Building a museum is a big project, and there’s no question that I won’t be able to do it alone. If you would like to live in a world where you can explore the International Space Station, or if you want more people to feel inspired by the achievements of modern science and global cooperation, here are some ways you can help.
Consulting or domain expertise: There are so many things I don’t know. If you have expertise in any of the following areas, I have a bajillion questions for you. It would also be useful to have people who I could message whenever I have more questions. Areas: building/hardware/fabrication, CAD modelling, image editing, creating non-profits, applying for grants, how museums work, how to interact with NASA.
Networking: Do you know a teacher interested in incorporating the ISS into their curriculum, or a science museum curator looking to fill space? Maybe you know some people who build big burning man art that would love to help me. You could introduce me to people like this, or anyone with the above areas of expertise.
Funding: Of course, you could always donate! I’m not currently registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, so it wouldn’t be tax-deductible, but I can promise that it would go towards project expenses (and go so far as to tell you exactly what I spent it on). Contact me if you’d like to donate. If you would donate once I become a 501(c)3, that would also be good to know, so that I have more reason to start the registration process.
For those in the SF Bay Area:
Direct work: I could describe an idea for an exhibit to you and you could go build a prototype. You could spray paint something, convert an aquarium into a cloud chamber, help me pick up a large object from Home Depot, or make a CAD model from a NASA picture that I found. There are also some skills that I don’t have and would be costly to acquire, like welding. My current ability to delegate direct work is probably money-limited; I have more time to build things than I have money to build them. But if I had a person who could build for me, I could spend more time on research, design, or networking.
Providing space: I regularly run up against not having an affordable place to use as a workshop. Maybe you have such a space available, or a back yard that you don’t mind me occupying.
If you’d just like to follow the project’s progress, you can subscribe to this blog using the widget in the sidebar. Another way to keep up with the project is to follow me on twitter at @altairspace.
Altair Space 