This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue. The meeting was streamed live and is now available on-demand via the Space Association's YouTube channel - SAA.TV. The human body in space: The medicine of human spaceflight, surviving low earth orbit and beyond with Dr Marc Jurblum Human spaceflight has always been constrained by two dimensions. Engineering flight hardware capabilities and supporting the human body to survive spaceflight. There is no more extreme environment for human survival than the hazards of interstellar space. This makes spaceflight a unique opportunity and a powerful motivator for biomedical research, as we try to apply modern medicine and technological advances to push the boundaries of how long we can keep human beings alive and productive away from our native Earth’s biosphere. In this talk Marc will discuss the physical challenges of human spaceflight on the human body and their management in modern space medicine as well as considerations for cis-lunar missions, the challenges of Mars and true long duration spaceflight. About the Speaker: Dr Marc Jurblum is a training psychiatrist working with St Vincent’s Mental Health Service in Melbourne and a member of the Space Association of Australia. Dr Jurblum completed an Honours in biomedical sciences focusing on immunology and stem cell biology in 2004. He completed postgraduate medical degree with Deakin University in 2011 and has since pursued a research career in space medicine. He completed the International Space University's Southern Hemisphere Space Program and a Graduate Certificate in Space Psychology with Professor Sheryl Bishop of UTMB/NASA in 2014. Dr Jurblum was involved in research conducted at the Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station, with Crew 134 into psychological interventions for managing long duration space flight and isolated and confined environments (ICES). Dr Jurblum is a committee member of the space life sciences sub-committee for the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine (ASAM) and a member of the Aerospace Medical Association (ASMA), the Space Medicine Association (SMA), Space Association of Australia (SAA), Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) and the Mars Society Australia (MSA). Event Photo:  Dr Joe Kerwin examines Commander Pete Conrad on Skylab 2, 1973 - Photo courtesy of NASA

TICKETS TO THIS EVENT HAVE SOLD OUT AND REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED! If you would like to indicate your interest in being placed on a waitlist should places become available, please leave your details via our Contact Form: http://space.asn.au/public/contact_us The Space Association of Australia invites you to an exciting special event.  Join us in the Function Room at The Mail Exchange Hotel, 688 Bourke Street, Melbourne for a dialogue with the irrepressible Amy Shira Teitel. You may wish to arrive at the venue early and purchase a drink or a meal from the bistro but please note: you will not be able to take food into the Function Room during the presentation, which will commence at 7.30 pm sharp. Breaking the Chains of Gravity: A conversation with Amy Shira Teitel Amy Shira Teitel is a lifelong space-history nerd who has turned her schoolgirl fascination with the Apollo missions into a career researching the minutiae of spaceflight's history.  Amy started writing for the public with her blog, Vintage Space. She has also written for a number of other online and print publications including Discovery News Space, Al-Jazeera, The Guardian and Universe Today. She runs a thriving YouTube channel (also called Vintage Space), and has appeared on the Discovery channel, the Military channel, SyFy, and the Science channel, and she is a host on DNews, Discovery Channel's online daily news show. Amy was also an embedded journalist on the New Horizons team, bringing the excitement of humanity's first mission to Pluto to the space-loving public by presenting the enormously popular Pluto in a Minute videos for the team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Amy's first book, Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA, was released in 2015.

This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue.  

This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue. SPACEFEST VII | June 9-12, 2016 Tucson, Arizona - A report by Dr Len Halprin Spacefest is THE event for space enthusiasts of any stripe – Astronomy, Manned Space Exploration, Robotic Space Exploration, Commercial Space Development or Space History Enthusiast. For the Professional and Amateur. Spacefest is an annual reunion of NASA Apollo astronauts, famous space scientists, authors, astronomers, space artists, and fans. It is produced by Novaspace, a Tucson space art gallery & memorabilia dealer with a six-person crew. Two of those six are ‘Mom & Pop’ owners Kim and Sally Poor, who opened their gallery in 1978. The couple takes on the arrangements of the monumental Spacefest effort themselves, with help at the actual event from family, crew, friends, and volunteers. Dr Len Halprin has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from Monash University, and a Graduate Certificate in Scientific Leadership from the University of Melbourne. He has also served as President of the Monash Astronautical Society, the forerunner of the Space Association of Australia. After retiring from a 31-year career as a Senior Research Scientist with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Dr Halprin decided to become a science teacher and is currently in the final semester of a Master of Teaching (Secondary Physics and Mathematics) at Monash University.   As a lifelong aficionado of space exploration and a student of all things Apollo, Dr Halprin has toured throughout the U.S. visiting space facilities and has met and corresponded with several former astronauts.  In 2011 he was invited by DARPA to present his views on spaceflight at their 100 Year Starship Symposium.  His paper on the way forward for manned spaceflight was published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society in July 2014. 

This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue.

The Mars Society Australia and the Space Association of Australia invite you to a special joint meeting. Join us in the Function Room at The Mail Exchange Hotel, 688 Bourke Street, Melbourne for dinner at 6:00 pm followed by the presentation commencing at 7:00 pm. Searching for Life with the SpaceX Dragon, IceBreaker and BRINE SpaceX’s recent announcement that it intends to land a Falcon Heavy-launched Dragon 2 spacecraft on the surface of Mars opens up many possibilities for landing heavier payloads on the planet. At the same time, the US Congress directed NASA to search for life in the outer solar system. Both of these developments indicate a paradigm shift in both the way and what NASA explores in the solar system.  In 2012 and 2013 NASA's Ames Research Center undertook a series of studies using Dragon on Mars, defining possible payloads, which included deep drills for astrobiology missions and Earth Return Rockets for Mars sample return. In 2015 Ames proposed the IceBreaker search for life mission to Mars for NASA's Discovery Program and now is currently working on a mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus.    David Wilson will discuss the Mars Red Dragon studies, the Mars Icebreaker mission and the Enceladus BRINE mission, all related to the search for life.   Entry is free but registration is essential:  David Wilson | Vice President - Mars Society Australia David Willson has been involved with the Mars Society Australia since 2003 and has been vice president since 2012. Since 2010, David has worked as a a research and development engineer at the Space Science and Astrobiology Division in the NASA Ames Research Center in California. He is part of a team that has worked on a range of projects including the Red Dragon on Mars, the Icebreaker Mars Life Search Mission and, most recently, the Enceladus BRINE mission.  Prior to then he was a mechanical engineer with the Hobart-based engineering firm SEMF, and later Tenova SEMF and Takraf companies in the Australian materials handling and mining industries.  David has been extensively involved with the NASA Spaceward Bound Expeditions to the Pilbara, central Australia, and New Zealand and research at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.

Live on Stage Australia in association with Mark Stewart Productions and National Geographic Channel proudly presents the Australian tour of Gene Cernan: naval aviator, engineer, fighter pilot, NASA astronaut and last man on the Moon. This major event will feature the AUSTRALIAN PREMIER of the multi-award winning documentary film, The Last Man on the Moon and GENE CERNAN himself live on stage discussing the film, his life and extraordinary career with the Q&A hosted by CSIRO astronomer and science educator, Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith. Australian Tour Dates: 27 May - Perth | Perth Concert Hall 28 May - Carnarvon | Carnarvon Civic Centre 30 May - Sydney | Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Cremorne (matinee & evening show) 31 May - Melbourne | The Astor Theatre, St Kilda  2 June - Canberra | Canberra Theatre Centre The Space Association of Australia has been working closely with Live on Stage Australia, the producers of the Australian tour, and we are delighted to offer you a 10% discount* on tickets for you, your family and friends. * This discount applies to all shows (excluding Carnarvon) and all price points, including the Meet & Greet package! Discount tickets are only available from this exclusive link to Ticketmaster.  The Space Association of Australia takes this opportunity to thank and congratulate Live On Stage Australia, Mark Stewart Productions and National Geographic Channel on a highly successful and hugely memorable Australian tour of Gene Cernan - The Last Man on the Moon. 

This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue. 50th Anniversary of Surveyor 1 - The View from Downunder​ with Mike Dinn, Deputy Station Director at DSS-42 (Tidbinbilla) in 1966 Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the unmanned Surveyor program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the manned Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969.  Surveyor 1 was launched on 30 May 1966, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and it landed on the Moon on 2 June 1966. Surveyor 1 transmitted 11,237 still photos of the lunar surface to the Earth by using a television camera and a sophisticated radio-telemetry system. Mike Dinn was born and educated in England. After graduating in Electrical Engineering (London) in 1955, he worked in British industry mainly on aircraft electronics and electrics.   In 1960 he moved to Australia, and was responsible for aircraft flight testing instrumentation with the Royal Australian Air Force. Mike moved to the Canberra Deep Space Tracking Station (Tidbinbilla – part of NASA/JPL’s Deep Space Network) in 1966 as Deputy Station Director in charge of Operations, his first mission being Surveyor 1. In 1967 he took a similar position at Honeysuckle Creek, one of NASA’s three main communications facilities for the Apollo program, and was actively involved in missions 7 to 14. He returned to the DSN station during the building of the new 210 ft dish at Tidbinbilla, and spent a year at JPL Pasadena (1972). This antenna supported Apollo 17 as its first task. After a period in Australia’s Department of Defence he returned to the Deep Space Station in 1983, becoming Director in 1988. NASA’s main missions during this period were Voyager, Magellan and Galileo, but the facility also supported Shuttle until the TDRSS spacecraft were in place. Mike retired in 1994 – on Apollo 11’s 25th anniversary, having just succeeded in obtaining an Apollo 11 lunar rock for display, which was presented by NASA astronaut John Young. Mike considers the highlight of his career as being Apollo 11 operations (and in particular the TV of the first lunar step to the world coming through Honeysuckle), closely followed by being at Houston during Apollo 17 and sending some commands from Ed Fendell’s INCO console on Gene Kranz’s shift, and also Apollo 8 where Honeysuckle Creek first came into its own. Mike was awarded two NASA Public Service Medals – in 1986 and 1995. (Source: Biography and photograph of Mike Dinn courtesy of honeysucklecreek.net - a tribute website to the men and women of Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Canberra, Australia and the wider Australian involvement in manned and unmanned space exploration).

As a current financial member of the Space Association of Australia, you are invited to nominate to go into the prize draw to win one of ten tickets to see "Gene Cernan - The Last Man on the Moon". There are two general admission tickets (valued at ~$80 each) to be won for each of the following shows:  27 May - Perth | Perth Concert Hall  30 May - Sydney | Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Cremorne (matinee)  30 May - Sydney | Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Cremorne (evening)                        31 May - Melbourne | The Astor Theatre, St Kilda  02 June - Canberra | Canberra Theatre Centre To confirn your intention to participate in the prize draw, simply nominate the event in your state or territory of residence by clicking the   Buy Tickets   button at right and selecting the appropriate city prize draw ticket that appears.​  NOTES: 1. Members are only eligible to enter the draw for the event that takes place in their registered state or territory of residence (i.e. WA, NSW, VIC or ACT) as listed in their membership details. Members whose registered place of residence is outside any of these states or territory (i.e. SA, QLD, TAS, NT), may nominate for entry to any or all of the events. 2. Prizes include a ticket for entry only - travel, accommodation and expenses are not included. You must be willing and able to travel to the city you nominate at your own expense. 3. For any special circumstances please contact us at spaceflight@space.asn.au or 0413 993 231 before 7.00 pm (AEST) on Wednesday 18 May.   TERMS AND CONDITIONS  Entry:  1. The Space Association of Australia Inc. (the SAA) is the promoter of this competition, which will run from 20 April 2016 until 18 May 2016 unless and until cancelled by the SAA at any time at its sole discretion.  2. The SAA will hold a prize draw giving financial members of the SAA the chance to win one of ten (10) general admission tickets (valued at ~$80 each) to the Gene Cernan events: Two for the 27 May Perth show  Two for the 30 May Sydney show (matinee) Two for the 30 May Sydney show (evening) Two for the 31 May Melbourne show  Two for the 2 June Canberra show. All Members as at 7.00 pm on 18 May 2016 will be entered into the Prize Draw for the relevant city or cities.  3. Members will only be eligible to enter the draw for the event that takes place in their registered state or territory of residence (i.e. WA, NSW, VIC or ACT) as listed in their membership details. Members whose registered place of residence is outside these states or territory (i.e. SA, QLD, TAS, NT)  may nominate for entry to any or all of the events. 4. In consideration for entry into the competition, SAA members agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and shall at all times act in good faith towards the SAA and the competition.  5. The competition is not open to any individual who is not a financial Member of the SAA at the time of the prize draw.  Prize: 6. The Prize Draw will take place at the studios of 88.3 Southern FM in Brighton, Victoria, Australia and will be broadcast live on Southern FM during the The Space Show on Wednesday, 18 May 2016. The winners will be the first two names to be selected at random from all of the eligible Members as at the date of the Prize Draw for each of the nominated cities. 7. The winner of each Prize will be contacted directly by the Space Association of Australia.  8. The Prize winner (and a guardian if under 16) will be required to give their consent to the following: (i) for the winner’s name and (if applicable) photograph to be published on the SAA website; (ii) for the winner’s name to be disclosed to any person requesting that SAA confirm the identity of a Prize winner; and (iii) for the winner’s name and/or photograph to be published for promotional purposes.  9. Any ancillary costs and expenses associated with the Prize, such as subsistence, accommodation and travel, will not be provided by SAA and shall be borne by the winner. The Prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative is available.  10. If any winner, drawn at random, is unable or unwilling to: (i) accept the Prize; or (ii) provide the consent requested at paragraph 8 above, subsequent draws will take place until a new winner is found who is able/willing to accept the Prize and provide the necessary consent.  11. Subject to paragraphs 8 and 9 above, details of each Prize Draw winner will be made available upon request from the SAA. 12. The SAA reserves the right to cancel or amend any Prize Draw, the Competition or these Conditions without notice in the event of the occurrence of circumstances beyond its reasonable control. 

This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue. Come along and celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Space Association of Australia back in April 1981. Main feature: The Psychology of Spaceflight with Adena Silverstein Space Association member Adena Silverstein is a practicing psychologist who is coming down from Sydney to talk to us about the affects of space travel on the mind: The Psychology of Spaceflight. Adena will discuss the topic from a number of perspectives. These perspectives will include focusing on the individual astronaut, the crew as a group, interactions between crew and ground control and the families of crew members who are away from home on long duration missions. Adena is a psychologist who has a keen interest in space. Since there are humans, not only payloads and satellites, launched into space, she is excited about, and sees the need to explore both her interests: psychology and space, into the area of Psychology of Spaceflight. One of her career goals is to become part of the industry of Space Psychology. She has a dream to be launched into space as part of a research team and/or as a space tourist. She has a B.A., B.Ed (Education Psychology) and a Master of Psychology (counselling). She is currently working in private practice. Her client group is varied, consisting of individuals, couples and families of different ages and in diverse stages of life. If you can't make it to the meeting in person, join us via the livestream on SAA TV below:

This is the free monthly meeting of the Space Association of Australia - all welcome! We'll be in the Function Room on the first floor of the Caulfield RSL. The venue is disabled friendly and includes a lift. Meals are available at reasonable prices. Ample car parking is available immediately behind the RSL or in St Georges Road.  Trams and trains run within 200 metres of the venue. Space Association member Ishraj Inderjeet, together with Jessica Orr, reports on their time attending the 2016 Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program presented by the University of South Australia (UniSA) in partnership with the International Space University (ISU).   Ishraj, who completed a Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in Aerospace Engineering at RMIT University in 2015, was the winner of a Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund full scholarship to attend the Space Studies Program, between 11 January and 12 February this year.

The Space Association of Australia Inc., the Royal Aeronautical Society - Melbourne Branch and One Giant Leap Australia, are pleased to present: Planning for Failures - Using a Toothbrush to Repair a Space Station with Ed Van Cise. Ed Van Cise is a NASA flight director responsible for supporting the current and future operations on the International Space Station. The International Space Station is a unique off-world research laboratory where out-of-this-world science is conducted every day. It is also a remote outpost in space that requires reliable maintenance and logistics planning, and well-trained crews, operators, and engineers to work through contingencies. The methods used by the leadership laboratory that is Mission Control, in Houston, Texas, and around the world, for managing this unique spacecraft can be directly mapped to the management of operations and assets.  This even includes using a toothbrush to save a spacewalk. Entry is free but bookings are essential:  REGISTER HERE  Ed Van Cise Flight Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas Ed Van Cise – call sign “Carbon Flight” – was selected as a NASA Flight Director in 2009. He had previously worked in human spaceflight with the International Space Station (ISS) project since 1998 and has been certified to operate a number of different systems of the ISS over the course of his career, accumulating over 6,000 hours of console experience in ISS operations along the way. These operational areas include: Space Station Structures and Mechanisms; In-Flight Maintenance; Motion Control; Command and Data Handling; and Communication and Tracking systems. Ed’s experiences include not only direct command and control of the space station but also the instruction of astronauts and flight controllers, as well as the management of groups that perform that work. He has also accumulated over 90 minutes of zero gravity experience on NASA’s ‘Vomit Comet’ reduced gravity aircraft and has used his SCUBA certification to dive on the full size ISS mockups in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Ed has a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. The US Space and Rocket Center's Space Camp was a major influence on Ed's career planning and in the Summer of 2012 he was inducted into the US Space Camp Hall of Fame. Other honours include: a NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, multiple NASA Team Awards and multiple NASA Group Achievement Awards.  Entry is free but bookings are essential:  REGISTER HERE    429