ASGSR / AIAA Congressional Visits Day 2013
You are invited to participate in the annual AIAA Congressional Visits Day.
* American Society for Gravitational and Space Research and the AIAA Life Sciences and Systems Technical Committee and Microgravity Processes Technical Committee members join with AIAA to visit Capital hill and discuss key issues with law makers and their staff. The key issues are developed and decided by AIAA, go to https://www.aiaa.org/KeyIssues2013/?terms=key%20issues to view the key issues. ASGSR members visit many congressional offices and deliver the overall message, but we also get an opportunity to drill down into our issues, with the topmost issue -> maintaining a sustainable space life and physical sciences federal research and technology program.
* The dates of the AIAA congressional Visits are March 19-20, 2013. Go to https://www.aiaa.org/CVD2013/ to register. The event is free. Students are welcome to participate. I have attached two documents explaining how to register as an AIAA national member, along with how to register for CVD. You must be an AIAA national member to register for CVD. As of this writing, we will have 13 students coming from across the U.S.
* In addition to congressional visits, we will also have a special student panel on capital hill, Tuesday, March 19 from 9:00 – 11:00am in the Rayburn building. “Students Bringing Space Research Down to Earth”. A student panel has been assembled by ASGSR and AIAA. Students will talk about their research and technology in space and how it translates to terrestrial applications. Stay tuned for the official announcement, but if you plan to come to CVD, please include in your travel planning your attendance at this event to support our students.
* We will have a kickoff telecon with Ms. Cindy Martin-Brennan, Executive Director of ASGSR, Tuesday, February 26th at 1:00pm EST to go over logistics and general information. ASGSR will also have a follow-on key issue telecon as the time gets closer to help you get up to speed on the drilled-down ASGSR issues.
Audio Call-in: 1-866-469-3239
Access code: 806 930 223
To start or join the online meeting
Go to https://consolidatedsafety.webex.com/consolidatedsafety/j.php?ED=197663972&UID=496284497&PW=NZjg2NmM4MzZh&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D
* Tune into one of the upcoming AIAA telecons. These teleconferences will focus on the AIAA Key Issues, and are intended to help you get up to speed on the issues, and to give you ideas to help you begin prepare effective advocacy for the issues. You only need to listen in on one of them.
Thursday, February 28: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 pm EST
Thursday, March 7: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 pm EST
Call in Number: 1-866-740-1260
Access Code: 2647558#
Web Access (To See Slides): http://www.readytalk.com
Calls will open ten minutes prior to the hour.
* Participants arrange their own travel. AIAA will reimburse you for up to $500 of travel. Once you register for CVD, please fill out the attached program participant form (MPP) and email to Duane Hyland at DuaneH@aiaa.org.
* I would highly recommend flying into to DCA airport, which is the Ronald Reagan Airport. It is convenient to get to Downtown DC. IAD (Dulles Airport) does not have a direct metro stop. For travel planning purposes, there is a kickoff meeting Tuesday afternoon March 19th. Wednesday, March 20th is the day we visit Capitol hill. There is also a late afternoon AIAA reception on March 20th (5:00 pm). If your schedule allows, I would recommend a Monday afternoon/early evening arrival (March 18th) and late afternoon/redeye flight Wednesday night (March 20th) after the AIAA reception.
* The Americana hotel in Arlington, VA is a short walk from the Metro stop has rooms in the $100 range. We have had our AIAA attendees stay there before and is clean/safe. Ones in the Washington central area are around $200-500. Most of your travel in D.C. will be on the metro or walking. The DC metro system is very convenient and has stops near by our planned visit sites. It is best to find a hotel within walking distance of a metro. Arlington Court House (orange metro line), Arlington Rossyln (orange metro line) and Arlington Crystal City (yellow metro line) are all convenient metro stops. Being near an “orange line” is the most convenient. These areas will be much cheaper than downtown DC and is only a few minutes on the metro to Downtown and Capitol Hill.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions. I can be contacted via email at cmbrennan@comcast.net
Cynthia Martin-Brennan
American Society for Gravitational and Space Research
Executive Director
(703)392-0272
http://www.asgsr.org
