ISDC 2011 - The National Space Society's International Space Development Conference 2011 - ISDC 2011

The National Space Society's International Space Development Conference (ISDC) is only place where astronauts, scientists, entrepreneurs, government officials, activists and citizens of this planet who look forward to the opening of the "final frontier" gather each year to discover the future of space exploration. The 30th ISDC (ISDC 20110 will take place in Huntsville Alabama's Von Braun Center and at our host / conference hotel Embassy Suite Hotel and Spa.

Huntsville is the birth place of U.S. Space Program. Once known only as the "Watercress Capital of the World," since 1957, Huntsville has been known as "Rocket City" thanks to the presence of Redstone Arsenal and Dr. Wernhr von Braun's team of scientists developed America's ballistic missiles, which were eventually transformed to launch America's first satellite, first man into space, first man in orbit, first men on the Moon, and first reusable Space Shuttle. The Huntsville area has the third-highest concentration of Ph.D.s in the nation.

Home to the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center since 1960, Huntsville is the base of operations for the NASA Space Shuttle's propulsion systems, the scientific experiments of the International Space Station, and the Constellation Program's new Ares launch vehicles. The city is the location of Redstone Arsenal, where the United States' Missile Defense Agency and Marshall Space Flight Center are situated. Huntsville is also home to several universities and colleges, telecommunications and biotechnology companies, including the Hudson-Alpha Institute, as well as Cummings Research Park, the nation's third-largest and one of the world's leading science and technology business parks.

The conference will be hosted by the National Space Society (NSS) and The Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5), Huntsville chapter of the NSS. This is the second time HAL5 has hosted an ISDC. The last time being 1993, which was a resounding success. The conference will focus on Huntsville and Northern Alabama's high concentration of experts in multiple fields of space, including human space exploration, space science, and new technologies, as well as "new space" entrepreneurs, Earth-based space applications, and biotechnology. The conference will also provide a venue for showcasing various space related activities from around the country and around the world.