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100 Years...If Ever (A perspective on reaching Mars)

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   Bill Anders, the Apollo 8 astronaut who took the legendary Earthrise photo while orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve in 1968, was recently interviewed about his thoughts on getting people to Mars. As a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions and research to nuclear engineering, including the study of space radiation, Anders understands the challenges and doesn’t believe we will be able to overcome the hardships of extended periods of time in zero-G or exposure to radiation in space on the human body. The part of the interview that really strikes a chord, however, isn’t about the rigors of travel to Mars, but his statement, “I’m not sure we will ever get humans to Mars. Maybe a hundred years from now.”   A hundred years from now, if ever?    What does a hundred years of innovation look like? Newspapers in the 1920s are full of articles predicting how things might have changed by the 2020s. While some of the predictions were way off, many have come true. Jas
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Disruption by Design: Entrepreneurs pave a new road to space

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  The silence was deafening. Almon Strowger’s telephone hadn’t rung in days, but he knew people were still dying. One of only two undertakers in Kansas City during the late 1800s, Strowger had a problem. The wife of his primary competitor served as the telephone operator and worked the switchboard at the local telephone exchange. When callers requested an undertaker or even Strowger by name, she deliberately directed the calls to her husband instead.   Strowger spent years complaining to the telephone company, but this failed to solve the problem. Undeterred and knowing little about the technology behind the telephone system and infrastructure, he was nonetheless inspired to solve the problem himself. The result was the invention of the first automated telephone switch, which allowed callers to direct-dial without having to go through a local operator. His inspiration led to a creative solution and resulted in the redesign of the entire telephone industry.   Countless examples illustra
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The Pill of Possibility

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“We can’t. It’s too hard. It just isn’t possible.”    I’m sure these words or something like them, especially after a year of dealing with COVID-19, may have crossed your mind more than once. I know they have for me. But they often become self-fulfilling, wreaking havoc on creative, innovative thinking. Good ideas are, consequently, often pushed aside, never to see the light of day. Ultimately, these words end up proving the naysayers right and become self-fulfilling. Yet somehow, some people are able to push through them, adapt to the situation, and persevere in spite of the odds. This type of perseverance is nowhere more critical than in the expansion of humanity into space.   James Dyson spent 15 years developing over 5,000 prototypes before finally completing the design for his revolutionary vacuum cleaner. When no other manufacturer would take it on as part of an existing product line, Dyson launched Dyson Limited to manufacture and distribute his concept, and it is now one of th
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An Apollo Astronaut Made Me Dinner

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In March, we lost an Apollo astronaut, a beloved member of the space community, and in my own case, a personal friend––Al Worden, the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15. To those who knew him, his passing may have come as a bit of a shock, especially in light of his outgoing personality and unlimited energy despite his advanced age. Al and I became close later in his life. While visiting him last fall at his home in Houston, I assumed we would simply do what we always did––talk space, but also discuss family and politics, while eating out for every meal, as was our routine. This trip was different. While we did dine at restaurants, Al decided he wanted to make dinner. Despite my telling him it wasn’t necessary, he was determined, and there was no altering his trajectory once it was set.   While he prepared the lavish spread of steak, potatoes, asparagus, and dessert, I could only watch as he wanted absolutely no help. At that moment, I realized here was one of my personal heroes, a glo
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Sample Space Like Costco

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The AI-driven, robotic ping pong player from CES 2020. Credit: Paustian Each year, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada offers a chance to see the most promising and impactful technologies on the horizon and look back at past shows to see the trajectories technology has followed. It is at once inspiring and overwhelming.  When I attended CES in 2000, many of the technologies we take for granted today—flash drives, Internet gaming, Bluetooth wireless technology, smartphones, and even cell phones with built-in cameras–– didn’t exist. Many products on display now incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), automation, and robotics. This year’s line-up included voice-activated automatic frying pans, “bionic” floor cleaning machines that simultaneously sweep, mop, and dry floors, golf balls with Bluetooth trackers to make them easier to find, baby beds that monitor an infant’s vitals while rocking it to sleep, and weara
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Get Out of Normal!

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Gene Roddenberry - Photo Credit: Getty (Used with permission) In   Star Trek , Captain James T. Kirk would close his voice-over at the beginning of each episode with the phrase “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” These words inspired a generation of engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and designers—including women and people of color who took greater risks to achieve success. They also inspired some people to envision a world living in peace and striving to understand its place in the larger scope of the universe. Star Trek  was the brainchild of Gene Roddenberry. Unlike many creators of science fiction, who tend to look at the future through the lens of the present, Roddenberry imagined an entirely different universe, one where people have put their differences aside and come together for the betterment of all. In contrast to his contemporaries, instead of asking, “What  can  we do?” he posited a different question: “What  should  we do?” For Roddenberry, it was impo
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In Search of Tomorrowland

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Photo from the 1893 Columbian Exposition Whenever I visit Chicago, my favorite attraction is the Museum of Science and Industry. The  beautiful , massive building the museum calls home was once called the Palace of Fine Arts, and is now the last remaining structure of the Chicago World’ s Columbian Exposition  that was held there in 1893. World’ s Fairs (or  Expositions and Exhibitions ,  as they were also called) were long, multi-month events popular from 1851 to the 1960s. In a single location, they showcased and celebrated the world’s new technologies and inventions, scientific advancements, cultural contributions in art, and astonishing curiosities. They combined the enterprise of a trade show with the atmosphere of a carnival, which produced an effect that not only entertained, enlightened, and inspired, but also marked seismic shifts in society. People  traveled  great distances to get a glimpse of Edison’s latest invention, the Wright Flyer, one of Tesla’s experiments
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