Welcome to the Web site for the Seattle Chapter of the National Space Society.

NSS Seattle members (from left): Goodspaceguy, Chris Vancil, Curtis Snow, David Stuart, and Donna Gordon

Our chapter mission is to facilitate space activism and all pro-space activities, and to provide a gathering place for space enthusiasts to meet and exchange information and ideas.

Chapter meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the second Sunday of each month at the Museum of Flight at Boeing field. Meetings are held in the Red Barn classroom (basement). For directions, see http://www.museumofflight.org/directions.
NSS Seattle meetings are free and open to the general public. Soft drinks and snacks are served.

Previous meetings:

July 2010: Professor Peter Cavanagh presented "Why do Astronauts Lose Bone Mass?" Data collected so far demonstrates that astronauts/cosmonauts lose a significant amount of bone mass during their stay in microgravity. Crew members on the International Space Station typically lose 10 times as much bone mass per month in key regions of the body as post-menopausal women. This elevates the risk of fracture and kidney stones during long-duration missions and is a potential threat to long-term bone health after return to earth. Dr. Cavanagh is a professor of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at the University of Washington and has conducted many research studies for NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. Dr. Cavanagh is co-editor of the book Bone Loss During Spaceflight: Etiology, Countermeasures, and Implications for Bone Health on Earth.

April 2010: Dr. Dieter Zube gave a presentation on the V-2 rocket. Rocket societies and individual contributions began sprouting in several countries in the 1920s and 1930s. However, only in Germany did they receive significant government funding that allowed the successful development and application of rocket engine technology during the War. The presentation summarized the efforts by the “Walter Werke” in Kiel and the team around Wernher von Braun, and how they eventually became the basis for both the U.S. and Soviet spaceflight successes in the 1950s and 1960s.

January 2010: Tom Nugent, Project Manager of LaserMotive, will be speaking at the January 10th meeting of the Seattle Chapter of the National Space Society. LaserMotive is a Seattle-based company commercializing laser power beaming to transmit electricity without wires for applications where wires are either cost prohibitive or physically impractical. In November 2009, LaserMotive won a $900K prize in the NASA-sponsored Power Beaming competition, part of the Elevator: 2010 Space Elevator Games. Videos of the competition are available at their Web site http://www.lasermotive.com/.

November 2009: Ralph Nansen, founder and president of Solar Space Industries, spoke about solar space power. Ralph's new book Energy Crisis: Solution from Space is now available online and in bookstores. Ralph has been involved with space engineering for more than four decades. He's recognized as one of the key leaders in the world to develop, promote, and manage solar power satellites. Ralph authored the 1995 advocacy book Sun Power: The Global Solution for the Coming Energy currently available online at the National Space Society online SSP blog.

October 2009: MSNBC science editor Alan Boyle joined us as our guest for the October chapter meeting. Alan’s new book The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference (Wiley, publication October 2009) discusses the history of Pluto’s discovery and subsequent public interest in the small body. Alan also provided some background about the IAU’s decision to demote it “planetoid” in 2006. Alan is the award-winning blogger behind MSNBC’s Cosmic Log. If you missed this talk, he’ll be speaking at the December 1, 2009 Seattle Town Hall meeting.

NSS Seattle Announcements and Discussion List

The NSS Seattle discussion list is open to all space enthusiasts. To join, click here.

NSS Seattle Announcements is an information only posting of regional space-related events. To subscribe, click here.

http://www.nsschapters.org/cgi-bin/teamwsdexpress/wa/wsd

Curiousity Rover exhibit, Seattle Museum of Flight
May 6, 2010

Click here to see
Ad Astra online

Did you know...

That NSS members can join the NASA Federal Credit Union?

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