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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Japanese billionaire seeks 8 crewmembers for moon-bound mission on SpaceX's Starship

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Bipartisianship

Comments: 0

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is looking for eight crewmembers for a mission to the moon.

Maezawa, a controversial entrepreneur who previously held a "girlfriend contest" for a now-defunct space-bound mission, announced Tuesday (March 2) that his dearMoon project, which aims to fly the "first civilian mission to the moon," according to the project website, is now looking for eight crewmembers to fly to and around the moon and back on SpaceX's Starship spacecraft. 

The project was announced in 2018 with the original intent to bring a crew of artists to the moon. In this latest release, Maezawa calls for applicants to make up a crew of eight individuals from around the world for the week-long lunar trip.

For more information about the project and applicant requirements, check out the dearMoon website here. 

In the video announcing this call for civilian astronauts, which features heavy rock music and footage of SpaceX's Starship lifting off, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk voiced his support for the mission, stating "I think we'll make a real difference."

"I'm inviting you to join me on this mission. Eight of you from all around the world," Maezawa said in the video. "The mission will take place two years from now, in 2023. I want people from all kinds of backgrounds to join." 

For those interested in applying to be one of those eight crewmembers, Maezawa didn't specify what qualifications are necessary to be selected. They are allowing people to pre-register for the contest until March 14 at 9:59 EST (0259 March 15 GMT). After that, the website states that "everyone who pre-registers will receive an email about the selection process."

Pre-registration will be followed by an initial screening (which will happen by March 21), an online interview and a final interview and medical screening, which the website states will take place by late May of this year. 

This call for crewmembers comes as other civilian space missions also garner attention and applicants. For example, people all over the world have applied to Inspiration4, a contest looking to fly a civilian mission to space while raising money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. 

Photo: March 2, 2021, the dearMoon contest called for applicants to make up its eight-person crew.  (Image credit: dearMoon/SpaceX)

Link: Japanese billionaire seeks 8 crewmembers for moon-bound mission on SpaceX's Starship | Space

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