International Space Development Conference

The International Space Development Conference (ISDC) is the annual conference of the National Space Society. The conferences connect the general public and the NSS membership with leaders of contemporary space efforts.

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Typically held during the Memorial Day holiday weekends, previous ISDCs have rotated around the United States and Canada in the following major cities:

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Memorial Day - United States - Canada

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1982 - Los Angeles, California

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1982 - Los Angeles - California

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1983 - Houston, Texas

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1983 - Houston - Texas

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1984 - San Francisco, California

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1984 - San Francisco - California

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1985 - Washington, DC

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1985 - Washington, DC

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1986 - Seattle, Washington

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1986 - Seattle - Washington

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1987 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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1987 - Pittsburgh - Pennsylvania

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1988 - Denver, Colorado

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1988 - Denver - Colorado

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1989 - Chicago, Illinois

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1989 - Chicago - Illinois

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1990 - Anaheim, California

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1990 - Anaheim - California

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1991 - San Antonio, Texas

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1991 - San Antonio - Texas

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1992 - Washington, D.C.

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1992 - Washington, D.C.

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1993 - Huntsville, Alabama

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1993 - Huntsville - Alabama

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1994 - Toronto, Canada

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1994 - Toronto - Canada

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1995 - Cleveland, Ohio

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1995 - Cleveland - Ohio

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1996 - New York City, New York

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1996 - New York City - New York

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1997 - Orlando, Florida

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1997 - Orlando - Florida

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1998 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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1998 - Milwaukee - Wisconsin

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1999 - Houston, Texas

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1999 - Houston - Texas

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2000 - Tucson, Arizona

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2000 - Tucson - Arizona

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2001 - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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2001 - Albuquerque - New Mexico

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2002 - Denver, Colorado

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2002 - Denver - Colorado

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2003 - San Jose, California

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2003 - San Jose - California

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2004 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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2004 - Oklahoma City - Oklahoma

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The most recent ISDC was held in Washington, DC May 19-25, 2005 at the Sheraton National Hotel with the NSS Space Pioneers Awards banquet held at the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, hosted by NSS Board of Governors chairman and former ABC-TV "20/20" host Hugh Downs and the Honorable Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation.

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Washington, DC - National Air & Space Museum - Udvar-Hazy Center - Dulles Airport - Board of Governors - ABC-TV - 20/20 - Hugh Downs - Norman Mineta - Secretary of Transportation

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NSS members met and debated aerospace pioneers like Burt Rutan, Elon Musk, and Peter Diamandis, while hearing the latest on the explorations of Saturn, Mars and extrasolar planets. A few of the many highlights: Presenting sponsor Transformational Space brought a new twenty-foot mockup of its new space vehicle, the t/Space CXT.

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Aerospace - Burt Rutan - Elon Musk - Peter Diamandis - Saturn - Mars - Transformational Space

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The Spaceward Foundation erected a forty-foot model of its upcoming space elevator competition. IMAX director Mark Cowen wowed the crowd with the inside story of NSS Governor and Academy Award winning actor-producer Tom Hanks' latest IMAX film release, '. Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart announced a bold new plan to study the threat of Near Earth Object 2004MN4.

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The Spaceward Foundation - Space elevator - IMAX - Mark Cowen - Academy Award - Tom Hanks - Apollo 9 - Rusty Schweickart - Near Earth Object

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NASA's Centennial Challenges program announced a new prize competition for producing oxygen from Moon rocks. Virgin Galactic's Will Whitehorn shared the latest plans for their new personal spaceflight experience. Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites received the coveted Wernher Von Braun award from German rocket engineer and Project Apollo space pioneer Konrad Dannenberg, then shared his personal vision of the future.

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NASA - Centennial Challenges - Virgin Galactic - Burt Rutan - Scaled Composites - Wernher Von Braun - Rocket - Engineer - Project Apollo - Konrad Dannenberg

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The 2006 conference will be held in Los Angeles, California and will be the 25th annual conference -- and the first to be jointly co-sponsored with the Planetary Society.

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Los Angeles - Planetary Society

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For a listing of papers presented at the conference, access the ISDC archives at ISDC2005: Your Ticket to Space or ISDC Archives

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