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NSS and Explore Mars announce September 12th Congressional Space Blitz

Monday, July 30th, 2012

The National Space Society (NSS) and Explore Mars will be conducting the “We Choose to Explore Space” Congressional Blitz on September 12, 2012 — the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s iconic “We choose to go to the Moon” speech.

According to NSS Executive Director, Paul Damphousse, “Our nation’s space program is at a crossroads in these difficult economic times. We can think of no more fitting date for our members to have their voices heard on Capitol Hill than on the upcoming anniversary of President Kennedy’s famous speech — a momentous call to action which set the United States on a path to the Moon.”

Participants in this legislative outreach event will talk to key congressional offices about strategies for advancing our space program.

“This blitz will take place a little more than a month after the scheduled landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars,” commented Explore Mars Executive Director, Chris Carberry. “We hope that the Curiosity mission and other exciting and important developments in the space sector will lead to bi-partisan support in Congress for a sustainable and goal oriented space program.”

If you are interested in participating in the We Choose to Explore Space Blitz, please contact Rick Zucker at rick.zucker@nss.org. Otherwise, we hope that you will reach out to your members of Congress in other ways, to let them know that there is strong constituent support for an ambitious and well-funded space program.

Posted in National Space Society, Space Policy, The Space Movement | No Comments »

NSS Mourns Sally Ride - First American Woman Astronaut

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

The National Space Society (NSS) mourns the death of Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut and, at the time of her first flight, the youngest as well. Ride passed away on Monday, July 23 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Sally Ride was an extraordinary woman who spent almost her entire life as a role model to women and girls desiring to pursue careers in space and other STEM fields,” said Paul E. Damphousse, Executive Director of NSS. “She was an inspiration to many of us, men and women alike, desiring to open up the space frontier for exploration and settlement and her dedication and enthusiasm will be sorely missed by the entire space community.”

Ms. Ride was selected as one of the first five women in the astronaut corps in 1978 and her historic first flight into space took place on June 18, 1983 on board Challenger for the STS-7 mission, which deployed two communications satellites and conducted several scientific experiments. She returned to space as a member of STS-41G in 1984. A third mission for which she had been selected was cancelled after the Challenger accident in 1986. Sally Ride was the only person who served on the investigative commissions for both the Challenger and Columbia accidents.

“I remembered watching her launch with pride, and I had read and remembered her work on the Challenger commission when I met her,” said NSS Board of Governors member and CEO of XCOR Aerospace, Jeff Greason. “It was a privilege to work with her on the Augustine Committee. Her passion for education was clear and it was the subject she would turn to whenever we had a free moment. I am surprised and saddened to hear of her death.”

After a short tenure at NASA Headquarters as a special assistant to the NASA administrator for long-range and strategic planning, Ms. Ride became a highly respected physics professor at the University of California in San Diego in 1989. She founded Sally Ride Science in 2001, to pursue her long-time passion of motivating girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology.

Ride was soft-spoken and not a fan of being in the limelight, although she executed her role as the first American female astronaut with grace and style. She also faced her illness in the same way, sharing it with few and spending her last days peacefully at home. We hope she is now soaring freely among the stars….

Posted in Astronauts, National Space Society | 1 Comment »

Videos from the International Space Development Conference Online

Saturday, June 9th, 2012

Videos of presentations from the 2012 NSS International Space Development Conference in Washington, DC, are now available on the NSS website.

	Charles F. Bolden, Administrator of NASA. Opening Keynote Address. Prior to becoming NASA Administrator, Bolden was a Shuttle astronaut who flew four missions, including the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope. 60 minute video.
	SpaceX Update. The historic docking of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with the International Space Station occured during the ISDC on May 25th. This brief update by SpaceX as it was happening is accompanied by an announcement from NSS Director Jay Wittner that a portion of the remains of the late former NSS Chairman of the Executive Committee, Chris Pancratz, was aboard the Falcon 9 as it launched the Dragon. 10 minute video.
	Eric Anderson is Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Planetary Resources, Inc., a private asteroid mining venture. He is also Chairman and Co-Founder of Space Adventures, and has sold nearly half a billion dollars in spaceflight missions, including all of the self-funded private citizens to have visited the International Space Station. Eric is a member of the NSS Board of Governors. 60 minute video.
	Mark N. Sirangelo, Corporate Vice President, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and Chairman of SNC Space Systems, whose products range from spacecraft actuators that power the Mars rovers, to hybrid rocket technologies that powered the first commercial astronaut to space, to Dream Chaser, a winged and piloted orbital commercial spacecraft. 39 minute video.
	Steve Cook is Director of Space Technologies at Dynetics, which has been involved in both NASA and commercial space ventures, including the NASA Space Launch System, Stratolaunch Air Launch System, and the Google Lunar XPrize. 32 minute video.
	Art Dula, CEO and founder of Excalibur Almaz, a private spaceflight company, makes major announcements of what his company has been doing and plans to do (including private human cis-lunar flights). Mr. Dula is a member of the NSS Board of Governors. 57 minute video.

Posted in ISDC, NSS Website Updates, National Space Society | No Comments »

NSS Mourns Passing of Ray Bradbury, Author and NSS Space Pioneer Award Recipient

Friday, June 8th, 2012

The National Space Society mourns the loss of legendary author and visionary, Ray D. Bradbury, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 91.

The author of more than 50 books, Bradbury’s works encompassed many genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. He is most widely known for his novels, The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and Fahrenheit 451 (1953).

Through his vivid writing style and great imagination, many readers have been introduced to concepts such as human settlement on Mars. This has inspired great interest in that topic, stirring the imaginations of many NSS members, and has certainly contributed to the start of many careers in the sciences, and in the aerospace field in particular. His writing has helped us to better understand what it is to be human, as well as the pressing need for us to be ever mindful stewards of the future that is yet to unfold.

In appreciation and recognition of his lifetime body of work in fantasy writing, including a significant amount of science fiction, such as The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury was awarded the NSS’s prestigious Space Pioneer Award for Mass Media in 2010.

The entire NSS membership mourns his loss, and extends its condolences to the Bradbury family.

Posted in National Space Society, Science Fiction | No Comments »

NSS Congratulates SpaceX Team — Calls on Congress to Fully Fund Commercial Crew & Space Technology

Friday, June 1st, 2012

The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates Elon Musk and the entire SpaceX team on the Dragon spacecraft’s historic mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and its safe return to Earth yesterday.

“The mission was truly spectacular and marks a watershed moment in space history — proving that the commercial sector can successfully service the ISS,” said NSS Executive Director Paul E. Damphousse. “We were especially fortunate to celebrate the Dragon’s grappling at ISS on Friday morning with NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr., who was at that very moment addressing an audience of nearly one thousand at NSS’s recent International Space Development Conference (ISDC).”

ISDC, the National Space Society’s annual conference, wrapped up in Washington, DC earlier this week. Administrator Bolden was delivering the opening keynote speech just as Dragon approached and then berthed at the ISS.

The safe return of Dragon and the advancement of commercial cargo and crew programs mark true milestones on the path to enabling a space-faring civilization. NASA’s efforts to advance space technology will also have a significant impact: technologies such as cryogenic propellant storage and transfer (CPST), solar electric propulsion (SEP), and advanced robotics are “mission-multipliers,” and are but a few examples being advanced by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist. These efforts will help to enable robust space operations while providing dramatic reductions in overall costs.

NSS recognizes that there is still much to be done, and maintains that strong leadership in government will be critical going forward. In this context, NSS calls on the Senate to fully fund the commercial crew development program and space technology lines of the NASA budget as proposed in the President’s FY2013 budget request earlier this year, removing the proposed cuts made by the House in May. While NSS acknowledges the difficult budgetary parameters under which Congress must work, we strongly encourage both Houses of Congress to accede to the President’s request for both commercial crew and space technology during conference later this year.

“The successful conclusion of SpaceX’s COTS-2/3 missions has demonstrated that the commercial sector is now ready to move forward with increased responsibility for servicing ISS, including the development of crew transport capability,” Damphousse said. “If funded and executed correctly, the commercial crew program will end our sole reliance on foreign providers and bring that capability — and the jobs associated with it — back home. We should be preserving funding for these commercial and space technology programs — which are producing tangible successes today, and will continue to do so in the near-term and beyond — rather than shifting it to already well-funded programs that may be years away from providing results.

Posted in Commercial Spaceflight, National Space Society, Space Policy | No Comments »

NSS Congratulates SpaceX on a Magnificent First Docking of Dragon Capsule and Successful Launch of NSS “Special Payload”

Friday, May 25th, 2012

The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) on a successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and first docking of their Dragon space capsule with the International Space Station (ISS). “SpaceX has achieved a milestone in commercial space development by being the first private company to make it to the International Space Station,” said Paul E. Damphousse, Executive Director of the National Space Society. “NASA and the commercial space team is joining together both symbolically and physically for this historic event. This marks the very first use of a privately operated rocket system to deliver cargo to the ISS, ushering in a new era of commercial space enterprise. Their successful flight is a testament to SpaceX’s commitment to making space travel missions much less expensive and much more routine.”

At 3:44 am Tuesday, May 22, 2002, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The National Space Society cheered the launch as Falcon carried Dragon on its way to the ISS, further opening the doors to making commercial space flight into low Earth orbit commonplace.

“On Friday, May 25, the National Space Society, along with a number of commercial space companies were cheering on the progress of the Dragon spacecraft real-time while at the Society’s 2012 International Space Development Conference (ISDC) being held in Washington D.C. May 24-28,” said Damphousse. “After a series of systems tests and a space station flyby, conference attendees watched as the Dragon spacecraft achieved rendezvous and berth with the ISS on Friday, May 25.”

The National Space Society is proud to have a very special payload of our own aboard this historic mission. Nine years ago Chris Pancratz, former Chairman of the Executive Committee, passed away. The NSS Board of Directors wished to honor him by purchasing a memorial spaceflight from the Celestis Corporation. A tiny portion of Chris, along with Star Trek actor James Doohan (Scotty) and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper, reached space at long last on this flight of Falcon 9. The NSS leadership wishes him well and is delighted that Chris had the chance to participate in opening the space frontier…both as a leader of NSS, and as a flight participant today.

Pancratz wrote: “It has always been my dream to travel into space. Some years ago, I decided I could not just sit and hope. If I were to have my chance I needed to do whatever I could to help make my dream happen.”

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was the Keynote speaker for the ISDC Opening Plenary Session. He spoke about the successful capture of Dragon, which took place during his speech.

In addition, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver is the Keynote speaker for NSS’s Annual Awards Dinner on Sunday evening, May 27th. The award winners are carrying forward the legacy of Chris Pancratz.

The months and years to come will see the burgeoning use of multiple families of new launch vehicles — the Falcon 9 among them — for cargo transportation and, in time, crew transportation. The ambitions of SpaceX extend beyond low-Earth orbit to Mars, and going beyond low Earth orbit is integral to expanding our economic sphere — indeed our civilization — into the solar system.

Posted in Commercial Spaceflight, National Space Society | 2 Comments »

Space Ambassadors Update Announcement

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

This advisory announcement is to update everyone that the selection and assignments of the top 10 ambassadors from the Space Ambassadors Program will not be announced at the National Space Society’s 2012 International Space Development Conference. The selection announcement is being deferred to a future ISDC. We hope at that time to have additional opportunities for participating Ambassadors.

The National Space Society would like to thank everyone for the ongoing efforts at the grassroots level to inspire, educate, and communicate the daily life benefits of space exploration and research, and for all who are participating in this outreach program. We hope the experience is as fulfilling to you as it is important to your communities and all of our futures.

Posted in National Space Society | No Comments »

	Jim Muncy, Government Relations Consultant at XCOR. 64 minute video.
	Alexandra Hall, Senior Director, Google Lunar X Prize. 44 minute video.
	Rick Tumlinson, Founder of Earthlight Institute. 52 minute video.
	NSS 25th Anniversary Awards Presentations. 2 videos, 2 hours total.
	Conference Wrap-Up: Paul E. Damphousse, NSS Executive Director. 52 minute video.

National Space Society Blog

Archive for the ‘National Space Society’ Category

NSS and Explore Mars announce September 12th Congressional Space Blitz

NSS Mourns Sally Ride - First American Woman Astronaut

More Videos from the International Space Development Conference

More Videos from the International Space Development Conference

More Videos from the International Space Development Conference

Videos from the International Space Development Conference Online

NSS Mourns Passing of Ray Bradbury, Author and NSS Space Pioneer Award Recipient

NSS Congratulates SpaceX Team — Calls on Congress to Fully Fund Commercial Crew & Space Technology

NSS Congratulates SpaceX on a Magnificent First Docking of Dragon Capsule and Successful Launch of NSS “Special Payload”

Space Ambassadors Update Announcement

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	Michael Lopez-Alegria, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander. Saturday Luncheon Keynote Address. 73 minute video.
	Doug McCuistion, Director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. 58 minute video.
	International Space Sustainability Panel: Sarah Factor, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy; Philippe Hazane, CNES Representative and Space Attache, French Embassy; Ade Abiodun, Former Chairman of UN COPUOS; Lynn Cline, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, Retired. Chaired by Mike Simpson, Secure World Foundation. 81 minute video.

	Jeff Greason: The 20 Year Plan? Saturday Dinner Keynote Address. Greason is president of XCOR Aerospace and was a member of the President’s Human Space Flight Review Committee (Augustine Committee) in 2009. 54 minute video.
	NSS 25th Anniversary Governors Gala at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum featuring Master of Ceremonites Hugh Downs (Chairman of the NSS Board of Governors), Senator John Glenn, Commander Scott Carpenter, and Mark Sirangelo (Chairman, Sierra Nevada Space Systems). 70 minute video.