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Active Space - Part 2
Make it so..

Space Advocacy Groups around the World

Australia

  • Australian National Space Society
    This very active organization promotes Space awareness and activities downunder. A sister organization to the US National Space Society, the NSSA does similar space advocacy activities in Australia sponsorship annual of the Australian Space Development Conference.

  • Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI)
    "ASRI is a non-profit organization run entirely by member volunteers.... ASRI's goals are to develop and advance Australian space science and technology by conducting, encouraging and promoting research in the field of space science and technology. "

    Projects include the AUSROC rocket development program, sounding rocket services for high altitude research, student satellites, and hypersonics.

  • Australian Space Alliance (ASA)
    "The Australian Space Alliance is a nation-wide network celebrating the adventure of human space exploration. As the Australian space industry continues to develop and expand, ASA will focus on building a platform in which people can share experiences, explore intellectual possibilities and connect with fellow rocketeers." See also their sites at Facebook and Twitter.

    Australian Space Alliance (ASA) launches - Space Transport News - Apr.12.11

  • Space Association of Australia Inc.

Canada

United Kingdom:

  • British Interplanetary Society
    One of the original space advocacy groups, BIS was founded in 1933. Arthur C. Clarke was an early member and president. The BIS publishes the monthly magazine Spaceflight for general public readership and also publishes JBIS (Journal of the BIS) for space engineering and science readership.

  • British Space Organisation (BSO)
    The BSO is described as follows:

    The BSO was established in 2009 to rejuvenate interest in space science and exploration. We look to represent the interests of UK science, commerce, education and industry in its research and studies.

    Our purpose is to be Britain’s gateway to space. The mission: to shape the development of Britain’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world.

    At the top of our agenda is to encourage British space activity and raise awareness of what the United Kingdom has to offer in terms of skills and services, as well as promoting space exploration to a younger, and wider target group."

  • UKSEDS

Society for International Space Cooperation
A growing organization with several projects particularly in the area of education. The SpaceExpress, for example, is a space van that goes to schools with demonstrations, simulations, and other space related educational resources.
SpaceTV is a regular internet webcast program about space that is produced by the Society.

OURS Foundation
Founded in Switzerland by Arthur Woods, the OURS Foundation seeks to

"to introduce, nurture and expand a cultural dimension to humanity's astronautical endeavors. This task will be manifested through the identification, investigation, support and realization of related cultural, astronautical, humanitarian, environmental and educational activities which may take place both on and off planet Earth, and which are deemed as beneficial to the development and advancement of human civilization in this new environment." - OURS home page.

OURS has organized numerous activities such as the Ars Ad Astra space art exhibit on the MIR space station in 1995.

Space Generation
Space Generation is a " a global network of individuals that have an interest in space and believe that the future of planet Earth will be better if more emphasis is placed on Space, in all its aspects."

Space Generation is a spin- off from the SGAC - Space Generation Advisory Council. The AGAC is "an international non-profit organisation which represents the views of youth on space issues to the United Nations and other bodies. SGAC organises many activities and programmes, including the annual Explorers Wanted! Space Generation Congress.

"The program centers around two ideas: collecting the ideas of youth to be presented to the wider space community, and giving the delegates something concrete to work on. This year delegates will be able to participate first hand in some of the Space Generations projects, including Yuri's Night, and the MoonMars Workshop."

Other International space activist groups
Space R&D Organizations

These groups pursue R&D space projects such as high altitude rocketry, space stations, lunar colonization, etc.

Many of these projects may seem very ambitious for amateur groups, but it should be emphasized that even if they don't achieve their goals directly, they can lay the ground work for later success.

The Lunar Prospector, for example, originated in the late 1980's as a volunteer project supported by the Space Studies Institute and the Houston Space Society (ref). The project reached an advanced design and specifications stage and even an offer from the Soviet Union of a free launch on a Proton rocket.

Unfortunately, they could not raise the necessary $2 million and sufficient hardware donations from the aerospace industry to build the probe.

The advanced development level, however, gave them an edge in the competition for NASA's Space Exploration Initiative and they won one of the four missions. The SEI program, however, in turn was canceled. The proposal, in collaboration with Lockheed-Martin, was then offered and accepted as one of the first of the Discovery low cost exploration missions. The Discovery program was almost canceled as well but lobbying by space advocacy groups such as Spacecause and the NSS helped it to survive.

The Lunar Prospector was built and launched by Lockheed-Martin in the fall of 1997 and in early 1998 it made the major discovery of water ice at the North and South Poles of the moon. The Principle Investigator, Dr. Alan Binder (now at the Lunar Research Institute) who has been involved with the project from the beginning, sees the lunar water resources as a major benefit to future space development.

The Lunar Prospector nicely illustrates both sides of space activism at work: R&D groups developing ideas and putting the missions together and then advocacy groups supporting the projects with publicity and working for funding .

The Lunar Prospector also shows how the early volunteer study stage built a solid database of knowledge and designs that gave it a head start once serious development began.

See also the Satellite Building section for another illustration of how amateurs and students not only have built satellites and gotten them into space but have made substantial contributions to progress in the field.

Regardless of their eventual success or failure, space R&D projects serve as wonderful educational tools, inspiring tremendous enthusiasm and new ideas. The worst that can happen from an overly ambitious project is that the participants leave burdened with far greater knowledge than they arrived with.

Alan Binder discussed the history of the Lunar Prospector project in these interviews:


Lunar Organizations & Projects

Artemis Project & The Moon Society
The Artemis Project seeks to develop a lunar base as a commercial venture supported by such things as movies and television filmed on the moon, interactive remotely controlled robots on the moon such as proposed by LunarCorp, etc.. 

The Artemis Society is a nonprofit group that provides a meeting ground for supporters and participants in the project. They have a large web site with a growing database of lunar development science and technology information. Artemis Magazine * Artemis Project Electronic Mailing Lists

The Moon Society is a spinoff organization that is patterned after the Mars Society.

The Lunar Resources Company is the commercial company that will supports the project.

The groups also work closely with Lunar Reclaimation Society, which publishes the Moon Miners' Manifesto.

Join Artemis Society International!
  • American Lunar Society
    This group is "edicated to the continued study of earth's moon. This is accomplished through both continued observation and attention to current research. Our goals also include the education of our youth through age-specific projects."
  • Lunar Institute of Technology
    This putative lunar university is

    ".. trying to find, develop, discuss, and document various concepts for space and ocean development and exploration. We are collecting together and discussing the information or references to it, discussing various reference projects, and supplying software resources to help others analyze and develop their own concepts. In short, we have frontiers out there within our technical reach. So what do we want to do with them, and how do we do it?" - LIT website

  • LiTeRaTi Moon-ISRU project
    "[A]n international collaboration to perform the homework needed for constructing a self sufficient colony on the moon. Results will be applied in terrestrial settings for reducing environmental effects by controlling material and product flows necessary for human survival."

  • Lunar Explorers Society International
    European based organization devoted to lunar exploration and development.

  • Open Luna Foundation
    This group wants to apply an open source approach to lunar development.


  • Trans Lunar Research
    A non-profit organizations affiliated with the Pacific Rocket Society. It's primary goal is to develop a lunar base. To raise funds, TLR recently opened a raffle contest for a space tourist trip. Interorbital Systems is a spinoff company to develop a hardware including a reusable launcher.
Mars Organizations & Projects
Space Settlement

Space settlement, expansion of humanity into the solar system, and spacefaring civilisation are all terms for the general concept of humans living permanently off earth. This could involve settlements on the objects such as Moon and Mars or giant free floating ini-space habitats like that popularized by Gerard O'Neill. Over the past few years, the space settlement idea has gradually moved from a fantasy towards becoming a legitimate goal by the mainstream space community. Michael Griffin, for example, a few times while he was NASA administrator.

A number of space advocacy now make it their primary emphasis. Here are some resources concerning the advocacy

More Space Organizations & Projects
First Millennial Foundation
Inspired by the book The Millennial Project by Marshall T. Savage, this group seeks to "build toward the ultimate human destiny of leaving planet Earth and colonizing space."
PERMANENT: Asteroids, Space Development
Projects to Employ Resources of the Moon and Asteroids Near Earth in the Near Term, founded by Mark Prado. The web site has extensive pages on space colonization, industrialization, etc.
Space Islands Group
Space Islands investigates space stations developed from the space shuttle external tanks. The tanks cost around $50M each and are currently released to burn up in the atmosphere, although they could in fact be carried on into orbit. This is an obvious waste and this group looks at making good use of this resource.

Space Studies Institute
Founded by the late Prof. Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton University, SSI is a publicly supported organization that funds professional research into the science and technology required for space colonization and industrialization.

1000 Planets Inc.
The goal of this organization is to develop the technology and human resources requires so that someday there will be "1000 settlements on planets, moons, asteroids, and space stations."
Other Projects
Related topics:
  • Space Science section
    Lists various projects in which amateurs can participate. In particular, projects of the Mars Society and Planetary Society are discussed.
  • Advanced Rocketry
    This Rocketry subsection includes a long list of advanced rocketry projects pursued by various amateur rocket and space activist groups.
  • RLV & Space Transport News
    Latest news on developments with entrepreneurial space transport companies.
  • New Space Businesses
    New firms pursuing new sorts of space markets beyond just communications satellites. These are often started by space activists.

Local Space Clubs and Group Chapters

The National Space Society, SEDS, and other such organizations have affiliated local chapters. Check their web sites to find one near you. You might also be interested in the various rocketry clubs and astronomy clubs.

There are also unaffiliated local space clubs, and the affiliated chapters also generally function quite independently as well.

In either case it's up to the members to develop a strong program of activities.

The Space Chapter Hub - resource clearinghouse for local chapters for space organizations.

So join a local space club or start one if none exists in your area or school. Space clubs can do far more than just provide social gatherings for fellow space cadets. Here are some space club suggestions:
  • Build a detailed, full scale simulator of the shuttle cockpit, capable of complex mission simulations, for your club or local school.
  • Put together a ham radio station for communicating with the shuttle and the Space Station ham stations and for talking to other radio enthusiasts over amateur radio satellites.
  • Build a station to receive and display images from weather satellites.
  • Raise money to send disadvantaged kids on Space camping experiences.
  • Start high power and advanced rocketry projects.
  • Build and run a SETI observatory.
  • Organize regular star-satellite parties where, with both telescopes and the unaided eye, the participants observe not just constellations and planets but also satellites, Mir, ISS, and the Shuttle when in orbit.
  • Organize group trips to see rocket launches and tour spaceports.
  • Organize an annual public space fair that includes swap meets for space memorabilia and collectibles, space model displays, space art gallery, space music concerts, a space movie festival, etc.
  • Organize information booths about space benefits at fairs and other public events.
  • Present monthly public seminars by experts in various space fields.

Check out some of these hyperactive clubs below for more ideas and inspiration.


A Sample of Hyperactive Local Groups

 

The Art of C. Sergent Lindsey

 

 

 
 
 
 
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