Saturday, October 26, 2013

Southeast Atlanta Space Academy


When I began my studies at American Military University and was taking the SPST300 Introduction to Space Studies some years ago, I began inquiring into the pedagogy that would be necessary for the commercial space traveller.  There was much adieu about the major changes in American space policy toward aiding the growth of the private sector.  Rather than lampoon the changes as many of my classmates were doing, I decided to embrace the future.  I interviewed Stacy Tearne (then at Space Adventures, Ltd.) to discuss the topic in an interview and had done extensive research.  Eventually, I wrote my final paper on the subject, which I would publish years later as Training the Commercial Space Traveler.  From then on, my growing fascination with private space travel would eventually affect my teaching strategies.

So here we are.  It is late 2013, and I am ready to put into place what started outs as these initial thoughts:
  1. Private space travel is here to stay.  Dennis Tito and others have ended the says of space access being limited to government professionals.  The window of Non-Career space travelers will become even wider as the costs of space travel become lower, making it more accessible to those who are not multimillionaires.  
  2. Aerospace education programs that function under the paradigm of space-race era astronaut corps are thinking in operating in an obsolete mindset.
  3. Aerospace education programs that incorporate ultralights into their programming will allow youth to both experience the engineering principles of flight, as well as flight itself at costs much lower than general aviation based youth flight training programs.


So what happens now?  I am starting the Southeast Atlanta Space Academy, and I need your help.