MEETING
PLACE:
The Lunar
Reclamation Society holds regular meetings, open to the public, at
Mayfair
Mall on
the city's west side,
in the Community
Room, G110),
located on the lower level "Garden Suites East".
Note: Mayfair
now requires us to keep the door closed, but it is unlocked, and you
can see through the sidelight that we are inside. Come on in!
This location [map]
is handy to the North Avenue and Mayfair Road exits of the Highway 45
Freeway (northern continuation of the I-894 bypass), southbound and
northbound respectively.
At Mayfair, from the central court, walk
north (towards Macy's Department Store, formerly Marshall Fields) and
take the first gallery to the right. Half way down on the left will be
the sign "Garden Suites East" and a glass door leading to a stairway
(with an elevator option.) G110 is just around the corner on the lower
level.
RELAXED
INFORMAL GATHERINGS
are
the rule. We usually have cozy roundtable first name sessions at which
some of us give space news reports, updates on various chapter
projects, or projects of other groups we are following. We usually have
a presentation on a special topic, and often, a short video. Our
meeting place is very nice, kitchen facilities available, and
refreshments are often provided by various members on their own
initiative.
MSMO: The membership of the Moon Society Milwaukee Outpost is too small to meat separately and the LRS
meeting serves for both hats.
MEETING
SCHEDULE FOR
2009: 1-4 pm,
the 2nd Saturday of the month except in July and August, during which
months we may have a field trip and chapter picnic.
2009
|
Jan
10th - Feb 14th - Mar 14th
|
Jul NO - Aug
NO - Sep 12th
|
|
Apr
11th - May 9th - Jun 13th
|
Oct
10th - Nov 24th - Dec 10th
|
- Saturday, March
14th, 2009, 1-4 p.m.
MINUTES: Update
on ISDC 2009. We watched a DVD brought by Bob Bialecki, and discussed
the idea of throwing an "Apollo Moon Party" on the weekend of July
18th-19th, possibly at the IMAX/Planetarium which will be showing
"Astronaut."
- Saturday, April
11th, 2009, 1-4 p.m.
AGENDA:
- Space
News update from Peter
- Moon Society & NSS updates
- Discussion: our Apollo Moon Party Project
to put us in the mood!
DVD Movie: Destination Moon -
the 1950 George Pal Classic (Robert A. Heinlein Novel)
Movie lasts 96 minutes 1:45-3:21 pm
Most recent
stories first
On December
9th, 2008, Peter was interviewed by Julie Pryor from the
National Geographic Channel planning a new documentary on "Return to
the Moon."
While
researching this project, she came across our website (Moon Society)
and watched all of our Moon Colony videos and had also read through a
number of MMM newsletters -- before doing that she had no idea there
were plans/ideas to build a railroad, of all things, on the moon!
She was particularly interested to get our
perspective on
what
life will be like on the moon by 2025 and beyond...
-----
She interviewed me this morning for a full hour. She had an appointment
to
interview David Schrunk next.
She said that at first they were just looking at NASA plans, but now
they
want to look beyond that and talk to the "visionaries." The show will
rely on a
lot of animation.
They may follow-up with a videotaped interview. Location? I proposed
the
Mitchell Park Domes in Milwaukee where Chip Proser shot the segments
for Gaia
Selene, but of course, I am willing to travel anywhere "on their dime."
This is a good break for us.
Peter
Kokh, was interviewed on The Space Show April 24, 2008,
replayed on
April 28th -- Topics discussed: The Moon Society; Reasons for going to
the Moon, Moon vs. Mars, NASA and/vs. private enterprise, lunar analog
research. To listen to the recorded interview, go to:
http://archive.thespaceshow.com/shows/935-BWB-2008-04-28.mp3
February 26-March 12, 2006 -
Peter Kokh commands Crew #45 at the Mars Desert Research Station
- the first Moon Society moonbase simulation.
October 10th, 2005 -
We are informed that the dates have been set for the first Moon Society
Mission to the Mars Desert Station: February 26 - March 12, 2006,
with Peter Kokh as Mission Commander. The Lunar
Reclamation Society will be a principal co-sponsor.
Follow
our exploits on the Artemis Moonbase Sim 1 website
February 6-20, 2005
- Peter Kokh is part of Crew #34 at Mars Desert Reseach Station
January
2, 2005 - Peter Kokh is featured guest on the
Space Show,
answering questions from listeners and from email about the Moon and
its role in our future. The
show aired live on the web and on an AM Seattle radio station, 12-1:30
PM Pacific Time (2-3:30 s Central.) You can listen to the show by going
on the URL above and selecting the January 2, 2005 show from the
archives.
October
6, 2004 - Launching Phase I of a project to Rent the Mars Desert Research Station
in Hanksville, Utah to run Moonbase Operations Simulation Exercise - in
Phase I, a team will put together options for a valid simulations
program that can be run at the Utah facility, and which has enough
merit to attract sponsors. Rent: $7,000 per 2-week crew rotation, plus
transportation expenses, and equipment expenses. Peter Kokh is leading
this effort
August 1, 2004 - LRS President Peter Kokh is elected
President of the Moon Society, for a two year term
6/04/2004 - MMM now has its own domain name, which
forwards to www.lunar-reclamation.org/mmm/ We
hope that this simple device makes it easier for people who have heard
about MMM to find more information. The new domain was registered on
June 4, 2004. You can type the name in all lower case if you like. Caps
in the illustration above are simply for legibility, and totally
optional. We have also created a
directory of free sample issues in PDF format (Adobe
Portable Document File)
and are working on trial subscription offers,
probably at regular prices but with a Priority Mail Packet of back
issues. The offer will be aimed at visitors to the MMM home page, to
the Moon Society website, and to members of the National Space Society
who choose to receive MMM as a PDF file in combination with a special
introductory rate membership in the Moon Society. These details are
currently under discussion with the Moon Society.
3/11/2004
- MMM is Moon-bound!
The only article of the maiden issue of MMM (#1, December 1986), "M" is for "Mole" has been
uploaded in pdf
form to this website and to the TransOrbital
ARCHIVE. If TrailBlazer 1 does fly, and eventually impacts the Moon,
this archive is expected to survive.
3/04/2004
- Two new position papers
have been drafted in response to the Bush Administration's Moon to Mars
Initiative and jointly adopted by the Lunar Reclamation Society
(Milwaukee, WI) and the Moon Society (Plano, TX):
"The
Moon: Why and How we Should Return"
March 4, 2003 - Lunar
Eclipse Section added to the "Explore
From Home" Page
Spring
| Summer 2002 News
Our July
20th Field Trip to Chicago was
somewhat disappointing Six of us made the trip,
including a member of the Wisconsin Mars Society who carpooled with us.
It was great meeting some of the Chicago area Mars Society people and
seeing again several Chicago area NSS members. The exhibits at Adler
were great as usual. But the Mars Analog Research Station exhibit
deserves mixed reviews. The shell of the M.A.R.S. EuroHab destined for
a site in NE Iceland contained good exhibits about Mars, and some about
Mars Society programs and visions. But it was not outfitted as a
M.A.R.S., that is, as a place from which simulation exercises and
operations would be run. And that, not exhibits on Mars, was what we
thought we were going to see. What is the sense of exciting people
about this very special Mars Society Project - simulating Mars
operations in select locations on Earth so that we can learn valuable
lessons and go to Mars itself better prepared - if we aren't going to
show people how our field operatives are going to live and work inside
these structures. A tremendous opportunity has been lost to save a
little time, effort, and money. - PK
Peter Kokh
gave a talk on Space Tourism on Saturday
afternoon, May 18th, at the
annual Rockets for Schools event in Sheboygan. The talk was poorly
attended because the event organizers were too busy to promote the
presentation sessions.
Our
website was down most of April: because of a
communications snafu, our domain name registration was not renewed
promptly. We are glad to be online again!
We manned
table at Mitchell Field: On Thursday
evening / Friday morning, April 25h-26th, Peter manned a
table at the annual Aviation Career Day event, with the theme "Fly the
Skies of Mars." Our table was officially sponsored by the Wisconsin
Mars Society chapter. There was very good response, about half of it to
the idea of Mars in general, half to the idea of flying on Mars
specifically. We will probably repeat this event next year, hopefully
with some key improvements to our display and presentation.
Peter Kokh
gave a talk on the Moon to Milwaukee Astronomical Society:
On Friday evening, January 18th, 2002 Peter
addressed MAS at its monthly meeting at the UWM Physics Building on E.
Kenwood & N. Cramer. Peter spoke about the Lunar Reclamation
Society's vision and projects, about his own life long interest in the
Moon, and about the possibility of automated optical and radio
astronomical observatories on the Moon, and their possible evolution
into occasionally tended, then permanently staffed facilities. He then
spoke about the potential interest of free enterprise in the Moon, for
tourism, and energy, describing the various scenarios. This would mean
substantial numbers of people living on the Moon and he described
various settlement architecture suggestions and why he thought the
modular approach made the most sense. Relying as much as possible on
indigenous resources, pioneers could learn to be at home on the Moon,
even indulging in amateur astronomy. His talk was well received.
Fall
2001 News
15 people
made our 15th Anniversary Holiday Party one of the best ever:
Four members of the Wisconsin Mars Society (plus two of our members in
common) swelled our ranks at our Holiday meeting on December
8th. One of them had run into Mary Dixon (widow of Bob Bramscher who died in August
2001) and as a result she and son Carl came too! We had brought along
our portable Earthrise Moon Mural to use as a photo op background - LRS
VP and Media Chair Bob Bialecki had arranged for a photographer from
Milwaukee Lifestyles magazine to be present. The pot-luck fare was
great and we all enjoyed the film "The Dish."
Journal-Sentinel
Article on local Mars Group: On October
17th, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Jamal Abdul-Amin
interviewed Peter Kokh at his home on Mars, the approaching arrival on
location of Mars Odyssey, and Mars topics in general. He followed up by
coming to the Wisconsin Mars Society chapter's meeting on Saturday,
October 20th, bringing along a photographer. We were all pleased with
his thorough, accurate, and balanced report
in the Journal-Sentinel's Metro Section for Monday, October 22nd, 2001.
"Live, on
the BBC, London" -- On Thanksgiving Day, November
22nd, Jamilla Knowles of the BBC in London called LRS VP Bob
Bialecki, who gave her Peter Kokh's phone number. Pete was just walking
in the door when the phone rang. Ms. Knowles interviewed him on "Moon
Mining" and the Artemis Society's Commercial Moonbase project, "live on
BBC, London" for several minutes.
6/30/01
Possible Midwest
Radio Telescope Array - using
satellite dishes for which Time
Warner Cable has no further use. Dishes at four
area antenna farms are being made available free of charge (we even get
a check for disassembling them and carting them away). At large member Dave Dunlop
is working on this project, with some help from Peter Kokh. A
consortium of colleges in Michigan and Wisconsin would own and operate
the array. Four 23 ft. dishes, and two 16 footers, with their piers
etc. from the 2nd and Walnut (Pleasant) Street site have been
disassembled so far and were trucked to Grand
Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, June 30th. Pete
drew on past blue collar experience to supervise palletizing the many
pieces and banding them for shipment.
The Grand Rapids area is the probable location of this
first harvest of first array elements. Hopefully, the second array (of
16 and 18 foot dishes) will be located in Wisconsin. One site NE of
Green Bay has been suggested, but a real site search has not yet begun,
and we are still building our college and university network. Interest
has been expressed by a prominent faculty member at Marquette
University. In the past, Carroll College in suburban Waukesha has had a
radio astronomy program, but the indications are that this is not a
current activity there. Eventual ties to the Wisconsin and Michigan
Space Grant Consortia are likely.
It has been a lot of work so far, with much more to
come (reoutfitting, site emplacement, control setup, network building,
etc.) before this dream can become real. At this stage, a press release
or publicity would be premature, and possibly
counterproductive to completion of the plan. So please be
discrete in discussing this development.
The idea is to build a facility for student and
amateur access. Networked as an interferometer, the dishes should have
respectable resolving power. Among "interesting targets" are the
asteroids. S.E.T.I. searches would be "piggybacked" on all other
observing programs on a "target of opportunity" basis.
Radio
Astronomy Consortium has been incorporated as a
Michigan nonprofit to own and manage the system, with board members in
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. A website is in the works. RAC will
be associated with SARA,
the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers. We will post website and
email information as soon as these are approved for release.
Update:
02/10/02 - Unfortunately, the partners in
Grand Rapids have not been able to carry through on this effort for
some reason, and it appears to be in limbo.
In
Memoriam - Robert G. Bramscher
Born July 4th, 1955 in Fargo, North Dakota
Died August 17th, 2000 in Kenosha,
Wisconsin
OBITUARY (Milwaukee Journal, August
19th):
Bramscher, Robert G. 55, passed away on Thursday,
August 17th, 2000. Well known defense attorney in Kenosha. Graduate of
UWM [Univrsity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee] and of the University of
Wisconsin (Madison) with Juris Doctor of Law degree. Member of the
Wisconsin Bar Association , and among others, Milwaukee Lunar
Reclamation Society. Surviving Wife Mary Dixon, 3 Sons [including LRS
member Carl], and 2 Brothers. Services were Monday, August 21st, 2001
at 7 pm with visitation from 4 pm at Hansen-Lendaman Funeral Home -
6019 - 7th Avenue [across Library Square from Bob's office] in Kenosha,
Wisconsin.
Bob
Bramscher and the Lunar Reclamation Society
Bob joined the just launched "MLRS" in early 1987. He
had previously joined the L5 Society and was an early active member in
the Chicago Society for Space Studies (CSSS) under Greg Maryniak
(later, executive Director of Space Studies Institute for many years).
Bob hosted meetings in his Kenosha law offices in a
failed attempt to start a Kenosha branch chapter of MLRS.
He took part in several car pools to annual ISDCs and
made it possible for the editor of Moon Miners' Manifesto to take in
the 1st conference of the newly formed Artemis Society in Huntsville,
AL in 1995 by volunteering to attend, and take him along.
Bob was very active in the IAF International
Astronautical Federation, traveling with his wife Mary Dixon to annual
conferences all over the world. His Passion for space and in particular
for the history of Rocketry and Astronautics, led to the compiling of a
very vast collection of books on the subject including many rare and
out of print editions.
Bob made many gifts of books to the LRS/ MMM Library,
and bought us a high speed modem. It was Bob who found us a connection,
through his law partner, Mike Kehoe, to Carthage College in Kenosha
which loaned all the audiovisual equipment we needed for ISDC '98 at
the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, therefore guaranteeing the financial
success of that endeavor, both for LRS and NSS.
Bob also frequently provided a classic science fiction
film for LRS annual pre-Christmas party. In his honor, we'll be showing
Homer Hickam's "October Sky" at this year's holiday party meeting on
December 9th at 2pm.
We are hoping some of Bob's cremains make it to the
Moon! We will miss him terribly.
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Annual
Chapter Activity Reports filed with the National Space Society
04|02|2009
