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SacL5 Meeting 8/8/26

Mission – Why We Exist

  • Help enthusiasts find ways to contribute.
  • Provide sources of enabling training to facilitate engineering prototyping.
  • Establish a clearinghouse for the ongoing objective analysis of proposed space development technologies.

Meeting Details for each Months Meeting

Meeting Call: Sacramento L5 Society, Local Chapter, National Space Society
Where: Virtual presence only, via Zoom
When: Second Saturday, each month beginning at 6pm PT
 
Pre-Zoom notes:
•These meetings are recorded.
•Folks will be asked to briefly share their video, and phone callers asked to identify themselves.
•We use the “waiting room” format. If I keep you waiting, call me and bawl me out! 916-429-6252
 
Join Zoom meeting:
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbdpRGEmNm
Meeting ID: 868 9868 4719
 
Joe Bland
President, SL5S
7482 Greenhaven Drive
Sacramento, CA 95831
916-429-6252
 

Home Page: SacramentoL5Society.org

SacL5 Officers: Joe Bland President, Jan Rosten VP, Ed Kulis Secretary/Website Admin (click name to email)

Sacramento L5 Society

Meeting Minutes — August 8, 2026

Attendees: Gerald Blackburn, Ed Kulis, Michael Abramson, David Jacobs, Joseph Bland, Jan Roston, Kris Cerone, Robin Scott, and mike d.

President’s and Treasurer’s Report

Joseph Bland reported that chapter finances are generally stable and that access to funds in the chapter checking account has been restored sufficiently to permit reimbursements and project expenditures. This will allow reimbursement for Arduino kits and support other chapter projects.

Joseph noted that establishing a replacement chapter bank account remains difficult because of California banking requirements and may take considerable additional time.

NSS Chapter Assembly Report

Jan Roston reported on the July Chapter Assembly meeting. Discussion included issues associated with the recent ISDC and plans for the next ISDC in Los Angeles. Arlene Busby is working on activities aimed at helping chapters promote themselves, including chapter participation, presentations, tables, and related programming at the conference.

Considerable discussion concerned changes in distribution of Ad Astra. There was uncertainty over whether printed copies were still being sent routinely to individual NSS members or whether the changes primarily affected bulk shipments to chapter leaders.

Joseph reported that he had already reduced the quantity of Ad Astra copies being sent to the chapter and noted that surplus copies remain useful for outreach events and school distributions.

Action: Joseph will contact the appropriate NSS representative to clarify the current Ad Astra distribution policy. Jan will also seek clarification through the Chapter Assembly.

NSS Chapter Committee and Board Activities

Ed Kulis reported on recent NSS meetings. Items included:

  • A Global Space Debates program intended to involve high-school students and participants internationally.
  • The NSS 30 Under 30 effort to increase involvement by younger people.
  • Planning for increased chapter participation at the next ISDC in Los Angeles.
  • NSS interest in finding ways to increase interaction between national programs and local chapters.

Ed proposed greater use of SpaceTalks as a way for chapters to share speakers and programs with one another. He plans to contact other chapters directly to promote the idea.

Ed also reported attending an NSS Board of Directors meeting and noted that many NSS programs are active nationally but are not necessarily visible to local chapters.

Action: An ongoing agenda item will be added so Ed can report relevant information from NSS Board and chapter-related meetings.

SpaceTalks and Website Report

Ed reported continuing development of the Sacramento L5 Society SpaceTalks program. The next scheduled speaker is Dr. Jen Blank, who will discuss robotic exploration of Martian lava tubes.

Recorded SpaceTalk presentations are being made available through links from the Sacramento L5 website, with the video files themselves hosted outside the NSS website to avoid consuming NSS web storage.

Ed proposed converting the Sacramento L5 YouTube account to a multi-administrator arrangement so that management of chapter videos does not depend on a single person or a two-factor authentication code sent to another administrator. Joseph agreed with proceeding with the change.

Ed also demonstrated the monthly NSS Chapter Activity Report, comparing visible activity among NSS chapters, and the updated Sacramento L5 website traffic report. The website had approximately 821 additional visits during the month, with total traffic exceeding 32,000 visits and daily traffic showing continued growth.

Arduino Kit Outreach

Ed noted that the chapter had previously discussed providing six Arduino kits to Lalitha Murali for educational use.

Action: Ed will contact Lalitha Murali and follow up on providing the six kits.

Mini-Cube / Balloon Instrument Project

Ed presented progress on the modular camera and data-recording package being developed for balloon and other educational flight projects.

A component-by-component test fixture has been developed so that each part can be verified as the system is assembled. Because the SD-card module was too large for the desired Mini-Cube enclosure, Ed developed a vertical mounting arrangement that allows the electronics, battery, and voltage booster to fit within the available space.

The design has evolved into a modular instrumentation platform. Cameras, temperature sensors, and other devices can be substituted while retaining the basic controller, recording, and test framework.

The unit will not be ready for an upcoming JP Aerospace flight. Ed has been discussing the project with Gerald Blackburn, however, and a possible earlier test opportunity may be available using drones operated with engineering interns.

Joseph emphasized the value of documenting the project so that students and other groups can reproduce and modify it.

Action: Ed will continue development and documentation of the modular system and will keep JP Aerospace informed as the design matures.

AI Discussion

The Mini-Cube discussion led into a broader discussion of AI-assisted engineering and local AI tools. Ed described using AI systems to create development tools and personal assistants rapidly and discussed the potential productivity gains from locally operated AI.

Joseph and Michael Abramson discussed both the potential usefulness of AI and concerns about security and AI risk.

No action was taken on the chapter’s proposed AI statement during this meeting. Michael requested that the statement be placed immediately after the SpaceTalk on the agenda for the next meeting. Joseph agreed, noting that he wanted sufficient time to review the statement before any vote.

Action: Place the AI statement at the top of chapter business at the next meeting.

Mailing List / Mailchimp

Ed proposed moving the chapter’s mailing-list management to Mailchimp, which would permit separate lists or groups for chapter members, chapter leaders, SpaceTalk contacts, and other audiences.

Joseph supported the proposal, noting that the current meeting distribution list contains considerably more people than the chapter’s primary mailing list and that a multi-user Mailchimp account would allow more than one chapter officer to manage distributions.

There was general agreement to proceed toward a Mailchimp-based system; no formal motion or vote was recorded.

Returning Sacramento L5 Member

Jan reported that David Jacobs, whom she had invited to the meeting, had been involved with Sacramento L5 many years earlier.

Joseph suggested that David might be invited to give a future presentation or informal talk about the early history of Sacramento L5 and the L5 movement.

Action: Jan will follow up with David about the possibility of a future presentation.

Meeting Recording

Ed requested the transcript and video of the meeting so the presentation and related material could be published promptly.

Action: Joseph will provide Ed with the meeting video and associated material.

Deferred Business

Because of the length of the SpaceTalk and subsequent discussions, several remaining agenda items were not reached. Joseph noted that these subjects, including additional organizational and AI-related matters, would remain on the agenda rather than being dropped.

Adjournment

With no further business, the meeting concluded shortly after 8:00 p.m.

Next meeting priority: Following the SpaceTalk, discussion of the Sacramento L5 Society statement on artificial intelligence.

Items for consideration

Sacramento L5 Society — Action Items from NSS Executive Committee Minutes

  • Maintain a clear SacL5 membership list separate from the general mailing/contact list. The proposed NSS Chapter Rules would require chapters to distinguish actual chapter members from non-member contacts.
  • Prepare the annual chapter report with the required member and contact information. The proposed rules call for current electronic lists, including at minimum first name, last name, email address, and chapter membership status, along with links to chapter websites, social media, and video channels.
  • Track which SacL5 members are also current NSS members before March 31 each year. If the proposed rules are adopted, this count would be used in determining the chapter’s annual NSS stipend.
  • Use the NSS new-member recruitment rebate program. NSS has restored rebates for new NSS members recruited by chapters, so SacL5 should record and claim qualifying member referrals.

Note: The Chapter Rules changes were recommended by the NSS Executive Committee and still require Board approval.

Proposal: Mailchimp Administrative Redundancy

Sacramento L5 Society should move to a Mailchimp setup that does not depend on one person’s private email account, phone number, or shared login credentials.

The proposed structure is:

  • Create a dedicated free Proton Mail account to serve as the permanent institutional Mailchimp Owner account.
  • Use a memorable, non-personal address rather than an officer’s name, so the account can remain with Sacramento L5 as people and responsibilities change.
  • Upgrade Mailchimp to the Essentials plan, which provides three seats with Owner/Admin access.
  • Keep the Proton address primarily as the institutional Owner account.
  • Individual Sacramento L5 members who actually operate Mailchimp would use their own existing email addresses as separate Mailchimp Admin accounts.

Institutional Proton address → Mailchimp Owner
Ed’s regular email → Mailchimp Admin
Second member’s regular email → Mailchimp Admin

This gives us redundant people capable of operating the full Mailchimp account without sharing passwords.

Why Proton?

Proton may be unfamiliar to some members, but it is not an obscure offshore email provider.

Proton AG is a Swiss company headquartered in Geneva. Proton Mail was started in 2014 by scientists who met while working at CERN, the European particle-physics laboratory near Geneva.

Proton is particularly useful for this application because it offers a free account, emphasizes privacy and minimal collection of personal information, and provides strong account-recovery mechanisms.

What Does “.me” Mean?

A Proton address normally ends in:

@proton.me

The .me domain is the Internet country-code domain assigned to Montenegro. It has also become widely used internationally because “me” reads naturally as an English word.

That does not mean Proton is a Montenegrin company or that the account is being operated by an unknown Eastern European provider. Proton is Swiss; proton.me is simply one of the domains it uses for email.

Institutional Recovery Without Personal Dependencies

The institutional Proton account does not need to be permanently tied to an officer’s personal email address or personal telephone number.

Proton supports a recovery phrase, which can be stored as an organizational credential. The recovery phrase can be used to recover the account and its encrypted data.

The recovery phrase can therefore be treated as an organizational master key and stored securely with Sacramento L5’s other important records.

When responsibility transfers to someone else, the organization can transfer the Proton credentials and recovery phrase and, if desired, replace the recovery phrase afterward.

This means the long-term ownership chain does not depend on one member’s personal phone number, personal email account, or continued involvement.

Day-to-Day Mailchimp Use

The Proton mailbox is not intended to become another mailbox that someone has to monitor continuously.

Normal Mailchimp work would be done through the individual Admin accounts using each administrator’s regular email address.

The Proton account primarily exists to provide:

  • a permanent organizational Owner identity,
  • account recovery, and
  • access to occasional Owner-level correspondence.

Because of that, Sacramento L5 does not need Proton’s paid Apple Mail Bridge service. The free Proton account is sufficient.

Billing Is Independent of Account Ownership

Mailchimp billing can be handled separately from the institutional Owner identity.

The person currently responsible for expenses can place the appropriate credit card or other authorized payment method on the Mailchimp account. Mailchimp then charges that payment method automatically on its normal billing cycle.

The billing contact email can also be separate from the Owner email address. Billing receipts and payment notices can therefore go directly to the person currently handling finances.

This means three different responsibilities can remain independent:

Institutional ownership → Proton Owner account
Mailchimp operations → individual Admin accounts
Payment and receipts → current billing contact/payment method

If the person handling expenses changes, the billing email and payment method can simply be updated. There is no need to change the institutional Owner account or rebuild Mailchimp.

Cost

Proton Mail institutional Owner account: $0

Mailchimp Essentials: currently starts at approximately $13 per month, with pricing depending on the number of contacts.

Total starting recurring cost: approximately $13 per month.

Why Do This?

The objective is not to create a complicated hierarchy. It is simply to provide continuity, redundancy, and clean institutional ownership.

Sacramento L5 owns the root identity and recovery credentials. Individual people receive their own fully capable Mailchimp administrator accounts. Billing remains independent and can move from one responsible person to another without disturbing either ownership or day-to-day operation.

No passwords need to be shared, no personal email address or phone number has to remain permanently attached to the organization, and no single individual has to be available for Sacramento L5 to continue operating Mailchimp.

Recommendation: Create the free institutional Proton account, secure its recovery phrase as an organizational credential, make that account the Mailchimp Owner, assign the remaining seats to individual Sacramento L5 administrators, and keep billing information under the control of the current authorized financial contact.

Project Activities

Projects in Progress

  • Balloon Device Project – See: Details
    • Project started for see details page created on website
  • Eric’s Steam Engine
    • Will run on compressed air. 
    • It’s a “Walking Beam” Design with fly-ball governors to stabilize speed with  offset cams to operate the steam valves.
  • White Paper on an Open Space Organization
    • Development of White Paper on an “Open Space Organization (OSO) (Michael Abramson)
    • Michael presented the current state of the proposed white paper.
    • We will look for other names since “Open Space Organization” has awkward connotations and  “Outer Space Organization” may be in use by other organizations.
    • Here are a few alternative suggested by Michael and Joe:
    • Open Outer Space Organization (OOSO)
      • United Outer Space Organization (UOSO)
      • Space Development Organization (SDO)
      • Space Developers Organization (SDO)
      • Outer Space Development Organization (OSDO)
      • Outer Space Developers Organization (OSDO)
      • United Space Development Organization (USDO)
      • United Space Developers Organization (USDO)
      • United Outer Space Development Organization (UOSDO)
      • United Outer Space Developers Organization (UOSDO
      • Organization of Outer Space Development  (OOSD)
      • Organization of Outer Space Developers  (OOSD)
  • Joe’s Projects and Patents
    • Joe’s patent applications on energy generation, storage, and distribution still in process
    • Patent office hasn’t rejected any patents and the process is moving forward.

Chapter Library

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