Ed Wright of Citizens in Space, on “Citizen Science: ‘Pump priming’ For Suborbital

Space Tourism – too small to take seriously

Institute science – more money, tend to think NASA is the answer

Ideal Science Customer: Plentiful, Open to new ideas, little to no bureaucracy, minimal handholding, not dependent on NASA or the Federal government

The answer: Citizen Science – new term, old idea.  This is the way science used to be done, for example Sir Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Gregor Mendel, Orville and Wilbur Wright.

Here are some areas where this is fruitful: Amateur Astronomy, bird watching, plant collecting, geology, Zooniverse, Do It Yourself Biotech, Maker movement.  

Trying facilitate “Citizens in Space.”  Have a contract with XCOR for 10 flights.  Looking for Lynx Experiments.  May be able to do 10 to 12 experiments on each flight.  Will have an experiment contest.

Check: www.citizensinspace.org

The full agenda for Space Access 2012, with links.