Meeting: Tuesday, December 5

We discussed the NASA exhibit at the Springfield Museum of Art. If you have a chance, definitely check it out- it's a great exhibit with some neat things, and it runs through December 16th. We also discussed NASA's current proposal to begin a new series of moon missions, basically replicating the Apollo program of the sixties, and how this course of action compares to that proposed by Robert Zubrin and the Mars Society. For next semester, we will of course have more observing sessions and tours in Weaver, as well as another trip to Hocking Hills in March or April, when it's warmer. Another warm-weather project would be to visit Mercy St John's hospital with some telescopes and a group of students. It would involve visiting and talking about astronomy with patients who are extremely ill, many of whom are not mobile, and a visit by students would be really appreciated by them. The club is also considering a trip to Chicago or New York; comparative prices will be available when plans solidify. Any student who knows about an area of astronomy, or wants to study one more in-depth, and is willing to give a five to ten minute talk at one of the talks Dr. Fleisch gives to community groups is welcome to do so. Contact Dr. Fleisch for more details if this is something you might be interested in. The club is working to create a Friday night lecture series, which would be a scientific lecture accessible to non-scientists on a monthly basis. If you would like to help or have any ideas about ways to get people to attend or topics people would find interesting, email an astronomy club officer or Dr. Fleisch. Also, with the recovery of many of the documents detailing Weaver's history, the club needs to find some way to get this information out. The current plan is to gather a group of students, give each one just a few files, and then students will read and summarize their files, to get the information out into the world without overwhelming any one person. This will not happen at our first meeting in January, but will probably be scheduled then.