The Overview Effect – A panel discussion event at National Air & Space mission

The Overview Effect will be the topic of a discussion panel at Air & Space next Thursday: The Overview Effect:  Bringing it Down to Earth – National Air and Space Museum

Thursday, November 7
2:30 pm
Moving Beyond Earth
Museum in Washington, DC
Admission: Free

Human spaceflight has changed our world, but can a perspective born in space change the world too?  The Overview Effect, a term that describes a shift in worldview fostered by seeing the Earth from orbit or the Moon, has had a profound impact on the astronauts who have experienced it. Join us for a discussion with Overview Institute co-founders David Beaver and Frank White, and astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sandy Magnus. The program will be moderated by Roger Launius, associate director of the National Air and Space Museum.

The Overview Effect is a phenomenon that is often intellectually understood, but the experience itself is difficult to communicate because the astronauts and those listening to their message do not have a common framework for understanding.  The founders and supporters of the Institute feel that its message could have a salutary effect on the environmental movement, international relations, and a multitude of humanitarian issues.

The program will begin with a viewing of the short film “Overview.”

Sci-Tech: Lockheed proposing Mach 6 successor to SR-71

Aviation Week has a cover article on a proposed replacement for the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird under study at Lockheed-Martin:  Exclusive: Skunk Works Reveals SR-71 Successor Plan – Aviation Week

After years of silence on the subject, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has revealed exclusively to AW&ST details of long-running plans for what it describes as an affordable hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike platform that could enter development in demonstrator form as soon as 2018. Dubbed the SR-72, the twin-engine aircraft is designed for a Mach 6 cruise, around twice the speed of its forebear, and will have the optional capability to strike targets.

Guided by the U.S. Air Force’s long-term hypersonic road map, the SR-72 is designed to fill what are perceived by defense planners as growing gaps in coverage of fast-reaction intelligence by the plethora of satellites, subsonic manned and unmanned platforms meant to replace the SR-71. Potentially dangerous and increasingly mobile threats are emerging in areas of denied or contested airspace, in countries with sophisticated air defenses and detailed knowledge of satellite movements.

The vehicle’s propulsion system would integrate “an off-the-shelf turbine with a scramjet to power the aircraft from standstill to Mach 6 plus“.

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Video: A Beginner’s Guide to American Amateur High Power Rocketry

Brian FitzGerald has released a re-edited version of his 2004 documentary, A Beginner’s Guide to American Amateur High Power Rocketry”

You can see the full video here or go to his Youtube playlist to select particular segments of the program to watch.

Caption:

“A Beginner’s Guide to American Amateur High Power Rocketry” is 2 hours and 29 minutes long and was FitzGerald’s first release to DVD. It was also his first movie shot on a digital tape format.

Like his other productions, “ABGTAAHPR” consists of a series of “in depth” interviews with Rocketeers interspersed with music segments. During these interviews you will hear and see “first hand” what the sport is like from people with the Rocket Passion.

Although there are some professionals in the sport of amateur rocketry – mostly on the manufacturing and retail side – all the interviews in this movie are of ‘regular folks’. But as you will find out – Rocket People are not your “Average Joes”. You cannot fit them in one bag – except the one labeled “I Love Rockets!”.

“A Beginner’s Guide to American Amateur High Power Rocketry” was shot over about a 6 month period. During this time two trips were made to cover two different Rocket events at the Argonia, Kansas site and one trip to Amarillo, Texas to cover an event there. The editing took far longer than normal complicated by the fact that FitzGerald decided mid-way through the project to release “Rocketeers” on DVD. His first full length DVD release, he a number of hurdles conspired to push back the release of the project. The Project took 3 years to finish.

People participating in the interview are shown in this list:

Brian FitzGerald – Movie Introduction
“Countdown” Rocket Music Video
Bob Brown
Dana Morris
Dennis Blackburn & The Viking Project
Gene Nowaczyk
Jeremiah Rittmiller
Lee Filsmyer
Mark Logan
Mark Nuetzmann
Rita Long
Brian Wheeler
Terry Drake
Chuck Meis – Mixing Party
Frank Cox
Ken Kryszak
Lauretta Gordzelik
Pat Gordzelik
Quentin Wilson of “October Sky”
Neil Milburn
“Mission Accomplished” Music Video/Credits

NSS opens voting for 2014 Heinlein Award

An announcement from the National Space Society:

Balloting Is NOW Open For The 2014 Heinlein Award

Make YOUR vote count –  Vote For Your Choice of Candidates

The National Space Society’s Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award honors those individuals who have made significant, lifetime contributions to the creation of a free, spacefaring civilization. Their contributions can be in any form or discipline. Those individuals whose actions have involved personal, social, or financial risk are particularly meritorious. Do not exclude anyone from consideration if their contribution is in only one area.

The Award is in memory of author Robert A. Heinlein for his many contributions to the pro-space movement. In addition to serving as a Director of the L5 Society for about a decade, Heinlein was one of the most popular and controversial writers of “hard” science fiction – holding a high standard for the plausibility according to modern science and raising the overall quality of the genre through the example of his works. He also painlessly educated a whole generation about spaceflight by teaching through entertainment. The 15th Heinlein award will be presented to the winner at the National Space Society’s 33rd International Space Development Conference (ISDC) to be held in Los Angeles, CA in May 2014.

Only living individuals, or those who have been deceased less than three years prior to the starting date of the ISDC, are eligible for this award. The Previous award winners in chronological order are: Dr. Gerard K. O’Neill, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Dr. Wernher von Braun, Gene Roddenberry, Dr. Robert H. Goddard, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Dr. Carl Sagan, Neil Armstrong, Robert Zubrin, Capt. James Lovell, Gen. Chuck Yeager, Burt Rutan and Dr. Peter Diamandis. These individuals are not eligible for this award again.

The ballot contains a list of the top 28 candidates eligible in 2014. You can vote for any eligible candidate who is not on the list by writing in a candidate’s name. This may get that person on the top candidates list for 2015.
Only votes of current NSS members in good standing will count towards the outcome of this vote. If you are not a current member please visit this link to renew your membership first. Please allow 7 days for your membership to be validated.

Click here to vote or go to http://www.nss.org/heinlein-ballot.php

NOTE: Online voting will end December 31, 2013 at midnight Hawaiian time.

Each member should indicate three (3) choices of award recipients in order of decreasing preference. The single winner is selected by a modified Australian weighted vote system. Your first choice gets four (4) points, the second two (2) points, and the third 1 point. During the ballot counting process, the vote point totals of eligible candidates received for the 2012 and previous years awards are decremented by 25% and then added to this year’s vote point totals. The individual with the highest number of total points will receive the award and will no longer be eligible for future awards. Ballot instructions are on the Ballot.

Chapters can also vote – there is a check box on the ballot for chapter votes which brings up chapter information fields.

Come to the 2014 ISDC to see the Heinlein Winner Presented!

Once again, the 15th Heinlein award will be presented at the National Space Society’s 33rd International Space Development Conference to be held in Los Angeles, CA in May 2014. Join us in Los Angeles at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel from May 14 – May 19, 2014 to witness the celebration of the Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award and much more!

For additional information on the ISDC and to register please click here.