NSS Online Report
Issue #14 / May 2001
Inside this issue:
New ISDC 2001 Features: Pat Rawlings, Re-mastered 2001, and Arthur C. Clarke
Visit the Foundry at ISDC 2001
NSS HQ in the Media
Space Panel on Capitol Hill
Space Symposium
Online List of 2001 Air Shows
Note for Chapter Coordinators
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NEW ISDC 2001 FEATURES:
Space Artist Pat Rawlings,
Free Showing of the Re-mastered “2001” and
A Live Conversation With Sir Arthur C. Clarke!
The “2001: A Space Odyssey” dinner on Saturday, May 26, was already a
highly anticipated event, featuring Keir Dullea (played astronaut Dave Bowman
in the movie), Dan Richter (played Moonwatcher, the Apeman), Frederick Ordway
(technical advisor to the film), Robert McCall (the space artist who created
the famous promotional posters for the movie), and a videotaped message from
Sir Arthur C. Clarke. The banquet will now conclude with a live speakerphone
call from Sir Arthur himself! Following the banquet, there will be a free
showing of the new, re-mastered version of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Tickets are still available for ALL of the banquets and most of the
tours. See the web page at www.isdc.org for registration forms and details
on all of the exciting events and programs.
All day Thursday, May 24 and Friday, May 25 special symposia and
seminars are FREE with your registration to ISDC 2001! These include the
Astrogeology Symposium, the Space Development Entrepreneurial Seminar, and
the Space System Safety and Reliability Symposium.
Pat Rawlings is one of the most prominent space artists in the world
today. He will be available for poster-signing sessions on Saturday, May 26
and Sunday, May 27. Mr. Rawlings will join five other space artists at the
ISDC’s Space Art Show, which will be held in the exhibit area.
On Friday, May 25, Peter Diamandis will give an update on X-Prize
launcher concepts. Also on May 25, he will join a very distinguished panel
discussion on “The Future of Reusable Launch Vehicles” which will include
representatives of Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences Corp., and the
U.S. Air Force.
The program schedule for Monday morning, May 28, continues to grow.
It now includes four parallel sessions! The latest additions are: Mars Sample
Return Mission, by Robert Bailey of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Brown
Dwarf Radio Emission Discovery, by Ian Hoffman, Univ. of New Mexico; Solar
Electromotive Propulsion, by A. Sukhodolsky; and Post-Newtonian Propulsion
Technology, by Benjamin Solomon. The Advanced In-Space Propulsion session
(six presentations) is now scheduled for Monday morning. See the “Program
Grid” on the web page for a revised schedule of all four and a half days of
ISDC programs — over 160 presentations!
VISIT THE FOUNDRY AT ISDC 2001
Do you want to help put the human race into space? Are you tired of
watching from the sidelines but unsure how to get involved? Do you have
project concepts you would like to pursue? Come to the Foundry at the 2001
ISDC in Albuquerque, New Mexico starting on the 25th of May.
The Foundry is a project incubator workshop. The Foundry helps
participants turn good ideas into doable projects. The Foundry brings
together those who are willing to work for a project with the necessary
expertise and resources to make that project successful. The Foundry is open
to anyone who wants to participate.
Funding is available for NSS chapter projects and the Foundry will be
the process for establishing which chapter projects get funded, and by how
much. The Foundry process will also enable participants to identify other
potential funding sources and prepare them to apply for this funding. The
Foundry leadership has experience in project fund raising such as contributor
programs, NASA grants for non-profit organizations, venture capital, and NASA
and commercial contracts for profit seeking space development ventures.
Do you want to put on a space day for kids or build an experiment to
fly in space? Are you interested in performing space-related studies or
laying the groundwork for even bigger endeavors? Interested in starting a
space-related business? These are only examples of ideas that people are
bringing to the Foundry to further develop, plan, line up resources for, and
execute. The Foundry organizers understand that there are some things the
government can’t or won’t do. It is therefore the goal of the Foundry to
further space-based private initiatives, whether they are for profit or non-
profit.
Suppose you want to come to the Foundry but you don’t have any
project ideas in mind? If you do not have a scheme in mind (not everybody
does) but want to help, you are needed and welcome. Those with projects in
mind will need your help, your contribution. In a project of any size, a
number of individual’s efforts are required at some point to complete the
endeavor. Initially we will go over all the proposed project ideas. You can
then see which projects you want to work on.
HAL5, the Huntsville Alabama chapter of NSS, will offer the 2001 ISDC
Foundry a set of “ready-to-bake pre-canned” projects for other NSS chapters.
One is the opportunity to participate in HAL5Ãs High Altitude Lift-Off (HALO)
Program. The HALO Program consist of two development projects, hybrid rocket
systems, and balloon launched rocket (rockoon) systems. HAL5 plans to fly
student payloads, after the first demonstration flight, into space on
suborbital trajectories. The other project, HALO Achievement, is being
developed under the guidelines of Junior Achievement to take space education
into the classroom. Fifth graders will learn the characteristics of space
and form project teams to develop concepts for sending Rascal the Rockoon
Raccoon to Mars. Seventh graders will participate in Junior Cadet Foundries
to develop projects for flying experiments on ground launched amateur rockets
and high-altitude weather balloons. The Junior Cadet Foundries will last
from six to nine weeks in the classroom, and up to all year as an
extracurricular activity. Twelfth graders will participate in Senior Cadet
Foundries to propose projects to fly on HALO rockoon missions.
Another source of project concepts may be found at the following website:
www.nss.ac/hub/projects.htm
We must help ourselves get into space. Our goals are ambitious and
will not happen overnight. Our goals will be accomplished incrementally,
with contributions from many different disciplines, over several years. The
Foundry is structured to accommodate this biteñsized approach to space. Most
projects have common up front planning activities. They include thinking
through common issues such as major tasks involved in a project, manpower and
other resources required, and potential pitfalls to avoid. How these
questions are answered is dependent on project size, type, complexity and
duration. Putting on a space fair at a school involves different resources
and problems than building an experiment for space. The Foundry, however,
can accommodate the up front planning for both activities as well as many
others, and has available resources useful to each of them.
How can you become involved? We are currently signing up
Participants and Consultants. A Foundry Participant has a project in mind or
wants to help with one, and agrees to attend the Foundry during the 1998
ISDC. Foundry Participants will be sent a packet with more detailed
information on how to prepare for the Foundry.
A Foundry Consultant agrees to volunteer his or her
experience/expertise during the 2001 ISDC as needed. Expertise in the fields
of marketing, finance, technical and scientific disciplines, and others, are
needed. The idea is to utilize the expertise already available at the
conference.
ISDC conference attendees are a select group. They are doers,
dreamers, and thinkers. They can and do actively work towards the goals of
living and working and exploring space. The Foundry can help. If you are
interested in this activity, as either a Foundry Participant or a Foundry
Consultant, or would like further information please contact:
Greg Allison
PMB 168
1019 Old Monrovia Road
Huntsville, AL 35805
(256) 961-1774 (day) or (256) 859-5538 (evenings)
Email address: ghallison@aol.com
NSS HEADQUARTERS UPDATE
In The Media
It’s been a busy interview month for both Executive Director Pat
Dasch and Ad Astra Editor Frank Sietzen. Together they have given over 50
interviews to radio, television, newspapers, and websites about the historic
space flight of Mr. Dennis Tito.
On Capitol Hill
Frank Sietzen represented NSS on a commercial space panel sponsored
by Patton-Boggs on April 5th at the Hart Senate Office Building where he
discussed commercialization of the space station and the need for a new
approach to requirements for the 2nd generation reusable launchers.
At the Space Symposium
Pat Dasch represented NSS at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs
April 9th-12th. The symposium provided a great opportunity to catch up on
new developments in the area of military space policy and to discuss
commercial opportunities within new elements of military space policy. The
symposium also provided an excellent opportunity to meet with some members of
the organization team for ISDC 2002 which will be held in Denver, Board
members Stewart Nozette, Pete Worden, Charlie Walker, and Robert Zubrin, and
former Board member Greg Zsidisin. Mandy Hutchison and Luke Sauter from the
very active Air Force Academy Chapter of NSS joined Pat Dasch and Buzz Aldrin
at the Tuesday night symposium dinner.
ONLINE LIST OF 2001 AIR SHOWS
An online list of 2001 Air Shows is available on the World Wide Web
at members.aol.com/kburna325fw/schedule.html. More than 150 air shows are
scheduled during the remainder of 2001, all across the United States. In
addition to providing an aerial spectacle, these shows may also provide a
public outreach opportunity for NSS chapters. Show web pages and contact
information and provided on the list.
CHAPTER COORDINATORS:
Please be sure to report any chapter contact changes to
nssmembers@aol.com to ensure that the most up-to-date information will appear
in Ad Astra and on our website.
