Minutes of September Oklahoma Space Alliance Meeting
Oklahoma Space Alliance met September 12 at Earl’s Rib Palace in Moore. In attendance were Steve, Karen and Brian Swift, Russ Davoren, Vickey Richartz, Brent Shambaugh, Dave Sheely, Rosemary Swift, Tim Scott, Rachelle Thibodeau, Isvin Prieto, Kip and Claire McMurray, Richard Holtzschue, Will Decker and Syd Henderson. This was Brent and Isvin’s first meeting.
Russ Davoren was our guest speaker and showed some of his space memorabilia. Russ has a book with signatures of all 12 Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon. He showed us a checklist from Buzz Aldrin for the Gemini XII spacecraft, and an envelope with the signatures of the Apollo 11 astronauts.
Over 100 people have signed up on Meetup.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its findings on the Virgin Galactic destruction, blaming it on pilot error.
XCOR is raising its passenger ticket prices from $100,000 to $150,000, which is still $50,000 less than Virgin Galactic.
We watched a Blue Origin promotional video. Bezos will be making an announcement on September 15 on Blue Origin’s plans in Florida. [They plan to build and launch vehicles in Florida, investing $200 million, Blue Origin has leased Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the historic site of 145 launches, including those of Pioneer 10 from NASA, the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter, and Surveyor 1, the first craft to make a soft landing on the moon. See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/science/space/jeff-bezos-rocket-company-to-build-and-launch-in-florida.html?_r=0]
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is undergoing pre-flight testing before returning to flight.
The Antares rocket (Orbital Services) will return in the spring of 2016. Orbital Services will do a launch with United Launch Alliance in March.
Boeing’s crew vehicle will be the CST-100.
Kip mentioned that if we adjust for inflation, we have already reached the 70s goal of a $1000 per pound launch.
We watched a video of China launching satellites on Long March. You can see the ice falling off the rocket.
Business Meeting:
We now have $994.13 in account and $258.51 in cash, and have 27 paying members.
The Martian starts in movie theaters on October 2. World Space Week is October 4 through 10, and our meeting is on the 10th. Proposal is to have a short meeting then go see The Martian at the Warren.
We have a charter but have lost the bylaws.
The NSS Chapters Assembly has decided that their meetings can also be attended. Each chapter with less than 50 members gets a delegate [I think larger chapters get more than one], so we can elect a Chapters Assembly representative. Dave Sheely was elected.
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 ©2015 by Oklahoma Space Alliance.