Wednesday, November 12

"The Case for Mars"

by Dr. Robert Zubrin

Special Location: Charles Hayden Planetarium, Museum of Science, Boston.
Meeting Time: 7:30pm

Imagine living on Mars...

With the advent of a revolutionary new plan, leading space exploration authority, Dr. Robert Zubrin, has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct. It is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions. It explains step-by-step how we can use present-day technology to send humans to Mars within ten years.

Dr. Robert Zubrin's book "The Case For Mars" will be available at the Museum Bookstore.

PASA regular business luncheon and formal meeting from 1-3 pm, the third Saturday of every month at Smart Alex Restaurant, Sheraton University City, 35th & Chestnut. 2 hours free parking with validation.
     Scheduled PASA activities: Nov. 14-16th PASA presence at Philcon. (See below.) Dec. 13th (N.B., 2nd Sat.) regular monthly meeting at Smart Alex. Jan. 10th (N.B., 2nd Sat.) regular monthly meeting at Smart Alex. Call Dottie for details.

In Memorium
     The PASA Board members are saddened to announce that James H. Chestek, P.E., 68, died on Sept. 27th of a heart attack. Jim had retired from a 35-year career as an aerospace engineer, and brought his professional expertise, enthusiasm, and sense of humor to NSS Philadelphia and PASA. Most recently, he co-authored, with Donald Cox, Doomsday Asteroid, Can We Survive?, published late last year, and presented talks on asteroids to local organizations. You will be missed, Jim.

Oct. 18th Meeting Report: Hank Spencer reported on Philcon '97: PASA will have a display table and do a presentation at Philcon '97, Nov. 14-16th, at the Adam's Mark Hotel on City Line Ave. All are invited to assist at the display table starting Friday evening through Sun., as your schedule permits. Philcon registration: $40. 215/957-4004, PO Box 8303, Phila. 19101, www.netaxs.com/~philcon, philcon@netaxs.com.
     Michelle Baker, Earl Bennett, Mitch Gordon, and Jay Haines are planning to participate in the presentation, which will take place at 1 pm on Sat., Nov. 15th. Meet us at the PASA table at 11:30 am to go to our pre-presentation lunch. Contact Mitch (215/625-0670) for information on participating at the table. Other space science programming includes H. Paul Shuch on SETI, and Ingebor Heyer on Living and Working in Space.
     Jay Haines reported on Space Studies Institute and Space Frontier Foundation activities. Mitch Gordon reported on the Philly Pops concert "Fly Me to the Moon, A Space Odyssey," which included the music of sci-fi and space films, lasers, NASA images, and narration by George D. "Pinky" Nelson, NASA astronaut from 1978-89.
     Mitch also reported on the World Future Society, and the Univ. of ND Graduate Program in Space Studies, which he plans to discuss with Drexel and UPenn representatives. (For info on the UND program: http://www.space.edu)
     Earl Bennett reported on articles from the Oct. and Nov. 97 Sky & Telescope, the Sept./Oct. Planetary Report, and the Oct. 97 Laser Focus World regarding: Lunar Prospector, Cassini, and Huygens probe to Titan, Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) fly-by of Mathilde and Eros asteroids, meteorites from the Vesta asteroid, Mars photos from Pathfinder, and Shoemaker's last article on the Wabar Crater meteorite in Saudi Arabia.
     Michelle Baker reported on the 10/97 SpaceViews electronic newsletter (http://www.seds.org/spaceviews), including the death of John Denver and the Cassini launch. She also reported on the Wagner Free Institute Astronomy course which starts next year, in South Philly this time.

Come join leaders of the new space business revolution November 7 through 9 at the Sheraton Gateway Airport Hotel in Los Angeles, and be among the first to hear about the next wave in the opening of space, as the transformation from government program to exciting new frontier begins. Held by the Space Frontier Foundation, a national space policy organization, this, the sixth conference in an annual series, will focus on opportunities for investment in space exploration and development.
     The event will also feature frank discussions about commercializing the space station and national space fleets, and enlightening presentations on new markets such as space burials, private space planes, and the emerging space tourism industry. Other topics will be the commercial exploration of the Moon and Mars, recent plans to privately capture and mine asteroids, and proposals to use space solar power to compete with today's coal and nuclear energy systems. NASA and Air Force managers will join leaders from the space industry to discuss the possible prizes and pitfalls of this new business sector, with a focus on the relationship of today's government space program, regulations and policies to the new civilian space enterprises.
     Guest speakers will include such notables as former astronauts turned entrepreneurs Charles "Pete" Conrad (Apollo 12) and Dr. Harrison Schmidt (Apollo l7), Mars advocate Robert Zubrin, Asteroid Resource expert Dr. John Lewis, and the world's top robot builder, Red Whitaker (Carnegie Mellon University).
     Co-Sponsored by the Air Force's Phillips Laboratory and the citizen's lobby ProSpace, a spotlight will be aimed at the radical innovations in spaceplane technologies and services being offered by the newest generation of rocket firms. The Foundation will be bringing together the heads of several of these new firms with government agency leaders who need their services, to discuss means of working together to develop cheap access to space, and how to get that access to the people, the key to the new frontier.
     According to Foundation President, Rick Tumlinson "Whether you are an investor, an entrepreneur, a space reporter or working on a movie about our future, this is the one place to be this year. It's like the day before the computer revolution. This stuff is real, it's beginning right now, and it will soon change our civilization forever. "
     The Space Frontier Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that for almost ten years has been fighting in Washington and the media to change how America thinks about and opens the space frontier. Our goal is the near term and irreversible expansion of the human race into space, and the permanent settlement of the high frontier.
     For information on the Space Frontier Foundation, call 1(800) 78-SPACE or visit our web site at: http://www.space-frontier.org. Our Email address is: OpenFrontier@Delphi.com.

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	INDEX

	NSS NEWS

=91Building the Bridge to 21st Century'
	October 29 -- DC Summit (Karen Rugg) (p.1)
	October 30 -- Set Visits To members of Congress (p.1)

Brandt Resigns as Executive Director;
ExecComm Names Dasch as Acting E.D. (P.1)

Executive Committee Resolves to Proceed With Amateur R-Prize

Illini Win
'Campaign for the Future!' Final Results (Karen Rugg) (p.1)

Mark and Ordway Resign from Board, Liss as CCC Chair (p.8)

Exec Committee Votes for Endowment Fund; Bylaw Proposal Fails (p.15)

Report From Headquarters (Karen Rugg)
	Get Your 'Ad Astras' Now! (P.3)
	Merchandise on 'Fire Sale' (p.3)
	Who's That on the Phone? (P.3)

	EDITOR'S NOTES (Jeffrey Liss)

David Brandt, Thank You (p.2)

Who Runs NSS? (P.2)

NASA's Quiet Retreat from Space (p.2)

	LETTERS AND COMMENTARY

NSS Director's Tips on Cassini (Carol Stoker) (p.3)

With Anti-Anti-Cassinis in Washington, DC (Greg Zsidisin) (p.3)

	CHAPTERS AND ACTIVISM

Leadership Brief #2
What to Do When Someone Just DOESN'T Get it Done (Chris Pancratz) (p.4)

A Report to the NSS Board
Why Our Members Join and What They Want (Jeffrey Liss) (p.5)

NY Chapter Leads (Cassini) Counter-Protest (Greg Zsidisin) (p.9)

A Proposal for a Volunteer Structure (Jeffrey Liss) (p.14)
Chapter Notices (p.15)

	SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY

Responding to Concerns
NUCLEAR RTGs & CASSINI MISSION TO SATURN
What You Should Know and What You Can Do

	Statement from Charlie Walker, NSS President,
	And Pat Dasch, NSS Acting Executive Director (p.8)

	Overview: Cassini Nears Launch Amidst Protests (p.9)

	More Info From HQ (p.9)

	The Voyagers: What RTGs Can Do (From NASA Rel.97-189) (p.10)

	Cassini & Environment (Lawrence Roberts) (p.10)

	Cassini Plutonium for the Technically Minded (p.11)

	Good Advice from an NSS Director (p.12)

	Recommended Activist Tactics (NSS HQ) (p.13)