The National Space Society was part of Space Exploration Alliance 2009 Blitz which occured February 22-24, 2009 in Washington, DC. We had 128 meetings, of those, 37 were with Senate offices. Individuals representing National Society of Black Engineers, The Moon Society, The Mars Society, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The National Space Society and other organizations spent two days talking to representives about the importance of space.

The overriding theme of our February 2009 visit to Capitol Hill was that space must be a national priority. An appropriately funded space program will not only provide unprecedented advances in science and technology, but it will also energize and encourage our nation’s youth to pursue careers in engineering and science. Space will stimulate new growth industries, and create thousands of new jobs. We need space, and the vast resources that it offers, to enable us to stimulate our economy, to address the problems of an ever-growing population, and to help us solve the increasing energy needs of our nation and our civilization. At the Orientation on Sunday Rick Zucker talked about the importance of meeting with elected officals and there staff to push the space agenda. He also went over the talking points. Legislative Talking Points 1. Support NASA as it aims for the asteroids, the Moon, Mars and Beyond 2. Close the Human Spaceflight Gap by accelerating development of vehicles such as Ares I and the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and by harnessing private sector ingenuity and programs such as COTS-D. 3. Fund Research into Space- Based Solutions to Earth’s Energy and Environmental Needs like Space Solar Power and Clean Helium-3 Fusion 4. Protect and Expand Opportunities for Private Industry and Entrepreneurship such as COTS-D 5. Keep Key Science Missions Alive – robotic space missions are important.

Chris Carberry talked about what to expect and what to do in meetings in congressional offices.

Jim Muncy talked about funding COTS-D and its importance to the International Space Station and to driving launch technology development with creativity and competition.

Mark Hopkins discussed the importance of funding Space Solar Power Research.

Greg Allison talked about the importance of Lunar and Asteroid resources like Helium-3 for Fusion and rare metals for Hydrogen for the future of clean energy.

Brad Cheetham thanked Rick Zucker and Chris Carberry for all their hard work organizing the Blitz as well as everyone who was particapating. He also went over logistics.