bribosch@hydra.unm.edu (Brian Y. Vanden Bosch) (03/22/91)
Students and faculty of UNM: There will be a weekly meeting of the University of New Mexico chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, SEDS-UNM. It will be held at 7:30pm, March 27, 1991, in room 201 of Tapy Hall. There will be an intro to the activities of SEDS-UNM, all followed by the usual administrative meeting. SEDS is the world's largest space enthusiast organization for high school and college students. SEDS supports the exploration and settlement of space as well as the research and development of space related technologies. SEDS is committed to improving space-related education through both academics and hands-on projects. SEDS members run the full spectrum of academic disciplines, ideologies, and ambitions, but their trademark is the desire to expand and share their knowledge of space. SEDS provides a forum through which students can become involved in the international space community. There are now SEDS organizations in Canada, Costa Rica, Iran, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America (SEDS-USA), and Uruguay. SEDS-USA was founded in 1980 by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University. Now, SEDS-USA is continuing to grow with over 45 chapters nationwide. Projects that SEDS-USA are involved in include: designing and constructing SEDS Satellites (SEDSATs); developing the SEDS Satellite Tracking Station (SSTS); sending experiments on Get Away Special canisters aboard the space shuttles; and hosting regional conferences. The National Co-Headquarters of SEDS-USA are at MIT and at the University of New Mexico (SEDS-UNM). SEDS-UNM was founded in 1987. For local activities, we invite astronauts, scientists, engineers, administrators, and others involved with the space program to give public lectures. We organize tours of the VLA, White Sands Missile Range, Sandia Labs, and Los Alamos Labs. Projects that we are involved with are: design and construction of SEDSAT-B; the development of the SSTS; the development of the New Mexico Space and Planetary Image Facility (NMSPIF); and the hosting of the 1991 SEDS International Conference. NMSPIF is a computerized database of images and display software. This is located on the UNM campus, at the Map And Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) in the Centennial Library. The SSTS was established by SEDS-UNM in April of 1986 for the capture and analysis of satellite telemetry, weather satellite imagery, and to serve as a ground station for amateur radio satellite communications. We can also communicate with astronauts aboard the space shuttle and cosmonauts aboard the Soviet space station Mir. SEDSAT-B is being developed and designed along with scientists at the Los Alamos Labs, with its primary mission to study thermal, gravitationally-bound neutron 'currents' in low-earth orbit. Data from these observations will be used to calculate a more accurate value for the lifetime of free neutrons. The 1991 SEDS International Conference will be held in Albuquerque this August, to bring together the student members of SEDS as well as educators from the New Mexico region. If you are interested in being involved with SEDS-UNM, I encourage you to attend the above announced meeting. Or, you can send requests for information via email, to seds@hydra.unm.edu, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Brian Vanden Bosch President, SEDS-UNM