Idaho's Solar System Ambassador
by Eberle Umbach

Some people may be waiting for an event that would put Council on the map, but Council's place in space is assured-as the residence of Idaho's Solar System Ambassador, Phil Powers-DeGeorge. Operating from his home and business at Bear Country Books, DeGeorge is participating in a national program to spread the word about the changing nature and reality of space exploration.

This year is the first year that all states in the nation will have at least one ambassador in the program sponsored by Jet Propulsion Laboratories under the auspices of NASA. In 1996, JPL initiated an ambassador program to spread information about the Galileo mission. The project was successful and has expanded to include more than 200 ambassadorial appointments across the country, handling information about deep space missions and related issues.

DeGeorge emphasized two facts about current space exploration: there is already more activity in space than many people realize-both by the government and by private organizations-- and its impacts on the private sector are substantial. Understanding how space exploration directly affects us as individuals is important to the ongoing decision-making process about space missions run by the government or by the private sector.

By 2005, there will be twenty active missions in the Mars exploration effort alone. The second civilian passenger will soon be traveling on the space shuttle. Large chain hotels have their own satellites in space for the purpose of business conferences. Tracking centers are dedicated to the sole purpose of enabling space missions to avoid collisions with the 50,000 pieces of garbage that are floating around in space. Space tourism agencies have sprung up in anticipation of future opportunities. Businesses and universities as well as the government are funding space missions.

The national perception of space exploration, DeGeorge commented, has been that it is bounded by the concerns of the government and the military. Even though space research has affected our daily lives-- through the development of plastics and pharmaceuticals, for instance-- people still tend to thinks of their relationship to space as mediated by the government. The reality is that space research has countless effects on us directly as individuals and communities. "The human race has crossed a threshold," DeGeorge said. "We already are in space."

DeGeorge pointed out that research efforts initiated by the government can end up having an enormous impact on our society as a whole. He cited the Internet as an example: initially developed as a national defense project, its ultimate effects have been almost unbelievably far-reaching-- into private life, schools, and businesses. Unlike many government-funded programs, DeGeorge commented, the space program has provided phenomenal returns on the investment.

The current administration has cut funding for NASA programs. For example, a project to send a probe to Pluto (the only planet in our system that has not been the goal of an exploratory mission) has been postponed. Many people are trying to move space research more into the private sector. Currently, a private organization called the Mars Society is sending a population of mice into orbit around the planet as the beginning of a long-term colonization research project. Many kinds of research can be done more easily in space. Development of alternative fuel sources is a particularly relevant area of research. Genesis, now in orbit around the sun, is collecting high-energy particles that make up solar wind. As the probe parachutes toward earth, it will be snatched from the air by a helicopter. Research on solar wind could lead to the development of a solar sail, which could enormously reduce the fuel costs of space travel. Development of alternative energy sources would, of course, have major impacts on all levels of society.

DeGeorge hopes to help change the model of how we perceive ourselves in relation to space. The history of the "space race" has obscured many aspects of the reality of space research as it has been carrying us into a developing future.

DeGeorge plans to take presentations to schools in the region and in the state, and has been working with a number of organizations including the Space Grant Consortium, the Discovery Center in Boise, and the Boise Astronomical Society. He discussed the possibility of setting up a "Space Center" in Council. Through NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, he has access to materials and information that he'd like to share with interested students and adults. Keep a look-out for events downtown on Yuri's Night, April 14, an international celebration. If you'd like to learn more, contact DeGeorge at his website, www.doktorkomputer.com or call him at 253-1107.