Explore the Universe
Saturday, April 04
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Throughout the National Mall building
Admission: FreeLearn about the universe by participating in an array of family friendly hands-on activities, listen to the cosmic sounds of The Chromatics and talk to Museum staff and local experts about choosing, using, and caring for telescopes and other astronomical instruments.
Schedule of events and activities
10:05 and 11:30 AM
Two Pieces of Glass — a Planetarium Show for the International Year of Astronomy11:00 AM and 1:30 PM
Listen to the The Chromatics sing about the Universe11:00 AM and 1:30 PM
Go to a Story time (recommended for children ages 3 and older)
There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars written by Bob Crelin12:30 PM
Observe the stars of astronomy who will talk about their work and why they love astronomy
* Dr. Vera Rubin–proved Dark Matter exists
* Dr. Nancy Roman–made the Hubble Space Telescope happen
* Dr. George Carruthers–put the first telescope on the moon2:30 PM
Take a family tour about Women in AstronomyAll Day Activities
Build your own refracting telescope (free with timed-ticket available at the activity table)
Recommended for children ages 8 and olderMake a pocket solar clock
Recommended for children ages 5 and olderFind out about your sun sign and make a constellation
Recommended for children ages 3 and olderChat with amateur astronomers
Learn about star parties and the International Year of AstronomyLearn how to help save the night sky
Talk to members of the International Dark Sky Association** Schedule of events and activities is subject to change **
This event is made possible by the generous support of the Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Archive for the ‘Science’ Category
Family Day at National Air and Space Musuem
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009Lunar Education Posters
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Luanr and Planetary Institute Education and Public Outreach Home Page has three educational posters avalible about the Moon, Lunar science and resources for future Development. These posters are designed for 6th to 9th grade students, but can be down loaded by anyone.
Happy Ada Lovelace Day!
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Ada Byron Love Lace, born “Ada Byron, the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, was born in December of 1815, and one month later her mother in a bitter and celebrated separation, left the “mad and bad” Byron and took Ada with her.”- Source: www.sonoma.edu
Ada Lovelace was one of the world’s first computer programmers, and one of the first people to see computers as more than just a machine for doing sums. She wrote programmes for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine, despite the fact that it was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software.
Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Whatever she does, whether she is a sysadmin or a tech entrepreneur, a programmer or a designer, developing software or hardware, a tech journalist or a tech consultant, we want to celebrate her achievements.
Happy Ada Love Lace Day. To Celebrate I am taking three girls to the Baltimore Science Center. This is by chance rather than planning but it is very fitting.
In the field of Space Exploration there are many women to celebrate.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova – First woman in space
Sally Kristen Ride - First American woman in space.
Peggy Annette Whitson - First Female Space Station Commander
Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid - First American woman to make a long-duration space station mission.
Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, Judith Arlene Resnik who gave their lives on the Space Shuttle.
Or those who kept their feet on the ground like-
Donna Shirley - Managed Mars Exploration at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Jill Cornell Tarter - Director of the Center for SETI Research.
Who would you like to acknowlegde on Ada Lovelace Day?
U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington DC to Host Open House
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope, the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO have declared 2009 to be the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009). As part of a world-wide celebration of this event, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) will be sponsoring a free-admission Open House on Saturday, 4 April, from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. During that time the Observatory’s telescopes will be open for inspection, scientists will explain the mission of USNO’s Master Clock, exhibits will display the Observatory’s history and present work, and local amateur astronomers will share views through their telescopes.
The open house will coincide with world-wide activities promoted by the IYA, specifically the “100 Hours of Astronomy” activities taking place around the globe from April 2 through April 5. The main goal of this effort is to give as many people as possible the opportunity to look through a good-quality astronomical telescope. To this end, USNO’s open house should provide many opportunities for patrons to do so. In addition to safe observation of the Sun during the afternoon, the evening hours will feature a multitude of amateur telescopes that will be trained on the Moon, Saturn, plus a host of other interesting celestial sights.
Once on the grounds, visitors may tour the historic Building 1, home of the Observatory’s worldrenowned James M. Gilliss Library, and its 115 year-old 12-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope, which will be set up for safe viewing of the Sun, weather permitting. The 26-inch “Great Equatorial” telescope, famous for its discovery of the moons of Mars in 1877 and still in use on every clear night, will also be open for inspection.
Galileo Not The First To View And Map The Moon With Telescope
Sunday, March 15th, 2009‘English Galileo’ maps on display
Thomas Harriot was the first man to view the Moon through a telescope. Papers at the West Sussex Record Office show that Harriot drew images of the Moon several months earlier than Galileo.
Kepler - The Hunt Earth-Like Worlds
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009The Kepler Spacecraft will use the the laws of planetary motion discovered by the 17th century German scientist Johannes Kepler to find planets around distant stars.
Kepler Spacecraft Blasts Off to Hunt Earth-Like Worlds
Interview: David Koch - Kepler Deputy Principal Investigator
Global Warming Debate Heating Up
Monday, February 16th, 2009Harrison Schmitt doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming. “I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect,” said Schmitt.
Former astronaut speaks out on global warming
Imagine There’s No Global Warming
On the other side John P. Holdren, President Obama’s choice to advise him on matters of science policy says ”Climate change is real, it is accelerating, it is caused in substantial part by human activity, it is dangerous and it is getting more so,”
Climate Change by Frank Morring Jr. for Aviation Week.
This should get interesting. I propose we act as if we are causing it while we figure out if we are.
Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP)
Monday, February 9th, 2009Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP)
The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP), based at NASA Ames Research Center, has undertaken the task of translating the original analog data from 1,500 tapes taken from the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft into digital form. The Lunar Orbiter images were taken in the 1960s by cameras onboard five separate Lunar Orbiter spacecraft. They were captured on magnetic tapes and then transferred to film for analysis. Unfortunately, the full resolution of those images was not available because the technology didn’t exist to extract it all. Thankfully, the tapes were saved from destruction decades ago by Nancy Evans, co-creator of the Planetary Data System. Now the digitized LOIRP images, which are the highest-resolution taken of the lunar surface to date, can finally be analyzed.
LOIRP, the brainchild of Dennis Wingo and Keith Cowing, has faced many challenges, including resurrecting antiquated equipment and image processing techniques.
Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) Overview
Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) Progress Report 5 February 2009
The Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research
Monday, February 9th, 2009The Barringer Crater Company has established a special fund to support field work by eligible students interested in the study of impact cratering processes. The Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research will provide a small number (3 to 5) of competitive grants each year in the range of $2,500 to $5,000 USD for support of field research at known or suspected impact sites worldwide. Grant funds may be used to assist with travel and subsistence costs, as well as laboratory and computer analysis of research samples and findings. Masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral students enrolled in formal university programs are eligible. Applications to the Fund will be due by April 10, 2009, with notification of grant awards by June 8, 2009.
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite Impact Observation Teams Chosen
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in spring 2009. Th spacecraft will collide with the Moon in a permanently shadowed crater near one of the Moon’s poles in hopes of finding evidence of water ice.
Four teams haven been chosen to provide additional data and analysis about permanently shadowed craters to help researchers determine if water exists on the moon and in what form.
The selected proposals are:
– Accessing LCROSS Ejecta: Water Vapor and Particle Size and Composition from Keck, Gemini, and the IRFT Telescopes; principle investigator Eliot Young, Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo.
– LCROSS Lunar Plume Observations with the Apache Point Observatory; principle investigator Nancy Chanover, New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
– Multi-spectral Imaging of the LCROSS Impact; principle investigator Marc Buie, Southwest Research Institute.
– Searching for Polar Water Ice During the LCROSS Impact Using the MMT Observatory; principle investigator Faith Vilas, University of Arizona in Tucson.
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission http://www.nasa.gov/lcross
LCROSS Observation Campaign http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/observation.htm