1. I would like to clarify the membership in the MSOA based on email questions I am getting especially for newly added folks. A little history first. The old Apollo Flight Operations Association (AFOA) no longer exists. In the fall of 2017, a group of us rebuilt the organization but for legal reasons we had to change the name and we agreed on the Manned Spaceflight Operations Association (MSOA) and decided to tie it to the historic MCC when trying to establish the scope of the organization. We used as the basis to establish the membership the old AFOA list and the official manning lists and anyone’s name that appears anywhere on those lists in any capacity was included. We cover all flights supported out of the historic MCC so it covers Gemini 2 through STS 76. The Master Database that is on our website www.mannedspaceops.org was built from the manning memos/lists showing what each person did as they appeared on the lists. We then built this master distribution list from the names on that data base for the people we have been able to get email addresses for. So, if you are getting this email, you are a member of the MSOA by virtue of the fact you were on the old AFOA list or the manning memos/lists. No further action is required on your part. There are no registration forms required and we currently have no dues. Maybe sometime in the future when we sponsor activities such as scholorships, etc we may revisit the dues question. I have also been informed by our resident attorney that legally you are not “Members” but rather “Associates”. Unofficially we sometimes refer to you as members but you are really associates. Don’t ASK. If I mistakenly refer to you as members I just screwed up. I hope this helps an even though I grew up in Arkansas and went to OU I think I understand it.
2. Another thing I want to flag is that as you know this summer is a really big deal celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most historic events in human history. A lot of you folks made that happen and the interest from the media and others is ramping up rapidly. NASA PAO has contacted me and the requests for interviews with Apollo era people are pouring in. I have a meeting next week with PAO to work this but I think where we are headed is that if any of you are interested in being interviewed you should contact NASA JSC PAO. But not yet. Let me have the meeting and I will follow up with details next week. I will NOT pass out your contact information without your explicit permission.
That’s it for now.