for funds for any program.

If you're going to take a shot at re-igniting public interest, it has to involve people outside the industry. My personal concept is to invite some A-list pop star such as Miley Cyrus to go along on a shuttle mission, with a professional cameraman. While up there she can shoot some public interest clips, and footage to be used in creating some videos and a movie. Miley Cyrus would win because she would be the first entertainer to break new ground, put out unique videos, and capture a lot of media attention. NASA and space enthusiasts would win because kids would become aware that there's more to life than Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, and Paris Hilton.

Hey, apathy is at an all-time low, drastic measures should be considered to combat this nation-wide lack of interest..

Paris Hilton? She's an old geezer as far as kids are concerned. Maybe if we sent her up there and she made a zero-gee sex tape, that would definitely increase everyone's interest in space.

 

[Nothke]

Only way to ignite public is another major space race!

GO CHINA!!! TO MARS!

(I'm not China supportable as a nation, but if its in the name of science, and space race, yes)

Remember why Socialism/Communism was bad: One party system!
one party - no competition - no progress.
Multy party system - competition - progress.
one superpower - no competition - no progress. (1990-now)
two superpowers - competition - progress. (1945-1990)
I also don't plan to see manned Mars landing in 2050, but much sooner...

All space agencies are delaying everything up to 10 years, budgets are lowered each year, blah, blah...

 

[EarthlingX]

Here is a fair try to inspire, i think:
NASA Challenges 350 Rocketeers Nationwide to Aim a Mile High
http://www.physorg.com/news179155055.html

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has invited more than 350 student rocketeers from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities -- 37 teams nationwide -- to take part in the 2009-2010 NASA Student Launch Projects.

Beginning in the fall school term, each team will spend approximately eight months designing, building and field-testing their rocket. They address the same physics, propulsion and flight challenges faced by professional rocket engineers. The students also must challenge themselves as scientists, creating a unique, on-board science experiment that can survive the mile-high flight and yield test results after the vehicle parachutes back to Earth.

In addition, teams will create a project Web site, write multiple preliminary and post-launch reports, and develop educational engagement projects for schools and youth organizations in their communities. The goal is to inspire even younger generations of future explorers.

Prizes are a competition, and it looks they work, at least to some extent.

 

[Swampcat]

Team America Rocketry Challenge 2010

Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) is an aerospace design and engineering event for teams of US secondary school students (7th through 12th grades) run by the NAR and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Teams can be sponsored by schools or by non-profit youth organizations such as Scouts, 4-H, or Civil Air Patrol (but not the NAR or other rocketry organizations). The goal of TARC is to motivate students to pursue aerospace as an exciting career field, and it is co-sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers, 4-H, the Department of Defense, and NASA. The event involves designing and building a model rocket (2.2 pounds or less, using NAR-certified model rocket motors totaling no more than 80.0 Newton-seconds of total impulse) that carries a payload of 1 Grade A Large egg for a flight duration of 40 - 45 seconds, and to an altitude of exactly 825 feet (measured by an onboard altimeter), and that then returns the egg to earth uncracked using only a streamer as a recovery device. Onboard timers are allowed; radio-control and pyrotechnic charges are not.

The first seven Team America Rocketry Challenges, held in 2003 through 2009, were the largest model rocket contests ever held. Co-sponsored by the NAR and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the five events together attracted about 5,100 high-school teams made up of a total of over 50,000 students from all 50 states. These students had a serious interest in learning about aerospace design and engineering through model rocketry. The top 100 teams each year came to a final fly-off competition in late May near Washington, DC, to compete for $60,000 in prizes. These teams were selected based on the scores reported from qualification flights that they conducted locally throughout the US.

 

[enrogerb]

Engineer a massive catastrophe: Make a stable blackhole and sink it to the center of earth and make sure everyone knows about it... :shock:
Seriously, I think our entertainment industry has something to do with it. In the 50s all we have is cheesy low budget scifi, the real things are orders of magnitude better, now with CGIs we have starships that make saturn 5 looks like toys. If going to LEO is so much trouble we can always go back to a reality where we can command thousands of FTL ships fighting a galaxy wide war.
I mean our ability to create illusions have come a full circle back to satisfy our human need for dreams and exploring the outside world (well, to the pea brained public anyway). Reminds me of a scene out of Red Dwarf where the guy put on a Virtual Reality thing and experience the perfect life he has always wanted while his body is slowly dying.

 

[moonfie]

Here is a fair try to inspire, i think:
NASA Challenges 350 Rocketeers Nationwide to Aim a Mile High
http://www.physorg.com/news179155055.html

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has invited more than 350 student rocketeers from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities -- 37 teams nationwide -- to take part in the 2009-2010 NASA Student Launch Projects.

Beginning in the fall school term, each team will spend approximately eight months designing, building and field-testing their rocket. They address the same physics, propulsion and flight challenges faced by professional rocket engineers. The students also must challenge themselves as scientists, creating a unique, on-board science experiment that can survive the mile-high flight and yield test results after the vehicle parachutes back to Earth.

In addition, teams will create a project Web site, write multiple preliminary and post-launch reports, and develop educational engagement projects for schools and youth organizations in their communities. The goal is to inspire even younger generations of future explorers.

Prizes are a competition, and it looks they work, at least to some extent.

Hey, I recognize that competition! I participated in it, sort of, my senior year of high school. I was on the rocketry team but it was pretty painfully obvious that I knew next to nothing about rocket design compared to the other kids on the team, so my only meaningful contribution was to write a nifty article about it for the school paper :lol:. I couldn't even go to the finals in VA because it conflicted with graduation weekend, but the rest of the team did fairly well, and I was happy for them.

I'm not entirely sure what the space program needs, but I think, deep down, it can be boiled down to better publicity. NASA really doesn't reach out to so-called normal people because I feel like they don't think normal people can do much for them. But average Joes are also voters, so I think they just need to do a better job communicating about the importance of exploration to those of us who are, let's say, not rocket scientists. The problem, though, is that my understanding is that NASA, as a government agency, is tightly regulated on what they can use their money for, and marketing isn't really one of those things. If they had the ability/money to do so, they'd probably make their TV station a little bit better .

I think that the private industry is doing a better job re-igniting public passion than NASA really has the resources to be able to do. Hopefully they will continue to become better known and then more interesting things will begin to happen.