Space program co-ops and Astronaut Farmer

Spaceflight started out in the realm of the hobbyist. Then it entered the realm of the government. In 2004, SpaceShipOne proved by example that a person could have a space program. In 2007, Space Shot pointed the way for a person of Charles Farmer’s means to take a spaceflight with the launch of freespaceshot.com. Let’s review the space age from the personal perspective, then see where it’s headed.
Emergence to emergency

Science in the 19th century was not yet a scientific military industrial complex. Rocketry for human spaceflight started out as a club activity on the fringe. During the early years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Further research and experimentation in rocketry
Join a rocketry club

Rockets had been used as weapons for hundreds of years, but in World War 2 rockets became fashionable. With the advent of nuclear weapons, rockets became important strategic weapons. Human spaceflight was not yet big business.

When Sputnik circled the Earth, the United States populace awoke to the feasibility of artificial satellites and the fear of foreign domination of space. This fear fueled the Space Race culminating in a series of Lunar flights.
During these heady years, individuals could apply to be astronauts and the engineers to build the rockets. But spaceflight was beyond even the wealthiest individuals. No one could buy V-2 missiles at the scrap yard the way they could a DC-3. Rocketry was a national obsession and the government marshaled all national resources to force the pace of rocket development.

During these years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Build a small rocket
Join a space advocacy group
Read or write science fiction
Join the national effort to explore and conquer space

The space hobbyists were largely nationalized to become the new cadre of military and civilian government space programs.

Even after the national emergency ended with the end of the Space Race, there was still little new that the individual could do even as the national effort to explore and conquer space wound down.

This is how Charles Farmer in The Astronaut Farmer got involved. He was going to be an astronaut for the government.
The personal space program and the startup space program

With the Ansari X Prize, Peter Diamandis gave Paul Allen the impetus to go out and build his own personal space program. For tens of millions of dollars, a person could achieve what the government did with its X-15 program that cost hundreds of millions of dollars nearly fifty years ago or about $1.5 billion in current dollars. This opened up the possibility of having a space program to Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Others similarly situated, such as Bob Bigelow and Elon Musk, were making progress on their personal space programs.
With the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in government money to Musk’s SpaceX for his rocket and for Branson’s spaceport, the validation of the age of the personal space program is underway. It won’t be for lack of government support that these space programs fail, but it might be due to too much support; they may get co-opted and lose their personal flavor.

Even as rich people with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to burn started hiring engineers by the score, the garage startup personal space program is gaining ground. XCOR Aerospace is making steady progress toward its first spacecraft.

These new opportunities became available to the space enthusiast:
Go to work for a company that expects to fly all of its employees into space
Earn sweat equity by working for a space startup
Invest in a company if you are a qualified investor (roughly $250,000/year family income or $1 million in assets)

This is where I joined. But even if there are two million families with $250,000/year income, that still leaves 98 percent of the United States without a way to invest without becoming an employee of a space firm.

Could an atypical farmer take a lifetime of effort and farm wages and spend them on an orbital rocket ride? It may be fiction today, but it is only a few years away from being fact. Forty years working full time earning about the average wage of $12.50 an hour earns $1 million. It is only a matter of time before private industry finds a way to provide an orbital flight for $1 million now that orbital flights for over $10 million on the Russian Soyuz are sold out. Kistler K-1 may be able to fly 4,500 kg to low Earth orbit, which is enough for a pair of two-person Gemini re-entry modules, for $17 million. That would be about $4.25 million per person in launch costs if a charter can be had for four people for $17 million. That might be half of the total costs because one still has to build the crew compartment; the launch vehicle is only part of the costs.

Call it next decade, December 31, 2019, when someone saving a lifetime’s earnings at the average wage will be enough to afford an orbital spaceflight. That amount of money will probably be up to $1.5 million by then, or $3 million if you are working two jobs like Charles Farmer did in the movie.
Cooperative space program

Now for the first time, anyone can be like Charles Farmer and invest a little time, and in return earn a small opportunity to get into orbit. You don’t need to dedicate your life or a big chunk of riches to directly seek space flight. Instead of spending millions of dollars of time to earn a spaceflight, spend a few minutes at a time and earn an opportunity to win a multi-million dollar spaceflight worth a few dollars.
FreeSpaceShot.com has a tournament to win an orbital spaceflight on the Kistler K-1 with billions of entries. Playing takes a couple of minutes and builds a few cents of advertising revenue toward a spaceflight. Less than one thousand people playing at night for forty years could together produce a winner of one seat at today’s $20 million Soyuz flight price tag (plus tax). We already have 2,000 players and rising and spaceflight prices are falling. I expect the players will not have to wait as long to see an orbital flight winner as the twenty years Barbara Morgan has been waiting for her government flight.

In a generation as spaceflight prices go down and income goes up, we might see an orbital flight raffled for a fund raiser the way that trips to Hawaii were raffled a generation ago: tens of thousand tickets at $100 each, with the bulk of the money going to the sponsoring organization.

Thus, we return to the club roots of space programs after a seventy-year long hiatus. This time, the prize is a trip to orbit or beyond. Strive to be an astronaut like Charles Farmer whenever you want.
by Sam Dinkin

Space program co-ops and Astronaut Farmer

by Sam Dinkin
Monday, March 5, 2007

Spaceflight started out in the realm of the hobbyist. Then it entered the realm of the government. In 2004, SpaceShipOne proved by example that a person could have a space program. In 2007, Space Shot pointed the way for a person of Charles Farmer’s means to take a spaceflight with the launch of freespaceshot.com. Let’s review the space age from the personal perspective, then see where it’s headed.
Emergence to emergency

Science in the 19th century was not yet a scientific military industrial complex. Rocketry for human spaceflight started out as a club activity on the fringe. During the early years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Further research and experimentation in rocketry
Join a rocketry club

Rockets had been used as weapons for hundreds of years, but in World War 2 rockets became fashionable. With the advent of nuclear weapons, rockets became important strategic weapons. Human spaceflight was not yet big business.

When Sputnik circled the Earth, the United States populace awoke to the feasibility of artificial satellites and the fear of foreign domination of space. This fear fueled the Space Race culminating in a series of Lunar flights.
During these heady years, individuals could apply to be astronauts and the engineers to build the rockets. But spaceflight was beyond even the wealthiest individuals. No one could buy V-2 missiles at the scrap yard the way they could a DC-3. Rocketry was a national obsession and the government marshaled all national resources to force the pace of rocket development.

During these years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Build a small rocket
Join a space advocacy group
Read or write science fiction
Join the national effort to explore and conquer space

The space hobbyists were largely nationalized to become the new cadre of military and civilian government space programs.

Even after the national emergency ended with the end of the Space Race, there was still little new that the individual could do even as the national effort to explore and conquer space wound down.

This is how Charles Farmer in The Astronaut Farmer got involved. He was going to be an astronaut for the government.
The personal space program and the startup space program

With the Ansari X Prize, Peter Diamandis gave Paul Allen the impetus to go out and build his own personal space program. For tens of millions of dollars, a person could achieve what the government did with its X-15 program that cost hundreds of millions of dollars nearly fifty years ago or about $1.5 billion in current dollars. This opened up the possibility of having a space program to Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Others similarly situated, such as Bob Bigelow and Elon Musk, were making progress on their personal space programs.
With the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in government money to Musk’s SpaceX for his rocket and for Branson’s spaceport, the validation of the age of the personal space program is underway. It won’t be for lack of government support that these space programs fail, but it might be due to too much support; they may get co-opted and lose their personal flavor.

Even as rich people with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to burn started hiring engineers by the score, the garage startup personal space program is gaining ground. XCOR Aerospace is making steady progress toward its first spacecraft.

These new opportunities became available to the space enthusiast:
Go to work for a company that expects to fly all of its employees into space
Earn sweat equity by working for a space startup
Invest in a company if you are a qualified investor (roughly $250,000/year family income or $1 million in assets)

This is where I joined. But even if there are two million families with $250,000/year income, that still leaves 98 percent of the United States without a way to invest without becoming an employee of a space firm.

Could an atypical farmer take a lifetime of effort and farm wages and spend them on an orbital rocket ride? It may be fiction today, but it is only a few years away from being fact. Forty years working full time earning about the average wage of $12.50 an hour earns $1 million. It is only a matter of time before private industry finds a way to provide an orbital flight for $1 million now that orbital flights for over $10 million on the Russian Soyuz are sold out. Kistler K-1 may be able to fly 4,500 kg to low Earth orbit, which is enough for a pair of two-person Gemini re-entry modules, for $17 million. That would be about $4.25 million per person in launch costs if a charter can be had for four people for $17 million. That might be half of the total costs because one still has to build the crew compartment; the launch vehicle is only part of the costs.

Call it next decade, December 31, 2019, when someone saving a lifetime’s earnings at the average wage will be enough to afford an orbital spaceflight. That amount of money will probably be up to $1.5 million by then, or $3 million if you are working two jobs like Charles Farmer did in the movie.
Cooperative space program

Now for the first time, anyone can be like Charles Farmer and invest a little time, and in return earn a small opportunity to get into orbit. You don’t need to dedicate your life or a big chunk of riches to directly seek space flight. Instead of spending millions of dollars of time to earn a spaceflight, spend a few minutes at a time and earn an opportunity to win a multi-million dollar spaceflight worth a few dollars.
FreeSpaceShot.com has a tournament to win an orbital spaceflight on the Kistler K-1 with billions of entries. Playing takes a couple of minutes and builds a few cents of advertising revenue toward a spaceflight. Less than one thousand people playing at night for forty years could together produce a winner of one seat at today’s $20 million Soyuz flight price tag (plus tax). We already have 2,000 players and rising and spaceflight prices are falling. I expect the players will not have to wait as long to see an orbital flight winner as the twenty years Barbara Morgan has been waiting for her government flight.

In a generation as spaceflight prices go down and income goes up, we might see an orbital flight raffled for a fund raiser the way that trips to Hawaii were raffled a generation ago: tens of thousand tickets at $100 each, with the bulk of the money going to the sponsoring organization.

Thus, we return to the club roots of space programs after a seventy-year long hiatus. This time, the prize is a trip to orbit or beyond. Strive to be an astronaut like Charles Farmer whenever you want.

Space tourist talks about great trip

Students told how Anousheh Ansari fulfilled her dream



By WHITNEY ALLEN
Times Staff Writer whitneydallen@hotmail.com

As a girl, Anousheh Ansari had always dreamed of going to space, but females growing up in Iran don't usually get encouragement for such dreams.

So, she moved to the United States when she was 16, earned advanced degrees in engineering and started an Internet company, Telecom Technologies, that she and her husband sold for $750 million. Last year, she spent $20 million of her self-made fortune to buy a ride to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

"I always wanted to be an astronaut, but everyone always told me that it would never happen," said Ansari, who spoke to Bob Jones High School students Thursday during a schoolwide assembly.
Students sat on the edge of their seats while she explained the intense training she endured to prepare for her trip to space.

"I had to learn Russian," said Ansari, 41. "I trained in Moscow during one of the coldest winters in history.

"It took two days to reach the space station and I spent the first six hours of the trip with my knees pulled up to my chest."

Even before her trip to space, Ansari was a major proponent of space innovation. Her family's name is attached to the Ansari X-Prize, a $10 million prize awarded in 2004 to entrepreneur Burt Rutan for his SpaceShipOne, the first commercial space vehicle to crack the atmosphere.

Tim Pickens, president of Orion Propulsion in Huntsville, worked on the team that built SpaceShipOne. Pickens and his wife, Melanie, a chemistry teacher at Bob Jones, were among those responsible for bringing Ansari to Madison to speak to the students.

After she spoke, the students asked Ansari questions about her trip to space. One of her favorite experiences, she said, was eating M&Ms while floating weightless.

One student asked, "Do you believe in aliens and extraterrestrial beings?"

Ansari quickly answered, "I sure do. The universe is so huge, it is hard to believe that we are the only beings in the entire universe.

Watch this space!

Dutch radio station offers space flight as prize


by Thijs Westerbeek


Dutch commercial radio station Q-music is trying to further raise its profile, and its market share, with a remarkable promotional activity. Listeners can submit their names, and every hour three names are mentioned on the air. The first person to call back after hearing his or her name stands a chance of winning a very special prize.

The prize consists of a so-called 'suborbital' flight, where a small, space shuttle type of aircraft will be launched on the back of a bigger plane. Although the Space Shuttle Explorer will go higher than 100 kilometres for only a few minutes, it will indeed be a real space flight. According to the renowned Dutch aerospace journalist Govert Schilling, it will be an experience the winner will never forget for the rest of his or her life.

"You will reach an altitude of over 100 kilometres, which is far beyond the atmosphere. You will see the blackness of the universe and you will see the Earth as a beautiful blue planet from the outside. However, it will only be for a short time, and a few minutes later you will be landing on the runway, like a plane."

Harmful exhaust fumes
It will be an exciting trip, but it will have a harmful effect on the atmosphere, says Peter van Vliet. He's the president of iNS, a foundation that promotes sustainability; he is also the editor-in-chief of a Dutch-language news site on sustainability. He says the higher aerial strata in the atmosphere are especially vulnerable.
"Those higher aerial strata are extremely thin. The exhaust fumes emitted at that level cause much more damage than the same amount of exhaust fumes would do on lower aerial strata."

Van Vliet holds the view that space tourism is unacceptable at a time when there is so much attention on air pollution and climate change. He says it will be even more unacceptable if such commercial space flights happen more frequently in the future.
"It's a classic case of something you just can't do anymore, in this day and age. Just look at the fuel that is burned up, and the emissions an adventure like that will produce, and compare it with those five minutes of fun for six passengers. What's more, if you think of your direct contribution to the decay of the higher aerial strata, I have serious doubts about the whole thing."
Drawing board
It remains to be seen if the lucky Q-music listener really will embark on a journey into space. In fact, the spaceship only exists on the drawing board at the moment, and the launch sites in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore still have to be built as well.

The website of 'Space Adventures', the American company that is supposed to carry our the space flights, is keeping silent about when all of these plans are going to be realised. It will take years before they're able to stage a space flight, if at all. The winner of the contest will be announced on Saturday 22 September at a special event in the aviation and space travel museum Aviodome in Lelystad, the Netherlands.

OPINION: Space 'Adventurers' Paving The Way For the Rest of Us

Ready for blast off! Cue the music ... For days now, I've been hearing the poignant song, "Imagine" by John Lennon in my head every time I hear, read, or even think about Anousheh Ansari's flight to the International Space Station. While reading her blog today, I learned that the hauntingly beautiful song is actually one of her favorites. That's not really a surprise however; most of us space-lovers know the relevance of that song to our cause.



As the author of the book, "Women Astronauts," I really wanted to write something to commemorate the flight of the first female space tourist, but I can't! She's nowhere in sight because her flight hasn't been booked yet. Ansari, who is set to blast off into space in less than twelve hours from this writing, is not what I would call a tourist. The self-described "space ambassador" is better described as a "space adventurer!"



Think of it this way, your typical tourist doesn't spend six months away from family and friends in intensive training and study in a foreign country. Adventurers, on the other hand, do spend months training to climb Mount Everest, or dive to the bottom of the ocean, or to fly into space. That takes extreme dedication to accomplish your own personal dream. "Tourists" on the other hand, plunk down a credit card, buy some appropriate duds, and go on a trip.



Ansari joins the other space adventurers. These are independently paying space travel customers; Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, and Greg Olson, who've paid their own way into space. Ansari is the first female space adventurer to pay her own way. So what? It doesn't really matter what gender she is, her passion is what drives her. Besides, her flight really isn't that different from British space adventurer Helen Sharman. The Russians also flew Sharman into space back in 1991, but her flight was (partly) funded by a corporate contest.



What makes Ansari's flight special? It's not because she's the first woman to pay her own way into space. It's because of her efforts and dedication to making space accessible to everyone. Personally, I'm impressed with her because she has had the dream of spaceflight since she was a kid, saw an opportunity, and worked to make it happen. Like me, and maybe you too, she was born with an extreme passion for space exploration and desire to travel into space. Unlike most of us, she's actually making her dream happen. And with her support for space tourism causes, like the X-Prize, she's helping to make that dream happen for you, me, and others too.



I admit that I'm a bit jealous because she gets to see the Earth and stars from space and experience weightlessness. But, I'm also happy for her. And I think she's bringing hope to all of us that dream of flying into space and seeing our beautiful planet Earth as one.



So, while these guys and gals are not what I would call "space tourists," they are space adventurers. They are pioneers blazing the way into space for all of us. And someday, when the first real space tourists actually fly into space, that will mean that anyone who's got the money will be able to experience space at any time. Imagine being able to just book your flight and go into space for a ten-day vacation!


When will we have real space tourism; the kind where you can put your money down and just go? When will we have easy and safe access to space? When will the openings for space adventurers allow dozens or hundreds of people per year to experience space? We must work together with private industry to make it happen. We need to demand our space. We must make our politicians understand that they must work to remove roadblocks to private industry's access to space. And we must get as many people interested in space exploration as possible. That part is straightforward however; all we need to do is share with them our vision of the future.



Space tourism can help to make Earth a better place in the same way that international travel does. Travel expands our view of the world. It makes us realize how much we have in common with people who live differently than we do. It makes us see what we have in common. Many astronauts and cosmonauts come back with profoundly different views of the world after seeing it from space, the way it really is - without borders.



The true power of space "adventurism" or "tourism" is that it can bring home that perspective of the Earth as one, no separation because of borders, politics, ethnicity, religion, or anything else. Again from the immortal words of John Lennon, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one." And music out...



Laura S. Woodmansee (www.woodmansee.com) is a science journalist and JPL Solar System Ambassador. She is the author of three space books; Women Astronauts, Women of Space: Cool Careers on the Final Frontier, and most recently, Sex in Space. She can be contacted via her web site at www.woodmansee.com.
By Laura S. Woodmansee

Sales Strong for First Seats Aboard Virgin Galactic's Spaceliner

GOLDEN, Colo. -- After witnessing the initial surge of public interest in suborbital space tourism that followed the successful flight of the X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne three years ago, officials at Virgin Galactic thought the pace of paid reservations might slow down in 2007 — particularly since SpaceShipTwo is not slated to launch before late 2009 at the earliest.

They needn't have worried.

"In the last quarter, we have doubled the number of bookings taken on the same time last year," said Carolyn Wincer, head of Astronaut Sales for Virgin Galactic. Wincer told SPACE.com the company had thought that interest might drop for a while until the new spaceship was rolled out.

"However, this is not the case at all," she said. "As word gets around that you can make a reservation now, people are keen to secure a place. Even better, uptake is in line with our 'best case scenario' from our original business plan ... meaning that the price point and estimates of interest that we projected ourselves, and based on market research, are so far proving to be correct."

So in the big picture, Wincer says the strong public interest is "good news for all space enthusiasts and for the industry as a whole!"

Initially, Virgin Galactic space flights will operate from the Mojave Spaceport in Mojave, California – home of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, the company that built SpaceShipOne and where SpaceShipTwo is now coming together.

The Spaceship Company, a joint venture announced in July 2005 between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, has contracted Scaled Composites to design and build SpaceShipTwo and the carrier mothership WhiteKnight Two.

SpaceShipTwo is being designed to accommodate six passengers. It is scheduled to be unveiled before the end of 2007 and will be named Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise.

Virgin Galactic will own and operate at least five of the new spaceships and two motherships. The spaceline operator has established a set payment of $200,000 per seat, with a minimum refundable deposit of $20,000 to make a reservation.

Wincer said 200 customers from 30 different countries have already made deposits to confirm their reservations.

Space Sales Force

Fresh statistics from Wincer show some interesting trends.

The country that is home to the largest number of ticket buyers is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Ireland. In terms of the proportion of Virgin Galactic customers per capita, the top three countries are New Zealand, Ireland and Denmark.

Of the customers who have signed up so far, 15 percent are female, Wincer's statistics show. Ten percent of total customers booked through a travel agent, but 30 percent of the bookings have been received via Virgin Galactic "Accredited Space Agents" — an initiative launched in January of this year, she said. Accredited Space Agents are registered travel agents who have been specially selected and fully trained on all aspects of the Virgin Galactic offering.

As for Accredited Space Agents (ASAs) around the world, the numbers are as follows:
Australia has nine travel agencies and about 30 travel consultants.
New Zealand has one national chain with 10 consultants.
Japan has one agency with five consultants.
The United States has 47 consultants from about 45 agencies, all of these are members of Virtuoso, a leading leisure travel network.
Canada has six consultants from four agencies (who will be trained next week in Vancouver and are all Virtuoso members).
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has one agency with about 12 consultants.
Then add one agency and two to three consultants from each of the following who are all being trained this week at the International Space University: Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, and the Czech Republic.

"I mention the number of consultants as they are the ones who actually become 'ASAs' after they undergo our one day training program covering technology, customer experience, g-forces, medical issues, sales, marketing and public relations," Wincer said. "By doing a quick tally, by the time we finish the training in Vancouver, we should have around 100 ASA consultants worldwide from around 82 agencies in 17 countries."

Takeoff to touchdown

What you get for your $200,000 includes three days of pre-flight preparation, bonding and training onsite at the spaceport.

The big day arrives with departure of the White Knight Two that cradles SpaceShipTwo, hauling the vehicle and passengers to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) in altitude for release.

Space travelers will then be rocketed to around 360,000 feet (109,728 meters) in altitude, some 68 miles (109 kilometers) high, with "fee-floating" passengers experiencing 4 to 5 minutes of microgravity. Faces pressed against large windows, customers get an on-high view of more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) in any direction. As for the length of time for SpaceShipTwo to glide to a terra firma touchdown, that takes some 30 minutes. The suborbital journey ends with SpaceShipTwo gliding to a runway landing.

All-in-all, the suborbital sojourn — from takeoff to touchdown — takes approximately 2.5 hours.

In the United States, those who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 kilometers) are designated as astronauts.

The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the world air sports federation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, defines spaceflight as over 62 miles (100 kilometers). Virgin Galactic passengers will receive Virgin Galactic astronaut wings and may receive Federal Aviation Administration astronaut wings as well.

Spaceport America

While initial spaceline operations will take place at the Mojave Spaceport, Virgin Galactic is to establish its headquarters and operate space flights from Spaceport America, now under construction in New Mexico and billed as the world's first "purpose built" commercial spaceport.

Momentum is picking up in readying Spaceport America for operations – but first the paperwork.

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority anticipates official filing of its license application later this year to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We expect to receive the Record of Decision on the Environmental Impact Statement and the approval of the license application in early 2008, and we plan to break ground shortly after that," said Rick Homans, Executive Director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.

"Bottom line...we remain on schedule to be operational by late 2009 or early 2010," Homans told SPACE.com.

Video here

Q&A: Astronaut's Son Takes New Route to Space

Oct. 16, 2007 — Who could blame Richard Garriott? He grew up in Houston, surrounded by astronauts, including his dad Owen. He wasn't particularly turned on by math and science, but he did have a sharp eye for engineering — computer games that is.

By the time he was in high school, he was earning more than his astronaut dad. He tried college, but as the game business grew, his grades flagged until finally he dropped out.

Garriott, 46, is ready now to make a daring play in a game that's been building for 10 years. Unlike the quests in his medieval/fantasy series Ultima, the new gig is for real. Garriott is going to space like dear ole' dad, but he's doing it the new-fashioned way: by making out a check for $30 million.
arriott spoke with Discovery News about why he wants to leave the planet, what it was like growing up as an astronaut's son, and who is the real inspiration behind his adventures.

Irene Klotz, Discovery News: What is it about flying in space that appeals to you?

Richard Garriott: I think everyone has the fantasy or the desire to travel in space. I grew up in an environment where not only was my dad actually going to space, both of my next-door neighbors were astronauts, the guy behind me over the fence was an astronaut — basically the whole neighborhood was either astronauts or engineers in support of NASA...I kind of assumed that someday we would all be going to space.
Read here