[AANC Contacts] LCROSS featured, SJAA Meeting, The ISS-Mt. Tam & SFAA Meeting

[Kenneth Frank]

Hello All,

LCROSS is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. It left Earth June 18th atop 
an Atlas V rocket on a mission to crash into the Moon. On Oct. 9th, NASA plans to plunge 
LCROSS headfirst into a deep crater near the Moon's south pole. Researchers hope the 
debris it kicks up will reveal water and other minerals of use to future lunar explorers.
Meanwhile, LCROSS is circling the Earth-moon system in a long looping orbit, and NASA is 
inviting amateur astronomers to help track it.
Hear what Brian Day (one of the top speakers at the AANC/ASP Meeting September 12th and 
13th) has to say:
http://aancstars2009.org/signup.shtml

"The more eyes the better," says Brian Day of NASA's Ames Research Center. "We've got to 
crash this spacecraft into the bottom of a pitch-black crater a quarter of a million miles 
away with pinpoint accuracy. Amateur astronomers [can help us] precisely determine the 
position of LCROSS in flight."
See what amateur astronomer Paul Mortfield observed at:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/09jul_lcross1.htm?list1115242

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The SJAA General Meeting for July is this Saturday at 8 p.m. in the hall at Houge Park.
The featured speaker is local author Norm Sperling.  He's talk will be based on his new 
book,  "This Book Warps Space and Time".  This should be interesting and entertaining. 
Hope to see you all there!
Directions to Houge Park:  http://www.sjaa.net/directions.html#Houge_Park

Mark Wagner
VP SJAA

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Mt Tam Enthusiasts -

Have you been following the International Space Station?  Go out tomorrow (Friday 7/10) at 
9:14pm and look toward the West.  It will pass by at the incredible brightness of 
magnitude -2.6, reaching an altitude of 35 degrees.  Happy viewing!

Our next astronomy program on Mt Tam will be Saturday, July25 at 8:30pm.   Dr. Natalie 
Batalha from the  Department of Physics and Astronomy at San Jose State University will 
talk on "Kepler’s Hunt for Habitable Planets".   NASA's Kepler Mission has begun its 
3.5-year quest for habitable planets like Earth in our galaxy.  Dr. Batalha will describe 
how and where the spacecraft will look for planets we might call home and what to expect 
in the coming years as we work to understand whether Earth-like planets in our galaxy are 
common or rare. The talk takes place in the Mountain Theater and is followed (weather 
permitting) by telescope viewing in the Rock Springs parking lot courtesy of the San 
Francisco Amateur Astronomers. Thanks for supporting our programs.

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SFAA GENERAL MEETING & LECTURES ‐Wednesday, JULY 15
Third Wednesday of each month: 7:00 p.m. Doors open. 7:30 p.m. Announcements. 8:00 p.m. 
Speaker
Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way (Near 14th Street and Roosevelt)
Dr. Eugene Chiang, Associate Professor of Astronomy and Earth & Planetary Science, UC Berkeley
THE TENTH PLANET AND BEYOND
Dr. Chiang will describe the chain of scientific discoveries that have allowed us to 
address these questions for the first time, and conclude by examining the incredible 
prospect that we may have glimpsed first light from a newly formed extrasolar planet 
interacting with its own primitive Kuiper belt.

See you in the dark,

Ken