Keith and Judy Holden lived in a little Texas town north of Austin. They raised their kids who then had their own kids and some of those even had more. The story goes that they were lovers of gaming including Dungeons and Dragons and Master of Orion which may seem odd for folks their ages, but it makes sense when you know some of their background. You see, they met while they were both working for NASA and Keith had done some good time with Lockheed Martin. He had a true passion for propulsion.

And he, they, were planners.

Late last year an accident took both of their lives. It was tragic. Out of the blue. Done and done. But the thing about being a planner is that it helps make the bigger picture go on relatively smoothly. Keith and Judy had left a set of instructions in their house for what should all be done on that faraway “someday.”

Why are we telling you this? Because they were real people like us and they deserve to be remembered.

Keith and Judy’s granddaughter had no idea who the Space Studies Institute was, she just loved them and wanted to do what they would have wanted. In their instructions, she told us, was a simple note to pack up all of their Space collection and get it to a place called SSI. She looked, she found, she called, we took care of it.

To Keith and Judy, and the whole Holden family, our sincerest thanks.

To all others: This addition of 11 very large containers now has to be gone through, organized and archived. It will take time and the safe storage will take money. SSI could really use your help.

The Space Studies Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions to SSI are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Please help.

Make your contribution today on the SSI donations page.

Quite honestly, a bigger than normal need has now grown at SSI. The Research Archive, including originals going back to Dr. O’Neill’s own has gotten beyond climate controlled storage locker size AND the amount of calls that we got for materials truly means that the complete collection should be more accessible. This is a need, it is time for the largest physical space 2.0 library in the United States to be opened to the public. That means real estate. And that means real money.

Senior Associates, expect to hear from us about this in the coming months – not just getting calls to give money, but to be involved in a good workable plan to make this happen. Thank you.