San Diego Space Society

First Exploratory Meeting

Posted by Chris Radcliff in Meeting Notes on February 10, 2008

The first exploratory meeting was held at Studio 106 downtown on February 10th, starting at 4:00pm. About a dozen people attended. The stated goal was to discuss and organize a National Space Society (NSS) chapter for San Diego.

Jesse Clark presented an overview of the NSS, its goals, and a bit about chapter structure.

Chapter goals were discussed and ideas gathered, including:

• encouraging private enterprise in space exploration
• promoting space and science education in local schools through direct outreach
• increasing the visibility of San Diego’s role in space exploration
• raising awareness of local space resources, including museums, private companies, NASA contractors, and educational groups

Tours of local space businesses were brought up as a possibility, including Benson Space Company, Malin Space Science Systems, and the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex at Ft. Irwin.

Outreach to local schools like High Tech High was discussed, as well as partnerships with local educational organizations including Sally Ride Science. There was broad agreement that both students and teachers respond well to space-related projects and demonstrations.

A name was chosen: San Diego Space Society. The full chapter name will follow NSS guidelines: “San Diego Space Society, a chapter of the National Space Society”.

An initial schedule was chosen for general meetings: the second Sunday of each month, from 4pm to 6pm. It was mentioned that both the Fleet Science Center and the San Diego Air & Space Museum have offered meeting space. Rotating between the two was agreed upon, pending approval by both organizations.

Interim officers were chosen:

• Jesse Clark, President
• Dave Dressler, Treasurer
• Chris Radcliff, Secretary

Yuri’s Night (April 12th) was agreed on as the “coming out party” for SDSS, with a meeting the next day to ratify the bylaws and choose permanent officers. Dave Dressler will coordinate the party.

Additional future events were mentioned, including the X Prize Cup in New Mexico this October.

Until the chapter web site is up and running, the San Diego Alliance for Space mailing list was chosen as a good coordination point for chapter activities.

Action items from this meeting:

• Process chapter paperwork (Jesse Clark)
• Draft bylaws based on the NSS sample and OCSS bylaws (Chris Radcliff, Karen Radcliff)
• Evaluate web site options (Chris Radcliff, Patrick Crowley)
• Plan Yuri’s Night party (Dave Dressler)
• Contact the Fleet Science Center and the Air & Space Museum to confirm their interest and set a location for the next meeting (Jesse Clark, Gerry Williams)