March Winter Lecture - Dr. Jack Bacon
Dr. Bacon answers questions after his lecture.
One third of the people on Earth have lived every second of their lives with at least one human in space. Our species is now a permanent citizen of the heavens, just as 80 years ago we became a species permanently represented on land, on the water and in the air.
Dr. Jack Bacon of the NASA Johnson Space Center explored our rapid growth as a species, as we leave our planet's atmosphere for good in a presentation called "The Pace to Space: Where We're Going in Space, and How Fast We're Getting There." at the Museum of the Rockies Hager Auditorium on 2007-03-30. He addressed some of the essential technical and social questions whose answers will shape our future in space. What are the physical limits of present and foreseeable technology, based upon today's knowledge of physics? What are the resources, and economic potentials of expansion into the new frontier? When, and more importantly, why, will we live permanently on the moon? The planets? Outside our own solar system? What will be the economic and social forces that either push us out, or keep us bound tightly to our home planet?
Dr. Bacon is on the management team overseeing the construction and operation of the most complicated technical project in history: the International Space Station. He is also an internationally-known speaker, futurist and a technological historian, he has written three popular books on modern society's pace of advancement.
Bacon was also the United States' lead systems integrator of the Zarya - the jointly-built spacecraft that forms the central bridge and adapter between all U.S. and Russian technologies on the space station.
Dr. Bacon and SMAS President Fred Birk at the after-lecture social.
The lecture was sponsored by the Southwest Montana Astronomical Society, the Montana Space Grant Consortium and the Museum of the Rockies.
An informal after-lecture social was held at SMAS members Brigitte and Doug Flecters home. A wonderful time was had by all.
Many thanks to everyone who turned out for the lecture, to David Binnewies, the Manager of the Taylor Planetarium at MoR and SMAS board Member at Large, on whose initiative we were able to have such a prominent speaker here in Bozeman, to the Flecters, and to everyone who helped to make this event happen.
And a very special thanks to Dr. Bacon for coming and sharing his knowledge and vision with us.