March 2025 Business Meeting Summary

by Andy Thompson, MSDC Secretary

A dramatic photo beamed back from a camera on the Blue Ghost lander showing the spacecraft's shadow on the moon shortly after touchdown with Earth suspended in space above the lunar horizon. Photo credit: Firefly Aerospace. (More info at the bottom of this column.)

Report on the Business Meeting

MSDC president Dan Teich called the meeting to order, welcomed, and thanked everyone for coming. He gave the traditional tip-of-the-hat to the three former presidents who were attending and thanked them for their service to the club.

Dan especially welcomed first-time attendees Matt and Richard who shared a little of their background and interests in mineralogy. Both had recently attended the Delaware club show and were in the process of joining MSDC. Two additional attendees from Canada, Lisa and Pam, also introduced themselves as first-timer-attendees.

Dan called attention to the February Business Meeting Minutes as published in the March edition of the club’s newsletter and asked if any discussion needed. With no issues raised, Dan called for a motion to approve the minutes which he received along with a second to that motion and unanimous approval of the February business minutes.

Reports from Club Officers

Treasurer John Weidner reported that he paid the EFLMS annual dues and briefly explained what that was about.

Secretary Andy Thompson endorsed the EFMLS sponsored six-day Wildacres event starting on May 12 and directed those interested to go to the EFMLS website for more information.

Newsletter Editor Ken Rock said he had nothing to report, but commented on a geology in the news story about the private rocket company that successfully landed an “upright” Odysseus lander on the Moon and a payload for carrying out extensive experiments.

Vice President for Programs Kenny Reynolds alerted everyone to the mid-March Montgomery County Gem and Mineral show, and encouraged everyone to attend. He also showed the beloved “Glo Rocks” memorial shirt for Andy Muir which the GLMSMC club was making available at its March meeting.

For the MSDC April 2 meeting, geologist Dr. Leigh Broadhurst will be returning to give us a presentation on the rare earth minerals. Additional information on Leigh and her topic will be shared in the April newsletter.

Old and New Issues for Discussion

Dan asked if there were any outstanding issues needing discussion. Crickets. Any new issues? Attendees raised no new concerns. So Dan called for and received a motion, a second to the motion, and unanimous approval to close the business meeting and introduced the evening’s presenter.

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More Info on the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander

The Blue Ghost lander also delivered a farewell dispatch before switching into “monument mode,” a reference to the fact that the lander is expected to lie dormant on the moon’s surface for the foreseeable future.

“Mission mode change detected, now in Monument Mode; Goodnight friends,” the message from the spacecraft read, according to a post shared by Firefly on the social media platform X.

“I will hold vigil on this spot in Mare Crisium to watch humanity’s continued journey to the stars. Here, I will outlast your mightiest rivers, your tallest mountains, and perhaps even your species as we know it,” the note continued. “But it is remarkable that a species might be outlasted by its own ingenuity. Here lies Blue Ghost, a testament to the team who, with the loving support of their families and friends, built and operated this machine and its payloads.”