2004 pilot project archived materials

On 2nd march the new issue of "Computerra" magazine came out with the subject of the issue "Public space". One of the articles on this topic was devoted to the contest "Flight into the Future".

… For quite a while our magazine has been covering not only computer relative topics. We try and track the general picture of what now is usually shortly called High Tech. And the space technologies, being the mainstream of this issue, is the most vivid example of High Tech. It's a common knowledge that non-high-tech thing won't make it into space, so the space engineering itself can be considered high tech by determination. However, our main problem is IT. And from many non-classified documents, being published these days, we can see that variable connections of IT and space involve more and more people not only into work, but also into space "edutament" basing on the virtual reality or everyday entertainment media (for example, new game "Space Station SIM" by GRS Games allows to create a crew of spacemen and to manage it according to actual organizational system in NASA)

The article contains review of the Contest for best space engineering project which would result into serious economical benefit. The Contest is held by newly established  Russian educational and innovational organization RASSIEC jointly with Heinlein Prize Trust. Thus the third component of today's topic appears - the science fiction. Great American science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907-88) has done very much for science fiction to become one of the most favorite and popular genres of literature. Contemporary enthusiasts work on increasing public interest in space, technology, and (what is very important)  space-related economic ideas.

Leonid Levkovitch-Masluk

The online version (in Russian) is available on this page www.computerra.ru/xterra/32388.

March 10th 2004. "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" newspaper reads about the Contest "Flight into the Future".

I've got a spacesuit and am ready to travel.

… Heinlein died in 1988. He witnessed the first flight into space and first step on the Moon, and orbital stations, and shuttle. He managed to see in reality something what he wrote about. Sure he would have liked to see more. And after Robert Heinlein's death his wife, Virginia helped to establish the Heinlein's Society, which should acknowledge the outstanding achievements in space development. Furthermore, this achievements should be commercial, something that would bring real benefit.

The "big" Heinlein Prize, though, has never been awarded yet. And the Heinlein Prize Trust decided to hold the contest of young researchers "Flight into the Future" in Russia. Flight into the Future is the name of one of writer's novels. Why should the contest be held in Russia? The trusties of the Heinlein Trust said, that Russian students and "young scientific stuff" is the wonderful "test field" for youth contest working off.

If business runs smoothly the European and worldwide contests will be held. Now only Russian students and young space engineers are invited to submit their works and compete for several sensible money awards.

Ivan Saprykin

Full text of the article (in Russian): www.ng.ru/science/2004-03-10/11_heinlein.html

The invitation for participation in the Contest "Flight into the Future" was published in the annual scientific society newspaper "POISK".

www.poisknews.ru/_rubr/grants1.asp?table=rubGrTeku&page=4

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