Goal Is To Launch 100 Meter Ring And Projector/Comm Package Into Low Orbit

Artist Joshua Gigantino has a dream. He wants to put a sculpture 100 meters wide into low orbit, and he wants you to fund it, one postcard at a time.

If this sounds crazy, you're not in the Las Cruces, New Mexico airport today. Looking around the ramp, the idea appears to be tame in comparison to what rocket scientists have brought to the Cup.

Gigantino's idea is deceptively simple: launch a package into orbit containing a "ring" made of Capton, a material similar to Mylar but with a much higher tolerance from heat. Once the payload weighing between 20 and 100 kilograms reaches its orbital height of between 250 and 400 miles (some of these specs are still under development, it will deploy and morph into a ring-shaped structure. This structure will look much like a bicycle wheel, spokes and all, and should be visible from the surface of the planet.

The center of the wheel will house a package containing an HDTV camera, a display unit, communications equipment, reaction wheels and a power system. The reaction wheels are similar to gyrodynes, which produce small amounts of force through gyroscopic effect.

The HDTV camera will use the projection system and communications gear to beam images down to an earth station. Images of what, you ask?

Postcards! Gigantino's idea is to sell you the right to display the contents of a nine inch square space on a postcard on a screen in space, and then let you see the results on a web site. Here is where the micropayment scheme comes into play -- you pay a relatively small amount of money for each postcard you purchase for display. The idea is not new -- recently the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the owner of a bank which specialized in microloans to low income applicants in Bangladesh.

What goes into the nine inch square area on the postcard is up to you. Gigantino even plans to sell you a t-shirt with the image of your postcard being displayed in space.

FMI: www.postcardstospace.com