Carina Nebula

After nearly 30 years of service, the Space Shuttle will be retired.

The Tech is giving us a chance to say our goodbyes during Space Week: May 3 – 9, 2010

Explore displays, including two Space Shuttle tires. (hands-on activities) Now – May 9th

Meet NASA Scientists:
Monday – Friday
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Now Playing – IMAX
See “Hubble” and experience the wonder of the universe we live in.

“Hubble” – Trailer

“I first thought about becoming an astronaut in my 20s after seeing the IMAX movie ‘The Dream is Alive’.”
– Susan Helms NASA Astronaut

IMAX “Hubble” Calendar

Megan McArthur

Megan McArthur, a Silicon Valley native who graduated from St. Francis High School in Mountain View in 1989, will be making her first spaceflight She is one of seven astronauts picked to fly in an 11-day mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis (STS-125) Hubble Servicing Mission scheduled to launch Monday May 11 at 11:01 am.

McArthur’s parents currently live in San Jose, and she considers California her home state, although she was born in Hawaii. She has a doctorate in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego.

For the Hubble mission she will be responsible for the robotic arm operations during the capture and release of Hubble, as well as during the spacewalks and Atlantis’ heat shield inspections. She also will serve as the flight engineer, assisting on the flight deck during ascent and landing.

Atlantis’ 11-day mission will include five spacewalks to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments, expanding the telescope’s capabilities and extending its lifetime through at least 2014.

Refurbishing and restoring will include installing new Battery Module Units, new Rate Sensor Units, New Outer Blanket Layer material, an upgraded Fine Guidance Sensor, Advanced Camera for Surveys, Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, along with upgrading the Wide Field Camera and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Now you know.

Identifying the Spacewalkers:
John Grunsfeld – Solid red stripes
Drew Feustel – No markings (solid white suit)
Mike Massimino – Broken horizontal red stripes
Michael Good – Diagonal red stripes (barber pole)

Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 – STS-125
Launch: May 11 – 11:01 am PDT
Landing: May 22 – 8:41 am PDT

Follow the mission on NASA TV, Twitter, and other Social Networking Sites

Yep, Tuesday morning February 24 there will be a quadruple transit of Saturn’s moons.

Okay, what the heck does that mean? It means Titan, Mimas, Dione and Enceladus will pass directly in front of Saturn and you will see their silhouettes crossing Saturn’s cloud tops all at the same time.

This all begins Tuesday morning at 2:54 am PST with Titan. Titan, being as big as a barn, may be seen looking through a small telescope.

The smaller moons Mimas, Dione and Enceladus one by one will follow Titan. At 6:24 am PST, all four moons will be in front of Saturn.

To photograph the smaller moons, you will need a mid-sized telescope equipped with a good CCD camera.

Of course, this is all weather dependent and your willingness to be awake at those hours.

Also, keep an eye out for the green Comet Lulin. It should be observable in the dark skies with binoculars; best on Tuesday, February 24 just below Saturn.

The Cassini spacecraft has just entered its fifth year exploring the planet Saturn, its rings, and its large family of moons, including Titan.

This Wednesday astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on Saturn’s Restless Rings: Latest Results from the Cassini Mission.

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft launched on October 15, 1997 began its 7-year journey to Saturn arriving on July 1, 2004.

The Cassini-Huygens program is an international cooperative effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency, as well as several separate European academic and industrial contributors.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is the first to explore the Saturn system of rings and moons from orbit. The European Space Agency’s Huygens Probe landed on Titan in January 2005. Instruments on both spacecraft are providing scientists with vital data and the best views ever.

Cassini has been making numerous orbits of Saturn, flybys of Titan along with flybys of some of the other moons.

Saturn’s rings, believed to be made of pieces of shattered moons, comets and asteroids, are the most extensive and complex ring system in our solar system, extending hundreds of thousands of miles from the planet.

Dr. Mark Showalter, whose research focuses primarily on ring-moon systems, will share some of the pictures from Saturn and take a close-up look at the “lord of the rings.”

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Arrive early to locate parking.
Parking lots 1, 7 and 8 provide stair and no-stair access to the Smithwick theatre.

Smithwick Theater, Foothill College
12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills

Wednesday, November 12
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Admission: Free
Parking: $2.00

650-949-7888