advantage. "People think that bold projects don't get funding because of their audacity. That's not the case. They don't get funded because of a lack… - Peter Diamandis

It is important to remember that in 1953 none of the technology for these futuristic journeys existed. No one knew how to go that fast and survive. Even the most optimistic die-hard visionaries did not expect a lunar landing any sooner than the proverbial "Year 2000." The only voice telling them they could do it was a curve on a piece of paper. But the curve was right. Just not politically correct. In 1957 the USSR launched Sputnik, right on schedule. Then US rockets zipped to the Moon 12 years later. As [Damien] Broderick notes, humans arrived on the Moon "close to a third of century sooner than loony space travel buffs like Arthur C. Clarke had expected it to occur."

In June 2011, at Carnegie Mellon University, the President announced the Materials Genome Initiative, a nationwide effort to use open source methods and artificial intelligence to double the pace of innovation in materials science. Obama felt this acceleration was critical to America's global competitiveness, and held the key to solving significant challenges in clean energy, national security, and human welfare. And it worked.

Right now, and for the first time ever, a passionate and committed individual has access to the technology, minds, and capital required to take on any challenge.