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!

To find out more or to send your resume, email to president@sdspace.org.

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

It’s taken a while, but we’ve put together a Membership Welcome Packet worthy of SD Space. Since we operate solely on membership dues, gifts and donations, we felt we needed to show appreciation for our sustaining membership accordingly.

Basic and Supporting Members will soon receive their Welcome Letter and this year’s patch. Also included is a subscription to our monthly email newsletter, email updates and notice of events and field trips, and checkout access to the Member Library and Archives. Brand new is our Membership card and badge. It can be used for discounts at the Emporium and check-in capabilities at SD Space events. Participating in these activities allows members to earn points that accumulate throughout the year. High point earners will be rewarded at the Annual Members Night at the end of the year.

Supporting Level Members will also receive an SD Space t-shirt via a gift certificate and our heart-felt appreciation displayed on the Emporium wall.

If you haven’t already, consider joining SD Space, either at the Basic or Supporting Level. And get involved. Help make your space society even better. We all have something we can give.

Here is video post from our interns Brett and Brandon as they highlight their 12 most anticipated space events for 2012.

Poll results will be announced at SpaceUp San Diego.

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!

Derek Nye once again goes into depth to cover a space topic of current interest, using a clear style accessible to everyone. This time he takes on nothing less than the future of space exploration itself in his article A Collection of Rockets:

Most new rocket engines being built by SpaceX, Armadillo Aerospace, XCOR, and other commercial space companies are liquid rocket engines. So what is a liquid rocket engine? First off, let’s explain how every rocket works. Every rocket works by taking some source of fuel and a concentrated oxygen source, mixing the two, and then igniting them in a combustion chamber. By doing this, you create a stream of high pressure, high velocity gas. Then, the gas is turned supersonic as it is passed through a precisely shaped nozzle. This generates the thrust for the rocket, as this mass of gas is expelled at high speed out of the nozzle. Your sources of fuel and oxygen can be in solid form, liquid form, or a mixture of the two (hybrid). …

Read the rest (and Derek’s other articles) over at D Minus Zero.

The Space Travelers Emporium is looking … looking for someone like… you!

Do you have

• retail management experience?

• an interest in Space and Space Travel?

• want to combine the two?

Then this might be your opportunity of a lifetime!

UPDATE:  Final call for Emporium Manager position resumes.   Email emporium@sdspace.org.  Deadline Nov. 30th!

Click here for full job details.

SpaceX has been hard at work preparing for their next flight — a mission designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). NASA has given a Nov. 30, 2011 launch date, which should be followed nine days later by Dragon berthing at the ISS.

NASA has agreed in principle to allow SpaceX to combine all of the tests and demonstration activities that we originally proposed as two separate missions (COTS Demo 2 and COTS Demo 3) into a single mission. Furthermore, SpaceX plans to carry additional payloads aboard the Falcon 9’s second stage which will deploy after Dragon separates and is well on its way to the ISS. NASA will grant formal approval for the combined COTS missions pending resolution of any potential risks associated with these secondary payloads.

This next mission represents a huge milestone not only for SpaceX, but also for NASA and the US space program. When the astronauts stationed on the ISS open the hatch and enter the Dragon spacecraft for the first time, it will mark the beginning of a new era in space travel.

Through continued private-public partnerships like the one that helped develop the Falcon 9 and Dragon system, commercial companies will transform the way we access space. Together, government and the private sector can simultaneously increase the reliability, safety and frequency of space travel, while greatly reducing the costs.

(more)

SD Space will be covering the mission live at the Space Travelers Emporium and will be holding special activities and events throughout the week long event, so stay tuned for more details!

Derek Nye once again goes into depth to cover a space topic of current interest, using a clear style accessible to everyone. This time he takes on nothing less than the future of space exploration itself in his article Better Paths to a New Frontier:

Space is limitless in the number of destinations we can pursue. From moons, and planets, to solar systems, and galaxies, we are only at the beginning of what space can offer us. Although we can agree that certain destinations are much more favorable than others, we cannot always agree on the path we will take to get to these destinations, and in what order we wish to pursue them. …

In this post, I will introduce (or re-introduce in some cases) you to some of the better plans we should pursue on our path towards greater space exploration. I will also address the current plan being developed regarding the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System in some detail. …

Read the rest (and Derek’s other articles) over at D Minus Zero.