Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5)
Space Advocacy | Education Outreach | Technology Development

January 2019. Membership meeting, election of officers, and open discussion. [Read More]

March 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Life in the Universe" with Richard B. Hoover. [Read More]

March 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Adventures in Crime Scene Investigation (CSI). Truth is Stranger than Fiction." with Weldon Walles, Retired Master Peace Officer and Certified Crime Scene Analyst. [Read More]

April 2019. HAL5 monthly program "New Materials for Exploration and Industry" with Col. (Ret) Robert E. Grigsby, President, Advanced American Technologies. [ Read More ] HAL5 and Janet's Planet at Panoply Arts Festival's STEAM Interactive with "Design Your Own Mission Patch" activity.

May 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Communicating About Space: Pitfalls and Priorities" with Bart Leahy, Freelance Technical Writer. [Read More] [ Video at Greg Allison's Personal YouTube Channel ]

June 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "A Creative and Personal Space Art Journey" with Chris Wade, Painter and Photographer. [Read More]

July 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Lunar Exploration, the Past Informs the Future," a panel discussion.

August 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Nuclear Rocket Engines for Space Exploration" with Dr. Jonathan Witter, Chief Engineer, BWXT Advance Technology Programs.

September 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "From Saturn Guidance to Consumer Computing: A Digital Pioneer's Journey" with Luke Talley, retired engineer with IBM and Wyle.

October 2019. General membership meeting.

November 2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Fill 'er up! A Functional Analysis of a Cryogenic Propellant Depot at Earth-Moon L1" with Tom Perrin, Senior Ground Operations Systems Engineer at MSFC.

December2019. HAL5 monthly program on "Setting Sail for the Sun" with Les Johnson, Principal Investigator for NASA Interplanetary Solar Sail Missions

January 2018. Membership meeting, election of officers, and a short talk about protecting our power grid and our upcoming conference. [Read More]

February 2018. Peenemünde 75th with Jackie Dannenberg, Heidi Weber Collier, Dick Curtis and Ed Buckbee. [Read More]

March 2018. HAL5 monthly program on "CubeSats - To The Moon & Beyond" with Scott Spearing, Geocent LCC, Supporting NASA MSFC. [Read More] . HAL5 at Columbia Elementary School's Space Week with Make-n-Launch paper air rocket activity.

April 2018. HAL5 monthly program "Hypersonics: Flight of the Future" with Ragini Acharya, Senior Principal Scientist, CFD Research Corporation. [Read More] HAL5 at Panoply Arts Festival's STEAM Interactive with our Go Lunar Racer activity. HAL5 at Discovery Middle School with Make-n-Launch paper air rocket activity. HAL5 at AIAA/STEAMWorks STEM social at Lowe Mill.

May 2018. HAL5 monthly program on "China and India's Quest for Outer-Space Resources" with Dr. Namrata Goswami, MINERVA Grantee and Senior Analyst with Wikistrat and Auburn University Futures Lab. [Read More] HAL5 represented at NSS ISDC 2018.

June 2018. HAL5 monthly program on "Space...Been There, Done That! How Huntsville Dreamers Made it Happen." With Greg Allison, Founder of HAL5 and Project HALO; and Tim Pickens, CEO of Pickens Innovations. Event co-sponsored by Straight to Ale Brand. [Read More]. HAL5 at NASA in the Park to celebrate 60th anniversary of NASA, and showing off the Ron Creel's Lunar Rover computer simulator (LUROVA) for kids and adults to drive.

July 2018. HAL5 monthly program "Falling Stars: Perseid Meteor Shower 2018" with Haley Rice, Astronomer and Founder of Project Night Sky. [Read More]

August 2018 Program #1. HAL5 monthly program on "Lava Eruption and Emplacement: Using Clues from Hawaii and Iceland to Probe the Lunar Past " with Dr. Debra Hurwitz Needham, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. HAL5's Power Grid Defense Conference 2018 (August 9-12) at Embassy Suites Hotel - Huntsville.

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August 2018 Program #2. HAL5 special program on "Solar Gravitational Lens for Direct Imaging of an Exoplanet" with Dr. Slava G. Turyshev, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.

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September 2018. Paratus Universe Simulator. [Read More]

October 2018. No monthly program. HAL5 at VBAS astronomy day and international observed the moon night at USSRC.

November 2018. HAL5 monthly program on "NASA SLS Development Status and Mission Opportunities" with Ben Donahue, Boeing. HAL5 special program on "Space History at the UAH Archives: Collections and Stories from the Archives" at UAH Salmon Library. [Read More]

December 2018. HAL5 monthly program on "A Historical Perspective on Anti-Gravity Technology" with Amy Eskridge, President and Co-founder, The Institute for Exotic Science. [Read More] HAL5 annual Christmas Party.

January 2017. Membership meeting, election of officers, and 2017 planning meeting.

February 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "United Launch Alliance (ULA): America's Ride to Space" with Mr. Anton Kolomiets (ULA). [Read More]

March 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "Inspiring the Future - Exploring Mars at Space Camp" with Robin Soprano, Director of Simulations at U.S. Space and Rocket Center. [Read More] . HAL5 at Columbia Elementary School's Space Week with Make-n-Launch paper air rocket activity.

April 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy" with Dr. Tyson B. Littenberg of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). [Read More] . HAL5 at Panoply 2017 Arts Festival's STEAM Interactive Area doing CD Hovercraft.

May 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "These ARE the Droids You Are Looking For" with Wayne Neumaier of A7L Props at Straight to Ale's Campus 805 location. [Read More] . ISDC 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. HAL5 received NSS Chapter of Excellence award for 2016.

June 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "These ARE the Droids You Are Looking For" with Wayne Neumaier of A7L Props at Straight to Ale's Campus 805 location. [Read More] . ISDC 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. HAL5 received NSS Chapter of Excellence award for 2016.

July 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "Additive Manufacturing for Aerospace" with Omar R. Mireles, Research Engineer, NASA MSFC. [Read More]

August 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "Space Launch System: The Next Steps Toward the Giant Leap" with Andy Schorr, Deputy Manager, NASA SLS Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution (SPIE) Element. [Read More]

September 2017. HAL5 monthly program on "Looking Beyond WFIRST, the next large X-Ray Mission - Lynx" with Dr. Jessica Gaskin, NASA MSFC. [Read More] HAL5 and VBAS joint end of summer cookout.

October 2017. No HAL5 monthly program. Join TVIW and USSRC for special Pass the Torch on Breakthrough Listen.

November 2017. HAL5 monthly program "ISS Payload Operations: Science in the Spotlight" with Mason Hall, COLSA, Systems Engineer for Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC), MSFC. [Read More]

December 2017. No HAL5 monthly program. Join USSRC for special Pass the Torch on Apollo 17 45th anniversary. HAL5 Christmas Party.

January 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "The Next Chapter of Human Space Exploration" with Mr. Todd May (Acting Director, NASA MSFC). HAL5's special award at the 2016 Alabama Regional Future City competition on outer space applications of their designs. HAL5 and Challenger Elementary School in Huntsville unveiled the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) 30th Commemoration Wall.

February 2016 Annual membership meeting. HAL5 is proud to be a co-sponsor and supporter of Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW) 2016 Symposium (Feb. 28 - March 1).

March 2016 HAL5 regular monthly program on "Space Weather: the past, present and the future." with Dr. Qiang Hu, UAH CSPAR.

Special Event March 2016 HAL5 special program on NASA's Europa Mission with special guest speaker Mr. Barry Goldstein, Europa Mission Project Manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. HAL5 to exhibit some of our hardware at FIRST Robotic Competition Rocket City Regional social event at USSRC.

April 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "Dreams Made Real - Science Fiction Art as Shaping Force on Technology, Science, and Space Exploration" with Ms. Naomi Fisher.

May 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "The Sun: A Star at the Center of our Solar System" with Ms. Mitzi Adams (NASA MSFC). ISDC 2016 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

June 2016 No meeting for this month.

July 2016 Membership meeting

August 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "The Power Grid Defense Case To Enable the Settlement of Space?" with Mr. Greg Allison (HAL5).

September 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "Orion versus Poseidon: Understanding How NASA's Crewed Capsule Survives Nature's Fury" Mr. Robert (BJ) Barbré of Jacobs Engineering. DragonCon in Atlanta. Inaugural Power Grid Defense Conference hosted by HAL5 (Sept. 20-21).

October 2016 HAL5 and USSRC special Pass the Torch program on "Flying the SR-71 Blackbird" with Lt. Col. Ed Yielding, USAF, Ret.
Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) Astronomy Day.

November 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "Chemistry of Odor" with Russell Bazemore, Volatile Analysis Corporation.

December 2016 HAL5 monthly program on "Progress on Deuterium Fusion Experiments at UAH: the Making of the First Real Impulse Engine" with Dr. Jason Cassibry (UAH).
HAL5 Christmas Party.

January 2015 Annual HAL5 membership meeting on the state and health of HAL5, news about NSS, upcoming activities, your inputs and proposed updates to our bylaws. HAL5's special award at the 2015 Alabama Regional Future City competition held at UAH on outer space applications of their designs.

February 2015 Impromptu membership meeting due to last minute speaker conflict.

March 2015 Joint Pass the Torch program with USSRC on NASA Orion Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) with: Larry Price, Deputy Program Manager, Lockheed Martin Orion Program; Larry Gagliano, Deputy Project Manager, Orion Launch Abort Systems, MSFC; Roger Rieger, Director, Human Launch Services, United Launch Alliance.

April 2015 Last minute membership meeting. HAL5 at STEAMfest 2015 with our Martian popsicle sticks catapult activity.

May 2015 HAL5 monthly program on "Cosmology and the Expansion of the Universe: from Edwin Hubble to the Hubble Space Telescope" with Dr. Massimiliano Bonamente, Professor of Physics, UAH.
ISDC 2015 in Toronto, Canada.

June 2015 HAL5 monthly program on "Planetary Seismology: What's Shakin' in the Solar System" with Dr. Renee Weber, Research Scientist, NASA MSFC and Science Co-Investigator of NASA InSight Mission.
LibertyCon 2015 in Chattanooga. Representative from HAL5 will be attending.

July 2015 No HAL5 monthly program. Annual HAL5 summer picnic.

August 2015 HAL5 monthly program on "Coaxial Combusting Vortex Rocket Motor" with William H. Knuth: Founder/President, KEI Consulting Services.

August 2015 HAL5 special talk on "Pluto, New Horizons Pluto-Palooza" with Jim Plaxco, President of the Chicago Society for Space Studies.

September 2015 HAL5 monthly program (book lecture) on "How far would you go to colonize the stars?" with Nick Wyckoff, engineer and author.

October 2015 HAL5 monthly program on "Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life" with Mr. Richard B. Hoover, Astrobiologist, Athens State University
Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) Astronomy Day.

November 2015 HAL5 monthly program on "The Infinite Loop: The Interplay Between Science Fiction, Technology, Science, and Exploration" with Toni Weisskopf, Publisher of Baen Books.

December 2015 HAL5 monthly program on "New Horizons: NASA's First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt" with Mr. James E. Lee, Mission Manager, NASA MSFC.
HAL5 Christmas Party.

January 2014 Annual membership meeting.

February 2014 HAL5 monthly program on "Cloud Nines - Manufacturing Our Future in Space" with Paul Wieland, Visioneer for Wiseland Services, consultant on habitats in space, gold-medal winning author, former NASA engineer.

March 2014 HAL5 monthly program on "Missions for NASA's New Space Launch System (SLS) Rocket" with Ben Donahue, R&D Principal Investigator, Boeing. HAL5 education outreach (Paper Air Rockets) at Columbia Elementary School, Madison, AL [March 20].

April 2014 Special join program with U.S. Space and Rocket Center on Pass the Torch Series: "Beyond the Movie 2001: A Space Odyssey" with Fred I. Ordway III. Mr. Ordway is the science advisor and technical consultant for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL5 outreach at STE(A)M Fest! [April 12] at Lowe's Mill with Dynetic's Bigelow thruster and suitcase hybrid, and HAL5's suitcase hybrid. HAL5 education outreach at Horizon Elementary School, Madison, AL [April 14-18]. HAL5's Panoply Testing Station for comets and catapults.

May 2014 HAL5 monthly program with Dr. Barbara Cohen and Dr. Robert Coker, NASA MSFC, on "The Antarctic Search for Meteorites." ISDC 2014 Los Angeles, CA.

June 2014 HAL5 monthly program with John R. London, SMDC Nanosatellite Technology Manager, on "Small, Low Cost Satellites for the U.S. Army."

July 2014 Annual HAL5 picnic and annual election of officers. USSRC and HAL5 hosting Pass the Torch Apollo 11 Panel, and Presentation and Book Signing by Astronaut Don Thomas on July 20. Distinguished panel discussion with space personalities, Dr. Chuck Lundquist, Brooks Moore, Kenny Mitchell, Ed Buckbee, Alex McCool and moderator Astronaut Don Thomas. Special presentation by Don Thomas and book signing.

August 2014 HAL5 monthly program with Les Johnson, engineer and author, on the book Rescue Mode which he co-authored Ben Bova.

September 2014 Impromptu membership meeting due to programming scheduling issue. Talk edabout upcoming events, and Ed Kiker gave a short talk about building habitat from lunar and martian lava tubes.

October 2014 HAL5 monthly program with Mr. Al Reisz on "Engineering the Saturn V. Beyond Rocket Engineering" Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) Astronomy Day.

November 2014 HAL5 monthly program with Dr. Vladimir Florinski (UAH) on "Voyager: The First Year in Interstellar Space." This was a rescheduled talk from September

December 2014 HAL5 double feature! Space Shuttle history talk featuring David Hitt on "Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986" and Scott Phillips on "Remove before flight. Memoir of a Space Shuttle Team Member". Book sale and signing will follow before and after the talk. HAL5 Christmas Party.

January 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "HAL5 Membership and Strategic Planning Meeting." This is your society, help us to help you and our community.

February 2013 Joint public lecture night with Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop 2013.

March 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "Lesser Known History of Huntsville's Technological Evolution" with Dr. Raymond C. Watson, jr of R. C. Watson & Associates.

April 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "Fire, Sunshield, and Ice - Making of the Sunshield for the James Webb Space Telescope" with Greg Laue, Aerospace Products Director, ManTech International Corporation

May 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "Interstellar Medium" with Dr. Wes Colley, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis, University of Alabama Huntsville. ISDC 2013 San Diego, CA.

June 2013 Special join program with Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) on Summer Solstice, Friday. June 21, 2013, at VBAS Observatory in the Monte Sano state park. Dr. Martin C. Weisskopf, Chief Scientist for X-Ray Astronomy and Chandra Project Scientist at NASA MSFC will be talking to us on Chandra X-ray Observatory.

July 2013 No HAL5 program due to July 4th Holiday. Annual HAL5 summer potluck cookout.

August 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "From Mars to Moleskins: Writing and Selling Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Other Speculative Fiction" with Amy L. Herrings. HAL5 annual election of officers.

September 2013 HAL5 Astronomy Day, NSS South East Regional Workshop, and Future Planning Meeting.

October 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "Exploring Mars to Improve Life on Earth" on a special night, Oct. 1 with guest visiting speaker Marvin Hilton. NSS Southeast Regional Chapters Workshop in Cocoa Beach, Florida (Oct. 12). Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) Astronomy Day (Oct. 19). HAL5 will be there at both events!

November 2013 HAL5 monthly program on "HAL5 at 30. Celebrating 30 Years of Excellence in Space Advocacy, Education Outreach and Technology Development " Light refreshments and cake will be served.

December 2013 Todd May, NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Program Manager will give us a status of the SLS as we approach end of 2013. The meeting will be held at ManTech NeXolve/Gray Research Auditorium. 655 Discovery Dr. in Research Park, Huntsville. Annual HAL5 Christmas Party.

January 2012 HAL5 monthly program on "HAL5 Membership and Strategic Planning Meeting." This is your society, help us to help you and our community.

February 2012 HAL5 will be attending U.S. Space and Rocket Center's 'Pass the Torch' Lecture with Mr. Todd May, NASA's Space Launch System program manager, and Mr. Mark Kirasich, NASA's Orion deputy project manager.

March 2012 HAL5 Monthly program on "How to Predict Solar Impacts on GPS and Satellite TV?" with Dr. Linda Habash Krause. Solar/Solar-Terrestrial Physics, NASA MSFC, National Space Science and Technology Center

April 2012 HAL5 Monthly program on "Microfossils, Biomolecules and Biomarkers in Carbonaceous Meteorites: Evidence for the Existence of Extraterrestrial Life" with Richard B. Hoover, University of Buckingham, United Kingdom.

May 2012 HAL5 monthly program on "Solar Effects on Space and Terrestrial Systems" with Dr. Qiang Hu, University of Alabama Huntsville. ISDC 2012 Washington, D.C. HAL5 received the NSS Chapter Excellence Award for Education Outreach for 2011.

June 2012 HAL5 Monthly program on "Space Transportation Infrastructure Supported By Propellant Depots" with Mr. David Smitherman, Technical Manager, NASA MSFC Advanced Concepts Office; and HAL5 member. HAL5 annual election of officers.

July 2012 No HAL5 program due to July 4th Holiday.

August 2012 HAL5 Monthly program on "The Most Powerful Reusable Rocket Engine, the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME)" with Mr. Billy Gonterman, Former Test Conductor at NASA Stennis Test Facility.

September 2012 HAL5 Monthly program on "Superturbine Windpower" with Mr. Ed Kiker. HAL5 End of Summer Picnic (open to current HAL5 Members and Guests)

October 2012 HAL5 Monthly program on NASA's exploration of Mars. "Roving Mars: Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity" with Dr. Barbara Cohen, MSFC planetary scientist. [Charts] HAL5 annual picnic. Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) Astronomy Day. HAL5 will be there!

November 2012 HAL5 November free program with Eric Becnel, President of the UAHunstville Space Hardware Club. Mr. Becnel is also the Program Manager for the cubesat project UAHunstville have going on.

December 2012 HAL5 December free program with Todd May, NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Program Manager. Mr. May will be giving us a status of where SLS as SLS approachs its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in mid-2013.

January 2011 HAL5 monthly program by Paul O. Wieland, P.E. on Converging on a Space Program for the 21st Century.

February 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "American in Orbit - 50" current status with Craig Russel. Followed by ISDC 2011 planning meeting.

March 2011 HAL5 monthly program on Rocket City Space Pioneers' pursuit to win the Google Lunar X-Prize update with Tim Pickens.

April 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "Why we must explore Space: Benefits of High Velocity and Long Life Propulsion System" by guest speaker Al Reisz of Reisz Engineers.

May 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "ISDC 2011 Status, Programming and Activities Sneak Peaks." ISDC 2011 Von Braun Center! Huntsville (May 18-22). At ISDC 2011, HAL5 was awarded the NSS Chapter of the Year for 2010!

June 2011 ISDC 2011 Debrief, lessons learned and membership meeting.

July 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "What If We Were Going to Mars? New Ideas to Support Exploration" by HAL5 Officer David Hewitt

August 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "Designing an Enduring Mars Campaign" by guest speaker Gordon Woodcock. Annual HAL5 Election of officers

September 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "Designing an Initial Lunar Landing Site Habitat For Astronaut Training in Arizona" by guest speaker Mr. Kiker.

October 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "The Case and Development Path for Fusion Propulsion" by guest speaker Dr. Jason Cassibry, Assistant Professor, Univ. of Alabama Huntsville Propulsion Research Center. Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) Astronomy Day. HAL5 will be there!

November 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "James Webb Space Telescope: Status and Updates" by guest speaker Dr. Phil Stahl of NASA MSFC.

December 2011 HAL5 monthly program on "From Rocket Belts to Lunar Landing: Peroxide's Quiet Revolution" with Anthony Brinkley and Mark Wells of Dynetics, Inc.

January 2010 HAL5 monthly program on "The Moon is a Planet Too Far: Lunar Science and Robotic Exploration" with guest speaker Dr. Barbara Cohen.

February 2010 HAL5 monthly program on HAL5 monthly program on "Next L.E.A.P. to the future! Lunar Explorational Architecture Possibilities" with guest speaker Audra Herriges.

March 2010 HAL5 free public book lecture on "Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Planet Earth" with guest speaker Les Johnson, co-author.

April 2010 HAL5 monthly program on "Great Science With A Great Observatory: The Chandra X-Ray Observatory Celebrates 10 Years of Successful Operation" with guest speaker Dr. Martin Weisskopf. The event was held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's (USSRC) Educator Resources Center. Our thanks to USSRC for the use of the facility.

May 2010 HAL5 monthly program on "The History and Chemistry of Solid Rocket Propellants: Harnessing Energy for Propulsion" with guest speaker Dr. Jamie Niedert, Chief Scientist, Energetics, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile R and D Center (AMRDEC) Redstone Arsenal. ISDC 2010, Chicago.

June 2010 Annual HAL5 Election of officers and membership meeting.

July 2010 No program due to July 4th weekend.

August 2010 HAL5 monthly program on "Life in Space: A Cell's Perspective" by Dr. Marian L. Lewis, Ph.D., retired Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Director of the Bioreactor and Microgravity Biotechnology Laboratory at the UAHuntsville.

September 2010 HAL5 monthly program on the status of Huntsville Makers Local 256 and some of the HAL5 members involvements in "HackersSpace in Space" by Bill Brown and Ethan Chew.

October 2010 HAL5 monthly program on "Strategy for Space Development" by Gordon Woodcock, last President of the L5 society. VBAS annual Astronomy Day at Monte Sano. HAL5 will be there and will have our public demo of our own hybrid suitcase rocket.

November 2010 ISDC 2010 status update to the membership and public, and planning meeting. HAL5 presentation to Makers Local 256 and demonstration of suitcase hybrid rocket.

December 2010 Dr. Charles A. Lundquist. Sociological Factors for Space Exploration.