August 2022 – Clear Lake Area National Space Society & Moon Society Chapter

Houston Clear Lake Area Chapter Honors Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols publicity photo courtesy NASA and at a Children Uniting Nations Academy Award event in 2009. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Clear Lake Area National Space Society and Moon Society Chapter met on August 16th at the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park. Director Keith Dauzat introduced a resolution that the Chapter recognize and honor the life and work of Star Trek actress and long-time NASA recruiter Nichelle Nichols, which the Chapter was eager to unanimously adopt. Accordingly,

The Clear Lake Area Chapter of the National Space Society and Moon Society honors the life, work and legacy of Nichelle Nichols for both her pioneering work as a Black actress and star on the groundbreaking television and film series Star Trek and especially for her subsequent work as a recruiter for NASA for nearly five decades. She has shown the way for three generations to turn science fiction into science fact, and that legacy will only continue to grow. This resolution is to be entered in the Chapter minutes, posted on the Chapter’s web site, and submitted to NSS Downlink in anticipation of publication. Adopted by the Clear Lake Area Chapter August 16th, 2022. Ad Astra.

We also heard from speaker and NASA veteran Dave Cheuvront about the workings of the Space Settlement Design Competitions and some of his favorite anecdotes. Dave had a presentation which, unfortunately, had to be abbreviated due to time and technical difficulties, but it can be downloaded from our web site at http://nss-houston-moon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CLA-NSS-Space-Settlements.pdf. Dave also encourages you to view a recorded copy of the presentation which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyn7AQkTQbk as well as other material from the F4F (Foundation For the Future) YouTube channel.

In other news, the Chapter will be resuming social events this fall! One of our popular “Science Fiction/Science Fact” Movie Nights will be held at the home of Anita Gale the afternoon and evening of Saturday, November 19th; for details see the post on our web page. And our Chapter Christmas party will return after a three-year hiatus at Anita’s home on December 17th!

The Clear Lake Area Chapter’s next meeting will be at the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park, just down NASA 1 from the Johnson Space Center, at 6:00 p.m. on September 20th, 2022. Everyone’s welcome!

CLA-NSS Space Settlements Download

Clear Lake Area Chapter Movie Night, November 19th!

Anita Gale is hosting our Chapter’s November “Movie Night” 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 on Saturday, November the 19th from 3:00 p.m. until we’re all drowning in Tribbles! This year’s get-together will feature a “Space Station” theme…what goes right, and what might someday go badly wrong!

We’ll have a few minutes for snacks and conversation after doors open at 3:00 p.m., but by about 3:30 we’ll be ready to start with our Science Fact entry, the 2002 IMAX Space Station movie, filmed by the astronauts themselves and presented on Anita’s big-screen TV in Blu-Ray! You’ll love the scenes of weightlessness and the ever-changing view as the early modules of the International Space Station are jockeyed into place!

We’ll have a dinner break with hot dogs and fixings, chips, and maybe a few homemade chocolate chip cookies, and then we’ll get into Tribbles for the rest of the evening! We’ll start, of course, with the original Star Trek second season episode “The Trouble With Tribbles” as written by David Gerrold. That will be followed by the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine follow-on tribute episode, “Trials and Tribble-ations”…if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s good! Finally, as a nightcap, we’ll have the animated series episode “More Tribbles, More Troubles” on tap for the die-hards!

The popcorn machine will be there and popping; Anita will have her legendary spread of adult and soft beverages; and you’re all invited to bring along your leftover Halloween candy! Other contributions, both food and funds, are welcome as well. We’re expecting an intimate turnout for this event, but still 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 event, but voluntary contributions towards the refreshments will be accepted with our thanks. These shows are all child-friendly!

Finally, we’re also giving advance notice of our Chapter Christmas party, currently scheduled for the evening of Saturday, December 17th. Hope to see you there!

August 16th Chapter Meeting!

The Clear Lake Area Chapter will meet on Tuesday, August 16th (CORRECTED; an earlier email inadvertently said ‘Tuesday the 18th’. I apologize) 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.

Guest Speaker: Dave Cheuvront!

Come hear our own Dave Cheuvront! Dave is very active in the Space Settlement Design Competitions, and he will be sharing with us about the activities of those competitions as well as the current state of the art in space settlement design! We will expedite the ‘business’ portion of the meeting to give Dave as much time as possible. Don’t miss it!

Coming Attractions!

The Clear Lake Area Chapter social calendar resumes with one of our science fiction/science fact Movie Nights in the home of Anita Gale on Saturday, November 19th! This year’s program focuses on space stations…we’ll watch the IMAX space station movie in Blu-ray, and then see what happens when a space station has “Tribble Trouble!”
Advance notice is also given of our Chapter Christmas party, currently planned for the 17th of December at the home of Anita Gale.

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. 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; exact location to be determined at the meeting.

Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Tuesday, September 20th at 6 p.m. At that meeting nominations for officers and directors will open in anticipation of our annual business meeting on October 18th.

Editing to add Chapter Treasurer’s Report (not available at August 16th meeting): Current balances of Chapter’s bank accounts as of July 31st, 2022: Savings balance $669.99, Checking balance $303.03.

MeetingAgenda.20220816 Download

MeetingMinutes.20220621 Download

Congratulations to friend of the Chapter Avinash Shirode and his wife Sharmistha on the occasion of their 50th anniversary and his 75th birthday (August 14th, 2022)!