In a mix-up this week, two space groups that share a common heritage, similar vision and quite a number of participants were vying to lay claim to the mantle of the March Storm citizens space volunteer lobbying effort. A group within the Space Frontier Foundation (SFF) claimed that the annual event "was allowed to fade away" and would be revived by the Foundation in 2010.
ProSpace, the organization that has conducted March Storm for more than a decade, responded quickly that planning for the 2010 event was already underway and that the 2009 event was cancelled for a number of reasons including the difficulty of getting congressional focus on space issues in the midst of the nation's economic crisis.
I am active in both of these organizations and was involved in the events of this week. Faulty assumptions were made by some individuals, but I won't go any further as this was a misunderstanding among friends and both organizations need to move forward toward the goals we share. The outcome is that there will be a ProSpace March Storm in 2010 and the SFF group will probably conduct a similar event under another name. That would continue the healthy trend of several space lobbying efforts by various professional and citizen organizations.
No comments:
Post a Comment