The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Combined Federal Campaign. The society's vision is: "People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity." The society supports

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

and

robotic spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...

, by both the public (e.g., NASA, Russian Federal Space Agency and

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

) and private sector (e.g.,

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

Blue Origin Blue Origin, LLC is an American private spaceflight, privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Am ...

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company i ...

, etc.) organizations.

History

The society was established in the United States on March 28, 1987, by the merger of the

National Space Institute The National Space Institute was a space advocacy group, the first of its kind, established by Dr. Wernher von Braun to help maintain the public's support for the United States space program. It has since merged, in 1987, with the L5 Society f ...

, founded in 1974 by Dr. Wernher von Braun, and the L5 Society, founded in 1975 based on the concepts of Dr.

Gerard K. O'Neill Gerard Kitchen O'Neill (February 6, 1927 – April 27, 1992) was an American physicist and space activist. As a faculty member of Princeton University, he invented a device called the particle storage ring for high-energy physics experiments. L ...

. The society has an elected volunteer

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and a Board of Governors. The chairman of the Board of Governors is United States Air Force Colonel Karlton Johnson (retired). The chairman of the Board of Directors is Kirby Ikin. The current president is

Michelle Hanlon Michelle Lea Desyin Slawecki Hanlon (born August 8, 1965) is an American space lawyer and space law professor. She is the co-founder, president and chief executive officer of For All Moonkind, president of the National Space Society, co-director ...

. The National Space Society was awarded the "Five-Star Best in America" award by the Independent Charities of America organization in 2005. In 2014, the National Space Society launched the Enterprise In Space program. In order to ignite interest in space and science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) education, Enterprise In Space plans to design, build, and launch a 3D-printed spacecraft into Earth orbit carrying 100+ experiments from K to postgraduate student teams. The orbiter is planned to be returned to Earth with the experiments for the student teams to analyze.

''Ad Astra''

The Society publishes a magazine '' Ad Astra'', which appears quarterly in print and electronic form.

International Space Development Conference

The society hosts an annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC) held in major cities throughout the United States, often during or close to the Memorial Day weekend.

NSS Chapters network

As listed in each quarterly issue of '' Ad Astra'', a large number of NSS chapters exist around the world. The chapters may serve a local area such as a school, city or town, or have a topical or special interest focus, such as a rocketry or

astronomy club A list of notable groups devoted to promoting astronomy research and education. Africa * African Astronomical Society South Africa * Astronomical Society of Southern Africa Asia China * Chinese Astronomical Society India * Akash Mitra Mandal * ...

, or educational/ community outreach program. Chapters are the peripheral organs of the society by organizing events, communicating with the public on the merits and benefits of space exploration, and working to educate political leaders.

National Space Society of Australia

A strong contingent of chapters is located in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Prior to the NSI-L5 merger, the L5 Society had been developing chapters around the world, and in Australia, three chapters had been established. The 'Southern Cross L5 Society' was formed in 1979, with groups in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Adelaide (in 1984) and Brisbane (in 1986). It was decided in late 1989 to create the ''National Space Society of Australia'' (NSSA) which could act as an umbrella organization Similar efforts have taken hold in Brazil, Canada, and Mexico, as well as European countries that have a strong aerospace presence. including France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Awards

The society administers a number of awards. These are typically presented during the annual International Space Development Conference that NSS hosts. These awards are in recognition of individual volunteer effort, awards for NSS chapter work, the "Space Pioneer" award, and two significant awards which are presented in alternate years.

Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award

The Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award, is given in even-numbered years (2004, 2006, etc.) to "honor those individuals who have made significant, lifetime contributions to the creation of a free spacefaring civilization. ''Heinlein Award Winners:'' *2018 - Dr. Freeman Dyson *2016 - Dr. Jerry Pournelle *2014 - Elon Musk *2012 - Dr. Stephen Hawking *2010 - Dr.

Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis (; born May 20, 1961) is a Greek Americans, Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University a ...

*2008 - Burt Rutan *2006 - Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager *2004 - Capt. James Lovell *2002 - Robert Zubrin *2000 -

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

*1998 - Dr.

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

*1996 - Dr. Buzz Aldrin *1994 - Dr. Robert H. Goddard *1992 -

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...

*1990 - Dr. Wernher von Braun *1988 - Sir

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

*1986 - Dr.

NSS Von Braun Award

The NSS Von Braun Award is given in odd-numbered years (1993, 1995, ''etc.'') "to recognize excellence in management of and leadership for a space-related project where the project is significant and successful and the manager has the loyalty of a strong team that he or she has created." Awardees include: ''Von Braun Award Winners:'' *2019 -

Tory Bruno Tory Bruno (born November 3, 1961 as Salvatore Thomas Bruno) is an American aerospace engineer and executive. He has been the CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA) since August 2014. Before ULA, he worked at Lockheed Martin, where he made the trans ...

*2017 - Prof.

Johann-Dietrich Wörner Johann-Dietrich "Jan" Wörner (, born 18 July 1954) is a German civil engineer, university professor and former president of Technische Universität Darmstadt. He served as chairman of the executive board of the German Aerospace Center DLR from ...

*2015 - Mars Curiosity Rover project Team *2013 - Dr.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

*2011 -

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

Hayabusa Team *2009 - Elon Musk *2007 -

Steven W. Squyres Steven Weldon Squyres (born January 9, 1956) is an American geologist and planetary scientist. He was the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a f ...

*2005 - Burt Rutan *2001 -

Donna Shirley Donna Lee Shirley ( Donna Lee Pivorotta; born 1941) is a former manager of Mars Exploration at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is the author of the book ''Managing Martians: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman's Lifelong Quest to Get to Ma ...

*1999 -

Robert C. Seamans, Jr. Robert Channing Seamans Jr. (October 30, 1918 – June 28, 2008) was an MIT professor who served as NASA Deputy Administrator and 9th United States United States Secretary of the Air Force, Secretary of the Air Force. Birth and education He wa ...

*1997 - George Mueller *1995 -

Max Hunter Max Franklin Hunter (July 2, 1921November 6, 1999) was an American folklorist who, while working as a travelling salesman, compiled an archive of nearly 1,600 folk songs from the Ozarks region of the southern United States between 1956 and 197 ...

*1993 - Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger

Other scholarships and award activities

Other scholarships and award activities NSS provides or assists with include the following awards: *The

Space Pioneer Awards Space Pioneer Awards or NSS Space Pioneer Awards are the annual awards given by National Space Society, an independent non-profit educational membership organisation, to individuals and teams who have opened the space frontier. The awards are given ...

*The NSS-ISU scholarship, worth $12,000, to the International Space University. Application deadline is December 31 of each year, for study during the following year. The 2005 recipient was Robert Guinness of St. Louis; *EURISY international youth science fiction writing competition (NSS provided US support in 2005), and; *Permission to Dream space adventure for students, teachers, and parents from the Space Frontier Foundation which is partly sponsored by NSS.

Affiliations

The National Space Society is an alliance organization of th
Meade 4M Community
th
Coalition for Space Exploration
in support of the educational initiatives and outreach of NSS, and a founding executive member of the

Alliance for Space Development The Alliance for Space Development is a space advocacy organization dedicated to influencing space policy towards the goal of permanent human settlements in space. The founding executive members of the Alliance are the National Space Society and ...

References

"National Space Society 'blitzes' Congress on NASA budget"
Space.com - Mar. 5, 2007

SpaceRef.com - Feb. 21, 2007 * ttp://www.guidestar.org/controller/searchResults.gs?action_gsReport=1&npoId=324452 GuideStar - National Space SocietyInformation on NSS listed in GuideStar, a national database of nonprofit organizations

External links

*
''Ad Astra ("To the Stars') The magazine of the National Space Society''

Island One Society
ISDC conferences archive {{Authority control Space organizations Space advocacy organizations International scientific organizations Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Scientific societies based in the United States 501(c)(3) organizations 1987 in science Organizations established in 1987 1987 establishments in Washington, D.C.