Chicago Society for Space Studies Receives the NSS Chapter Excellence Award
One of the chapters receiving an award was Chicago Society for Space Studies (CSSS). CSSS received the NSS Chapter Excellence Award, the organization’s second highest chapter award. The highest award that NSS awards chapters is the NSS Chapter of the Year Award which CSSS has previously won. CSSS received this year’s NSS Chapter Excellence Award based on the strength of its public outreach and education activities during 2021. 2021 had been a challenging year for CSSS with respect to conducting public outreach events.
As a part of the presentation, a brief summary was provided of the reasons why CSSS was presented with the award – with the activities of our award winning Speakers Bureau dominating. A complete list of the CSSS outreach activities is provided in Table 1. CSSS’ 2021 educational presentations were dominated by virtual events due to COVID-imposed restrictions.
Table 1. Chicago Society for Space Studies 2021 Public Outreach and Space Education Activities Summary
| Program Title | Venue | CSSS Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Notification of Spanish Language Presentation of Progess/Status of James Webb Space Telescope | Sunnydale Elementary School, Streamwood, IL | Jim Kovac |
| Fantastic Space Discoveries and Where to Find Them: Subtopic: Theories of Solar System Formation | Northwest Suburban Astronomers (virtual), Schaumburg, IL | Jim Kovac |
| Fantastic Space Discoveries: Subtopic: Exploring the Proxima Centauri System | Harper College (virtual), Palatine, IL | Jim Kovac |
| Fantastic Space Discoveries and Where to Find Them: Subtopic: Theories of Solar System Formation | Skokie Valley Astronomers (virtual), Deerfield, IL | Jim Kovac |
| Fantastic Space Discoveries and Where to Find Them: Subtopic: Theories of Solar System Formation | Lake County Astronomical Society (virtual), Ingleside, IL | Jim Kovac |
| Mysteries of the Cosmos: The Possibility of Life on the Moons of Jupiter (note: Moons of Saturn was deferred) | Naperville Astronomical Association(virtual), Naperville, IL | Jim Kovac |
| 2021 Space Year in Review Program | National Space Society Space Forum (virtual) | Larry Boyle |
| 2021 Space Year in Review Program | Chicago Society for Space Studies Meeting (virtual) | Larry Boyle |
| World Space Programs | Lake County Astronomical Society (virtual), Ingleside, IL | Larry Boyle |
| Rocket Summer: The Adventures of Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic | National Space Society Space Forum (virtual) | Jim Plaxco |
| How To Design A Martian Civilization of One Million People | National Space Society Space Forum (virtual) | Jim Plaxco |
| Space Settlement: The Moon, Mars and Beyond | Roosevelt University Continued Learning (virtual), Schaumburg, IL | Jim Plaxco |
| Designing a Martian System of One Million Souls | Capricon Science Fiction Convention, Wheeling IL | Jim Plaxco |
| Governing the Solar System | Capricon Science Fiction Convention, Wheeling IL | Jim Plaxco |
| Space Economics | International Space Development Conference (virtual) | Jim Plaxco |
| The Sloan Digital Sky Survey | Naperville Astronomical Association (virtual), Naperville, IL | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Sloan Digital Sky Survey | Chicago Society for Space Studies Meeting (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Sloan Digital Sky Survey | ASME Fox Valley Chapter (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Connection between the Periodic Table and Astronomy | St. Louis Astronomical Society (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| In my own words | International Space Development Conference (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Sloan Digital Sky Survey | St. Louis Astronomical Society (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Space Elevator—from Science Fiction to Engineering | NSS Space Ambassadors Meeting (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Sloan Digital Sky Survey | Microscopical Society of IL (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Space Elevator—from Science Fiction to Engineering | Missile, Space and Range Pioneers (virtual) | Larry Bartoszek |
| The Arecibo Observatory: A Retrospective | Skokie Valley Astronomers (virtual), Deerfield, IL | Dale Dellutri |
| Dancing Planets, Sky Pictures and Streaks of Light: Coming Soon to a Sky Near You! | Skokie Valley Astronomers (virtual), Deerfield, IL | Dale Dellutri |
| Tracking Satellites | Broadcast to Guayaquil and Quito (virtual), Ecuador | Frances Dellutri |
| Growing Plants in Space | Broadcast to Guayaquil and Quito (virtual), Ecuador | Frances Dellutri |
| Microgravity and the Classroom | Carthage College, Kenosha, WI | Frances Dellutri |
| Limits on Fusion Propulsion for Exoplanet Exploration | American Nuclear Society Conference (virtual), Knoxville, TN | Gerald Jackson |
| Antimatter-Based Propulsion for Exoplanet Exploration | American Nuclear Society Conference (virtual), Knoxville, TN | Gerald Jackson |
| Antimatter-Based Spacecraft Power Generation | American Nuclear Society Conference (virtual), Knoxville, TN | Gerald Jackson |
| Deceleration of Interstellar Spacecraft Utilizing Antimatter | Interstellar Research Group Symposium -IRG 2021 ,Tucson, AZ | Gerald Jackson |
In presenting the award, NSS Chapters Committee Chair David Stuart had this to say:
“…they’re always one of our top chapters and thankfully for NSS, they are… They are always one of our top producers for talking about space and I encourage all of the rest of the chapters to talk to the Chicago members and find out some of their tricks and secrets. I know Jim Plaxco is on the line so maybe he can tell us a few of their secrets right now.”
In accepting the award, CSSS President Jim Plaxco made the following comments:
“I just want to start off saying thank you. Getting this award is a real honor. It means a lot to me and I’m certain it means a lot to the members of our Speakers Bureau who make so much of what we do possible. And I’m sure it means a lot to our members who joined our chapter as a way of showing their support for the activities we undertake to support space development and space settlement. The key has been our Speakers Bureau as a way of performing public outreach so that rather than expecting people to come to us to learn about space, we go out to other groups so that it’s very convenient to those organizations to hear presentations about what’s going on in space development as well as commercial space… Actually one of our speakers, Larry Bartoszek, will be giving a presentation at the International Space Development Conference this weekend so for those of you who are there, take the opportunity to see his presentation.
Chicago Society for Space Studies looks forward to continued success in providing space-related educational presentations and in promoting commercial space development.