By Robin Scott
National Space Society of North Texas (NSS-NT) President Ken Ruffin, shown above holding the 2026 NSS Chapter of the Year Award, acknowledged the Chapter’s team effort in high performance public outreach and put the icing on the cake by bringing a cake with Chapter of the Year written on it for their celebration of the accomplishment.
During the last 14 consecutive years, NSS-NT has earned the Chapter of the Year Award seven times, and the NSS Excellence Award (2nd place) the other seven times. During each NSS-NT meeting after receiving at least the last twelve NSS Chapter awards, there has been a celebration with a cake! This particular cake (vanilla frosting with chocolate cake on one side, and the reverse on the other) was delicious. This photo was taken during their monthly meeting on June 14, 2026.
NSS-NT members and visitors regularly enjoy food and discussion about activities in space at their “Space Rendezvous” social events, offered on the last Friday of each month. Bill Byrom, NSS-NT Vice President and Membership Director, said most visitors end up joining NSS. For this event, NSS-NT set up a Space Rendezvous Meetup (social media app) and sent email reminders.
On April 14, NSS-NT members attended a presentation by Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, Chair of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Department of Space history and curator of the Museum’s social and cultural history of spaceflight collection. The event was held at the Irving Arts Center, Irving, TX. Weitekamp explored how the Smithsonian preserves the cultural memory of spaceflight.
In the photo above, from left to right, are: Guest speaker Ernest Levert, Lockheed Martin, retired (and the only non-NSS-NT member in the photo), Don Roeber, Jackie Long (NSS-NT Director), Thomas Burrows, Grace Roeber (NSS-NT Secretary), Chris Carson, Ken Ruffin (NSS-NT President), Curtis Kling (NSS-NT Treasurer, and founding member), Sherrill Davidson, Cindy Durbin, Francisco Galue, Amanda Sutrisno, Bill Leaf, and Christine Becker (founding member).
