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
