Mr. Bailey goes to Washington (again)

I was in Washington Feb 10-12 to chat with Congress. You may recall that last year I went to DC for the Space Exploration Alliance Legislative Blitz. This is an annual event where space advocates meet with Congressional staffers (and the occasional Senator or Representative!) to discuss space issues and do a bit of informal education. This year we chose to organize the Blitz to fall just after the new 2009 NASA budget request was released by the White House. I realized how much I'd learned in my previous trips when I had a conversation about appropriated verses allocated funds and how continuing resolutions to the omnibus bill was bad for everyone. (Did you get all that?)

The 2008 SEA Blitz was successful with over 100 meetings on the Hill. I was typically grouped with several other people--including an 8th grader who came with her dad. She was well spoken and knew a lot about NASA's prize competitions and the COTS program. We ended up having so many meetings scheduled that I even talked to a few staffers alone instead of with a group!

The trip was fun, but unexpectedly COLD. I figured we'd get into the 30's, but one morning it was 12 degrees. That is ridiculous. I don't own clothing appropriate for that kind of weather! I almost bought a $250 wool coat to stay warm (it was a nice coat). My journey became more perilous when the icy cold weather caused traffic accidents and shut down the highway going to the Dulles airport. I missed my flight and had to stay in Virginia overnight!

Normally I prefer to fly from Reagan National (DCA) in the heart of DC and accessible via the Metro. It is so easy to get in and out of there! However, this time I was flying out to California and had managed to get a seat on the new Virgin America airline. Even with all of the delays and unexpected overnight stay, it was worth it! Everything from the check-in line to the cabin lighting was cool, sleek, and hip. I even ordered a snack from the touchscreen entertainment system at my seat! If you ever get the chance to fly VA, just do it. It is a great example of how well an airline can run!

Mr. Bailey goes to Washington

[cue the patriotic music]
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the 110th Congress, I beseech you to support the exploration and investigation of outer space!!!"

Ok, perhaps it was not that dramatic, but talking to Congressional staffers with the Space Exploration Alliance this week was a LOT of fun! I flew into DC on Sunday and got some basic training with the other Blitz participants. Then it was off to George and Loretta's place for a cook out!

A big THANK YOU to George and Loretta for allowing me to borrow their couch for a few nights. It is always a blast to hang out with the space honeymooners!!

Monday and Tuesday were spent running all over the Congressional office buildings talking to different staffers with long-time space nut Gary Barnhard. Gary is a great guy that knows a about solar power satellites as well as political stuff. We discussed several points with each of the staffers and got fairly positive responses. The meetings I learned the most from were the two toughest: a staffer from TN that was most concerned with science (not exploration) and the Congressman from TX that liked space but was unimpressed with NASA. In both cases, it was most important to listen and respond to their concerns instead of just hitting our talking points. All of the lobbying and meetings with numerous space groups over the past few months seem to have done some good as the House subcommittee increased NASA funding by $290 million!

You can read our press release (and my quote!) here: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=22839

Going home is usually the least-noteworthy portion of a trip, but this time was an exception! I got to DCA (Washington-Reagan National Airport) via the Metro and went quickly through security. I arrived at my gate to find rampant flight delays and cancellation. After about 3 hours of juggling, US Airways finally dropped my flight and had us reschedule for the next morning. My friend Brett lives just down the street from DCA and was kind enough to pick me up and let me crash for a few hours on his couch. THANKS, Brett! My other option was to sleep on the hard floor of the airport with a thin airplane blanket (many other people had to do this!). I love the small, efficient operation of DCA (especially the easy Metro access), but Orlando has everyone beat with the nice cushy couches and excellent food court.

Traveling is fun, but it is nice to be back at home again for a few days!!

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 :-)

Space videos from MARS

Our space friend Ryan Kobrick has been posting video updates from his team at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah online. If you want to know what the future of space exploration looks like (including a preview of who will be there doing the exploring), check out the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Rykoby

Falling into Orbit

Here is a funny little space factoid Craig Damlo made for Yuri's Night.
I laugh out loud every time I read it...

Falling into Orbit

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say about flying: "There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part—the missing—that provides the difficulties." Although mankind may never fully learn to fly, we have become very proficient at falling. And on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to miss the ground.

That is all there is to space travel—falling, continuously falling. In the simplest of terms, a space launch works like this: take an object—in this case a space capsule—and throw it toward the horizon; if you throw it far enough, it simply will miss the ground as it falls back to Earth, and will enter an orbit around the planet. This may be, in fact, the greatest benefit of living on a round planet—well, that and the stability and strength of a sphere.