Very engaged people here -what's the source of your interest

Reading your profils I remarked that your'e representing a lot of different professions, disciplines, countries etc. That is a very hopeful startup for private space activities and the XPRIZE - and for a future that includes the space stronger than the past or the presence.

The origin of my own interest lies within considerations how to achieve the possibility to travel betwenn the stars myself alone. Two years ago for several private reasons I was searchiing for conditions needed to get possibly the oportunity to have my own small spacship.

I detected several conditions but was missing numbers concerning costs, finance, ressources etc.

When I heard of the XPRIZE a few months ago I realized that it not only is a source of informations I have been missing but is approaching to fulfill some of the conditions I formerly had detetcted too.

Really in my considerations something very similar to suborbital spaccrafts provided a substantial solution.

What's your origin or source of interest in space travel and XPRIZE?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Discovering Robert A. Heinlein at a rather early age is pretty much what got my interest in space going.

As far as the X-Prize goes, it's certainly more interesting than the shambles NASA's manned space program is.

I don't like this society and I think I could make a better one somewhere else. But the whole planet's full. Nowhere to go but up.

As a child, I used to watch all the sci-fi on the telly, read my Dads Arthur C Clarke books, and discovered Douglas Adams, and The Hitch Hikers Guide. "Space is big, I mean really big. You may think it's a long way to the corner shop, but that's just peanuts to space." (I can't remember the exact line, but it goes something like that)

That was it. After that, I wanted an improbability drive, I wanted to understand the whys and wheres of the universe. Plus, I liked being ahead. There's nothing like hearing of some new technology, and remembering when it was just fiction. Ah, the satellite, the mobile phone, the internet, private space flight.

I was hooked by the bistromathics drive and the krikket wars! The SEP field was a brilliant way of making something invisible, I will always remember that Italian restuarant behind the sight screen at Lords that can only be seen out of the corner of your eye....

As a child? As a CHILD? That's a wee bit young for such heavy reading, friend. I mean, the little interlude there about Arthur?

"Daddy, what does **** mean?"
"Uh.... Where'd you hear that?"
"Right here: 'Does he, in essence, ****?"
"Gimme that book!"

***

Personally, it's a bit of a combination. I've read SF almost all my life, ranging from Ray Bradbury to Isaac Asimov to Edgar Rice Burroughs (Oh, for the maidens of Mars....). And Doug Adams, of course (what SF collection would be complete without the Guide?).

My father, grandfather, and uncle were all in the Air Force, and for a long time I wanted to sign up as a pilot. Although I've eventually decided that the service and I wouldn't get along too well, I haven't lost my love for flying.

So I wanted something to do with flying, but the military wouldn't care for a guy like me (I don't do too well with orders I don't agree with), and I couldn't take flying in straight lines, so being an airline pilot was kinda out. I love engineering -- designing, testing, experimenting -- so I picked AE and decided to go to the frontier, where Air Traffic Controllers won't tell me how, where, and when to fly my own ship (not that they don't do an incredible job keeping the airways safe for us all to use, just that I wanna open that baby up and actually have a chance to fly). So I ended up as an AE student, shooting for a chance at being an astronaut pilot someday. Since I knew I wouldn't like military bureaucracy, I knew I'd hate NASA, so I decided to go for private industry, and now here I am.

Of course, there's a few smaller political reasons, too (hopefully, the next Republic that Humanity founds, we'll get it right -- or at least a bit closer). But those are the personal ones.

And Ekkehard Augustin, for those of us with poor skill speaking Deutsch (I haven't taken a class in over three years), what does that signature of yours, "Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin" translate as? Political Economist, or what?

Yes, "Political Economist" is the english translation of the german title "Dipl.-Volkswirt" I choosed myself. In Germany there are traditionally at least to disciplines - Enterprise Economics ("Betriebswirtschaftslehre")and Political Economics ("Volkswirtschaftslehre"). The later usually in English may be called Economics but this word seem eventually to include the source of misunderstanding. Since ten or twenty years there is an additional discipline called Economics ("Wirtschaftswissenschaften") without "Enterprise" or "Political". All this is different to that was it used to the anglosaxon world.

"bdvb" is the short form of "Bundesverband Deutscher Volks- und Betriebswirte" which I translate as "Federation of German Economists". The Federation is supplying economical knowledge, experience and know how to the public, mentoring students, working on solutions for the problems in germany and much more. Each member is given the right to add the short name in parantheses to the title. Doing work for the Federation is for honor only and not being payed. There is no other federation of german economists as big this Federation. It's growing and other Federations - of Engineers, Teachers etc. - are consulting us for help because we are the only growing federation in Germany.

If there more questions I will give further information. We have a homepage too but today it's all german yet.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Good explanation. Your Bundesverband sounds similar in its use and setup to the American National Academy of Sciences -- a non-profit organization that draws upon America's best scientists and engineers to provide assistance to the Congress. Again, it doesn't pay, but it is nonetheless a truly great honor to be asked to serve with the Academy.

Now, the only question left is what is the difference between "Enterprise Economics", "Political Economics", and just plain "Economics"?

Geeeeezzzzz... you guys are deep. I was just going to say "I think spacetravel is cool!.

Enterprise Economics is concentrated on economic quetsions relevant for and within enterprises and provides classes of advices to managers. To a great amount it is management theory. It includes Costs, Finance, Advertising, Marketing, Investment, Organization and much more. The student chooses three of them but is forced to learn the general theory and some general theory of Political Economics too.

Political Economics includes Theory of Private Household, Theory of the Firm, Market Theory, Welfare Theory, Theory of Money, Government Debth, Tax Theory, Foreign Trade Theory, Incime Theory and other Theories more. The Student can choose only one of them, the others are depending on what the professor is specialist of. Additionaly the student is forced to learn Economic Policies, some general parts of Enterprise Economics and Fiscal Science (as I trnaslate it here).

Economics is including Enterprise Economics as well as Political Economics but allows different shares compared to Enterprise or Political Economics.

All students have to work out an analysis of a topic - the result is called "diplomarbeit" - sorry I didn't find an english translation right now.

Each student has to prove sufficient knowledge of Laws, Statistics, Mathematics and Business Accounting, Scince Infornatics is required today in general they have been added that list several years ago.

In Political Economics Scientists often make use of technical informations directly if they are analysing quetsions of costs but a tecnician might not remark that because technical termini and numbers have been translated to economical termini and numbers.

Most of the literature to be read is from the States and is analysung reality in the States - it's very intersting. I remeber well an importatnt analysis of american railroad markets, american air traffic, american common carriers, american electricity market and much more. So it's not extremly theoretical to be a Political Economist...

If there are more questions pleas ask...



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

A healthy load of sci-fi in my youth.

I notice that the X-Prize gets little coverage here in Asia and people are not generally interested in space exploration. There is zero private entreprise involved in the space launch business (excluding government linked contractors like China's Great Wall and Japanese MNCs) and most efforts are government lead with economic or military overtones.

There is still a lack of grassroots awareness here and sometimes i guess it is also due to the focus on economic development. Space means Government.

I got hooked on space from a very early age, In fact I would swear that I always have been hooked. I suppose it started with the mandatory sci-fi (some much better than others! ) but from early on i also got interested in space exploration (NASA, RSA, ESA etc).

I want to eventually end up in the space industry as it is my dream and with the arrival of the private sector on the scene I think that the prospects are so much better for everyone.

Like you Ekkehard, I am really interested in the futuristic aspects of spacetravel but I know too that such things are unlikely soon at the present pace. It is due to the pioneering spirit of the x-prize competitors and others there is hope that such things can happen more sooner than later.

for me it's the combination of sci-fi + exploration (earth's basically explored out) + cutting-edge technology that got me into space travel. besides, who can resist a field that involves a combination material sciene, combustion chemistry, programming, and astrophysics, for just some of the more obvious disciplines involved. and for you douglas adams people, i'm ashamed to say i didn't read hitchikers' guide till 9th grade, but i did read dune and the dosadi experiment in 4th- and liked them!

Well, we're just trying to sound like we actually have "reasons" for saying that...

Podkayne of Mars, and all the Mr. Bass Mushroom Planet books were my favorites when I was a kid on the loose the public library, but I stopped reading science fiction when I became a teenage girl. Then one day in the mid-1970s, I attended a lecture at Brooklyn Polytechnic by an evolutionary agent disguised as a NASA scientist named Jesco von Puttkamer and saw images like http://donaldedavis.com/BIGPUB/STANTRUS.jpg and http://donaldedavis.com/BIGPUB/DDcylECL.jpg , and heard about this http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettl ... ents1.html and started planning my retirement in space.

I still have hope !