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President’s Message November, 2007
I apologize that this is short and somewhat disjointed (pun intended), but I have been taking care of my Mom who just had a total hip replacement (including staying with her in the hospital for 5 nights), so I have not been able to follow things quite as closely this month. She will be staying with me for a few weeks during her recovery.
As I review this past month, a few things come to mind. First, I am very pleased that two of “my” radiators on the International Space Station (ISS) deployed perfectly (an accomplishment overshadowed unfortunately by the tear in the solar array). All of our team from LTV/Lockheed Martin who spent so many years designing, developing, manufacturing and testing the radiators can be justifiably proud of a job well done. The final two radiators are scheduled to be deployed later this month and we hope they will be equally successful. I was also gratified by all my Space Camp friends who sent me congratulations on the successful deployment.
Next, it is unfortunate that Armadillo Aerospace had problems at this year’s X-Prize Cup. This just reinforces the point that getting to space is not easy. Hopefully, they will be able to fix the problems and be successful next year. I think it would be really great to have the winner be someone from our local area.
I hope the landing for STS-120 (scheduled for a few days after I am writing this) brings the crew safely home and sets the stage for another Shuttle mission to launch in December to bring the European Space Agency’s Columbus Module to the ISS.
Please try to attend the meeting this month. We will be planning some interesting “field trips” and activities which may happen during the month of November that you may not know about unless you come to the meeting. Also, we will start planning our annual Christmas Party and space toy drive for December. If you want to have input on the date and location, please be sure to attend or to contact an officer to let them know your wishes.
I have been asked to run for the Board of Directors for the National Space Society as our Regional Representative. I am considering whether or not to run and would like your input at the meeting. I need to let them know within a week or so whether I will run.
I hope to see you there,
Ad Astra, Carol J.