Archive-name: space/groups Last-modified: $Date: 93/08/01 23:53:50 $ SPACE ACTIVIST/INTEREST/RESEARCH GROUPS AND SPACE PUBLICATIONS GROUPS AIA -- Aerospace Industry Association. Professional group, with primary membership of major aerospace firms. Headquartered in the DC area. Acts as the "voice of the aerospace industry" -- and it's opinions are usually backed up by reams of analyses and the reputations of the firms in AIA. [address needed] AIAA -- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Professional association, with somewhere about 30,000-40,000 members. 65 local chapters around the country -- largest chapters are DC area (3000 members), LA (2100 members), San Francisco (2000 members), Seattle/NW (1500), Houston (1200) and Orange County (1200), plus student chapters. Not a union, but acts to represent aviation and space professionals (engineers, managers, financial types) nationwide. Holds over 30 conferences a year on space and aviation topics publishes technical Journals (Aerospace Journal, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, etc.), technical reference books and is _THE_ source on current aerospace state of the art through their published papers and proceedings. Also offers continuing education classes on aerospace design. Has over 60 technical committees, and over 30 committees for industry standards. AIAA acts as a professional society -- offers a centralized resume/jobs function, provides classes on job search, offers low-cost health and life insurance, and lobbies for appropriate legislation (AIAA was one of the major organizations pushing for IRAs - Individual Retirement Accounts). Very active public policy arm -- works directly with the media, congress and government agencies as a legislative liaison and clearinghouse for inquiries about aerospace technology technical issues. Reasonably non-partisan, in that they represent the industry as a whole, and not a single company, organization, or viewpoint. Membership $70/yr (student memberships are less). American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The Aerospace Center 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW Washington, DC 20077-0820 (202)-646-7400 AMSAT - develops small satellites (since the 1960s) for a variety of uses by amateur radio enthusiasts. Has various publications, supplies QuickTrak satellite tracking software for PC/Mac/Amiga etc. Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) P.O. Box 27 Washington, DC 20044 (301)-589-6062 ASRI (Australian Space Research Institute Ltd, formerly ASERA). An Australian non-profit organisation to coordinate, promote, and conduct space R&D projects in Australia, involving both Australian and international (primarily university) collaborators. Activities include the development of sounding rockets, small satellites (especially microsatellites), high-altitude research balloons, and appropriate payloads. Provides student projects at all levels, and is open to any person or organisation interested in participating. Publishes a monthly newsletter and a quarterly technical journal. Membership $A100 (dual subscription) Subscriptions $A25 (newsletter only) $A50 (journal only) ASERA Ltd PO Box 184 Ryde, NSW, Australia, 2112 email: lindley@syd.dit.csiro.au BIS - British Interplanetary Society. Probably the oldest pro-space group, BIS publishes two excellent journals: _Spaceflight_, covering current space activities, and the _Journal of the BIS_, containing technical papers on space activities from near-term space probes to interstellar missions. BIS has published a design study for an interstellar probe called _Daedalus_. British Interplanetary Society 27/29 South Lambeth Road London SW8 1SZ ENGLAND No dues information available at present. ISU - International Space University. ISU is a non-profit international graduate-level educational institution dedicated to promoting the peaceful exploration and development of space through multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary space education and research. For further information on ISU's summer session program or Permanent Campus activities please send messages to 'information@isu.isunet.edu' or contact the ISU Executive Offices at: International Space University 955 Massachusetts Avenue 7th Floor Cambridge, MA 02139 (617)-354-1987 (phone) (617)-354-7666 (fax) L-5 Society (defunct). Founded by Keith and Carolyn Henson in 1975 to advocate space colonization. Its major success was in preventing US participation in the UN "Moon Treaty" in the late 1970s. Merged with the National Space Institute in 1987, forming the National Space Society. NSC - National Space Club. Open for general membership, but not well known at all. Primarily comprised of professionals in aerospace industry. Acts as information conduit and social gathering group. Active in DC, with a chapter in LA. Monthly meetings with invited speakers who are "heavy hitters" in the field. Annual "Outlook on Space" conference is _the_ definitive source of data on government annual planning for space programs. Cheap membership (approx $20/yr). [address needed] NSS - the National Space Society. NSS is a pro-space group distinguished by its network of local chapters. Supports a general agenda of space development and man-in-space, including the NASA space station. Publishes _Ad Astra_, a monthly glossy magazine, and runs Shuttle launch tours and Space Hotline telephone services. A major sponsor of the annual space development conference. Associated with Spacecause and Spacepac, political lobbying organizations. Membership $20 (youth/senior) $35 (regular). National Space Society Membership Department 922 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20003-2140 (202)-543-1900 Planetary Society - founded by Carl Sagan. The largest space advocacy group. Publishes _Planetary Report_, a monthly glossy, and has supported SETI hardware development financially. Agenda is primarily support of space science, recently amended to include an international manned mission to Mars. The Planetary Society 65 North Catalina Avenue Pasadena, CA 91106 Membership $35/year (ask about the unadvertised student rate). SSI - the Space Studies Institute, founded by Dr. Gerard O'Neill. Physicist Freeman Dyson took over the Presidency of SSI after O'Neill's death in 1992. Publishes _SSI Update_, a bimonthly newsletter describing work-in-progress. Conducts a research program including mass-drivers, lunar mining processes and simulants, composites from lunar materials, solar power satellites. Runs the biennial Princeton Conference on Space Manufacturing. Membership $25/year. Senior Associates ($100/year and up) fund most SSI research. Space Studies Institute 258 Rosedale Road PO Box 82 Princeton, NJ 08540 SEDS - Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Founded in 1980 at MIT and Princeton. SEDS is a chapter-based pro-space organization at high schools and universities around the world. Entirely student run. Each chapter is independent and coordinates its own local activities. Nationally, SEDS runs a scholarship competition, design contests, and holds an annual international conference and meeting in late summer. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space MIT Room W20-445 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 (617)-253-8897 email: odyssey@athena.mit.edu Dues determined by local chapter. SPACECAUSE - A political lobbying organization and part of the NSS Family of Organizations. Publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, Spacecause News. Annual dues is $25. Members also receive a discount on _The Space Activist's Handbook_. Activities to support pro-space legislation include meeting with political leaders and interacting with legislative staff. Spacecause primarily operates in the legislative process. National Office West Coast Office Spacecause Spacecause 922 Pennsylvania Ave. SE 3435 Ocean Park Blvd. Washington, D.C. 20003 Suite 201-S (202)-543-1900 Santa Monica, CA 90405 SPACEPAC - A political action committee and part of the NSS Family of Organizations. Spacepac researches issues, policies, and candidates. Each year, updates _The Space Activist's Handbook_. Current Handbook price is $25. While Spacepac does not have a membership, it does have regional contacts to coordinate local activity. Spacepac primarily operates in the election process, contributing money and volunteers to pro-space candidates. Spacepac 922 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Washington, DC 20003 (202)-543-1900 UNITED STATES SPACE FOUNDATION - a public, non-profit organization supported by member donations and dedicated to promoting international education, understanding and support of space. The group hosts an annual conference for teachers and others interested in education. Other projects include developing lesson plans that use space to teach other basic skills such as reading. Publishes "Spacewatch," a monthly B&W glossy magazine of USSF events and general space news. Annual dues: Charter $50 ($100 first year) Individual $35 Teacher $29 College student $20 HS/Jr. High $10 Elementary $5 Founder & $1000+ Life Member United States Space Foundation PO Box 1838 Colorado Springs, CO 80901 (719)-550-1000 WORLD SPACE FOUNDATION - has been designing and building a solar-sail spacecraft for longer than any similar group; many JPL employees lend their talents to this project. WSF also provides partial funding for the Palomar Sky Survey, an extremely successful search for near-Earth asteroids. Publishes *Foundation News* and *Foundation Astronautics Notebook*, each a quarterly 4-8 page newsletter. Contributing Associate, minimum of $15/year (but more money always welcome to support projects). World Space Foundation Post Office Box Y South Pasadena, California 91301 PUBLICATIONS Aerospace Daily (McGraw-Hill) Very good coverage of aerospace and space issues. Approx. $1400/yr. Air & Space / Smithsonian (bimonthly magazine) - A glossy magazine, generally light reading; the emphasis is much more on aviation than on space. Contains information about all events at the National Air & Space Museum. Box 53261 Boulder, CO 80332-3261 $18/year US, $24/year international Aviation Week & Space Technology - weekly aerospace trade, emphasis on aeronautics but usually has several space-related articles. Rates depend on whether you're "qualified" or not, which basically means whether you look at the ads for cruise missiles out of curiosity, or out of genuine commercial or military interest. Best write for a "qualification card" and try to get the cheap rate. 1221 Ave. of the Americas, New York NY 10020 (800)-525-5003 (International (609)426-7070) $82/year US (qualified) About $50 if you qualify for the unadvertised student subscription rate - I (Jon Leech) got this rate by begging and pleading to a McGraw-Hill representative at the SIGGRAPH '92 conference. ESA - The European Space Agency publishes a variety of periodicals, generally available free of charge. A document describing them in more detail is in the Ames SPACE archive in pub/SPACE/FAQ/ESAPublications. Final Frontier (mass-market bimonthly magazine) - history, book reviews, general-interest articles (e.g. "The 7 Wonders of the Solar System", "Everything you always wanted to know about military space programs", etc.) Final Frontier Publishing Co. PO Box 534 Mt. Morris, IL 61054-7852 $14.95/year US, $19.95 Canada, $23.95 elsewhere Space News (weekly magazine) - covers US civil and military space programs. Said to have good political and business but spotty technical coverage. Space News Springfield VA 22159-0500 (703)-642-7330 $75/year, student rate ~$49. May have discounts for NSS/SSI members Journal of the Astronautical Sciences and Space Times - publications of the American Astronautical Society. No details. AAS Business Office 6352 Rolling Mill Place, Suite #102 Springfield, VA 22152 (703)-866-0020 GPS World (semi-monthly) - reports on current and new uses of GPS, news and analysis of the system and policies affecting it, and technical and product issues shaping GPS applications. GPS World 859 Willamette St. P.O. Box 10460 Eugene, OR 97440-2460 (503)-343-1200 Free to qualified individuals; write for free sample copy. Innovation (Space Technology) -- Free. Published by the NASA Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology. A revised version of the NASA Office of Commercial Programs newsletter. Planetary Encounter - in-depth technical coverage of planetary missions, with diagrams, lists of experiments, interviews with people directly involved. World Spaceflight News - in-depth technical coverage of near-Earth spaceflight. Mostly covers the shuttle: payload manifests, activity schedules, and post-mission assessment reports for every mission. Henry Spencer comments: WSN and PE have recently (mid-92) mutated into much more expensive weekly newsletters, filled mostly with stuff that's already available to most sci.space readers in sci.space.news. There is still interesting content at times, but the signal/noise and benefit/cost ratios have deteriorated pretty badly. I can no longer recommend them. Box 98 Sewell, NJ 08080 $30/year US/Canada $45/year elsewhere Space (bi-monthly magazine) British aerospace trade journal. Very good. $75/year. Space Calendar (weekly newsletter) Space Daily/Space Fax Daily (newsletter) Short (1 paragraph) news notes. Available online for a fee (unknown). Space Technology Investor/Commercial Space News -- irregular Internet column on aspects of commercial space business. Free. Also limited fax and paper edition. P.O. Box 2452 Seal Beach, CA 90740-1452. All the following are published by: Phillips Business Information, Inc. 7811 Montrose Road Potomac, MC 20854 Aerospace Financial News - $595/year. Defense Daily - Very good coverage of space and defense issues. $1395/year. Space Business News (bi-weekly) - Very good overview of space business activities. $497/year. Space Exploration Technology (bi-weekly) - $495/year. Space Station News (bi-weekly) - $497/year. UNDOCUMENTED GROUPS Anyone who would care to write up descriptions of the following groups (or others not mentioned) for inclusion in the answer is encouraged to do so. AAS - American Astronautical Society Other groups not mentioned above NEXT: FAQ #12/13 - How to become an astronaut