Minutes of May Meeting
Oklahoma Space Alliance chapter of National Space Society had its regularly scheduled meeting on May 9, 2022, at the McMurray residence in Norman, Oklahoma. Attending were David Sheely, Clifford and Claire McMurray, John Northcutt, Tim Scott, and Syd Henderson. OSA president Clifford McMurray presided over the meeting. He did an Update discussing links to material covered in the meeting and this is online at http://osa.nss.org/Update2205.pdf so I’ll cover the details that aren’t covered there.
The Russian kinetic collision test that produced so much debris was conducted in polar orbit which means the debris trajectory intersects everything (and at orbital velocity from the side).
The US has adopted a moratorium on such tests. South Korea applauds the moratorium bur China is more skeptical.
We watched a video on debris from the tests.
Michael López-Alegría holds the current record for most space walks.
You can make lenses out of liquid polymers using a process that doesn’t require gravity and which are much bigger than mirrors made on Earth.
We watched the launch of the Axiom-1 mission to the ISS. We watched a split screen of stage one and stage two, and the landing of stage one. Axiom will eventually have their own three-module spaee station.
We watched the separation and return of the Axiom-1 mission.
We watched a RocketLab launch and the attempt to catch the returning booster by helicopter. They don’t land the same way as SpaceX since their booster is so much smaller [i.e. less fuel for landing]. The helicopter did catch the booster temporarily but had to release it because the helicopter pilots were concerned about aerodynamic stability. The booster was eventually recovered from the ocean.
We watched a video of the launching of Shenzhou 13 crew to the Tiangong Space Station, and a video of the crew, as well as a video by Wang Yiping addressing International Women’s Day.
We watched a video of the docking of the Tianzhou 4 cargo module with the Tiangong Space Station.
China’s proposed lunar contact orbiter will fly a highly elliptical orbit to allow longer contact with its Lunar South Polar landers.
We watched a video of a Phobos transit of the Sun as seen from the Perseverance rover on Mars [It occurred to me that Phobos and Deimos must both transit the Sun frequently, and probably sometimes do it simultaneously—from opposite directions since Phobos orbits faster than Mars rotates and Deimos slower.]
Spaceport Cornwall will have its first launch this year.
We watched images from the Lucy spacecraft.
We now have $918.82 in the checking account and $267 in cash, for a total of $1188.72. This is after Syd was reimbursed for renewing the mailbox.
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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