Bill Nye 3: Planetary.

 Space exploration brings out the best in us. It is inherently optimistic.

- Bill Nye

I think that it's safe to say that an interest in space exploration is common among science fiction fans.  It's not really the same as what we've been reading about, but it's obvious that the global space initiative responsible for things like the International Space Station represents the first steps toward a future where we explore - and perhaps inhabit - more and more of our solar system.*  However, it's more of a spectator sport than anything else, after all, there's not a lot one person can do to move the process forward.

Or at least that's what I would have said until last month, when I found out about the Planetary Society.

The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by science spokesmen Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, with the intent of creating an organization that would allow the general public to become more involved in the exploration of space in two ways:  by giving it a voice for advocacy, and by offering opportunities for education and participation.

The Society now has over 40,000 members around the world, making it the largest and most influential public space organization group on Earth - if not the solar system.  Bill Nye is the current CEO, and the Board of Directors and Advisory Council is made up of a Who's Who of space exploration, investigation and advocacy such as Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, science fiction author David Brin, Quirks & Quarks host (and fellow Canadian) Bob McDonald, scientist and SETI president Frank Drake, actor Robert Picardo, Hayden Planetarium Director and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and a host of others, united by a shared commitment to expand humanity's horizons.

I'm proud to say that I'm now literally a card-carrying**  member of the Planetary Society.  The annual membership fee is about $60 CAD, which struck me as a reasonable investment to make in helping to promote our future in space.

Let's face it, sooner or later you have to put your money where your mouth is.

http://planetary.org/

- Sid

* We're progressing toward that future either very quickly or ridiculously slowly, depending on whether you start the clock with Yuri Gagarin or Lucy (the 3.2 million year old fossil Australopithecus, that is, not Charlie Brown's nemesis).

** I got a nice T-shirt, too.