[AANC Contacts] LRO/LCROSS, AANC/ASP Meeting, RFO, GSSP, A few good amateurs & JD Retirement

[Kenneth Frank]

Hello everyone,

Some exciting news.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing 
Satellite (LCROSS) nestled on an Atlas V rocket are scheduled for lift off together on 
June 18 or 19, depending on conditions. LRO is in place for a one-year exploration mission 
at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, the closest any spacecraft has 
orbited the moon. Its primary objective is to conduct investigations to prepare for future 
explorations of the moon. LCROSS will search for water ice on the moon by sending the 
spent upper-stage Centaur
rocket to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows. LCROSS will fly into the 
plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the 
lunar surface.

If you'd like to know more about the mission and what you can do as an amateur to observe 
and record the mission, sign up for the AANC/ASP Meeting September 12-13:
https://ww2.eventrebels.com/er/Registration/RegistrationForm.jsp?ActivityID=3648&ItemID=13039&PromotionCode=AANC

Check out the speaker line up for the Meeting:
http://aancstars2009.org/speakers.shtml

Want to volunteer for this big event?
http://aancstars2009.org/volunteer.shtml

**************

RFO would like some scopes
Lynn Anderson <penumbra at sonic.net> of SCAS and RFO would like telescopes this Saturday, 
the 20th for the Public Viewing Night at the Robert Ferguson Observatory (RFO):
http://www.rfo.org/

Many of the "regulars" will be at GSSP; which brings me to remind all that:

The Golden State Star Party (GSSP) is taking place in lovely Adin, California this 
weekend. For more info or for last minute sign ups go to:
http://goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com/

********************


Children of Marin County Need Amateurs
Can you help?

Teachers at these school in Marin are in need of Amateurs to assist in Project ASTRO:

Bel Aire School, 277 Karen Way, Tiburon (3rd-5th grade inclusion teacher)

Dixie School, 1175 Idylberry Road, San Rafael (3rd grade teacher)

Rancho School, 1430 Johnson Street, Novato (2 teachers: 3rd and 5th)

San Geronimo Valley School, Lagunitas School Road, San Geronimo (2 teachers: 5th and 6-8th)

Please email Allyson Clark, Project ASTRO Coordinator at:
bayareaastro at astrosociety.org

More info:
http://www.astrosociety.org/baprojectastro.html

*****

Finally, John Dillon Retirement Party
When: Tuesday, June 30th 5:30 PM
Where: Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, SF 94114
Why: John Dillon, the Randall Museum’s longest serving staff member, is leaving the museum 
at the end of June after 40 years. John arrived in SF for “The Summer Of Love,” and began 
working at the Randall Museum in 1969. During his tenure, John was Science Curator, Acting 
Director of the Museum and SFAA President. When personal computers first became available, 
John began a computer literacy program. One of the highly publicized programs John ran was 
The Great Paper Airplane Derby, where one event broke a Guinness World Record. He also 
took high school students in a Volkswagen bus to Baja, Mexico and the Channel Islands to 
study marine biology. John was also instrumental in starting the San Francisco Middle 
School Science Fair, hosted annually at the museum for the last 27 years.
If you are going to help celebrate John's retirement, please let Traci <tmccollister at 
randallmuseum.org> know that your coming.


See you in the dark,

Ken