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.

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 on Monday, December the 11th beginning at 6 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!

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 it’s a very large home and adult beverages will be available, so plan accordingly.

Note: A date of Saturday, December 16th was issued while this event was in pre-planning status. After consultation with our hostess, we elected to change the date to Monday, December 11th. Please disregard any earlier communication with the Saturday date.

The Annual Meeting of the Clear Lake Area Chapter was held at the Bay Area Community Center on Monday evening, October 16th. Seven members attended, including two chapter officers and one director. Chapter business included:

• Election of Officers: The following slate of officers was elected by acclamation: Eric Bowen, Chapter President; Doug Hall, Vice-President; Jay Lewchanin, Treasurer; Marianne Dyson, Director, Position 1; Keith Dauzat, Director, Position 2; Larry Friesen, Director, Position 3. The Chapter welcomes Mr. Dauzat to fill out our complement of Directors; our position for a Secretary is still vacant should anyone wish to volunteer.
• NSS Heinlein Award Chapter Ballot: Our chapter is entitled to a group vote for the Heinlein award recognizing lifetime contributions to a spacefaring civilization; members who are active in NSS are also encouraged to cast their own personal ballots. After discussion, our Chapter cast its first choice vote for Captain Gene Cernan of Apollo 17; its second choice vote for Mr. Peter Kokh, long-time publisher of Moon Miners’ Manifesto; and its third choice vote for General Michael Collins of Apollo 11.
• Texas Legislative Blitz: While August is past, there remains a potential opportunity to reach out to influential legislators in our area. Our chapter has three active members who are constituents of Mr. Brian Babin, chairman of the House subcommittee on space; and at least one active member who is a constituent of Randy Weber, member of the House committee on science, space, and technology. We spent some time discussing plans to reach out to these members of Congress and/or their staffs.

I have been contacted by Mr. John Strickland, of the Austin Space Frontier Society. He is seeking office as a Director of the National Space Society and is collecting signatures for his nominating petition. I have agreed to place his name before our membership. Copies of his petition will be available at the August and October meetings, or you can download a copy here. A copy of his campaign statement is available for download as well.

The signed petition sheets may be returned by postal mail or scanned and sent by email, but if you send it electronically be sure to scan and send BOTH sides.

The next regular meeting of the Clear Lake Area National Space Society & Moon Society chapter will be on Monday, August 21st 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.

Nominations for Chapter Officers:

There may not be a meeting in the month of September as I will be out of town until late in the month. Therefore, nominations for Chapter officers and directors will open at the August meeting. Positions which are open for nominations are:

• 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.
• Director, Position 1 – Currently held by Marianne Dyson.
• Director, Position 2 – Currently vacant.
• Director, Position 3 – Currently held by Larry Friesen.

To be eligible for all officer positions and Director, Position 1 a candidate must be, or must be willing to become, an active member in BOTH the National Space Society and The Moon Society. A candidate for Director, Position 2 must be an active member of the National Space Society. A candidate for Director, Position 3 must be an active member of The Moon Society.

Nominations may be made in person at any general membership meeting up to and including the election but require a second. Nominations will also be accepted by email up until the cutoff date of Friday, October 6th at 11:59 PM Central time. Email nominations require two independent nominations from eligible chapter members (members active in the Chapter and either the National Space Society or The Moon Society). Elections will be held at our Chapter’s annual business meeting on October 16th and the new officers will take their positions as of January 1st. (Positions currently vacant will be filled immediately upon election.)

From left to right: Martin Cassidy, Dave Cheuvront, Morgan Sowell, Doris Jin, John Moffitt, Ray Tussing, Joel West, Kimberly Hall, Doug Hall, Cindy Cao, David Forbus, Jill Moffitt, Jerry Jacques, Anita Gale and Michael Molenaar. Not pictured: Eric Bowen. Additional pictures may be viewed on line at https://ehbowen.net/~info/photo/

The Clear Lake Area Chapter hosted a summer social and pool party at the home of Anita Gale on Saturday, July 8, 2017. It was a great success! We had a total of sixteen attending, including several guests…two of the guests elected to join NSS that same night! We welcome Mr. Ray Tussing and Mr. John Moffitt, our newest members! The menu included hamburgers and hot dogs prepared by our grillmasters Michael Molenaar and John Moffitt as well as boiled shrimp with all the fixings cooked by Lupe Gonzales, one of Anita’s co-workers at Boeing.

The Clear Lake Area Chapter will hold regular meetings at 7:30 pm on the third Mondays of August and October. Our next planned social event is a movie night to be held on a Saturday some time in November. Check the chapter web site at http://nss-houston-moon.org for updates and to put your name on our mailing list so we can keep in touch!

The Clear Lake Area Chapter started off the August Legislative Blitz a month early, as three Chapter representatives met with Congressman Gene Green (D, TX-29) in one of his local Houston offices on July 21st. Present were Eric Bowen, chapter president and constituent of Congressman Green as well as Douglas Hall, the chapter’s vice president and David Cheuvront, member of the NSS policy committee. The meeting was friendly and engaging, and the Congressman indicated interest and receptivity to the proposals from the Alliance for Space Development.

If you have not yet done so, we encourage you to take the first step of reaching out to and meeting with your own representative by signing up for the August Blitz at https://tinyurl.com/2017AugustBlitzSignup. The next regular meeting for the Clear Lake Area chapter will be held at the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park on Monday evening, August 21st at 7:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome!

From left: Dave Cheuvront, Eric Bowen, Doug Hall, Congressman Gene Green.

August is the month in which Congressmen traditionally return to their districts for recess. This August, we are asking you to make a personal appointment to meet with your U. S. Representative in his/her local Houston office in order to briefly talk about some legislative items of special interest to NSS. For this year, those items include:

• ULCATS – “Ultra Low Cost Access To Space”. This program is intended to radically reduce the cost of sending payloads to orbit and beyond.
• Cis-Lunar Commercialization – Proposals intended to encourage the development and growth of a spacefaring economy in the Earth-Moon sphere, to include both LEO and GEO and the Earth-Moon LaGrange points.
• NEOCAM – Proposal for a satellite camera system to detect and monitor Near Earth Objects with potential for planetary defense against asteroids and other threats.

If you sign up you will receive background material so that you go into your appointment informed, as well as additional printed information to leave with your Congressman afterwards. At your request, we will attempt to have a chapter officer go with you for additional support if you desire. You should also feel welcome to bring up other items of personal interest to you which need not be on the NSS legislative agenda.

If you’re willing to participate…

1.  Go on line and look up your Congressional representative and his/her contact information at: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
2. Next, go on line with NSS and register to participate in the August blitz at: https://tinyurl.com/2017AugustBlitzSignup using the information you found in step 1.
3. You will be contacted by a national or local August Blitz coordinator who will help develop a strategy for reaching out and coordinating efforts in your district. You will also be provided information to help you prepare for your meeting.

Chapter Officers will be attempting to meet with our two United States Senators from Texas, but we need each individual one of you to reach out to your own Congressman in your own district. Every voice counts!

There are two important items of Chapter business for our June 19th meeting:

First, a new charter for the NSS Chapters Assembly (of which our Chapter is a member) has been proposed. It is close to receiving approval for ratification, but it is also nearing the deadline for ratification. We will be discussing whether or not to ratify this proposed charter in the meeting. The proposed charter is available to review here: [Chapter Assembly proposed Charter]. The present charter from 1988 may be compared here: [Charter of the NSS Chapters’ Assembly-1988].

Additionally, we have been asked as a Chapter to participate in the August legislative “blitz”. August is the month in which Congressional representatives traditionally come home to their districts for recess. If you are willing to participate, we will ask you to make a personal appointment with your Congressional representative when he (she) returns to his home office. If possible, one of the chapter officers will accompany you for support. You will be given some “talking points” for items of major concern to NSS as an organization and of course you may bring up items of personal concern to you. The meeting should be brief and simple, focusing on only a couple of important topics, but personal contact is very important when trying to make these connections with those entrusted with the leadership of our nation. If you are available and willing to participate, please let me know at the meeting or by email.

UPDATE 2017-06-20: If you are willing to participate in the August Blitz, please look up your Congressional district and representative’s name and then go to this link to sign up as a potential participant.

Anita Gale is hosting our Chapter’s annual summertime social and pool 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 on Saturday, July the 8th from 4:00 p.m. through 9:00. This year’s party will feature a Shrimp Boil, but burgers, hot dogs, sides and salads will be available as well.

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. We also welcome contributions of appetizers/snacks or desserts. Children are welcome with appropriate adult supervision.

In the event of inclement weather on Saturday, July 8th the party will be rescheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, July 9th…. Edit 2017-06-28: Our shrimp chef is not available on Sunday, so we will go through with the party on Saturday afternoon rain or shine.