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Welcome Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium

Welcome Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium. George Seielstad February 3, 2005. Only known Biosphere— anywhere. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Small Probability x Enormous Possibilities = ?. Global Experiment.

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Welcome Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium

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  1. WelcomeUpper Midwest Aerospace Consortium George Seielstad February 3, 2005

  2. Only known Biosphere— anywhere

  3. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Small Probability x Enormous Possibilities = ?

  4. Global Experiment • More people are using more resources with more intensity than at any time in human history. • The pace of planetary re-engineering is unsustainable.

  5. The Good News We’re clever enough to mend our ways. NB: 2005 is 100th Anniversary of Einstein’s annus mirabilis.

  6. Earth, from 6 billion km Voyager 1 June 6, 1990

  7. Supernovae: Standard Candles After Before

  8. Stuff of Humans, Rhinos, Coffee Cups, Oceans, Boulders,Everything we know Contents of the Universe ??? ??

  9. Cosmic Significance Homo sapiens’ ancestry 0.001% of travel time of these signals.

  10. Human Insignificance “Humans are emotionally fragile, perennially gullible, hopelessly ignorant masters of an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos.” Neil deGrasse Tyson, Natural History, Dec. 2002/Jan. 2003, p. 32.

  11. Human Magnificence Astonishing achievement that multiple generations of humans have created a unified Story of Creation.

  12. Human Responsibility • Took 4.5 billion years for something to appear that could reconstruct that immense history. • Human growth of knowledge spawned growth of power • Challenge is to use our power wisely • Earth’s future is what we make it.

  13. Justice and Equity • Three Dimensions of Justice and Equity • Intra-Generational: Among all 6-plus billion humans today • Inter-Generational: Between our generation and its successors • Inter-Species: Between Homo sapiens and all other species that collectively make Earth habitable.

  14. “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” Theodore Roosevelt U.S. President, 1901-09 Philosophy of Action

  15. “The richness and humor with which nature has written her mystery, in an international language that can be read by people of all nations, is beautiful, awesome, and humbling.” John Bahcall, Mercury 30 (5), 37 (2001)

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