A space roundup in Dallas: Yeeee-haw!

Jen and I made it back safely from the 2007 International Space Development Conference in Dallas, TX. We had a great time and got to see some really great presentations! Jeremy and Kristin from ERAU and our good friend Robert Driscole came from Florida too. We all roomed together in a 2-story suite at the hotel!! It was a little cramped, but having 2 bathrooms helps a LOT.

Other neat things included:

• recording segments for the Space Task Force podcast
• giving a presentation on the World Space Expo education program
  
• meeting sci-fi author Ben Bova
• presenting our bid to host the 2009 ISDC in Orlando (thanks to DNC and Disney for your help!!)
  
• seeing Pete Worden, Center Director for NASA Ames, presenting both in person and via avatar in SecondLife
• attending the Space Blogger Summit and getting tips from heavyweights like Alan Boyle, Jeff Foust, Robert Pearlman and Glenn Reynolds
• listening to Alex Tai describe plans by Virgin Galactic
• hearing about the Mars Phoenix Lander and its cool logo
• seeing the lunar lander, Pixel, before it competes in another Lunar Lander Challenge
  
• and, of course, meeting new space friends!!
  

For a glimpse of what the conference is like, check out our photos.
The recent interview of our good friend and NSS Executive Director George Whitesides in Wired will also give you an idea of the tone of the conference (and it's a good read).

Glad to be back home with the cats. At least for a little while :-)

Back from California--on to Dallas!

I just got home from a 3-day trip out to California and I'm already running out the door again! I love it :-)

Friday night I stopped by Port St. Lucie to record another episode of the Space Task Force. This episode of the podcast features some interviews we did at Jen's welcome home party. George and I are working well together and seem to have found a good rythm to the show. Please take a listen and let me know what you think!

Saturday morning I flew out of Opa Locka on G FORCE ONE going out to the NASA Ames Research Center. We arrived to find some warbirds doing flights from Moffett Field! We were parked next to some legendary aircraft. It was amazing to watch them fly over us as we loaded and unloaded the aircraft.

That evening, Bryan Rapoza (the ZG photographer for the weekend) and I went up to "The Mansion" for a party with the cool kids at Ames. (This was where Jen lived when she was out at Ames organizing the NGEC.) We met some new friends and got some old friends to take a ride on ZERO-G the next morning. Congrats to Will, Jessy, and Aaron on your first taste of weightlessness! Jessica also went, but she had already gone up in the NASA plane. For her, this was a totally relaxing trip instead of work.

We also had another birthday group: 10 Flyers + 8 crew = F U N ! I was able to play with the passengers and help them do some amazing tricks. One woman did 4 flips in a single parabola! Wow! I can't wait to see the video!

I was in the hotel lobby at 5am Monday morning for my flight back to FL. Jen picked me up and we had a nice dinner before heading home. I've had time to hit a doctor's appointment and unpack a few clothes but that's about it so far. Now I'm packing up again so we can leave tonight for ISDC! We'll be in Dallas for the conference until Monday. Plans are to do more podcast interviews, give a talk on the World Space Expo education program, and present a bid to host the 2009 ISDC in Orlando. Whew! Here we go...

Multimedia extravaganza!

Big news of the week: Tim is now on a weekly podcast! I have been invited to co-host a new weekly space show, the Space Task Force Netcast. I met George Schellenger (Emmy-award-winning producer) through my work with the World Space Expo. We've done our "test flight" of the concept by recording our first show with guest Frank Miller (the Expo's Event Manager).

Our intention is to create a fun, easy-to-understand show that anyone can understand. We recap the space events of the week and have some interesting guests. Our first run was almost an hour long and is available online at SpaceTaskForce.com. Please listen to the show and send me feedback!

This past weekend was not quite as exciting, but I did get to see the new Disney movie Meet the Robinsons with Robert and Teresa. It was really good even though we didn't see it in "Disney 3-D". Robert went back the next day and saw it again in 3-D. I think that is cheating :-P

I also held a "Global Chat" for the organizers of the 95+ Yuri's Night events happening world-wide around April 12. I love to hear all of the plans for space parties and really get people fired-up about their celebrations! Where will you be on the anniversary of manned space flight? Is there a Yuri's Night World Space Party near you? We are partying at Paddy Cassidy's Irish Pub in Cocoa Beach. Come by if you are in the area!