OASIS

TOP From left: Arlene Busby, Seth Potter
BOTTOM From left: Kathryn Sullivan, Arlene Busby, Valerie Frankel, Neal Hallford, Gary Westfahl

This fall, OASIS continued their tradition of participation in the Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention. LosCon 46 took place on November 29-December 1, 2019 at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel. OASIS has a long history with LosCon, providing panelists to a wide variety of tracks and meeting the other guests at their fan table. This year, OASIS shared a fan table with the Aerospace Legacy Foundation (http://aerospacelegacyfoundation.com/), which promotes and preserves the history of aerospace in California while looking to its future.

Dr. Seth Potter, OASIS Chapter President, was very busy participating in several panels at LosCon, and in fact was the moderator for two of them. In “The Moon, Mars, Asteroids: When, Why, and How?” the panel discussed these bodies as manned mission targets in the near, medium, and farther future, and also discussed the possible technologies that could get us there. Along with Potter, the panelists were Timothy Cassidy-Curtis (engineer), Robert Gounley (NASA-JPL), and Sandra Stoller (Aerojet Rocketdyne).  Potter was also the moderator for “Class M Planets: Exoplanet Discoveries,” for which the panel also consisted of Dr. Ashish Mahabal (Caltech/JPL) and Lenny Dorsky (JPL).

In “No Tow Truck Beyond Mars,” the panelists discussed how we go boldly where there’s no one around to fix things. They told stories from the trenches of the heartbreaks, close calls, and adventures of real-life solar system exploration. David Rosing (JPL) was the moderator, with panelists Potter, Ashley Stroupe (JPL), Kim Steadman (JPL) and Cassidy-Curtis.

In “The New Views of the Universe: Extra Dimensions, Dark Matter and Cosmic Adventures,” Potter was a panelist along with Dr. James C. Glass (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) (moderator), Sean Carroll (Caltech), Gregory Benford (University of California at Irvine), and Dr. Mahabal (Caltech/JPL).

Arlene Busby, who serves as Aerospace Legacy Foundation President and OASIS Membership Chair, has a long and rich history with LosCon, serving in various capacities over the years. She was the conference chair of LosCon 38 and programming chair at several other conventions, and served as a speaker/panelist many times over. She is also the conference chair of OuteRimCon, a convention that unites science fiction with science and STEM education, which took place for the first time in October 2017, and will take place again in February 2020. Keep your eyes on the OASIS website and on https://outerimcon.com/ for further developments!

Busby was a panelist on “All Things Doctor Who” along with Gary Westfahl (science fiction author, Professor Emeritus at the University of La Verne), Neal Hallford (Swords & Circuitry Studios), Valerie Frankel (Mission College, SJCC), and Kathryn Sullivan (author).  They talked about their favorite episodes, favorite Doctors, favorite villains, favorite sayings, the current Doctor, and some of the episodes from season 11 of the new Doctor.

Thanks to Craig Rogers and Curt Steindler and the rest of the OASIS volunteers! Apologies if any volunteer names were missed – they will be added.

https://outerimcon.com/

Presented by the Aerospace Legacy Foundation
Exploring the Imagination of Science!

OuteRimCon is a Aerospace, Science & Science Fiction Convention

We are kid friendly with STEM, Panels, Presentations, Art Show

Dealers Room and Special Events

Visit https://outerimcon.com/guest-speakers for our list of guest speakers!

Location:
Columbia Memorial Space Center
12400 Columbia Way
Downey, CA 90242

Times:
Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday, 10 am – 3 pm

At the door
Rates: Adult Weekend $45.00 per person
Adult Weekend Military Discount $40.00 per person
Child Weekend 12yrs – 17yrs $15.00
Children 11 yrs and Under Free

Saturday Only:
Adult $35.00 per person
Military Discount $30.00 per person
Child Weekend 12yrs – 17yrs $15.00
Children 11 yrs and Under Free

Sunday Only:
Adult $25.00 per person
Military Discount $25.00 per person
Child Weekend 12yrs – 17yrs $10.00
Children 11 yrs and Under Free

After October 5th payments will only be accepted at the door.

We hope you will join us at this fun and educational convention!

The event described below, organized by the local section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), may be of interest. OASIS and the Aerospace Legacy Foundation will have a joint exhibit table there, so if you attend, be sure to say hello. Afterward, the OASIS members, and anyone else interested, will head over to the nearby Redondo Beach Pier for drinks and food. We will try to get into Barney’s Beanery, but if it is too crowded, we will go elsewhere. If you miss the AIAA event, please feel free to meet us at the Pier. Look for us at Barney’s Beanery. If we are not there, please text Seth Potter at (310) 245-2592, and he will text you our location. Those who join us can order as they please, and we will all need to pay our own way. The pier is walking distance from the library, but it will probably be necessary to move your car out of library parking when the library closes after the AIAA event.

Saturday, June 30, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
AIAA LA-LV Mini-Conference Series: Planetary Defense & Asteroid Exploration Mini-Conference 2018
With featured presentations and panel discussions by

Dr. Nahum Melamed, Project Leader, Aerospace Corporation
(Planetary Defense & Asteroid Exploration / International Asteroid Day Introduction)
(NEO Deflection App)

Dr. Niraj Inamdar, Associate Physical Scientist, RAND Corporation
(The Story of Our Solar System as Told By Asteroids)

Col. Charlie Vono, USAF Retired
(Keeping Complex Systems Working for Decades)

Dr. James Horkovich, Director, Directed Energy Program, Schafer Corporation
(The Promise and Reality of Directed Energy for Defense)

Philip Groves, “Asteroid Impact” IMAX Producer & Writer, Apophis Pictures, LLC
(Planetary Defense Education Through Media)

For the speaker biographies and topics, and to register, visit
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07efexkaff5f158a55&llr=p9tbt6cab

Redondo Beach Public Library (2nd Fl. Meeting Rm.)
303 N Pacific Coast Hwy
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

$35 AIAA Professional Member Price
$40 Non-AIAA Member -Regular Price
$25 AIAA Student / Educator Member Price
$30 Non-AIAA Member -Student / Educator
$20 Presentation Only -No Meal
(No Refund within 7 days of the event)

The OASIS Social at the Cosmic Brewery was a great success!

They had a telescope event in front (they have such events every Friday and some Saturdays “Tacos and Telescopes”), a pop-up taco stand (they have other pop-up food stands at other times, such as vegan), space-themed art, a TV playing Star Trek TNG episodes, and pour your own beer so you can pour your own flights. We closed down the place – the event started at 3 pm and OASIS folks and guests stayed until 10 pm.

OASIS Annual Picnic at Polliwog Park, August 19, 2017. Great people and lots of event planning! Watch for future events coming out of planning meetings such as this one. Clockwise around the table from bottom left: OASIS member (and go-to for STEM events) Dean Davis, OASIS Membership Chair Arlene Busby, OASIS Board Member David Bliss, NSS Chair of the Executive Committee Mark Hopkins, ISDC event planners extraordinaire Mike Kobrin and Aggie Kobrin, OASIS’ newest member Tri Caodo, OASIS Vice-President Lisa Kaspin-Powell, OASIS member (and former board member, we’re trying to drag him back) Gareth Powell.

Photo: OASIS President Seth Potter

To OASIS Members: please check your email to make sure you got it.

If you did not get it, please email lisakaspin [at] att [dot] net

Thanks!

Like meeting new people?
Like talking about space to space and science fiction enthusiasts?
Here’s your opportunity!

The 43rd annual Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention (LosCon) will be at the LAX Marriott from November 25-27 (Thanksgiving weekend). The theme will be “Starship LosCon.”

OASIS is proud to be providing space programming and a fan table. Joining us at the table will be the Aerospace Legacy Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of aerospace history and promotion of our aerospace future. OASIS is truly honored to collaborate with ALF.

We need volunteers to help us at the table. Spend an hour or so at the fan table chatting up con-goers. Talk to party guests about OASIS activities. If you’re a shutterbug, we’d love to have pictures! If you attend any especially interesting talks, we’d love to see a write-up! We want both for The Odyssey and for our website.

And the best part is that you’ll have fun in the meantime!

PLEASE NOTE that if you are interested in volunteering, you MUST purchase a membership. You will not be allowed inside the door without a valid membership. To register online, visit
https://events.membersolutions.com/event_register.asp?content_id=59817
You can also register at the event.

For more information, please visit http://www.loscon.org/43

If you are interested in volunteering, please send an e-mail to OASIS President Seth Potter at: president [at] oasis-nss [dot] org

We are Titan Rover, a multidisciplinary team of over 40 engineers and scientists at Cal State Fullerton striving to compete in an international competition for the second straight year. The competition, called the University Rover Challenge, is hosted by the Mars Society and Protocase and is conducted annually at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, UT. The mission is to create a robotic device capable of assisting the first astronauts that arrive on Mars. The Rover would thus need to traverse a rough terrain and allow astronauts to accomplish tasks and collect scientific data from an enclosed habitat.

Titan Rover in general helps to train and mentor the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Click here to learn more and to donate!

Visit us on Facebook

Add Titan_Rover on Snapchat.

Follow us on Instagram at instagram.com/titanrover

The grass roots pro-space movement has long worked for the day that outer space will be open for everyone to live, work and play. Much of the video history of the movement, however, exists only on old analog tapes in the closets, drawers and garages of the volunteers who recorded it.

Long-time OASIS member David Bliss has been part of the movement since joining the L5 Society in 1986, and from 1990 until 2007 he volunteered his time and skills to videotape the National Space Society’s annual International Space Development Conference as well as events sponsored by local NSS chapters.

The NSS is putting together a digital video archive for access by the society leadership and researchers. The physical media is then sent on to a Museum in New Mexico for long term storage.

While some of Bliss’ footage has been transferred to DVDs and donated to the archive, the process has been slow and video tapes do not last forever. Money is needed for supplies and maintenance of aging equipment to speed things up so this footage can be preserved before it is gone forever.

By supporting this Patreon Campaign you will be providing the funds needed to digitize this footage and prepare it for long term storage, preserving this record of the pro-space community.

Click here to donate: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceActivistArchive

Click here to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/2dfwqnw

I am Arlene Busby, widow of Dr. James M. Busby, who died on June 1, 2016.  As an aerospace historian people would seek out my husband for his vast knowledge and expertise.  Jim would get a childlike grin and gleam in his eye as he taught children and adults about the space industry past and present.  Anyone that engaged Jim in a space conversation was in for a delightful and fascinating lesson. Jim received much respect from Space Historians, Astronauts and Engineers alike regarding his knowledge and his Reverence for the subject of aerospace.

Despite his great love for this industry he also had an empty place in his heart.  Jim would look up in the sky with wonder and sadness because he knew that while he lived he would never make it to the place he always wanted to go SPACE.

I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to the love of my life than to send a token amount of his ashes into space.  The money you give will go towards making this happen.  There is a flight in November, 2016.  Room on this flight is limited.  So, I will need the money as soon as possible to reserve a space for him.  If I miss getting his ashes on this flight he may have to wait 2 or more years for another opening.

My husband was and is everything to me.  In order for me to honor him and our deep love for each other I cannot think of a more appropriate way to make his dream of space travel come true.

I hope you can find it in your heart to help me accomplish this so I can help him fulfill his lifelong dream.

Thank you for your generosity.