News and Upcoming Events

June Program. SPECIAL NIGHT. Friday, June 21, 2013 at 7 PM

SPECIAL NIGHT. We have a special treat for HAL5 members and guests. We are having a joint program with our sister Huntsville Technical Society, Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS), on Summer Solstice, Friday, June 21 at 7 pm. The program will take place at VBAS Observatory in the Monte Sano state park. Dr. Martin C. Weisskopf, Chief Scientist for X-Ray Astronomy and Chandra Project Scientist at NASA MSFC,will be our guest speaker.

After the program, a short planetary show take place, and weather permitting, viewing through VBAS' C-16 and 21-inch telescope. You are invited to bring your own telescope. Direction to the observatory can be found here.

VBAS observatory is a gem in Huntsville. VBAS was originally founded in 1954 as the Rocket City Astronomical Association, thanks to the efforts of a group of high school students interested in Astronomy lead by Sam Pruitt, along with the help and influence of Wernher von Braun.

By 1956, the organization had grown to include several members of the Von Braun Missile Team and they completed the observatory. The facilities today include a second observatory, astronomical library, solar telescope, and planetarium. Use the "Library", "Observatories", and "Planetarium" links in the top menu to explore our facilities. For more information please visit VBAS.org.

No July Program. Happy 4th of July!

Stay tuned for HAL5 annual summer cookout/party. Scheduled for mid-July.

Aug. 1 at 7 pm. August Program. "FROM MARS TO MOLESKINS: Writing and Selling Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Other Speculative Fiction"

HAL5 member Amy L. Herring shares tips gained from years of writing and marketing science fiction, fantasy and other genres of speculative fiction. Writing as Louise Herring-Jones, Herring is the author of 8 published short stories (7 in print) and is the proud bearer of almost 200 market rejections. She will talk about learning to write short stories and novels, the advantages and perils of a writer's platform, and how to market fiction. The event will take place on August 1 at 7 pm at the Main Auditorium of the Huntsville-Madison County Main Public Library in Downtown Huntsville.

As Louise Herring-Jones, Amy L. Herring writes mainstream, historical, and speculative fiction as well as non-fiction. Her science fiction and light horror stories have been included in anthologies, most recently "Bloodhound" in Mirror Shards, vol. 2 (Black Moon Books, 2012) and "Earl and Bubba Save the King" in Summer Gothic (Jared Millet, ed., 2012). Her steampunk story "Queen of Steam," set in the reconstruction South, appeared in Gizmos: Dreams of Steam IV (Kerlak Publishing, 2013). She placed second in the inaugural (2012) SELTI Moundville-themed story contest and won the 2009-2010 Charlotte Writer's Club Board Prize for fiction. Her historic baseball article, "A Georgia Yankee: The Legend of Johnny Mize," appeared in the 2010 Maple Street Press Yankees Annual (Cecilia Tan, ed.). Herring is also a veteran reporter for The Daily Dragon Online, the news voice of Dragon*Con, a multi-media science fiction, fantasy, and comic book convention held annually in Atlanta, Georgia. With her husband Bryan Jones, she is municipal liaison for the Alabama North region for National Novel Writing Month ("NaNoWriMo"), celebrated in November each year. She practices law in Alabama and is an advocate for privacy rights, First Amendment guarantees, and other constitutionally protected freedoms. For additional details and links, visit her author's website at http://www.louiseherring-jones.com.

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HAL5 Received the NSS Chapter Excellence Award for Education Outreach for 2011.

At ISDC 2012 in Washington, D.C. HAL5 was awarded the NSS Chapter Excellence Award for Education Outreach for 2011. Special thanks to our members, supporters and attendees of our monthly programs to HAL5 one of the most active chapter in NSS! Thank you!

HAL5 is NSS Chapter of the Year for 2010

Once again, we are the best chapter in NSS! At the 2011 ISDC in Huntsville, HAL5 was awarded the NSS Chapter of the Year award for 2010! Thank you, our members and guests, and HAL5 officers for making this possible.

Would You Like to Speak to HAL5?

Would you like to give a talk to HAL5 on subjects related to space, space exploration, space science, space tourism, technology, aerospace technologies, planetary defense, and STEM? If you do, please .

HAL5 Officers' Meeting

Members and general public are welcome to attend the HAL5 Executive Officers' meetings. Second Thursday of each month, except for holidays, at 6 pm at Newk's on University Drive.

Project HALO Regular Work Night

Open to all current HAL5 members. We meet on Monday from 7 PM to 9:30 PM at Steve's except for holidays and other conflicts. If you are interested, please .