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Update #17: BPL's Second Kickstarter Project Approaching Terminal Velocity

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on May 30, 2010
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Update #16: BPL-004, Experimental Outsourcing Mission To China

Posted on May 3, 2010

The Brower Propulsion Laboratory has created another Kickstarter project! Details can be seen or ignored at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brower/outsource-chinese-food-delivery-from-the-worlds-sm .

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      Paul Klemperer on May 3, 2010

      I see three kinds of noodles. Is this some kind of visual test?

Update #15: BPL-003 Mission Patch

Posted on March 28, 2010

BPL's Ethical Embroidery Department has issued this image of the official Mission Patch for the Moranic Mission To Montana. We are currently assembling the Backer Rewards and getting them out to all our eager backers, and everyone else too. It shouldn't be much longer!

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      Dominic Chennell on April 7, 2010

      How very exciting. I have my swimming trunks, needle and thread lined up and ready.

Update #14: TOO SUCCESSFUL?

Posted on March 17, 2010

BPL heartily thanks all the contributors to our first Kickstarter fundraising endeavor! We exceeded the goal a week early and then received several large contributions as the deadline approached. Perhaps some of you were glued to your computer screens watching those last few seconds tick by in agonized anticipation. We were planning on doing just that but we were stuck in an emergency meeting about the ownership of certain items in the break room refrigerator.

At the moment, our goal is exceeded by 33.7777%. Even though the project is deemed "successful", contributions can still be made, so when one of your room or cell mates asks where you got that delightful stereo viewer, or how they can get themselves a patch with a marmot on it, you can direct them here! It takes 2 weeks for the institutions to distill the liquor of their compensation from your generous donations, so you can congratulate yourselves again for helping 'stimulate the economy'. These 'black metrics' extend to four decimal places, so presumably it takes all that time just to figure out what happened. BPL is glad it does not have to extend itself to that computational altitude! We mention this because it will be at least that long before your glittering rewards can begin the journey from our Navy Yard outpost to your mail boxes, doorsteps, kitchen drawers, trunks, back pockets, dryer lint screens, eBay stores or recycling containers. We will be sending enquiries about the specific options and configurations that might be associated with your particular rewards in the coming days.
We also would be remiss if we did not mention our gratitude to Kickstarter for providing this forum, which is ideally suited to BPL's dubious ambitions. We would be happy to share our positive experiences with any of you who think this might be a viable medium for your own projects. THANKS AGAIN!

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Update #13: Anemic Emblem "Improved" For Backers

Posted on March 15, 2010

As another obsequious thank you to our extraordinarily generous backers, a member of our Coloring Department has redesigned the BPL-003 Mission Emblem ON HIS OWN FREE TIME! He offered his modest but sincere capacities as a gratuity for not being laid off in the last round of economic plastic surgery at BPL Headquarters. We think this new Emblem is a great improvement over the previous ones, and has established a method by which we can always correct dates on our emblems as missions are rescheduled, cancelled, pushed back, backdated, postponed, preponed or recycled. We hope you will like wearing it on your baseball caps, satin windbreakers, galoshes, sportsbras, space suits, home incarceration radio monitors, or whatever spare three inch space you might have. If the sight of this makes you wish you had signed up for the mission patch, just let me know and I'll set it up for you. There are only a few hours left, and I would promise that this is the last harangue, but I've never done this so I don't exactly know what happens when the time runs out. Presumably you get EVEN MORE email!

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      Wendy Klemperer on March 15, 2010

      It looks great! That's a very CUTE groundhog/gopher/mascot creature. And the ever-flexible launch date is a beautiful solution!

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      Wendy Klemperer on March 15, 2010

      I meant prairie dog

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      Steven Brower on March 15, 2010

      that comment was not planted by anyone at BPL

Update #12: BPL Management Vetoed By Backers

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on March 9, 2010
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Update #11: Feel Free To Comment

Posted on February 14, 2010

I should have pointed out earlier that you are all invited to comment here, and elsewhere for that matter, and I want to emphasize the point that you shouldn't feel it necessary to mimic or ape my bureaucryptic mannerisms- the thin veneer of unreality I maintain can't be noticeably marred by the injection of civilian language. I am curious about the motives of my Backers! I permit you, for instance, to request that I post fewer updates, or to ask the the usual questions ('is this or that thing real'...), etc.

Update #10: Postcard From Philadelphia

Posted on February 14, 2010

This image was automagically generated by the MUNIN spacecraft camera. It is composed of 240 photos and depicts the immediate environment around the vehicle. Currently that environment is the Esther Klein Gallery at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia. MUNIN's camera is controllable by anyone with idle hands at browerpropulsionlab.com.

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Update #9: BPL Announces Recall

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on February 9, 2010
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Update #8: Public Presentation

Posted on January 29, 2010

***PUBLIC MEMORANDUM***

A BPL representative will be giving a brief talk entitled "What does a 19th Century American Painter Have To Do With Space Exploration?" during which this question will be tangentially addressed.  Following the numerous questions and somewhat fewer answers generated by the presentation, he will demonstrate the process of manufacturing BPL's new Stereogram Viewer, with real plastic and sharp objects.
This will all take place through Breadboard, at the Esther Klein Art Gallery , 3600 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA  19104, from 1 - 4 p.m. on Saturday, 30 January.  Another demonstration of the automated production of the BPL Moranic Mission to Montana official patch may also take place, Fates  and time permitting.

BELOW IS A LINK TO A SET OF SAMPLE DIRECTIONS TO THE PRESENTATION:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps...

Feel free to contact BPL with questions at
http://browerpropulsionlab.com/communicate
or if you prefer, you may call our customer support line at 888-BPL-1848

Update #7: BPL News and Exhibition

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on January 15, 2010
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Update #6: A Reprimand Has Been Issued

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on December 22, 2009
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Update #5: Project Launched

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on December 21, 2009
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Update #4: Correction

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on December 20, 2009
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Update #3: Disturbing Precedent

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on December 20, 2009
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42
Backers
$2,408
pledged of $1,800 goal
0
seconds to go

Funding Successful

This project successfully raised its funding goal on March 16, 2010.

Pledge $1 or more

1 Backer

FLOWN I.D. (DONOR LEVEL): Everyone who contributes to this project through kickstarter will have a name (theirs or one they choose) printed onto the mylar insulation of the ICARUS payload shell, which will be flown during the mission. The nanosatellite should attain an altitude of around 100,000 feet and enter the troposphere before returning to earth with its trove of collected data.

Pledge $3 or more

3 Backers

STAMPS (DONOR LEVEL): BPL will send you two (2) $0.44 Custom Made U.S. postage stamps, good for first class mail or repairing ripped memos. These things are emblazoned with BPL's logo and one of our catchy mottoes such as "Failure Is An Option", or "It's Not Rocket Science".

Pledge $11 or more

3 Backers

MISSION REPORTS (DONOR LEVEL): Choose one of BPL's Official Mission Reports, compendia of Office Memos, Production and Testing Digests, or Press Kits (see our website). Almost no expense has been spared or used in the preparation of these compelling documents. Too numerous to list here, suffice to say that each one is a work of art, composed, designed, bound, stamped, and otherwise processed in the bureaucratic labyrinth at BPL.

Pledge $18 or more

12 Backers

BPL -003 MISSION PATCH (DONOR LEVEL): The official BPL-003 Moranic Mission To Montana emblem. Features 'arrowhead' motif with cute pest rodent handling collection equipment, in true space mission design tradition. About 3" high. ** We will be producing a special run of these during the show in Philadelphia at the Esther Klein Art Gallery/Breadboard through Nextfab Studios on their new embroidery machine. ** Come see how the sausage gets made!

Pledge $19 or more

4 Backers

BPL 'RECYCLED' COFFEE MUGS (DONOR LEVEL): Our logo cleverly sandblasted over, and indeed, into, some other corporation's promotional ceramic coffee cup. We are considering calling this gesture 'pre-purposing', as we are doing the same thing with the same object, only more so. Your mug will feature our now familiar logo and some other random thrift-store flotsam. These are hand made by BPL's single employee on a borrowed piece of equipment (thanks, Evan!)

Pledge $20 or more

6 Backers

BPL STOCK CERTIFICATE (DONOR LEVEL): What's a company without stock? And what's a shareholder with a valueless piece of paper? Don't answer that- Unencumbered by the legal strictures of incorporation or adherence to any laws of governance, save for its own, BPL shares represent an unvarnished view of the health of the company. This beautifully designed and produced certificate will bear your name, that of a BPL Executive, Serial Number, and the official BPL Corporate Seal, for authenticity.

Pledge $65 or more

4 Backers

STEREO VIEWERS AND SET OF 5 PHOTOGRAMS (SPONSOR LEVEL): All proper space missions generate stereo photographs so that mission specialists can analyze terrain and samples in three dimensions. You get our custom made, (just for Kickstarter) stereo viewer, conceived, molded, cast, and finished by BPL's Co-Optics Expert, a set of five custom BPL Stereogram Cards with beautiful images printed thereupon, and verbose illustrated instruction sheet. The viewer even works with your iphone!

Pledge $200 or more

2 Backers

MUNIN DESKTOP MODEL (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): This is a hand crafted 1/12 scale model of the Munin Spacecraft in its present configuration (for BPL-003, Moranic Mission To Montana). It comes complete with thematic base and wordy 'information' card. It is diligently produced in our Model Department by our Master Miniaturist from urethane resin and metal.

Pledge $250 or more

4 Backers

BPL SCOUT PAINTING (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): Scouting missions in 2009 yielded gouache paintings by BPL's Rendition Department Chief. They depict potential landing zones and revisit locations in the Yellowstone region so memorably depicted by Thomas Moran. By the way, our multitalented Rendition Department Chief even has a degree in Painting, so there should be no question as to the quality of these unique items. Each painting is small, usually a few inches high and fewer than 12 wide, on archival paper, and signed, dated, and jotted with Moranic notation such as map coordinates, temperature, artist mood, etc. They are all from actual location visits in Montana.

Pledge $300 or more

0 Backers

PROJECT PARTICIPATION, NASCAR STYLE (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): You Know You Want it!- Your logo on a space ship! At this level, BPL wants you to understand that, (a), we see you as a real fan or something, and (b), you have a lot more discretionary - type dough than we do. Therefore, we want to congratulate you by giving you any one of the above items you want (from either Donor or Sponsor categories), and the chance to put your own name, logo, whatever 2-dimensional image you choose, on the deck of the Munin Spacecraft. We will work with you to create the image, as the graphic has to meet 'aerospace standards' and be within a four inch square envelope. We will give you a copy of the graphic, and only five of these will be produced: One for you, one flight unit, one backup, and two test units. This image will appear in BPL documents and Mission photos, not to mention a prominent place in your domicile, and on a real spaceship!

Pledge $500 or more

0 Backers

PROJECT PARTNER / ROADIE (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): In addition to the Participation offer above (which includes your choice of any one item from either Donor or Sponsor categories, as well as the placement of your graphic on the Munin spacecraft), you will be invited to attend BPL mission activities as a special guest. These events will include casting aluminum at our Provisional Foundry, either at our Brooklyn Facility or our New Hampshire Node; attendance of the opening night party in Philadelphia at the Esther Klein Art Gallery; attendance of a Lecture or two, also in Philadelphia, with party afterward, at which the BPL Chemist will present you with a delicious pie baked from scratch in our Test Kitchen; and best of all, an invitation to come to Livingston, Montana and either help with the launch of the mission, or go fishing. Or both. BPL will make sure you have a memorable experience, and hopefully a positive one too! At this level, you will also be invited to have a sneak peek at the next Phase of development and offered a special discount for the next generation of BPL Aerospacey hardware, software, and mediumware.

Project By

Minotaur.large

Has not connected their Facebook account.

I am an artist living in Brooklyn, New York. I have a degree in Painting from Pratt Institute. For the past 10 years or so, I've been making increasingly elaborate "space missions", based initially on NASA projects, which had always looked an awful lot like Art Projects to me. I began by attempting to copy something NASA did, knowing I would fail, but would in the process acquire lots of knowledge and new skills. I always make everything myself, doing a lot of research, and using whatever means I can muster, even to the point of making up tools and processes that might be better purchased elsewhere. That methodology started from necessity and has become one of the central themes of my work. I created the fake aerospace corporation, Brower Propulsion Laboratory, to act as a platform for this increasingly diverse range of production. The more various my output becomes, the more departments are added to the company, so my interests are never curtailed by my previous activities. Interestingly, this DIY trajectory has caused me to develop skills that have gotten me my livelihood, such as it is. I have found my wage earning activity is more dependent on my artwork than the other way around.

  1. browerpropulsionlab.com
  2. stevenbrower.com
  3. conradcarpenter.com