Dear Friends,
Many of us have dreamed of the stars since we were little children, inspired by the tremendous achievements of Project Apollo and others. This vision has pushed us onwards with passion towards the fulfilment of a dream, the likes of which thrills all of our hearts and souls to the core. We can think of no better example than the achievement of an interstellar vision, to help unify the diverse cultures and societies of human civilisation with all its complexity, and hopefully help us to focus on more constructive ways to utilise our considerable energies.
Last week we hosted the highly successful Foundations of Interstellar Studies workshop in New York with the City University of New York. This exciting meeting will be repeated in the future and we plan to advance the field by emphasis on academic technical achievements, whilst continuing to engage with and be inspired by the arts. You can already see many photos from this wonderful event on our web site.
We jointly started work on the Institute/Initiative for Interstellar Studies in 2012. We are pleased to report that the next Annual General Meeting of the company will be held at our own Headquarters, in Gloucestershire, England, in the gorgeous countryside of the Cotswolds, on Saturday 30th September, approximately five years since our organizations founding. The i4is will be taking up residence in our own HQ effective immediately and we will have the building operational by the time of our first meeting. The Cotswolds includes Stratford-upon-Avon (home of William Shakespeare), Bath (home of William Herschel when he discovered the planet Uranus). The lovely setting of the Cotswolds reminds us of the precious Earth that we must seek to protect, in the process of searching for new homes out there in space.
This achievement makes the i4is the first and only dedicated interstellar organization in the world to acquire the use of its own Headquarters. The building itself, which is over 6,500 sq.ft in size, was constructed in 1812 and is former mill, a part of the industrial revolution which saw the transition to new manufacturing methods between the period 1760 to 1840. This has interesting parallels to the new industrial and ecological revolution we need to see in the future to make starships possible.
The ‘interstellar space’, will feature a 100+ conference room, library, café space, and astounding art work and space artefacts exhibited throughout from world famous artists. The conference room will be equipped with modern technology that will enable us to live stream talks direct to the World Wide Web. The facility will be used for lectures, conferences, workshops, meetings and anything that our team needs to help achieve our mission of creating an interstellar capable society. We will also be installing several science stations to conduct innovative experiments into astronomy, meteorology, and other activities for education and research value. We will be inviting some of our valued partners, such as the British Interplanetary Society, to make use of this facility for their benefit too. This building will be used to help us co-ordinate global activities focussed on the mission of the stars.
In addition, the building contains an enormous workshop space, which we will be equipping to assist our practical space related programs. This includes our interest in laser-sail propulsion through Project Dragonfly and Project Glowworm and our current collaborations with the inspirational Breakthrough Initiatives Project Starshot. Some of the i4is team will be involved in making the new HQ operational in time for the first meeting. Yet, we know we will see all of you at some point visiting STARSHIP EARTH CENTRAL in the near future. There really is no other place like this in the world today.
The i4is continues to work towards the mission of interstellar flight, placing technical achievements and knowledge at the foundations of what we do.
Scientia ad sidera – Knowledge to the Stars!
Initiative for Interstellar Studies
