Ad Astra
The magazine of the National Space Society
Volume 28, Number 1 Spring 2016
Return to Back Issue Index
Cover image: The Grand Prize winner of the Space Settlement Design contest is shown on this issue’s cover.
Featured Articles:
12
NSS’S INTERNATIONAL SPACE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE 2016 IN PUERTO RICO
18
HUMANS ORBITING MARS
A Critical Step in a Sustainable, Executable, and Affordable Mars Exploration Campaign
By John Logsdon and Casey Dreier
24
HOW TO THINK ABOUT GOING TO MARS
By Dale L. Skran
30
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: TESTBED FOR DEEP-SPACE MISSIONS
By Clifford R. McMurray
34
IS THE CHINA SPACE STATION THE NEW ISS?
By Mark Williamson
38
SPACE IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK:
What Happens in the Atmosphere as You Ascend to the Stars
By Paul Contursi
42
THE ART OF LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE SETTLEMENTS:
Winners of the Roadmap to Space Settlement Student Art Contest
By Lynne F. Zielinski
44
TOUCHING STUDENTS’ LIVES:
Space Settlement Teachers Acieve NSS Excellence Awards
By Lynne F. Zielinski
45
CONSTRUCTING SPACE HABITATS
The NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Student Art Contest
By Lynne F. Zielinski
Departments:
7
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
By Pat Silver
8
NSS CORRESPONDENCE
New NSS International Chapter in India Founded in Honor of Dr. Kalam
By Karishma Inamdar, President and Founder
10
NSS ANNOUNCEMENTS
NSS Congratulates Blue Origin on First Return to Launch Site of New Shepard
46
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR
China, the National Space Society, and Space Solar Power
By Mark Hopkins
47
SPACE SETTLEMENT COLUMN
Space Colonization: “What are we waiting for?”
By Keith Brian Lewis
48
BOOKS
Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age, by Doug Millard (Editor)
Reviewed by Christopher Skillman
A Passion for Space: Adventures of a Pioneering Female NASA Flight Controller, by Marianne J. Dyson
Reviewed by Claire Stephens McMurray
50
CHAPTER LISTINGS
55
SIGNING OFF
Clear Skies Over the United States