Exploring New Worlds
ISDC Planning Continues to Soar
A preview of the 25th annual International Space Development Conference, May 4-7, 2006
While ISDC 2006 is over, you can always find out the next ISDC at the NSS web site.
Come explore new worlds with us…come and celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the International Space Development Conference!
The National Space Society and the Planetary Society are collaborating to bring us this exciting event, along with organizations such as
- Space Tourism Society
- Caltech Venture Forum
- International Association of Space Entrepreneurs
- Zero Gravity Arts Consortium
- International Association of Astronomical Artists
- Sunsat Energy Council
- National Society of Black Engineers
- Space Studies Institute
- Traveling Space Museum
- Space Frontier Foundation
- Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
The following speakers/special guests have accepted invitations to ISDC:
- Burt Rutan:
- engineer, adventurer, entrepreneur, whose company Scaled Composites is responsible for the X-Prize winner SpaceShip One and other innovative aircraft; he may someday make low-cost space travel a reality.
- Astronaut Buzz Aldrin:
- lunar module pilot for Apollo 11 and former Chairman of the NSS Board of Governors.
- Astronaut Rusty Schweickart:
- lunar module pilot for Apollo 9 and Chairman of the B612 Foundation.
- Astronaut Richard Searfoss:
- Space Shuttle Commander of the Neurolab mission, XCOR test pilot, and inaugural pilot of the Rocket Racing League.
- Hugh Downs:
- veteran TV personality and journalist, Chairman of the NSS Board of Governors
In addition, entrepreneur Elon Musk and space science guru Chris McKay, Peter Diamandis (chairman of the X-Prize Foundation), Angela Diaz (chief education officer of NASA), Robert Cassanova (Director of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts), John Mankins (president of the Sunsat Energy Council), and Eric Anderson (CEO of Space Adventures, Ltd) have accepted invitations. There are more to come...
To start the festivities, the Space Tourism Society will host the 2nd Space Tourism Pioneer Awards Gala Celebration. The featured awards presenter will be Dennis Tito—this is especially fitting as ISDC 2006 marks the 5th anniversary of Tito’s visit to the International Space Station.
ISDC will offer something for everyone. Special sessions will offer exciting topics covering exploration, tourism, science, technology, policy, and commerce. Here are some highlights:
Some sessions will offer the latest news on the exploration of Titan, Saturn, the Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids, comets, Pluto, Charon, and extrasolar worlds. One very important concern is international cooperation in these endeavors: to name one example, the future of the International Space Station.
The Space Tourism Society will offer a full-day Space Venturing Forum. Some of the world’s leading space business pioneers will give updates on their latest achievements and plans…which range from space media, venture capital, and space entrepreneurship to gaming and lotteries in space!
A Space Art Track is being organized by the Zero Gravity Arts Consortium and the STUDIO For Creative Inquiry at the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. One of the developing themes involves Gravity Pulse: the artists create their works while experiencing all of the acceleration conditions of parabolic flight: 1G earth gravity, microgravity, and above-1G acceleration states.
The Space Studies Institute will offer a wide variety of tracks: Earth-to-orbit and deep space transportation, robotics and assembly in space, space solar power, space tourism and space hotels, nonterrestrial resources (eg, the Moon and asteroids), closed environment life-support systems, and space manufacturing processes. The solar power track will be offered by the Sunsat Energy Council.
For the more adventuresome, ISDC 2006 will extend beyond the confines of the Sheraton Gateway to many of California’s space facilities. Locales being considered for tours include Mt. Wilson Observatory, Scaled, XCOR, and Mojave Spaceport.
This is only the beginning; many more exciting plans are in store for ISDC 2006. Stay tuned and mark your calendars now!
For more information, visit http://isdc.nss.org/2006/
Copyright © 1998-2007 Organization for the Advancement of Space Industrialization and Settlement. All Rights Reserved.