Book Review: Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars
As with Eileen Collins’ flying aircraft and spacecraft, so with this book: all the goals she set for herself in writing the book—inspiration and historical narrative—have been admirably fulfilled. This is one of the essential astronaut autobiographies.
NSS Leaders in the Media
NSS President Michelle Hanlon and NSS Vice President of Space Development Greg Autry have been writing key articles on recent events. An article by Hanlon and Autry appeared in The Conversation November 23: Space law hasn’t been changed since 1967 – but the UN aims to...
Space Development Milestones 2021: Planetary Probes
© by Dale Skran, NSS Chief Operating Officer Image: NASA Lucy mission will fly by eight asteroids (courtesy NASA) You can’t develop or settle that which is not yet explored, so there is a synergistic relationship between planetary probes, especially missions to the...
NSS Space Forum January 13: James Webb Telescope
The National Space Society and the Huntsville Alabama L5 (HAL5) Society invites you to a free Space forum: The Webb Space Telescope: The First Light Machine Thursday, January 13, 202, 8:00 pm to 9:15 pm EST With Special Guest Dr. H. Philip Stahl, Senior Optical...
Space Development Milestones 2021: Space Tourism Gets Real
© by Dale Skran, NSS Chief Operating Officer Image: Inspiration4 crew, courtesy Inspiration4 I can’t believe I am finally writing this, but 2021 was the year that space tourism “rebooted” big time. The first epoch of space tourism started on April 28, 2001, with the...
2021 Small Launcher Roundup: Virgin Orbit and Astra Space
© by Dale Skran, NSS Chief Operating Officer Image: Launch from Cosmic Girl, courtesy Virgin Orbit In terms of U.S. launch companies, SpaceX is lapping the field, and Rocket Lab holds out promise—at least in terms of number of launches (not mass to orbit), Rocket Lab...
NSS North Texas Chapter Learns about Planetary Defense
By Robin Scott Image: Dr. Kelly Fast, NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program Manager (courtesy NASA) Inspired by the recent NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission launch, on Dec. 12, 2021, National Space Society of North Texas (NSS-NT) was...
2021 Rocket Lab Roundup: Still #1 in Venture Class Launchers
© by Dale Skran, NSS Chief Operating Officer Image: Planned Neutron rocket with "chomper" fairing. Courtesy Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab continued as the Venture Class launcher leader in 2021 in spite of the loss of one mission, and a failure to bring Launch Complex 2 in...
2021 SpaceX Roundup: Best Year Yet
© by Dale Skran, NSS Chief Operating Officer Image: Starships on the pad at Boca Chica, courtesy SpaceX The covid pandemic roared through 2021 leaving death in its wake, and at one-point hospitals were using so much liquid oxygen that SpaceX stood down for almost two...
NSS Hails Successful Launch of the James Webb Space Telescope
The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, and Arianespace for the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on December 25th. The mammoth instrument, built by Northrop Grumman and Ball...
Space in the Seventies: The European Space Agency’s Logos, 1975 – Present
This Space Available, By Emily Carney. Across the Atlantic during 1975, the newly-formed European Space Agency (ESA), like NASA, started using a freshly-designed logo as part of its corporate branding (or re-branding, as Europe’s space presence dated as far back as the late 1950s). Here is that story.
NSS Statement on Russia ASAT Test
The National Space Society (NSS) strongly condemns the anti-satellite (ASAT) test that Russia conducted on November 15, 2021. Russia’s intentional destruction of one of its old satellites created thousands of new pieces of debris in low Earth orbit (LEO). The debris...
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