IAC 2014 - Day 1: Blast Off

"Dude, Buzz Aldrin just walked by..."  This type of thing happens at a major space conference, but as someone who has only been to a few such events, it stopped me in my tracks.  I paused, and considered the significance of the moment when that man walked on the moon forty-five years ago.  Aldrin is 84 years old now, but he still moves well (fast enough that I decided not to chase after him for his autograph).

Today, the International Astronautical Congress kicked off with an exceptional opening ceremony featuring a couple of astronaut MCs and Cirque de Soleil performances.  However, it was the musical performance of Peter Katz that really stole the show - he spoke to the 3,000 audience members about the importance of dreaming and following those dreams.  He then went on to blow everyone in attendance away with his amazing voice and songwriting; that was my friend Peter Katz, upstaging Cirque de Soleil.  The event closed with a fine speech by astronaut/rock star Chris Hadfield.

At the convention centre, it is hard to keep up with the fascinating information that constantly flies in all directions.  During the head of agencies event, I learned that only 40% of spacecrafts sent to Mars actually make it there.  It takes most countries many tries to succeed.  India's space agency (ISRO) recently made history by succeeding on a Mars mission on their first try.