Come Share Experts' Vision Of A Spacefaring Future

On Thursday, The First International Symposium On Personal Spaceflight takes place at New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, NM. The event is being staged in the 3rd floor ballrooms of the University's Corbett Center, as one of the events of the Countdown to the X-Prize Cup.

Arianespace USA is sponsoring the symposium, which should be very interesting to pilots, engineers, entrepreneurs, and all who are interested in the new age of private space exploration and exploitation.

The symposium gets underway at a painfully early hour for journalists -- the NMSU Pride Band will be trumpeting its stuff before eight in the morning, as panelists and attendees file in (badging opens at 0700; all times local). At 0800 a variety of dignitaries will make welcoming comments, followed at 0830 by the introductory remarks, by Erik Lindbergh, who will speak on "Aviation to Space," and then Rick Searfoss (pictured, below), who takes it the next logical step: "From Government Space to Personal Space."

You could not ask for better-suited speakers on these two subjects, as both of these men serve as linchpins between the 20th and 21st Century of flight. Erik Lindbergh(pictured, below), who should be well known to Aero-News readers, is the grandson of Charles A. Lindbergh, the first pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo; the seminal figure of the Air Age. Young Lindbergh, though, is also a talented aviator in his own right, who has carried out a modern-day solo reenactment of his grandfather's famous flight, and has been invited to join the Rocket Racing League as one of its initial pilots. He's a tireless advocate for aviation, a talented artist whose work has graced these pages, and a passionate advocate for aviation and (and this is lesser known) for the handicapped; he himself overcame crippling arthritis.

If Erik Lindbergh is the man whose journey has carried him, as his speech says, from aviation to space, Rick Searfoss may be the best qualified man in the world to speak on the transition from government space to personal space. Searfoss retired from the Astronaut corps in 2003 after flying three missions as a Shuttle Pilot; before that, he was still in government service, flying the Air Force's hot rock, the supersonic swing-wing F-111. Since leaving Government space, Searfoss's involvement with personal space has included serving on the X-Prize board, flying the XCOR EZ-Rocket (below), and now he's chief pilot of the nascent Rocket Racing League.

This sounds like a must-see event already -- and that's just the plenary session. Four separate panels will address private spacefaring in depth. They are:

1. Creating the Personal Spaceflight Revolution
   (The X-Prize Cup, Taking Dreams to Reality)
2. The Personal Spaceflight Experience
   (From Terrestrial, to Suborbital, to Off World Tourism)
3. Space As A Place
   (Space As a New Economic Sector; Markets; Resource Development)
4. Spaceports -- Infrastructure For A New Space Economy
   (Design; Facilities; Financing; Inter-State Competition)

The panelists come from all the reaches of space technology and knowledge. They appear as well suited to their particular panels as Lindbergh and Searfoss are to their topics. For example, the first panel, Creating the Personal Spaceflight Revolution, will discuss the coming X-Prize Cup in depth, and the panelists will be senior (often, chief) executives of Arianespace, USA; XCOR Aerospace; Starchaser Commercial Space Access; da Vinci Aerospace; Rocketplane; de Leon Technologies; and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Each distinguished panel is chaired by an NMSU academic or two, presumably to keep order among the enthusiasts. Comprehensive information, including the names and bios of presenters, is available at the FMI links.

At mid-day a luncheon break gives the opportunity for sponsors to be recognized by X-Prize Foundation Founder and CEO Dr Peter Diamandis.

The Keynote address, at the luncheon, will be by Rick Homans, Secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Homans, and his boss, the Governor, are serious about making New Mexico a player in the space industry, and already has a friendly rivalry going with California's Mojave Spaceport. Of course, New Mexico has a long history of rocketry, from Robert Goddard's early experiments (he moved to Roswell when he wore out his welcome with his Massachusetts neighbors) through decades of military rocketry, and it looks like it's not over yet.

During breaks in the symposium, attendees can tour exhibits in the Corbett Center's Dona Ana Auditorium. After the conclusion of the sessions, a reception will be held.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "No bucks, no Buck Rogers." The cost of participation in this groundbreaking seminar is $65, but students get a discounted rate of $25, which includes the luncheon (vegetarian on request). Prior registration, which can be done at the FMI link, is required.

Can't be there? Then be here, 'cause we'll be there for you.

FMI: http://engr.nmsu.edu/xprize.htm, www.xprize.org, www.xpcup.com