Adopt A Foundation
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Adopt JPLSpaceFoundation
The JPL Space Foundation seeks to be adopted by any individual, class, school, or school system that would like their students to have a direct and active role in the development and direction of Mankinds last frontier - Space Exploration. Anyone involved in the education of children knows that the development of confidence and self-esteem is difficult. Students often feel that they are not able to do anything that really matters in the real world. Adopting the foundation can change this feeling because students will be able to help support the foundation by raising money through their everyday activities. Most elementary school students and older are computer literate enough to search the web for information and this is how they can help.

If students visit our website at: http://www.jplspacefoundation.org and click on the banner at the top of the page, they will be taken to the GoodSearch home page where they can download the GoodSearch "search bar". When they use the search bar to look up information on the web, Yahoo will pay GoodSearch two cents, who will then donate one cent to the foundation. They also have a GoodShop button, which when clicked will show a list of several hundred online stores from which parents can shop. Each store will then donate from 0.5 - 7.5% of the purchase price to the foundation. The cost of the items bought will be the same as it would have been if they had gone to the store directly. Students can keep up with the progress of donations by visiting the GoodSearch site and clicking the "Amount Raised" button. The number of searches are updated in real time and donations from shopping on a weekly basis.

Teachers may use the foundation wedsite as an educational resource for all matters related to space, space exploration and astronomy. The home page will always contain information about the current projects that we are supporting so that students can see where the money raised from their efforts will be spent. Presently, the home page deals with the Space Elevator with links to information that explains what the space elevator is, how it will work and the state of research in the development of the elevator. There is also a "Space and Astronomy Page" with links to almost everything related to space exploration, NASA missions, the Solar System and understanding the Universe.

Our mission involves not only supporting research but also supporting educational programs that promote greater understanding of Science, Space and Astronomy. To provide educational content as it relates to Space and Space travel we are curating a Space and Technology Channel on http://www.Nibipedia.com called "jplspace".  Nibipedia has welded the millions of videos on Youtube to the millions of text articles in Wikipedia.  Students not only learn by watching and reading, Teachers can also allow students to add their own content so that they not only learn but also teach.

The greatest educational benefit will be derived by students who discover that their efforts can make a real difference in not only their own education but also in an area that is becoming increasingly important to mankind-Space Exploration.

ISEC Press Release

Leading Players in the Space Elevator Movement Join Together to Form New International Consortium

New Independent Group to Foster Global Research, Develop International Standards and Serve as a Worldwide Information Exchange on the Space Elevator

Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (December 22, 2008) – A coalition of leaders in the Space Elevator movement today announced the formation of The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC), a new independent group designed to promote standards and foster research relating to the construction of an Elevator to Space at the global level.

Founding members of ISEC include the Spaceward Foundation, the Space Elevator Reference, the Space Elevator Blog, EuroSpaceward and the Japan Space Elevator Association.  Heading the new organization is Ted Semon of the Space Elevator Blog, who will serve as president.

According to the Consortium, the goal of ISEC is to promote the development, construction and operation of the Space Elevator as a revolutionary and efficient way to space for all humanity.  The group will accomplish this through these key areas:

- Development of a unified plan and roadmap for the Space Elevator and the coordinated assignment of specific research topics
- Funding of research on technologies relevant to the Space Elevator
- Development of the international legal framework necessary for the operation of the Space Elevator
- Global public outreach and central information exchange on Space Elevator activities

“The Space Elevator is a project whose time has come,” said Semon.  “With the challenges facing today’s global economy, it is clear that new industries and new ideas are needed to help our planet in the 21st Century.  The Space Elevator can be a key positive contributor, from providing inexpensive nanotechnology material science breakthroughs that will make your car stronger and lighter, to the creation of new industries that offer opportunities for investment and job creation.  The International Space Elevator Consortium devoted to its development can make this happen.”

ISEC will be unveiling additional plans and details in the upcoming weeks, including a board of directors, technical journals, university and industry relationships, research opportunities and scholarships.  Memberships will be available on the individual, corporate, academic and governmental levels.

Headquartered in the greater Los Angeles area, center of the aerospace industry, the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) is a non-profit organization devoted to the research and construction of an Elevator to Space.  For more information please visit www.isec.info.

For more information please contact:

Ted Semon
ISEC
1-630-240-4797
ted [at] spaceelevatorblog.com

Belinda Young
BYPR
1-206-932-3145
byoung [at] bypr.com

From Ted Semon at The Space Elevator Blog

Introducing the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC)

November 15th, 2008

“ISEC promotes the development, construction and operation of a space elevator as a revolutionary and efficient way to space for all humanity”

This is the mission statement of the newly formed International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC), an organization created to encourage the growing international interest and momentum towards building a Space Elevator.  Several attendees at the recent Space Elevator Conference in Seattle talked about pooling their efforts to get such an effort underway and, after a false start or two, we’ve now succeeded in forming this Consortium.

We have incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of California and are now working on establishing our Federal 501c3 status (and for those of you who would like to point out how difficult this is, I’d just like to say that IRS Form 1023 and I are old friends ).

Several groups have joined together in this effort; The Spaceward Foundation, The Japan Space Elevator Association, EuroSpaceward, The Space Elevator Reference and this Space Elevator Blog.  In addition to these groups, several other individuals (both long-timers in the Space Elevator community and newcomers from the Seattle conference) have joined this Consortium.

Yours truly has been chosen as the President of this organization; an honor which I find very humbling and exciting at the same time.  I have lots of plans to aggressively grow this organization and make no mistake about it; our goal is nothing less than to get a Space Elevator built.

You will be hearing much, much more about this organization in the near future so stay tuned.  In the meantime, I encourage you to head to the ISEC website and sign up for our newsletter so you can stay current with all of our efforts.

Raising Money For Space Activities

The recent Space Elevator Conference (July 18, 19, & 20) was a huge success in the minds of the attendees.  The inclusion of a Japanese group added an international flavor and a new slant on what the elevator should look like.  See http://www.spaceelevatorblog.com for more information.

Raising money for the conferences and other space activities remains a challenge.  One new idea that came out of the conference was that of using GoodSearch to allow any and all space enthuaist to help raise money.  The idea was presented by the JPL Space Foundation who  believe that there are thousands, if not millions of space enthusiasts who share our dream of finding an affordable, reliable and safe access to space and would help make affordable access to space a reality if only they could find a way. We think we have found a way that we all can do something to help raise money. There is a new search engine called Good Search which is powered by Yahoo that will contribute one cent to a charity of your choice every time you use Good Search to look up anything on the web. All you need do is go to: http://www.jplspacefoundation.org and click the Good Search Banner and download the Good Search "search bar" when you get to their site. Choose JPL Space Foundation as your Charity, if it doesn’t show up automatically and then surf the web as usual using Good Search. All proceeds will be used to support research for the Space Elevator and any other technology that will allow us to reach space at an affordable cost.

Also, if you shop on-line a good deal, just click the Good Search logo on the search bar and then the Good Shop link and again choose JPL Space Foundation as your charity and you can shop from Amazon to Sears to Wal-Mart and many others. A percentage of your purchase will go to support the Foundation. I know a few percent or a few cents per person isn't much, but all of us together and all our friends that might like to help can make a big difference over time. It’s not what we do that matters, but how many of us that do it.

I think there are many people who would love to learn of a way they could help advance our efforts to explore space on a faster schedule.

1000 people at 2 clicks/day equals from $7000-$25,000 per year including shopping.

John Lee

JPL Space Foundation