How to build a farm in a galaxy far, far away with taxpayer money

Beam me up Scotty; there is no intelligent life forms here. Nichelle Nichols recently appeared at a cocktail party at a Houston Hotel event that would otherwise seem like a Trekkie convention, except taxpayers paid $21,000 for it.

With $21,000 from the Pentagon, a group of folks who call themselves “the 100-Year Starship organization” hosted a September symposium for interstellar discussion. The focus of the gathering was to discuss how to establish a civilization trillions of miles away in another solar system.

Participants discussed long-distance traveling that would take thousands of years, proposing either we need to create faster spaceships or to manipulate space-time to accommodate our human needs.

The ship would likely be propelled by a “warp bubble,¨ the group concluded, at the taxpayer funded event held in a Houston hotel, but a scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) cautioned the group that “nobody should get excited at this point¨ noting the type of energy needed would costs tens of billions of dollars a gram.

The conference examined a number of other issues that might otherwise be overlooked, like what interstellar explorers will wear?

A University of Rhode Island professor at the gathering asked, “Can you really ask someone to dress in polos and khakis for 30 years?¨ He suggested, “We may need to rethink the idea of clothing altogether. We might have to really reevaluate what constitutes being dressed or undressed.¨

Another topic, “Destinations and Habitats,¨ explored what it will mean to “design and construct residences, schools, offices, and farms that are more than 6 trillion miles from the nearest pine forest, feed, entertain, care for and govern the humans.¨

Still others discussed, at the taxpayer funded gathering, the “necessary political, economic, social and cultural shifts that will enable our transition from a near Earth society into an interstellar civilization.¨

Many of the conference attendees might be classified as people interested in the concept of developing a starship, but have, at most, only ideas for research topics.

As a result, it might be easy to confuse the symposium for a Star Trek Convention. In fact, former Trekkies Levar Burton and Nichelle Nichols made special appearances.

The latter headlined an “intergalactic gala celebration.¨ Attendees needed to wear “starship cocktail attire.¨

Overall, the gathering attracted 250 attendees.

This year, the 100 Year Starship Initiative will spend $300,000 of its $500,000 grant provided by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. To date, the Pentagon has spent over $1 million on the project.

Skeptics have asked if this project is a priority while the USA has a $16 trillion debt?