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A number of things were discussed. No motions were made.April 7th Management Committee Meeting :
# Ways to speed up the lag between the delivery of MMM hardcopy and the publication of the electronic file version. There is nothing that can be done to speed up postal delivery time. The main cause of additional delay is the time required to merge the Moon Society database and the data from participating NSS chapters. The merged database is sent with the pdf file to the publisher, who prints the names and addresses directly on each copy as it is printed. Our printing outlet gives us one-day service.# Our suggestion to The American Lunar Society that we discuss creation of a proposal to identify levels of environmental and visual protection of areas on the Moon of especial scientific, geological, historical, and scenic value, has been well received by ALS. There is no timeline for this project. The idea is first to protect sensitive areas from development by a system similar to our national parks, monuments, forests, etc. and to have this in place prior to any re-discussion of a brand new Moon Treaty that allows creation of a lunar frontier, but preserves the appearances of the Moon, both as seen from Earth and from lunar orbit, and also on the surface. Such a regime, if adopted prior to adoption of a new Moon Treaty, would belay many fears that we would "trash the Moon." This proposed project received support by the Committee.
# Dave Dunlop has been evolving an original proposal for additional Google Lunar X-Prize prizes to give the also rans a reason to keep developing their projects if they will incorporate instruments that will add to our knowledge about the Moon. We may be printing this proposal in the April MMM.
Three initiatives were approved:
The Apollo 13 - 40th Anniversary Essay Contest: "Manned Space Exploration is worth the Risk"
- Approved Moon Society Co sponsorship of Puerto Rico Space Congress (without financial liability) - however, our presence will be minimal as it does not look like any Moon Society leaders will be attending other than event-organizer, VP Charles Radley. Nonetheless, we are hoping to recruit English-Spanish translators, as well as Moon Society members. The principal sponsors are the Leeward Foundation and the new NSS Puerto Rico chapter.
- Accept invitation by Buzz Aldrin to Peter Kokh to participate in discussions on various space issues that will be part of the material on his new Space.app for IPhone and IPad. I'd like to have the Committee blessing on this, and we should consider any downsides.
- Send two collaboration proposals to be sent to Dr. Louis Friedman, retiring Exec. Dir. of The Planetary Society (mailed April 12th)
- promoting a NASA demonstration of beaming laser power from ground to space for propulsion of the new solar sail to fastest ever speed, to catch up with the Voyagers in a few years, bound for interstellar space.
- cosponsor an engineering competition for a lander-rover that can winch itself down a lavatube skylight (on both Moon and Mars) and produce radar maps at intervals of the skylight shaft and the lavatube, based on NASA's Axel design concept.
April 17th Announcement of the winners:The next Management Committee Meeting will be held on April 21st1st Prize: Three Year renewal of Moon Society Membership
Edward N Brown, Lakewood, California, a Moon Society member
2nd Prize: One year renewal of Moon Society Membership
Jared Treadway, Amelia, Ohio, a Moon Society member
3rd Prize: One year subscription to Moon Miners' Manifesto (hardcopy) contributed by the publisher (Lunar Reclamation Society)
Three-way tie: in alphabetical order:
Tom Burkhalter, Hickory, North Carolina (not a member or former member)
Dorothy Diehl, Mt. Angel, Oregon (member Oregon L5 Society)
Valentin Peretroukhin, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (not a member or former member)
The Society wishes to thank these and all the other contestants for their submissions.
The five winning entries will be published in Moon Miners' Manifesto, as space permits (not all in the same issue)
The above entries plus another five are being published today in Moonbeams, our science fiction online magazine
Another, sent in the form of a science fiction story, will also be published, but as a story, not as a contest entry.
If you would like the Management Committee to consider a new initiative or idea, contact president@moonsociety.org
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The main topic of discussion was NASA's new marching orders from the Obama Administration. No one was bitterly opposed. One had mixed feelings. Everyone else seemed to find more positive encouraging aspects than discouraging ones.
Town Meetings will be held the week before the Board Meetings in February, May, and August - that is, three times a year - There is a calendar listing Society Meetings at the bottom of the Conferences 2010 page. You may download this one-page ready-to-print calendar with several artwork options from the bottom of our Downloads Page.
Step 1: Call for Nominations for Society Officers and Directorstop
Our annual election ritual begins again. This year, these positions are open: if you are interested in contributing to the leadership of the Society, please respond by April 20th to elections@moonsociety.org
Moon Society Officers:
President: for a two year term, ending in 2012: currently held by Peter Kokh. (While Peter enjoys his work, he will have plenty to do in secondary roles should someone else wish to run for this post.)Secretary: for a two year term, ending in 2012: This position is currently vacant, and you may volunteer at any time to serve the rest of the current term, as well as to nominate yourself for the new term.
Moon Society Directors:
Three Director (Board member) slots:
Two slots for two year terms, ending in 2012: currently held by Ben Nault and Fred Hills.Notes: All of the above incumbents are expected to run for re-election, especially if there are no other candidates. We will need at least two new persons for the vacant office of Secretary and the vacated Board seat. But anyone may nominate him/herself, or accept nomination of him/herself by another member in good standing, for any position.
One slot for the balance of a term ending in 2011, vacated by Shaun Moss
Remaining Office and Director posts will be up for election next year – 2011.
Eligibility for Office or Board positions
• Any current member, who has bee a member of the Moon Society for one full years as of August 1, 2010, is eligible for nomination and election. That includes all members with membership #s 1567 or below.
• For officer positions, it is important that only those apply who believe that they can regularly attend our Management Council meetings held on the ASI-MOO (our advanced chat room environment) the first and third Wednesday evenings each month, 9-11 pm Eastern, 8-10 Central, 7-9 Mountain, and 6-8 Pacific Time (2-3 am Thursday morning UT).
• We understand that now and then, something may come up that makes attendance impossible. But unless you are sure that such occasions will not be frequent, please do not nominate yourself or accept a nomination. To keep the Society on the move, it is vital that we meet on this frequent schedule to tend to business and opportunities as promptly as possible.
• For Board positions, the above also holds but if a Board member misses a quarterly “Board” meeting without a prior excuse, that will be grounds for removal under the revised bylaws adopted last year.
To nominate yourself, write elections@moonsociety.org
Please respond by April 20, 2010
Candidate Statements: Include a brief statement about yourself and what you will bring to the position (250 words, max) These statements will run with the ballot in the May issue of Moon Miners' Manifesto, #235.
All "M3IQ" issues may be freely downloaded from this addressMMM Themes Collections - http://www.moonsociety.org/publications/mmm_themes/
http://www.moonsociety.org/india/mmm-india/
The following issues have been published:Introducing new, special "Vector" pages:
We are working on the following
- Mars 1 & 2
- Eden on the Moon 1 & 2 (environmental themes)
- Select Editorials
- Asteroids
- Tourism
- Research
Next on the list are
- The Lunar Economy (Exo-economics)
- At Home on the Moon
These Theme Issues are, like the Classics, free access pdf files, no member username and password needed. See download address above.
- Lunar Resources & Industries
- The Lunar Homestead
- Arts & Crafts, Performing Arts
- Health, Sports and Exercise
- Other Destinations: Mercury, Venus, 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.
Members and visitors may wonder what the Moon Society stance may be on interrelated space issues. The following pages are now online:
Yet to come:
- http://www.moonsociety.org/mars/
- http://www.moonsociety.org/asteroids/
- http://www.moonsociety.org/tourism/
- http://www.moonsociety.org/research/
- http://www.moonsociety.org/art/ - the idea behind this page is to help members and visitors visualize the possibilities!
- http://www.moonsociety.org/astronomy/
- others?
We hope to make these pages accessible by direct link from our homepage. The current idea is to add a "Vectors Menu" just below the "Destinations Menu" in the right hand column of our homepage.
If you have a "high frontier" tale in you, work it out and email it to moonbeams@moonsociety.org2010 1-sheet Meetings Calendars have been published, in 7 artwork versions, 4 horizontal, 3 vertical
To download the first four issues, 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.
Just print on card stock and frame
A new issues of Selenology has been published.
The Fall 2009 issue of this newsletter from our affiliate The American Lunar Society can be downloaded from this directory, using your Moon Society member username and password - http://moonsociety.org/members/selenology/
LATIN AMERICAEvents: Annual Events, ISDCs and more.
The Moon Society is assisting the Space Renaissance Initiative in organizing a conference to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 23-27, 2010 which would be the latter's first international conference. It will also endeavor to advance ongoing sputtering efforts to create a Latin American Space Agency. Initially, we were aiming at an October 2010 time frame, but realizing that does not give us enough lead time, we are now looking at a 2011 date.
Several Latin American countries already have their own space agencies. Brazil's is by far the most advanced and that country indicates that it will continue to work on its own, and would not be party to a regional Space Agency.
Mexico has just created a Space Agency (actually, it awaits final approval from one house of Mexico's legislature), and Chile may soon follow suite.
Our decision to spin off a Spanish Language Moon Society website and to create a number of papers and flyers in Spanish, should help promote this effort, as well as to promote the creation of Spanish-language Moon Society chapters in Mexico and in Chile, the two nations in which our efforts are currently concentrated.
We are looking for proficient English to Spanish Translators
On December 17th, we put up a temporary Spanish Homepage placeholder
INDIA
See MMM-India Quarterly - a free access pdf file newsletterCHILE - Moon/Mars Atacama Research Station - Right now, in the aftermath of Chile's recent Earthquake, focus is elsewhere, but behind the scened, organizational activities of a Chilean Center of Excellence continue.
MMM-India Quarterly #6 is in process aimed at an April release date
The Newly announced Moon Society India is moving swiftly to come into its own. Indian writers have contributed a major portion of the 5th issue of Moon Miners' Manifesto - India Quarterly - "M3IQ" as we have come to call it.Eventually, M3IQ will either become an all-India publication or be replaced with a new publication put together inside India. This is as it should be, and we in the Moon Society look forward to the Moon Society India organization coming into its own, with pride and satisfaction.(2) From Moon Society India leader Pradeep Mohandas
The Moon Society India is in the final stage of improving proposed bylaws needed for incorporation, as well as aiming at a major presence at the SEDS India Conference to be held in Vellore, 113 km west of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state, and 150 km east of Bangalore in April
Those interested in helping create Moon Society chapters in India should contact
Contact: moonsocietyindia@gmail.comCurrently our focus is on firming up the organizational structure needed to build and operate this facility; to complete a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to fund a team trip to Chile.SPINNING OFF A Spanish version of the Moon Society Website, and a Spanish language edition of Moon Miners' Manifesto - "Sociedad Lunar" y "Manifesto de Mineros de Luna" (the editor's amateur translation attempt.)
This project promises to be much larger than first conceived, and much more difficult to launch. It is understandable, then, that dates are slipping. We hope that this does not cost us essential support locally and nationally, in Chile itself.
MMARS will not only be a research facility, it will be an anchor for involvement of students at all levels. From the ranks of students will come the future leaders who will return us to the Moon to Stay. We hope that the MMARS project will enthuse students the world over.
We have identified a very varied list of research opportunities. Which directions MMARS will take will depend on which support facilities (labs etc.) are funded and built first and which researchers join the team first.
Our time spent on brainstorming and designing MMARS is gaining us many great and improved ideas that will be applicable to a Lunar Analog Station in the US someday. Identification and acquisition of a precise site is the first hurdle to be vaulted. Then comes finding funding for a startup.
As to Chile itself, while this country does not have the population nor the economy to become a space-faring country, it does have the Atacama Desert, arguably the premier location for both Moon and Mars analog research, and already the host of a growing complex of world-class astronomical observatories. Given the importance of analog research to prepare the way to the Moon and Mars, this role is not an insignificant one
If the Moon Society's role in Chile is to expand beyond a merely advisory one, we need to develop a family of chapters within Chile to play a supporting role at MMARS. And we need to clone the Society "in Espaņol."
The Moon Society Management Committee has given its support to this proposal. But more than a vote is needed. We do not have the team to pursue this goal. Instead, we must recruit such a team. We have recruited Jesus Raygoza of Mexico City who has both a wide knowledge of and interest in Space affairs and is fluent in both English and Spanish to start the process as soon as we send him a list of web pages and documents needing translation. Jesus has been working in Mexico build a Moon Society presence there as well as campaign for the creation of AEXA, a Mexican Space Agency with a small but effective budget. (Espaņol)SWEDEN
We are looking for proficient English to Spanish Translators, webmasters, and editors.
As we have also been involved in Mexico for some time, and now in Chile, it makes sense to prepare outreach materials for Spanish speaking countries, including the growing Spanish speaking population within the United States. The United States is now the 2nd largest Spanish Speaking Country in the Western Hemisphere (after Mexico), and soon worldwide (eclipsing Spain).
If you can help in any way or point us in the right direction, please contact us
Write: president@moonsociety.org
Subject line: Spanish
Subject line: Spanish "at large chapter" in the USA
Subject line: Mexico
Subject line: other Spanish-speaking nations
Subject line: etc.
The member-organized Moon-Mine Project in central Sweden which we have been support, is encountering problems with the owner of the property, and Niklas Jarvstrat, project organizer is becoming discouraged. He may move to Oxford, England, UK and will look into usable abadoned mine sites in that country.
The Moon Society is looking more International every day.
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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.