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You can create the Space Funding Solution

Last week I looked at our budget for Astrosphere (the non-profit that supports 365 Days of Astronomy, and along with SIUE Astronomy Cast, and CosmoQuest) and realized we have about 2 months operating costs in the bank. Last month I found out a grant I needed (but never had good odds of getting) was rejected, effecting how I’ll continue to fund my team building citizen science projects and educational resources at SIUE. 5 months ago NASA canceled the grant lines I rely on.

This all adds up to something I’ve mentioned several times in talks: NASA cut backs could cut me, and deeply hurt my team unless I find other means of funding us. With the National Science Foundation also cutting back… The traditional funding mechanisms aren’t a modern day solution.

I’m not the only one to realize that there is a problem, and I’m proud to say that people I deeply respect are working hard to define a solution for all of us who are struggling to keep space science not just growing, but thriving in this economic drought.

This morning, a new Indiegogo campaign was launched by a group of folks who want to create a new set of projects that are marketed to directly fund space exploration, space research, and space education. Called Uwingu, this new project wants to help bridge the space industry into the future by providing alternative funding sources that keep researchers going when NASA resources run dry. I’ve been helping this campaign on the tech side, and have seen their plans. Put simply: They have an awesome, commercially viable business plan that they will implement and then use a large portion of the proceeds from that business plan to fund folks working in the space industry through competitive grants.

The team is really impressive: Alan Stern, Geoff Marcy, David Grinspoon, Andy Chaikin, Emily CoBabe-Ammann… These are folks who have dedicated their careers to many different aspects of space science and who together have a big picture understanding of NASA, and why going to congress and asking for the NASA budget to be increased isn’t a fast enough solution for helping all the folks – folks like me – who aren’t sure how they’re going to keep going into the budget year.

Their ideas are so elegant that I can’t believe they haven’t already been done, and because it would take about a week for someone with very modest venture capitol (that part they are missing) to implement the idea … well… This is where the campaign is asking for your trust and your donations to allow us to setup a new model for funding space, but we can’t give you the details, because if we do the idea is going to get built by someone else and the profit will go somewhere other than to researchers.

I’m doing what I can to help them by lending them my voice and my social media / tech expertise to help their campaign succeed.

Can you help too? Can you contribute at just the $10 level and become part of a first wave of space exploration backers who help us continue to push out into our solar system and beyond.

P.S. The solution above is the “Teach a man to fish” long-term solution. If you have the extra resources to “Give a man a fish” so he isn’t hungry while he learns, please also consider donating to Astrosphere New Media and helping me feed my staff (they do like fish) as we work to continue to produce podcasts and Google Hangouts on Air to feed your minds. If you’d rather support our citizen science and formal education initiatives, please consider donating to CosmoQuest via SIUE.

14 Responses to “You can create the Space Funding Solution”

1. Jon Duprey says:

   July 31, 2012 at 5:50 pm

   The Bad Astronomer has you front page on slashdot.org! I had to give a shout out there for AstronomyCast, hopefully you can pursuade even one uber-rich dude to pony up some money. Two would be nice. I’ll contribute and do what i can to spread the word.
2. Keith says:

   July 31, 2012 at 6:45 pm

   Maybe it is possible to turn this into a kickstarter project.
3. Pamela Gay says:

   July 31, 2012 at 11:24 pm

   Indiegogo is very similar to Kickstarter.
4. Dave D. Cawley says:

   August 1, 2012 at 10:52 am

   We have to get off this rock, it’s not going to sustain us much longer and we’ve trashed it. Hopefully we can leave the anti-science idiots here. Where do we send money? I don’t have a lot, but every it counts.
5. pamela says:

   August 1, 2012 at 1:38 pm

   Hi Dave,

   I’ll also email you. You can use any of the links above to donate via paypal. If you’d like to send money, I’m actually not sure how to do that for Uwingu. For the other two projects, check out the addresses at these two links:

   1) Astrosphere New Media Association
   http://www.astrosphere.org/donate/

   2) Astronomy Cast (specify on the check if you are donating to Astronomy Cast or CosmoQuest CitizenScience)
   http://www.astronomycast.com/support-the-show/donate/
6. Laurel Kornfeld says:

   August 2, 2012 at 12:33 am

   You don’t have to be an “uber rich” donor to help. Many small donations can add up to a big difference, something grassroots advocacy groups know very well.
7. pamela says:

   August 2, 2012 at 12:41 am

   Thanks for your support, Laurel! Can you help us promote this?
8. Laurel Kornfeld says:

   August 2, 2012 at 1:06 pm

   I can put a link to this on my Pluto Blog. If you have any other suggestions about how I can promote this program, I would be happy to hear them!
9. pamela says:

   August 2, 2012 at 2:59 pm

   Hi Laurel,

   During IYA you did a fabulous job getting everyone talking about Pluto’s planethood (I refer to it as Planet Classic). I don’t know how you did it, but if you can use that same contact list and energy, we’d be super grateful.
10. James Lehr Miller says:

    August 5, 2012 at 3:34 am

    Well, I’ll donate what I can.
    I, too am spirheading a project which when up and runing could help in a very big way, in more then one way.
    I am attempting to get interest up in a totally new type of Public Observatory patterned after the ancient ones found around the American Southwest. Only this type has all the bells and whistles of the latest professional/amateur equipment.
    The goal is to have identicle sites, all interlinked, globally.
    So far, it’s only in a PP presentation but I am trying as many avenues as I can to get one unit up and runing. I just can’t seem to get anyone on board with this project; one that I know in my heart of hearts is so damn worthwhile. I am retired and have no income to throw at it. And yet, that does not deter me. One day, my wake will cross the path with an entity who has the wherewithall. I do not even need to draw any income from it, even though it can easily bring in at least $100k plus per year. Per unit. I realized long ago that going non-profit would end up in a dismal failure, so I approach it as a business.
    What I am saying, that if there is a future for this one, it means you, too, will benefit.
    Regardless, I will donate a bit to you as well. Pay it forward, as they say.
    Thanks for being out there!
    Jim
    The Nox Oculus Project
11. pamela says:

    August 10, 2012 at 12:10 am

    Hi Duncan – I had to delete your comment because it created an odd conflict of interest since I own this site and am thus legally responsible for anything posted. I tried to email you, but the email address you used had a fatal error. Please email (starstryder on gmail) and I’ll answer your question.
12. Duncan Sparks says:

    August 10, 2012 at 12:47 am

    “Fatal error”. Nice excuse. By all means blame Hotmail – I always do. [EDITED] Conflict of interest? [EDITED] But you won’t explain. Thanks for the tip. Will post this on other websites. Cheers.
13. pamela says:

    August 10, 2012 at 1:15 am

    Hi Duncan,

    Seriously, your email is throwing an error. This is what I got.

    Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
    dsparks[EDITTED]@hotmail.com
    Technical details of permanent failure:
    Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable (state 13).

    I’m sorry, I had to edit your comment again. I’ve signed legal documents that restrict me from talking about what you were able to find in the public domain. This is a really weird conflict that I hadn’t realized could happen. It was a lesson learned about what is and isn’t in the public domain and weird restrictions you can end up with. I’m going to post some useful info on Google+ that you should recognize as relevant. Give me about 10 minutes. There is a difference between being cagey and having a legal conflict of interest that forces me to delete your comment.
14. Rince says:

    August 11, 2012 at 6:18 am

    I don’t have much, but I chipped in because I believe in this project. I also wrote about it in my blog, trying to encourage others to help too.