Today I took a short break to watch SpaceShip One’s first flight to space; it was awesome. So awesome that I didn’t pay attention to its spinning (duly noted by my boss who was also watching).
Luckily everything went ok and Mike Melvill managed to come back to good ol’ Earth:
SpaceShip One landing. Source: Ikluft
Although it is a great achievement for the Space Industry, I was a bit sad. When will I go back to space? Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.
The Political Economy of Very Large Space Projects: “…Capital is the essential missing ingredient […] If attracting capital for projects using proven technologies like communications satellites remains difficult, imagine the difficulty of attracting sufficient capital to construct a mining facility on the Moon or terraforming Mars or Venus. ”
Exterior view of a double cylinder colony. Source: NASA
Well, I took the TOEFL and obtained a great score (287/300)! Unfortunately my new dog ate the paper with the results I was supposed to send to UT Austin, argh! Now I have to wait an additional 2 months for the papers, damn!
The culprit, also known as Nena. Source: Manuel Antonio Cuba.
Some days ago I found at Space.com’s forum a post from 1000 Planets Inc., indicating that they needed employees for this new space startup. After sending my resume, the CEO, Michael Laine, asked me for a report on the socio-political status at Latin America.
He was really impressed with my report, so he assigned me to one of the projects on Public Outreach. I will assist the project manager with a book about the Solar System, and its potential for future colonization.
Mars picture taken during the Mars Pathfinder mission. Source: NASA
I must add that, although there is no pay yet, we will receive shares equivalent to the amount of hours we work (also known as sweat equity). This is going to be great for my resume once I go to UT Austin!
I went with my family to the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) in Indianapolis (7 – 9 May). Although I wanted to visit Purdue University, we didn’t have enough time, so I had to “resign” myself to visit UT Austin on our way back. And it was great.
Austin is amazing, a huge college city with a lot of night life and activities. And the University is one of the top Aerospace Engineering schools in the US.
Engineering buildings in UT Austin. Source: Nima Kasraie.
The best thing of all is that I can use the credits from my Industrial Engineering degree! I am going to apply for next year.
My internship in the Peruvian Space Agency has finished. I was assistant to the systems administrator in the training center. My job was to do preventive maintenance to the computers of the training center and assure they would work during the trainings.
It was a nice, relaxing internship. The best thing of all is that I had broadband internet! Here in Peru is still kind of a luxury, so having broadband for 4 hours per day was great!
Of course, I didn’t waste my time and used the Internet for looking for information on space studies and space industry. Now I have tons of links and pdf’s that will keep me busy for a long, long time.
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifting off, carrying solar panels to the International Space Station; November 30th, 2000. Source: NASA
Tomorrow I start as one of the two interns for the Peruvian Space Agency. This is great! I was afraid that I had to make my internship in a bank doing a boring internship *.
I don’t know exactly what I am going to work on, but it doesn’t matter. This is a one-in-chance opportunity that, I hope, will help me in my future career in the space industry.
On other news, I’ve found that there is an alternative to the Master in Space Studies in the University of North Dakota; I can use some of my credits in industrial engineering to finish aerospace engineering in a university like UT Austin.
Have to research more, though, specially scholarships and grants since these degrees are quite expensive.
CONIDA’s logo. Source: CONIDA
* 2010: If possible, experience a boring internship or job. It will make you appreciate and value a job that you are passionate about.
“Energy Sources” is one of the few courses that I like. Our teacher really knows his stuff and his classes are very interesting. For the final paper we had to talk about a new energy source so I decided to talk about Space Solar Power Satellites (SSPS). It is an incredible concept, wonder why they don’t deploy it *.
Space Solar Power. Source: NASA
* 2010: Now I know that SSPS is way too expensive to justify the investment; there are cheaper and quicker ways to generate energy here on Earth. However, I am of the same opinion as Dr. David Livingston, and that some money should be diverted for research. Who knows, something interesting may come out of it. For more information on this topic, use the following keywords: “space solar” site:thespaceshow.com
I’ve found a university in the US that teaches a Master of Science in Space Studies. Unfortunately it is quite expensive and I sincerely doubt they will give me a scholarship since I have no experience in the sector after obtaining my Industrial Engineer degree from the University of Lima.
As a matter of fact, I don’t even know when I am going to graduate. I should have studied liberal arts instead of engineering *.
Oh, well. I’ll give it a try anyway. Here the economy is still a disaster and I don’t think I will find a job that suits me once I get out of the university.
UND Department of Space Studies. Source: www.space.edu
* 2010: When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer, but Carl Sagan’s Cosmos pushed me to Engineering. The funny thing is that now as an Engineer, I spend a lot of time writing and reviewing documents.
…for Peru? Now more than ever I am quite pessimistic about it. Once again the country is going to hell. The Asian crisis has shaken our economy to the point of disaster, proving that even with all the structural changes in the economy, it is going to take more than 10 years to get out of this hole.
I can’t wait. Once and over again the leaders of this nation have proven how ineffective they are running a country and I can’t bet my personal and professional life to a bunch of ignorants. So, I suppose it is time to look for something outside Peru. And if I am going to live in another country, why not work in the space industry? That will give me the inspiration I need for such a hard endeavor.
Saturn V S-1C Stages in Michoud Assembly Facility. Source: NASA
