From Marco Bernasconi,

: Dear colleagues and friends,

: Greetings, and...

: BEST WISHES FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2007!

: And what about the 2006? Another spawn of the XX century that
: managed to swap over into the next millennium? May be some among
: you have an appropriate assessment.

: Within the limited space field, Bigelow Aerospace flight of the
: Genesis module clearly defined the highlight of the past year. I
: don't think we have really gauged the meaning of this event, for
: the "gossamer" community. While some HEDES (HEavy-Duty Expandable
: Structures) efforts occurred in the US during the 1990s (LLNL NASA
: lunar module, Transhab), on the hardware side, they remained
: limited to punctual technology developments. However modest it
: might have been, the Genesis 1 prototype did include all elements
: needed to take it through launch and installation sequence, into
: an operational phase in orbit. And all this, as guys who have
: tried to take something to a real demonstration phase well know,
: does _not_ represent a minor success, but truly a major one!

: ~~~

: I have previously mentioned the generalized "sovietization" as one
: major negative trend. To my surprise, I have seen the term used by
: a number of independent sources, in the proper context. Hardly
: encouraging, I'd call it.

: ~~~

: And one man who, for many years acted with spirit and honesty
: against such trends, passed away last year. Milton Friedman had
: influenced many people, well beyond the borders of his country;
: and I can count myself, in a very small way, among those numbers.
: I first came across his columns in Newsweek from the mid-1970s
: onwards (yes, I did subscribe to Newsweek for a number of years!);
: later, I read his "Free to Choose." While I was never excessively
: admirative in the science of economics, I think his articles did
: maintain in me a sort of cognitive dissonance that dynamically
: kept me from sliding into buying in the system. Later, I learned
: of other, even more open concepts, but Friedman did deserve all
: the hommages that came forward at the end of 2006.

: ~~~

: Within my much smaller world, I have to admit that 2006
: represented a somewhat transitional period. MCB Consultants has
: continued work on the Ultralight Structures (ULS) activity and on
: the contract on "Polymerization of Composites in Space", both led
: by Astrium ST (previously, EADS Space Transportation -- Bordeaux).
: We also established contacts with a number of "young" companies
: and project teams, leading to plans for collaborations (currently
: at different stages of maturity) that could make for interesting
: future plays.

: ~~~

: On the other hand, if a year ago I had lamented the scarcity of
: our publications, this changed with 2006. Of course, external
: facts like holding the LVII International Astronautical Congress
: at Valencia (Spain) and the recurring of the ESA European Workshop
: on Inflatable Space Structures -- the third issue held at ESTEC,
: Noordwijk -- provided the appropriate strong stimuli. So, here
: come the lists:

: Full Papers

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Going Elsewhere – Adapting Structures
: for Use in Space through Rigidizing Materials. Paper TT01-100
: presented at the "Adaptables2006" -- International Conference on
: Adaptable Building Structures, Eindhoven (The Netherlands),
: July 3-5.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Meindert Versteeg, & Roland Zenger (2006).
: Auxiliary Internal Structures (AUXIS) for an Expandable Habitat:
: Configuration Aspects & Hierarchical Structuring. Paper
: IAC-06-C2.7.03 presented at the LVII International Astronautical
: Congress, Valencia (Spain), October 2-6.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Meindert Versteeg, & Roland Zenger (2006). A
: Multi-Purpose Astronaut Shower for Long-Duration Microgravity
: Missions. Paper IAC-06-B4.4.05 to be presented at the LVII
: International Astronautical Congress, Valencia (Spain),
: October 2-6.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Roland Zenger, & Meindert Versteeg (2006).
: Crew Health Support on Long-Duration Missions in Microgravity:
: Some Considerations. Paper IAC-06-C2.7.03 to be presented at the
: LVII International Astronautical Congress, Valencia (Spain),
: October 2-6.

: Public Presentations:

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Astronautics as an Ethical Imperative.
: Presentation at the OLATS "Expanding the Space: Enlarging the
: Frontiers of the Earth" Conference, Valencia (Spain), October 3-6.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Material Aspects for Gossamer
: Structures: Thin-Film Options. Presentation PPH-06-057 at the 3rd
: European Workshop on Inflatable Space Structures, ESTEC (The
: Netherlands), October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). A Further Look at Rigidization
: Technologies: Thermal-Regime Considerations. Presentation
: PPH-06-058 at the 3rd European Workshop on Inflatable Space
: Structures, ESTEC (The Netherlands), October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). A Planar Support Frame for Flight
: Experiment Purposes. Presentation PPH-06-059 at the 3rd European
: Workshop on Inflatable Space Structures, ESTEC (The Netherlands),
: October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Meindert Versteeg, & Roland Zenger (2006).
: Auxiliary Internal Structures (AUXIS) for an Expandable Habitat.
: Presentation PPH-06-062 at the 3rd European Workshop on Inflatable
: Space Structures, ESTEC (The Netherlands), October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Folding Patterns for Gossamers'
: Building Blocks -- A Primer. Presentation PPH-06-064 at the 3rd
: European Workshop on Inflatable Space Structures, ESTEC (The
: Netherlands), October 10-12.

: ~~~

: For 2007, I've got involved in soliciting papers from other
: people. Currently, I'm working at organizing two sessions for the
: ECCOMAS "Structural Membranes 2007 Conference": one on "Inflatable
: Shelters & Habitats" and a second one (together with Dr Defoort)
: on "Rigidifiable Materials for Deployable Membranes." More
: information comes from the conference site at:
: http://congress.cimne.upc.es/membranes07/frontal/default.asp

: or by writing to one of the e-mail addresses indicated at the end
: of this message.

: Before, I had tried my hand at helping the convocation of the 2nd
: IAA/ ESA Space and Society Conference: "Space Options for the 21st
: Century" that will be held at ESTEC, Noordwijk (The Netherlands)
: between February 27 - March 1. More information through:
: http://conferences.esa.int/

: or directly at:
: http://www.congrex.nl/06a12

: ~~~

: Again, my heartfelt thanks to all those among you with whom I had
: the privilege and the pleasure to talk and work with during the
: last months and, as always, my sincerest wishes for a better,
: freer, and astronautical future!!

: Marco C Bernasconi (Dr Sc Techn)
: Member IAA, IEEE & SSIT, BIS; Senior Member, AIAA.
: Email: speculum@...
: mcb@...
: marco.c.bernasconi@...

Mark Reiff