Welcome to the NSS blog. Feel free to comment on any post (comments are moderated so won’t show up immediately). Contributors to the NSS Blog are unpaid volunteers. Unless specifically labeled an NSS position or press release, all blog posts represent the views of the author and not of NSS, even if written by an NSS officer.
Image: First launch of New Glenn courtesy of Blue Origin From NSS Headquarters The first month of 2025 has already been filled with remarkable achievements...
Image: New Glenn first stage (courtesy Blue Origin) By Burt Dicht NSS Managing Director of Membership In the early hours of January 16, I stood...
AN OPEN LETTER FROM: Karlton D. Johnson, NSS Chief Executive Officer TO: Bill Nye, The Planetary Society SUBJ: Congratulations on Your Presidential Medal of Freedom...
Announcement: New in the NSS Space Settlement Journal Just published in the NSS Space Settlement Journal is a 90-page Critique of “A City on Mars”...
Illustration: A conceptual Lunar Crater Radio Telescope on the Moon’s far side where robots hang wire mesh in a crater on the Moon’s far side,...
The National Space Society’s Martine Rothblatt Space Settlement in Our Lifetime Prize Business Plan Competition is still accepting submissions for its 2025 cash awards. This...
Executive Summary The recent NASA proposal to cancel the VIPER mission underscores the significant risks inherent in large, complex, and high-cost lunar missions. However, VIPER...
Roadmap to Space Art Contest Live in a Healthy Space Design Competition
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By Burt Dicht, NSS Managing Director of Membership Photo credit: Elizabeth Schneider On July 20, 2024, the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing,...
The National Space Society (NSS) has issued a summary report on its activities in 2023. The report provides a great introduction to the range and...
Image: Burt Dicht inside NOAA Gulfstream IV Story and photos by Burt Dicht, NSS Managing Director of Membership On June 25 I had the unique...
Image: Pascal Lee and Finn Braun at ISDC 2024. Photo by Madhu Thangavelu, NSS. Two high school interns funded by NASA’s Neurodiversity Network (N3) presented...
This long essay defends the NSS Vision against those who, like the author of the book being reviewed, think “we shouldn’t colonize Mars or the Moon, or even vacation there.” Ben Bramble, an Australian philosopher who teaches at Australian National University, has penned a YAASS (Yet Another Anti-Space-Settlement) book. These books are multiplying like flies, so space settlement advocates must be gaining ground to generate such an abundant response.
In HOTOL & Skylon: The Story of Britain’s Spaceplanes, Rob Coppinger covers the story of both in great detail, with the reminiscences of many who played integral roles in these ambitious programs. The book shines when it captures the enthusiasm and excitement of those involved, and there are extensive quotes from many who devoted years of work on these projects.
Anyone seeking a short but comprehensive introduction to human spaceflight would do well to start with this book. It reviews its history, highlights the accomplishments and tragedies, and describes the equipment used. It also looks at living in space, what space travelers experience, and how they work.
Back in 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. Apogee Books has provided an English-language NASA translation of a detailed report originally released by the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The National Space Society has just released a Position Paper on Selected Space Environmental Sustainability Issues. Below is the Conclusion section. The full paper can...
By Robin Scott NSS Chapter Middle Tennessee Space Society (MTSS) President Chuck Schlemm performs outreach, directly contacting about 560 attendees (STEM teachers, school faculty, students,...
By Burt Dicht NSS Space Coast Correspondent Some weeks in spaceflight are just busy. This one was something more. Over a period of four days,...
By Burt Dicht NSS Space Coast Correspondent A large anvil cloud hanging over Florida’s Space Coast added some uncertainty to the final hours of the...
Applications open 1 Oct – 1 Dec, 2026 The National Space Society’s Global Space Debates is a unique, 100% virtual program that brings high school...
