Oklahoma Space Alliance NSS Chapter UPDATE for February, 2011
A free email newsletter for members and friends of Oklahoma Space Alliance NSS
To stop getting OSA mailings, please email BOTH [email protected] AND [email protected]
February 2011 Meeting (NOTE DATE and LOCATION) If road conditions are a concern, call Tom (366-1797) or Syd (321-4027) and Panera Bread (302-0500) to be sure we can meet.
Oklahoma Space Alliance will meet at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 12 at Panera Bread, 4401 W. Memorial Road in northern Oklahoma City. [It’s in Quail Brook Village Mall, apparently.]
There are several routes to get there. From the south a simple one is to take I -35, continue on I-235 (aka 77) to Memorial, turn west. Alternatively, turn west on 240 or I-44, north on 74 (aka Portland Ave. and the Lake Hefner Parkway) and west when you reach Memorial. From the North, Highways 74, 77 and I-35 all intersect Memorial, with the first being closest to Panera Bread. Panera Bread is about halfway between the Lake Hefner Parkway (74) and N. MacArthur Blvd, and is a mile and a half west of Quail Springs Mall.
Agenda:
Oklahoma Space Alliance met January 15 at Panera Bread at 4401 West Memorial Rd. in Oklahoma City. Attending were Tom Koszoru and his mentee Jason, Claire McMurray, James Trombley, Don Whitney, Russ Davoren, Steve and Jana Galpin, and Syd Henderson. Don, Russ and the Galpins all paid for their memberships.
Tom went to Weatherford on New Year’s Eve and talked to the people at the Stafford Museum about Yuri’s Night. We can have a children’s event in the afternoon. We need a speaker. Russ has contacts and will meet with Tom. We can do the event on the 9th or 16th of April. Perhaps the Tripoli Rocket Club can help with children’s programming. We can contact OSIDA and Governor Fallin’s office about speakers, or perhaps Magi Whitaker.
There was not much to report on the January OSIDA meeting, other than Bill Khourie met with George Whitesides of Virgin Galactic. Oklahoma Spaceport is ready for Virgin Galactic launches today if they so desire. The FAA Space Transportation Conference is February 9-10 so the next OSIDA meeting will be February 16.
We have $251.52 in cash and $257 in the bank. We allocated $150 for Yuri’s Night (not counting possible individual contributions).
We killed the research funding and marketing for Burns Flat agenda items for the month.
Claire is still looking for the discs on Space Solar Power from last year’s ISDC. Claire also dropped off copies of the Winter issue of Ad Astra at the Norman Library.
We’re to ask the Russia program at OU for something, but I don’t know what.
We’re replacing “Book Reviews” in the agenda with “What’s Happening in Space. We’re also adding “Movie Displays” to promote National Space Society at movies related to space.
Annual reports are due around February 15. Syd is responsible for the activity report for the year, Tim for financial report, and Tom for the rest.
The February meeting will be at Panera Bread on February 12 at 3:30 p.m.
--Syd Henderson
[Cliff & I plan to be visiting friends in Kansas instead of getting to the meeting.—Claire]
Oklahoma Space Alliance Activities
We have been invited to provide up to 4 members as guest speakers for the science track at SoonerCon, the first weekend of June. Unfortunately for Cliff & Claire, that’s the same weekend as her 50th college class reunion, so they won’t be at SoonerCon. We’re also invited to suggest any additional local guests with a NASA connection that we may know about. We’ve had contact info for one or two such people in the past; we can see if they’d be interested.
Space News, Politics, and Controversies:
Messages from National Space Society:
1) The support we received in 2010 has helped us:
· to promote governmental, commercial, and non-governmental organization space efforts;
· to create the Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative [http://space.nss.org/news/releases/pr20101011.html] -- an international effort to hasten the harvesting of solar power in space for the benefit of humanity;
· and to enhance our highly regarded International Space Development Conference (ISDC) [http://isdc.nss.org/] -- making it one of the leading forums for space enthusiasts to advance new ideas and developments that can change our future.
But despite these incredible successes, we are facing new challenges in 2011 -- and your support is truly needed now.
All our hard work on the passage of the NASA Authorization Act and its Unified Space Policy may be for naught if there is no funding for it. Currently, Congress has not approved a bill for fiscal year 2011 that will appropriate any funding for the NASA Authorization Act. This is a real concern -- one we will bring to Congress during our upcoming Legislative Blitz, February 27-March 1, 2011. [http://www.spaceexplorationalliance.org/blitz/].
A new Congress took office in early January and we must act quickly to bring the new senators, representatives, and their staffs up to speed on space issues and the importance of space exploration to the American public. We know, from our previous successes, that when we are in front of our congressional leaders, we can make an impact -- and that's what we plan to do. We want them to support full funding for this brave Act, as we stated in a November press release [http://space.nss.org/news/releases/pr20101129.pdf]
Because there are so many new players, we must manage the broadest outreach activity possible -- and that can only be done with financial support and contributions from our members and supporters.
This year, the path forward with our government's development of a heavy lift launch capability will be blazed; the International Space Station (ISS) utilization will begin in earnest; a broad array of technology development efforts will be started; and ISS commercial cargo/crew initiatives will be taken to the next level. Commercial involvement in all aspects of space endeavors will continue its transition from promising possibilities to actual test flights. With NSS playing an increasingly important role in fostering and supporting an enduring framework for space exploration and development across all sectors, your contribution now can truly make a tremendous difference. [See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/].Please contribute to NSS, so that we can make a real impact. Donate now at https://space.nss.org/donations/donation_form.shtml . Not yet a member? Then please Join now t https://space.nss.org/membership/new_member_form.shtml. Together, we can accomplish much -- and make the future better. Ad Astra!
About the Legislative Blitz: it’s February 27-March 1, 2011 in Washington DC.
Claire & Cliff McMurray attended a couple of these: very interesting, and we wish we could go this year. We can’t, so I’ve asked Rick Zucker to send details about what we’d like to tell our senators & representatives. Then we can at least write individual letters (if we approve of the ideas), and maybe schedule OSA visits to a local office or two when our congressmen are in our districts. Here’s the letter Rick sent us as previous participants:
2) The 2011 Legislative Blitz is fast approaching, as it is now only a little more than three weeks away.
We already have over 80 confirmed meetings, with more expected to follow. These meetings are with key House and Senate offices. If you have not yet notified me of your plans, please do so as soon as possible by sending me an e-mail. As we are in the final stages of this “campaign”, we now need to “line up our troops”. If you are planning to attend, but have not yet registered or notified me by e-mail, please do so within the next few days. As we begin the always challenging task of figuring out team and meeting assignments, if I have not yet heard from you that you are coming, I will assume that you are unable to attend
You can register for the Blitz, either by going to the Space Exploration Alliance website (www.spaceexplorationalliance.org) and following the links there, or by going to the NSS website at space.nss.org (see the December 26, 2010 announcement in the center section of the NSS homepage). The direct link to the registration page is https://space.nss.org/cgi-bin/register/tdregister?$Origin=Blitz11.
Thanks!
Rick
Rick Zucker
Chair, Space Exploration Alliance’s 2011 Legislative Blitz
Executive Vice President, National Space Society
Office Phone: (508) 651-9936
Office Fax: (508) 653-0119
Cellphone: (508) 654-1025
E-mail: Rick.Zucker at nss.org
or RckZucker at aol.com
Space Settlement Controversy, courtesy of Don Prescott: (follow the link; it’s interesting)
From: Don Prescott prescottdc at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Sat, February 5, 2011 8:09:46 AM
Subject: Don Prescott's BLOG Update
Hi Friends,
An Associated Press article given to me recently by a neighbor struck a contradictory chord in me. Should Mars be next on humans’ spacefaring agenda? Here is the link to my current Layman's License blog:
http://www.inkspot.com/main/view_item/item_id/1748602-Mars-Our-Next-Step
Rocket Racing League
In their effort to glamorize rockets, the Rocket Racing League (real rocket planes, very exciting to watch) now has a club, as well as an iphone app which lets you race virtual planes along a virtual course in the sky. See the details at http://www.rocketracingleague.com/.
NASA
ISS: Thanks to his wife’s rapid progress, astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of wounded congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has resumed training to command the last flight of space shuttle Endeavour, scheduled for April 19th. This is the next-to last flight scheduled before the shuttles are retired, or the last if NASA doesn’t get funds for one more. Endeavour will deliver assorted supplies, spare parts, and improvements, including micrometeoroid debris shields. The big item is a $1.5 billion astrophysics experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). It will be attached to the space station to look for signs of antimatter, dark matter and cosmic rays beyond the Milky Way. Mark Kelly’s twin brother Scott Kelly is the current commander of the International Space Station.
Oklahoma: NASA received money from the 2009 Recovery Act, but the NASA web site indicates none of it was spent for projects in Oklahoma. However, we seem to recall a minor NASA grant or two to the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) in the past. Oddly enough, entering “Oklahoma” in the Search box on the NASA site produces several “image of the day” pictures, and a bit about past weather research.
Moon: A team of scientists from Marshall Space Flight Center; Arizona State University; the University of California at Santa Cruz; and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France recently applied up-to-date seismological techniques to Apollo-era data. Their findings are published in the online edition of the journal Science. They concluded that the Moon has a small solid, iron-rich core like Earth’s, but differing in the layer details. For more info, see http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/lunar_core.html.
Commercial space flight: On Feb. 8, NASA, Aerojet and Orbital Sciences Corp. tested the second AJ26 flight engine that will power the first stage of Orbital's Taurus II launch vehicle. Orbital Sciences is trying to become the second non-government company to put a vehicle in orbit, so as to earn contracts for deliveries to the International Space Station. SpaceX, has already launched and returned an orbital cargo aboard its Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the Dragon capsule. On January 31 they announced they’re opening a new office in Chantilly, VA to serve customers looking for “reliable, affordable launch solutions.”
Human space exploration: A human outside the Van Allen belts needs lots of radiation protection, posing a major problem for long-duration stays on the Moon or visits to farther places. A fabric called Demron from Radiation Shield Technologies (RST) could help. Quoting from their website (http://www.radshield.com/): “Demron™ not only protects against particle ionizing/nuclear radiation (such as Beta and Alpha), but does what NO OTHER full body radiation protection can do: shield against X-ray and low-energy Gamma emissions. Demron™ is non-toxic and completely Lead-free.
“Demron™ suits are constructed from a unique nanotechnology that far surpasses the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of current nuclear-biological-chemical (NBC) suits that only protect against radioactive particulate sources.”
Oklahoma Space Alliance Officers, 2010 (Area Code 405)
Tom Koszoru, President 366-1797 (H)
John Northcutt, Vice-President 390-3476 (H)
Syd Henderson, Secretary & Outreach Editor 321-4027 (H)
Tim Scott, Treasurer 740-7549 (H)
Claire McMurray, Correspondence Secretary/Update Editor
329-4326 (H) 863-6173 (C)
OSA E-mail Addresses and Web Site:
claire.mcmurray at sbcglobal.net (Claire McMurray)
T_Koszoru at cox.net (Heidi and Tom Koszoru)
john.d.northcutt1 at tds.net (John Northcutt)
sydh at ou.edu (Syd Henderson)
ctscott at mac.com (Tim Scott)
lensman13 at aol.com (Steve Galpin)
dmcraig at earthlink.net (Nancy and David Craig).
E-mail for OSA should be sent to sydh at ou.edu. Members who wish their e-mail addresses printed in Outreach, and people wishing space-related materials e-mailed to them should contact Syd. Oklahoma Space Alliance website is osa.nss.org/index.html. Webmaster is Syd Henderson.
Other Information
The National Space Society's Headquarters phone is 202-429-1600. Executive Director is Gary Barnhard nsshq at nss.org. The Chapters Coordinator is Bennett Rutledge 720-529-8024. The address is: National Space Society, 1155 15th Street NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20005 Web page is space.nss.org. For details on the NSS chapters network, see http://space.nss.org/nss-chapters-directory/.
Oklahoma Space Industrial Development Authority (OSIDA), 401 Sooner Drive/PO Box 689, Burns Flat, OK 73624, 580-562-3500. Web site www.state.ok.us/~okspaceport.
Science Museum Oklahoma (former Omniplex) website is www.sciencemuseumok.org. Main number is 602-6664.
Tulsa Air and Space Museum, 7130 E. Apache, Tulsa, OK 74115.
Web Site is www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com. Phone (918)834-9900.
The Mars Society address is Mars Society, Box 273, Indian Hills CO 80454. Their web address is www.marsociety.org.
The Planetary Society phone 626-793-5100. The address is 65 North Catalina, Avenue, Pasadena, California, 91106-2301 and the website is www.planetary.org. E-mail is [email protected].
NASA Spacelink BBS 205-895-0028. Or try www.nasa.gov. .
Congressional Switchboard, both Senate & House, is 202/224-3121.
Write to any U. S. Senator or Representative at [name]/ Washington DC, 20510 (Senate) or 20515 [House]. To find contact & other information your congressperson, see www.house.gov/. For senators, use www.congress.org/
Contact person for Oklahoma Space Alliance is Claire McMurray
PO Box 1003
Norman, OK 73070
Webmaster is Syd Henderson.
Copyright ©2009 Oklahoma Space Alliance.