As I’m starting to write this it’s 40 years ,19 hours ,42 minutes and 19 seconds
after a 32 year old guy from Wapakoneta Ohio set foot on the moon.
105 years, 7 months, and 4 days ago another 32 year old guy from Ohio flew a self-made plane over a field in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
“So what?” you may ask…
Guys in their early 30s from Ohio apparently aren’t too comfortable on the ground it seems.
They do their very best to get as far from the ground as possible. But bear with me.
40 years after that flight over Kitty Hawk there were over 130 commercial airlines world wide.
Making it possible for anyone to fly around the world!
Now it’s 40 years after the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the history of the Earth put someone on the moon.
And there are only 35 private companies working on space-flight.
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s not enough.
So why is space-flight taking it so slow while aviation literally took off?
Michael over at evadot.com has his own thoughts on the matter. evadot.com
*And I agree.*
As soon as the government decides to lead the charge, things slow down.
Contrary to a government agency, private enterprises are willing to take risks.
They’re not burdened by a bureaucracy of epic proportions.
I could go on for a about another 100 pages. But that would be boring.
The numbers speak for themselves.
(There’s an interview with us on evadot as well.)
And now to a more happy piece of news.
Because the times they are a changing.
It’s been a month since our official entry in the Google Lunar X Prize.
I’m happy to announce that the Part Time Scientists reinforced their numbers by 7.
6 guys and 1 girl from around the world joined us in our effort to get private people into space exploration.
Here they are in no particular order:
Nicholas Schmidtke from Canada.
A math and science whiz with a degree in philosophy.
He’ll start studying Aerospace Engineering soon.
Armando Gonzalez-Rodriguez from Puerto Rico.
A mechanical engieer student who had his eyes on the moon for quite some time now.
Marco Testi from Italy.
Another engineer who has been working on his own R&D projects since 2003.
Julio Gonzalez from Guatemala, currently Germany.
He’s a Software Developer/Electrical Engineer working in software integration.
Hollye Merton our very own Bachelorette of Science in Information Systems Management,
a Master of Science in Technology Management and twenty years worth of experience in electronic communication from the U.S.A.
Stephan Günther from Germany, currently Spain.
A Professional Pilot/Software Developer who programmed numerous simulation programs including a Lunar Lander.
Jan Dressler from Germany.
A experienced T.V. Producer with many of ad campaigns under his belt.
He provided us with a lot of great insights on how to present ourselves.
Hope we’ll manage to put some of his ideas into practice.
Also a special thanks to David Barkman who helped us a great deal with research.
These dedicated few make great additions to the team.
But we’re still open for anyone willing and able to help.
Sebastian
Team Part-Time-Scientists
