Club Aims to Make Space Exploration a Reality

At Harvard, there seems to be a club for every hobby--from kendo to funk. The Society for the Exploration and Development of Space, at first glance, would seem to be on the fringes, in the same league, as, say, Mr. Jay's Midnight Croquet.

"We started the space table, a weekly dinner table where we could sit and talk about space," says Founder Adam M. Ross '00.

But Ross and his fellow club "activists" are not content with sitting idly in the dining hall. Their mission is to explore the final frontier--to make it accessible--now.

"The purpose stemmed from my belief that space is something we should be going into," Ross says. "I've always felt that space is not just a technical challenge, but also a political challenge, a philosophical challenge, and an economic challenge."

Ross started the club to promote discussion of space between Harvard students and faculty members. And as the club has grown, astronauts, space lobbyists and NASA employees have joined in the weekly discussions.

The space club is growing--last year reached beyond Harvard with a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., according to club vice president Joseph A. Robbins '01.

"As Harvard students, people listen to us," Robbins said, adding that their rhetoric made quite an impact. When he later heard speeches by NASA administrators and other pro-space lobbyists, Robbins heard their own rhetoric.

"One thing we did learn last year is how much of a difference [we made] in American policy toward space development," he said.

About 20 fellow enthusiasts came to the club's introductory meeting last Tuesday--prepared to dream of the impossible.

"I've always had an interest in space and the e-mails I had gotten in the past sounded interesting," attendee Moses P. Bloom '00 said.

One benefits club members can reap is assistance in finding careers in space exploration.

"We've tried to create an internship and scholarship database for people interested on space," Ross said.

The database is accessible on SEDS' Web site, http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~seds.

Since prospects are definitely more certain for future generations, the club is trying to inculcate the space bug in local youths. Last year, they had six workshops in local schools to introduce the possibility of "going up" to the next generation of students. Further outreach is planned for this year.

"This is a group that has a lot to offer," says Professor of Astronomy Jonathan E. Grindlay, who is the club's faculty advisor.

"Space is an exciting place to do science," Grindlay added. "Being in space is where we can do science that we can't do on the ground."

While many club members concentrate in the sciences, club officers emphasize that anyone can join. Robbins, for example, is a social-science concentrator.

"It was just something that had been in my head since I was little," Robbins said.

According to Ross, many people join the club to learn about "things that aren't taught at Harvard." And among members of the space community, club membership is an asset to any resume. The club hopes to provide even more opportunities for students to learn about space by persuading Harvard administration to offer a new course this spring.

"It would basically talk about the history of the space industry," Ross said. But plans for the course are still tentative, he added.

Between 20 and 40 students attend each meeting, although more find it more comfortable to limit their participation to cyberspace--almost 200 people are on the space club's mailing list.