Orbita Noordung

KSEVT press conference, 21.12. 2011

2011-12-22T21:39:00.000+01:00

On a press conference in the meeting room of the National and University Library (NUK) in Ljubljana [location link], some fresh news on KSEVT and its proceedings have been disclosed to the general public. The conference had two major topics.

Firstly, KSEVT institute has established a term "Treasury of Modernity"; the name stands for a library of distinctive revolutionary works from the field of science and technology of spaceflight, also art and humanistics; all of them are in a way connected to the work of Herman Potočnik Noordung and all of them are being gathered for the future specialised KSEVT library. Some examples:

an original Hermann Oberth book Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (1923);
an original Max Valier book Der Vorstoss in der Weltenraum (1925);
an original Herman Potočnik Noordung book The Problem of Space Travel - The Rocket Motor (1928);
original issues (3) of the magazine Science Wonder Stories, in which all the vital parts of Potočnik's book were first published in English;
a reprinted Wernher von Braun PhD thesis (1934);
an original issue of the magazine Wireless World with the historically essential article on information satellites by Arthur C. Clarke (1945);
an original Willy Ley book Rockets, Missiles & Space Travel (1957) and many others.

Secondly, KSEVT as a building and home of all these ongoing activities, is in its last construction phase and the solemn opening is scheduled for May 2012.

Below, there are some photos of the press conference.

Baturyn in Vitanje, cooperation agreement signed

2011-08-24T15:21:00.003+02:00

On Tuesday, August 16, 2011, a cooperation agreement to support future activities between KSEVT, ZRC SAZU (Scientific Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Institute for History of Science and Technology (a part of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was signed. A representative of ZRC SAZU, its director, dr. Oto Luthar, signed it also as an active member of KSEVT, whereas Yuri Baturyn, russian cosmonaut and now head of the already mentioned russian institution, as a big supporter and one of the first official guests of the SSHPN/HPNMC.

The video link and two info links are all mainly in Slovene.

[article in Delo]

[brief article on 24ur.com]

GAGARIN exhibition in Ljubljana; KSEVT project update

2011-04-10T22:58:00.003+02:00

On Wednesday, April 6, 2011, an exhibition about Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin and the 50-year mark of his historic space flight entitled "Nebo je črno, Zemlja je modra" ("The sky is black, the Earth is blue") opened at the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Ljubljana, Slovenia [location link]. The exhibition opening was accompanied by a special visitor: cosmonaut Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko, who was born in the year when Gagarin became the first man in space. Malenchenko is one of the foremost active cosmonauts today.

The event itself also featured Iva Zupančič, a highly acclaimed Slovene actress, who relived her memories of seeing Yuri Gagarin on the day of his public reception at the Red Square in Moscow; and an excerpt of "Zvezdno mesto" ("Star City"), the opera-piece-in-making (composed by Dragana Jovanović).

This exhibition is a project of KSEVT (Cultural Center of European Space Technologies), the author of it is Miha Turšič and the co-author Dragan Živadinov, both active members of this institute. It represents a small sample of a larger exhibition which will be set in Vitanje, Slovenia, after the opening of KSEVT building in October 2011.

Opening hours are every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but after April 24, the exhibition will be moved to the premises of the University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia.

P.S.: Below there is a short feature video clip of the exhibition press conference, courtesy of Dnevnik Newspaper. And one other thing: KSEVT also has a new official website - here.

Introductory press conference on KSEVT, October 2010

2010-11-23T18:41:00.004+01:00

After some delay, we bring you up to date with recent occurences regarding KSEVT building and topic layout.

On October 18, 2010, at 18.00 (CET+1), in the conference hall of Antiq Hotel, Ljubljana, there was a first and introductory press conference on KSEVT. It dealt mostly with the topics KSEVT is about to establish and research; informing a wider public with the current building course; presenting a visual and all-around image of the project and in its final part - it opened some new/old connections the project has got with the Russian space exploration experts.

Firstly, Dragan Živadinov (Delak Institute, Ljubljana) spoke of two (actually three) press conferences that are to take place some months before the opening of the KSEVT building. Two of them are going to be bigger and more complex in handling the future (and present) topics of KSEVT than this preliminary one. They will be held between April and May 2010, one covering up the composite combining of science and art, the other one speaking on the subject of "culturalisation of space", a new term that is yet to come into use. There will also be a third, solemn conference just before the official opening of KSEVT premises, scheduled around September-October 2010.

Secondly, Srečko Fijavž, Director of The Vitanje Commune Administration Board, and Slavko Vetrih, Mayor of The Vitanje Commune, spoke of the latest happenings in KSEVT building process. At this time (November 2010), the foundations are firmly in the ground and the ground floor is starting to grow on the surface. They also spoke of the activities considering KSEVT and Herman Potočnik Noordung so far, the rising rate of visitors and general interest and the installation of all these ideas into Vitanje and wider region.

Boris Balant of Studio/Atelje Balant spoke of the all-around visual scheme of KSEVT.

Miha Turšič, Director of the newly founded KSEVT institute, presented us with the plan of exhbitions in KSEVT for the period of next six years. Three permanent and twelve short-term exhibitons are planned for this time span. Also, Turšič told that KSEVT functions will be made to suit the needs of young people in all the branches of education system and also scholars and experts, familiesm, etc. The main purpose of KSEVT is not to commercialize, but to inspire people to try and understand the culturalisation of space and union of science and art.

Sergey Kostenko (Orbital Technologies) and Marsel Gubaydullin (Space Adventures) from Russia demonstrated some visual material of civilian (commercial) spaceflight and the plans for the first private space station to host space tourists from around the world.

KSEVT building start in Slovenian media

2010-09-02T21:01:00.003+02:00

I shall (strive to) keep you up to date with all the official, web-accessible material concerning the buliding process of the highly anticipated KSEVT object.

Dnevnik (daily newspaper) --> [link]

RTV Slovenija (national television web pages) --> [link]

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Do not forget - for all the materials that have not yet been translated, there is always this simple, semi-reliable, yet sufficient tool: [link]

Signing with the constructors; first actions

2010-08-26T22:18:00.005+02:00

After a solemn signing of the contracts with CM Celje, d.d., on August 17, 2010, at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana (first three pictures), the works on the site have already commenced. The first step is the removing of the old house of culture that will get a newer, bigger dwelling on the future KSEVT premises. That phase of the process is shown in the fourth picture.

Composite declaration act on KSEVT

2010-07-21T22:19:00.008+02:00

Another somewhat late, but no less important notice: on June 22, 2010, on the premises of the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, a very important act in the materialisation of KSEVT project was signed.

Dr. Oto Luthar (second picture, center) from the ZRC-SAZU (Scientific Research Centre of The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Dr. Edvard Kobal (first picture, center) from the SZF (The Slovenian Science Foundation) signed a "composite declaration act - KSEVT" that will serve as a "letter of intent" to form KSEVT in the very near future.

On left and right - on both photos - you can find Srečko Fijavž (left), Director of The Vitanje Commune Administration Board, and Slavko Vetrih, mayor of The Vitanje Commune.

Below, a short video footage, provided by the Museum of Modern Art.

Shanghai, China, EXPO 2010 - and Noordung

2010-07-21T21:49:00.004+02:00

Lately, my free time gaps are getting scarce, so, for the next short notice, I also used info from the Vesolje.net page, with all due respect to Simon Zajc, author of the report.

As a part of the Slovenian pavillion program at the World EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, China, the Slovenian spaceflight pioneer Herman Potočnik Noordung was presented to a wider audience. His book, "The Problem of Space Travel - The Rocket Motor", was considered as one of the eight main stories by which Slovenia wants to represent itself at the exhibition.

On July 2, 2010, in the European pavillion at the EXPO 2010, there has been held a conference about connecting the European and the Chinese space program. The conference and with it The International Space Day was brought to an end with an artistic performance Cardinal Neuron :: Noordung, the performers being Dunja Zupančič, Mateja Rebolj, Miha Turšič, Marko Mlačnik, Dario Seraval and Dragan Živadinov. A united opinion of these artists is, quote, "to take care of a continuated europeisation of Potočnik's contribution to space science by the digital processing of the book The Problem of Space Travel." Oliver Rassat, the director of the European pavillion, was the man who invited the group to participate.

Press thematising of KSEVT in brief

2010-04-26T23:53:00.002+02:00

After the recent press conference we also prepared a short text with all imminently urgent information about the KSEVT at the time. Here it is.

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In 2006, in Vitanje (North-Northeast Slovenia), a memorial center, dedicated to Herman Potočnik Noordung, pioneer of spaceflight, was established. The latest plans for Vitanje and Potočnik memorial site also include revitalizing of The Vitanje House of Culture grounds into KSEVT (Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies). Design for it is a joint project of notable Slovenian architect bureaus, uniting their efforts in AZV (Architectural assiociation for Vitanje) – Bevk Perovič, Dekleva Gregorič, Ofis and Sadar Vuga architect bureaus have all connected for a public tender and came out with the best solution.

The main demands of the project materialisation were to get a wide scale of ideas, thus making the building, on one hand, interact with the urbanistic structure of the town, and on the other hand, making the project symbolize its cause. The placement of the modern KSEVT architecture in the old town center of Vitanje was the more challening part of the project. According to Srečko Fijavž, keeper of the Noordung memorial room and the director of The Vitanje Commune Administration Board, many cultural heritage regulations had to be considered during the process of planing.

The original KSEVT project terms were influenced by two basic ideas.

Firstly – Herman Potočnik Noordung and his geostationary space station, of which the three segments – rotating habitable wheel, solar power plant and observatory – were all embedded in the structural design.

Secondly – adaptability of the building to both local needs as well as the needs of the future Cultural Center of European Space Technologies. The existing object (The Vitanje House of Culture) will be removed, yet the revitalization will also cover the wider area around the premises.

KSEVT will eventually operate on two levels:

- architecture, based on the spatial dynamics;

- programme, already organised for the timeline of the following six years.

ARCHITECTURE

- The first level of the building is dedicated to the town of Vitanje which needs a cultural center on a social, citizen scale.

- The second, local, community level, is bound to the events area with a 300 seats auditorium. Around this hall, in an oval shape trajectory, the local library will find its place.

- The third level shall host gallery and museum activities on a surface of 800 m².

- The fourth level, the symposium, foundation part of the building, is intended for specialists, doctors of science and arts and researchers visiting Vitanje in search for work and study facilities.

To sum up, the lower two levels deal with topics of local significance and will be under The Vitanje Commune's management. The upper two levels host topics of planetary, universal nature and will be led by an institute or a foundation, appointed with the help of Slovenian universities, ZRC SAZU (The Scientific Research Center of The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and SZF (The Slovenian Science Foundation).

PROGRAMME

Main two topics of the programme are the culturalization of space (currently themed by Miha Turšič) and combining science and arts (currently themed by Dragan Živadinov). Speaking of context, recent processes regarding space technologies were mostly directed towards militarization and commercialization of space. Away from these two exploitation schemes, KSEVT will concentrate on the culturalization of space. In a global aspect, it will be a pioneer institution of the kind. Breaking the stereotype image of narrowly specialised, introverted scientists, KSEVT will strive to combine both humanistic and all-around naturalist knowledge into an integral entity. Art and science were inseparable for a larger part of history – the present efforts shall be dedicated to once again enable their coexistence.

To enhance the context presentation, permanent exhibitions will take place on the third, gallery and museum level. Each of them will be held for a period of two years. Therefore, for the next six years, three titles are planned: »One hundred monumental influences of Herman Potočnik Noordung«, »Space vision« and »Space and cinematography«.

Temporary exhibitions will occupy alternate available areas of KSEVT on the other three levels. They will introduce the public to many emblematic topics such as the Sputnik, the Galileo space programme, history of space suits, etc.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

The next official phase of the KSEVT project is to openly choose the most favorable contractor of construction works. Srečko Fijavž estimates that thereafter, the actual work should begin in two months time.

As Slovenian Minister of Culture Majda Širca stated on the recent press conference, the main credit for promoting Herman Potočnik Noordung in this last period goes to Dragan Živadinov, though the real importance of the issue remained unnoticed for quite some time. Širca is extremely pleased also by the fact that the project unites so many creative architects. She entitles the whole matter »a grand scale contribution« to Slovenia, not only locally, but also globally.

KSEVT press conference response (with updates)

2010-04-10T00:00:00.012+02:00

First public responses were made already today, on the day of the press conference, on the web pages of RTV Slovenija (Slovenia's National Radio and Television). More information from the press and inside is to follow in the forthcoming days.

RTV Slovenija article link [click]
Delo, daily newspaper link [click] UPDATE
Dnevnik, daily newspaper link [click] UPDATE
Večer, daily newspaper link [click] UPDATE 2
Vesolje.net, astronautics and astronomy web portal link [click] UPDATE 3
Trajekt.org web link with more detailed sketches [click] UPDATE 4
Delo.si, daily newspaper web edition [click] UPDATE 5
Zavodbig.com, creative industries web portal [click] UPDATE 5

Architectural sketches and 3D layouts of KSEVT:

Some photos from the Petrač lecture

2010-04-09T23:43:00.003+02:00

The lecture held by Dušan Petrač proved to be of great interest to the visitors, so we are hereby posting some of the photos. The 78 year old Slovenian NASA expert presented the public with some of his personal documentation of his work for the JPL in Pasadena, California, and also with some of the latest topics opening in the fields of space exploration.

KSEVT press conference on architecture

2010-04-04T23:00:00.000+02:00

For all you English speaking information seekers (no-one is a foreigner in this matter), we announce the following, very important event regarding the Kulturno središče evropskih vesoljskih tehnologij/Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (from now on unanimously named KSEVT, from a Slovene abbreviation; in English approximately pronounced as CK-SEI-OOT; by IPA standards pronounced as /kseut/).

There will be a press conference on and about architeture of the KSEVT, held at the Vitanje House of Culture [location link], on the very grounds that will be revitalised as a part of this forthcoming project.

The press conference starts at 11.00 (GMT+1).

Most politely and fiercely invited!

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P.S.: Below you have links to two recent articles on the KSEVT topic, published in Slovenia's respective daily newspapers, Delo and Dnevnik. Both in Slovene.

Dušan Petrač lecture in Vitanje

2010-03-25T20:09:00.006+01:00

The Vitanje Commune and the Cultural Center of European Space Technology (KSEVT) are organising a lecture of dr. Dušan Petrač, Slovenian NASA scientist, on

Tuesday, 30 March 2010, 18:00 (GMT+1), at the Vitanje House of Culture.

Topics:

scientific research of the lecturer and his cooperation with NASA,
a short history of manned spaceflight,
traveling to the Moon and its exploration,
life and work on the ISS (MVP in Slovene) and its significance,
future outlooks of space travel.

A widened debate on specific topics and subtopics will follow. There is no entrance fee, so you are most galantly invited.

Money funds officially gathered; plus one article

2010-01-13T22:36:00.005+01:00

The financial plan for our new KSEVT (Cultural Center of European Space Technologies) has finally been formally approved by the state, to be more specific, by The Ministry of Culture. The official results of the public competition are available on this hyperlink (and here in PDF form), but are for now only in Slovenian. If we summarize them briefly:

The Second Public Competition for Development Investing in Public Cultural Infrastructure ( the official name of the public competition) has been published in August 2009;
67 appliances were filed, 63 of them correctly, 59 had all the required documentation, 52 alltogether were rated by the expert commission, 6 have been chosen by the State to be financially supported;
3 of those finished in the first place, all gathering 90 points - one of those was the project of the "Integrated Revitalisation of The Vitanje House of Culture into KSEVT (Cultural Center of European Space Technologies)";
the KSEVT project got all the requested monetary support, considering the officially filed application terms.

This is, in fact, a major breakthrough for our project. In addition, a very interesting and very encouraging article was published in one of the recent editions of Večer, a Slovene daily newspaper. We publish it, with all the respective copyright protection (Večer and author, Zdenko Kodrič (C)), for now, in Slovenian language, and hope to translate it soon.

----------------------article beginning-----------------------

Vitanje - evropska prestolnica kulture!

Vitanje je majhen trg pod Pohorjem. Hiš je toliko, kolikor jih premore mariborska Gosposka ulica. In vendarle je ta občina, katere mestna mariborska doslej ni želela niti videti, kaj šele poslušati, na nedavnem razpisu ministrstva za kulturo pridobila dva milijona evrov za gradnjo impozantnega središča evropskih vesoljskih tehnologij. Zakaj je veliki met uspel majhnemu trgu? Župan vitanjske občine Slavko Vetrih je kategoričen: brez umetnikov in poznavalcev znanstvenega dela Hermana Potočnika Noordunga ne bi bilo takega uspeha.

Ko je občino obiskal atraktor Dragan Živadinov s svojo skupino arhitektov, sta mu župan in direktor občinske uprave prisluhnila in zamisel o tem, da bi Vitanje postale ne le Potočnikovo memoarsko zavetišče, ampak tudi središče vesoljskih tehnologij, podprla z vso svojo avtoriteto. Od takrat, ko so v Vitanju odprli Potočnikovo spominsko sobo, gre vse samo kvišku. Pri tem ne bi smeli prezreti prizadevanj Kida Kibla iz Maribora. Prav ta ustanova, ki je pripravila kandidaturo mest za evropsko prestolnico kulture leta 2012, je bila tista spretna roka, ki je kandidaturo zastavila policentrično in medregionalno in izhajala iz regijskih znamenitosti, ki Slovenijo opredeljujejo na svetovnem zemljevidu. Herman Potočnik Noordung je slovenska znamenitost. Kibla je nameravala vsebinsko sodelovati pri konkretnih projektih in tudi širše pri konceptualnih. Po zmagi so Kiblo odrezali od nadaljnjega dela, odpovedali so se njenemu konceptu in implementaciji vsebine, ki je bila omenjena v kandidaturi. Zakaj se je Maribor odrekel Vitanju, lahko odgovorita Mestna občina Maribor in vodja začasnega sekretariata za izvedbo projekta EPK 2012. A njunih odgovorov pravzaprav ne potrebujemo. Navdušujemo se nad Vitanjem, ki je deležno enormne vsote državnega denarja, ne da bi bi pri tem komur koli povzročilo škodo in slabo voljo. Vitanje je svetal primer sodelovanja med trdo politično retoriko in konkretnimi umetniškimi pobudami. Dokler Vitanje ni sprejelo umetniškega in znanstvenega izziva, ni niti v sanjah pomislilo na središče vesoljskih tehnologij, ki naj bi bilo kopija Potočnikovega vesoljskega bivalnega kolesa. Ko se bo Maribor zgledoval po Vitanju, bo napredoval in projekti EPK bodo dobili denar, potreben za uresničevanje evropske kulturne prestolnice. Potemtakem je jasno: Maribor se mora odkrižati organizatorjev sumljivega slovesa in se zgledovati po Vitanju, kjer si življenja brez umetnikov in znanstvenikov ne predstavljajo več.

ZDENKO KODRIČ

Visual material, Orbital Academy:: (26.12. 2009)

2009-12-31T02:50:00.006+01:00

Some photos from the last Orbital Academy:: are down here, architectural plans to follow, both mentioned in the lower article. Photos are courtesy of Klavdija Ovčar and the newspaper Novice, respectively.

Orbital Academy:: 26.12. 2009

2009-12-29T21:13:00.007+01:00

This time, in a more intimate atmosphere, we heard multiple toasts honouring the 80 years mark of both Herman Potočnik Noordung's death (though his birthday is on 22. December and the Orbital Academy:: is set around this day) and official publishment of his one and only book, all in 1929. Toast presenters were Slavko Vetrih, mayor of The Vitanje Commune; Blaž Šef, actor and Vitanje local; Herwig G. Höller, an austrian journalist; Breda Jakop, local elementary school teacher and Dragan Živadinov, attractor and theatre director. The program was enrichened by the invigorating music of Adam Bicskey on cimbalom.

One more thing - the joy and eager expectation were even bigger this time, since in the next month or so, the destiny of the architectural project KSEVT (Cultural Center of European Space Technologies) is to be decided. The object is to replace and revitalise the existing premises of the Vitanje House of Culture. All the other project details (followed also by some pictorial material in the next few days) are already very well presented in mag. Srečko Fijavž's (Vitanje Commune Administration Board director) text, written shortly beforehand in The Vitanje Commune local newspaper, the "Vitanjčan". We translated it (the part concerning KSEVT) from the slovenian language.

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/.../ Following the natural order of things, Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Room will through »Spominsko središče Hermana Potočnika Noordunga/Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Center« (SSHPN/HPNMC) evolve into the »Kulturno središče evropskih vesoljskih tehnologij/Cultural Center of European Space Technologies« (KSEVT).

KSEVT shall become a platform for combining art and science and shall, furthermore, with its transnational program add to the local cultural and social activities already existing in the Vitanje House of Culture. On the KSEVT premises the historical astronautic memory of Europe and contemporary european astronautics will be presented to the visitor. Taking interest in space is closely connected with the development of social patterns in the modern society. The activity of KSEVT is making active cooperation with the civilization's struggles on space topics possible in an unique way – with culture and art. General public will be, according to the program, presented with broad and detailed contexts that create possibilities for research in terms of space and the accessibility of such research.

The new object will represent a culturally-scientific center in Vitanje, with emphasis on the ideas and work of Herman Potočnik Noordung. Community library and room for numerous cultural associations is also to be arranged a place within the building.

The adequately designed interior of the KSEVT will add up to the cultural life of The Vitanje Commune, of the region and the national entity as a whole - but also interact at an european and global level. With the establishment of this center, an increased acknowledgment of the contribution that many slovene scientists made in space technologies research, will be reached. At the same time, possibilities shall emerge to develop new kinds of technical and cultural education that shall link science and art.

KSEVT will thus operate as a joint factor of all the social, cultural and scientific activities whether in the Vitanje or the more broadly concepted area; with its construction the neighborhood will preserve its existing urbanistic identity, integrity and its unique image.

General project goals are:

slovene contribution to the science of astronautics/cosmonautics,
european astronautic memory,
a cultural foundation for the formation of the Slovene Space Agency (SVA/SSA),
culturalisation of space and
combining art and science.

Goals of the future KSEVT are

in heritage:

§ preserving the memory of Herman Potočnik Noordung, a scientist and spaceflight pioneer,

§ preserving documents of the second and third generation of slovene researchers that were and are still included in space technologies research and in space flights,

§ exhibiting and publishing documents of slovene scientists from the fields of space technology in similar institutions all over the world,

§ preserving the memory of world space flight and space research pioneers through cooperation with the world's technical museums and expert astronautics/cosmonautics institutions,

§ gathering books for a library of astronautic/cosmonautic, scientifically-technological literature,

§ compiling a collection of astronautic/cosmonautic memorabilia in cooperation with ESA(Slo.: EVA), RKA(Rus.:ROSCOSMOS) and NASA;

in living science:

§ organising memorial symposia on researchers (explorers) of the first, second and third astronautics/cosmonautics generation,

§ organizing expert symposia on different sciences (medicine, materials, telemetrics, etc.) connected to space research,

§ forwarding information of historically-memorial value and up-to-date information from the fields of astronautics/cosmonautics,

§ including space related topics in elementary school, high school and university level curriculum,

§ cooperation of young researchers and doctor degree holders with space centers and their research laboratories,

§ organisation of expert exhibitons on astronautics/cosmonautics in educational institutions (schools) and organised tours of the SSHPN/HPNMC for schools and students,

§ conferences and

§ workshops.

The project is following also the general outlines of public interest, especially:

fulfilling »The National Culture Program 2008-2011« in fields of developing public cultural infrastructure, accessibility of culture and employment options,
a bigger and more quality engagement of public cultural infrastructure in the economic-tourist means of exploitation, more support given by culture to the local and regional development (networking),
improving the conditions for the progress of the cultural-artistic creativity with supporting cultural tourism development and the development of local communities' creative industries,
strengthening of direct culture employment and indirect service industry employment, along with strengthening the cultural public accessibility in Slovenia (and elsewhere) to support greater acknowledgment of local communities' cultural creativity , in Slovenia and (and elsewhere),
protecting intentional use of public domain culture spaces and
keeping public cultural infrastructure in good shape and enlarging the spatial conditions for cultural and artistic activities.

The accomplishment of KSEVT goals contributes to the wider enviromental development, in compliance with goals of the »National Strategic Reference Frame 2007-2013«. Slovenia thus wishes to contribute to the integration of the natural and cultural potential and make good use of the extreme diversity and density of natural and cultural prepositions. That kind of wealth is, looking from the current position, a not enough exploited/utilised economic and social development potential. Establishing a network of natural and cultural potentials for economic use as for the sustainable protection of natural and cultural heritage is important in ways of quality living enviroment, competitive economy and effective synergy in the fields of culture and enviromental protection. If we understand culture and enviroment as development factors that horizontally and sustainably enter other sector's activities, we shall, along with their development integration, enable the development of culture, improvement of the enviroment, but also encourage development in other areas of interest, especially economy (with service industry in tourism or information technologies) and social domain (enlarging employment options, investing in science).

In that manner an active center of space culturalisation in all the development stages and a memorial center of space technology are being established. The concept of this center is active, considering the architectural point of view or inside activities mainframe, through empasizing the ideas and work of Herman Potočnik Noordung, whom the object is actually dedicated.

The place of KSEVT will establish an active space culturalisation center in all its development stages:

in understanding space as an entity until the 20th century,
in the pioneer phase of cosmonautics/astronautics,
in culturalising space in the first fifty years of space penetration, real space travel,
in space culturalisation as a theoretical corpus of various sciences and arts, from astronautics, astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, planet geography and space technology history to all the arts in the evolution of civilization and
discover new questions in context of space exploration.

Object design as a whole will enable implementation of numerous activities. That will aid the community in gaining a special spirit of its own. The object of KSEVT is designed as a memorial center of space technology, but on the other hand it shall, including its predicted content, ensure The Vitanje Commune a proper cultural center.

The arrangement of different interior spaces in the KSEVT building includes hosting a local library, offering active space to certain local initiatives, making performance of smaller, medium size and bigger social events possible and, of course, enable KSEVT institution program implementation. A focal point of KSEVT (the central place for wider public meetings) operation is the culturalisation of space, ergo, a fundamental reflection of the human role in space/universe, presented via:

introducing the general public with achievements and influence of space research and space technologies in everyday life and
presenting civilization connection between science and art in context of space exploration.

The revitalised Vitanje House of Culture that is to become the KSEVT object is, firstly, a part of a housing area, and secondly, a part of the green backbone of Vitanje. Inbetween the object and the main road, an open, paved public space, a »Square« or »Market« (»Trg« in slovenian language) will be constructed, its main purpose being various open-air social events (f.e. Holcerija) and, exceptionally, during bigger events (f.e. Orbital academy), serve as a temporary parking lot.

With its circular layout it shall be equivalently orientated on the nearby Hudinja stream that offers an alternative type of open public spacein the green ambient of the stream. Thuswise is the object, also equivalently, orientated towards the sports ground, representing the third type of open public space. The circular form of the object comes from the oblique reference to Potočnik Noordung's thoughts about organizing habitable space in an universal context, and meanwhile it represents a typological differenciation within the structural area of Vitanje. Related to the neighbouring objects, KSEVT will have potentiated public characteristics and will therefore generate social, cultural and scientific activities. With regard to a somewhat off-center placement of the object in Vitanje's green side at the edge of the inhabited rural area, Vitanje will preserve its existing urbanistic identity. The architectural layout of the KSEVT building, intended, among other things, as a memorial center of space technology, is derived from the first geostationary space station (the »residential/living wheel) plans, as described by Herman Potočnik Noordung in his book back in 1929.

The construction is an abstract representation of a spacecraft, existing and moving in conditions of weightlessness. In the project design a demand was taken into consideration, that the construction should merge with with its surroundings as well as hold the distance from it with its extraterraneal/alien reference.

The building exterior and interior is defined by two cylinders; the bigger lower one, raising in height from the north to the south and the upper smaller one, eating into the lower one at the southern end and rising towards the north. The lower cylinder is supported by the clear glass surface of the entrance glazing. Spatial relation of these two cylinders creates a dynamic image of the building inside the village, upgraded with full and glazed facade rings. Levitation rotation effect of the building at the southern and western side, facing the road as well as the firm terrain anchor at the other side, facing the stream and the hill make the impression of importance, memorable quality of the building and its connection to its surroundings. Also, due to the building's spatial effectiveness, there is a bond established to its main referential frame: artificial gravity effect as a consequence of levitation and rotation. Architectural design of the object is a joint effort of top slovene architect bureaus with international acclaim, that were united in the »Arhitekturno združenje za Vitanje« (Eng. »Architect Association for Vitanje«) or AZZV (Eng. AAFV): Sadar-Vuga architects, Bevk-Perovič architects, Ofis architects and Gregorič-Dekleva architects.

To sum up, additional benefits of the project lie in the indirect links, that may directly or obliquely refer to every member of The Vitanje Commune and cannot be measured in financial numbers. Let us name just a few:

improvement of the tourist infrastructure,
introduction of new trends in cultural creativity, in Slovenia and Europe, and thus creating an outstanding progress potential,
development of scientific, symposial and cultural tourism,
an increased scale of cultural events as a part of tourist economy,
improvement of conditions for the tourist development of the region,
an increased number of visitors to other events in the Commune and its surroundings,
growing numbers of visitors and greater infrastructure accessibility, which is a quality contribution to a greater cultural creativity acknowledgment and the acknowledgment of the wider area,
encouragment of cultural, social action of many different creative people circles,
preservation of cultural heritage and
raising the quality level of existing economic facilities in the area.

As of yet it is not clear, whether the state will manage to apply a sufficient priority level to the project and this way financially back it up. We are certain the project deserves that kind of support.

Written by: Mag. Srečko Fijavž, Director of The Vitanje Commune Administration Board

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Besides, we have, for the slovenian language enthusiasts, here a copy of the text on this year's Orbital Academy:: , summarized after Delo(C) newspaper and its journalist Jela Krečič - in Slovenian. As promised, we hope to be adding visual material soon.

-----------------beginning of the article--------------------------

»Svet, svitanje, Vitanjeee!«

Delo, 28.12.2009

Vsako leto okoli božiča v vasi Vitanje poteka posebno slavje, s katerim umetniška trojica Dragan Živadinov, Miha Turšič in Dunja Zupančič v sodelovanju z občino Vitanje zaznamuje rojstni dan pionirja vesoljskih poletov, Hermana Potočnika Noordunga (rojen je bil 22. decembra).

V dedovi rojstni hiši je danes Potočnikova spominska soba. Avtor knjige Problemi vožnje po vesolju, objavljene leta 1929, je s tem delom navdihoval ruske in ameriške vesoljske raziskovalce in raketne znanstvenike, kot sta bila Wernher Von Braun v ZDA in Sergej Koroljov v Rusiji, je na vodstvu po tej spominski sobi poudaril Dragan Živadinov. Noordungova soba je posvečena prikazu vpliva, ki ga je imel slovenski pionir kozmonavtike na znanstveno preučevanje vesoljskih poletov in na nekatere kultne izdelke popularne kulture, kot je, denimo, Odiseja 2001 Stanleyja Kubricka. Noordung je bil »človek z nesrečnim tuzemnim življenjem in srečnim posmrtnim življenjem«, je njegovo usodo označil Živadinov.

Slavje, ki je sovpadlo s praznovanjem samostojnosti Slovenije, se je po obisku spominske sobe preselilo v kulturni dom, kjer so Vitanjčani skupaj z vesoljskimi umetniki na t. i. orbitalni akademiji, v ambientu razstave Kozmo Sapiens, izvajali večer zdravljic.

Nazdravljali so župan Vitanja Slavko Vetrih, Blaž Šef, Vitanjčan in dramski igralec, avstrijski novinar Herwig G. Höller ter domačini. Živadinov pa je za Vitanje izumil posebno zdravico: »Svet, svitanje, Vitanjeeee!« Večer so popestrili še glasbeniki, med drugim tudi odlični cimbalist Adam Bicskey.

Jela Krečič

-----------------end of the article---------------------------------

Pavel Klushantsev - Doroga k zvezdam (1957)

2009-12-19T12:50:00.005+01:00

The featured movie has been, in the well-informed circles, for quite some time now a model movie in ways of early, non-computized animation and extremely fluid special effects. For us it is important especially due to the connection between its spacecraft architecture (largely taken from the H.P.N.'s book "Problem of Spaceflight" which was translated into Russian from the early 1935) and practical usage of it in the Soviet/Russian space program.

We bring you two short excerpts of the movie, the first one more by means of wider education and the second one showing most of the important parts, designed by Potočnik Noordung's book. For the article and the whole video clip upload we thank Mark Wade and the Encyclopedia Astronautica, respectively.

Part one:

Part two:

Vitanje in the Slovenia Times magazine

2009-10-03T17:53:00.002+02:00

Slovenia Times magazine is a tourist paper about Slovenia and its wide range of sightseeing delicacies. In the previous issue, there was also a brief, yet very noticeable article on Vitanje and Herman Potočnik Noordung's Memorial Centre (SSHPN/HPNMC). We bring you both the smaller part, published on sloveniatimes.com, and the larger scan of the article in question. Oh, and as an addition, we give you the previously overlooked flyers for the special visit of Sunita Williams and the opening of the Cosmo Sapiens exhibition, just to make the two events even more imaginable.

Here is the quote of the sloveniatimes.com webpage (timestamp: 10/3/2009; 18:13 CET+1):

Space pioneer’s memorial centre
The people of Vitanje are very proud of their fellow townsman, the rocket engineer and pioneer of astronautics, Herman “Noordung” Potočnik, who envisioned living in space well before most other scientists. Last year, a Memorial Centre was opened in the Castle of Vitanje, where his family used to live. It is open on Tuesdays (10am – 3pm) and Thursdays (10am – 5pm). You can see an original copy of his only book Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums - der Raketen-Motor (The Problem of Space Travel - The Rocket Motor) from 1928 there.

And here we give you the slideshow. Now!

Sunita Williams in Vitanje and what happened

2009-09-27T08:03:00.003+02:00

Sunita Williams made her touchdown in Vitanje with style. During her visit at the SSHPN/HPNMC, the slovene-indian astronaut cooperated in a joint effort for the Orbital academy programme, created to celebrate her arrival and, at the same time, open the Cosmo Sapiens exhibition (Kozmo Sapiens in Slovene). Sunita also met with some of the main protagonists of the Herman Potočnik Noordung events, including:

dr. Edvard Kobal, The Slovenian Science Foundation director;
Dragan Živadinov, theatre director and attractor;
Dunja Zupančič and Miha Turšič, visual artists, authors of the Cosmosapiens exhibiton, that will be open for viewing in the forthcoming months - until 25 December 2009;
dr. Dušan Petrač, long-time NASA JPL (Pasadena) cooperative;
Slavko Vetrih, mayor of Vitanje Commune and
mag. Srečko Fijavž, Vitanje Commune administration board director.

Sunita spent a lot of time talking with the thrilled visitors and locals, adding her signature to her photos (or anything in the vicinity) that fans brought her, learning about the history of Vitanje and the life of Herman Potočnik Noordung. In the previous days, she also solemnly opened the 15th Slovenian Science Festival in Ljubljana. In Vitanje, however, the celebration of her visit lasted long after the Orbital academy (featuring preeminent Slovene artists with a programme based around the famous Srečko Kosovel poem - Red Rocket) and the Cosmo Sapiens exhibition were brought to life. Here is a short resume of Sunita Williams and her brief, yet memorable stay in Vitanje, hosted and made by Simon Zajc (Vesolje.net editor):

Sunita Williams in Vitanje

2009-09-11T00:31:00.003+02:00

As you are all very well aware, Sunita Williams, the established american astronaut, member of four recent missions including ISS maintenance and research, is going to visit Slovenia and Vitanje in the following days. On September 25, 2009 she is going to visit the SSHPN/HPNMC in Vitanje in the afternoon hours, arriving at the site at 16.30 (CET+1; same for the following), taking part in the memorial centre tour at 17.00 and, especially, being a guest of honor at the 18.00 Academy in the Vitanje House of Culture (the future - after the coming renovation and expansion works - Cultural Centre of European Space Technology building).

Consider yourself fiercely invited.

Two new books on Noordung

2009-08-11T00:25:00.001+02:00

I shall try to summarize both books in their main outlines, using Vesolje.net, SZF pages and newspaper articles as a reference, respectively.

Noordung.doc

The first book was announced as a breaking point in ".doc" editions - this time its topic is not a famous Slovene writer as it happened in previous publications but a scientist. The collection's main goal is to inspire especially young or unkeen readers, to promote the ideas of certain great minds for their future education and work.

The book on Noordung was edited by Miha Mohor, contents are mostly the work of two leading Slovene spaceflight scientists, dr. Marko Bavdaž and dr. Dušan Petrač.

Marko Bavdaž is an important cooperative of ESTEC at ESA (European

Space Agency) on the field of satellite inovation.

Dušan Petrač is a now retired longtime NASA JPL laboratories researcher, reknowned also in Slovenia as a foremost expert on the fields of astronautics.

The book itself is written in the form of dialogue comments between the two authors on selected chapters from "The Problem of Spaceflight" of Herman Potočnik Noordung, comparing Potočnik Noordung's views with modern knowledge. The colourfully illustrated book also bears the introduction article by dr. Sandi Sitar, also a famous Noordung expert and technical sciences historian.

Herman Potočnik Noordung

The simply titled SZF (The Slovenian Science Foundation) publication was written by the instituion's chairman, dr. Edvard Kobal, who is promoting the name of Potočnik Noordung in the framework of SZF for over a decade now. The book itself is a starting point/the first issue in the new SZF series named "Velikani ustvarjalnosti" (Eng. direct translation: "Giants of creativity"). Moreover - in May, as a part of 15th Anniversary of SZF existence, considerable amount of those very books were freely distributed to Slovenia's school libraries.

The first part of the book makes a reflective statement about the life and work of H.P.N. as a wider accomplishment, compared with the achievements of his historic contemporaries. It also discusses his ethic beliefs and humanistic coexistence of people through his writings.

In the second part of the book the debate expands to numerous artists and astro-cosmonautics enthusiasts, inspired by Herman Potočnik Noordung's lucid discoveries, and also about the now constantly growing Memorial Centre in Vitanje, Slovenia.

To conclude this short report, let me just inform you that the largest outdoor event of the Vitanje Commune in 2009 that was being held this Sunday, 9 August 2009, was brought to an end with a respectable visitors quota at the SSHPN/HPNMC. And the thrilled visitors had many prepositions for the further development stages...including an astronomic observatory, regarding Vitanje as one of the least light polluted places in Slovenia. Huh?

Exodos flyers, re-post (or rather a late post)

2009-05-21T01:44:00.003+02:00

Just to make the record of the three important events, especially the one with dddr. Yuri Baturyn, complete, here are the flyers of the Vitanje events. To bring the image of the happenings closer.

More visual material from MEETING :: EARTH and Exodos15 events

2009-05-10T15:46:00.005+02:00

Eyewitness photo gallery is compiled of shots made by Miha Turšič (C) and Nada Žgank/mementoimage (C) (Exodos festival). All rights reserved. First two galleries were taken in the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies, Vitanje, which is a part or rather a further development phase of SSHPN/HPNMC project. The third gallery was taken in Ljubljana, Old City Power Plant (Elektro Ljubljana d.d.).

First album - 6th May 2009 - Baturyn exhibition opening in Vitanje:

Second album - 8th May 2009 - Postgravity art informance in Vitanje:

Third album - 8th and 9th May 2009 - Postgravity art lecture in Ljubljana:

Yuri M. Baturyn - interview in Dnevnik, 9/5/2009

2009-05-10T14:57:00.003+02:00

On 9th May 2009, one of the grand interviews in the Saturday edition of Dnevnik (subedition Objektiv), Slovene daily newspaper, was made with Yuri Mikhailovich Baturyn, the two time visitor and supporter of SSHPN/HPNMC. We post it here in the TXT form and below it a HTTP link to the HTML site. It is in Slovene, not yet translated. Anyone who would like me (or would like to cooperate himself!) to translate a certain part or the text as a whole, apply below, in the commentary box.

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Jurij Mihajlovič Baturin, kozmonavt

Metulj je lepši od gosenice

Vsi zapustimo svet. Le redki se nanj vrnemo.

Dnevnikov objektiv - sobota, 09.05.2009 Tekst: Ervin Hladnik - Milharčič

Ljubljana - Že prebivališče je fascinantno, človek je neverjeten. Baturin je diplomiral iz letalske dinamike, doktoriral iz fizike, prava in novinarstva. Leta 1989 je enajst dni živel na ruski vesoljski postaji Mir, leta 2001 pa teden dni na Mednarodni vesoljski postaji.

V času ruskega predsednika Borisa Jelcina je bil njegov pomočnik za pravne zadeve in nacionalno varnost. Bil je član ruskega sveta za obrambo. Ob vsem tem piše še za zadnji neodvisni ruski časopis Nova Gazeta in je tajnik ruske zveze novinarjev. To nenavadno prakso skromno pojasnjuje z dejstvom, da je napisal zakon o tisku Ruske federacije in da je svoboda izražanja poleg matematične fizike, hribolazenja in politologije eden od njegovih interesov. V okviru 15. festivala Exodos je v sredo v Vitanju v bližini spominske sobe Hermana Potočnika Noordunga odprl razstavo svojih umetniških fotografij iz vesolja.

Ste res dvakrat z raketo potovali na vesoljsko postajo?

Da. Enkrat na Mir, enkrat pa na Mednarodno vesoljsko postajo. Obakrat s sojuzom.

Lahko človeku, ki rad potuje, v vesolje pa še ni potoval, razložite, kakšno potovanje je to?

Bi radi potovali v vesolje?

Prav tja. Kam drugam pa še?

Lepo vprašanje. Zahteva lep odgovor. Eno je lepota našega sveta, ki se je zavemo, ko izstopimo iz atmosfere. Drugo pa je seveda to, kar človek doživi v sebi. Občutki so tako močni, da te sproti spreminjajo v nekoga drugega. Optimist v Voltairovem Candidu pravi, da živi v najboljšem od vseh možnih svetov. Pesimist pravi, da gre vse k hudiču in da živi v najslabšem od možnih svetov. Ampak ne eden ne drugi svojega sveta nimata s čim primerjati. To je edini svet, ki ga imamo. In samo eno življenje ga imamo. Nekateri smo imeli možnost zapustiti ta svet. Prvo, kar vidiš iz vesolja, je, kako tanka je plast atmosfere na Zemlji. Šele takrat razumeš, da si zapustil svet, v katerem si preživel vse svoje življenje. Prej ali slej vsi zapustimo svet. Zelo malo pa se nas nanj tudi vrne. Mi, ki smo bili v drugem svetu, lahko primerjamo. Občutek, da si zapustil rodni svet in vstopil v svet, kjer je vse drugače, je enkraten. In zelo težko ponovljiv.

Pardon. Ali ni to še vedno isti svet? Vesolje je tudi naš svet.

Da, ampak vse je drugače. Vse v tvojem organizmu drugače deluje. Kalcij se izplakuje iz kosti, metabolizem je nenavaden. Saj to veš že prej, ko to občutiš, pa si neskončno presenečen. Možgani začnejo čisto drugače delati. Kratkoročni spomin ti odpove. Naenkrat se spomniš stvari iz daljne preteklosti, ki si jih že pozabil. Vse, kar moraš hitro narediti, pa si moraš zapisati, sicer takoj pozabiš.

V čem je skrivnost teh procesov?

Ni nobene skrivnosti. Vse je mogoče fizikalno razložiti. Če v breztežnostnem stanju spustite kapljo vode v zrak, takoj zavzame obliko krogle. Absolutne krogle. Enako je z našimi možgani. Niso ravno voda, ampak nekakšen žele. Možgani sedijo v oklepu, ki ga je oblikovalo nekaj deset tisoč let težnosti. V breztežnostnem stanju poskušajo zavzeti obliko popolne krogle. Ni pa prostora, da bi postali krogla. Prostor je oblikovala težnost in je omejen. Pritisk na nekatere dele zato narašča, na druge pa popušča. Zaradi tega začneš drugače razmišljati. Nisem opazil, da bi po tej izkušnji šlo komu na slabše.

Ne deluje samo odsotnost sile težnosti, ampak celotna izkušnja. Ko greš v vesolje in ko se vrneš, moraš prečkati zelo nevarno pregrado. To spremeni tvoj odnos do življenja in tudi do sveta, v katerem živiš. Ko se vrneš na zemljo in ti pot prečka hrošč, dvigneš nogo, da ga ne bi pohodil. Razumeš, da nisi ti dal tega življenja in da ga nimaš pravice vzeti. Zjutraj tečem v službo in hitim, da ne bi zamudil. Gledam pod noge, da ne bi stopil v lužo ali se spotaknil. Zelo redko pogledam v nebo, da bi videl, kakšni čudoviti oblaki so na nebu. Ko so me iz Zvezdnega mesta peljali na vzletišče po poti, po kateri sem šel tisočkrat, sem gledal ista drevesa in prvič sem jih videl v njihovi lepoti. Svet je postal enkraten in čudovit. Vesoljski polet spremeni strukturo osebnosti. To je najmočnejši občutek, ki ga pusti za sabo.

V vesolju postane pogled na življenje drugačen. Pred petnajstimi leti je kolega z mano začel snemati serijo pogovorov o oblasti. S tem problemom se intenzivno ukvarjam. Preden sem poletel, mi je rekel, da bova naredila pogovor o oblasti tudi v vesolju. Poglejva, kaj iz tega nastane. Napisal mi je dvaindvajset vprašanj in mi jih dal v kuverto. Na postaji Mir sem kuverto odprl in začel snemati odgovore. Njegova vprašanja so bila vedno zanimiva in pogovarjati se z njim je vedno plodno. Na Miru pa sem gledal njegova vprašanja in začel zmerjati.

"Pa kaj me sprašuješ te neumnosti? Koga briga?"

Spraševal me je o političnem položaju v letu 1989, ko so bile razmere v državi zelo zaostrene. Spraševal je o konkretnih osebah in konkretnih situacijah. O Gorbačovu in premikih v državi. Na Zemlji bi od mene dobil konkretne in podrobne odgovore.

"Kaj me moriš s temi malenkostmi?" sem govoril v mikrofon. "Kdo so ti ljudje? Zakaj so pomembni?"

Problemi so seveda ostali pomembni, ampak meni so se razmerja spremenila.

Radi potujete tudi kam drugam?

Ja, rad potujem. Ampak sem morda nekoliko izbirčen popotnik. Rad imam hribe. Pred slabim mesecem so me povabili v Nepal na konferenco o fiziki plazme. O tem nekaj malega vem. Nepal me ni ravno pretirano zanimal. Ampak Katmandu je v bližini Himalaje. Povabili so še tri kolege.

"Stopimo še na Mount Everest, ko bomo že tam," sem jim rekel. Na konferenci smo hitro oddrdrali svoje referate in takoj šli v hribe. Opravičujem se, Nepal me res ni zanimal. Ampak Himalaja! Uuu, uuu. Dvanajstega aprila smo bili že v baznem kampu na 5200 metrih. Dvanajsti april je dan kozmonavtike. Bil sem bliže zvezdam. Tako rad potujem.

V čem je razlika med potovanjem po Zemlji in po vesolju?

Če si izbereš potovanje na katerokoli točko na Zemlji, je velika verjetnost, da boš tja tudi prišel. Če hočeš v vesolje kot vesoljski pilot, je velika možnost, da tja nikoli ne boš prišel. Vsaka najmanjša napaka v organizmu ti prepreči polet. So še druge komplikacije. Vrsta je zelo dolga. Ko se je razletela ameriška ladja Columbia, se je vsa teža poletov na mednarodno postajo prenesla na naše sojuze. Petnajst ruskih pilotov se je pripravljalo na polet. Nikoli niso šli gor, ker je bil na vsakem poletu vsaj en Američan. Preprosto ni bilo prostora. Vsak poklicni kozmonavt, ne turist, mora tudi za samo teden dni potovanja opraviti sto težkih izpitov. To je več kot za običajno fakulteto. Za katero potovanje na Zemlji morate narediti univerzo?

Tudi na Zemlji počnete zanimive stvari.

Res je.

V vaši biografiji piše, da ste doktorirali tudi iz novinarstva.

Da.

Torej kolega. Ta vaša država Rusija. Znate voziti Američane v vesolje in poleg njih znajo ljudi voziti gor samo še Kitajci. Je...

Oprostite, prekinil vas bom. Bodimo natančni. To moram pojasniti. Kitajci so se pol stoletja trudili, da bi sami naredili vesoljsko ladjo. Že v sedemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja so se pripravljali na svoj polet. Prišli so blizu. Ampak vsakič, ko so raketo vžgali, je eksplodirala. Tudi v enaindvajsetem stoletju jim ni uspelo. Konec devetdesetih let so kupili ladjo sojuz. Odpeljali so jo domov, jo razstavili na kose do zadnjega vijaka. Kos za kosom so potem naredili svojo kopijo ladje. Bil sem v centru za pripravo kitajskih kozmonavtov. Pokazali so mi svojo ladjo. To je naš sojuz. Naredili pa so nekaj sijajnih izboljšav. Sojuz ima tri sestavne dele. Eden je pogonski, kamor astronavti nikoli ne stopijo. Druga dva sta bivalni del in navigacijska kapsula. V tem zadnjem delu se vrnemo na Zemljo. Pri našem modelu se na Zemljo vrne samo kapsula, vse drugo zgori. Kitajci pa so iz bivalnega dela naredili satelit. Nanj so namestili dodatne sončne celice in ga pustili v orbiti kot delujočo postajo. To je razumna izboljšava. Ampak hoteli ste vprašati nekaj drugega. O Rusiji.

Na svetu so tri velike sile. Ameriko je težko razumeti, Kitajske niti ne poskušamo, z Rusijo pa je problem. Je Rusija velika sila ali ne? Imate vesoljsko tehnologijo in skoraj nič drugega. Je Rusija danes močna ali šibka država?

Rusija je dolga zgodba. Tako kot vsak drug organizem se spreminja. Če vzamete kulturo, umetnost, literaturo, je od osemnajstega stoletja naprej ista država. Tehnika in znanost sta se dramatično spremenili. Stanje naše družbe pa je skrivnost.

Jo lahko razkrijete?

Zagotovo ste kdaj dali polniti svoj mobilni telefon?

To večkrat počnem.

No. Električni tok teče po žicah v normalni sinusoidi. Lahko ga narišete kot enakomerno valovito črto. Vi vtaknete polnilec v vtikač zato, da boste dobili enosmerni tok, ki ga tudi lahko narišete kot pravilno krivuljo. Vmes pa imate v črni škatli nekaj trenutkov popolnega kaosa. Narišete ga kot zmedo nepravilnih krivulj, ki letijo na vse strani. Rusija je zdaj v tej črni škatli.

Lepo. Ampak kaj je tam notri?

Položaj se zdi preprost. Razpadla je Sovjetska zveza in potem se je zdelo, da so se leta 1992, 1993 ali s prihodom Putina zgodile spremembe. V resnici pa proces sprememb ves čas kaotično poteka in bo potekal še kar nekaj časa. Ni jasno, kam to dvajsetletno spreminjanje pelje. Nekoč se bo ta država ustalila, vendar ni mogoče reči, kaj bo iz nje nastalo.

Nekatere tendence pa so še kar jasne.

Da. Ampak ta trenutek definirajo samo prehodno obdobje, v katerem Rusija je. Niti tendence niti sedanja država mi niso najbolj všeč. Naši problemi koreninijo v časih daleč pred razpadom Sovjetske zveze. Stari so sto let in jih gre iskati v tem, kako je nastala sovjetska oblast. O tem so danes v obtoku predvsem miti. Na predvečer prve svetovne vojne je bila Rusija v zelo težkem položaju. Ves bančni kapital je bil v lasti tujcev. Nemčije, Belgije, Francije in drugih držav. Ste se kdaj vprašali, zakaj se je Rusija spustila v vojno z Nemčijo? Ni bilo logično. Vladarski družini sta bili sorodstveno povezani, kulturno in gospodarsko smo tudi bili povezani z Nemčijo. Rusija je napadla Nemčijo, ker je bila finančno odvisna od držav antante. Bila je napol kolonialna država, ki se je spreminjala v kolonijo. Zdaj jo vidimo kot močan imperij, v resnici pa je bila popolnoma odvisna od sil antante. Februarska revolucija je pripeljala na oblast ljudi, ki z oblastjo niso znali ravnati in niso vedeli, kaj bi z njo počeli. Posledica je bila oktobrska revolucija. Boljševiki so hoteli oblast in so jo tudi vzeli. Rešili so Rusijo pred tem, da bi postala kolonija. Pri tem so uničili najboljše ljudi v Rusiji. Državljanska vojna in stalinove čistke so iz nje naredile puščavo. Ampak že Lenin je na ladjo vkrcal vse najboljše mislece in jih izgnal iz države. Odšli so znanstveniki in inženirji. Nekateri so zaradi nevzdržnih razmer šli sami. Še danes se serija najboljših ameriških helikopterjev imenuje sikorsky. Igor Sikorsky je bil ruski letalski inženir, ki je leta 1919 odšel iz Rusije, ker tam ni videl smisla. Že v Rusiji je izdelal prvi helikopter z vertikalnim rotorjem na svetu. Država je potrebovala dobre znanstvenike in inženirje in jih je znala narediti. Z njimi je ravnala slabo. Tudi raketni inženir Sergej Pavlovič Koroljov, ki je v vesolje spravil Jurija Gagarina, je prišel iz zapora. Stalin ga je zaprl za šest let. Gospodarstvo je bilo usmerjeno v obrambo in je povzročilo nizko življenjsko raven. Eno se je govorilo, drugo delalo. Dvajseto stoletje je uničilo moralo in etičnost v Rusiji. Izvor naših sedanjih problemov je v tem.

Kaj pa se je zgodilo, ko se je boljševistična oblast iztrošila?

Ko je Sovjetska zveza razpadla in je nastala nova Rusija, je država potrebovala etične ljudi, ki bi jo lahko na novo zgradili. Nekoliko osupli smo ugotovili, da jih ni nikjer. Nikjer ni bilo ljudi, ki bi znali spodobno in pošteno voditi državo. Pohlep, požrešnost in stremljenje k bogastvu so požrli vse sposobne ljudi. Zdaj imamo državo, v kateri veliko ljudi živi pod pragom revščine, bogataši pa si kupujejo jahte z vgrajenimi podmornicami. To je preprosto amoralno. Ljudje, ki so zadnjih dvajset let vodili državo na vseh vplivnih ravneh, so imeli vsi bančne račune in hiše v tujini. V tujino so na šolanje poslali tudi svoje otroke. Če bi se kaj zgodilo, so imeli vnaprej pripravljeno rezervno življenje. Glavna vrednota je hitri denar. Nikomur se ne da deset let delati za spodobno življenje. Na hitro obogateti in jo takoj ucvreti je vrednota. Znanost se je nehala razvijati, zaustavil se je razvoj industrije. Tem rečem je treba posvetiti leta dela, ne pa deset minut mešetarjenja.

Pa se rezultat kaže kot močna ali šibka država?

Na Rusijo lahko gledate kot na močno državo, ki lahko ves svet skupaj z Ameriko in turisti pelje v vesolje. Ta pogled je privid. Vse, s čimer danes letimo v vesolje, je bilo razvito v Sovjetski zvezi. Po decembru 1991 nismo razvili nič novega. Niti vijaka. Vsi načrti so stari vsaj dvajset let. Na njih ni niti ene nove črte. Raven izobrazbe vratolomno pada. Sovjetska zveza je imela najboljše univerze za naravoslovje in tehnično izobrazbo. Ko je 4. oktobra 1957 poletel prvi sputnik, so Američani ustanovili komisijo. Odgovorila naj bi na vprašanje, zakaj je to uspelo Rusom, ne pa njim. Eden od odgovorov je bil, naj reformirajo sistem izobraževanja od osnovne šole naprej. In kaj delamo mi? Prilagajamo svoj izobraževalni sistem evropskemu bolonjskemu procesu, ki pomeni državno znižanje ravni izobraževanja. Toliko o moči. Raven izobrazbe vseh strokovnjakov na vseh področjih strmo pada.

Ustanovitelj kibernetike Ross Ashby je oblikoval zakon, ki pravi, da mora biti upravljalski sloj kateregakoli sistema inteligentnejši od sistema. Vsak dober upravljalec sistema mora sam biti model sistema. Ne bom kompliciral s kibernetiko. Problem je preprost. Če hočete atleta pripraviti do tega, da bo zmagal na olimpijskih igrah, ni dovolj, da ste strokovnjak za sedenje na stolu, ležanje na kavču in opravljanje poti od kavča do hladilnika. Če poznate pet sedečih položajev, ne morete učiti preskokov in premetov.

Malo begamo. Kakšna je zveza z moderno Rusijo?

Rusija je velika in komplicirana, zelo kompleksna država. Tako kompleksen organizem pa upravljajo preprosteži. Obvladajo samo nekaj enostavnih položajev. Kako spraviti denar v svoj žep, kako pritisniti pečat na ukaz in na televiziji govoriti, da je Rusija velika in močna država. Kako naj pritlikavci vladajo Rusiji? To vam govorim z bolečino. Zadnje, kar si želim, je v tujem časopisu kritizirati svojo državo. Recimo, da se ji ne posmehujem, ampak jo analiziram. To počnem tudi v Novi Gazeti, tako da sem lahko miren.

Slovani imamo o svojih državah devastantno mnenje. To je naša tradicija.

Doma to tudi sam rad počnem, v tujini pa imam zadržke. Dvanajst let pišem za Gazeto. Pisal sem tudi za Komsomolsko pravdo, dokler ni postala rumeni tisk. Potem se je zgodilo nekaj nenavadnega. Še v času Gorbačova sem napisal zakon o svobodi tiska. Potem sem ga še enkrat pisal v času Borisa Jelcina. In potem nikjer drugje kot v Novi Gazeti niso hoteli tiskati mojih člankov. Ideja zakona je bila, da lahko ljudje pišejo to, kar hočejo pisati, in na način, na katerega hočejo pisati. Samo v Gazeti lahko še tako pišem. Nihče mi ne govori, naj kaj malo drugače napišem, naj kje kaj omehčam ali na kaj pozabim. Pišem tako, kot smo si jaz in tovariši v zakonu o tisku zamislili, da bi morali pisci pisati.

Ko ste pisali prvi zakon o tisku, ste imeli v mislih širitev polja svobode izražanja.

To je bilo eno od vodil, da.

Kako je potem mogoče, da ta isti zakon uporabljajo za dušitev svobodnega tiska? Ostala sta en svobodni časopis in ena televizijska postaja.

Rusko novinarstvo ni zdržalo preizkusa svobode.

Ulala. To je težak stavek.

Najprej ga je uničila skušnjava denarja. Denar je bil močnejši od želje po svobodi. Bogataši so pokupili vse časopise in televizijske postaje. Pojavili so se ljudje, ki so bili pripravljeni plačati velike denarje, da se je o njih pisalo lepe reči. Nekateri novinarji pa so iz strahu, ki je ostal iz sovjetskih časov, in iz klečeplazniških nagonov sprejeli servilen odnos. Niso udarili po mizi in rekli, tako ne bomo pisali, teh norosti na televizijo ne bomo dali. Še so polja upiranja. Med moskovskimi časopisi samo še Nova Gazeta govori to, kar misli. Ampak Rusija je velika. Tudi po drugih mestih so časopisi, v katerih novinarji pišejo, kar mislijo, čeprav jih izsiljujejo, pretepajo, vlačijo po sodiščih in tudi ubijajo. To me opogumlja. V Rusiji so še novinarji, ki opravljajo svoj poklic. Sploh ne obupujem. Lani so me izbrali za sekretarja ruske zveze novinarjev. Organizacija poskuša podpirati novinarje, ki hočejo živeti v svobodi izražanja. Leta smo deležni napadov s strani vodstva države, ampak nekako zdržimo.

Se položaj, odkar je predsednik Dmitrij Medvedjev, kaj spreminja?

Medvedjev je zanimiv. Izbral si je drugačen pristop. Srečal se je z vodstvom zveze in sprejel tudi uredništvo Nove Gazete. Nekako smo mu skušali pojasniti, da ruskega novinarstva ne gre presojati samo po uredništvih centralnih medijev. Po državi je veliko piscev, ki razmišljajo zelo drugače.

V črni škatli, ki ste jo prej opisali, smo videli Jelcina, Putina in zdaj Medvedjeva. So to tri etape razvoja sodobne Rusije?

Ne bi rekel, da gre za tri etape. Da pa se na zadnjih dvajset let pogledati skozi prizmo teh treh ljudi. Putin je bil Jelcinov naslednik in je predsednik postal samo zato, ker mu je Jelcin predal oblast. Medvedjeva je Putin imenoval za svojega naslednika in mu predal oblast. Ruski predsedniki so kot ličinke, ki se zabubijo in potem iz njih nastane metulj. Metulj je vedno lepši od ličinke, ampak gre pač za isto žival. Jelcin, Putin in Medvedev so različna nihanja v kaosu v črni škatli. Vsi trije so del istega procesa. V času Jelcina je bila glavna naloga zaustaviti proces razpadanja Rusije. Lahko bi še naprej razpadala. Potem je moral vzpostaviti kolikor toliko dobre odnose s sosedi in se izogniti državljanski vojni.

Državljanski vojni?

Da. Bili smo blizu. Lahko bi prišlo do spopada za ozemlje med republikami, tako kot je prišlo do vojne za ozemlje med jugoslovanskimi republikami. Jelcin se je ukvarjal samo s tem. Če bi bile cene nafte takšne, kot so bile v času Putina, bi tudi gospodarstvo boljše delovalo.

Kaj pa je naredil Putin?

Čas Putina je bil čas strukturiranja ruske družbe v skladu z njegovimi predstavami o oblasti. V mednarodnih odnosih pa so on in njegovi sodelavci hoteli pokazati mišice in Rusijo prikazati kot veliko, močno državo, ki je enakopraven partner velesilam. To je bil poskus prodati kot resnično to, kar so si samo predstavljali. Ampak v resničnem svetu je drugače. Če pogledaš, koliko denarja za vojsko nameni Amerika in koliko Rusija, je sklep o Putinu preprost. Govoriti znaš lepo, narediti pa ne moreš nič. To je bila samoprevara. Ne moreš učinkovito delovati, če nimaš jasne slike svojega položaja. Navznoter je še bolj žalostno. Sistem, ki vodi proces, mora biti kompleksnejši od procesa, ki ga vodi. Tega niso znali narediti. Zato so se posla lotili v obratni smeri. Namesto da bi oblast naredili inteligentnejšo in kompleksnejšo, so poskušali poenostaviti objekt upravljanja. Zato takšna vertikala oblasti. Treba je bilo poenostaviti medije in jih narediti poslušne. Nad živim, kompleksnim medijem ne moreš gospodovati. Enako je z vso družbo. Putin si je hotel poenostaviti delo in je poskušal poenostaviti družbo, da bi ji lažje vladal.

Medvedjev še vedno vlada v Putinovem obdobju. Leto dni je predsednik, pa se še ni pokazal, kdo je. Sedmega maja je bil inavguriran. Točno pred enim letom. Znašel se je v položaju, da je politična teža predsednika manjša od politične teže premierja Putina. V takšnem položaju je težko določiti nov kurz. V tem letu se je šele vzpostavljal kot figura. Morda bo trajalo še eno leto, preden bo zares zasedel položaj. Vendar se kažejo drobne spremembe. Medvedjev je Novi Gazeti dal intervju. Putinu kaj takega nikoli ni padlo na pamet. Putin nikoli ne bi dal intervjuja časopisu, ki ga kritizira in postavlja neprijetna vprašanja. Jelcin je bil zanimivejši. Se spomnite, kaj se je zgodilo 4. oktobra 1994?

Jelcin je bombardiral svoj lastni parlament.

S predsedniškim dekretom 1440 je razpustil parlament in ukazal streljanje na Beli dvor, da. Le nekaj dni zatem je dal intervju opozicijskemu listu Nova Gazeta. Medvedjev je dal intervju sredi popolnega miru, ko lahko sedi v Kremlju in govori o čemerkoli. Hotel je dati signal, da ni tak kot Putin. Časopis pa se ga v resnici še sploh ni resno lotil. Jelcin ga je dal v času, ko ga Gazeta ni samo kritizirala, ampak ga je direktno napadala, medtem ko je v Moskvi tekla državljanska vojna, nad državo pa je visela temna politična megla. Jelcin je bil pogumen človek.

V vaši biografiji berem, da ste dvakrat bivali na dveh različnih vesoljskih postajah, kar za poklicnega pilota in kozmonavta ni nenavadno. Ste res tudi doktorirali iz fizike, prava in novinarstva?

Res je. Pozabili ste, da sem končal diplomatsko akademijo.

V Slovenijo pa ste na povabilo gledališkega režiserja Draga Živadinova prišli kot avtorski fotograf z razstavo v Spominskem središču vesoljske tehnologije v Vitanju.

Točno, da.

Oprostite, ampak zakaj vesoljec z vašimi kvalifikacijami nastopa kot avtorski fotograf?

To je zelo preprosto. Ko me povabijo kot pravnika, nastopam kot pravnik. Ko me vabijo na konference fizike plazme kot fizika, nastopam kot fizik. Dragan Živadinov me je v Vitanje povabil kot umetnika in tako nastopam.

Je res, da razstavljate edine avtorske fotografije iz vesolja?

Ne, mislim, da ni čisto tako. Pred desetimi leti sem bil prvi ruski astronavt, ki je imel fotografsko razstavo. Ne vem, kaj so avtorskega delali Američani. Za mano so v Rusiji razstavljali še Sergej Krikaljov, Fjodor Jurčihin in Valerij Korzun. No, moje fotografije so nekoliko drugačne od njihovih. Drugi slikajo tako, kot bi slikali iz letala, ki leti zelo visoko. Z višine slikajo goro, domačo vas, vulkan. To ni vesoljska fotografija. Jaz sem hotel slikati naravo kot umetniško delo. Ne zanima me, kam teče reka, kam pelje cesta, slikati hočem lepoto narave. Čudim se tej lepoti. Meni se ni zdelo nič kaj posebno izvirnega, vendar me že deset let vabijo na razstave po vsem svetu in z mano delijo čudenje. Razstava je bila najprej v Politehniškem muzeju v Moskvi. To ni tehniški muzej. Posvečen je našemu kulturnemu življenju. V njem so nastopali pesniki, kot je Andrej Voznesenski. Razstavo sem postavil tja preračunljivo. Od tam je šla v Petropavlovsko utrdbo v Sankt Peterburg. Doživela je neverjeten obisk in potem prišla na eno stran do Mongolije in na drugo do Španije. Bila je v Turčiji, Armeniji, Tadžikistanu in ne vem kje še vse. Zakaj je tako priljubljena, pa še sam ne vem.

Ampak kakšno idejo o tem pač imate?

Mislim, da ljudi ne zanima videti samo, kakšna je videti Zemlja iz vesolja, ampak želijo videti, kako zelo lepa je.

Ali ni tako, da odkar je Jurij Gagarin poletel okoli Zemlje, nekaj generacij sanja o potovanjih v vesolje? Pred štiridesetimi leti se je zdelo, da bomo čez dvajset let hodili na počitnice v asteroidni pas. Pa smo ostali na Zemlji. Ostala nam je samo nova imaginacija, ki so jo sprožili prvi vesoljski poleti. Kaj ste videli, česar drugi nismo videli?

Všeč mi je, da vizualiziram to, o čemer drugi sanjajo. Veste, kaj sem delal? Iz vesolja sem videl slike, ki so jih slikarji slikali na platna. Na Zemljo sem gledal skozi oči slikarjev. Moj pogled iz vesolja je poskušal razumeti fragmentarni pogled umetnika. Moja slika Trije svetovi, ki sem jo posnel z vesoljske postaje Mir, je en tak primer. Maurits Escher je naredil gravuro Trije svetovi. Naslikal je ribnik jeseni. Prvi svet je riba, ki plava pod vodo. Drugi svet je listje na površini. Tretji svet so odsevi dreves, ki rastejo na bregu. Z enim pogledom vidimo vse tri svetove. Jaz sem skozi okno vesoljske postaje naredil isto. Na levi vidimo loputo, s katero lahko okno zapremo. Na loputi je titanovo zrcalce, ki ga uporabljamo za opazovanje zunanjosti postaje. Deluje kot vzvratno ogledalo v avtomobilu. Pred nami odseva Zemlja, en svet, vesolje, drugi svet, in naša tehnika. Človeško delo. To so moji trije svetovi. Ko so Francozi pripravljali svetovno razstavo v Parizu, so Andreju Baskovu, ki je organiziral razstavo v Moskvi, rekli, dajte nam to fotografijo. Hočemo jo imeti za emblem. To je slika našega mesta v vesolju. Ves Pariz je bil polepljen s plakati te fotografije.

V vesolju sem srečal Leonarda da Vincija. Pripravljal je skice za sliko vesoljnega potopa. Po različnih svetovnih muzejih so njegove študije vrtincev. Jaz sem jih na Zemlji videl iz vesolja. Iz tega je nastala serija fotografij o tem, kako nam narava kaže, kaj so slikali veliki umetniki.

V Vitanje ste prišli med znanost in umetniške projekte Dragana Živadinova, ker je tukaj hiša Hermana Potočnika Noordunga. Živadinov hoče delati teater v vesolju. Je to, kar nam o Potočniku pripoveduje, res ali del fantazijskega spektakla?

Vse je res. Utemeljitelje kozmonavtike je mogoče razdeliti na teoretike in praktike. Naš utemeljitelj teoretske kozmonavtike je Konstantin Eduardovič Ciolkovski. Sergej Koroljov je bil prvi praktik. Potočnik sodi med največje teoretike kozmonavtike. Ciolkovski je razvijal koncepte raketnega pogona in se je ukvarjal s tem, kako priti v vesolje. Napisal je še vedno veljavne formule za vzlet. Potočnik je prvi razvil koncept vesoljske postaje. Večino tega, kar je napisal, še danes velja. On je prvi vedel, da moramo zgraditi vesoljsko postajo, če hočemo leteti naprej na druge planete. Pravilno je narisal njeno strukturo, mesta za okna, nakazal na problem rešitve problema breztežnosti in natančno razmislil o življenjskih razmerah v vesolju in o zaščiti življenja. Če ne bi tako mlad umrl, bi bil tudi pionir vesoljskih poletov. Na njem ni nič izmišljenega.

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Link to the HTML version: [link]

Postgravital lecture / Exodos15 / Vitanje

2009-05-09T21:58:00.004+02:00

Yes!

We have endured the seemingly unsurmountable levels of Dragan Živadinov's lecture on postgravity art, including Noordung, of course. For more than ten hours (sic!) we dwelled in, so to say, the bakcstage of Bunker productions (or Exodos festival, however you prefer it) main performance scene - The Old City Power Plant of Ljubljana. With only the lecturer's - in his own words - automated speech and a few visual stimulants we spontaneously combusted our cardinal neurocapacities (allow me to exaggerate) and constructed our own vision of the given topic. One of the artefacts of this composite gathering was also Herman Potočnik Noordung, his first space architecture and his primate on both geostationary orbit and geostationary satellite (space station). Potočnik was, among until now well known facts, brought to attention as an important figure in the question of cultural exchange, nationally emblematic status.

This event was to round-up the series of three major performances/informances/presentations, conjured from this year's Exodos programme.

As for the opening of the exhibition in Vitanje this Wednesday - two short flash video clips (courtesy of Vest.si/Irena Kovačević), abundant in information, conveying vivid coverage of the newly rearranged gallery in the Vitanje house of culture.

To summarize: the Michael Benson exhibition exposing the solar system and space probe photography lasted for five months. Now it is succesfully replaced by Yuri Mikhailovich Baturyn's subtle shots of the Earth through the eyes of MIR and ISS.

P.S.: The second clip is bringing you a freshly born toast to Herman Potočnik Noordung and Vitanje. Candid.

MEETING :: EARTH / SREČANJE :: Z ZEMLJO

2009-05-01T18:34:00.003+02:00

Four light steps for your guide.

Where::

Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies, Vitanje, Slovenia (+ SSHPN/HPNMC)

When::

Opening on 6th May 2009 at 18:00, closing on 31st May 2009 at 19:00 (all CET+1)

What::

MEETING :: (WITH) EARTH / SREČANJE :: Z ZEMLJO

A photographic exhibition,

author dr. Yuri Baturin, cosmonaut et.al.

Details::

Author of the exhibited works, dr. Yuri Baturin, is a cosmonaut who attended missions on both MIR and ISS. Apart from that, he has a doctorate in physics, journalism and law, is also an author and editor of many books and, last but not least, a photographer.

On the coming exhibition he will present us thirty (30) large scale images, taken during his stay on MIR and ISS space stations. Landscapes, captured by Yuri Baturin from a space station's interior, are impressive documents that incorporate scientific details of the temporary habitat (MIR and ISS) as well as our planet's characteristics and curiosities. The eye of the author is emphasizing all the image segments which even an uneducated viewer should not miss. The visual footage allows us to immerse into the fascinating meteorological circumstances, geologic transform faults, vulcanic patterns... It is an exhibition of yet unseen ocean and terminator photography, another acnkowledgment of the space explorers work.

UPDATE: On more activities around the name of Herman Potočnik Noordung, happening this newborn month, check the "Exodos 15: Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts" sub-website - here.

Radio Slovenia emission on Vitanje

2009-04-19T21:49:00.004+02:00

In the second part of this Radio Slovenia's emission on Vitanje, made from live recordings with our SSHPN/HPNMC (also Vitanje's past/present connoiseur) guide, Damjan Fijavž, and also Srečko Fijavž, Vitanje commune board director, you may find some vital, though abbreviated information concerning Herman Potočnik Noordung - all in a clear sound image. The spoken language, however, is Slovene. It has been broadcasted as a part of Nedeljski izlet (Eng.: The Sunday Trip) series on Val 202, the second programme of Radio Slovenia.

[link]

SZF and Delo - Space travel

2009-03-10T23:57:00.006+01:00

The Slovenian Science Foundation (Slovene: SZF) [link] is announcing, along with the largest Slovene newspaper corporation, Delo [link], a competition in essay writing. The topic is, of course, very much present in year 2009, when we face the fourtieth anniversary of an extraterrestrial body conquer (and also the eightieth anniversary of H.P.N.'s death). Though we have not, as of yet, managed to colonize the Moon's surface and inhabit it with earthly lifeforms, it is an important breaking point indeed.

Last but not least, this is a great occasion to expand the horizons on Herman Potočnik Noordung and general Slovene contribution to this quintessential topic of the following decades of our Earth.

The topic of this essay competition, therefore, goes as follows:

"Space travel in the future"

Competition terms - - - - - - - - - -

Contestants age frame stretches from the first class of elementary school to last year/semester university students. Genre is arbitrary (realism, futurism, sci-fi, etc.). Length of the writings should not be more than 3 A4 pages (<6000>.

Obligatory enclosures:

permanent residence information;
name of the school/faculty (and course specifications, if applicable), attended by the author in 2008/09 study year;
name and surname of the mentor.

Each author may send only one essay. Deadline is set on May the 8th, 2009. Possible ways of delivering your paper are:

E-mail --> mojca.zupancic@szf.si
Regular mail --> Ustanova Slovenska znanstvena fundacija, Štefanova ulica 15, 1000 Ljubljana (subscribe the following: "Za natečaj za najboljši spis/esej")
Personally --> same address as the one written above.

IMPORTANT! In case of delivering your work via regular mailing service or personally, a floppy disk or a CD containing the essay must be enclosed in the package. If not, the essay will not be taken into further consideration. Additional information is at your disposal through email (mojca.zupancic@szf.si) or stationary telephone number (+386 1 426 35 90; contact: Mojca Zupančič).

Essay evaluation standards - - - - - - - - - -

All essays that will be posted on time and regard the competition standards, will be examined and evaluated by a professional comission of experts in fields of art, science and media. This comission shall determine award nominees and, doing so, take special notice of these standards:

CONTENT ORIGINALITY - humour, wit, fresh thoughts, unusual ideas, good coherence, non-violent plot solutions, content imagination, etc.;
STRUCTURE ORIGINALITY - meta-language, combining of the narrative and the dialogue mode, paragraph placement, well-argumented deviations from the given genre, plot tempo, introduction/main story/ending, structural links in the content, general text round-up;
STYLE ORIGINALITY - cleverness, liveliness of expression, richness of vocabulary, re-definition, pictoresque, efficiency, avoiding cliches in figurative terms, contribution of knowledge, neologism, new sentence formulations;
INDIVIDUAL STANDARDS - regarding the age profile of the writer (elementary/high school, university/faculty).

SPECIAL EVENT FOR ALL AUTHORS AND MENTORS: Authors and mentors shall be invited, on 22nd of September 2009, to a special event, where they will meet space scientists and, in agreement with NASA, with an astronaut of Slovene origin.

Prizes/awards - - - - - - - - - -

The comission's work will develop in three phases. Firstly, all the incoming essays will be reviewed and evaluted, regarding the standard outlines. Secondly, nominees will be pointed out. Thirdly, from the nominees, a winner (only one) will be chosen in each of the age/educational institution profile categories.

MONEY PRIZES:

elementary school - winner gets 200€;
high school - winner gets 400€;
university - winner gets 600€.

Winners will see their essays published on the science pages of Delo, moste wide-spread Slovene daily newspaper. Awards/prizes will be handed over to the best authors on September the 22nd, on the opening ceremony of the 15th Slovene Science Festival. The details of the event remain to be announced.

P.S. (remark of the translator): Since there is no clear sign in the public competition outline, I suppose also English or some other language is allowed, though more likely - not. But, then again, if you do write a marvellous essay... Who knows.

Noordung Cosmokinetic Cabinet link to H.P.N. (video)

2009-03-03T00:44:00.003+01:00

I have just found a comprehensive video clip study (of somewhat "older" date) on the Internet that explains much about the Noordung Cosmokinetic Cabinet actions and the theatrical structures derived from the story of Herman Potočnik Noordung, his scientific work and even his long forgotten role as one of the fathers of modern spaceflight. The copyright for the excerpt goes to Prodok (TM).

New photos of the latest Orbital Academy::

2008-12-28T15:44:00.004+01:00

View them in a handy slideshow.
Oh, and two more notes - firstly, after the whole ceremony, there was a well attended guidance tour through the SSHPN/HPNMC (lead by Dragan Živadinov) and, secondly, the exhibiton in "Kulturni dom Vitanje" (Vitanje House of Culture) is open for viewing until May the 6th, 2009 (6/5/2009). Contact info remains the same as for the Memorial Centre and everything else, written down in this blogs right sidebar.

All the photos were made by Petra Tihole (C).

Photo/video footage of Orbital Academy:: Washington Symposium

2008-12-27T14:16:00.012+01:00

Yesterday, 26th of December 2008 on one of the four national holidays in Slovenia in these festive days (25.12., 26.12., 1.1., 2.1.), an exhibition of space photography (selection made by Michael Benson) was opened in Vitanje, as a part of the Orbital Academy:: Washington Symposium in honor of both Slovenia's independency referendum (in Slovenia: The Day of Independence and Unity) and, above all, the 80-year mark since the publishing of Herman Potočnik Noordungs revolutionary book The Problem of Space Travel. The exhibition is called "Osončje:: Vizije medplanetarnih poletov" or in English "The Solar System:: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes".

There were some preeminent guests at the event itself - among the regular Dragan Živadinov, Miha Turšič; mayor of Vitanje, Slavko Vetrih and director of Vitanje Commune administration board, Srečko Fijavž - also the following:

Samuel Žbogar, Minister of The Republic of Slovenia for Foreign Affairs,
Franc Kangler, mayor of the Maribor Commune,
mag. Boris Podvršnik, mayor of the Zreče Commune,
Rudolf Petan, member of the National Assembly of Slovenia,
Michael Benson, international journalist, photographer, moviemaker, etc. - from New York, now living and working in Slovenia,
Mateja Rebolj, a cosmonaut candidate and an actress in the Noordung Cosmokinetic Cabinet.

First, some snapshots of the event, made by our valiant Simon Zajc (vesolje.net administrator):

Following this shall be two short video footages (also made by Simon Zajc), first shortly before the event and the second one featuring the speeches of Samuel Žbogar and Michael Benson:

Photo footage from the 8008:: Ordway Informance/Press Conference

2008-12-23T20:44:00.007+01:00

Here it is, neatly stacked into this blogs finest vertical. All pictures taken by Petra Tihole (C) on the event this Monday in the premises of ZRC SAZU, as reported.

Official flyers for 22.12. and 26.12.

2008-12-19T14:27:00.002+01:00

Here they are - and all the information within.

VDok delivery; update to 26.12. 2008 news

2008-12-18T00:59:00.004+01:00

Another VDok (video document, abbreviated from Slovene "video dokument") shall be solemnly delivered to the hands of SSHPN/HPNMC this Monday, 22nd of December, in the premises of ZRC SAZU (The Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts), Novi trg 2, Ljubljana [location link], at 11 AM.

And one other "shortie" - Michael Benson, of whom we wrote in the previous post, is opening a photographic exhibition on the same day as the Orbital Academy:: Washington Symposium takes place, that is 26.12. 2008. We still do not know the details, but will bring them to your attention as soon as possible.

UPDATE: Now we know that the event in Vitanje shall take place from 18.00 to 21.00 (approximately).

Therefore, everybody is invited to the

Orbital Academy 8008:: Washington Symposium, 18 PM, Vitanje [location link], 26.12. 2008!

2008-12-07T14:38:00.006+01:00

On 26th of December 2008, there will be an event entitled
Orbital Academy:: Washington Symposium
in the Vitanje House of Culture [location link].

Everybody with the slightest share of interest is strongly recommended and heartily expected to come.

Oh, and one another thing - for anyone reading the Slovene version of National Geographic magazine: in the December issue, there is an interview with Michael Benson, in which the name of Herman Potočnik Noordung is being mentioned in connection with the travel to Mars. Here are some minor pieces of information about Michael Benson, and here is the translation of the part about Potočnik:

We know enough about weightlessness [zero gravity] to estimate the amount of exercise needed to avoid muscle weakening, reduction of bone tissue density... One of the solutions was presented already in the "2001: A Space Odyssey" - creating artificial gravity. [Stanley] Kubrick and [Arthur C.] Clarke imagined a wheel-formed space station, that creates artificial gravity; those designs were based on Herman Potočnik Noordung's plans from the twenties of the previous century. It is quite simple, but due to unknown reasons it has not yet been tested in space. I think it would be wise to use it when designing spacecraft for reaching Mars. It need not be in the shape of a wheel, they might as well connect two rotating capsules with a cable.

2008-10-27T23:29:00.002+01:00

The recent edition of a Slovene popular science magazine "Življenje in tehnika" brought on quite some of its pages a very important and fresh article about Herman Potočnik Noordung's life and work, especially concerning his - until now - very poor bibliographic arsenal. I shall try to find some precious time very soon to attend to the translation of the uttermost new conclusions and information about H.P.N. and his written heritage, because the article reveals the fact that his book, The Problem of Spaceflight, is not his only published work. The article itself was motivated by another brand new fact - the book was issued somewhere in autumn of 1928 (and not in year 1929 as the publisher Schmidt printed it), so it must be somewhere around these days that we celebrate this fine work's 80th anniversary.

So, my sincere wishes are to translate the most exclusive parts of the article as soon as possible. Until then, work on your knowledge of Slovene language - or, if you are a native around these parts, fetch yourself a copy of the article.

Just a little updating made

2008-08-11T10:40:00.001+02:00

There is an increase reported in the last few months concerning the visitors numbers. The SSHPN/HPNMC is, that is not unimportant, in the near vicinity of a worldwide reknowned winter sports and summer recreational centre at Rogla [location link]. The tourist from the neighbouring hotels and facilities are getting to know the region also through the life and work of one of the fathers of modern spaceflight, Herman Potočnik, in Vitanje.

Yesterday the biggest yearly event in Vitanje, "Holcerija", a traditional feast, took place. Throughout the day, there was a large number of guests at the memorial centre, some foreigners, and all were extremely pleased with the presentation and the main info of Herman Potočnik Noordung's life and work. Almost every group prolonged their visit with questions and compliments on the project. Also, some fresh memorabilia was widely presented for the first time - Roger Launius video-document and the original edition of the book from 1929, which is now finally a property of the SSHPN/HPNMC and Vitanje commune.

H.P.N. Space Technology Center (beginnings)

2008-06-28T10:42:00.007+02:00

First plans were made public, at last, on the day of The Republic of Slovenia's National Day (which is also a holiday for the Vitanje Commune), 25.6. 2008. On the solemn meeting of the town board, the councillors were acquainted with a brochure, containing the first (un)official plans for the Herman Potočnik Noordung (H.P.N.) Space Technology Centre - HPNSTC (in Slovene, Spominsko središče vesoljske tehnologije H.P.N. - SSVTHPN). The designs of this building are the next phase of a wide-scale project, that started off with the opening of the SSHPN/HPNMC almost two years ago. On the celebration, held in the local Cultural house (always hard to translate that :)), where, in an expanded form of course, this Space Technology Center is planned to be, the Vitanje mayor, Slavko Vetrih, broke the important news to the public.
Also, on that same event, the original of Potočnik Noordung's book "The Problem of Space Travel" (1928) was handed over to the Vitanje Commune and the SSHPN/HPNMC, which, until now, only had a borrowed original. The book was found in Vienna by a theatre director and a Potočnik Noordung popularizator, Dragan Živadinov. For the acquirement of this valuable first edition of the book, many organisations and individuals strived for - Miha Turšič, the architect of the SSHPN/HPNMC and the future SSVTHPN/HPNSTC, Tatjana Kovačič of the Slovene Embassy in Vienna and Srečko Fijavž, the Vitanje Commune administration board director. This important acquisition is from that day on exhibited in SSHPN/HPNMC.

And now some brief information about these revolutionary plans:

the expanded ground floor hall is designed to host festive activities and also various symposiums; its facilities support theatre performances and movie screenings,

in the upper compartment there shall be the H.P.N. Space Technology Centre; the area is intended also for events of local and numerous other types of significance and is connected to the ground with two curved slopes.

The main tasks of this newly built centre will include following:

to preserve the memory of Herman Potočnik Noordung, pioneer of spaceflight,
to preserve the documentation of the second and third generation of Slovene explorers that were closely connected to space technology and space travel research,
to exhibit and publish all the important documentation,
to preserve the memory of the world's space exploration pioneers,
to assemble books for the astronautic/cosmonautic sciences library,
to acquire a collection of astronaut/cosmonaut memorabilia in cooperation with ESA, Roskosmos and NASA,
to organise memorial and expert symposia,
to be the medium for historical and current information from the field of human space travel and exploration,
to include these universal topics into primary and secondary schools educational schemes,
to encourage the cooperation of young explorers and organise expert exhibitions on astronautics/cosmnautics in the schools.

That's it for now, we'll be bringing you more fresh news as soon as we get some raw, and above all, official pictorial data.

Events update. Lots!

2008-06-14T15:05:00.005+02:00

Firstly, there are some photos (noordung.net copyright) from the previously mentioned event, the MAK-CAT exhibition entitled Postgravity art - ORBITA NOORDUNG (the similarity between this and this blog's name is, of course, a matter of pure coincidence). The exhibition has now ended nad this is the photo footage of the installation.

Secondly, as you all know, this year we celebrate the 80 years mark since the emblematic "Problem of Spaceflight" book was issued, originally in German. To expose the occasion to wider audiences, an article in Slovene, written by Simon Zajc, was published in the Wednesday (11.6. 2008) edition of one of Slovenia's most read daily newspapers, Večer. Scroll down, click the thumbnail to enlarge and meet the text in person, many thanks to author himself that provided it. Maybe this is the time to start learning Slovene...

Thirdly, fresh news concerning the scientific aspect of Herman Potočnik-Noordung's legacy: On Wednesday, 11th of June 2008, in the hall of Hotel Slon in Ljubljana [location link], the Slovene Science Foundation (SZF in Slovene) held the 7th Noordung Forum.
About fifty people attended the event, also dedicated (like the previous news) to the 80th anniversary of the "book's birth" and to the growing partnership between The Republic of Slovenia nad ESA (European Space Agency). The two sides have recently made an agreement on cooperation in space exploration [a short movie clip from the event].
The programme was divided into three stages:

The visionary mission of Herman Potočnik Noordung,
Understanding of the universe and
the promotion of Herman Potočnik Noordung.

After the opening speech by SZF's director, dr. Edvard Kobal, dr. Radovan Pajntar, representative of Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology RS spoke about the significance of the newly signed agreement with ESA.
Prof. dr. Dušan Petrač, the retired NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) employee, gave a lecture about the reach of Noordung's visionary ideas in exploring and understanding the universe.
Vojko Kogej, the founder of VTA (Space Press Agency), presented the books, that were published in Russia as a response to Potočnik Noordung's concepts.
Miloš Krmelj, representative of The International Space University (ISU), outlined the activities of his institution.
Simon Zajc, editor of the web portal Vesolje.net, presented the prototype of the multifunctional information kiosk about H.P. Noordung.
Dr. Sandi Sitar, journalist and historian, described Potočnik's function in the German astronautics pioneers circle.

As a conclusion, there was a general agreement of the participants on the book's issue year - 1928 and not 1929 as it was originaly presumed.

Orbita Noordung exhibition in Vienna

2008-04-26T16:12:00.003+02:00

For now - as always, thorough analysis in motion - just a link with all the info about the exhibition, entitled Postgravity Art - ORBITA NOORDUNG, that will occupy the "MAK Depot of Contemporary Art Gefechtsturm Arenbergpark" in Vienna, Austria from 11.5. 2008 until 8.6. 2008.

[link to the exhibition data]

Photos from the two events in Washington

2008-04-10T23:08:00.007+02:00

Taken from noordung.net, posted for wider recognition / close-up cognition. Enjoy.

In memoriam: Aco Pasternjak

2008-04-05T03:07:00.003+02:00

On Wednesday, the 2nd of April, one of the important journalists in Slovenia and particularly a pioneer promotor of Herman Potočnik Noordung, Aco Pasternjak, died after a heavy and long-lasting disease.

Aco Pasternjak, originally from Maribor, SE Slovenia, published the first newspaper articles which helped establish the image and the true significance of Potočnik and his revolutionary book, which has, up to that time, almost fallen into oblivion.
He first found out about Potočnik in 1969 while browsing through Wernher von Braun's History of World Astronautics (published in French). After that, he rediscovered the primary version of the book Problem of Space Travel (originally written in German) in the Vienna politechnic library, photographed it, page by page, with his camera; he visited the only living member of his family - and briefly after all these occurences, he started to write and publish a series of articles for the student weekly of that time, named Tribuna. Gaining the attention of few, the story of Noordung slowly started its route to recognition.
At the beginning of the eighties, Dragan Živadinov got to know about these, again, almost forgotten or overlooked articles and Živadinov's interest in Herman Potočnik Noordung and his work eventually lead to the first ever zero gravity theatre performance, numerous art projects directly or mediately exposing Potočnik Noordung, the ideas for a Slovene Space Agency, the building of SSHPN/HPNMC - all these most probably because of the pioneer attractor's work and devotion of Aco Pasternjak, who was otherwise more a sports journalist. Last but not least, he is one of the key persons (witnesses) of the 2007 documentary movie about Potočnik Noordung.

Death of sir Arthur C. Clarke

2008-03-24T09:53:00.004+01:00

...and worldwide response to it.

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16.12. 1917 - 19.3. 2008), English, was the man that practically invented communications satellites, wrote countless series of inspiring science-fiction stories; he popularized and presented science to wider audiences with his TV emissions and other visual cooperations; he co-wrote the script for 2001: A Space Odyssey with Stanley Kubrick, director of this milestone movie in the history of motion pictures; he spent his last few years on Sri Lanka, where he was also acquainted for the first time with the complete Slovene translation of Herman Potočnik Noordung's book The Problem of Spaceflight. The short footage of this meeting is an important video document in SSHPN/HPNMC in Vitanje, Slovenia.

In a recent article on BBC news, concerning the work of Arthur C. Clarke, there was also a clear reference to Herman Potočnik Noordung; it is a connection of which also Clarke was aware of, and it does not only regard the geostationary orbit and communications satellites, but also (at least) the previously mentioned Kubrick's movie, for which (the movie and the book of the same name) H.P.N.'s book was undoubtedly an inspiration.

On noordung.net (just scroll down a bit, if some newer posts appear in the meantime) there is also a Stanley Bard's testimony about Arthur C. Clarke and Hotel Chelsea, residing in which Clarke wrote the 2001:A Space Odyssey novel. You can find out more about Stanley Bard on Hotel Chelsea blog, of which I shall here give the link to the post, written at the death of Arthur C. Clarke.

I shall round it up with one of his witty remarks: "I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here."

Noordung symposium and informance in Washington, D.C.

2008-03-21T17:34:00.005+01:00

Newly scheduled occurences are rapidly approaching. Washington, USA, is expecting two main events in which Herman Potočnik Noordung, his work and influence will play a significant role.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Firstly:

WHAT -->
8008::THE PROBLEM OF SPACE TRAVEL
Symposium and exhibition

WHERE -->
The Embassy of The Republic of Slovenia
Washington D.C.
[link] + [location link]

WHEN -->
27. of March, 2008, from 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM

OUTLINE ˇˇˇ

Moderator:
Dr. Roger Launius,
Senior Curator, Division of Space History, National Air and Space Museum

1. Panel: Herman Potočnik Noordung's work and ideas

- Mr. Frederick Ordway, a space scientist and a well-known author of visionary books on spaceflight; he was also technical consultant to the film 2001:A Space Odyssey.

- Mr. Michael Neufeld, a historian, Chair of the Division of Space History, National Air and Space Museum; the author of the world winning biography of Wernher von Braun.

- Mr. Dragan Živadinov, an artist and a cosmonaut candidate, Slovenia

2. Panel: The Future of Space Travel

- Ms. Sunita L. Williams, Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office, Johnson Space Center, NASA. She was assigned to the International Space Station (ISS) as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15.

- Dr. John Logsdon, Director of the Space Policy Institute, George Washington University

- Mr. Frederic Nordlund, Head of the Washington Office, European Space Agency

- Dr. Dušan Petrač, Retired Space Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And secondly:

WHAT -->
8008 Informance

WHERE -->
Numark Gallery [link] + [location link]

WHEN -->
29. of March, 2008 (time as of yet unknown)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you read this announcement in time and visit some of those near-future happenings if you get the chance.

Somewhat S.O.S.

2008-01-30T11:07:00.000+01:00

We are looking for some interested, talented young/old/medium-aged guides through the SSHPN/HPNMC. Since the conditions for most of the crew members changed during the last year and they are now scarcely ever available in their hometown to give a detailed tour, we will be very happy for every individual that contacts us.

For all further information please contact the following address:

vitanje[at]noordung[dot]vesolje[dot]net

Thank you!

The book's English translation, year 1995

2008-01-02T20:31:00.000+01:00

Herman Potočnik Noordung's book has, thanks to many people, been first translated into English at the very same year it was published (1929). It was also the first, although partial translation into any other language apart from German, in which the original version is written. Herman Potočnik Noordung was, anyhow, Slovene, and the first translation of his work into his mother tongue was made in 1986 by Slovenska matica.

Today, for all the English speaking visitors and men of interest, I give you the link to some younger (1995) English translation of the book "Problem vožnje po vesolju (SI) /Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums (DE) / The Problem of Space Travel (EN)".
Just to spread the word a little bit further and to supply you with reading (and pictorial) material, in case you haven't got a copy yet.

[link to the English translation]

EDIT (17/01/2008):

Here is also the link to te scans of the German original of the book. I hope they enlighten some of you - and if you can read any German, the better.

[link to the German original]

Orbital Academy aftermath in fragments

2007-12-26T23:23:00.000+01:00

As always, uncertainty mingled with ecstatic feelings on the day of the performance. Orbital Academy begun in some way already before it officialy ignited the atmosphere in Vitanje.

At 17.00, or shall we say, with a few minutes delay due to a bit overbooked daily schedule, Dragan Živadinov started his guidance of people through the SSHPN/HPNMC. The attendance was, as usually, destined to fill every corner of the space.

The comprehensive tour of the elements from Herman Potočnik Noordung's life ended shortly before the main dish arrived from the chef's office.

At 18.00 (again, with a little nudge in the schedule) the combined celebration of Slovenia's independence day, the Vitanje commune day and Herman Potočnik Noordung's 115th cosmic birthday, which occured on the past Saturday, the 22nd of December.

In the main programme the united efforts of a native Slovene vocal quartet, the hometown brass band, the mayor of Vitanje and an elementary school girl singing the national anthem forged an alliance with the Kompozit Noordung sound structure by Takasuna Mukai, Peter Tomaž Dobrila playing the "theremin", Slovene actors performing on basis of Gregor Strniša's poetry, a Slovene TV star, Mojca Mavec, connecting the main programme points and, at the very end, Polona and Gušti, a Slovene pop ensemble.

More information, pictorial material and reviews of the event are all yet to follow.

Orbital Academy - 26.12. 2007 - Vitanje

2007-12-25T12:40:00.000+01:00

In Vitanje, the hometown of SSHPN/HPNMC, in a series of events celebrating Slovenia's independency, there will also be a special Orbital Academy in honour of Herman Potočnik Noordung's 115th birthday.

His birthday is, for the yet uninformed, the 22nd of December, 1892.

PROGRAMME:
17.00 --> The permanent exhibition tour by Dragan Živadinov
18.00 --> Orbital Academy in the House of Culture, Vitanje KOMPOZIT NOORDUNG sound structure by Takasuna Mukai, 14''

The poem of Gregor Strniša, the Slovene cosmic poet (in Slovene):

Pesem o kamnitem pragu
Gregor Strniša

Kadar začne kamen rasti,
rase najprej hudo počasi.
Ne zapaziš ga, da rase,
stopaš nanj, pa misliš nase.

Potlej kamen praga vzdihne,
rase hitro, zrase više.
Hočeš ven čez lastna vrata,
a pred tabo zid iz kamna.

Slepa, solzna veka kamna
gleda vate v hudih sanjah,
v hudih sanjah se zbudiš.
Polnoč je: zemlje več ni,
tebe ni več, ni več kamna,
ni sveta, je črna jama.

Pride SVIT, SVET je kot prej,
zida ni, ti lahko greš.
Greš lahko na vse strani,
samo, to nisi več ti.

Spojni protokoli:: MMC Kibla - Kibela gallery

2007-12-08T18:08:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, in MMC Kibla [location link], located in Slovenia's second largest city, Maribor, a new exhibition concerning Herman Potočnik Noordung opened.

The exhibiton named "Spojni protokoli::" (approximately translated "Joint protocols" in English) was opened on Friday, 7th of December 2007, at 20.00, in Kibela, the MMC Kibla's space for visual and inter-media art.

The authors are:

_Dunja Zupančič
_Miha Turšič
_Dragan Živadinov

Spojni protokoli:: exhibition will terminate on Wednesday, 19th of December 2007, at 20.00, with the finissage - informance LE::EL. There is no entrance fee.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The orbital celebration programme continued and evolved, too, following the progress On the 3rd of December, at 18.00, at T5/6-1:: Tobačna 5:: Objekt 6:: Ljubljana [location link], there was an opening of the exhibition about the "joint protocol" of dr. Yuri Baturyn, a russian cosmonaut. The event was named "Orbitalno slavje: 115_Kozmos:115".

And, last but surely not least - on 26th of December (the time of the event is as of yet unknown) there will be an Orbital academy:: in honour of Herman Potočnik Noordung's 115th birthday in SSHPN/HPNMC in Vitanje. You are all most heartily welcome there, we will report more as soon as we get any further information.

Herman's street in Ljubljana and two awkward timetables

2007-10-21T19:44:00.000+02:00

Finally, I have remembered two, important or maybe utterly sidetrack things about Herman Potočnik Noordung.

Firstly, and this one really is not just "for the fun of it". There is only one Herman Potočnik street in Slovenia, as far as I know, and I bring to you its location, in the NE (Northeast) part of Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital.

[location link]

Secondly, a Slovene computer entertainment magazine, Joker, issued (some time ago, this info is not exactly fresh, but in case somebody would be interested) two timetables/schedule tables, featuring (among other famous Slovene scientists) the work of Herman Potočnik Noordung. Here they are (Joker (Copyright)):

2009:: Programme outline

2007-10-13T19:22:00.000+02:00

Some things remain, that I did not mention in connection to the friday event in Bistra (previous post). Simon Zajc mentioned some of the main programme focus points on Vesolje.net, and I think of it as wise to translate that information, for these keywords and connections form the framework of the project.

2009:: PROGRAMME OUTLINE

::1
POTOČNIK'S SPHERE (space technology pioneers)
Herman Potočnik Noordung - Europe, ESA
Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky - Russia, Kaluga
Robert Goddard - USA, Smithsonian
Sir Arthur C. Clarke - Sri Lanka
Sergey P. Korolyov - USSR, RKA

::2
SPACECRAFT (missions to Moon, Mars and into deep space)
Apollo - first Moon landing, NASA
Soyuz - Kaluga
Ariane - ESA
Space Shuttle and Buran - NASA and Star City
2001: A Space Odyssey - Frederick Ordway

::3
ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES and LOW-EARTH-ORBIT SPACE STATIONS (near space)
Sputnik - Kaluga
Syncom - Smithsonian
Communications satellites and computer technologies - ESA
MIR - RKA (now ROSCOSMOS)
ISS (International Space Station)

::4
COSMONAUTS, ASTRONAUTS, SPACE TRAVELERS (to the stars)
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Baturin
Neil Armstrong
Sunita Williams
Salizhan S. Sharipov

Elementary school level:: cooperation with INTERPID - New York, USA
High school level:: cooperation with Smithsonian, Washington D.C., USA and Bremen, ESA
University level:: cooperation with CPK Yuri Gagarin, Star City, Russia and Bremen, ESA

TMS 2009:: conference brief report

2007-10-13T11:43:00.000+02:00

OFF THE RECORD INTRO:
Yesterday, 12.10. 2007 at 11 a.m., there was another big event, not only considering SSHPN/HPNMC, but also regarding the still forming SVA (Slovene Space Agency). I am very sorry not to be able to get there in person because of my regular scholastic obligations, but I will try to pu you up to date with all the most important novelties.

BACKGROUND:
2009 will be the spaceflight and space technology popularization year in Slovenia. Organised by the Technical Museum of Slovenia (TMS), Bistra pri Vrhniki (location link), and SSHPN/HPNMC (Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Centre, location link) its focus shall be all the public spheres, especially young people.

PARTICIPANTS:

dr. Orest Jarh, director of TMS;
Slavko Vetrih, mayor of the Vitanje commune;
Lojze Peterle, member of European Parliament;
mag. Srečko Fijavž, director of Vitanje commune administration;
Miha Turšič, designer of weightless enviroments and
Dragan Živadinov, attractor.

FURTHERMORE ANALYSIS:
In year 2009 TMS will host/feature many comprehensive astronautics and cosmonautics exhibitions, film screenings/projections, cosmonaut and astrounaut visitors like Sunita Williams from USA (Slovene descent) and Sergey Krikalev from Russia, there will be lectures and symposia, held by space experts.
The winners of elementary and high school competitions shall visit central points and places of space exploration - in Europe (ESA), Russia (RKA/ROSCOSMOS) and USA (NASA). The schools of competition winners will, on the other hand, be visited by astronauts and cosmonauts. On such events and important visits, central guests will also be these inovative youngsters - competition winners.
Apart from all that, a competition for university students, art and science explorers, shall be publicly announced. Participants will have the possibility to experiment in space centres labs and in zero-gravity research programmes.

CONCLUSION - AFTERMATH:
May 2009 be the year of creativity and inspiration! Lojze Peterle stated at the press conference, that negotiations with eventual investors and users are in motion and that the launching of the first Slovene satellite could take place in the course of next three years. An astronautics expert and journalist, Vojko Kogej, gave Peterle a copy of the first Slovene object in space, a badge of ARK V.M. Komarov, Ljubljana (location link), which, (offtopic, but still!) as a downside of the current funding reorganization, is forced to let go of its society's premises due to lack of finance.

2009::LETO VESOLJSKIH POLETOV (2009::SPACEFLIGHTS YEAR) is dedicated to/celebrating:

40th anniversary of the Moon landing and
80 years since the first publishment of an essential spaceflight book, "The Problem of Space Travel" by the spaceflight pioneer Herman Potočnik Noordung.

MULTIMEDIA:
Here is a short film clip from Lojze Peterle's website, summarizing the event and, beneath this text, also the copy of the original invitation (again, I am really sorry for the inconvenience of late notice this time).

Cosmonautics evening aftermath

2007-10-09T23:45:00.000+02:00

I shall be very short this time, for my time is truly limited.
The Cosmonautics evening, hosted by the Slovenia-Russia association, consisted of some very interesting video clips, commented live by Vojko Kogej, astronautics expert and a journalist, especially the clips of the Slovene delegation (ARK V.M. Komarov) visiting the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 1999 offered some very nostalgic and at once mind-arousing insight in the then already post-soviet russian cosmonautics centre.
The tele-bridge, made with the MIR space station by the members of ARK V.M. Komarov and Marko Peljhan in 1998 from Portorož, SLO (location link), was, for those that have not seen it yet, also one of the highlights of the evening.
Dr. Dušan Petrač payed (in his short presentation) more attention to Sputnik and its 50th anniversary, starting off with playing the Sputnik telemetric signal emitter recording (here) and finishing off with some brief information about Herman Potočnik Noordung and some predictions about the future of spaceflight, mostly about the currently highly active field of space probes. At the end, Vojko Kogej delivered some presents amongst the main figures of the evening and the final act, after more than two hours, was a small treat outside, in the hallway of the Krka hall (location link), in which the event occured.

To conclude, here are two pictures, for now only those by the Slovenia-Russia association photographer:

Cosmonautics evening - The Slovenia-Russia association feature

2007-09-30T11:55:00.000+02:00

(summarized/translated after Vesolje.net, public invitation)

"This year is teeming with important and "milestone" spaceflight history anniversaries.
The 4th of October 2007 will mark 50 years since humanity entered the era of intense space exploration. On that day in 1957, Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, was launched, with the famous dog Lajka following him a month later. 46 years have passed since Yuri Gagarin flew into space. In september, we celebrate(d) 150th birthday of the very father of cosmonautics, russian theoretic Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky. Also, Sergey P. Korolyov, who materialised Tsiolkovsky's ideas, was born exactly 100 years ago. And, last but not least, we remember the 115th birthday of Herman Potočnik Noordung, the first man to have designed detailed plans for a space station with human crew.

The Slovenia-Russia association would like to dedicate a special thematical evening to that occasion. There will be discussions on the topic (moderator on photo left: Vojko Kogej, journalist, an expert on the subject, the founder of Vladimir M. Komarov club and VTA...), film viewing, listening to selected audio diaries - all regarding spaceflights and/or future occurences in connection to them. As a special feature, video footage of Slovenes visit to Baikonur cosmodrome (1999, filmed by Simon Zajc) will be shown - and dr. Dušan Petrač (on the photo right), slovene scientist in NASA, will speak on the subject of Sputnik."

You are kindly invited
to the Cosmonautics evening
on Tuesday, 9th of October 2007, at 18.00
in Krka hall (SLO: dvorana Krke)
in Ljubljana, Dunajska 65.
(location link)

- - - - -

Launius aftermath

2007-09-27T22:20:00.002+02:00

The conference on which the mayor of the of Ljubljana Community, capital of Slovenia, solemnly passed on the VDok#6 (video-document number 6) to the mayor of Vitanje Commune, Slavko Vetrih, was successfully brought to an end on Wednesday, 26th of September, as we already stated in the previous notice. The event was conducted at Mala dvorana ZRC SAZU, Novi Trg 4, Ljubljana, from around 10. 30 until shortly after 11.00.

The main participants were:

Zoran Janković, Mayor of the Ljubljana community (city municipality/capital);
Slavko Vetrih, mayor of the Vitanje commune;
mag. Srečko Fijavž, director of Vitanje commune administration;
Dragan Živadinov, attractor, and
Miha Turšič, designer of weightless enviroments.

Here is the brief cut of the VDok#6 (summarized after vest.si, All Rights Reserved):

Back to Roger Launius and what the means of organizing this conference were (summarizing the invitation and some other, quoted sources).

Video-document #6 is a breaking document.

Roger Launius (the man featured on the document, link1, link2) is Chief Historian for the NASA and has been the Director of NASA History department for many years. With a very thorough historical and musealic research, he put Herman Potočnik Noordung in the enviroment, which befitts his achievements best, to the Pantheon of pioneers of spaceflights. Herman Potočnik Noordung is - thanks to dr. Roger Launius - placed into the permanent collection of Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space museum, based in Washington, D.C. This museum has got around 9 million visitors every year. Dr. Roger Launius has with his document about Frederic Ordway, amongst other achievements, revealed the very genesis of how Potočnik's geostationary satellite entered the world of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Frederic Ordway (hic!) was working with Wernher von Braun in the 60's in Marshall Space Centre, Huntsville, Alabama - but with 2001: A Space Odyssey he worked as a technical advisor, thus with his excellent technical knowledge contributing to acknowledgement of Herman Potočnik Noordung and his merits.

City of Ljubljana passed the VDok#6 to the SSHPN/HPNMC in Vitanje. With this event, we wish that Herman Potočnik Noordung would finally get to be a part of the Technical Museum of Slovenia's collection.

Launius::115 conference

2007-09-24T17:58:00.000+02:00

Launius::115
Tiskovna konferenca:: sreda, 26. september ob 10.30 uri Mala dvorana SAZU-ZRC, Novi trg 4

That was the short note in Slovene I got from the mailing list of Vitanje community, but I knew about the event at least a few days ago and will be attending it, hopefully also bringing some multimedia material on the way back. There has been a series of occurences in the last two months, considering Herman Potočnik Noordung's jubilee, 115th birth anniversary, but they were all almost exclusively held abroad and I am still trying to gather at least crucial factography about them. It will be (most certainly) available somewhere until the end of this year [2007], when the final celebrations take place in Vitanje, in the epicentre.

Anyway - back to the point:

Launius::115
Press conference:: Wednesday, 26th of September at 10.30 in the Small hall (Mala dvorana) of ZRC SAZU, Novi trg 4, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

It would be very nice to meet/see you there, everybody!

Brussels, Vitanje, end of June 2007

2007-06-28T17:49:00.000+02:00

Recently, there has been an opening of one new Herman Potočnik Noordung exhibition in the Ellipse building in Brussels, Belgium. It is entitled "Orbital celebrations 115.2" or in Slovene "Orbitalna slavja 115.2", authors: Dragan Živadinov, Dunja Zupančič, Miha Turšič. The project is being put into life by the LJU COSINUS BRX gallery, which is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, and hosted by the Department of Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade of the Flemish Government (minister's page). The LJU COSINUS BRX is a conceptual gallery, intended for the presentation of artworks that deal with the interaction of science and technology through the perspective of art. It is "designed to promote and emphasise an extremely important connection between science and art, and also to higlight the Slovenian artists that have gained considerable recognition and development in this field (excerpt from their temporary webpage)".
As of yet, there is no pictures available of the opening of this exhibition. It is the second one in this year's series that are to conclude on 22nd of December with the celebration of H.P.N.'s 115 (virtual, eternal) birthday.

Other news: Miha Turšič (ASOBI), a Slovenian industrial designer, thé architect of the SSHPN/HPNMC, won the highest annual award of the Vitanje municipality for his work in the past year. In series of events that accompanied the celebrations of both Vitanje and the Republic of Slovenia's (25. June) national holiday there was also a basketball tournament, held in Vitanje, that was named after H.P.N. for the first time.

Interview with C. Fuglesang in two parts

2007-06-09T23:32:00.000+02:00

Thanks again to the indispensable Simon Zajc.

Christer Fuglesang in Vitanje, Orbital celebration begins

2007-06-08T23:09:00.001+02:00

As I've been reporting, this year's series of celebrations in honour of Herman Potočnik Noordung's 115th birthday are now officially in motion. The starting moment happened on this very tuesday in Vitanje, the epicenter of all activities coneidering H.P.N., the location of the SSHPN/HPNMC. The long expected visit of already the second astronaut up to date was very well accepted. Personally, I was unable to attend to the ceremony or the following dinner and will therefore wait and contact the direct sources for some deeper text analysis. Nonetheless, to give you the taste - here is the movie clip, posted on Vesolje.net by the tireless, indefatigable Simon Zajc.

Orbital celebration of H.P.N.'s 115th birthday

2007-06-03T22:06:00.000+02:00

As things with my studies go, the invitation got around pretty late (I deeply apologise), but it is never too late for the whole complex of events, alas, for the slovenian "ignition" of it, probably yes.
What am I ( are we) speaking about? On tuesday, 5th of June 2007, at 18.30 local time (GMT + 1), there will be a visit by Christer Fuglesang, an ESA astronaut and a very recent (his return to Earth was in April) ISS mission participant. He will make a short sightseeing of the SSHPN/HPNMC, which will then be followed by the open dinner in the Kuzman inn. Vitanje will be seeing its second astronaut/cosmonaut in only a few months. In december, there was already a visit by Yuri Baturin, who then wrote a short article on Vitanje, published in "Novaya Gazeta". I will publish here a shortened form of the article, for now only in Slovene, until I take the time and decently translate it:

"Če se iz Ljubljane, glavnega mesta Slovenije, odpravite proti severo-zahodu v smeri proti Mariboru, boste v približno eni uri prispeli v majhen hribovit kraj, ki v poznavanju astronavtike močno prekaša katerokoli slovensko, če ne celo katerokoli centralno evropsko mesto. Ta presenetljivi in znanstveno izobraževalni fenomen izraža interes in spoštovanje do rojaka Hermana Potočnika. Njegova mati je izvirala prav iz te lokalne skupnosti. Njegov ded je bil v 19. stoletju župan Vitanja. /.../ Kdo je skrivnostni Herman Potočnik? Večina naših bralcev ne bo zlahka odgovorila na to vprašanje. Gre za izjemnega začetnika astronavtike. Leta 1927 je pod psevdonimom Herman Noordung poslal založniku Charlesu Schmidtu v Berlin svoje rokopise in skice. Po približno dveh letih je bila knjiga Problem vožnje po vesolju: Raketni motor že izdana v nemškem jeziku. Takoj je sprožila zanimanje. Bolj pomembna poglavja so bila v ZDA takoj prevedena tudi v angleški jezik. V letu 1935 je Nacionalni komisariat za težko industrijo Sovjetske zveze izdal Potočnikovo knjigo v ruskem jeziku. V tistem času so se strokovnjaki že ukvarjali z bodočimi vesoljskimi poleti. Povsem varno je trditi, da je bilo Potočnikovo delo eno od temeljnih izhodišč za pionirje sovjetskega in ameriškega vesoljskega programa... ."

Kozmonavt dr. Jurij Baturin (trojni doktor znanosti: fizika,
novinarstvo, pravo), 15. januar 2007, Moskva, časopis Novaya Gazeta

And hereby I post also a copy of the invitation poster:

Folk(s) and Hawking

2007-05-20T11:14:00.000+02:00

In the very near future (let's say, next month), there should be another filming of Vitanje, for one of Slovenia's commercial TV stations. It will not be a big thing, just a minor appearance in a show that will be more folk-music orientated. Nonetheless, they intend to show also the SSHPN/HPNMC as one of the "specialties" around these parts. That is all I know this far... And other news are not yet to be brought to surface, at least not (at least semi) officially.

But one another thing. Thé most famous astrophysicist of our time, the iconic Stephen Hawking, will be attending (accepted the invitation by the University of Nova Gorica, SLO) the Time and Matter 2007, a conference about these two emblematic topics which will be held at Bled, SLO, from 26. to 31. of August this year. Professor Hawking will be having the opening lecture/talk, but the rest of the schedule also tends to be very interesting. Maybe... If you have the time and the resources.

Jurij Vega

2007-04-27T19:03:00.000+02:00

Both of the pages (1, 2) are now back on the scene and rolling, though there is not much news about the centre itself. Some weeks ago, we had a very interesting group, that was very interested in the success of our memorial grounds, because they wanted to establish a similar popularity for another giant of Slovene science, a great mathematician Jurij Vega, their fellow citizen. You can find his memorial house right there, where they came from - Dolsko pri Ljubljani. I lost track as for when they are open for visits, but I have still got the information number and the contact's name:

Jože Pokovec, tel.: 01 / 564 72 76

and one another link to explain the approximate location.
Will be back with more fresh news - soon.

Noordung.info and Noordung.net down

2007-03-25T23:14:00.000+02:00

One of the main two pages (1, 2) concerning Herman Potočnik Noordung, are down. They are probably being on a server update or maybe some major revisioning and redesigning - I do not have the exact information, but I hope there is no serious problems alltogeter.

Noordung, techno-economical centre

2007-03-24T11:43:00.000+01:00

A few days ago there has been an update on the topic (in Večer, one of Slovene daily's), concerning the Noordung centre, a technological, economical and logistics centre on Slovenia's third development axis, which goes directly through Koroška, one of Slovenia's most cut off regions. The centre will be built in Slovenj Gradec, with the help of european funds, and it will bear the name, or, shall we say, the pseudonym of Herman Potočnik Noordung. Why in Slovenj Gradec? That was the town of which his father, Jožef Potočnik, came from.

Yes, the Slovene development strategy will produce another Noordung to the matter. Here is the excerpt from the Slovene government's page about the planned development in years 2007-2023:

3.1.8 Izgradnja gospodarskega središča NOORDUNG na
Koroškem
• Velika poslovno-razvojna logistična cona Noordung s centri v
Slovenj Gradcu, Dravogradu, Ravnah na Koroškem in v Radljah
ob Dravi
• Mrežni regionalni podjetniški inkubatorji in nadaljevanje
projekta v tehnološki park Noordung
• Visokošolsko središče v Slovenj Gradcu
• Tehnološki center v poslovni coni Otiški vrh II
Cilj projekta
Splošni cilj vzpostavitve gospodarskega razvojnega središča
je povečanje inovativne sposobnosti in doseganje razvojnega
preboja Koroške regije.
Priložnosti oziroma problemi, ki jih odpravljamo s
projektom
Koroška regija spada med manjše statistične regije, sestavlja
jo 12 občin s 73.905 prebivalci ali 3,7 % vsega prebivalstva
Slovenije. Gospodarsko najmočnejša občina v Koroški regiji je
mestna občina Slovenj Gradec. Večina območja regije se uvršča
med območja s posebnimi razvojnimi problemi zaradi visoke
stopnje registrirane brezposelnosti in visokega deleža kmečkega
prebivalstva. Število zaposlenih v letu 2003 v malih in srednjih
podjetjih je znašalo 12.517. Regionalni BDP na prebivalca znaša
78 % slovenskega povprečja. Že v letu 2006 na podlagi sprejetega
programa avtocest in hitrih cest potekajo intenzivne dejavnosti za
umestitev hitre ceste — tretje razvojne osi — v prostor. S sprejeto
Strategijo prostorskega razvoja Republike Slovenije je na relaciji
Dravograd-Slovenj Gradec-Velenje-Celje predvidena daljinska
železniška povezava mednarodnega pomena, ki je s stališča
25 Resolucija o nacionalnih razvojnih projektih za obdobje 2007-2023
Predstavitev projektov resolucije
uspešnega gospodarskega razvoja nujna. V neposredni bližini
Slovenj Gradca je tudi letališče, ki je v fazi pridobivanja statusa
javnega letališča. Z izgradnjo infrastrukture IKT za prenos znanja
regija blaži obrobno geografsko lego in zagotavlja informacijsko
povezanost s svetovno mrežno ekonomijo.
Na kakšen način projekt odpravlja identificirane probleme
oziroma izkorišča ponujene priložnosti
V regiji je nujna vzpostavitev vsaj ene velike poslovno-razvojne
logistične cone, ki bi lahko združevala, zagotavljala in razvijala
mrežne regionalne podjetniške inkubatorje, tehnološki park,
visokošolsko središče, industrijsko-logistične cone in tehnološko
razvojni center. V sklopu razširjenih con predvidevajo v regiji
približno 250 hektarjev na območjih občin Slovenj Gradec, Ravne
na Koroškem, Dravograd in Radlje od Dravi, ki bi izkoriščale dano
lego ob meji, kakor tudi nove povezave v okviru hitre ceste,
železniške povezave in tudi letalske povezave za potniški promet
ter manjše tovore. Z aktiviranjem enovite poslovne cone v vseh
občinah bo dosežena racionalizacija koriščenja že zgrajene
cestno-komunalne infrastrukture. Logistična povezava bo idealno
urejena, saj bo cona v celoti zgrajena ob neposredni bližini nove
hitre ceste oziroma tretje razvojne osi. Zaradi tehnološkega
podjetniškega inkubatorja bo v regiji dolgoročno razvit tehnološki
park Noordung. Razvoj tehnološkega parka je odvisen od kritične
mase znanja oziroma naravoslovno-tehnoloških institucij
znanja v regiji. To se navezuje tudi na delovanje visokošolskega
središča s sedežem v Slovenj Gradcu in tehnološko razvojnega
centra za Koroško v poslovni coni Otiški vrh II. Povezovanje vseh
nosilcev regionalnega razvoja bo dosežena z vzpostavitvijo
ustrezne infrastrukture IKT, katere geografski položaj bo v
skladu s podlagami, ki jih je regija pripravila v okviru posebnih
pripravljalnih programov črpanja sredstev kohezijske politike.
Učinki projekta
S spodbujanjem izgradnje in razvoja podjetniškega in
inovativnega okolja bo ustvarjenih najmanj 1.000 novih
delovnih mest z visoko dodano vrednostjo. Delovanje
gospodarskega razvojnega središča bo razvilo čezmejne mreže
gospodarskih odnosov med malimi in srednjimi podjetji in
omogočilo povečanje vlaganj podjetij v dejavnosti RR. S tem se
bo povečala stopnja izobrazbene strukture s sedanjih 9,7 % višje
in visoko izobraženih prebivalcev na 15 % do leta 2020. Projekt
bo prispeval k prestrukturiranju večjih industrijskih podjetij v
regiji, izboljšal stopnjo inovativnosti in tehnološke zahtevnosti
proizvodnih procesov in proizvodov ter pozitivno vplival na
trajnostni razvoj regije.

And, it remembers me, as far as the associative mind goes, there was a Noordung band in Slovenia a few years ago. But, alas, there is no information about them on the internet. They were leaning towards pop and rock, but the interesting point is that every now and then some long forgotten name comes up in a totally unexpected way.

The documentary reviews

2007-03-17T11:25:00.000+01:00

POST UPDATE: Here is the link to see the documentary - click.

After I have read some documentary reviews in Slovene newspapers and media in a hurry, there was to be felt quite an enthusiastic and stimulating tone in all of them. Some reviewers, what is evident also amongst the laity, still have a problem with the artistic nature of it, because they think that a documentary about a man who was primarily a scientist, should not have anything to do with art and some undefined philosophy.
Well, with Herman Potočnik Noordung, the combined role of science and art cannot be overlooked. Even some lines in the movie tell us (dr. Sandi Sitar, if I have to mention the speaker's name), that the after-life success of Potočnik's ideas and work could not have been so important in a large scale, were it not for the duality of creation - the exact nature of science positivism, pragmatism and on the other hand the vivid imagination, the ability to predict the future without calculating it.

Now, I am trying to copy the video, on which I have recorded the documentary, for the AGRFT's archive. There they will be able to store it, maybe even copy it to a DVD, for educational uses. After all, Potočnik's influence on some of the most avantgarde performances of their time was immense.

Wroclaw PPA

2007-03-15T22:06:00.000+01:00

The 28th PPA festival in Wroclaw, PL, was an all around groundbreaking travel, even if only for the two days that passed there. Teatr Capitol that organized the whole thing, did a very good job with the organisation, everything was taken care of on their own (sponsor supported, of course) expense. Otherwise I would not be able to go, but my point is loosing itself...

The fact is that the short presentation movie, filmed in the SSHPN/HPNMC, had received very good reviews by the contestants and organisators of the Theatre shools day, on which I also participated. Everybody kept telling me about how interesting the place is and how they must come and take a look at it, so I've made some contacts... Remember - Wroclaw has about 700.000 citizens and that is two times more than the Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana. And I thought it is going to be a real nothing in the middle of the mysterious Poland...

When I get some more news of the edition of a DVD, which will contain these presentations and the show itself, I will be in touch.

Bigger pictures, larger attraction

2007-03-10T18:00:00.000+01:00

Since the documentary about Herman Potočnik Noordung went public, the people keep coming in larger numbers to see the memorial centre. Today, for example, a group of local trekkers (or shall we say - mountaineers) came to pay a visit after they had had business with the annual outdoors orientation contest. As my colleague guide Alja tells me, they were quite in the mood for the topic, some even with some previous insight about the topic.

On thursday, there were some teachers, but the guy, that took over the tour, didn't tell me yet, how did it go. If there will be any specialties, I'll let you know. At least for the last few visits when I was in charge a a guide, there was always someone with a good idea.

Next week, there will be a lot of "elementary scholars" and, hopefully also some time for me to gather up the guides for some minor technical corrections.

Stanley Kubrick - retrospective

2007-03-07T12:41:00.000+01:00

Yes, in March, the Slovenian cinematheque launches the retrospective of the reknowned american film director Stanley Kubrick. And since one of his "biggest" movies, 2001: A Space Odyssey, contains some ideas by Herman Potočnik Noordung, brought into the movie concept via Arthur C. Clarke, the script (co)writer, I would like to expose this particular movie a little bit.

I'm in a lack of time, more to follow.

Documentary phase 0.1 breached

2007-03-04T23:45:00.000+01:00

The Herman Potočnik Noordung documentary movie premiere went on far better than I imagined. There was a considerable amount of people, mostly all of those "responsible" for it, and the energy of the first viewing inside a cinema was great. I must say, the whole event was rather heavily inspirative.

The movie will have its TV premiere on this Tuesday, 6th of March, at 20.55 on the first programme of the Slovene national TV station (RTV SLO). Make sure you see it or at least record it in some way!

Kids, man o man!

2007-03-03T16:13:00.000+01:00

Today we had a family visiting the SSHPN/HPNMC, and the kid, the oldest son (about 12, 13 y.o.) told me after the tour that he is editing the Wikipedia, mostly that one in Slovene. His father looked like he is the idea behind the whole thing. Anyway, the family was very interested, we were debating for at least an hour and today I got the impression (for the first time), that also the children are very interested in this area of science, especially because it includes space, stars, the inevitable dream of a child, weightless enviroment.
I constantly kept getting questions from the smaller two of the five-member family, questions like: How do you fly in space? What is a rocket?

I mean, talking about the tough questions, they come from the kids, always.

EDIT: Today I've found the boy's Slovene Wikipedija user page. Quite fascinating, especially when you take a closer look at his age. But, I guess, what is good, can also be good early.

Documentary on Herman Potočnik Noordung

2007-02-28T21:57:00.000+01:00

A documentary movie about Herman Potočnik Noordung is being put to a premiere projection this week - on Saturday, 3rd of March 2007, in Art cinema Metropol in Celje, Slovenia.

The movie's director is Slavko Hren, screenplay was the work of Andraž Poeschl, and it was produced within the Radio-television of Slovenia's Educational programme.

Souvenirs - what do you think?

2007-02-24T11:17:00.000+01:00

The momentary take-away souvenirs of the SSHPN/HPNMC are sewn stripes which look like that (take no notice of the background):

European evening in Vitanje, epilogue v0.1

2007-02-23T11:20:00.000+01:00

My own presence was not being given the oportunity to participate or at least observate the event yesterday, but thanks to Simon Zajc, Vesolje.net editor, I can already post here two photos from yesterday's scenery, on which you can see the Vitanje cultural centre, which is eagerly awaiting its renovation. For what I am told, it is not far away.

UPDATE: Here is the link to the video footage on Lojze Peterle's web page: [link]

Peterle, Boscarol, Živadinov

A quick overview

Boscarol, Vidmar, Peterle, Peljhan, Živadinov

Noordung to Wroclaw, copy

2007-02-18T20:13:00.000+01:00

Here is the short "collage" of sequences for the "Wroclaw Festival of stage song" presentation movie I made with my schoolmate. It is only roughly assembled, without effects and transitions, but it gives a certain feeling about the place.

European evening with Lojze Peterle

2007-02-17T13:59:00.000+01:00

I do not have the original posters with me yet, because the news is pretty much fresh at this time, I am only posting the news to keep you up to date:

Thursday, 22.2. 2007, Vitanje, Spominsko središče Hermana Potočnika Noordunga (SSHPN)/Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Centre (HPNMC), from 18.00

HOSTS

- Dragan Živadinov, The Noordung Cosmokinetic Cabinet,
- Srečko Fijavž in Slavko Vetrih, Vitanje municipality,
- Miha Turšič, shaper of weightless enviroments,
- Lojze Peterle, slovenian member of European Parliament,
- vocal octet Raskovec, Vrhnika.

SUPPORTERS

- Ivo Boscarol, Pipistrel d.o.o.,
- Matjaž Vidmar, professor at FE UL,
- Marko Peljhan, professor at University of California, Santa Barbara.

EVENT SCHEDULE

18.00: Protocolary sightseein of SSHPN/HPNMC

18.30: European evening with Lojze Peterle

Presentation of:
SVA (Slovenska vesoljska agencija/Slovene Space Agency)
Satellite Dvojina DUAL SI-7
(zavod Projekt Atol and Dunja Zupančič)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S.: As soon as I get back the info version of the Wroclaw presentation DVD, filmed in the SSHPN/HPNMC, I intend to post a short cutscene mix here, just for the feeling's sake, in high detail.

The Planet Slovenia emission - part Noordung

2007-02-05T16:16:00.000+01:00

From the editor of Slovenia's finest webpage about astronautics and astronomy, I've got the video clip of Mojca Mavec and her video article about the HPNMC (Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Centre) or SSHPN (Slovene: Spominsko središče Hermana Potočnika Noordunga) in Vitanje. Here it is:

Basics, testing...

2007-02-03T22:30:00.000+01:00

In the expectance of the SVA (Slovenian Space Agency) conference, I have found an interesting and simple graphic, showing the development of the Universe.

And then, one similar, but with more data, in Slovene.

And one another, showing how to understand the formation of life today through our, human calendar.

Planet Slovenija

2007-01-30T11:45:00.000+01:00

Mojca Mavec (a slovene journalist) is filming some clips here today for some time in advance (I do not know exactly when they will go on the air). Her part of the TLP (a Sunday afternoon TV emission in Slovenia) tends to be pretty much the slovenian version of Lonely Planet, just that she goes and explores Slovenian regions and that her show is called Planet Slovenija.

Because I am currently dislocated (meaning: not in Vitanje), the question of what and how long will she be filming and what is her main purpose with presenting the HPNMC (Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Centre) eludes me. It does say something on the show's website, though:
Of course, they have once again made the mistake with the name Vitanje - its third grammatical fall in Slovene (casus) is "Vitanju".

Vitanje
Vitanja
Vitanju
Vitanje
(o) Vitanju
(z) Vitanjem

And all because Vitanje is not a "plural" noun, but a "singular" one. Meaning "Vitanje is" and not "Vitanje are", which maybe sounds strange in English, but the two versions are easily mistaken in Slovene, and the formulation "Vitanje so (English:are)" is widely spread amongst the ignorant.

TLP napovednik

15:20 - Planet Slovenija: Savinjska regija
V Žičkem samostanu bomo spoznali nekaj insajderskih iz meniškega življenja.Mojca bo preizkusila tudi vesoljsko kapsulo v Vitanjah in nato osvojila Celje, kjer je svojo ljubico imel tudi Alfred Nobel.

Filming in the capsule

2007-01-28T19:34:00.000+01:00

Today we were filming a presentation video for my stage-singing performance in Wroclaw on 14th of March. Why am I writing that here? Because we made the whole "mise-en-scene" at the Noordung memorial grounds.

My colleague, a studying film director, brought with him his digital camera, a spotlight and his girlfriend to help him around the set. He also had a little bit of a surprise for me - a fisheye filter, which (so it was proven later on) was a genial addition to the concept. After all, the place is built according to Herman's idea for the space observatory, a capsule with "eyes", here replaced by LCD screens.

The place itself offered a real cosmocinetic (and cinematic) background for the short movie. We tried out a lot of different positions, camera movements, light settings, but in any of the situations - it was a poetry to create earthly life in such an "architecture of space matter". We will now, in the following week, try to find a gap in our schedules and work on the scene assembling. As soon as I get the polished thingie, I will try to upload it to some video site and post it here - through that, you will get a perfect insight into the memorial centre.

Noordung 35.900 Km above Earth

2007-01-27T03:39:00.000+01:00

This side of my blogging will be formulated almost exclusively in English. That solves three Gordian knots:

how NOT to make my more-personal-and-theatrical ways of life available to just about everyone (Slovene is, and here I name it as a privilege, relatively unknown outside its cradle);
how to make something useful of my intense astro- and cosmonautical interest fields;
last but not least - how to widely present Herman Potočnik Noordung as a pioneer (one of the triad anyway) of spaceflights and the first architect in space.

I hope to be able to start some serious work soon, today I will only make this introduction, for the hour is late (or early, your preference) and the head exhausted. Until next time - a few essential links concerning Potočnik-Noordung and his work.

http://www.noordung.info/
http://noordung.vesolje.net/
http://www.noordung.net/