About Rod D. Martin
Praise for Rod D. Martin
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Politics & Economics
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Faith & Cultureby Edward Ellegood
Florida Space Development Council
October 26, 2016
The Next President Will Take Power with Significant Space Decisions Looming
At the upper edge of the atmosphere, where the sky kisses outer space, a few molecules of nitrogen and oxygen bounce around. If we consider the presidential election as playing out at the surface of the Earth, amid a thick atmosphere of invective and accusation, it is not a stretch to say the relative importance of space policy lies somewhere near the edge of space, bouncing around inconsequentially, like these stray molecules. Even so, the next president of the United States will have the ability, if not the desire, to shape the future of America’s civil space programs—especially with major decision points on the horizon, including the privatization of spaceflight and the details of where humans should go beyond low-Earth orbit. For this reason, we’re going to look at what changes a new president might make and what attitudes each candidate has had toward space. — Ars Technica
Opinion: How To Colonize Mars
Within a month, the aspiration to send humans to Mars seems to have reached a new level of media exposure. First Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin disclosed its plan to build the New Glenn, a rocket with the potential to send humans into space. Then SpaceX CEO Elon Musk presented his vision of how we could shuttle to and from Mars within a couple of decades. And two weeks later, President Obama wrote an op-ed calling for America to set its sights on sending humans to Mars by the 2030s with the ambition of remaining there for an extended time. While coming from different angles, both Musk and Obama emphasized the need for a public-private partnership to achieve these ambitious goals. Musk’s main objective is to make the trip to Mars affordable for as many people as possible. His hypothesis is that if one can bring the cost down to the median cost of a house in the U.S.—$200,000—then there will be a critical mass of people who can afford and are willing to go. In order to reach that affordability threshold, he believes government money will be needed along the way, hence the need for a public-private partnership. — Aviation Week
Orbital ATK Looks Deeper Into Space Following Successful Launch
Orbital ATK is no doubt celebrating — and breathing a sigh of relief — following its first successful launch of its Antares rocket since that same brand of rocket exploded seconds after takeoff two years ago. But Orbital ATK isn’t viewing this as moment of redemption, but rather as an opportunity to position its signature space vehicles for future deep-space missions. Following these commercial cargo launches, Orbital ATK wants to sell NASA on its cislunar space habitats. These space habitats would essentially be modified Cygnus vehicles that go beyond its current mission of delivering cargo in low-earth orbit — about 250 miles out — to the International Space Station, all the way out into cislunar space — the region comprising the Moon’s orbit. — Washington Business Journal
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Thinks Space Can Be the New Internet
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos saw Neil Armstrong step on the Moon nearly 50 years ago and the moment changed his life. Now, as the head of one of the robust online retailers in the world, Bezos says that space is the next frontier, a new internet if you will, that is desperately lacking in infrastructure to support new entrepreneurs. Bezos said the sole purpose of his rocket venture Blue Origin is to build out the same kind of infrastructure for space that Amazon enjoyed in 1995 with the early internet. “Two kids in their dorm room can reinvent an industry,”Bezos said, referring to the strengths of the modern internet. “Two kids in their dorm room cannot do anything interesting in space.” Bezos says rocket reusability needs to be improved, and both Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are working toward the goal of vastly reducing the cost of sending payloads to space. Bezos said there’s also a number of restraints right now that prevent the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that helped create Amazon do the same for a next-generation space venture. “We need to be able to put big things in space at low cost.” — The Verge
New Chinese Company Set Up to Develop Space Economy
The commercialization of rocket launches will boost the industry by bringing space tourism income and attracting private investment, experts said. ChinaRocket Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country’s largest developer of ballistic missiles and carrier rockets, was established on Wednesday, marking the commercialization of China’s space industry. “Chinese commercial space enterprises are lagging behind the global market due to lack of complete production chain in the commercial space industry and experience in commercial space activities like space tourism,” Li Hong, president of the academy, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Commercializing rocket launches will help develop the industry as many private companies will be interested in the sector,” said Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Science of Peking University. Jiao said the establishment of the company signals that State-controlled space industry is stepping into ordinary people’s daily life. — Global Times
Enabling a Mars Settlement Strategy with the Hercules Reusable Mars Lander
by John Strickland
Two key driving constraints have led NASA’s design community to mission and architecture solutions that are more Apollo-like than settlement or colonization driven. One constraint is the mandate to utilize NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) as the workhorse to get humans beyond low-Earth orbit. The projected cost of SLS, combined with anticipated flat budget profiles, means that the maximum number of annual flights of SLS will be limited to two per year (or three in a “surge” year). Another constraint, based on direction from the White House, is to send humans to orbit Mars and return safely by the mid-2030s, with a landing on Mars to follow. NASA subsequently set the goal for achieving the first human landing on Mars by the late 2030s.
To architect Mars mission scenarios with a limited launch cadence and still target a first human landing in the late 2030s, the design community is motivated to maximize the useful payload mass delivered to Mars to support each human mission. The rocket equation shows that staging is a great way to maximize payload for a given launch system capacity. The end result is that the transportation architecture is largely performance driven, relying on expendable, multistage systems, including the Mars lander and the two-stage Mars ascent vehicle. This results in a “boots-on-Mars” or “flags-and-footprints” as the best case mission scenario—a Mars super-sortie, defined as a mission measured in months-to-years, employing only those systems and provisions required to support a single crew. Subsequent missions would attempt to leverage assets or infrastructure from previous missions to eventually evolve to a permanent base. — Space Review
Oregon L5 Builds NSS Moon Base in Cyberspace
Early NSS chapter Oregon L5 Society first became involved in Second Life by building a lunar lava tube exhibit at NASA CoLab, a “Sim” run by NASA Ames Research Center. Wanting to establish a foothold in the largest user-created VR platform on Earth, NSS committed to buy and maintain a region or “Sim” in Second Life and appointed Oregon L5, through their Research Team to manage it. When Ames’ funding dried up and they left Second Life, NSS was able to preserve CoLab’s award-winning “NASA Library and Archive” built by professional archivist Shannon Bohle ( SL “Archivist Llewellyn”). Over the years the simple virtual lava tube has become a deep lunar lava tube base, currently being rebuilt with improved virtual materials. The previous surface base is still open to the public at altitude above the “ground.” Further up, there is a partial “Earth-Moon L1 Base” with a pressurized, water-shielded lunar-glass sphere, the “Space BALLroom,” where they hold meetings and educational, socio-cultural, and space-related public events. — Ad Astra
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
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