Tomorrow’s News – NSS Phoenix Space News

28 September 2009

• Stephen Hawking called for a massive investment in establishing colonies on the Moon and Mars in a lecture in honour of NASA’s 50th anniversary. He argued that the world should devote about 10 times as much as NASA’s current budget – or 0.25% of the world’s financial resources – to space.
• The Ares I processing continues toward a 27 October 2009 launch. Descriptions of progress and problems can be seen here.
• For a very detailed view of the lunar surface from the LRO mission, check out this image.

For folks looking for tidbits on space exploration, add NSS Phoenix Space News page to your RSS feed.

Space Tourism – Taking Off?

Two magazines arrived in my mailbox last week. Both had “Space Tourism” as their cover story. one was Ad Astra (Summer 2009), the quarterly magazine of the National Space Society. The other was Aviation Week (September 7, 2009). On their cover, both magazines had photographs of Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two, built by Scaled Composites in Mojave, California. While the Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composite venture (at $200,00 per flight) is the best known, there are a lot of other private spacecraft in development. XCOR – Augustine Commission member, Jeff Greason is CEO of XCOR. Their Lynx vehicle will carry one pilot and one passenger to an altitude of 38 miles (61 km). Total flight time is around 30 mijnutes from takeoff to landing. Propulsion is a liquid oxygen / kerosene rocket engine (Lynx 5K18). The Lynx Mark 2 is designed for 68 miles (110 km). Cost is $95,000 per flight. Rocketplane Global – Having spent in excess of $24 million on their XP suborbital space plane, the financial mess has made it difficult to raise capital. Chuck Lauer, CEO, said that more than $100 million of additional costs would be needed to get to first flight. Blue Origin – Jeff Bezos’ company has been conducting test flights of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle since 2006. “Flight opportunities in 2011 may be availablefor autonomous or remotely-controlled experiments on an un-crewed flight test”, according to the website. Talis Enterprise – Testing of the BlackSky prototype is scheduled for 2010. Maximum altitude is 28 miles (46 km). A larger six passenger craft, Enterprise, is scheduled to begin flying passengers in 2013. Cost is estimated to be between $30,000 and $50,000 per flight. EADS Astrium – The winged space plane for suborbital tourism has been put on hold, pending the current economic situation. Space Adventures – Having announced plans in 2006 to build a suborbital vehicle, the company is focusing instead on trips to the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz space craft. Armadillo Aerospace – Having already won the Level 1 $350,000 prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, John Carmack (DOOM and Quake) and his company are in the lead to capture the Level 2 prize of $1,000,000. However, they have announced that a deal to build a suborbital tourism vehicle will not happen.

Image: Dave Fischer used by permission

NSS Shirts, Hats, ETC. available NOW !!!

Here is the link you can visit to get your NSS clothing and merchandise:

www.cafepress.com/spacetourism

NSS Chapter Project and Events Committees

Information needed  from each NSS Chapter in order to put YOUR Chapter Event / Project information on an NSS Chapter Project and Events web page:

Chapter Name Chapter Contact (full name, e-mail) Project/Event Title Project/Event Description Project/Event weblink PR received for project

 

Please indicate if this is a “Project” or an “Event” as well s the date(s) these take place. 

NSS Chapters Committee

About the Chapters Committee

• This committee is charged with the responsibility of fostering productive relations between chapters and between chapters and the National Space Society at large. The committee monitors programs for and of chapters and makes recommendations on projects and programs to serve the mutual interests of NSS and its chapters.
• The Chapters’ Assembly will report to the NSS Board through the Chapters Committee.
• This committee shall be comprised of board members who volunteer their services to the committee, regional board members, and appointed members from the chapters’ community who are willing to serve in established committee posts established to conduct the business of the committee. Appointments are subject to the approval of the NSS Executive Committee.
• The Chair of this committee is the NSS Vice President of Chapters.

We are currently operating under the 2001 Chapters Committee Bylaws.Committee Members

As of November 16, 2006 the NSS Vice President of Chapters is Candace Pankanin and the following committee officers have been appointed:

• Chair: Candace Pankanin
• Chapters Assembly Representative: Thomas Koszoru
• Advisor and Facilitator: Larry Ahearn
• Secretary: Arthur Smith
• International Chapters Coordinator: Michael James
• U.S. Chapters Coordinator: Bennett Rutledge
• Projects and Events Coordinator: Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto
• Resources Coordinator:  Dale Grady
• Internet Coordinator: Ronnie Lajoie
• David Stuart

The general membership of the committee also includes the following individuals:

Jim Spellman, Bryce Walden, Claire McMurray, George Howard, Harry Reed, Elaine Walker, Craig Ward, John Strickland, Bill Higgins, Mike Fulda, Don Doughty, Mark Hopkins, Greg Allison and Bruce Mackenzie,  Fred Becker, Peter Kokh

For additional information about the Chapters Committee, please contact Candace Pankanin 

NSS Awards and Scholarships

The National Space Society Awards Committee manages a number of awards which are given annually at the International Space Development Conferences. These include awards for individual volunteer effort, awards for NSS chapters, the Space Pioneer Awards, and two significant awards given in alternate years:

• The Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award, given in even-numbered years (2004, 2006, etc.); the 2006 recipient was General Chuck Yeager.
• The NSS Von Braun Award, given in odd-numbered years (2003, 2005, etc.); the 2005 recipient was Burt Rutan.

NSS also conducted an NSS Banner design contest.

Other scholarships and award activities NSS provides or assists with include:

• NSS-ISU scholarship, worth $12,000, to the International Space University. Application deadline is December 31 of each year, for study in the following year. 2005 recipient was Robert Guinness of St. Louis.
• EURISY international youth science fiction writing competition (NSS provided US support in 2005).
• Permission to Dream from the Space Frontier Foundation is partly sponsored by NSS.

READING SPACE: NSS Reviews and Recommended Reading

READING SPACE:  NSS Reviews and Recommended Reading

Whenever you purchase anything from Amazon.com, please use any of our links to enter their site. NSS will receive credit for anything you purchase in that session. You can also right-click the Amazon logo to the right and save it as a bookmark or favorite. It helps NSS and doesn’t cost you a penny more!

NSS REVIEW: Non-Fiction Book of the Month (OCT) More Non-Fiction Books Title: Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir Author: Bryan Burrough Date: 1998		NSS REVIEW: Fiction Book of the Month (OCT) More Fiction Books Title: Hurricane Moon Author: Alexis Glynn Latner Date: July, 2007		NSS REVIEW: Children’s Book of the Month (OCT) More Children’s Books Title: Spacer and Rat Author: Margaret Bechard Date: 2005
The gripping story of seven American astronauts and their missions to the dangerously decaying Mir space station.		The hopes and dreams of humanity ride with ten thousand colonists frozen in a ship sent to settle an extra-solar planet.		Engaging story of two young people on a space colony in the asteroid belt; impressive job of creating a complete fictional world.
Read our review by Stephen Adamczyk		Read our review by Marianne Dyson		Read our review by Marianne Dyson

Books are selected for recommendation based on their connection to the NSS vision of people living and working in space. Reviews are provided by members of the NSS Space Books Committee and other individuals. Opinions expressed are those of the reviewers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Space Society. Contact Space Books Committee Chairman Marianne Dyson with comments or requests for book reviews. Note: NSS does not review self- or pod-published books.

Space Tourism

“The sheer beauty of it just brought tears to my eyes. If people can see Earth from up here, see it without those borders, see it without any differences in race or religion, they would have a completely different perspective. Because when you see it from that angle, you cannot think of your home or your country. All you can see is one Earth….” — Anousheh Ansari, Iranian-American space tourist who flew to the International Space Station in September 2006.

“It was amazing.  The zero-g part was wonderful.  I could have gone on and on – space here I come.”      — Stephen Hawking, renowned British astrophysicist who was able to leave his wheel chair and experience zero-gravity aboard a parabolic airplane flight on April 26, 2007. Hawking plans to fly on SpaceShipTwo when it offers suborbital space flights.

 

Space Tourism Leads to Space Settlement
NSS Position Paper on Space Tourism

LINKS & RESOURCES

Space Adventures
X-Prize Foundation
Space Access Society
Scaled Composites
Virgin Galactic
Zero-G Corporation

Anousheh Ansari – First Female Private Space Explorer
Space Future – Space Tourism
Wikipedia – Space Tourism
Space Tourism Society
Space Tourism – Multimedia Special Report (13 minutes)
NSS News Archive on Space Tourism
Review: The Space Tourist’s Handbook

NSS Legislative Alert

NSS Legislative and Grassroots Action Center

Guidelines for Contacting Congress

NSS Legislative Alert

LoST Alert 03 Oct 07

Private Property Rights in Space in Serious Jeopardy due to the Law of the Sea Treaty (LoST)!

NSS White Paper: Rejecting the Law of the Sea Treaty (LoST)

Message your Senators!

Please stop the Senate from ratifying the Law of the Sea Treaty (LoST). The “Common Heritage of Mankind” language in the treaty and numerous provisions therein will not only make practical development of vast resources on Earth extremely difficult, but it can set precedent that would render the even grander resources of outer-space impossible to develop. This treaty is an attack on property rights and the sovereignty of the United States. Vote NO on LoST!

All Senators and Members of Congress can be reached by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at:

202-224-3121

Position Statement

The National Space Society believes that the United States should reject the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, also known as the Law of the Sea Treaty (LoST). We believe that the Senate should not ratify LoST because it subjects the U.S. and other nations to unnecessary and counterproductive international authority; sets a bad precedent for signing other, more restrictive “common heritage of mankind” treaties; inhibits the future development of space resources; and is in fact unnecessary since the U.S. already complies with the portions of the Treaty that do NOT inhibit resource development.

Specific Policy Objections

We believe the United States President and Senate must reject LoST as it is currently written for the following reasons:

LoST Sets a Bad Precedent for Signing Future Treaties

Ratification would set a bad precedent for the future development and settlement of outer space. The L5 Society, one of the founding organizations of NSS, fought successfully against the Moon Treaty, another “common heritage” treaty that is based on LoST. If the U.S. signed LoST, it would face increasing pressure to sign the Moon Treaty, which explicitly prohibits private development of resources from the unexplored reaches of our world and solar system. We believe private development is the best way for the resources of Earth or space to be used to improve human life everywhere.

LoST Subjects the U.S. and Other Nations to International Authority

Part XI establishes an international bureaucracy with the power to approve, oversee, transfer technology from, and tax private enterprises that explore the open seas to an unprecedented and unnecessary degree. We believe the nations of the world should be free to establish their own footholds in space in cooperation with other nations without being subject to approval by an international authority.

LoST Will Inhibit the Development of Space Resources

Resources that are ultimately necessary to the future health of our civilization will be subject to, as well as confiscated and redistributed by, the UN, an organization with a long history of acting against the best interest of the United States and a poor history of managing anything. The very future of our civilization will depend upon the resources and technologies gained by exploring new worlds. We should not restrict that future through short-sighted decisions today. Accepting the UN’s mandate on future resource development will mean a dimmer future for all—not just the United States. Free enterprise must be allowed to continue to expand, on this world and others for the sake of our global civilization.

The U.S. Already Complies with LoST, Except Part XI

As a major international partner, the U.S. already complies with most provisions of the LoST convention and recognizes other nations’ rights under the Treaty. However, if the U.S. signs the Treaty, we also must accept Part XI, which is directly detrimental to U.S. interests with no advantage to us. NSS does not believe the U.S. should accept a Treaty that offers no benefit from signing it, especially if we are already enjoying its benefits and obeying its provisions without being a signatory.

Conclusion

LoST is an all-or-nothing treaty; if the U.S. signs it, we must accept all of it, even Part XI, which will set the stage for preventing human access to the resources of the seabed and, eventually, space. We believe the resources of this world and others should be explored and developed by free people, not subjected to an international bureaucracy. Therefore, NSS urges the Senate and the President to renegotiate LoST or to continue complying with all of it except Part XI.

What should you say when you call the members of the Senate?

Here are some talking points you can use:

Specific Objections to Part XI of the LoST

Despite the 1994 modifications, NSS reiterates its objections to signing LoST for the following reasons:

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) Creates a Centralized, Command Economy

• LoST still treats the resources of the sea beds as the “common heritage of mankind.” The “common heritage” clause equates to developing nations having a preponderant say, share, and veto power over the ability of United States citizens and companies to develop the resources of the seas or space.
• The international centralized economy of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) remains an inefficient and ineffective means of exploiting the world’s unclaimed seabeds.
• Private individuals or companies are less likely to develop ocean or space resources if they know that an unelected, unaccountable international organization or a developing nation could seize their profits or technologies at its convenience.
• LoST, like its offspring the Moon Treaty, creates strong disincentives for private individuals to develop these new resources, however beneficial their eventual exploitation may be to humanity as a whole. By making the resources of the Earth or space as the common heritage of mankind, we ensure that there will be NO heritage.
• Nations that sponsor seabed mining companies are financially liable for damages caused by their citizens. This discourages development, as developed nations are often unwilling to pay for damages of this sort.
• “Pioneer” individuals or companies must provide two sites for development—one for the pioneer and one for the ISA to develop or hand over to a developing nation.
• The Treaty still favors state-run or state-sponsored enterprises rather than individual, private, or public corporations.

For more background information, see the NSS White Paper: Rejecting the Law of the Sea Treaty (LoST).

After contacting your senator or congressperson, email the results of your conversation to Greg Allison (ghallison4space@yahoo.com) or Bart Leahy (bart_leahy@hotmail.com) so the NSS Policy Committee can track Congress’s position on a particular bill or issue. Thank you for getting involved and supporting NSS!

Please get all call out and feedback complete by 19 Oct 07.

Guidelines for contacting Congress

Moon, Mars, and Beyond is in serious jeopardy!

Mars Alert 04Sep07

When the United States House of Representatives recently passed its version of the FY08 budget, the House approved language in the NASA budget that would restrict NASA from spending any money on programs that are exclusively intended for human missions to Mars. This language poses a real danger to the future of the program. It not only endangers future human missions to the red planet but also undermines the rationale behind out successful robotic Mars program.

According to NSS Executive Director, George Whiteside’s, “This shortsighted language must be changed. At a time when Europe, Russia, and China are turning their attention towards Mars, this language would hobble America’s leadership position in exploration of the red planet.”

It is NOT too late to prevent this language from ending up in the final budget. The U.S. Senate budget version does not include this language and House Appropriations members can still help remove the language during the Conference Committee. However, they are unlikely to do this if they don’t hear any objections from their constituents and the space advocacy community.

We need you to take a stand. How? You need to call your representatives in Congress (Senate and House) and express your opposition to this anti-Mars language. In addition, tell Congress that NASA needs to be funded at the level that Congress itself agreed to fund the space program in the 2005 NASA Authorization Act.

What should you say when you call? The following are guidelines but use your own words.

1. I am calling to object to the anti-Mars language that has been placed in the House Appropriations Bill. The language, which was inserted by staff, would forbid NASA from working on human Mars exploration. This language will weaken NASA’s entire exploration program, cutting out the real rationale behind our successful robotic Mars program. We must not have this language in the final appropriations bill for NASA.

2. Congress should also support a top-line increase in NASA’s budget, which is an investment in America’s future. We hope that you will support the funding level that Congress overwhelmingly agreed in the 2005 NASA Authorization Act.

Guidelines for contacting Congress

Find Your Elected Officials