Monday, May 16, 2011

Ideas Worth Having: Exopolitics and DIY Science.


Today we saw the launch of the last scheduled STS mission for Endeavor. Endeavor sped towards the heavens with a majesty befitting its final voyage. If you missed the actual launch, take a moment and watch it here: Endeavor.

While watching the pre-flight inspections and preparations, the dedication and professionalism, struck me as most profound. This (I thought) is something to be proud of, something the United States could show the world -as if to say, "we don't only make war, we also explore." And, most admittedly it was with a cringe of frustration that I reflected upon the myopic politicians who would rather fill the coffers of the rich, than fund these truly worthy "Endeavors" (SETI and the Allen telescope array, being another such example)

As the waves of frustration and despair percolated through my mind; I recalled an article I had read sometime before about DIY " manned " spaceflight. After a few moments of searching I found what I was looking for: Copenhagen suborbital It had been sometime since I had read about their "going-ons" so it was with some surprise that I found they were ready for the first test launch of their space vehicle. This news did indeed help to dampen down the chagrin I had felt towards state-sponsored science. (in particular space exploration and SETI)

If our leaders lack vision, it does not mean the individual should. And this is exactly what the folks at Copenhagen Suborbitals have: vision and tenacity to do the unthinkable. I even broke down and gave them some cash. Being notoriously stingy, it does say something about how struck I was/am with what they are doing. But, I digress with the back-story which lead me to this thought: The Exopolitics, ETH, UFO communities should do something similar. An Exopolitical inspired DIY space program, whose main goal is to test the hypothesis that the earth is being visited by entities unknown.

And this is where I open it up to the community: Which experiments and modes of exploration could be funded and produced using an open-source, DIY model? How could we frame the ETH in terms which could be tested, verified and repeated? And, wouldn't active engagement with the phenomenon be better than the passive collecting of data afterwards?

The ETH* communities are vast and varied: Engineers, Teachers, Retired Military; the skill set is there, why not start to use them? This is very much an idea in its genesis stage; I'd welcome all comments, both detracting and supportive, as there may be something I have missed. It seems though, the time is ripe for us to stop being glorified stamp collectors, passively waiting for disclosure and to become proactive in bringing these phenomenon to light.

*I am using ETH in a very general sense, as it flowed better in the writing.

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