Robert Bigelow 

Have you ever heard someone described as visionary and self made? Robert Bigelow was an inspiring individual to many, whether it be through his strengthening Aerospace discoveries that span all the way back to 1960 (Bigelow 1) or one of his many strange studies. You see, Bigelow was not just an individual with thoughts, rather the mind to envision and chase them. Robert had strong opinions of which he investigated and later shared through journal articles, like Allochronic Speciation in FieldCrickets, and a New Species, Acheta Veletis (Bigelow 334). Throughout Roberts life lifetime, he was a certainly daring individual and represented with dignity. 

Throughout Roberts’ career, he was quite the daring individual. Robert was always ready to dive into the next adventure of mystery, and he always found a way to make his business appealing, and strive. The article “ Could Air Force Command benefit from commercial space companies like SpaceX, XCOR, Virgin Galactic, and Bigelow Aerospace?” written by Jeff Smith states, “The new commercial space companies used for this hypothesis are SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace, and Bigelow Aerospace. These companies were chosen because they are all relatively new, all started within the last twelve years, they all have had space hardware that has currently or has been flight tested in some form, also most importantly they have already or definitely have the potential to benefit Air Force Space Command and the United States’ national security …” (Smith 1). In 2020, Bigelow funded a project that would emphasize the idea of consciousness after the physical death, and the possibility of human “afterlife”(Crazw 131). In funding a scholarship, he hoped to inspire curious minds to come forward for the opportunity to win up to $500,000 (131). Robert dared to challenge those with optimism  just like him, to speak up, and speak out about their thoughts and ideas. Bigelow dared to stick out amongst other companies although he was fairly new, yet he didn’t only challenge himself through the scholarship article, Bigelow left his legacy by daring to inspire others to chase after a positive hope and mindset and optimistic perspective just as he strived to do.  

Robert represented himself and his company with generosity through his courage and perseverance to move towards newer perspectives. In his works, he earned the respect of his employees, friends, community, and in many cases the nation through his dedications to a multitude of causes. Many writers have written articles about him and his life, for example author Benjamin Crace wrote the article "Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies Winning Essays 2023: Proof of Survival of Human Consciousness Beyond Permanent Death ed. by Robert Rosenberg "to demonstrate one of the many ways that Bigelow had dedicated his life to those who surround him. Bigelow conducted studies over Aerospace , while he researched many other topics, he always found a way to dedicate his studies to something that would benefit more than just one individual(Smith 1). To emphasize his generosity, Bigelow created a scholarship to support those who wanted to contribute to his causes. As discussed previously, he gave away scholarships to support students who were interested in taking a chance on their opinion of consciousness after human death (Crace 131). Through his efforts, Bigelow left a legacy to be remembered, inspired many, and challenged a heart of creativity. 

Robert Bigelow may have been just a “company owner”, although, to many he was the person often described as “visionary” and “self made”. Robert dared to inspire his peers and his community, hoping that they would take an ambitious step forward with their eyes ready to learn and discover the scarce topics in the world. He didn’t just achieve goals for himself, but he created goals and opportunities for his legacy to continue far beyond his life.  Robert portrayed a daring individual who always held himself with dignity.  He has created a legacy that can never be forgotten.