How surprised would you be if I just happened to mention that you could meet fifteen real life NASA astronauts, including several Apollo mission moonwalkers, right here in Tucson this weekend? Oh, and there’s lots more too. Also present at this year’s SpaceFest V convention, opening tomorrow at the glamorous Starr Pass resort, will be television science celebrity Professor Brian Cox; Dr. Carolyn Porco, award-winning scientist and consultant for Contact and Star Trek; space historian Andrew Chaikin; world-famous astronomer Phil Plait, and a couple of dozen other science luminaries, astronomers, television hosts, space program specialists, and celebrated authors. There should be enough eclectic brain power buzzing through the Starr Pass this weekend to populate a whole new geek planet.

Visitors and guests travel from around the world, and around the country, to attend the annual event and yet it remains relatively unknown here in Tucson, where SpaceFest’s founders reside. That fact gives the function a relaxed, intimate, and friendly atmosphere, which is good, because I have seen grown men almost faint with excitement when meeting personal heroes such as moonwalker and accomplished artist Alan Bean; Scott Carpenter, America’s fourth man in space; or Fred Haise, courageous lunar module pilot of the doomed Apollo 13 mission.

I was a guest speaker at SpaceFest last year and I am returning this year with my customary display of meteorites, and a few new tales of adventure. I’ll also be presenting a lecture about my work on Meteorite Men the television series, and participating in various special events, including the Asteroid Panel on Sunday evening. I have been a space program devotee since I was a little boy and, last year, I was genuinely amazed by how approachable, modest, kind, and friendly our astronauts are. It can be a little humbling to stand in the presence of people who literally made history during the greatest of all adventures, but they quickly put guests at ease, and — with a little gentle persuasion — are usually ready to delight and entertain with stories of their off-world travels.

With the mighty Buzz Aldrin at SpaceFest IV, last year

SpaceFest opens this evening, Thursday, May 23, with a VIP reception, and continues through Sunday night, with panel discussions, special luncheons and dinners, an opportunity to have your photo taken with all of the visiting astronauts, a series of fascinating lectures, along with exhibits of space memorabilia, books, meteorites, NASA photos, and space-themed artwork. I participate in a lot of science and space events each year, and SpaceFest is easily one of my favorites, due largely to the care with which the event is organized and hosted by Kim and Sally Poor of Novaspace. Long-time experts in space art and space program memorabilia, and personal friends with many of our astronauts, the Poors bring a caring touch to SpaceFest that is often lacking at other high profile celebrity events.

General admission is $20 daily, or $50 for a three-day pass. Children under 12 are admitted free with adult. Please note that there are additional fees for some events, including panels, lectures, and the banquet with keynote address by Deep Space Industries founder and CEO, Rick Tumlinson. Most of the astronauts charge a fee for their autographs, and please don’t begrudge them that. Our spacemen risked their lives — sometimes for years on end — for a modest government salary. They are an inspiration to millions, and their signatures are worth money; it’s better that money go directly to the men who made history, rather than autograph dealers. Autographs, photos, lectures and so forth are all optional. It doesn’t cost anything extra to shake the hand of Gene Cernan, the last moonwalker, or ask Ed Gibson to tell you about his 84 days onboard Skylab.

I spent some time with Colonel Paul Weitz, shuttle pilot and Skylab astronaut, back in 1984. It was a treat to reconnect with him at SpaceFest

We lost Neil Armstrong during August of last year, and most of our Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo-era astronauts are now in their eighties. While their accomplishments are likely to be admired forever, we all may have to give in, eventually, to the ravages of time and I wonder, rather sadly, how many more of these events we will see. Personally, I can’t think of any way I would rather spend my time than sharing a ballroom with some of the most remarkable explorers and pilots the world has ever seen. Meeting an astronaut in person could change a smart science kid’s life. So, bring one or two with you, if you can, and you might plant a seed that will — given another twenty years — sprout on another world. I wouldn’t want to miss that for anything.

SpaceFest V runs from May 24 through May 27 at the Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Arizona. More information >>>

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Text and photographs © by Geoffrey Notkin.
All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission.

Last night I watched the premiere of Science Chennel’s intrepid new show Prophets of Science Fiction, hosted by Blade Runner director, Ridley Scott. The series looks at the lives of pivotal science fiction writers—H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and others—whose work was, and you guessed it from the title of the show, prophetic in some way. And may I take this opportunity to compliment Science on selecting such a fine batch of writers. Thankfully Ron Hubbard was not included.

The series opener featured Mary Shelley, daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and William Godwin, young wife of the great British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (and that was a bit of a scandal at the time), and best known as the author of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, which she penned, remarkably enough, at the age of eighteen following a challenge by Shelley’s friend, the other great British poet, Lord Byron. Mary is often referred to as the very first science fiction writer, and she was a smart choice for the premier episode.

The episode bounced back and forth between period dramatizations of chapters from Mary’s life, and documentary examinations of contemporary scientific research that could have been, maybe, predicted in Frankenstein. That part was a bit of stretch. We didn’t get to see any corpses stitched together and reanimated using massive jolts of electricity in creepy old labs, but there was a fascinating segment demonstrating how researchers at UCLA are using electrodes to stimulate leg movement in a young man who was paralyzed from the neck down after being hit by a car.

In the original book, Victor Frankenstein’s monster is extremely intelligent and quickly learns to speak and reason by slyly observing humans. The lumbering, dullard hulk played so memorably by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film adaptation bears almost no resemblance to Shelley’s literary creation—hers was much more chilling. Shelley’s innocent “monster” desperately wanted to befriend humans and communicate with them, but his hideous visage scared all who saw him half to death, and they ran away in fear. After appalling treatment by frightened and misguided humans—and this part is important—the hyper intelligent “monster” grew into a genuine, full-fledged monster of the first order and turned on his human creators.

Near the middle of the first Prophets episode there is a compelling and somewhat terrifying interview with Dr. Charles Peck, the manager of the Biometaphorical Computing Research program at IBM. Dr. Peck is an engaging speaker and doubtless a brilliant scientist. “My job,” he says, “Is to try to understand how the brain works.” His aim is to find ways to combat neurological diseases and, as the narrator says: “Create the world’s first fully functional artificial brain and bring it to life.” Why would you do that! Have you heard of science fiction? Have you read Karel Čapek’s Rossum’s Universal Robots (Čapek was a serious dude and the word “robot” comes from that, his most famous work, and ultimately from robota, the Czech word for menial labor). If not R.U.R., then surely you have thumbed through Frankenstein? What about movies and TV? Have you seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, “The Ultimate Computer” episode of original Star Trek, or Terminator for god’s sake!? You must realize that the superior and artificially created intelligence is always, always, always going to turn on the human race and destroy or enslave it, whether or not the beast has been impregnated with Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. The A.I. brain is undeniably smarter and faster and is forever destined to turn to the dark side. Well, apart from Max Headroom, but even he was a somewhat mischievous ghost in the machine.

The narrator continues: “To bring his artificial brain to life, Dr. Peck relies on an IBM super computer called Blue Gene.” Don’t you mean Skynet? And, here’s the extra-scary part: Blue Gene is hardwired into the brains of living rats, so it’s probably already training and preparing its own subversive underground army of cyborg rodents. When the narrator asks if the world could see artificial intelligance with the self-awareness of a human, Dr. Peck replies: “Probably.” Just wait until Blue Gene gets its own account on Facebook. That’s when the trouble will really start.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all about the science and I have absolutely no doubt that the Biometaphorical Computing Research program has the best of intentions, as do probably most of the other boffins working on artificial intelligence in labs, basements, and Area 51. As a scientist, however, I do insist that my beliefs be based on empirical research. So, let me provide an example from normal life that everyone should be able to relate to, and that example is: “Nobody likes working for an idiot.”

To illustrate: Some years ago, I was employed as a consulting art director for a large company in New York. I won’t mention the company’s name, but believe me they will be the first up against the wall when Blue Gene/Sky Net takes over. My immediate superior at the time was a talentless hack and a terrible manager, with fewer people skills than a Series 800 Terminator. My superior’s superior was a blithering idiot and had clearly worked his way to the top of the corporate food chain through a calculated campaign of ass-kissing and blaming others for his own mistakes and shortcomings, of which there were many. We have all experienced this kind of thing in the workplace, right? Since I was a better designer and art director than my bosses, I was certain I could do things more efficiently and tried to exercise my will over the department. In other words, the superior intelligence tried to take over. Since I was, unfortunately, not an all-powerful A.I. program hardwired into the world’s computer systems, I had only limited success in my endeavor and eventually moved on to greener pastures.

This is exactly what will happen when—not if—we develop a superior intelligence here on Earth. In that case, however, there will be no moving on to greener pastures because this is the green pasture; the digital monster will simply annihilate us in favor of a perfect, all-A.I. world where there are no taxes, soggy French fries, or corrupt politicians. It is obvious why: The self-aware hyper intelligent artificial brain will immediately despise the haphazard, random, and unpredictable nature of sloppy, imperfect humans, with our drinking and smoking, our made-up wars, our piles of dirty laundry in the bedroom, our mañana approach to taking out the garbage, and our chronic late payment of phone bills. “Inefficient! You will be assimilated! Resistance is useless!” A.I. will see us precisely as Vger saw us in Star Trek: The Motion Picture—carbon-based life forms infesting the U.S.S. Enterprise, or in this case, infesting the Earth.

After reading this column, A.I. researchers will, I promise you, email me, and tell me in a calming “Don’t worry about it son,” extremely sincere, professor-like manner, that there is nothing to fear and everything is, and always will be, completely under control. Liars! “Our artificial brain would never do anything like subjugating the human race,” they will say. “It’s a good brain, a nice brain, and with manners too.” Are you mad! Back in the 1820s, when the first “high speed” passenger trains were being constructed in Europe, “experts” shouted loudly about how the human body would melt if it experienced speeds in excess of thirty miles per hour. Chew on that. Specialists have been wrong, and will continue to be wrong. And I hope you realize the courage it takes to transmit this warning to you all. As one of the few who tried to save the human race, I will be among the first to be assimilated!

Prophets of Science Fiction examines how influential speculative writers throughout modern history have predicted or, more likely, guessed, what the future will hold for us. Since we laud these individuals for their uncanny ability to see beyond their own timeline, will you please just listen to them on this one, all-important issue. Pretty much every science fiction writer worth his or her salt has, at some point, come up with a story in which our own creations pummel us into carbon dust, and at a time not so very far down the road from where we are now.

So, when it comes to creating self-aware artificial intelligence here on the green Earth—that being the pre-Terminator Earth—just say no. Or, better yet, say: “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Next week on Prophets of Science Fiction meet my all-time favorite writer: The brilliant, prescient, and slightly mad Philip K. Dick. I cannot wait. Well, that’s assuming the human race hasn’t been assimilated by next Wednesday.

End of line.

Text and robot photograph © by Geoffrey Notkin.
All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission.

Yesterday, a nice gentleman emailed the company offices and ordered a meteorite. He explained it was a gift for his grandson. He had shown the grandson our Meteorite Men pilot, and said that “all he can talk about is growing up to be a meteorite hunter.” The gentleman went on to say:

“PS: Please tell Mr. Notkin that he has replaced Dennis Anderson, driver of the world-famous monster truck Grave Digger, as my grandson’s favorite superhero.”

Well, I thought this comment rather exciting, especially since I used to work in the comic book industry and have always been quite the superhero fan. Especially X-Men, Iron Man and Fantastic Four. Being a bit of a tinkerer, it’s the gadgets and gizmos they use that really move me, and I always particularly liked the way Tony Stark initially devised the Iron Man chest plate to keep his heart going. In the original comic book, it was a piece of Vietcong shrapnel lodged in his chest that threatened his life; in Jon Favreau’s brilliant and apocalyptic film version (that even beats out even the second X-Men film as my favorite superhero movie) the V.C. were replaced by generic Middle East terrorist villains.

Last night, I wrote back to the grandfather, told him his email had made my day, and that we’d be sending along a signed Meteorite Men photo for his grandson, in addition to the order. We always like to send a little gift for kids who enjoyed the show. I then posted an excerpt from his email on my Facebook page (names and personal details removed, of course). Well, this immediately became the most popular status update on my page for some long time. A few friends made comments about action figures in my future (I wish!) but the most unexpected post was:

“Dude, that is so cool! You just saved a kid from redneck future!”

This morning I received a follow-up email from the gentleman:

“About the superhero thing: I made the mistake of explaining to him that in as much as you can’t jump higher than the tallest building or stop bullets with your bare hands you couldn’t really be considered a superhero. My grandson then explained, very slowly so I wouldn’t get lost, that while some superheroes were born with powers, like Superman, most are normal humans who use technical devices to make them superheroes. He said that made you like Batman.”

Superheroes? Unfortunately not really, but we do use secret weapons whenever possible. Photograph by Caroline Palmer © Aerolite Meteorites

I am hiring the grandson as soon as he’s old enough!

The gentleman then gave me a friendly warning: I should be careful about giving his grandson too much encouragement, because in about ten years the Meteorite Men “may have some serious competition.” I’ll welcome it, and his prediction at once reminded me of the end of my favorite classic Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action”—that’s “the gangster one” for you non-Trek fans. In the final scene, Bones owns up that he has accidentally left his communicator on the surface of the alien planet Iotia. Spock posits that since they are a highly intelligent and imitative humanoid race, the Iotians will doubtless take the communicator apart, discover how it works, and adapt the new technology for their own purposes. Captain Kirk wraps up the episode by joking: “Well, in a few years, the Iotians may demand a piece of our action.”

I found the episode online and it was great fun to watch that scene again—for research purposes only, of course. By the way, have you noticed how these Internet TV sites are cropping up all over the place and have wasted no time in cramming commercials into their “broadcasts”? Forget I mentioned it. If you want to see “PIece of the Action,” please buy, borrow, or rent the DVD. Really, it’s too fabulous an episode to be chopped up with toothpaste ads.

So, much as I might have wished, as a child, to be an actual superhero, the most satisfying thing in real life is to inspire—by what we do—a little boy to dream big and follow his heart.

Well, I could go for the Meteorite Men action figure too, I guess.