Saturday, August 6, 2011

Taking an afternoon break at SpaceUp LA

One thing is pretty frakking frustrating about this SpaceUp: I can't get on the internet without leaving the venue.  They are not providing any WiFi, and I get barely a single bar of AT&T for my iPhone... so tethering doesn't do me much good!

I didn't find the 3:30-4:30 sessions to be that interesting to me, so I took a break and headed to my motel to check in  I can see the Columbia Space Center from my window, so it is quite convenient!  There is also awesomely fast WiFi in the motel, so I took a minute to write this post.

The content has been fairly good.  I've seen practical presentations in Pod 1 (complete analysis and plan for a rapid-return mission to Mars; CubeLab hacking), fun topics in a smaller pod led by a 5-year old (Frontiers of the Impossible), and a more open discussion about simulated gravity (its necessity for long duration space ventures, how much is enough, how to make it).

I have high hopes for the more formal T-5 presentations tonight.

So, should I still put up a topic for tomorrow?  I'm still thinking about "What can we salvage for re-use from the ISS in 2020?"  I'll want a white board...  and I'm now thinking about a "How to get a job in the Space Industry (yes, I want one)"

I want to get back for the 5:00pm session, and that's also when dinner arrives!  Gotta love a conference that provides meals to its attendees (good meals), and healthy/tasty snacks throughout the day.

More tonight.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good start! But seriously, did a five year old really lead one of the discussions?

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  2. He was the son of one of the original founders of these SpaceUp conferences, and it was a fun session. The idea was to bring up and talk about impossible stuff, like time travel, faster-than-light, teleportation, etc.

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