2007 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 24 T HE NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY’S [NS S] WE S T ERN REG I ONA L SPACE DE VE LOPMENT CON - FERENCE [RSDC] WAS HELD Friday October 6th, and Saturday Octo- ber 7th 2006, at theOgdenUtahMarriott Hotel. The conference was a success, and participants were interested in this becoming an annual event. The next step for the Utah Space Association will be to pursue an International Space Develop- ment Conference, with the approval of the NSS Board of Directors. $12,000 was put into organizing the conference. Funding sponsors included L3 Commu- nications, ATK Launch Systems, Adam Aircraft, and the Larry H. Miller Group. We also received generous donations from Utah Space Association members, and members from the Front Range L5 the NSS Chapter, in Denver. ATK Launch Systems did an excel- lent job of printing programs, and also papers from some of the speakers. Soon, the Utah Space Association should have the conference proceedings on a compact disc [CD]. The proceedings CD will contain papers, or PowerPoint presentations from the speakers at the conference. The Utah Space Association will sell these CDs for $30, which will include postage and han- dling. We are hopeful that the distribution of the CD will be greater than the 62 people who attended the conference. When available, it will be advertised on the Utah Space Associa- tion website: http://www.utahspace.org. AIAA Utah Section member Don Sau- vageau opened the conference with an excel- lent presentation on development of the Aires I and Aires V rockets for astronauts return to theMoon, in the next decade. Ben Bova talked about Solar Power Satellites. Mention was made of a proposal to downgrade a hurricane, using a Solar Power Satellites, by tweaking its temperature, in the eye of the Hurricane. Greg Meholic and H. David Froning, both AIAA members, talked about the theoretical possibilities for Star Travel at acceptable times and energies. On Saturday morning, Don Pic- card talked about the XAP Balloon Project. His family has pioneered scientific balloon research. His father was the inspiration for the naming of Captain Jean Luc Picard in the Star Trek New Generation Television Series. Mark Hopkins fromNSS, talked about political strat- egies needed tomake possible increased federal funding for space. Eric Boethin, from the Front Range L5 NSS Chapter talked about Heavy Lift LaunchVehicles. Dr. Robert Zubrin talked about Mars as our new frontier for colonization. David Mathes talked about space tourism and its related financing by the private sector. Robert Bigelow, from Clark Planetarium, showed recent pictures fromMars and Saturn, and talked about solar system discoveries. Tim Miller, from the Front Range L5 NSS Chapter, emphasized our Project ApolloMoon Program heritage. He is related to one of the Apollo as- tronauts. Bill Gardiner fromNSS, talked about recent progress in faster-than-light com- munications. This shows a true potential toward faster-than-light space travel, and possibly even a new approach to detecting communications from other civilizations in outer space. Such progress would be a giant leap beyond Project SETI. Dr. Thomas Valone talked about the development of electrogravitic field propulsion as a possible means to very low cost space transportation. After Dr. Valone’s presentation, we had a panel dis- cussion on faster-than-light travel, control over gravity and inertia, solar system and star travel in acceptable times and ener- gies, and other propellantless propulsion possibilities. Gregg Meholic, H. David Froning, Bill Gardiner, Thomas Valone, and Robert Zubrin, served as panelists. Several speakers mentioned that they were able to make important con- tacts, at the conference, to help advance their experimentation, and research. This may have been the most important outcome of the regional space develop- ment conference. Rockets, Satellites, Star Trek J. DAVID BAXTER AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS & ASTRONAUTICS www.aiaa.org Chair Stephannie D. Mecham Secretary Brian W. Long Treasurer Mark Snaufer UEC Representative Kenneth W. Randle 801-485-9165 UEC Alternate Representative Dr. James H. Thacher Newsletter Editor David H. Olson Program Chair Donald L. Sandberg