I was just sent this link from a friend. I did not know about theNasaHackSpace.org website until now. http://nasahackspace.org/
I’m not sure how much activity it has gotten or what kind of implementation that NASA does for any of the suggestions on the site. Just putting it out there so that others can see & share
and… Action!
Last weekend TORC, the local rocketry club, had their fall launch season kickoff event. I went in pursuit of my NAR low power certifications, thinking this would be the perfect place to knock out all four flights for the first level, bronze (see my forum posts for the details about each flight requirement). Turns out that in rocketry there are always a few glitches. I only attempted 2 of my 4 required launches, of which only one satisfied the certification requirement.
First flight:
I used the spare parts left over from previous model rockets and some real-time “customization” on the launch pad to keep the motor secured. I called this one the “Estes parts” and launced with a B-6 3 motor. Successful flight with a duration of about 16 secs.
Photo credit: J. Simmons
Make Magazine most recent issue = space themed:
http://makezine.com/24/
CSTART was name dropped. Can Mach 30 write up an article for the comments section of the name make issue?
A state-of-the-industry survey.
I have been thinking about how to show that the Mach 30 concept is a good idea. So far it has been J’s crazy idea that some other unique individuals (like the founders of Cstart, open space movement, etc) have also had independently. It’s not that I don’t trust J. I defiantly understand this new philosophy, and can see the future where these ideas help motivate us to become spacefaring. I just want an independent quantitative verification. If there was some “study” or “survey” that showed data about how open source has worked its way into software, we could then start to draw this picture for hardware and space hardware in particular. The results of these questions could be used to charaterize how the community currently perceives our main mission areas.
We can discuss the best ways to distribute this to our target audience, and who, exactly, is our target audience.
Gets the word about Mach 30 out to the community
Increases awareness in the community of the ideas of open design hardware, mature technology, crowd-sourcing, etc
Solicits input from the community about their perceptions about the current state of industry
To identify the viable sectors where we will find supporters for Mach 30
Collect feedback for analysis of the likelihood of Mach30 catching on, how open to these new ideas is the industry.
(DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a survey developer, these questions must be re-written and cleaned up to ensure unbiased results and maximum participation) These questions are provided to get a general idea for the concepts we want to elicit from the participants:
Open Source Software:
– Have you heard the term “Open Source”?
– Are you familiar with the Open Source software movement?
– Have you used Open Source software before?
– Have you modified or tweaked Open Source programs for personal or other use?
– Have you contributed to an existing Open Source software project?
– What do you think is the market-share for Open Source software? or How prevalent or wide spread do you think open source software is in the current industry?
– Do you think that open source software is gaining popularity, losing popularity or about the same?
Open Source Hardware:
– Are you familiar with the Open Source hardware movement?
– Have you used Open Source hardware before?
– Have you modified or tweaked Open Source hardware for personal or other uses?
– Have you contributed to an existing Open Source hardware project?
– How prevalent or wide spread do you think open source hardware is in the current industry?
– Do you think that open source hardware is gaining popularity, losing popularity or about the same?
Crowd sourcing:
– Have you heard the term “Crowd Sourcing”?
– Are you familiar with the Crowd-sourcing movement?
– Could you hold an informed discussion about the merits and drawbacks of crowd-sourcing?
– Have you ever participated in a crowd sourced project?
– Is the idea of crowdsourcing gaining popularity, losing popularity or staying the same?
Mature technology:
– Have you heard the term “Reusable Launch Vehicle” when referring to rockets and other spacecraft.
– Does the US currently have a reusable launch vehicle for putting satellites into orbit?
– How reliable is the current space access infrastructure?
– etc.
Sustainable Leadership:
– Are you familiar with the consensus based decision making model
– Questions about “flat” vs “tall” organizations
…you get the idea
