Minutes of July 12 Oklahoma Space Alliance Meeting
Oklahoma Space Alliance met July 12, 2025, at the Cyber Hall and Gaming Lounge at Norman Computers in Norman, Oklahoma. Attending were Clifford McMurray, Adam Hemphill, John Northcutt, Dave Sheely, and Syd Henderson. Mark Deaver dropped occasionally OSA President Clifford McMurray presided over the meeting. Clifford did an Update discussing links to material covered in the meeting and this is online at https://osa.nss.org/Update2507.pdf so I’ll cover the details that aren’t covered there.
There’s no date set for the next test flight for Starship after a stage blew up during a fire test.
The parachute failed on Nyx (The Exploration Company’s spacecraft) although all else went well. This is why the capsule was lost. They were carrying other payloads including one for a company that wants to grow marijuana on Mars.
Firefly Aerospace’s Ocula will be able to provide communications for a mission to the far side of the Moon.
Jared Isaacman was inspired to get into aviation by a camp he attended when he was twelve. Isaacman wanted mankind to get nuclear propulsion to replace the loss of SDS and can have nuclear propulsion in four years. [We probably lost this possibility with the withdrawal of his nomination, which we regret.]
Honda’s test flight landed fifteen inches from its starting point.
Toyota has invested in interstellar. [What about Subaru? After all, their very name means The Pleiades.] We watched the launch of Honda’s test vehicle.
The Air Force, having abandoned its plans to use Johnston Atoll as a launching pad (since it’s a bird sanctuary) is now looking at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, Wake Island in Micronesia, and Midway Island in the extended Hawaiian archipelago.
NordSpace hopes to launch 500 kg to orbit by 2027. Engine is 3D printed. [I believe this would be the first orbital launch from Canada.]
Protospace supplies parts for companies in 2-3 days.
The partial shareholders in SpaceX would not have voting privileges.
Russian military spy satellites can launch subsatellites to investigate American spy satellites, or perhaps just annoy us.
We watched an interview on Everyday Scientist with Jared Isaacman on NASA and the future of space.
--Minutes By OSA Secretary Syd Henderson
Contact person for Oklahoma Space Alliance is Claire McMurray.
PO Box 1003
Norman, OK 73070
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