Ad Astra
The magazine of the National Space Society
Volume 27, Number 3 Fall 2015
Cover image: Image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015 when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface of Pluto. Image credit: © NASA/APL/SWRI.
Featured Articles:
12
ISDC 2015: INNOVATION IN MORE THAN TECHNOLOGY
By Clifford R. McMurray
16
BATTLE OF THE COLOSSI: SLS VS. FALCON HEAVY
By Dale Skran
22
COUNTDOWN TO PLUTO ENCOUNTER
By Clifford R. McMurray
26
HAYABUSA2: A Significant Milestone on the Road to Space Settlements
By Dale Skran
30
STEAM INTO SPACE: Silicon Valley STEAM Colloquium Challenges Educators
By Tiffani Crawford and Tenesa Ellis
36
RETURN TO THE MOON INTERNATIONAL LUNAR DECADE WORKSHOP
By Dave Dunlop
37
NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO MITIGATE THE HEALTH HAZARDS OF SPACE TRAVEL
By Bill Gardiner
38
ISDC 2015 HIGHLIGHTS THREE STUDENT CONTESTS:
A GLOBAL SHARE-A-THON
By Lynne F. Zielinski
40
2015 INTERNATIONAL SUNSAT DESIGN COMPETITION
By Don Flournoy and Kyle Perkins
42
NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY AWARDS HONORREES AT ISDC 2015
By John K. Strickland
43
NSS JOINS FORCES WITH SPACE FRONTIER FOUNDATION TO FORM THE ALLIANCE FOR SPACE DEVELOPMENT (ASD)
By Dale Skran
Departments:
7
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
By Pat Silver
8
NSS ANNOUNCEMENTS
International Lunar Decade Unveiled at NSS Conference
By Dale Skran
10
NSS CORRESPONDENCE
NASA’s 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge
By Fred Becker
46
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR
We Are Winning
By Mark Hopkins
48
BOOKS
Elon Musk, by Ashlee Vance
Reviewed by Robert A. Lee
Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Space Flight, by Margaret Lazarus Dean
Reviewed by Charlene Brusso
50
CHAPTER LISTINGS
53
2014 CHAPTER AWARDS
By Larry Ahearn and David Stuart
55
SIGNING OFF
Expedition 43 Soyuz Landing