What’s New in the Moon Society?

Frontlines
Volume 2009, Issue September
Published September 13, 2009
Revised September 20, 2009 - new schedule for Town Meetings


Management Council Actions & Discussions
Town Meeting Discussions
Project Teams
Moon Miners' Manifesto, other Publications
Chapters & Outposts   
International Presence                    
Events
Publicity
Meetings Calendar
Pre-Frontlines
Reports

2008.02.15
2006.01.30
All Reports
Frontlines past issues:
2008 2009
2008 - January
2008 - February
2008 -March
2008 - April
2008 - May
2008 - June
2008 - July
2008 - July
2008 - August
2008 - September
2008 - October
2008 - November
2008 - December
2009 - January
2009 - February
2009 - March
2009 - April
no May issue
2009 - June
2009 - July
2009 - August


About Frontlines

This is our 18th 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!

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Current Management Council Actions & Discussions

September 2nd Meeting
A Committee was formed to look into organizational issues involved with the increasing Internationalization of the Society. Foreseen is the possibility of partially autonomous chapter clusters in India, possible online chapters that are not community or campus-based, separate databases, and separate treasuries. Our motivation into looking into these issues is the bright prospect for growth of the Moon Society in India.  On the Committee are Peter Kokh (President, Editor of MMM-India Quarterly), Shaun Moss (Chairman of the Board), David Dunlop (Director of Project Development, co-editor of MMM-India Quarterly), and Pradeep Mohandas, Mumbai India, spearheading the organization of Moon Society chapters in India and pushing the idea of a Lunar Analog Research Station in India (LARS-India), and Ben Nault.

We also have a committee designing an Art Competition to illustrate our concept of an International Lunar Research Park: Peter Kokh, David Dunlop, new Board Member James A. Rogers, and David Dietzler of Moon Society St. Louis are on this team.

Progress reports on advancing the concept of an International Lunar Research Park: we have struck out in trying to organize a brainstorming workshop at USC in Los Angeles, and at the Archon 33 Science-Fiction Con in metro St. Louis. But  a vigorous exchange of ideas and illustrations between Peter Kokh, and co-conspirator Dave Dietzler of Moon Society St. Louis is advancing the idea to the point where we can define the subject and design constraints needed for the proposed Art Competition. Our goal is to have the art competition winning entries and the concept itself ready for a major roll-out at ISDC 2010 in Chicago, at which we expect to have a large Moon Society presence.
October 7th Meeting coming up
Among topics under discussion is the idea of multi-year registrations. For example, offering registrations and renewals for a 3-year term at a bargain rate. The Society saves money on membership processing and we would pass those savings on to you.

If you would like the Management Committee to consider a new initiative or idea, contact president@moonsociety.org
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Current Town Meeting Discussions - at our September 9th meeting, Keith Henson led a discussion about his concept of a way to deploy Solar Power Satellite elements using the British Skylon space plane, now under development to launch payloads that would then be boosted into orbit by powerful ground-based laser systems.

Our 8th Town Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 14th

TOPICS: These are open discussions and new topics are welcome.

Things we have been working on:
  • The proposed Moon/Mars Atacama Research Station in Chile
  • Space Week 2009 in October: what can we do to participate in this upcoming opportunity
  • We badly need good art and illustrations and all efforts in the past to find some have failed
  • What do you want to talk about?
NOTE: Our next Town Meeting will be held on Skype group chat February 10, 2010
We have decided that a quarterly Town Meeting would be more productive. Attendance at the monthly meetings was sinking. So Town Meetings will be held the week before the Board Meetings in February, May, and August - that is, three times a year
The week before the November Board Meeting, we will hold the Annual Memberhip Meeting instead.
Time: Wednesday 9-11 pm EDT, 8-10 pm CDT, 7-9 pm MDT, 6-8 pm PDT
Time: Thursday 2-4 am GMT (UK, Ireland), 6:30-8:30 am NDT (India), 1-3 pm AEST (Eastern Australia)

If you do not have Skype, please go to www.skype.com and download this free software. Do not download Skype 4.0 as on that version, group chat is not allowed. But Skype 4.1 is okay! When you register for it, you will be prompted to select a "Skype name" this can be your name in the format "firstlast" all lower case, or you can pick a nickname.

Then
go to the top menu and click on Contacts, "Add a Contact" and search for Peter Kokh
and select peterkokh, and add to your new contacts list. Then, when you want to join the meeting, just click on his name in your contact list and you should immediately find yourself in the Town Meeting group chat.

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Project Teams
Check out the Project Teams Discussion Area on the Moon Society Forum
There has been a lot of activity on the LUNAX (Experimental Lunar Agriculture Team)

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Moon Miners Manifesto & Other Moon Society Publications

 MMM #228 September was published September 13, 2009.

Members can download MMM pdf files
here (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 Themes Collections - The Latest MMM Project
In preparation for ISDC 2009, we put together MMM Classic #20 ahead of schedule so that it could be included in a CD on “MMM’s first Twenty Years” which the National Space Society then produced in quantity (1,000) so that a CD could go into the registration packet for each ISDC attendee. You can freely download this issue and all previous classic issues from:

http://www.moonsociety.org/publications/mmm_classics/

Ahead of the game, we decided to launch some-thing new this semi-annual “break” – July – when the MMM editor has a month off.  The idea is to collect in PDF volumes all the non-time sensitive articles from the 1st 20 years, on specific themes.

MMM Classic "Eden on Luna" 1 (years 1-10) and 2 (years 11-20) are now online, along with two Mars theme issues. The Eden on Luna issues gather all the articles on Lunar mini-biosphere systems, recycling, and other environmental issues - a core focus theme of MMM from day one.
They are, like the Classics, free access pdf files, no member username and password needed.
To download them, go to:
http://www.moonsociety.org/publications/mmm_themes/

Over time special Classics issues will focus on the following topics, one topic per issue. In cases where there is a lot of material, as with “Mars” there will be 2 or more issues as needed.
• Lunar Resources & Industries
• The Lunar Economy
• The Lunar Homestead
• Arts & Crafts, Performing Arts
• Health, Sports and Exercise
• Other Destinations: Mercury, Venus, Ceres, asteroids, Europa, and other Solar System Destinations
These publications will appear as we find time to put them together. A fringe benefit of organizing all past articles by theme, is that it can serve as preparation for an eventual “MMM the Book.” That is a project title, not the book title, which will be determined later.

An Introductory version of the new MMM Glossary, was published May 19th. The illustrated introductory version lists over 300 terms, some new words, some old words given no meaning. Many more entries are "under construction" or at least on the "to enter" list.

Many people have asked us to produce a "subject index to MMM."

As the glossary grows and matures, it will become just that or a working substitute.

But perhaps even more essentially, it will serve as a guide to the wide-ranging content of MMM, which many new members, not bothering to read through the MMM Classics, will not fully realize after just their first year's ten issues.

We might even push the Glossary as an "Explore Me First" guide not just to MMM but the hopes and aspirations and goals of The Moon Society.

Moonbeams #4, volume 2, issue 3 (Summer) was published September 13th:  The editor of our electronic Science-Fiction magazine is Chuck Lesher, of Moon Society Phoenix.

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
- see the updated map of Moon Society Chapters and Outposts
Also check our regularly updated Chapter Events page

Society Chapters come in two versions: Community-based (St. Louis, Phoenix, Houston, Tucson) and Campus based (College of Menominee Nation - Green Bay Campus)

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. There is no reason why a prospective campus chapter cannot start as an outpost, one or more not-yet-organized members.

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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International Presence
INDIA
See MMM-India Quarterly - a free access pdf file newsletter

MMM-India Quarterly #4 is due for publication in October, 2009

President Peter Kokh and Director of Project Development, David Dunlop, a team that doubles as Editor and Assistant Editor of MMM-India Quarterly, have been encouraged by the reaction in India to the first three issues of "M3IQ" which response has included three inquiries about setting up Moon Society chapters in India. We are also picking up regular members (for MMM) of Indian origin living in the USA.

We see enormous potential and considerable enthusiasm. To move this effort up a notch, we've added a link on the "About the Society Page" and a fresh page introducing our expanding initiatives within India.

This effort is still in the infancy stage, but the only policy that makes sense is an actively progressive one. In the end, it will be individuals and groups within India who make this effort their own, that will make this a successful venture.

We have taken advantage of sizable student groups from India attending the ISDC in 2008 and again in 2009, and with as many contacts in India as we can find.

Contact: mmm-india@moonsociety.org

Those interested in helping create Moon Society chapters in India should contact
CHILE - Planning for the proposed Moon/Mars Atacama Research Station continues to advance. If you wish to be involved or just update, join our google group: http://groups.google.com/group/moonmars
In the event that this project should fail to materialize, our time spent on brainstorming and designing MMARS will not have been in vain, as we are gaining many greeat and improved ideas that will be applicable to a Lunar Analog Station in the US someday. Currently, we are looking at the Phoenix-Tucson area as a site.

As we have also been involved in Mexico for some time, it now makes sense to look for English to Spanish Translators so that we can prepare outreach materials for Spanish speaking countries. Write: president@moonsociety.org

The member-organized Moon-Mine Project in central Sweden which we support is making major advances.
The Moon Society is looking more International every day.
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Events: Annual Events, ISDCs and more.

April 11-17, 2010 - Apollo Moon Party #2 - 40th anniversary of the near disaster Apollo 13 missions 

May 27-31, 2010 - International Space Development Conference: ISDC 2010 in Chicago, IL
As Chicago is a 90 mile hour and a half commute from where most of the Moon Society (and Lunar Reclamation Society) exhibits are stored (in Milwaukee) we expect to provide a major contribution to the exhibit room. And as we have worked closely with the conference organizers for over twenty years, we expect a good chunk of presentation opportunities as well.

Hotel room rates and conference registration rates will be considerably lower than those in Orlando.
The hotel is brand new - The Intercontinental O'Hare. (map) (Hotel's in Chicago's downtown "Loop" have a very hight hotel tax.)

Chicago has excellent air connections to everywhere. (Flights to Midway will involve higher transit costs to the hotel which is near O'Hare.) Plan now on coming, or at least keep the dates open! Chicago 1989 was a super-ISDC and the same people are bringing us this one. We can only expect the biggest and best ever.

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Publicity Report - August 5th.

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 fliers 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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CALENDAR for Leadership/Management Council/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: June  17th, July 1st and 15th


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