Minutes of April Meeting
Oklahoma Space Alliance met April 13, 2013 at the Denny’s on the I-240 access road on the north side just east of Pennsylvania Avenue in southern Oklahoma City. Attending were Steve, Karen and Brian Swift, Syd Henderson, Claire McMurray and Dennis Wigley.
This was our Celebration of Manned Spaceflight, so there was little in the way of club business.
What’s Happening in Space?
Quote: “I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact,” Elon Musk.
SpaceX’s Grasshopper rocket successfully completed its 80-meter hover test. You can watch it here: http://www.space.com/20254-spacex-reusable-rocket-grasshopper-test.html. [SpaceX has since completed a 250-meter hover test.]
NASA’s Photo of the Day was “Light Echoes from V836 Monocerotis: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2472.html.
Christopher J. Cassidy is on the International Space Station. He is a former Navy Seal.
Astronomy photo of the day was the Great Nebula in Orion.
Lockheed Martin launched the SBIRS GEO-2 satellite.
XCOR announced a significant milestone in its Lynx suborbital spacecraft project. Their liquid oxygen piston pump will allow Lynx rockets to launch several times a day.
Three astronauts blasted off on an express ride to the ISS. This requires four orbits before docking rather than the previous thirty.
New Ginormous 4-Billion Panorama from the Curiosity Rover: you can view it at http://tinyurl.com/bslzofa. This is an interactive panorama.
A comet will be passing within 65000 miles of Mars next year.
Orbital Services Antares rocket was erected at a Virginia pad in preparation of an April 17 launch. It’s comparable in size to a Falcon 9.
We watched a video on how to brush your teeth in space, and now you can too: http://www.space.com/20478-how-astronauts-brush-teeth-video.html.
Celebration of Manned Spaceflight:
Quote: “The sky is dark, the Earth is blue,” Yuri Gagarin.
We watched a video, “Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space.”
Gordon Cooper died on the same day Spaceship One won the Ansari X-Prize.
We watched a series of failed space launches.
Syd and Claire need to contact Soonercon Programming. Will we be doing the hospitality suite again?
[Minutes by OSA Secretary Syd Henderson.]
Contact person for Oklahoma Space Alliance is Claire McMurray.
PO Box 1003
Norman, OK 73070
Webmaster is Syd Henderson.
Copyright �2013 Oklahoma Space Alliance.