SPLIT, Croatia – On the occasion of
the fiftieth anniversary of space travel, space travelers with a combined 415
days of space experience gathered in Croatia to discuss the future of human
spaceflight.
The summit brought together private
space traveler Greg
Olsen, veteran astronaut Ed Lu, active cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, and prospective space traveler
Per Wimmer.
Olsen, Lu and Tokarev
all have substantial time on the International Space Station, while Wimmer
has tickets on future suborbital flights. It was the first time that all types
of space travelers had come together in Europe.
Summit
organizer Dr. Bojan
Pecnik
remarked, "This is the first time that space travelers have visited this
region since Yuri Gagarin in the early sixties."
The conference, "Human Presence
in Space," was organized by the Croatian organization Znanost.org, a
non-profit dedicated to science education and outreach. The aim of the event
was to inspire the next generation of scientists in Europe and Croatia,
and to chart the future role of smaller countries in human spaceflight.
Vladimir Ivkovic, a
co-organizer of the summit, stated, "We hope these space pioneers will
inspire children to pursue studies in science, math and technology."
Croatia
in Space
Croatia,
like many smaller countries, has never had one of its own citizens go into
space. The country gained its independence from the former Yugoslavia
in 1991. While the Soviet Union had a program to launch representatives of
Eastern Bloc countries, Yugoslavia
was a non-aligned country and so did not participate in the program.
Despite this, or perhaps because of
this, there is substantial interest in spaceflight in Croatia.
Croatia is a prospective
member of the European Union, and one of the topics of discussion was whether Croatia
might join the European Space Agency in the future.
Another hot topic was the lack of
spaceflight regulation in Croatia,
which could open up commercial opportunities for future space tourism companies
operating in Europe, including zero gravity
flights.
Tonka Buric, a
Croatian student, presented a case study that showed that it was possible under
existing Croatian laws and airspace regulations to fly parabolic flights.
"Starting parabolic flight in Croatia
would expand Croatia's
international reputation for tourism. The market is there. All that is required
now is the will."
Ed Lu – The Role of Coastal Countries
in Asteroid Defense
Astronaut Ed Lu
has accumulated over 205 days in space on two space shuttle flights and one
long-term mission to the International Space Station. Lu was on the first space
launch to fly after the Columbia
accident, and he described how he had had to prepare to co-pilot the Soyuz TMA
vehicle in only nine weeks due to the accident. On that flight, he became the
first American to co-pilot a Russian launch vehicle.
Lu recently left the astronaut corps
for private industry. His recent research focus has been the threat of
asteroids to Earth, and how global space agencies might defend against the
threat. Coastal countries like Croatia
have a strong interest in such work, since they are at a greater risk due to
the possibility of an impact-created tsunami.
Lu underscored how countries like Croatia
must be part of the decision-making process to decide how Earth governments
choose which method of asteroid defense to use.
Greg Olsen – Don't Give up Your
Spaceflight Dreams
Olsen, the third private space
traveler to the International Space Station (ISS), is a successful entrepreneur
who now devotes much of his time to promoting science and mathematics education
among students.
He described how he had had the idea
of going into space while at a Starbucks coffee reading an article about the
first private spaceflight participant, Dennis Tito. The article sparked him to
call Space Adventures, the company which has brokered private trips to ISS.
Olsen emphasized the importance of
perseverance in pursuit of his spaceflight goals. After beginning his training
in 2004, Olsen was medically disqualified by Russian doctors after discovery of
a minor medical issue. Olsen did not give up and was eventually re-accepted
into spaceflight training, launching in the fall of 2005.
Valery Tokarev – International Cooperation in
Space
Tokarev is an
active cosmonaut and the commander of the Soyuz flight that launched Olsen to
orbit. His first flight was on the US
space shuttle in 1999, which he trained for in five months. In 2005, Tokarev launched to
ISS for what would become a 189-day mission as part of the Expedition 12 crew.
An accomplished test pilot, Tokarev
was also selected to test fly the Buran vehicle, a Russian space
shuttle which made only one unmanned flight before being cancelled due to
budget constraints.
Tokarev discussed how space technology is
now widely available for many nations, and how this trend has broadened global
participation in space flight. As more nations build space capabilities, international
cooperation will become increasingly important.
Per Wimmer –
Private Space Travel an Opportunity for Small
Countries
Per Wimmer has
bought tickets to fly to space with two of the leading space tourism companies,
Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures. The Danish adventurer and financier
described the training activities he has pursued to prepare for his
spaceflight, including high altitude MIG flights to 80,000 feet and centrifuge
training at the Gagarin cosmonaut training facility outside of Moscow.
Wimmer emphasized that the coming
revolution in personal spaceflight will open opportunities for countries like Croatia
to fly citizens in space. As the price of space travel decreases over time,
more and more people will be able to experience spaceflight. This in turn will
inspire other people to pursue their dreams, which is a main goal
of his project, Wimmer Space.
Wimmer, a lawyer with four masters
degrees, also described the international legal framework of space activities.
He argued that the patchwork of treaties and agreements, including the 1963
Outer Space treaty ratified only a few years after the launch of Sputnik, must
be expanded and that mechanisms for enforcement must be re-thought.
The Future of Croatia
in Space
Sited in the coastal city of Split,
the three-day conference drew attendees from across Croatia.
The conference was opened by the Croatian Minister of Science, Education and
Sport, Dragan
Primorac,
and underscored how important space is to the future development of the
country. The event also included a series of lectures to over 200 local
schoolchildren.
Znanost.org, the producer of the
event, is led by a group of dynamic young scientists, many of whom have trained
abroad but have returned to their home country to help develop the next
generation of scientists.
Dr. Dejan Vinkovic,
president of Znanost.org, said, "For a small country like Croatia without
a space program, this event has opened the minds of children to the
possibilities in space and science, and showed the general public the value of
investment in science and technology."
The summit capped several years of
space and astronomy outreach organized by the group, including the development
of a national network of astronomy education, higher education and scientific
research. The name of this broader program is Astrophysics Initiative in Dalmatia. www.aphyid.org
The next goal within the Initiative
is the creation of a center of excellence for space sciences. Znanost.org has
teamed with the physics department of the University
of Split to launch a new
graduate program in astrophysics in 2008. http://fizika.pmfst.hr/astro
George Whitesides is the executive
director of the National Space Society.
NOTE: The views of this article are
the author's and do not reflect the policies of the National Space Society.
Visit SPACE.com/Ad Astra
Online for more news, views and scientific inquiry from the National Space
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