Veronica Will Speak at the Phoenix Astronomical Society

The Phoenix Astronomical Society will host its next meeting on Thursday 6 January at Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) in room G-147. The meeting room opens at 7 pm, and the meeting starts at 7:30, and goes to 9:15. Bring a snack to share. Bottled water will be provided by PAS. The previous meeting on 2 December meeting featured Richard Greenberg from Tucson, who did a very interesting presentation on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. 11 January is the Centennial School Star Party from 5:30 – 8pm. 13 January is the PAS Telescope Workshop & Star Party at PVCC from 7pm to 10pm by the Telescope Dome. 22 January is the PARTY OF THE YEAR! The PAS Social. Consult the PAS Times for additional information.

The speaker at this month’s meeting on 6 January, is Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto from the Phoenix chapter of the National Space Society. Her topic is “Astronauts for hire”. Astronauts for Hire is a non-profit corporation whose members are available for hire by researchers to conduct experiments, including parabolic trajectory microgravity research flights. Astronauts4Hire serves as the matchmaker among the suborbital research community, training providers, and spaceflight operators. Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto has lived and traveled across the United States and Canada. She has had the opportunity to work on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover missions, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express mission and was the Coordinator for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera located within the Science Operations Center at Arizona State University. As Commander of the Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition (F.L.A.M.E.) from 2005-present, Zabala-Aliberto has gained expertise in lunar and martian analogue studies, human factors adaption and education outreach. Mission highlights included that of commanding international crews to the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) which are noted to be the first lunar and martian studies to incorporate children under the age of eighteen in a series of analogue missions. During her field seasons at MDRS, she accumulated a total of 150 EVA hours with a total of combined lunar/Martian simulation time of 320 hours. In addition to being an avid adventurer, aviation enthusiast and noted space activist, Zabala-Aliberto spends most of her time educating and inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers and promotes robotic and human space exploration and settlement. She has been invited to give keynotes and lectures from various venues such at the NASA Summer Mars and Robotics Camp to various scientific and leisure conventions and conferences. She currently serves as the Phoenix, Arizona Chapter President for the National Space Society (Chapter President 2000present, Board of Directors 2006-2008) and just recently won an election to serve as an At-Large Director for the National Space Society (2010-2014). She has been a Mars Society Phoenix Chapter member (Chapter President from 2000-2006, Chapter member from 2000-present), Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Ambassador (2004-present), Planetary Society State Coordinator (2006-2009), Yuri’s Night Coordinator for Phoenix, Arizona (2008-present), and Geological Society of America member (2008-present).

NSS and Second Life: Information Needed Please

I am in the process of writing an article on Second Life and the NSS
and how it has improved the NSS’s identity and development within a
participating NSS Chapter and the NSS as a whole.

If there are any Chapters and/or their members utilizing Second Life,
I would very much like to hear from you.

If you can e-mail me back with the following information by July 31st,
by 5pm (MST) that would be great!

Chapter Name

When did you start using Second Life?

How did you hear about Second Life?

What are you using Second Life for?

Has it helped/hindered your Chapter’s development/projects?

Why is Second Life important to the NSS and its goals?

Do you think that this can be used as an education outreach tool?

Do you think this could help the NSS promote its goals in the next
Presidential election?

Please provide your Chapter’s/members’ land purchased, screen names
(optional), websites of interest and point of contact for your
Chapter’s/members’ Second Life reality for more information if needed.

Additional comments?

Please send pictures if available.

Thanks in advance !

Cheers,

Veronica Ann
Region 3 Director

—
Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto
Arizona State University
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
Science Operation Center
Admin A-Wing, Room,A103
Tempe, AZ 85281-3603
Telephone: 480.727.9486(LROC SOC)
FAX:  480-965-8885
Email: Veronica.Zabala@asu.edu

Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition (F.L.A.M.E.) and the NSS

02 August 2007

Folks,

As CDR of the Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition Crew (F.L.A.M.E.), I would like to invite all to apply for our open Chief Engineer Crew Slot as well as for any Media entities.  I am willing to make an allowance for an extra Crew Member Slot to be opened for anyone seriously interested in learning the protocols necessary to live and work on Mars.

We are actively seeking a Chief Engineer for our rotation.  If you know anyone that is interested, please have them contact me at:   Veronica.Zabala@NSS.org

The Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition Crew (F.L.A.M.E.) currently consists of the following:

Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto, Commander
Stacy Sklar, Executive Officer, Exopaleontologist
Chief Engineer, Crew Slot Open
Jared Szymanoski, Chief HSO, Educator
Angelina Amanda Zabala, Executive Officer in Training, EVA Technician
Madeline “Mad Dog” Marie Zabala, HSO in Training, Mission Specialist
Gino Vincenzo Zabala, Security Officer, Assistant Engineer
Media Personnel:  Currently Open

Preliminary documents which are needed are:

Resume

3 Letters of Reference

8 X 10 Picture

500 word essay on what your qualifications are, your interests in human and robotic space exploration and why (in your opinion) we should go to the Moon, Mars and Beyond

These documents can be e-mailed to me at:  Veronica.Zabala@NSS.org with the Subject Line entitled “Your Name_FLAME2008 Application”

For more information on F.L.A.M.E. and the Mars Desert REsearch Station please visit:  www.marssociety.org/MDRS

F.L.A.M.E.’s next rotation is March 1-16, 2008.

***We are also actively seeking any sponsorships and donations for our next mission.  If you know of any individuals and/or organizations to do so, please have them contact me.

Thank you in advance!  I do hope our NSS Chapter members will get involved in this great educational venture!

Ad Luna…Ad Martem…Ad Astra!

Cheers,

Veronica Ann

—
Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto
Arizona State University
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
Science Operation Center
Admin A-Wing, Room,A103
Tempe, AZ 85281-3603
Telephone: 480.727.9486(LROC SOC)
FAX:  480-965-8885
Email: Veronica.Zabala@asu.edu

National Space Society Library

Welcome to the NSS Library

Space Shuttle Video Library Video highlights from every Shuttle mission, narrated by the astronauts. Each video is about 20 minutes long.

Space Station Library Reference Guide to the International Space Station

Space Solar Power Library Sun Power: The Global Solution for the Coming Energy Crisis – complete online book by Ralph Nansen Satellite Power System Concept Development and Evaluation Program – a large set of the extensive Department of Energy/NASA studies from 1978 to 1981 Laying the Foundation for Space Solar Power (National Research Council, 2001) … MORE

Space Settlement Library Colonies in Space – complete online book by T. A. Heppenheimer Space Settlements – A Design Study (NASA Special Publication 413) Space Resources and Space Settlements (NASA Special Publication 428) Space Colonies – CoEvolution Quarterly Book L5 News Archive … MORE

Lunar Bases and Settlement Library Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century Lunar Resources Utilization for Space Construction … MORE

Mars Library NASA Mars Reference Mission (Mars “Semi-Direct”) [PDF 2.3 MB] “Mars Direct” articles from Ad Astra Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000 [PDF 2.4 MB] … MORE

Space Policy Library U. S. National Space Policy, 2006 NASA’s Exploration Systems Architecture Study (2005) Report of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, 2004 The Space Shuttle Decision, by T. A. Heppenheimer (1999) America at the Threshold – Report of the Synthesis Group on America’s Space Exploration Initiative, 1991 Pioneering the Space Frontier – Report of the National Commission on Space (1986) … MORE

Space Elevator Library Space Elevators – An Advanced Earth-Space Infrastructure for the New Millennium, 2000 The Space Elevator by Bradley C. Edwards (NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Study Phase 1 Final Report), 2000 The Space Elevator NIAC Phase 2 Final Report, 2003 … More info

What is your vision for space? Have your say!

We are running a survey to find out what is the youth visions for the next 50 years of space. The results will be presented by two Space Generation representatives at a planning workshop including prominent individuals such as Freeman Dyson, Elon Musk and Dr Harrison Schmitt. The workshop will be held in conjunction with a conference titled, “The Future of Space Exploration: Solutions to Earthly Problems?”, taking place on April 12-14 2007.

The input sought at this time are key events and timing that are thought to be important for space activities over the next 50 years. We hope to capture the input in a publication tentatively titled: “Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Next Generation’s 50-Year Vision for Space”.

To provide your input, please visit http://www.spacegeneration.org/survey/survey.php?id=4QG3M1AF

This survey is organised by SGAC, in partnership with the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, the Boston University Center for Space Physics, and the Secure World Foundation.

Mars Analog Research Stations

FMARS	MDRS
Euro-MARS	MARS-OZ

ANY NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY MEMBER WHO WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN A LUNAR AND/OR MARTIAN SIMULATED MISSION PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Cheers,

Veronica Ann

The NSS of Phoenix

Today’s Science and Space from CNN

Updated: 1:12 p.m. EST (18:12 GMT), December 29, 2006

Ancient ice shelf breaks free

A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada’s Arctic, scientists said. The mass of ice broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island.

FULL STORY

• Map: Canada’s Arctic

• Satellite images of the ice shelf

SPACE EXPLORATION

SPACE.com: NASA considering human mission to asteroid

CLIMATE CHANGE

Drilling into the past to predict the future

Crew Spends Christmas at the Mars Desert Research Station!

24 December 2006

Send your Season’s Greetings to the MDRS Crew 54 by commenting to this article.  I will forward them all to the Crew!

Reports from the MDRS
2006-2007 Field Season

MDRS Crew 54
NASA Spaceward Bound Crew Three
December 22, 2006 – January 7, 2007

Crew 54 has several mission objectives: We plan to continue the work started by Crews 52 and 53 in developing the Spaceward Bound curriculum. This curriculum will be used to train the next generation of explorers here at MDRS. We also plan to study human factors issues related to working under the constraints of a Mars mission and in an isolated environment. Our geology goals include studying nearby gully deposits and monitoring these gullies for changes over the course of several Spaceward Bound rotations. We plan to install dataloggers at these sites to measure temperature, relative humidity, and ground moisture to relate the environmental conditions to the formation mechanisms of the gullies. We will also provide geologic characterizations of several waypoint sites visited by Crews 52 and 53 where they collected samples and buried slides for future biologic study. We will continue the microbiology work of Crews 52 and 53 as well by continuing the dilution and plating studies and assessing the microbiologic activity at several different sites. We will also be conducting biology experiments in a bioreactor which simulates microgravity (by spinning) and will attempt to grow plants in this system. We also plan to use the observatory and take images of the Moon as well as other celestial objects.

Name	Speciality
Heather Smith	Commander, NASA Research Associate
Andrew Duncan	Executive Officer
Frank Centinello
Audrey Fan
Samantha Pavon
Wayne Sutton	Crew Engineer

Heather Smith	Heather Smith is a research associate studying the microbial ecology of lunar and martian analogs, and a graduate student in biological engineering. As a research associate she is involved with several projects studying the microbial population and habitat of martian analogs.
Andrew Duncan	Andrew Duncan received a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1998 and a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on instrumentation in 2003 from Utah State University. Currently, he is a research associate with the Utah State University Research Foundation working on bioinstrumentation electronics.
Frank Centinello	Frank Centinello has wanted to explore the universe since he was young. Currently, he is in graduate school at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he studies estimation, guidance, navigation, and control. He also did undergraduate work there in aerospace engineering.
Audrey Fan	Audrey Fan was born on December 20, 1986 in Bryan, Texas but has lived in the small city of Walnut, California for most of her life. She graduated from Walnut High School in 2004 and is currently a junior at Stanford University majoring in Electrical Engineering and Biological Sciences. Audrey’s research interests include image processing of ENVISAT satellite data, electric impedance spectroscopy, and astrobiology. She has loved space exploration her whole life, and recently rediscovered her desire to be an astronaut. She is a sometimes silly but always friendly person whose interests include working with kids, hiking, music, art, debate, and simply being around people.
Samantha Pavon	Samantha Pavon was born in Montreux, Switzerland. She is Swiss and Spanish. She graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in 2004, with a Diploma in Engineering Physics, specializing in Plasma Physics. She is now a PhD student in Energy Sciences. Her thesis subject is about the application of plasmas in aerodynamics. She has always been attracted and fascinated by aeronautics and astronautics. She is orienting her career in that direction because it is an extremely motivating and challenging field. She thinks that flying and discovering unknown worlds are the most beautiful dreams of humanity.
Wayne Sutton	Wayne Sutton is a Senior in the Mechanical Engineering (ME) Program at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is always thinking of new ideas that may benefit the world. He started his education at Parkland College in Champaign IL in the Spring of 2001 and transferred to UIUC in the Spring of 2004 with a 3.94/4.00 GPA. Other than the Summer of 2006, over the past 3 Summers while he was in college he worked as a subcontractor in roofing and construction of homes and garages.

Welcome to the National Space Society of Phoenix

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, educational, grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Founded as the National Space Institute (1974) and L5 Society (1975), which merged to form NSS in 1987, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen’s voice on space. NSS counts thousands of members and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world. The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space.

For US tax purposes, NSS is a tax exempt 501(c)3 educational nonprofit corporation; donations are tax deductible.

For more details on what NSS stands for, see our Statement of Philosophy:

• NSS Vision: “People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth.”
• NSS Mission: “To promote social, economic, technological, and political change, to advance the day when humans will live and work in space.”
• NSS Rationale – Why Our Mission is Important: Survival, Growth, Prosperity, and Curiosity
• NSS Principles – What Does NSS Stand For?
• NSS Beliefs – What Does NSS Support?
• Barriers to Space Settlement