Italians love with a passion that they can't write just a song, It takes an opera...
They hate with a fire that makes the Sun look weak and the world is afraid.
And they can switch as fast as they can say it.
They can hate for so long that it takes generations.
and they can forgive on a whim and forget it forever...
Whatever they feel, they feel with their entire soul, completely, without reservation, without moderation.
And they love...
Paul G Graham, On the Italian Passion
Hi all – I spent the weekend in Atlanta. 4Fontiers (www.4frontierscorp.com) was having their division lead meeting. Since I am their building trades and surface suit division lead, I went. (Just a quick lesson, Mars surface suits are NOT space suits. They have completely different operational requirements, In fact, the only thing they share is their ability to operate in a vacuum! ) It is amazing what happens when you get 21 people that smart, focused and dedicated working on a single project. We certainly reached that critical mass, and the ideas just flowed, We all got along great, and even when we disagreed, sometimes even vehemently. (OK, that was mostly me) We were still able to keep out mind on the target and goal of designing the first permanent Martian settlement. Having that many like minded people around produced a synergy that was just extraordinary, and new ideas seemed to just flow from the woodwork! Since I'm under an NDA, I can't say much, but, we ended up with a ten year plan to produce a operational settlement that includes bunk space, life support, food production and water recycling for about 40, all at a price roughly quarter of what NASA wants for a single first mission! This includes real lab facilities, manufacturing plants, fuel production, repair facilities global communications and a large selection of surface rovers. It feels like Macmurdo meets Polar Shelf. The numbers are real, the plan is workable, and mostly it is current tech, and the bits that aren't are either easily developed or a reasonable extrapolation of existing technologies. We could do this, starting now! It is, well, exciting. All of the public details can be found at the website above.
Cool.
While I was there, I got drafted to help with surface transport, alternative power and communications.
Did I mention that I actually get paid for this!? Even cooler. Did I mention that I got two of my best friends involved in this? (They really would be an asset to the team.) Coolest. I know that I won't be able to go, but it is still so cool to plan the way to the future. I just hope history remembers the people like me who gave all without even expecting a return. Of all of the people who were helping, I only expect 5 would actually be in the crew candidate list. I do so so wish them success!
Then, as if this fantastic burst of focused creativity wasn't enough, we came to an even better idea, a way of cutting the construction time in half! Literally it was an idea that had been bouncing around for a while, but for various reasons mostly wrapped around it's unconventionality, it was not perused. But in the victory party, with just the last five of us who had laid out the construction schedule, Scott, our construction project manager, was able to convince Joe and the rest of us to take another look at it, and we were all excited. It is an idea that I had known about, and have always liked, but wasn't quite sure how it would work here. All of us, worked on the idea a bit, ran some numbers, and suddenly realized that we just might have something here. It was cool. I am not sure if I can talk about it, but I'll check, and if you contact me, and if I can, I'll tell you.
I'm currently at 22000 feet, in a little Beech 190 while I'm writing this, and an alarm went off. It's kind of funny, because I had thought about that for a second before I decided to take a nap, wondering what I'd do if the alarm went off. Well I took a nap, and as I thought, the alarm woke me up. Funny. I wasn't afraid at all. It looks like it was the autopilot failing, but what it turned out to be was a an over-speed warning because the VSI was sticking. Interesting... The co-pilot claimed that the plane didn't have an autopilot.
Oh, While I was on the Atlanta Denver leg, I discovered that I like the music of
Sara Tavares,
Tegan and Sara “Walking with a ghost” and another from a different album = “ If it was you” Song = “Hearing noises”
and MWard “Chinese translation”
Enjoy.
Oh, BTW, the thing with the new girl is looking very good. I just need to get into this long distance relationship thing. It is a lot tougher than I thought, but she is worth it. And, as expected, I once again got my heart shredded by the other one. I just wish that I could just wipe her from my memory forever. I am concerned that it may effect my other work. Oh, and my hand is healing.
Well, It looks like my ride is here. (I'm waiting at the terminal now.) so I'm off until my next thrilling adventure, or at least boring rant...
