As of June 1, 2009, P.E.R.M.A.N.E.N.T. -- Projects to Employ Resources of the Moon and Asteroids Near Earth in the Near Term -- is becoming active again.
In May 2009, we have formally incorporated a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, Permanent Space Development Foundation Co. (PSDF) in the State of Kentucky, thanks to PERMANENT volunteer Charles A. Williams, who is also a Revenue Auditor for the State of Kentucky, and who has been nominated Treasurer for PSDF.
We have also set up a simple project management system for volunteer work so we are ready to manage volunteers (based on the same simple project management system which founder Mark Prado uses to manage a company he owns).
We have created a website content management system (CMS) for the next version of the website (again, a proven in-house creation over the interim years).
Currently, we are setting up a Forum (using quality commercial software) for visitor participation, and some other things.
We will add a Donate button to accept donations by PayPal or credit card.
All these things are behind the scenes, not obvious on the website, and we will launch these on-line only when presentable, not when half-baked.
This time, we are setting up a sustainable organization which will not pause in its development like before. PERMANENT has existed since 1985, trademark registered in 1987, and developed constantly since then, albeit mainly by the founder until we set up the website in 1996 and went thru phase 1 of volunteers utilization during the naive experimental years of the internet (phase 1). In 2002 we went into hiatus (for several reasons) for ... 7 years. Lessons learned, that won't happen again, and we are ready of Internet version 2 with a solid plan this time.
So that is why we are contacting you. We need volunteers. Here are the main things we are looking for now:
public relations specialist(s) for media contacts
Importantly, we want to work with other organizations, and do not want to reinvent the wheel. (Nor are we in competition... Not when the survival of our species and life from Earth are on the line, we should set aside selfcenteredness, ego, and greed for this particular purpose! Financial sustainability can be reached better by synergy at this phase.)
The main objectives of PERMANENT at this time are to:
- Introduce the general public and newcomers to the PERMANENT concepts and goals via our website -- textual introductions and summaries, as well as artistic depictions (public domain, private with permission, and our own)
- For advancing development of PERMANENT, serve as a non-governmental, international library on space resources, including a database listing technical publications, our summary of their content, where they can be ordered, and whether or not they are in our paper library. (We previously had an on-line database of more than 500 mostly technical papers and reports, which we are porting from the old Lotus Notes format to PHP/MySQL, and then will need to get current.) Nobody should do much without first researching the literature!
- Provide extensive links to quality organizations and individual resources, in an organized structure
- Develop a community of people committed to working on PERMANENT related projects
- Raise money and engage volunteers to support development of PERMANENT projects and also more extensive public outreach
- Make space resources development happen, working with the best individuals, organizations and for-profit companies
One deadline for the first stage of the update is the 40th Anniversary of the first man on the Moon on July 20, 2009 (Apollo 11 / Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969) so that we are gearing up for a media event. Concrete deadlines are a good thing.
Between now and July 20, we will make many updates to the website, but not take on a dramatic overhaul. We will update parts of it to get current over the past 7 years, so that we are ready for the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11.
We will immediately start and ramp up the web forum, to facilitate public involvement. We will need some quality postings to start. We have already purchased the best commercial web forum software, and mainly need a PHp?MySQL programmer to set it up and especially to customize it for PERMANENT. This is an urgent task.
Behind the scenes, we already have a good project management system, web based, which will provide structure for the organizations projects and assimilation of volunteers, not just for the website but for the organization in general. (Director Mark Prado already uses it for one of his companies.)
The website will be overhauled and redeveloped behind the scenes, but accessed only by the content researchers and developers, programmer(s) and artist(s) until ready for launch, probably around September, a reasonably achievable target date. (We could potentially launch it sooner.)
I should say that after working as a consultant in project management for multinational engineering, construction, and property development companies in Asia (1995-2002), followed by running my own two companies (2002-2009) with fulltime employees (like committed volunteers) plus consultants (like most volunteers in their transient nature), the latter with limited amounts of time and specialized skill sets, over several internal company divisions, I've learned a lot about managing groups for tangible results and sustainability, especially by applying what learned in 1995-2002 to my own organizations in 2002-2009! There is no substitute for experience in running entire companies vs. performing limited roles in other organizations or imagining it in academia.
Over time, we will develop a Board of Directors. This will NOT be a group of famous people with impressive credentials who have busy agendas whereby they have little time for PERMANENT and/or arrogantly sit on their laurels for the most part, as I've seen countless times in the past, especially in my 10 years in Washington, D.C. (1985-1994). Instead, this will likely be a group of fairly ordinary people from around the world who have proven themselves as committed, who share our values and interests, and have the requisite uncommon sense, sophistication, and management skills. This will be a virtual organization for the most part. Any nationality is welcome. Any and all!
We are open to the possibility of your inclusion into our organization at any level from Board to task-specific volunteer consultant, and layers in-between.
We will start with roles, projects, and tasks, and over time establish formal positions based on performance.
This is the chance for many people to get in on the ground level. (Some are already way beyond the ground level!)
The best things in life need time, so if you want to contribute to evolutionary progress in our generation, by helping to get mankind off the planet permanently and self-sufficiently, thereby ensuring our survival and prosperity, then now is your chance.
The forum and project management log will be kept for the digital historical record (as will this email!). It's up to you what meaningful things you do with your life, for your children's future and for life on and from Earth. I hope you join us in some way in taking responsibility for implementing our solution.
The massive destruction to Earth's environment over just the past few generations, as well as exponential technological advancements (computerization, communications, genetics), show us how much things can change within a generation.
The fact of the matter is that out of all the millenia and eras of geologic time, never before has one species had such an impact on the planet or such power to destroy ourselves by emerging biotechnology, genetics, and nanotechnology. It is a race against time and we need to get started now. It just takes one commercial laboratory accident or destructive design by military or individual design. We may not get a second chance, or any chance to learn from our mistake.
Out of the global human population explosion, wanton consumption, rampant individual selfishness, and the drive to maximize profits over all else, we are raping the earth and driving countless species into extinction every day.
We have a short lead time to get life off the planet, the space race vs. the biotech race. It's no longer between nations. It is globalized.
Procrastination could prove fatal to life from Earth. It's only a matter of time, whether we knock off only our own species by biotechnology, or create another mass extinction on Earth.
Out of all geologic time, this is happening in our generation. It is your responsibility, too.
You can sit in denial, get distracted by an alternative channel of stimulation (like Mad magazine's Alfred E. Newman -- "What, me worry?"), and escape into rampant consumerism. You can always make excuses. If you're in denial that somebody could create a high tech human virus, just take a look at all the malicious computer viruses, or the selfish spams for small profits to the spammers, and apply that to something much less controllable in the air, and far more destructive.
As Stokely Carmichael put it in the 1960s, "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem."
So here is a chance to do something yourself.
If you are interested in helping out or if you wish to join our mailing list, then please fill in the contact form on my personal website and then I will get back to you by email.
Our website at www.permanent.com does not reflect any changes at this moment, and the vast majority of the work and updates will be behind the scenes until it's ready to be relaunched around September.
All the best,
Mark Prado, PERMANENT founder
.....in all geologic time, our generation will get mankind off our lonely planetary cradle.....
Don't expensively launch from Earth, use construction materials already in space.
