The San Diego Space Society is looking for the most awesome newsletter editor in Southern California!

Do you
• have a passion for Space Exploration?
• enjoy interviewing and writing about local and regional space activities?
• want to have media access to one of a kind space events?

Then this might be of interest to YOU!

Please send an email and resume here.

For other ways to volunteer, check out our wishlist Give to SD Space.

Guest post by Elizabeth Baker
March 16. 2012

On March 11, along with about 30 people, I spent a sunny Sunday afternoon at the San Diego Space Travelers Emporium, attending a Town Hall-style meeting via Skype with Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” now the Executive Director of The Planetary Society. The event featured good food and interesting conversation, with topics ranging from NASA’s budget, the future of commercial space exploration, Thorium, other countries’ space programs and their impact on once what was once the exclusive “club” of USA and Russia, asteroids hurtling toward earth, space trash, and how to reengage the pioneer spirit of America for the new challenge of planetary exploration and why should we care/go/do anyway?

Fascinating stuff. Really.

Gracious, animated and dispensing with an anticipated opening statement, Bill jumped right in, taking questions from the group, and it became apparent straight away that space could not have a better advocate, ambassador, Pied Piper or cattle-prod! He’s obviously passionate about topic, realistic about the challenges facing the industry and open minded as only a confident visionary can be. He’s definitely a man with a plan.

When the call ended, the conversation continued and I, as probably the least knowledgeable person in the room, marveled at the collaborative tone and complex topics being discussed by multi-generational attendees. Young people were eagerly sharing their ideas and more seasoned space-fans obviously delighted by the commonality of interest, enthusiastically communicated their thoughts and experiences without even a whisper of stereotypical educational/experience/maturity bias. I truly felt as if I was watching the baton being passed in the shutter-speed instant where neither has let go.

It was surprisingly a very moving experience. In this little shop in a neighborhood in San Diego, really, really smart people with the common bond of all things “space” came together just to talk about it. I remember where I was when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon (Wildwood, NJ, sunburned and Noxzema’d up, thank you very much); there were a few people who could talk from first-hand experience about John Glenn; and everyone was talking about Mars! Thinking about our little emporium “dot” on the map, connecting to other little dots on the global map…l was humbled by the human constellation that had materialized before my eyes in the sunlight and reminded of a line from Macbeth:

“Screw up your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 1, 2012

Contact:
Jesse Clark
San Diego Space Society
(619) 512-3592
info@sdspace.com

The San Diego Space Society is proud to announce the addition the addition of Nate McIntyre as the new Social Media Manager. Nate will be focusing on keeping SD Space and the Space Travelers Emporium active in social media circles discussing current space topics and promoting important SD Space and Emporium activities and events.

Nate is a San Diego State alum with a BA in Political Science and a former Marine Corps reservist. Space exploration and new technologies have always been and area of interest for him, going back to when he launched model rockets and watched sci-fi with his family as a child. Nate is currently employed at a law firm in the downtown area and is in the process of applying to grad school. His ultimate goal is to begin a career on the business and policy side of space exploration.

Nate brings a high degree of interest and enthusiasm for space and wants to share that with members and supports near and far. Look for more activity with our current social media connections and well as new ones in the near future.

SD Space Twitter
SD Space Facebook
SD Space Google+
Emporium Google+

About the SD Space

The San Diego Space Society (“SD Space”) was founded in 2008 with the purpose of raising awareness and educating the general public to the benefits of human exploration of space and San Diego’s role in space development, as well as to the idea of creating a spacefaring civilization within our lifetimes.

SD Space is headquartered at the Space Travelers Emporium, a storefront and workshop in the South Park neighborhood.

Everyone that attended SpaceUp San Diego on February 4th & 5th knows what a great event it was. An opportunity to catch up with old friends or to make new ones, a chance to share a new idea or enterprise for space exploration and travel, to create something new and bold in the exciting area of participatory space.

But for someone new to SpaceUp, what is it all about? David Maass, a writer for City Beat, a guest participant in the latest SpaceUp San Diego, gives us his take on the current state of Space and the phenomenon of SpaceUp.

Rather than a formal agenda, the unconference format is designed to inspire innovation and improvisation through an open-ended schedule. Participants who wanted to engage in a certain discussion would slap a sticky note to a public grid and hope it would generate enough interest. The system worked, with outside-the-stratosphere ideas dominating discussion, as if going to the moon were as normal as deciding where to go for lunch. There were general-interest discussions on what kind of music could be made for space, or in space, as well as more technical talks on the future of “space trucking.” There were also presentations from some of the world’s top aerospace innovators, including the team behind the Xcor Lynx suborbital vehicle. – Dave Maass

Read the rest of the story and see some of Davids photos at “What was up at SpaceUp San Diego“

The San Diego Space Society is looking … looking for someone like… you!

Do you
• have a passion for Space Exploration?
• enjoy posting to social entities like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Google+?

Then this might be of interest to YOU!

NOTE: This role has been filled.

For other ways to volunteer, check out our wishlist Give to SD Space.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 11, 2011

Contact:
Jesse Clark
San Diego Space Society
(619) 512-3592
info@sdspace.com

The San Diego Space Society is proud to announce two new additions to the Space Travelers Emporium. Jess Sanders will be joining as Emporium Manager focusing on store operations and facilities management while Rick Nichols will be joining as Emporium Marketing Manager focusing on space travel related experiences and industry relations.

The new appointments follow a year and a half of storefront operations in the South Park area of San Diego. Seeing the increased interest in commercial space operations and the many opportunities developing in and around space travel, the Directors of SD Space agreed to bring additional management on-board dedicated to facilitating and expanding the offerings of the Space Travelers Emporium.

Jess brings a strong focus in science and education and an interest in telling the space story.

Jess enjoys learning about all areas of science. Presently, he is focused on exploring concepts in quantum physics and cosmology. An avid reader of science fiction, Jess believes in the inspirational value of writers dreaming up possible futures for humanity, especially those that involve space exploration. He hopes to share his passion for science fantasy and fact with the public as a volunteer with Space Travelers Emporium.

Rick brings many years of “big ticket” item sales and marketing as well as a strong enthusiasm for space travel and related experiences.

Rick came to San Diego through the U.S. Navy, and made his home here working in sales and marketing in both the wireless communications and recreational boating industries. His lifelong enthusiasm for space exploration (Rick grew up fifteen minutes away from the childhood home of Neil Armstrong) and SCUBA diving has led to a keen interest in neutral buoyancy for both training and recreational purposes.

Look for new and exciting changes to the Emporium coming in 2012, including new space travel related products as well as activities and programs hosted at the Emporium.

About the SD Space

The San Diego Space Society (“SD Space”) was founded in 2008 with the purpose of raising awareness and educating the general public to the benefits of human exploration of space and San Diego’s role in space development, as well as to the idea of creating a spacefaring civilization within our lifetimes.

SD Space is headquartered at the Space Travelers Emporium, a storefront and workshop in the South Park neighborhood.

NASA has successfully launched the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft, including the new SUV sized rover, Curiosity!

The MSL rover will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet’s “habitability.”

After a 60 million mile flight, the spacecraft is due to arrive at Mars on Aug. 6, 2012.

For more information on MSL and it’s Mission, check out the JPL website.

Safe journey Curiosity!

SDSpace submitted this op-ed about the end of the space shuttle program for publication in an upcoming edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper.

On July 21st in the early morning, Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at Kennedy Space Center, capping NASA’s 135th and final shuttle mission after 30 years of flight. It also marked the end of an era for the American manned space program.

There are two ways to look at this historic event. Some see the retirement of the space shuttle fleet as bad for America, because it leaves NASA unable to send American astronauts into orbit, giving up our technical lead in space and bringing an end to the manned space program. Others, including many of us at the San Diego Space Society, believe instead that the end of the shuttle program opens up a new beginning for NASA and human space exploration.

Click here for the full text.

Also posted on SignOn San Diego.

Local space historian Francis French wrote an article about Gargarin’s visit to Manchester England that was published in the British Interplanetary Society in Spaceflight in July 1998.

In the rush of publicity that followed Gagarin’s extraordinary transformation from an unknown pilot to one of the world’s most famous names, the Soviet press was quick to highlight Gagarin’s working roots. Indeed, this useful publicity aspect was a consideration in his selection as a cosmonaut. In 1951, Yuri Gagarin had been a foundry worker. He completed a course at a vocational school in Lyubertsy, outside Moscow, with distinction, qualifying as a moulder. A few years later, while still studying, he joined an aero club, which set him on the road to becoming the first person in space on 12 April 1961.

Check out the full article republished on the yurigagarin50.org website for upcoming 50th anniversary celebration.

On January 29th, members of the San Diego Space Society participated in the RHFleet Science Center’s public Challenger Mission. This two hour mission was in honor of the Challenger disaster of January 28th, 1986.

Dave, Scott, Rylee, Adrian, Gerry and Jesse joined children and adults from the community in a simulated manned mission to Mars. Set in the future where voyages to Mars are routine, each member of our “crew” had to perform specific roles to contribute to mission success.

Our mission included a voyage to Mars, building a probe to send to Phobos and a landing at the Mars Base. There we encountered a Martian sand storm which hastened the crew exchange and departure of the return flight. Flight navigation, remote geology sensing and life support were a few of the other important roles, each with it’s own activities and tasks.

Everyone had a great time and expressed interest in setting up another mission adventure for SD Space members and family in the near future. Sound interesting? Let us know at events@sdspace.org if you’d like to participate in a future SD Space Challenger Mission.