Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
How many of you here
have ever dreamed of going to space?
Lots of hands.
What if I were to say right now:
"You're all already in space right now"?
(Laughter)
Well, consider this.
This is the view of the Earth from Mars.
Imagine someone standing on the surface of the Red Planet
looking up into their night sky.
I'm pretty sure they're going to think Earth is out in space.
We are all in space right now,
in a very tiny section in the far outskirts.
And there is still so much left out there for us to explore.
Earth really is just this tiny island in an ocean of planets and suns.
It's easy to get lost.
And just like those famous explorers from history
who set out in ships
to explore the distant corners of our planet,
astronauts are our modern-day explorers,
setting out in ships to explore the distant corners of space.
So I am here today to share my perspective
and why I believe space exploration is vital
to humanity's ability to keep innovating in the future.
This is from a research report that talks about how you can go about
empowering people so they can innovate.
And they say: "Innovation requires the capacity
to continually learn and upgrade skills."
And this made me wonder.
Would we stop innovating if we ran out of new things to learn?
And where do we go to find new things to learn?
I believe space is that answer
to keeping our doorway to innovation open
and to increasing innovation opportunities here in Houston.
Space offers an almost infinite resource
for opportunities to be inspired, to innovate and to learn.
Space exploration has a proven track record at sparking innovation,
with over 1,700 inventions
from space exploration
just since 1976. Everyday items:
scratch-resistant lenses on our glasses and sunglasses,
the ear thermometer you now get to use
to take your child's temperature when they are sick
instead of making him hold it under the tongue,
cordless power-tools....
All of this came from space exploration.
But space is hard to get to.
It takes a lot of time and a lot of money.
And it's pretty overwhelming.
And that's where SpaceUp Houston fits in.
SpaceUp Houston is a non-profit organization here in Houston
that provides an engagement platform
where space enthusiasts — people who are passionate about space —
can come together and nurture new and radical concepts,
help develop partnerships,
and develop new ways
that we can send people up to space.
To our events, like our annual Unconference,
you and your kids can come
and connect with aerospace engineers,
astronauts, commercial experts,
and space enthusiasts, to be inspired as you learn about space.
SpaceUp Houston brings entrepreneurs together
with aerospace engineers
to help startups find the talent they need
and to grow Houston's economy through a small business development.
SpaceUp Houston also invites
commercial aerospace experts and leaders
to come to Houston and talk to you about
the projects that their companies are working on
to advance space exploration.
SpaceUp also developed and maintains the Space Points platform,
which is an online application
where we take our in-person engagements
to the internet to share with space enthusiasts all over the world.
And why do we do this?
We do this because we dream of space. I dream of space.
Our volunteers, our participants, our sponsors,
we all dream of space and the opportunities that are out there.
And conincidentally, I just wanted to share the 'Up' in SpaceUp.
It's not about looking up into space like you might think.
It's about standing up and doing something.
And we need all of you to stand up.
Come do something if you dream of space, like we do.
Join us.
You can go online to our website. You can talk to me.
Find out about our upcoming events and register,
sign up to volunteer to help with one of our events.
Most of all, invite people at your company,
your families, your friends to come and support space
and keep that doorway to innovation
as wide open as we can, as you build a future with space.
I'm going to close real quick with a story that inspired me.
I met the founder of IDreamOfSpace.com
at SpaceUp Unconference in San Francisco this year — Reuben Metcalfe.
And his dream is to make space exploration accessible to all of us.
So you can go online to his startup, IDreamOfSpace.com,
and find out how you can purchase a ticket
for your chance on one of the first commercial space flights coming up.
It's as early as 2015.
Thank you. (Applause)