It's interesting to note that space is the only industry with a fan base. If you're not an engineer or scientist, you won't often see T-shirts that deal with lasers, nuclear fusion, or supercomputers. But you will see NASA T-shirts on all kinds of people (even outside the US). You'll see them on the street, on Instagram, on Tik-Tok. Space has a kind of coolness that appeals to the masses.
If you're reading this at this early stage, you are probably already a space enthusiast or even a professional in a space-related field. As an insider, you are aware that there are dozens of "space advocacy" groups. Depending on exact definitions, I would argue more than 100 separate groups. That doesn't even count individual chapters of groups such as NSS or SEDS or the Mars Society.
These vary greatly in character. Some are member-based and others not; some are registered as 501(c)3 nonprofits, while others may not be incorporated. A few may have dozens or hundreds of workers or volunteers; others may be vanity projects, nascent, or sporadically active.
I'm going to assume that all these entities have a right to exist. I think they serve real purposes and have legitimate functions in our world. I'm not one of those who would say, "Let's just all get under the XYZ banner and all work together." I believe there are good reasons they are all separate (and I will argue in a later article that this is a good thing).
Given that, I want to address the question: What is the proper role of the space- related advocacy organization in general?
There is no one right answer. I believe there are several activities and roles such organizations engage in, and I assume they're all valid in their own contexts. Let's look at some of these.
Political activism. It's not unusual for groups to have occasional letter-writing campaigns to Congress or even visits in person. It doesn't hurt to have our representatives know that this is something we care about. Of course, any group with 501(c)3 status must act with a little caution, as they are not permitted to be involved directly with campaigns or parties.
Public awareness. This is another worthy goal. Volunteers have been known to give talks at all levels from kindergarten to twelfth grade and beyond, not to mention talks for various local organizations and civic groups. Hosting a "space day," a launch watch party, or a Yuri's Night are other examples.
Socializing. The appeal of meeting like minds is not something to be dismissed. We get to inspire, inform, and encourage each other. The "club" aspect of a space group is arguably the least important, but it still matters.
Education. This is perhaps just a more formal version of "public awareness" efforts. It may involve working with teachers and school boards, supporting chapters of SEDS and AIAA, and more. Some groups have offered scholarships (a practice which I heartily endorse).
Hobby activities. Besides the ordinary socializing, sometimes people get together for star parties, model rocket launches, and more. This can overlap with other areas such as public awareness and education.
Research and development. Occasionally a group is big enough to do its own real-world projects. One of the ultimate examples is the solar sail created by the Planetary Society, but there are other smaller examples.
Conferences and conventions. This is understandable and even appropriate. But if you've been involved in this kind of thing, you know that it can be a tremendous burden, a kind of black hole that sucks in all of your time and energy.
Print magazines. This is also understandable. Did I say burden earlier? This one is just as bad or maybe even worse. If your group does a conference and a print magazine, I can easily imagine that the conference would take 60% of your time and effort, and the magazine would take the other 60%.
Liaison between industry and the public. I'm being a little vague here, but I think part of the function of many groups is to provide a sort of interface or buffer between the "real professional" and the general population. An example is a space meetup group that brings in a speaker from a space-related business (launch services or reseearch labs or whatever).
Public outreach. This is closely related to "public awareness," but arguably it goes a bit farther. Some might be turned off by the term evangelism, but that is essentially what we are talking about. Space is amazing, cool, life-changing. We want others to see what we see.
Different groups choose different activies based on their specific interests and goals. Interestingly, their enthusiasm in an area may not correlate with their abilities in that area (and they may even be unaware of this fact). This is a quirk not just of space people, but of human beings in general. If you doubt that, you never watched American Idol.
The myriad different groups focus their attention and efforts in widely varying ways. In some cases, I have opinions about what we get right and wrong. (And I assume we all have flaws or weaknesses of some kind. Imperfect humans do not create perfect organizations.)
Every single space group, large or small, was born out of passion and enthusiasm... and a perceived need that could be filled. The Open Space Foundation is no exception.
I won't go into detail yet. For now, I'll just say we have no real intention of running a conference or printing a magazine. That should free up about 120% of our resources.
I will share later on my rationale for forming "yet another" space group. And I will share my thoughts on what the activities of OSF "should" be, and how they "should" be done. Perhaps most of all, I will share what I think the obstacles are... and how things can go wrong. So stay tuned.