President's Report
What an action packed time the next month will be!
With the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, World Space Week and the biggest Space Science Conference in Australia - the road is set for an exciting time! The Australian Space Science Conference is the space event for 2007 and with more than 100 delegates attending; it will offer the opportunity for robust and thought provoking discussion. There are sessions of interest that do not require a pHD to understand including a forum hosted by Daniel Dasey, a renowned Journalist, education and poster networking sessions. The program also boasts some high level leaders in the space community. A copy of the program including all abstracts is available at the website: www.assc.nssa.com.au The NSSA Annual Dinner will also occur during the time of the conference and we encourage all NSSA members to attend. It will provide an opportunity to meet other NSSA members as well as delegates from the ASSC in a social and open atmosphere. More information below. There will be a multitude of activities occurring for World Space Week. The Perth Mint has a limited edition release of a Sputnik coin and Australia Post have special stamps celebrating our space achievements. Several NSSA chapters will also be hosting special events to celebrate this important milestone. Finally, we launched our brand new-look website which is action packed with material and will serve as an improved communication link to our members, industry and broader community. We welcome comments and highly recommend you bookmark the website: www.nssa.com.au Ad Astra! Anny JosephIn this months issue:
If there is a topic that you'd like to read about in the next issue of eSFN or your chapter would like to be featured just let us know. Email your Readers Requests to: esfn@nssa.com.au
If you would like to have your profile featured please answer the 5 profile questions and email them to us at esfn@nssa.com.au
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=23061
In the 40 years that humans have been traveling into space, the suits they wear have changed very little. The bulky, gas-pressurized outfits give astronauts a bubble of protection, but their significant mass and the pressure itself severely limit mobility. Dava Newman, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems at MIT, is developing a sleek spandex and nylon BioSuit that is a lightweight, skintight suit that will allow astronauts to become truly mobile lunar and Mars explorers. Instead of using gas pressurization, which exerts a force on the astronaut's body to protect it from the vacuum of space, the suit relies on mechanical counter-pressure, which involves wrapping tight layers of material around the body. Newman anticipates that the BioSuit could be ready by the time humans are ready to launch an expedition to Mars, possibly in about 10 years.
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/sep/pluto-gets-demoted-again
Everyone’s favorite former planet, it turns out, is not even the heftiest dwarf. That distinction now belongs to Eris. While most astronomers suspected that Eris was bigger than Pluto, no one was sure. Now, using the method pioneered by Sir Isaac Newton when he determined the mass of Jupiter, Brown (the astronomer at the University of California who discovered Eris) and his colleagues have determined that Eris, a far-flung rocky mass with a wildly eccentric orbit, is 27 percent more massive than Pluto. To zero in on the mass, Brown and his colleagues looked at the interaction of Eris with its moon, Dysnomia, through the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the Hubble Space Telescope. They used models detailing the gravitational pull between the two objects to deduce that Eris weighs in at 16.6 billion trillion kilograms, making it the most massive dwarf planet known.
Hitchhiker's galaxy guide on the money
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22025960-29677,00.html
After pondering the weighty question of the mass of the Milky Way galaxy, astronomers have come up with an answer: 42. Along with colleagues in Australia, Europe, the US and Britain, Professor Freeman, an astrophysicist with Mt Stromlo Observatory and the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Canberra decided to "weigh" the milky way. They discovered that our galaxy weighs three times 10 to the power of 42 kilograms - a number written as 3 followed by 42 zeroes, which has echoes of author Douglas Adams's fictional answer to the question of life, the universe and everything in his series Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
International symposium for personal spaceflight 2007
http://spacegrant.nmsu.edu/isps
New Mexico State University and X PRIZE are holding the Third International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight (ISPS-2007) as the opening event of the 2007 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup The Symposium will be held in Las Cruces at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum; and the X PRIZE Cup will held on October 27-28 at Holloman Air Force Base.
Pic: Astronauts
World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. The Space Age began on October 4, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1. World Space Week 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Space Age. The theme for World Space Week 2007 is "50 Years in Space." This theme encourages participants to reflect during World Space Week on the last 50 years in space and to envision the next 50 years in space as well. It is open to all. Government agencies, industry, non-profit organizations, teachers, or even individuals can organize events to celebrate space. This week is coordinated by the United Nations with the support of World Space Week Association and local coordinators in many countries. Information on the many locations and countries that celebrate World Space Week can be found on the website.
Australia Post will be releasing its new range of stamps, called "Blast Off" to co-inside with 50th Anniversary of Space Travel, when the Russian Space craft called Sputnik 1 was launched. It was the worlds 1st artificial satellite to orbit the earth. This heralded the beginnings of the "Space Age", also known as "The Space Race" between Cold War foes the USSR and USA. Sputnik 1weighed 83 kilograms, traveling at 29,000 kilometers per hour, orbiting the earth at a distance of about 250 kilometers. The satellite's radio beeping lasted for a period of 3 weeks and was received by operators all around the world. After a 60 million kilometer journey, Sputnik burned up as it fell from orbit, re-entering the atmosphere on 4th January 1958.
There is a 6 Commemorative stamp issue, consisting of
http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/3854
Scaled Composites is developing a hybrid propulsion system for SpaceShipTwo, the commercial suborbital passenger spacecraft it is building for Virgin Galactic. An explosion at a Scaled Composites rocket test stand at Mojave Airport in California killed three people in July. Among them was Charles 'Glen' May, an NSS member who was a leader within NSS's Huntsville HAL5 Chapter. In addition, three employees suffered serious injuries. The explosion was described as a nitrous oxide "flash" explosion at the test stand on airport property operated by Scaled Composites. Mojave airport is home to a number of entrepreneurial space companies besides Scaled Composites. The frontier of space is far from tamed. The men and women of Scaled Composites are engaged in one of the great efforts of our time: opening space for all humanity. SCALED COMPOSITES FAMILY SUPPORT FUND Scaled has announced information on a fund for those who wish to support the families of the deceased as well as the injured and their families. If yu wish to contribute please email eSFN@nssa.com.au for details. Please also send an e-mail to show your support at: http://www.scaled.com/contactus.php
This month's NSSA Member Profile: Jack Dwyer - Chapter President of Newcastle
Court Jester? Devil's Advocate? Office bore? Board Drone? Scary,
creepy guy? Bad example? Probably all of the above. I'm flat out just
being N.S.F.S. President, let alone my Board responsibilities. I find it
difficult to "sell" myself, you would have to ask others around me what
they think of me and what I do or fail to do...
I am currently a Company Director of two private family companies. Before
that, I was involved in law enforcement to some small degree with a
government office.
I joined the Sydney Chapter in 1987. By 1990 we were able to form the
Newcastle Chapter, with myself drafted in as Secretary. Since then, I've
served the Chapter as Treasurer (until the eminently capable Bill Abrahams
took over), Special Adviser, and President. I have also served several
fairly long terms as a Director on the National Board.
The highlights for me have to be personally meeting Astronauts and other
luminaries in the space "industry", not something I would have thought of
ever being able to do. I have also seen and done many amazing things
through the N.S.S.A. that again I would not otherwise have done or seen.
I don't think any other organisation around could have done this for me.
Besides that, I have made many wonderful friendships through the Society
that I hope and pray will remain so. Friendships with many wonderful,
amazing and talented people who seem to like me even though I'm the exact
opposite, awful, boring and talentless...!
I have given a lot of my time and effort to the N.S.S.A. because I believe
in it I believe it to be the premier space-related organisation in
Australia. No other organisation has its list of achievements, it's
umbrella-like capacity, or its sheer potential. I hope it continues so,
and of course I'd like it to expand and grow, especially at
Newcastle...!!!
How to start an NSSA Chapter
Have you got a group of friends that enjoy discussing space? Would you like to do it regularly and get recognised for your efforts? Well here is your chance! Start a new NSSA Chapter today, it's this easy:
1. Identify which of your friends enjoy chatting about space issues
2. Suggest that a group of you get together one time to talk about space eg. at a cafe
3. If it goes well then suggest you do it regularly eg. once a month
4. Once you have 5 people who are NSSA members let NSSA know and request recognition as a chapter.
5. Ask NSSA for the contact details of other members in your area.
6. Find a regular venue to meet eg. Uni tutorial room or a community centre
7. Appoint a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer (although these do not need to be three separate people).
8. Each chapter receives a share of the membership fees paid by their members who join or renew each year.
9. Arrange a guest speaker eg. A local university lecturer
10. Organise a public outreach event eg. Have a stand at a public event such as National Science Week
11. NSSA can tell you when people of note will be in your area and help you invite them to your meeting as a speaker eg. Andy Thomas is occasionally in Adelaide.
12. Inform the Board of your activities if you are doing something exciting.
13. Have the chance to stand for election to the Board as your Chapters representative.
Tips on how you can be more involved with the NSSA