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Sadly, Scaled Composites reported Friday (July 27th, 2007) that an explosion during routine testing of the oxidizer system for SpaceShip Two has killed three employees and injured three others.
According to a statement from Scaled Composites, Eric Blackwell, 38, Glen May, 45, and Todd Ivens, 33, were killed while testing the SS2's nitrous oxide system. Apparently, the problem occured d
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The Space Frontier Foundation said that NASA is repeating the errors of the past in its rush to select a contractor for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), and will waste billions of taxpayer dollars to send the CEV to the International Space Station (ISS) when ISS services could be purchased commercially from U.S. industry at much lower cost and greater benefit to the nation.
"Here w
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The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has finally decided what to do about the discovery of trans-neptunian objects larger than Pluto that prove the idea that Pluto is only one of a family of objects smaller and fundamentally different than the other eight planets. Pluto has been demoted so that we now officially have only eight planets.
I cannot help but believe that they made th
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A recent 'Spaceflight Now' article presents evidence published by researchers at Ohio State University on using gravitational microlensing to find extrasolar planets, including some large terrestrial planets, or "super-earths" as they have called them.
"Andrew Gould, leader of the MicroFUN collaboration and professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, pointed to two key implication
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This year's International Space Development Conference in Washington D.C. was a great success with compelling panels, great speakers, and a wonderful black-tie event. Even better was that our chapter was successful in our bid to bring the 2007 ISDC to the D/FW metroplex. The event was attended by chapter leaders Carol Johnson, Curtis Kling, Christine Becker and Ken Murphy.
Burt Rutan open
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As the result of a referral by NSS Executive Director George Whitesides, NSS-NT was contact by the local representative of the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program to get the names of speakers about space in the D/FW area. Chapter president Ken Murphy was invited to speak on a panel with astronomer Dan Garland from the University of North Texas about new frontiers in space.
Mr. Garland sp
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After our great showing at the Discovery Fest, our chapter was extended a special invite to "Unveiling Space", a special reception at the Science Place to honor the closing of the Planetarium for the summer for extensive remodeling and installation of new equipment, made possible by a very generous donation of the Crystal Charities. Moonwalker and artist Alan Bean was there, as was the widow
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On Saturday, June 4th, 2005, the chapter was invited to participate with a display in
the Dino Dash/Discovery Fest at the Science Place in Fair Park. Our chapter displayed
the Moon, Asteroids, and ISS display boards, and of course had enormous quantities of
handouts for the visitors, including some new ones supplied by Curtis Kling after his
visit to the J
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In late September, Dallas was visited by G-Force One, the parabolic flight plane of Zero-G Corp. Chapter president Ken Murphy was fortunate enough to be one of the guests on the flight.
The Boeing 727-233A took off from Love Field on a beautiful North Texas morning and flew out past Abilene. The FAA had reserved a block of airspace for the flight that was all ours.
The
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World Space Week marked NSS-NT's most ambitious project this year. The goal was to get as strong a collective space presence together as possible in honor of World Space Week.
NSS-NT contacted and coordinated with a number of local space-themed organizations in order to present the best content possible to the public. The event was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum
The
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May 6th is Space Day here in the U.S., and NSS-NT celebrated with a rare mid-week display at the Science Place at Fair Park.
The chapter had a display featuring the ISS, the Moon, and other space related topics. Hundreds of Dallas school children held a genuine meteorite in their hands that day.
Space Day also helped to illustrate the role that NSS-NT can play in being a sourc
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July was a milestone in NSS-NT's outreach efforts. It all began at the Sci-Fi Expo in Richardson on July 10th & 11th.
The chapter's display was Moon-themed, given the proximity of the anniversary of the Moon landings. The Expo was well-attended, and over 150 attendees stopped by the table for a bit of Sci-Fact to go with their Sci-Fi.
We even got a visit from the holographic doctor
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One of, if not the, biggest events of the year for the National Space Society is their annual convention at the International Space Development Conference. This year the event was held over the Labor Day weekend in Oklahoma City, OK.
NSS-NT took on responsibility for the Kids Program, and delivered in a big way.
From Moon volleyball and Moon dodge (using an inflatable Moon) to
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The last major outreach event for the year was a display table at the Science Place Planetarium Eclipse Party at Fair Park on October 27th
The last major eclipse for North America until 2007 was nearly rained out, but a serendipitous break in the clouds allowed for great viewing of almost the entire eclipse.
The Texas Astronomical Society brought a number of very large telescop
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Our third and last event of July 2004 was a display at the new Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas. This was our first time at their beautiful facilities, and they were very helpful.
The museum features the Apollo 7 capsule and has a small section devoted to space, which will be expanded by the end of the year to feature a Lunarscape interactive display. Our chapter ho
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NSS-NT's second event in July was at the Science Place at Fair Park in celebration of the anniversary of Apollo 11. Fortuitously, the event happened to coincide with TI Family Weekend, and as a result there were hundreds of visitors to our display. The meteorite was very popular, as was the space blanket. There was a lot of curiousity expressed in the Moon, and the demographics of wh
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There were nine members of our chapter, including myself, who attended the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Oklahoma City from May 27 to 31. All of us, I think, thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The Oklahoma Space Alliance, a small NSS chapter, hosted the conference with a herculean effort. They were led by Tom Koszoru (chairman and chapter president) and Claire M
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The children's program at the 23rd annual ISDC in Oklahoma City was a big success this year, thanks to participation from NSS of North Texas members Rosalyn Hunter, Terry Hancock, Abigail Plemmons and Ken Murphy!
The kids learned about the solar system, rockets, and space colonization with a number of hands-on activities appropriate to different age-groups, including:
"Meteorit
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The occasion of the ISDC 2004 in Oklahoma City recently was a great opportunity to meet with fellow space enthusiasts, learn a thing or three, and to get a first glimpse at some of the new things that are being done at the national level, and how they're going to support us down here in the trenches at the front lines of space advocacy. We'll be sharing that at the next meeting.
First
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