I Need My Space

A rocket lifts off in front of Pikes Peak

The Space Foundation's 22nd National Space Symposium has been going on this week in Colorado Springs. More than 7,000 commercial, civil and military space leaders decended on the gorgeous Broadmoor resort for the annual event that brings the nation's celestial dreamers together once a year to set America's course in outer space.

This year Tom Hanks was given an award for his contributions to the space industry through his feature films, IMAX films and mini-series'. Unfortunetly, post-production on The DaVinci Code prevented him from attending though he has promised to remedy that very soon.

That the second in command of the Japanese Space Agency will be speaking here is pretty impressive. That the second in command of the Chinese Space Agency will be speaking here is nothing short of revolutionary.

Some of the themes of this year are manned vs. robotic exploration, how space is being used to ensure national security, and the benefits of technology originally designed for space travel that now enrich our lives here on earth.

And in a particularly poignant look at the future, a consultant here has already begun drawing up preliminary designs for the first National Space Symposium to be held on Mars.

A few of the stellar celebrities with whom I've been able to meet:


Elon Musk

Elon Musk left his native South Africa for America when he was only 17. Five years later he graduated from Wharton college with degrees in Finance and Physics. Two days into grad school at Stanford for Energy Physics, he dropped out to start Zip2, makers of media industry software. In 1999 he sold it to Compaq for $300 million. Then he started Pay Pal and just recently sold it to eBay for 1.5 billion. Now he's started his third company, SpaceX with the ambitious goal of launching space vehicles to create a permanent manned settlement on Mars. Additionally, he has begun producing films, his first being this Spring's saterical hit, Thank You for Smoking. Did I mention he's only 34!?


Neil Degrasse Tyson

Neal Degrasse Tyson is one of the world's most recognized and popular lecturers on astronomy. He's the author of six books, a columnist for Natural History magazine, the host of NOVA's "Origins" miniseries, the youngest-ever director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, and People magazine's "Sexiest Astrophysist Alive." And, as he told me, he's soon to be the voice of the human heart on Seseme Street. Now there's a resume builder.


Buzz Aldrin

Buzz hardly needs an introduction. As a member of Apollo 11, he was only the second human being to ever set foot on the moon.

Gatherings such as this are fashioned to inspire the spirit, elevate the soul and realign the human consciousness. Why risk our lives to travel into the void? Because it beckons to us. It is our nature to explore, to push the boundaries of knowledge and perseverance, and indeed go where no one has gone before. In going out there we improve life right here. Journeys into the unknown show us for who we really are and reveal the very values that we, as a species, hold sacred. They remind us of our common humanity, humble us with their monolithic dimensions and invite us to do the one thing that sets us apart from the rest of God’s creation—dream.