Minutes of October 11 Oklahoma Space Alliance Meeting
Oklahoma Space Alliance met October 11, 2025, at the Cyber Hall and Gaming Lounge at Norman Computers in Norman, Oklahoma. Attending in person were Clifford McMurray, Adam Hemphill, David Sheely, and Syd Henderson. 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/Update2510.pdf , so I’ll cover the details that aren’t covered there.
VIPER needs $86 million to continue, which is far less than what has already been spent on it.
Voyager 1 is about to get one light-day from Earth, the first spacecraft to achieve that milestone. You can imagine how long it would take to go to Alpha Centauri (if it were going in that direction).
We were discussing a proposal to use solar sails to take tiny spacecraft to Alpha Centauri, These could use the Oberth effect, which involves getting close to the Sun to pick up velocity from sunlight.
With SpaceX launching Starship frequently, air flights from northern Florida could be delayed twenty minutes to two hours. Fishermen could be delayed going out to sea, and cruise ships which go from the Space Coast could be delayed.
Neutron may achieve thirty launches through 2029. [I think we’re awaiting the first.] Neutron will be fully reuseable. It can carry 13000 kg to low Earth orbit. We watched a video on Neutron with Peter Beck.
The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is 350 km and its orbit is deteriorating rapidly due to increased solar activity. The Katalyst Space mission to boost its orbit would be the first time a commercial spacecraft has done such a capture; The Gehrels Swift Observatory is twenty years old and spacecraft of that time weren’t designed to be gripped.
Stokes spacecraft NOVA is designed to be fully reuseable.
France (as well as Germany) wants space defense capabilities.
The Psyche probe’s laser communications showed capabilities equivalent to household broadband.
We looked at the high-resolution photographs of the Shijian-26 spacecraft taken in June. The US and China are taking turns photographing each other’s spacecraft.
Among the 18 missions on the chopping block by the Trump administration (not counting OSIRIS-APEX, whose funding has been restored) are the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, New Horizons, the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope, Juno and Maven.
Removing the top ten largest pieces of space debris from orbit would reduce potential debris by 30%.
The DARPA Field Guide is online can be downloaded.
We watched a video in TARS [starshot solar sail project]. TARS would consist of two paddles with reflective surfaces. The idea is the craft would spin faster and faster until it released its miniprobes. I’m curious what would keep TARS from ripping itself apart.
--Minutes By OSA Secretary Syd Henderso
Contact person for Oklahoma Space Alliance is Clifford Mcmurray
PO Box 1003
Norman, OK 73070
Webmaster is Syd Henderson.
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