Another way to beat Cal: Stanford alums shoot for the moon
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
last updated September 28, 2004 5:46 AM
In 10 years’ time, Stanford may own a dish not only in the foothills, but
also on the moon. Perhaps even further into the future, the moon may join
the ranks of Oxford, Paris and Florence as one of the exotic destinations
of the Stanford Overseas Program.
A group of past Stanford students are
organizing the Stanford Alumni Moon Project, with the goal of “creating a
significant lunar presence” for Stanford University by 2015.
According to the group’s Web site, “The
Stanford University community of students, professors, scientists and
administrators will be at the forefront of any new and ongoing lunar
research and development.”
Many academic disciplines will be involved,
including physics, engineering, aeronautics, astronautics, astronomy,
geology, chemistry, biology and others.
Possibilities range “from sophomore seminars
to satellite engineering, biosphere studies to telemedicine, telerobotics
to radio telescopes.”
More immediately, the project will focus on
commercial, scientific, educational and international enterprises. For the
alumni community, the Stanford Alumni Moon Project believes that this is “a
unique and unprecedented opportunity and responsibility to explore and
develop our nearest neighbor.”
The group’s proposal for the “Stanford on the
Moon” mission was posted on the Web site of Space Age Publishing Company,
which produces newsletters regarding the space industry. Dubbed as “Your
Internet source for the latest global space news,” the organization,
located in Palo Alto, was founded and owned by Steve Durst, Class of 1965.
Durst first raised the idea of “Stanford on
the Moon” to his Class of 1965 at his 35-year Reunion panel in October
2000. Since then, his vision has attracted alumni, professors and media
communicators.
An exploratory committee for the Stanford
Alumni Moon Project was formed within 18 months. In May 2002, a group from
this committee visited the Stanford campus to explore initiatives with
various Stanford departments. These included the Overseas Studies Program
Offices, the University President’s Office, the Stanford Alumni Association
Center and the Stanford Dish.
In April of last year, the exploratory
committee participated in a discussion on how to publicize the Stanford
Alumni Moon Project to the larger Stanford community. Stanford alumni Steve
Durst, Jim McCotter, Kristi Nelson, Ruth Richards, Chia Tze, Sharon
Swinyard and Bill Brown attended the discussion. Also present were Greg
Nemitz of Orbital Development and Jennifer Valcov of Space Age Publishing
Company.
Most of the Stanford alumni involved in this
project are from Durst’s Class of 1965. They were “the generation that
entered the University with the New Frontier’s promise of the stars and the
moon,” as the organization’s press release explains.
A mission to the moon could possibly “provide
laboratory hands-on learning,” according to Durst’s organization, “giving
students, faculty and alumni an opportunity to engage in a
multidisciplinary, cooperative approach to real world problem solving — a
skill which certainly any educational institution aims to instill in its
students.”
Telerobotics, which allows operators on earth
to control the activities of robots on the moon, will play a key role in
such a mission. Other sophisticated robots will also be needed to construct
a base facility on the moon. A radio observatory and a dish could also be
set up on the moon
Durst suggested that Stanford could also set
up a Moon Society chapter, or establish a Lunar Studies Institute to
promote more academic lunar research.
But the project has larger goals as well: “The
Moon project could also inspire new generations of Stanford students to
excel in leading edge science, business and law, by providing a new arena
of activities, on the Moon,” according to Durst.
It may be too early to tell what the exact
outcome of the “Stanford on the Moon” project will be. But one thing is for
sure: Echoing the words of Durst’s organization, Stanford’s participation
in such an unprecedented initiative is a clear reflection of “Stanford’s
pioneering, enterprising ethos in bringing us face to face with the
implication of humanity’s evolution to a multi-world species,” according to
project’s coordinators.
This Saturday, from 9-11:30 a.m., Durst is
organizing a “Stanford on the Moon” symposium. The agenda does not only
include discussion of both long term and intermediary goals. Guest speakers
will also be presenting their lunar mission proposals. Open to the public,
it will be held in the Cypress Room at Tresidder Memorial Union.
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