Anniversary Contribution NVR 75 Years

This year is a special year for the Netherlands Space Society. The NVR is celebrating its 75th anniversary!

In December 1951, the NVR was founded by a group of people with a clear vision of the importance of spaceflight for the future of humanity. This makes the NVR one of the oldest space societies in the world.

The society wrote in the first issue of the magazine Ruimtevaart that, at that time, the door to spaceflight was still sealed by the relentless laws of nature. In that first issue, great attention was given to the construction of a space station. It is remarkable that the NVR members involved (in 1951, six years before the dawn of spaceflight with the launch of Sputnik) were already thinking so clearly about the future of space exploration. Here are some opinions from the first issue (December 1951):

• Exploration “With a space station as a support point, spacecrafts could be assembled for further expeditions, first and foremost to the Moon”
• Earth Observation / Security / Meteorology “From a space station at very high altitude, one would have an excellent overview of the Earth. The military interest in detecting unexpected concentrations of metals — revealing advancing armored units — and in monitoring the activity of enemy war industries is clear. Yet such a station could also locate icebergs and lost ships. One could even establish a perfect weather reporting service”
• Communication “It is known that television and short wave broadcasts do not reach much farther than the horizon. At 35,900 km above the Earth, a directed television antenna would always appear in the same place in our sky”
• Science “On Earth, astronomy is limited to visible light and ultra short waves. In space, it would be as if a fogged up window were suddenly removed from before the eye”

This first issue, and the roughly 300 issues that followed, reflect the NVR’s mission to promote interest in – and the study of – rocket engineering, spaceflight, and space exploration in all their aspects. The NVR strives to achieve this mission through publications, press outreach, company visits, lectures, and film presentations.

The quotations above come from our very first issue from 1951. It is truly remarkable how people were already thinking about the possibilities of spaceflight, and how much has happened in the past 75 years in the field of space exploration — not only worldwide, but certainly also in the Netherlands. The NVR is a Dutch society, and therefore we devote significant attention to the achievements of the Netherlands in space.

The successes are numerous: from ANS, IRAS, OMI, SCIAMACHY, TROPOMI, and ERA, to the many important contributions by the Dutch space industry to the development of the Ariane and VEGA launchers; to scientific instruments such as Herschel, Planck, ISO, and the James Webb Telescope; to the solar panels on countless ESA missions; and many other components of Earth observation and communication satellites.

Dutch companies are actively working on the latest technologies, such as laser communication, and on developing and producing products for the commercial market, including the Sparkwing solar panels.

SpaceNed, as the industry association for the Dutch space sector, has played an essential role in highlighting the importance of space activities to the government and in opening up export opportunities to other countries. SpaceNed’s role is also of great value in advancing the possibilities of space applications for defence.

On Dutch soil, we host ESTEC, the largest space centre in Europe. This, in turn, led to the establishment of Space Expo, with 130,000 visitors per year, the Space Business Incubation Centre (SBIC), and the further development of the NL Space Campus. The recently renamed Netherlands Space Agency (NLSA) is closely involved in all these developments and initiatives, and plays a crucial coordinating role towards various ministries as well as ESA and the EU.

The NVR keeps its members informed about all these developments. At the founding of the NVR, then secretary J.H. Houtman wrote that, as a member of the NVR..

“can be a spectator of this most breathtaking adventure of humanity”

The NVR board fully endorses the above to this day and continues to serve as the home base for space enthusiasts and professionals.

Within the board, we are preparing a strategic plan built around five main themes:

• establishing a youth division (ages 6–12 and 12–17)
• further developing our relationships with the media
• creating webinars with guest speakers on recent developments
• expanding company visits and multi day excursions abroad
• strengthening cooperation with other international space associations

Members will soon be informed about our plans during the General Assembly, where a new board will also be elected. As the outgoing chair, I am particularly pleased that – pending approval by our members – a new chair will be appointed, and that Philippe Schoonejans will be confirmed for another three year term.

Our society operates with a very modest budget and does not have the financial reserves needed to carry out the plans outlined above.

The NVR would therefore like to ask their members for a one time financial contribution, enabling the board to carry out these plans. We hope we may count on your support so that our members…

“can continue to be spectators of this most breathtaking adventure of humanity”

As an indication, we have listed below a few example amounts that can be donated, for both student members and regular members.

Of course, you are free to contribute any other amount as well. We are deeply grateful for all donations! As a valued member, we hope you will help us bring these plans to life.

For donations of €75 or more, you will receive a special ‘NVR 75 Years’ flight patch as a gift.

You can transfer your contribution to TRIODOS BANK, account number NL40TRIO0338541152, stating “One time contribution NVR 75 years”, and optionally include your membership number.

Together, we keep Dutch spaceflight visible, inspiring, and accessible. Thank you for your commitment to 75 years of NVR!

Kind regards,
On behalf of the NVR Board

Pieter van Beekhuizen
Chair NVR

Cc:
Philippe Schoonejans (Chair candidate, NVR)
Coen Martinus (Treasurer, NVR)
Peter Buist (Vice-Chair, NVR)
Dimitra Stefoudi (Secretary, NVR)
NVR Secretariat