This meeting was attended by Jeff Berkwits, Patricia Hartman, Patrick Purcell,
Dave Rankin, James Roth, Bill Rupp, John Stone, and Gerry Williams.
MONTHLY RECAP
On July 8th, TMS-SD and our San
Diego Mars Rover participated in the "SALLY RIDE TOY
CHALLENGE" at the San Diego
Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park from 10:00am to 4:30pm. There was a great crowd, lots of kids
(both boys and girls), and everyone was enamored with our San
Diego Mars Rover. Carol Nye, John Stone and
Gerry Williams were our representatives.
July 7th was The San Diego Astronomy Association's
"STARS IN THE PARK" telescope
event in Balboa Park. Dave Rankin, John Stone and
Gerry Williams set up our usual table and ran the
San Diego Mars Rover around until
dark. Unfortunately for the SDAA folks, a thick marine layer blotted out the sky the entire evening.
Jupiter and Vega were visible for less than 5 minutes.
Shannon Rupert-Robles, one of the co-founders of TMS-SD
left on July 5th for her first excursion to the Mars Society's
Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS)
in the Canadian Arctic, where she'll be the Crew 9 Biologist/Ecologist. She'll be spending four weeks
at the simulated Mars Habitat on Devon Island near the Haughton Meteor Impact Crater. (Be sure to read
her Daily Reports).
From there, Shannon comes back to San Diego for merely a day before
heading off for another four-week simulated Mars adventure with the
Mars Australian Research Station (MARS-OZ) and their
Expedition Two (Expedition One took place last year at the Mars Desert
Research Station (MDRS) in Utah).
Shannon has been on three other Mars Analog Research Station (MARS) crews
(twice as Crew Commander) and now holds the world's record for the most individual person-days spent
simulating human Mars Mission Surface Operations! Congratulations to our very own "Hab Queen!"
Dave Rankin, Gerry Williams and Jeff Berkwits
went to the San Diego Mission Valley Library to give our lecture,
"WHAT'S UP ON MARS?" This was the first of a four-part monthly lecture
series, and was attended by 35 people on June 21st.
Jeff Berkwits supplied an amazing evening of entertainment for our
Mars Movie Night, featuring Mars TV films from the 1950's (including Walt
Disney's "Mars and Beyond". We had many new people in the audience that
night, specifically due to ...
The June 17th San Diego Reader magazine article about
TMS-SD's monthly Mars Movie Night and
Gerry Williams' "Mars Movie
Guide" called, "PLANET
CELLULOID - Mars Movie Night". Jeff Berkwits was also interviewed.
The article ran on page 77 of The Reader, AND on page 1 of The Weekly (a tourist-oriented local
events magazine).
June 16th had TMS-SD invited to give two presentations to the students of
the Elementary Institute of Science in southeast San Diego from
1:00 to 3:30pm. The San Diego Mars
Rover was a very big hit with the kids (as usual).
UPCOMING EVENTS
July 10th has TMS-SD invited to set up our display table for
FAMILY DAYS at the
San Diego Aerospace Museum.
We'll run the San Diego Mars Rover
from noon to 3:00pm.
On Tuesday, July 13th, TMS-SD is proud to be cosponsoring an advance
screening of 20th Century Fox's I, ROBOT at 7:00pm at
the AMC Mission Valley Theaters. Congratulations to our ticket winners chosen from last month's Mars
Movie Night -- Geraldine Adams, Jesse Clark, Felicia Johnson, Jim Rose, and Ray Seraydarian. They also
got a very special screening of a new extended trailer for the film, too.
Gerry Williams has volunteered four-to-six days as CapCOM for the
Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station
(FMARS). CapCOM is the primary person for contact from the FMARS Habitat and Crew. Other
members were encouraged to participate as they can.
Friday, July 16, 2004 is TMS-SD's MARS MOVIE NIGHT -- featuring the
PBS/NOVA documentary, "MARS: Dead or Alive" (2004) -- Showtime is at
7:00pm at Studio 106 -- please
RSVP. As usual, bring drinks or snacks to share -- Gerry will
provide the popcorn!
On Monday, July 19, 2004, the San
Diego Mission Valley Library will be hosting a lecture, "THE CASE FOR
MARS - THE PLAN TO SETTLE THE RED PLANET AND WHY WE MUST": The Mars Society's founder and
president, Dr. Robert Zubrin, wrote "The Case For
Mars" and outlines a bold yet feasible method of sending humans to the Red Planet for
exploration and eventual colonization. The Mars Society-San Diego provides
a glimpse into Dr. Zubrin's "Mars Direct" plan. Lecture starts at 7:00pm in the Library's
auditorium. The San Diego Mars Rover
will also be there.
Wednesday through Sunday, July 21-25th, Comic-Con
International: San Diego is the nation's largest comics and popular arts convention takes place at
the harborside convention center. TMS-SD will be there for public
outreach activities with a display table in the Exhibit hall all five days, plus two programming
events on Sunday at 2:00pm and 3:00pm.
At the first panel at 2:00pm, Dr. Mike Caplinger
from Malin Space Science Systems and Sci-Fi author Greg Bear will be
joining us for "What's Up on Mars?" -- Dave
Rankin (Mars Society, San Diego co-founder) moderates.
The 3:00pm panel is, Mars Analog Research Stations. Dave Rankin (Mars
Society-San Diego co-founder, MDRS Mission Support director and MDRS maintenance crew) moderates, with
Gerry Williams (Mars Society-San Diego co-founder and MDRS Mission Support Director, and MDRS
maintenance crew), John Stone (MDRS maintenance crew) and Patrick Purcell (MDRS Mission Support
staff).
We will also be taking our guests out to the San Diego Yacht Club for lunch prior to the panel.
We'll discuss our individual schedules for staffing our Fan Table via e-mail and our message board.
Wednesday, August 4th has The San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA)
hosting their "STARS IN THE PARK"
public telescope viewing event outside the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. The setup is
at 6:30pm, and the event runs from 7:00pm past 9:00pm (weather permitting). It coincides with
"THE SKY TONIGHT" Planetarium show
in the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center at 7:00pm. TMS-SD members will be
there for public outreach activities from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. The
San Diego Mars Rover will also be
there during the daylight hours.
Back by popular demand, on Friday, August 13th, the next REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
of TMS-SD will another Summer Barbecue from 7:00pm to 10:00pm at
Gerry William's house near Hillcrest -- map to follow.
Thursday-Sunday, August 19th-22nd, is THE
MARS SOCIETY'S 7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, currently planned for The Palmer House Hilton
hotel, in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The Conference this year will be jointly hosted by the Illinois
and Michigan Chapters of the Mars Society. Unfortunately no one from the San Diego chapter is able to
attend. We discussed having to pick a "surrogate" San Diegan to accept any possible chapter awards we
might possibly win.
Monday, August 23 has TMS-SD invited to give a "What's Up On Mars?"
lecture to the residence of the La Costa Glenn retirement
community at 4:00pm. We'll also take the San
Diego Mars Rover to demonstrate.
On Friday, August 27, TMS-SD's MARS MOVIE NIGHT features updated silliness
from outer space with "My Favorite Martian (1999) -- An
adaptation of the popular '60s TV show of a friendly Martian who takes up residence with an agreeable
earthling.
Wednesday, September 15 has The San Diego Yacht Club will hosting a
lecture, "Invasion from Earth", by members of TMS-SD at a noon
luncheon. The San Diego Mars Rover.
The Sally Ride Science Festival has asked
TMS-SD to bring the San
Diego Mars Rover and our display table to their
University of California, Irvine
event on Saturday, November 20th in Orange County.
PROJECT STATUS REPORTS
CHAPTER'S CHALLENGE:
San Diego leads the Northern California
and Los Angeles chapters by an incredible margin: 389 / 40 / 27
MARS SUIT TASKFORCE: The two Mars Suits were brought in to the meeting
by Tim Sommer to give us a very good feeling on their progress. The
hardware (helmets and backpacks) is nearing completion and should be ready for Comic-Con. The suits
themselves are coming along, but may not be ready for a while longer (our plan is to use some white
Tyvek HazMat suits we purchased as a short-term substitute).
MARS ROVER RC MODEL: Our
San Diego Mars Rover is holding up
well under the strain of heavy use (as are the real Rovers on Mars). Gerry reports that the Rover is
put up on some blocks after every run to keep the solar panel wing flat (its curving downward with
age), and the front legs need to be rewrapped in gold foil about once a month. Also the silver edging
around the wing is touched-up once a month as well. We're starting to see some paint flaking, but we
have the touch-up for that, too. The NiMH rechargeable batteries are holding up well, as is the onboard
video camera and transmitter. And the Rover's audience simply loves it!
PUBLIC RELATIONS: Jeff reports that he has set up an interview with a
reporter from the San Diego Union/Tribune regarding a possible story on Shannon's adventures in the
Great Martian Ice Cap. Shannon was playing e-mail tag with the reporter at last notice.
NEW DISPLAY BOARD: Gerry has the new display board built and is printing
out the new color images for it. It will be ready to go to Comic-Con. This means that we'll have TWO
display boards available, should we ever become double-booked.
WEBSITE UPDATE: Our chapter website is being kept current on a weekly
basis. The planned redesign has nothing to report at this time.
POLITICAL OUTREACH: Nothing to report.
OTHER ACTIVITIES AND ITEMS
TREASURY AND FINANCES REPORT: After passing the hat, the treasury was
up to $341.61. This will dwindle mightily after the expenses of Comic-Con.
HARTMANN BOOK SALES: As of the start of the meeting, we had 28 of William
K. Hartmann's "A
TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MARS: THE MYSTERIOUS LANDSCAPES OF THE RED PLANET" left in stock. None were
sold at any outreach events this past month. We showed the book (which is autographed by the author)
around and one was sold at this meting. Some other suggestions were tendered as to how we can sell
the remainder of them, including at Comic-Con. The profits go into our treasury.
NEW LOCAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES: We're looking for any possible new venues
for our public outreach, especially schools. The Mission Valley Library venue, after one lecture,
seems quite promising -- we may try the same programs at other libraries.
GRANT RESEARCH: Shannon gave Gerry a crash-course in researching possible
grants to extend our outreaches. Gerry will have a full report at next month's meeting on what he's
found.
NEW MS DIRECTORY LIST: Patrick turned over the latest membership list from
The Mars Society head office for the San Diego area. Gerry will check it over and add e-mail addresses
to our weekly "This Week In San Diego" e-mailing. And for those whose e-mail addresses no longer work,
Gerry will put together a postcard mailing to their physical addresses to see if we can unearth some of
the people that we're not seeing at our events.
TMS-SD EMBROIDERED SHIRTS: Gerry suggested that we look into the
possibility of getting some nice denim shirts (with pockets) and have Tim's friend (who has a special
embroidery sewing machine and might give us a discount) stitch a logo that Gerry designed onto the
breast of the shirt. Everyone liked the design.
OPEN DISCUSSIONS
Irene Grumman (who wasn't able to attend the meeting tonight) told us of a website that we, as a group,
might be interested in participating in: Science
Fiction Citations for the Oxford English Dictionary. After some quick look-ups, we decided to
table this until Irene could talk to us about it more.
Everyone wanted to wrap up tonight in order to get home and see the season premier of
Stargate SG-1. We found that most were taping it for
later.
There was quite a bit of discussion regarding the newly formed Space Exploration Alliance (of which the
Mars society is a charter member) and the Moon-
Mars Blitz on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. planned for next week. The concept is for hundreds
of spaceflight enthusiasts to visit as many politicians as possible and urge them to support President
Bush's Moon-Mars program, and especially to see that the proposed 2005 NASA budget gets funded.
Naturally the recent success of the Cassini Spacecraft
at Saturn was an exciting topic, especially when online pictures were brought up for discussion.
There was a bit more discussion of the possibility of forming a joint Mars Society and National Space
Society chapter. Several of our members are already members of the NSS, and we discussed some of the
pros and cons of such a venture. No decisions were made.
There was a great deal of discussion regarding the legal status of our chapter. A lot of it had to do
with the implications of liability: "What if ... someone fell and hurt themselves on our Rover", for
instance. This opened up an entire can of worms regarding the possibility of having to incorporate to
protect ourselves (which we may have to do anyway if we decide to seek out grants). We've been a very,
very "loose" chapter organizationally (and we like it that way), but we may be forced into becoming a
legal entity in the very near future. We decided to do some research into these topics and address
them in more detail at next month's (the MS-SD barbecue, so it may be moved to the following) meeting.
Bill and Patricia publish a small magazine called "Continuum
Science Fiction", and they're looking for articles and stories (which they will pay for -- check out
their submission guidelines).
We ended the meeting with John showing us some of the video he captured during the flight of
SpaceShipOne in the Mojave
Desert on June 21st. Patrick (who also went) added his perspective.
On to Mars!
--gmw |