Calendar for 2014

We're more than just a society. We rank amongst the most active in the entire country in community awareness in Astronomy and Space.

These are our mainstay activities. We hold monthly meetings every third Tuesday of the month, from 1900 (7.00pm) at the Joy Cummings Community Centre, corner of Scott and Pacific Streets, Newcastle. Meetings often now have guest speakers who give talks and/or presentations on all manner of space, science and science fiction topics. A check of our Calendar should show you what we have available. Past meetings have included a meteorite display (including touching what is believed to be a sliver of rock from Mars), a static firing of a small rocket motor, talks by well respected people in the space and science fields, and even talks given by very knowledgeable members of our own Society and Chapter!

These are when your hardworking Executive Members get together to plan the various misdeeds we commit during the year. With three of our Executive Members currently living outside the Newcastle area, however, we nowadays tend to use the Internet quite heavily. On occasions of actual meetings, all Members and friends are encouraged to attend; we have no secrets from you, and would certainly welcome additional input and helpers…

We are required by law to hold this once a year, and we consequently hold this meeting on the ANNIVERSARY of our foundation in June. If elections are to be held, they are normally held at the A.G.M. Social climbers and power-hungry and ambitious people are most welcome…! Because of the potentially fractious nature of this kind of meeting, it is the one month of the year when we do not normally ask for guest speakers, instead relying on our Members to provide suitable distractions from the electoral proceedings. It has become customary of late for our Chapter Co-Ordinator Martin Walls to hold the annual Trivia Night at this time. Somehow, it seems most appropriate.

We were founded as a Chapter in June 1990, and we usually commemorate this occasion with a dinner and/or other event, in addition to our June A.G.M.

The National Board of the Society has adopted a policy of holding quarterly Board meetings, whenever it is mutually possible to do so, at individual Chapter locations. It has become customary to hold one of these at Newcastle. Board Meetings here are usually followed by DINNER WITH THE DIRECTORS.

Held after the locally-held Board Meeting, this is usually a cooked dinner or barbeque at our venue after the Board Meeting has ended, and it is often followed by a movie presentation or a VIEWING NIGHT. It allows the local Members to meet and talk with their Directors, and vice versa.

We have a large sub-group of Members who are interested in astronomy and who also have their own telescopes, so we hold occasional Viewing Nights for them. We usually hold these in conjunction with the NEWCASTLE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY (N.A.S.), as it is to our mutual benefit to work together. Besides, many of our own Members are Members of the N.A.S. too, and co-operation is far better than rivalry…! Besides, we might not win. N.S.F.S. VIEWING NIGHTS almost always also have a barbeque dinner held beforehand.

YURI’S NIGHT (click to link to Yuri's Night page here at this site).

This is an internationally sponsored event, held worldwide on 12th April, to commemorate the first manned flight into space by the Soviet Union’s Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1. More recently too, it was the launch date of the Space Shuttle Columbia (R.I.P.) in 1981. It is usually held as a dinner here.

CHRISTMAS PARTY.

Traditionally, the December Meeting is a Christmassy event anyway, but we also normally hold a separate event for Christmas itself, and usually early in December, too, so you have plenty of time to attend all those other events...

CINEMA SESSIONS.

If there is a space, science or science fiction movie on at the cinema, chances are we’ll be there as a group to see it. While dependent on circumstances, we usually try to see such movies on the first Saturday after they are released, often timing it with lunch or dinner somewhere, depending on location and session times. WARNING: it is not unknown for us to "accidently" and noisily comment on any plot holes and/or science gaffes observed…

SCIENCE WEEK.

Not to be outdone with other internationally registered events, Science Week is held around the third week in August. It usually lasts for far longer than a week now, and all science-related activities (and space-related activities are DEFINITELY also science-related activities) held during that month are entitled to be advertised as part of Science Week.

SPACE WEEK.

This is yet another internationally registered event held around the 4th October to commemorate the launch of the first object into space; Sputnik 1 in 1957 by the Soviet Union. Like Science Week, it usually lasts for far longer than a week now, and all space-related activities held during that month are entitled to be advertised as part of Space Week.

JANUARY MEETING.

Because most people are away or recovering from the Christmas / New Year period, and unless something important or interesting comes up that can’t be made otherwise available, we traditionally don’t arrange anything exciting for our January Meeting. Just letting you know…

P.S.

For some strange reason, the N.S.S.A. doesn’t require us to prove we are an active Chapter any more. Can’t work out why…