The Clear Lake Area Chapter will meet on Tuesday, November 16th in the conference room of the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park beginning at 6:00 p.m. The address is 5002 NASA Road 1; Seabrook, Texas. The Community Center is north of NASA 1, away from the lake; enter through the side door adjacent to the parking lot as the main entrance may be locked after 5:00 p.m. A Zoom meeting option will also be available for the Chapter business portion of the meeting; see information below.

At this meeting nominations will open for chapter officers and directors for 2022. Nominations will also be accepted via email to info@nss-houston-moon.org up through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, December 11th and voted on at our December business meeting. Nominations require a second if made in person or two independent nominations if made by email. You can only nominate one candidate for each position, whether in person or by email. You must be a member in good standing of the National Space Society and/or the Moon Society and have indicated that you wish to be considered a member of this Chapter.

For information, the current slate of officers and positions is as follows:

• President: Eric Bowen
• Vice-President: Doug Hall
• Treasurer: Jay Lewchanin
• Secretary: Vacant
• Director, Position 1: Marianne Dyson
• Director, Position 2: Keith Dauzat
• Director, Position 3: Larry Friesen

Candidates for all officer positions and for Director, Position 1 must be or must be willing to become members in good standing of BOTH the National Space Society and The Moon Society. Candidates for Director, Position 2 must be a member in good standing of the National Space Society. Candidates for Director, Position 3 must be a member in good standing of The Moon Society.

COVID Information: Masking and/or vaccination is not required by either the Chapter or by Harris County at the present time. Those who attend in person are encouraged to protect themselves as they in consultation with their medical advisors deem best, whether that be vaccination, masking, or prophylactic medicines and/or nutritional supplements (adverse outcomes from the virus are strongly related to deficiencies in Vitamin D3). We ask that you remain at home if you are running a fever over 99.6F or are suffering any symptoms of respiratory illness. Take care and see you there!

There will be no refreshments provided at this meeting although you are welcome to bring your own or purchase drinks from the county’s vending machine. Please note that some members have objected to the consumption of food and beverages in a group setting but the Chapter has not taken a position on that at this time. We will attempt to conclude our business by 7:30 and then those who wish may adjourn to a local restaurant for refreshment and continued conversation on a ‘Dutch treat’ basis.

Our next regularly scheduled meeting following this one will be our annual business meeting on Tuesday, December 14th; same time and place. Looking forward to seeing you then, too!

Zoom Meeting Info: Please note that at present we are limited to a maximum of 40 minutes via Zoom, so the Zoom meeting will open at 6:15 p.m. and close about 30 minutes later. We will do our best to schedule any business requiring votes during this window. After the Zoom meeting closes we will be looking at recent space news and events presented by Doug Hall.

Eric Bowen is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Clear Lake Area NSS/Moon Society Chapter
Time: Nov 16, 2021 06:15 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77291818257?pwd=UVY2NTdGNzZtRG5GR1A5am40cUQ5Zz09

Meeting ID: 772 9181 8257
Passcode: K8e23z

It’s been a long, cold layoff! But we are now booked into the Bay Area Community Center Conference Room (small meeting area adjacent to the office) for November 16th and December 14th!

Please note changes in day and time from our old meeting schedule. We will be meeting on Tuesdays because the schedule is more available and because some of our regular members had trouble with the Monday night meetings, and a change in facility hours (the Center now closes at 8 p.m.) requires that we shift our meeting time to an hour earlier.

The Clear Lake Area Chapter will meet on Tuesday, November 16th in the conference room of the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park at 6:00 p.m. I hope to make light refreshments, sodas and bottled water available as in the past but in-kind contributions are welcome (advance notice of what you plan to bring is helpful). Please note change: Due to concerns expressed by some of our membership there will be no refreshments at the meeting itself. We will attempt to conclude business before 7:30 p.m. and then those who so choose may adjourn to a local restaurant on a ‘dutch treat’ basis for continued conversation and interaction.

The address for the Bay Area Community Center is 5002 NASA Road 1; Seabrook, Texas. The Community Center is north of NASA 1, away from the lake; enter through the side door adjacent to the parking lot as the main entrance may be locked after 5:00 p.m. Our meeting will be in the conference room, across the main hall from the office.

Our agenda for this meeting will concern some housekeeping and business items such as determinations of the status of our chapter bank account; our credit union is changing its identity from JSC FCU to Wellby with possible changes in fees and policies. We will also accept nominations for chapter officers and directors, to be voted on in December.

Our December 14th meeting will be our annual business meeting with election of officers. Nominations are now being accepted via email to info@nss-houston-moon.org and will be accepted at that address up through 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, December 11th. In-person nominations from the floor may also be tendered at the business meeting itself; in accordance with our bylaws those elected will assume office on January 1st.

Meetings for next year are still TBD and our meeting schedule going forward may be tweaked again based upon feedback received between now and the end of the year. But we look forward to seeing you again this November and December!

Please note the present slate of Chapter officers and directors. All are eligible for re-election. Any active member of the Chapter (determined by membership on our mailing list) who is also an active member of the National Space Society and/or the Moon Society is eligible to nominate, vote, or serve subject to the requirements of our bylaws:

These positions require those who serve to be, or to be willing to become, active members of BOTH the National Space Society and the Moon Society:

• Chapter President, currently held by Eric Bowen
• Chapter Vice-President, currently held by Doug Hall
• Chapter Treasurer, currently held by Jay Lewchanin
• Chapter Secretary, currently vacant. Volunteers?
• Director, Position 1, currently held by Marianne Dyson

This position requires active membership in the National Space Society:

• Director, Position 2, currently held by Keith Dauzat

This position requires active membership in The Moon Society:

• Director, Position 3, currently held by Dr. Larry Friesen

COVID Information: Masking and/or vaccination is not required by either the Chapter or by Harris County at the present time. Those who attend in person are encouraged to protect themselves as they in consultation with their medical advisors deem best, whether that be vaccination, masking, or prophylactic medicines and/or nutritional supplements (adverse outcomes from the virus are strongly related to deficiencies in Vitamin D3). We ask that you remain at home if you are running a fever over 99.6F or are suffering any symptoms of respiratory illness. Take care and see you there!

We will have a special meeting of officers and Board members at the home of Anita Gale at 6:30 in the evening of Monday, May 13th to discuss a proposed joint project with the Space Settlement Design Competition group. While participation will be limited, as a 501c3 nonprofit our meeting will be open for all to attend. Sandwiches and refreshments will be available. We request an RSVP from anyone not on the Board roster so that we can have adequate comestibles to enjoy! If you want to RSVP or need directions to Anita’s, just send an email to info@nss-houston-moon.org for more information.

Chapter meeting:
Monday the 15th, 7:00 p.m.

Celebrate Tax Day with the Clear Lake Area Chapter! Our regular chapter meeting will be on Monday, April 15h in the conference room of the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park. Doors open at 6:30; meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments, sodas and bottled water will be available; this month I’m planning on mini sub roll sandwiches from HEB. The address is 5002 NASA Road 1; Seabrook, Texas. The Community Center is north of NASA 1, away from the lake; enter through the side door adjacent to the parking lot as the main entrance may be locked after 5:00 p.m.

Our next regularly scheduled meeting following this one will be on Monday, June 17th; same time and place. Looking forward to seeing you then, too!

Anita Gale Residence
18506 Upper Bay Road
Nassau Bay, Texas

Anita Gale is hosting our Chapter’s annual Christmas Party in her home at 18506 Upper Bay Road in Nassau Bay, across NASA 1 and down the road just a few blocks from the Space Center this Sunday, December the 16th beginning at 5:30 pm. Come and join us for a happy holiday celebration!

We’ll be having hearty appetizers and finger foods as well as Anita’s legendary selection of adult and soft beverages. In-kind contributions of food and snacks will be eagerly accepted, along with homemade desserts! (Note: A themed cake is coming!)

We would appreciate an RSVP email to info@nss-houston-moon.org so that we know how many to plan for. No charge for the party, but contributions towards the refreshments will be accepted with our thanks. Children are welcome with appropriate adult supervision; Anita describes her home as “kid-friendly but not kid-safe.” Please note that adult beverages will be available, so plan accordingly.

For those of you who attempted to access this web site in the past couple of weeks and got only the giant sucking sound, I apologize. Our website was formerly hosted with IX web hosting, but they sold out to Site 5 who raised prices and changed terms of service and did other generally nasty stuff. I think…I hope!…that I’ve repaired all the damage by now. Currently I’m self-hosting, but I plan to seek out another provider such as (possibly) Digital Ocean in the near future. Please let us know of any future “hiccups” you might encounter in our service!

 

The next regular meeting of the Clear Lake Area National Space Society & Moon Society chapter will be on Monday, April 16th in the conference room of the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park. Doors open at 6:30; meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments, sodas and bottled water will be available. The address is 5002 NASA Road 1; Seabrook, Texas. The Community Center is north of NASA 1, away from the lake; enter through the side door adjacent to the parking lot as the main entrance may be locked after 5:00 p.m.

The NSS Chapters Assembly has requested our input on some agenda items, including the proposed nomination of Senator Bridenstine as NASA administrator; proposals to aid the Puerto Rico chapter as they recover from Hurricane Maria; alternative plans/uses for the ISS as it nears end-of-life; and discussion of the Scott Kelly “twins study”. Feel free to voice your opinions on these topics and to bring up additional matters which may be of interest to the CA at our meeting.

We will also be discussing proposals for social events this summer. See you there!

The next regular meeting of the Clear Lake Area National Space Society & Moon Society chapter will be on Monday, February 19th in the conference room of the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park. Doors open at 6:30; meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments, sodas and bottled water will be available. The address is 5002 NASA Road 1; Seabrook, Texas. The Community Center is north of NASA 1, away from the lake; enter through the side door adjacent to the parking lot as the main entrance may be locked after 5:00 p.m.

 

The Clear Lake Area NSS & Moon Society Chapter added yet another chapter to an already successful 2017 Texas Legislative Blitz. After meeting with Congressman Gene Green (D-TX29) in July and with Jeannie Kranz, a key staffer to Congressman Brian Babin (R-TX36) in October, our briefing team had a very productive meeting with Congressman Randy Weber (R-TX14), whose district spans the Texas Gulf Coast from Beaumont through Galveston to Freeport, on the morning of Friday, December 15th in his League City office. We discussed the proposed Cis-Lunar Commercialization Act and the SEDS Act which has been introduced by Mr. Rohrabacher of California at some length. We also had time to briefly discuss the NEOCAM telescope for monitoring near-Earth space from the Earth-Sun L1 point which has been proposed by JPL. The Congressman engaged us throughout and even quizzed us to determine our grasp of the points we were discussing.

Photo below, left to right: John Cook, constituent of district TX-14; Congressman Randy Weber; Eric Bowen, CLA-NSS/MS chapter president; David Cheuvront, NSS Policy Committee.