LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — He may be the most fascinating resident in Southern Nevada today.
“I’ve been a fan of space and cosmology, for a very long time,” said Robert Bigelow, an entrepreneur, and founder of Budget Suites of America.
He's a successful developer, who some might argue is a bit a dreamer.
“We are so unique in what we do, and we are more advanced, by far than any other company in the united states,” said Bigelow.
His love of space and science ultimately led to the opening of Bigelow Aerospace in North Las Vegas, a contracting and design company that builds habitable structures used in space.
News 3 crews were allowed inside one of his prototypes called the Olympus or BA 2100. Someday modules like these, he said, could become stand-alone space stations.
Since 2006, Bigelow has successfully launched two sub-scale spacecraft called genesis I & II into orbit, as well as the Bigelow expandable activity module, or BEAM, which is currently attached and in use on the international space station.
But recent years have been a challenge. “So we’ve struggled for the last two years, before COVIDever came around, with a dysfunctional agency," he said.
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In March of last year, Bigelow Aerospace let go of more than 80 staff members and halted operations after 20 years of business.
“Yeah, we had to lay everybody off. We have only about 15 people working in the aerospace company working here right now,” said Bigelow.
The move partially to blame by the pandemic, but also, by what he refers to as a 'dysfunctional' NASA.
“Um, we haven’t gotten paid on a program that we finished, an expensive program that we did and we’re still waiting for half the money,” said Bigelow.
He says he lost money on scrapped launch contracts. While he says he initially had high hopes for the country’s new Space Force, he’s mostly just discouraged.
“What we had in the ’60s was a whole different philosophy and energy and money, admittedly. And we were in competition with the Russians, but that’s not today’s NASA at all,” he said.
Bigelow would like to fully reopen his company in the future, but in the meantime, we were curious to know what will he work on next? It turns out the man who created his own aerospace empire, is now interested in creation itself.
"My own personal view, there’s another side. So, my mission now is about what is it all about? How complex is it?." said Robert Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace.
His accomplishments are almost too numerous to list. From starting a successful hotel chain to his work with NASA launching inflatable, livable structures into space, he is at the very least someone who has achieved many of his dreams.
Now though, comes what may turn out to be his biggest challenge ever. “Is this it? Is this all there is? And a lot of people think so. There are religions that say so. Um, then there are people that are agnostic, they don’t know,” said Bigelow.
The question, he says, is a question we all ask at some point in life. What happens after we die?
“You know, most people have had someone that they’ve lost in their family. I certainly have,” said Bigelow. After losing his son many years ago, and more recently his wife of 55-years, Bigelow confesses a personal interest in finding answers.
In June, he created the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies with the objective of researching whether there is survival of human consciousness after physical death.
How serious is he? He’s now started a contest offering nearly a million dollars in prizes.
“And then our judges, we have five judges, and our judges have three months to read all these essays and decide, who’s 1st, who’s 2nd, and who’s 3rd," he said.
The top three winners receive cash, with the first prize being $500,000, but Bigelow says he’s looking for tangible answers, not just faith-based concepts.
The essays should be 25,000 words and applicants will want to include additional supportive references, such as witness testimony, even video evidence if it exists.
“It could be a producer or director of shows that go after ghost hunting and so forth, and maybe they have some terrific film,” he said.
Winning essays will be posted, along with a discussion blog.
What types of applicants have responded so far? Different age groups and backgrounds, according to Bigelow, including, for example, a retired police detective.
“Believe it or not this is something that he’s used in his work to solve murders, communication through mediums, okay? And he has many to his credit,” he said.
Bigelow is optimistic about the results he’ll receive. Ultimately, he says even faith believers may find validation, and for those who don’t believe at all, perhaps a life-changing revelation.
For more information on the contest, visit the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies website.
