We want to welcome Chris Vrakotas, webmaster of the web page www.spacetravels.gr.
He will help us translating the main parts of the web page to Greek.
Welcome aboard Chris!
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
I should have posted this days ago, but I’ve had so much work these days that it wasn’t possible to do it. Fortunately I have finished my work for today and have some free time.
In my opinion, the talk at the Station of Desamparados went more or less fine. Why? Because I prolonged myself one hour! That goes against anything I believe regarding presentations.
Anyhow, I wasn’t asked the question regarding airplanes and the Space Elevator, but one person asked me why we don’t invest that money into the poor. I explained him that we were a private company and that our responsibility with society was the generation of wealth. The welfare of the citizens of the country was a task managed by governments.
It seems that I didn’t explain myself good enough because he made the same question. I explained again, but with more detail. At the end, he understood. He even gave me a hand shake when the presentation finished.
But the nicest thing about the exposition was the following excerpt from an email that a friend, Daniel Salvo, sent. It was the first time he heard me exposing about the Space Elevator:
“Mac, if the people at your company used you as a presenter, you would get the financing in no time”.
Gee, it seems that after four years of this I’ve started to get a grip on this.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
As part of a series of talks regarding science fiction literature, I will be giving today, Sunday 28th, at 6pm GMT -5, a one hour talk at the “Estacion de Desamparados”, in Lima, Peru.
The title of the talk is “From the literature of science fiction to reality: The Space Elevator”.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
I want to welcome Nubia Villacis, of Guayaquil, Ecuador. She is studying her Master in Communications and Development at the University of Guayaquil and wishes to make her thesis on Liftport Group and the Space Elevator.
She is planning to make a trip to Bremerton in May and interview the local team. Great, isn’t it? If you are a student anywhere in the world and wish to make your undergraduate or postgraduate thesis on something that really challenges you, then the Space Elevator is the answer
Believe me; you could make hundreds of thesis regarding the project, from technology and business to religion and philosophy.
So, come on! Go for it. We at Liftport are here to help you.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
Well, the interview in www.jabatonet.com was published and there has been several reactions to it. Unfortunately, most of the comments are negative ones: it’s impossible, they don’t have the money, how is it going to be supported, what about tornados, they don’t have the technology, and the list goes on.
There is even one guy who says that we are a bunch of scammers! Alas, I expected it since in the Hispanic world, the Space Elevator is as new as it was in the US in 2002.
But, I am happy. All this activity means that a lot of people are reading about us and discussing the viability of the project. And that’s good. Even if they don’t like us.
Now, let’s answer some comments.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
Long time without blogging. Well, at least you know that if we don’t do it is because we are extremely busy. Which we shouldn’t, since it is part of our responsibilities.
A couple of weeks ago I had the last meeting with Daniel regarding the Space Elevator chapter for his book. After that, Daniel asked me for any news on the Space Industry that could help him. Although I have been doing a lot of research about it, haven’t found something that could be considered unexpected.
It’s a pity, though, that I couldn’t go to the ISDC of this year. Maybe there I would have been able to find something new. Well, if everything goes well, it will be next year.
On the other hand, had an email interview with Daniel Arenas, of www.jabatonet.com. He had pretty interesting questions regarding the project, specially those regarding the technical aspects of the Elevator. He will publish it in the following weeks so stay tuned to his website (sorry, it is only available in Spanish).
Now, back to work.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
Yesterday JL and I had the first of three interviews with Daniel Titinger. What? You don’t remember him? In case you don’t, he was the journalist who wrote a great Space Elevator (SE) article in Etiqueta Negra magazine last year.
He is now writing a book with the most acclaimed articles and the story of the SE is one of them. The interview took almost two hours and was, basically, an update on the things that have happened in LPG in the last six months.
On other news, LPG wants to publicly thank Tomoaki Nishimura for his help in translating our web in Japanese. Great work Tomoaki!
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
Ok, what the heck I am doing a Saturday night, at home, writing a blog entry?
Well, I’ve been at a meeting until 8pm and I am too tired to drive 100km to the beach. Additionally, I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I am going to fall down asleep over my keyboard and hope to awake early.
Anyway, I just spent two hours looking at web sites in spanish which had information or news regarding the Space Elevator. It’s just incredible the amount of misinformation that you may find out there. So, I’ve been responding misconceptions and false ideas regarding the project, telling people to visit our webpage, suscribe to our newsletter, read our blog and to write me if they have any doubt or comment.
I will be happy to answer them.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
Lot of stuff to mention. First of all, today the newspapers announced that the HSBC is going to enter the Peruvian financial market. According to Yahoo Finance, this bank had a revenue of 70 860 billion in 2004 and is considered the third bank in the world.
These are great news for Peru. It is another proof that our economy is leaving behind decades of stagnation and economic models from the 19th century.
Now, back to LPG and some announcements. We are working on the development of two books (by different entities) who wish to have a Space Elevator chapter. Unfortunately we can’t tell who they are but I can say that they will help us promote the project.
Like the Etiqueta Negra article, they will take between 9 and 11 months to develop.
On the other side, we will retake the Talk at Schools project. Last year it was impossible for me to do it, but my new day job gives me complete control of my schedule.
Finally, I want to thank Tomoaki Nishimura for helping us with the Japanese version of the site.
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.
Today I woke up at 7am after sleeping 4 hours, courtesy of the heat and mosquitos. I had a conference regarding the soon to be signed USA – Peru Free Trade Agreement at the Peruvian Export Association. It started at 8.30am so I had to arrive early if I wanted to find a parking space.
Well, the Conference started one hour later (thank god for Ipaq’s and ebooks) and the main speaker (the vice minister) didn’t come. But at least they sent a “high banana”. He was the Coordinator of the negotiation and he gave a great talk.
But, what does this have to do with the Space Elevator? A lot. The SE is going to be built at the backyard of South America, and, specifically, Peru & Ecuador. That means that if Brazil, with a population of 170’000,000, wants to send cargo to the Elevator, they will have to use the InterOceanic Highway that goes from the Atlantic Ocean (in Brazil) to the Pacific Ocean (in Peru).
Of course, they won’t send an advanced GEO lab through Peru if we are as politically unstable as other parts of the region. The Free Trade Treaty is an extraordinary opportunity for preparing a country as poor as Peru, for the challenges of the new economy that the SE will create.
On other news, I want to welcome Sam Rios, who is going to help us on the web translation to spanish. Thank you Sam for your support!
*This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.