Space travel no longer seems like it is too far from our reach. Our fascination with space almost seems universal, to say the least, with our own early myths describing our insatiable thirst to fly out to the heavens. In Greek myth, Daedalus, the first space scientist, built wings to escape the grasps of King Minos. Daedalus’ son Icarus was warned that if he flew too low, his wings would get wet and he would fail; and that if he flew too high, the sun would melt that wax from the wings. Like one of our many lenses, myth not only explains our desire to push the limits of flight, but also instills wisdom that comes with a great gift.
With the emergence of space travel, human beings will be impacted not only economically and technologically, but also socially and culturally. To support research and desgin in spaceports and sub-orbital flying nationally and internationally, in 2012 UC Berkeley hosted The ASCE Mid-Pacific Student Conference Competition requiring teams of students to become the lead designer of a new spaceport facility. You can learn more about the Spaceport Design competition and the competition rules on our official website The 2012 ASCE Mid-Pacific Student Conference Competition on Spaceport Desgin at UC Berkeley.
Students and researchers at the Airport Design Studio conducted their first studies on Spaceport-related issues in 2008. They continued working on Commercial Spaceport Design and Operations project in 2009, and were funded by the UC Berkeley Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.