Hosted by:
Mid-states Regional Convention, Astronomical League
MSRAL 2010 was a great success and we would like to thank all of our speakers for their excellent presentations.
Speakers
Rob Landis
is a NASA engineer with an eclectic set of science and mission operations leadership and hand-on experience ranging from space-based observatories (Hubble Space Telescope, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer); deep space missions (Cassini-Huygens and the Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit and Opportunity); and manned spaceflight (International Space Station and shuttle). He has lived in Russia and Germany for extensive periods to support ISS mission operations.
Rob is currently assigned to the Lunar Surface Systems Project at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In that position, he and a small team worked with the Augustine Committee which reviewed U.S. human spaceflight plans and included near-Earth objects (NEOs) as high-profile destinations in the exploration options put forward to the White House. He has authored several articles on astronomy as well as history of science and technology. His most recent popular article appeared in the May 2009 issue of the Griffith Observer entitled, "NEOs Ho! The Asteroid Option."
Dr. Pete Schultz,
Science Coordinator for NASA-Ames Vertical Gun Range. Dr. Schultz was a founding member of the Prairie Astronomy Club. He
received his Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin in 1972.
After working as a research associate at the NASA Ames Research Center, and a Staff Scientist at The Lunar and Planetary Institute,
he became an Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at Brown University in 1984.
He was promoted to full Professor in 1994. In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities at Brown,
he has served as Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute Planetary Image Facility, and is currently the
Director for both the Northeast Planetary Data Center and the NASA/Rhode Island University Space Grant Consortium.
Rick Johnson is a founding member of the Prairie Astronomy Club and now lives in Minnesota.
He built his first scope, a 6" f/12 on a pipe mount, for the Mars opposition of 1954.
He took his first astro image shortly thereafter by holding a camera up to the eyepiece and getting a fuzzy image of the moon.
The title of Rick's presentation will be "Imaging at -40º" and will cover temperature-related issues and other things he has had to deal with that he has never mentioned in his popular "Observatory Update." emails.
Larry Stepp is a Lincoln native who was a member of the Prairie Astronomy club in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked on the 3.5-m primary mirror for the WIYN Telescope on Kitt Peak and was Optics Manager of the Gemini 8-m Telescopes project from 1991 to 2001. Subsequently, Larry managed the AURA New Initiatives Office that developed the design of the proposed Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope, one of the three precursor studies for the Thirty Meter Telescope project. He is now the Telescope Department Head for TMT, living in Pasadena, California.
The title of Larry's presentation will be, "A brief history of future giant telescopes". It will describe 30 years of plans and proposals for optical telescopes larger than 10 meters aperture that will finally, in this decade, result in several giant observatories of unprecedented power and precision.
Dave Churilla is a member of the Prairie Astronomy Club. The title of his presentation will be "Why Outreach."
Dave Knisely, also a member of PAC, will present a paper on "H-Alpha solar viewing."
Erik Hubl will present a paper on "Light Pollution."
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