JUNE 5, Monthly Meeting=NASA’S 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 13TH MISSION, AND CAROLYN PYEATT UP-DATE ON JAMES WEBB

ON THURSDAY, JUNE 5THTHE SAN JUAN STARGAZERS WILL CELEBRATE NASA’S 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 13th “MOST SUCCESSFUL FAILURE” MISSION WITH PAGOSA’S OWN TOM HANCHETT, — EVERYONE IS INVITED TO JOIN US TO CELEBRATE AND LEARN!

Our next meeting, on Thursday, June 5, will be at the regular time of 6 PM for the SOCIAL HOUR which will include a welcome celebration with cake and a gift for Andy & Elodie Green’s new baby. He is the littlest Stargazer and we welcome him with a heart full of love. We will meet at our regular location — the United Methodist Church at 434 Lewis Street. Please use the convenient parking lot and side door that leads into the kitchen and then Fellowship Hall. (We keep the front doors to the church sanctuary locked.)
At 7pm we will begin our Program with Carolyn Pyeatt giving a power-point presentation to up-date the latest findings of the James Webb Space Telescope. These discoveries are getting more and more exciting. Carolyn will soon be leaving Pagosa to be with her family during deployment with the question being “for how long?” We thank her for leaving our web-site with such a wonderful gift as her power-point presentation.
Then at 7:30 Tom Hanchett will present NASA’s 55th Anniversary of the Apollo 13 Mission which has been named NASA’ s “most successful failure.” Tom will tell us how it got that name and other interesting stories from that and other Apollo Mission’s.
Tom Hanchett worked at Houston’s Mission Control where he was the dedicated voice from the ground to the astronauts in space. And when the astronauts sent their famous message, “Houston, we’ve got a problem!” it was to Tom that they were speaking. Tom was truly in on everything and has an amazing perspective on our Space Program and details from so many of the Apollo Missions.
Tom also has a valuable attitude about the world of work. I think that he should speak personally to every Pagosa Student, so I am encouraging every Pagosa parent to bring their child to our meeting to meet him. Tom has words of wisdom and he is certainly one of the most fascinating men I have ever met. Each time Tom has spoken at our Stargazer Meetings I am so impressed and impacted by his personal attitude and out-look on life. I am going to have him write a special message on our San Juan Stargazer Web-site for the benefit of every visitor. June 5th should be a meeting you don’t want to miss.
Our Night Sky Programs begin at Chimney Rock National Monument on Friday, May 30, & Fridays, June 20 and 27 with later dates in the Summer. (See our Web-site.) People from Pagosa are always welcome to attend our programs without a reservation. Just let us know that you are a local and we will fit you in with a ticket purchased at our fabulous Gift Shop. We will try to have Telescope Viewing when it gets dark enough and if the weather permits without rain or more seriously, lightning. We must be aware that Colorado has one of the highest incidence of lightning strikes in our nation and telescopes usually have metal parts that add to the danger. The mountains near Chimney Rock are especially difficult because storms can start so quickly and blow over peaks. And then they can pass and be gone. We never cancel our programs because we can start out the night with pouring rain and end it with great viewing.
Our program will begin informally on the Plaza while we wait for others to arrive. We may later include talks about the James Webb Space Telescope’s latest discoveries, A Fascinating Lesson about the Life Cycle of a Star and an Unbelievable Survey of Galaxies. Some nights there may be a saga of how N. and S. America became inhabited given by one of the most famous anthropologists in the world, Dr. John Kappelman. Other nights we may take a walk to our Great Kiva and excavated Pit-house. We may take a Famous Tour of the Night Sky with Judith Jubb. There is so much to learn that every program will be brimming with learning.
Later, we hope to take part in the 4th of July “Standing-Still Parade” where we can share astronomy lessons with all of Pagosa. In the Middle of July, we will have a Guest Astronomer, Steve McAllister, who is in charge of the West Cliff Observatory and is an outstanding expert on telescopes to help us improve our individual telescope skills.
If you would like to join the San Juan Stargazers you will also receive, for now only the on-line version, Reflector Magazine which is the publication of the National Astronomical League of which you automatically become a member. To join both groups & get an excellent astronomy magazine, annual membership is only $25/ individual or family. You can join the club at any of our meetings or on our web-site. Check out our continuously changing website: sanjuanstargazers.org with new information & spectacular photos. We can be your connection to our extraordinary Universe!