Minutes of May Meeting
Oklahoma Space Alliance met at Harry Bear’s All-American Grill in Moore on May 10, 2014. In attendance were Dave Sheely, Don Robinson, Brian Swift, Vickey Richartz, John Northcutt and Syd Henderson. OSA President Steve Swift and his wife Karen were out of town, and Claire and Clifford McMurray were on their way to the International Space Development Conference. In Steve’s absence, Dave presided over the meeting. Most of this informal meeting concerned space news.
We talked briefly about Soonercon and Space Week but pretty much left them for the June meeting, which will be a couple weeks before Soonercon.
Saturn was in opposition the night of May 10, and live views were being presented from a telescope in the Canary Islands.
An injunction was lifted that would have prohibited the United States Air Force and United Launch Alliance from buying rockets from Russia. The worry was that money from the sales might wind up in the hands of Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin, who is also overseer of Russia’s space industry. Rogozin also has sanctions on him due to Russian incursions into Ukraine.
There’s a phase-array radar contract to be awarded that can track objects down to 1 cm. Tinker Air Force Base is one of the bidders. This is Space Fence Development.
By 2030 we will have 10% of the space industry. [I think “we” referred to the United States, but may have referred to Oklahoma.]
What sort of programs do OU and OSU have? OSU has the space habitat projects.
The nozzle for the Armadillo test at the Space Port was made in Norman.
One of the reasons the British are doing so well in space is US technology restriction.
--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.
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