President’s Report to Our Members on The State of The Society
for our 22nd Annual Membership Meeting
August 11, 2021
Considering the challenges that have faced all of us over the past year and a half, The Moon Society is doing well! We have held our second Lunar Development Conference which included a Moon Base Design Contest with participants from around the world.
Before I jump into the details I want to thank everyone on our leadership team and our volunteers for putting together another great conference this year.
Membership Report
As of 09/16/20, Society membership stands at 197 members in good standing, which is up 57% from this time last year.
Elections
Elections this year resulted in James Burk being re-elected as Vice President and Ben Smith being elected as Treasurer. According to our bylaws, there are 3 board seats up during this cycle and the top three vote getters will win a seat. The top three are: Dana Carson, Inara Tabir, and James Gholston. Congratulations to all of our returning and new officers and board members.
The Lunar Development Conference
Much has changed since our first Lunar Development Conference in 2020. While we now have a vaccine for the virus there are many who don’t and most conferences are still virtual. This year had a lot of help from Michael Laine on managing the conference itself which significantly reduced the burden on the organizers. The highlight of the conference was the presentation of the Moon Base Design Contest winners. The $1,000 First prize went to the DIA – Domi Inter Astra base designed by the Space Generation Advisory Council Team, the $500 second prize went to the Hermes Moon Base designed by Carl Greenbaum, and the $250 third prize went to Argo Base designed by The Futurist Foundation.
The recorded sessions have all been posted to YouTube and several have generated a significant number of views post-conference.
In a recent development, the National Space Society has renewed its request for the Society to run the Lunar Track at this coming year’s ISDC conference, which was the original source of the LDC conference. Volunteers to help organize are greatly appreciated.
Lunar Developments
While we have not made it back to the Moon yet, there is a tremendous amount of activity going on around the world. NASA has selected SpaceX for the first Human Lander Systems contract, multiple Commercial Lunar Payload Services companies are heading to the Moon next year, and several countries have signed on to the Artemis Accords. The number of Lunar related deadlines coming between now and our next annual report should be incredibly impressive.
The Future
The focus on the Moon by the world is beginning to put the Society in a bit of a spotlight. As James, Ben, and myself discussed at the LDC conference, the Society has several opportunities to reshape itself into something larger. The Society leadership is working on not only a strategic plan, but a complete restatement of our purpose and role. We feel there is a Moon-sized vacuum in leadership for professionals and non-professionals alike and the Society can help fill that vacuum with our vision. The leadership team looks forward to reporting out our findings soon.
The future of the Moon Society is as bright as a full Moon on a clear night and we all look forward to a year ahead.
