Demand Lunar Sovereignty!
11) Blue Origin - by Concerned Onlooker
The Wikipedia lists you as a part-time advisor for Blue Origin [blueorigin.com], a company that is working to "develop a crewed, suborbital launch system." What is it that you do for them and has the recent winning of the X-Prize by the Spaceship One team had any effect on Blue Origin's plans? What are your visions of future private space flight?
Neal:
Like Spock on the deck of the Enterprise, I sit in the corner and await opportunities to jump out and yammer about Science. Unlike Spock, I don't have anyone reporting to me and I never get to sit in the captain's chair and aim the phasers. This is probably good.
Though the X-Prize is cool and good, Blue Origin never intended to compete for it. Consequently, it has had no effect, other than destroying productivity whenever a SpaceShipOne flight is being broadcast.
As for my visions of future private space flight: here I have to remind you of something, which is that, up to this point in the interview, I have been wearing my novelist hat, meaning that I talk freely about whatever I please. But private space flight is an area where I wear a different hat (or helmet). I do not freely disseminate my thoughts on this one topic because I have agreed to sell those thoughts to Blue Origin. Admittedly, this feels a little strange to a novelist who is accustomed to running his mouth whenever he feels like it. But it is a small price to pay for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a minor character in a Robert Heinlein novel.
My good god, there is so much amazingness in this one segment alone. And Neal Stephenson did an entire interview with SlashDot like this. This man is a certified badass.
First, it's about Blue Origin, Amazon.com creator Jeff Bezos's secretive aeronautics firm. That alone, that this .com millionaire is moving on to aeronautics is amazing. I respect Mark Cuban for being such a badass for making a billion dollars and pursuing his passions, and all he did was buy a basketball team. Bezos is going to space. And he's not screwing around. Take a look at Blue Origin's Jobs page:
He means business. Personally, i cannot wait to see what these guys produce. Stephenson's ideas coupled with Bezos' clout together with god-knows how many other resources and the result has to be exciting.
Second, Stephenson is working with these people. A badass writer full of badass ideas, getting paid buy an aeronautics company for some of those badass ideas. This is both a sign of intelligent foresight on the part of Blue Origin, and exciting possibilities ahead for Neal Stephenson.
Third, Stephenson references Robert Heinlein. This is like heaven.
More on this later.
The Wikipedia lists you as a part-time advisor for Blue Origin [blueorigin.com], a company that is working to "develop a crewed, suborbital launch system." What is it that you do for them and has the recent winning of the X-Prize by the Spaceship One team had any effect on Blue Origin's plans? What are your visions of future private space flight?
Neal:
Like Spock on the deck of the Enterprise, I sit in the corner and await opportunities to jump out and yammer about Science. Unlike Spock, I don't have anyone reporting to me and I never get to sit in the captain's chair and aim the phasers. This is probably good.
Though the X-Prize is cool and good, Blue Origin never intended to compete for it. Consequently, it has had no effect, other than destroying productivity whenever a SpaceShipOne flight is being broadcast.
As for my visions of future private space flight: here I have to remind you of something, which is that, up to this point in the interview, I have been wearing my novelist hat, meaning that I talk freely about whatever I please. But private space flight is an area where I wear a different hat (or helmet). I do not freely disseminate my thoughts on this one topic because I have agreed to sell those thoughts to Blue Origin. Admittedly, this feels a little strange to a novelist who is accustomed to running his mouth whenever he feels like it. But it is a small price to pay for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a minor character in a Robert Heinlein novel.
My good god, there is so much amazingness in this one segment alone. And Neal Stephenson did an entire interview with SlashDot like this. This man is a certified badass.
First, it's about Blue Origin, Amazon.com creator Jeff Bezos's secretive aeronautics firm. That alone, that this .com millionaire is moving on to aeronautics is amazing. I respect Mark Cuban for being such a badass for making a billion dollars and pursuing his passions, and all he did was buy a basketball team. Bezos is going to space. And he's not screwing around. Take a look at Blue Origin's Jobs page:
- You must have a genuine passion for space. Without passion, you will find what we're trying to do too difficult. There are much easier jobs.
- You must want to work in a small company.
- We are building real hardware -- not PowerPoint presentations. This must excite you. You must be a builder.
He means business. Personally, i cannot wait to see what these guys produce. Stephenson's ideas coupled with Bezos' clout together with god-knows how many other resources and the result has to be exciting.
Second, Stephenson is working with these people. A badass writer full of badass ideas, getting paid buy an aeronautics company for some of those badass ideas. This is both a sign of intelligent foresight on the part of Blue Origin, and exciting possibilities ahead for Neal Stephenson.
Third, Stephenson references Robert Heinlein. This is like heaven.