But what I did I did for personal reasons. Dr. Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize and winner of the NSS's Space Pioneer award for special merit, note that America's space efforts in the 1960s succeeded because Kennedy laid out difficult but clearly-defined goal with a series of concrete, identifiable steps that led towards the goal. He said that we need a similar concrete vision today. The details of the goal are not important, he said, so long as there exists a set of clear milestones leading to that goal. John F. Kennedy's nephew, Patrick Kennedy , now a congressman from Rhode Island, sent a written message supporting the space program that was read at the event.
Space is about our future here on Earth.
Exploration is about ourselves. Perhaps the boldest sentiment expressed during the commemoration was by Diamandis. The prototype, shown for the first time publicly at the conference, uses digital compression techniques to provide high-quality video with limited bandwidth. While the prototype did experience some difficulties moving around a simulated rock-strewn lunar surface, Mark Simon of ISE expressed optimism that future versions of the robot would soon be traversing the lunar surface. A panel of experts discussed the X Prize and its impact on the prospects for space tourism at a conference session Saturday afternoon.