From: Challenger
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:53 PM
To: Everyone
Subject: Embrace Space Day (Weekend)
Hi everyone,
This is Ben, your friendly neighborhood Manager of Space and Technology at McWane Science Center. I just wanted to let everyone in on what’s happening this weekend at McWane.
Tomorrow (Friday) is Embrace Space Day.
Saturday is Astronomy Day.
Sunday is a continuation of Embrace Space Day.
Embrace Space Day is our annual celebration of outer space and our understanding, exploration and study of it.
If you are not aware of how expansive and interesting outer space is, I assure you it is as interesting as it is large. And that is to say, infinitely.
We are fortunate to have some of Marshall Space Flight Center’s traveling exhibits here for the weekend. You may have already seen them, they are a 1/15th scale Space Shuttle and 1/50th scale models of the Ares Rockets (which will be replacing the space shuttle as America’s launch platforms next year.) They are also bringing a real rock from the Moon here tomorrow and Saturday. This is terrible exciting you must know. It’s estimated value is: Priceless.
On Astronomy Day on Saturday the Birmingham Astronomical Society, which I am now member of (nerd alert), will be here from 10am-2pm with their amazing telescopes and members. This includes George Atchley, Director of the Christenberry Planetarium at Samford University, who will be doing some presentations in our Stardome; James Moore, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Solar System Ambassador, who will be doing some new Science on a Sphere programs about Mars; and our very own docent Charlie Thompson who is bringing a HUGE truss Dobsonian telescope. The BAS is a great group of people who are EXTREMELY smart. You can learn a lot from them, so don’t be a stranger while their here.
We’ll be doing a lot of fun, custom programming this weekend and if you want to help out, feel free to do so. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to shoot balls out of an air cannon to see what kind of crater it makes in various sedimentary layers?
Ben Moon
Manager of Space and Technology
McWane Science Center
200 19th Street North
Birmingham, AL 35203
