About Frontlines
This
is our ninth issue. Frontlines is a
formatted monthly Moon Society news report that comes out each month
just
after the first (of
two) Management Council meetings each month, and/or after the
publication of the month's issue of Moon Miners Manifesto. These
reports
are being
archived, so members and visitors can check past reports.
Frontlines reports on Society activities, efforts, and
projects. You pay your dues, and have a right to know what we are doing
to make your membership worthwhile and to address your interests in a
place for humans on the Moon.
We have been making steady progress on a wide variety of fronts. We
want you to
hold
us accountable for continuing to do so!
Current
Management Council Actions & Discussions
Refreshing the Artemis website,
asi.org - since
the transfer of membership services from the Artemis Society to the new
Moon Society in July, 2000, the asi.org site has suffered from lack of
attention. Many links are broken and need correction, replacement, or
renewal. A draft proposal of revised pages is under construction.
We continue to work on
our Solar
Power Beaming Demo project.
The unit is now in Green Bay, Wisconsin under refurbishment before
making the rounds on display in Wisconsin and Illinois and neighboring
states. Pending confirmation of two order requests made at ISDC 2008
last spring, we will begin work on an updated, more sturdy, less damage
resistant model, and then put together an online kit so that others can
follow our lead.
A Questionnaire
has been drafted that asks members and former members
"how did you first hear about The
Moon Society?" It has been drafted in two versions:
.
1) to be tucked in all MMM
December hardcopy issues. This version invites replies from current
members as well from non-members who get MMM as a membership
benefit from a National Space Society chapter.
2) put
online
to be downloaded with a notice sent to all past and current
members in
our database for whom we have current email addresses.
The hardcopy version insert can be removed from the centerfold, filled
out, folded and mailed in.
The download version can be printed out, filled out, folded and mailed
in.
Questionnaires should be sent to:
Moon Society Program Services
PO Box 395
Milwaukee, WI 53208
NOTE: do read over all the
optional answers before deciding which one to check as fitting your own
experience.
It is not necessary to give your name and current contact
information.
But the names of those
who do, will go into a drawing for a free one-year
membership renewal. A second drawing for former members who respond
will be for a one-year reinstatement. A third drawing for readers who
get MMM as a membership benefit via an NSS chapter will be for a free
subscription for a friend or library of their choice.
Not
too long ago, our homepage got a thorough revision and a fresh new
look. But most other pages look like they did eight years ago. We are
looking to give them a new look too, and in the process fix errors and
broken links and make sure that they are otherwise updated.
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Moon Miners Manifesto &
Other Moon Society Publications
MMM #221
- December 2008, was published December 8th. This issue contains the
5th and last installment of Phil Harris'
major article,
"
Lunar
Enterprises and Development"
which has run exclusively in Moon Miners' Manifestos. This issue began
our 23rd year of continuous production.
MMM is not published in
January (or in July) to give the editor a twice-a-year break to
forestall burnout and and allow recharging of batteries.
In January, look for
MMM
Classic #19 which will re-edit and republish all the
"non-time-sensitive" material from MMM's 19th year, covering issues #s
181-190. This will be a free access download at:
http://www.moonsociety.org/publications/mmm_classics/
M
MM #222
will appear in February 2009.
(username password required)
If you have no username and password, or have forgotten it, please
contact us
as soon as possible and we'll get you up and running
MMM-India Quarterly.
The first edition was published November 14th. The 2nd Quarterly issue
is scheduled for February. This publication is a
free access pdf file available to
our members and friends
everywhere, not just in India.
Note the silhouette of India behind the words "Moon
Miners' Manifesto"
The use of an "india" subdomain (in place of www) is a proposal under
discussion
MMM-Europe Quarterly.
At the present time, this is no more than a proposal.
We have sent out feelers
to the Europe-based Lunar Explorers Society about coming aboard as a
co-sponsor, contributing a co-editor and some articles. If they are not
enthused about the idea, we may think twice about this project. This
idea has not yet been put to the Membership Council as feelers put
forth by Editor Peter Kokh and Director of Project Development, David
Dunlop have not had time to attract European input.
The idea behind both issues is to make The Moon Society "proactively
international"as opposed to just waiting and hoping that International
members find their way to us. Both markets have very large populations
of English-speaking readers. That is not the case in China or Japan. In
both markets, our goal is to support the growth of space advocacy and
support among the general population.
Moon Society Fiction
- Second Issue of "Moonbeams" in the works,
under Editor Chuck Lesher.
Work has already begun on
the second issue. The plan is to publish quarterly.
If
you have a "high frontier" tale in you, work it out and
email it to
moonbeams@moonsociety.org
To download the first issue, go to
the archive site.
Moonbeams issues are freely available
in pdf file format,
and members and visitors are welcome to circulate them freely and
widely. The purpose is to provide
fictional
illustrations of what life could like on the Lunar
Frontier and elsewhere within the Solar System.
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Chapters
& Outposts Report
The Phoenix
chapter has put together a web-team to build its new
interactive website. We are looking forward to its debut and may want
to borrow some of its proposed features for the Moon Society's website.
The
Tucson Outpost
now has the required minimum three members to become a chapter, but has
not yet had time to organize as such, which involves selecting acting
officers. Meanwhile, there are reports that a new Moon Society chapter
in the
Dallas-Fort Worth
area may be in the works.
An
Outpost
consists of one or more members in a local community that serve as (a)
local
contact(s) for area members and prospective members of the Society, and
which have not yet met the
qualifications to be given a chapter charter. To establish an outpost
and become a local contact person for the society, write the
Chapters
Coordinator.
Outpost Formation Plug
- take a look at our
Chapters
& Outposts map
[http://www.moonsociety.org/chapters/chapter_outpost_map.html]
If you live in an
unrepresented area, why not take the plunge?
We
are ready to give you plenty of help and direction, including names and
addresses of current and former members in your area (xx miles form
your zip code)
There is plenty of material and how-to information on the
Space Chapters Hub website that we share with the chapters of
The National Space Society and The Mars Society..
Write:
chapters-coordinator@moonsociety.org
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Events:
Annual Events, ISDC, other
conferences, other events and observances
International Space Development
Conference: ISDC 2009 will be held May 28-31 (revised dates) in
Orlando, Florida.
Our David Dunlop is already signed up as chair of
the Moon Track.
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Publicity
Report
Interviews
On Wednesday, December
10th, President Peter Kokh was interviewed by Julie Pryor for an
upcoming National
Geographic Channel documentary "Return to the Moon." She
had found the Moon Society website, looked all through it, and download
all free issues of Moon Miners' Manifesto and read through those before
contacting me. She was already familiar with some "MMM-speak" terms
such as "middoors." We have never before been interviewed by anyone who
had done as much homework! This hour long phone interview may be
followed by a videotaped session. They are looking for input from
"visionaries," not just from NASA. The program would use a lot of
animated illustration. Tentative airdate Spring 2009.
We have also been approached by a writer for the London Times. An
interview was set for Friday, December 12th.
MMM Library
subscriptions
project courtesy of the Lunar Reclamation Society, publishers of MMM.
We have received 6 so far. If you would like to have MMM go to your
local library, send ch/mo for
$10 (one year) to the publishers,
“Lunar Reclamation
Society”
PO Box 2102
Milwaukee, WI 53201
(include the name and address of the library)
Looking for
volunteers
to put out flyers
at various space conferences and science fiction conventions they may
be attending. Let us know about space conferences and science fiction
cons that you are planning to attend. Write
president@moonsociety.org
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Moon Society Fiction
- Second Issue of "Moonbeams" in the works,
under Editor Chuck Lesher.
The second issue is
already in the works. If you have a "high frontier" tale in you, work
it out and email it to
moonbeams@moonsociety.org
To download the first issue, go to
the archive site.
Moonbeams issues are freely available
in pdf file format,
and members and visitors are welcome to circulate them freely and
widely. The purpose is to provide
fictional
illustrations of what life could like on the Lunar
Frontier and elsewhere within the Solar System.
,
Town
Meetings
We meet on the ASI-MOO on
the 1st & 3rd Wednesday nights
monthly,
9-11 pm ET,
8-10 pm CT, 7-9 pm MT, 6-8 pm Moon Leaders room.
Directions from the Commons: "north", then "moon-leaders"
Anyone
may choose to audit our meetings and to contribute input to
discussions. Use your Moon Society username and password, or sign in as
a guest. Note: let us know in advance
so we can tell the Door Dragon to
let you in!
Next: December 17, January 7 & 21, February 4
& 18, March 4 & 18
Town Hall
Meetings - This is something new, and our next will be
our first. These meetings will be held in the ASI-MOO in the
Auditorium.
Directions from the Commons: "NorthWest" - The meetings will have no
agenda, though there may be introductory remarks, and the President may
suggest topics needing input at various times during the meeting. We
will try this on the 2nd Wednesday evening (same place, same time slots
as the leaders/management meetings) of each quarter except Fall (when
our annual membership meeting is scheduled:
(2009)
January 14,
April 8, July 8, October 14. This is a tentative
schedule, and we will see what happens at the first such meeting on
January 14th.
Why Wednesday and why that time
slot? Well, that's
what the Society leaders are used to. They will not be "expected" to
attend, but of course are most welcome to do so. In these meetings, we
want to hear from members (current and former), from visitors, from
friends, etc.
If you have never been on the ASI-MOO, check out this page.
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