Wow, three years sure flew by.  This time in 2009 the Mach 30 board of directors was still discussing whether or not we needed to meet on a monthly basis (we actually questioned whether there would be enough to discuss every month – hah!), and now we are experimenting with weekly hangouts in addition to monthly meetings.  It was just over a year ago that we submitted our IRS Form 1023 (the application to become a 501c3 public charity), and only last September we received our official designation as a public charity.  In three years, we have attended conferences of all shapes and sizes, sharing the ideas of open source spaceflight hardware over meals, during coffee breaks, on car rides, and in presentations.  And we can’t forget our continuing work to develop Open Design Engine, a website for developing and sharing open source hardware projects.

Clearly, we have a lot to celebrate.  If we could, we would invite everyone to our Birthday Party, after all every three year old should have a Birthday Party and ask for lots of presents.  But, there are some logistical issues with throwing a Birthday Party when your friends live all over the world, so we’ll have to settle with just asking for presents (hey, we’re turning three, it’s still perfectly fair to ask for presents).  😉

Mach 30’s Birthday Wish List

Open source a hardware project
If you are designing a piece of hardware–it doesn’t even have to be space related–help us celebrate our birthday by giving your work an open source licence. If you’d like to host it on OpenDesignEngine.net send us an e-mail and we’ll get you set up.

Add an entry to Openeering
Do you know any cool open source/free software or books for engineers?  Stop by the Openeering Wiki and add an entry about it.

Help out with the Mach 30 Drawing Board
Have an idea for a cool project to help Mach 30 with its mission?  Need an idea for a space related project (and not just engineering projects)?  Want to help refine an idea for a project.  Stop by the Mach 30 Drawing Board and post an idea or comment on an existing one.

Share links to our websites
Introduce us to your space loving friends on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.  We’d love to have new friends!

Wish us a Happy Birthday
Help us celebrate!   Post a photo on our Facebook page or Google+ of you and a birthday message for Mach 30.  Bonus points if you wear a party hat.

Make a donation
Want to give us an even better gift?  A donation to help cover our operating costs would be greatly appreciated.

Make a donation here.

ad astra per civitatem