Our Vision: People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.
The Society publishes Ad Astra magazine and maintains an active global network of volunteers and local chapters. Membership and participation are open to all.
Join the space movement, and help build a positive future for humanity!
REGISTER FOR THE 2012 LEGISLATIVE BLITZ HERE!
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National Space Society's Call to Action for American Leadership in Civil Space
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The National Space Society calls for the United States to make civil space a high national priority in order to ensure American leadership in scientific discovery, technology development, and the creation of new industries and new applications that will benefit all humanity. Five actions are necessary to achieve this objective: See full statement. |
Mitt Romney on Space
(Washington, D.C., January 27) Mitt Romney gave a speech on space January 27 in Brevard County, Florida. A 17-minute video of the speech is available on the Floriday Today website. The same day Romney received an Open Letter from eight space leaders, including former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, declaring "Romney Will Restore America's Space Program."
Newt Gingrich on Space
(Washington, D.C., January 26) Newt Gingrich made a major speech on space on January 25, which stressed the importance of commercial activities including the use of prizes. He called for a bold and aggressive space program, which by 2020 would establish a permanent base on the Moon, a next generation propulsion system for use in getting humans to Mars, and bustling commercial activities in low Earth orbit. See video of the 25-minute speech, a transcript of the speech, and the NSS Press Release about the speech. The National Space Society looks forward to learning in a similarly detailed fashion the space views of the other presidential candidates.
Sign the Petition for a July 20 National Space Exploration Day
(Washington, D.C., January 16) The Utah Space Association, a Chapter of the National Space Society, is dedicated to the creation of the first holiday to celebrate space exploration. It would occur on July 20th, the anniversary of the first Moon landing. The holiday would be non-paid, like Flag Day, but has great potential for popularity with the general public. Interested people are encouraged to sign the online petition at www.spaceexplorationday.us. That page also has a link where interested people can contact other government officials to encourage a Presidential directive to create the holiday.
LtCol Paul Damphousse USMC (Ret) Named Executive Director as NSS Enters Its 25th Year
(Washington, D.C., January 9) The National Space Society (NSS) is proud to announce that LtCol Paul E. Damphousse USMC (Ret) has been named Executive Director effective January 1, 2012. The appointment of LtCol Damphousse coincides with the 25th anniversary of the 1987 merger of the National Space Institute (NSI) and the L5 Society to form the National Space Society.
"Since its creation, the National Space Society has been, and remains today, the nation’s preeminent space advocacy organization," said LtCol Damphousse. "It is my distinct honor to serve as NSS Executive Director while we chart a path toward our collective goals of human settlements beyond the Earth and of using the vast resources of space for the betterment of life here at home."
"Paul is a good friend and I can’t think of a better person to lead the NSS at this critical time," said NSS Board of Governors member and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin. See full press release.
NSS Co-Sponsors Kepler Space Institute Convention March 14-16
(Washington, D.C., December 31) The National Space Society is a co-sponsor of the Kepler Space Institute Convention, March 14-16, 2012, at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort in South Carolina.
For more information see the Convention website, schedule, accommodations, and registration.
Celebrating the Year at the National Space Society
(Washington, D.C., December 27) The National Space Society wishes you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season. As we look forward to another successful year, we reflect on the accomplishments made possible by your generous support. With your continued support, we hope to make next year's accomplishments even greater. Here are just a few highlights from 2011:
• Our advocacy for energy sustainability through space solar power that included sending an NSS delegation to a major Chinese energy conference and holding a successful press conference on the release of the ground-breaking first international assessment of space solar power.
• Coordination with NSS chapters worldwide in conjunction with a new membership drive, the Campaign for the Future.
• Bringing over 180 foreign and US students to ISDC 2011 as part of the NASA/NSS Space Settlement Design Contest and providing a $5,000 scholarship to the international winning team from the Bruce M. Clark, Jr. memorial award fund.
• Completion of a major revamping of a new NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement, to be published in 2012.
• Publication of the first papers in the new peer-reviewed NSS Space Settlement Journal.
• New initiatives to advance the mission of the NSS, including the Call to Action for American Leadership in Civil Space developed by the NSS Policy Committee.
• A grassroots visit to Congress, where, as the leader of the Space Exploration Alliance's Legislative Blitz, the NSS promoted the commercial space sector, the commitment for next generation vehicle development that will enable exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit, and for a sustained commitment to space exploration, development, and settlement.
• The wonderful experiences we all had last May at the 2011 International Space Development Conference held in Huntsville, Alabama and our hope to see you all at the ISDC in Washington, DC in May 2012.
• The expansion of our social media outreach and upgrades to our website. Be sure to visit NSS on Twitter, Facebook, Second Life, and at www.nss.org.
We are proud to share these highlights from 2011. Thank you for standing by NSS and believing in our mission. On behalf of the volunteers and staff at the National Space Society, have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year.
Vote for NSS 2012 Heinlein Award - deadline is January 20, 2012
(Washington, D.C., December 20) BALLOTING IS NOW OPEN FOR THE 2012 HEINLEIN AWARD
Make YOUR vote count by voting for your choice of candidates! To vote now, please go to: http://www.nss.org/heinlein-ballot.php
NOTE: The last day you can vote is January 20, 2012.
The Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award honors those individuals who have made significant, lifetime contributions to the creation of a free, spacefaring civilization. Their contributions can be in any form or discipline. Those individuals whose actions have involved personal, social, or financial risk are particularly meritorious. Do not exclude anyone from consideration if their contribution is in only one area.
The Award is in memory of author Robert A. Heinlein for his many contributions to the pro-space movement. In addition to serving as a Director of the L5 Society for about a decade, Heinlein was one of the most popular and controversial writers of "hard" science fiction — holding a high standard for the plausibility according to modern science and raising the overall quality of the genre through his works. He also painlessly educated a whole generation about spaceflight by teaching through entertainment. The 14th Heinlein award will be presented to the winner at the National Space Society's 31st International Space Development Conference to be held in Washington, DC in May 2010.
Only living individuals, or those who have been deceased less than three years prior to the starting date of the convention are eligible for this award. The Previous award winners in chronological order are: Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Dr. Wernher von Braun, Gene Roddenberry, Dr. Robert H. Goddard, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Dr. Carl Sagan, Neil Armstrong, Robert Zubrin, Capt. James Lovell, Gen. Chuck Yeager, Burt Rutan and Dr. Peter Diamandis. These individuals are not eligible for this award again.
The ballot contains a list of the top 28 candidates eligible in 2012. You can vote for any eligible candidate who is not on the list by writing in a candidate’s name.
Only votes of current NSS members in good standing will count towards the outcome of this vote. If you are not a current member please go to http://www.nss.org/renew to renew your membership first. Your email confirmation message will serve as proof of your intent to renew; but to be safe, please allow at least one week for processing.
To vote now, please go to: http://www.nss.org/heinlein-ballot.php
Again NOTE: The last day you can vote is January 20, 2012.
Each member should indicate 3 choices of award recipients, in order of decreasing preference. The single winner is selected by a modified Australian weighted vote system. Your first choice gets 4 points, the second 2 points, and the third 1 point. During the ballot counting process, the vote point totals of eligible candidates received for the 2010 and previous years awards are decremented by 25% and then added to this year's vote point totals. The individual with the highest number of total points will receive the award and will no longer be eligible for future awards. Ballot instructions are on the ballot.
Come to ISDC 2012 to see the Heinlein Award presented!
The 14th Heinlein award will be presented at the National Space Society's 31st International Space Development Conference (ISDC). ISDC 2012 will be held over Memorial Day weekend at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington, D.C. — May 24 to 28, 2012. Join us there witness the celebration of the Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award and much more!
Please remember NSS in your end of year tax deductible donations. You can make a donation online via http://www.nss.org/donate or visit http://www.nss.org/giving/ for more information about giving to NSS. Any donations will assist in the NSS Awards Program.
Announcing the NSS Space Settlement Journal
(Washington, D.C., December 17) The peer-reviewed NSS Space Settlement Journal has commenced publication with two new articles: A Contemporary Analysis of the O’Neill – Glaser Model for Space-based Solar Power and Habitat Construction by Peter A. Curreri, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and Michael K. Detweiler, Amadeus Consulting, and The Space Grid: Sun-synchronous orbiting SBSP Satellites with Equatorial orbiting Reflector Satellites for Earth and Space Energy by Royce Jones. Abstracts can be found on the NSS Blog. See Call for Papers if you would like to contribute to the new Journal.
NSS Hails Stratolaunch Initiative – A Pioneering Investment in Space
(Washington, D.C., December 14) The National Space Society (NSS) hails the announcement of Stratolaunch Systems, a Paul G. Allen Project, as a pioneering investment in space transportation. The company has been formed to build a mobile air-launch-to-orbit system that will include three primary components:
• A carrier aircraft, developed by Scaled Composites, the aircraft manufacturer and assembler founded by Burt Rutan. It will be the largest aircraft ever flown.
• A multi-stage booster, manufactured by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies;
• A state-of-the-art mating and integration system allowing the carrier aircraft to safely carry a booster weighing up to 490,000 pounds. It will be built by Dynetics, a leader in the field of aerospace engineering.
"The Stratolaunch Initiative is another bold step towards the key goal of reducing the cost of space travel" said Gary Barnhard, Executive Director of the National Space Society. "By providing a less costly, more flexible, and timely launch capability than existing ground-based systems, the Stratolaunch team intends to achieve routine airport-like space transportation services to orbital destinations. NSS wishes clear skies ahead for their efforts," he concluded.
With an envisioned payload capability of 13,500 pounds cargo and/or crewed spacecraft delivered to Low Earth Orbit, a fully reusable first stage air-launch carrier, and the potential for evolution to a winged returnable second stage, the initiative holds great promise. More background information on the Stratolaunch concept can be found in their press release and presskit.
In their announcement yesterday, Stratolaunch said, "... space has long been on Allen’s mind. In the close of his memoir, Idea Man, published earlier this year, he hinted at his plans, writing that he was 'considering a new initiative with that magical contraption I never wearied of sketching as a boy: the rocket ship." NSS thanks Paul for endeavoring to bring his boyhood dreams into reality in this historic way.
Since 1974, NSS has been working to bring forward the day when humans will be living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the vast resources of space are brought to bear for the dramatic betterment of humanity. Commercial space initiatives are bringing that day ever closer.
