Mount Diablo Astronomical Society Diablo MoonWatch · "classic layout" mission control rooms are located to monitor and ... appears one of the most hair rais-ing planetary landing

Nucleosynthesis:Nucleosynthesis (“NS”) –

fancy word for making heavieratoms from lighter (i.e. alchemy)Stellar Nucleosynthesis is theprocess in which stars churn outdifferent atoms.The word is madeup from Nucleo – as in nucleusand synthesis as in producing.Theatom – for those of you whomight need a reminder:

Left image shows 4 atoms H(hydrogen), He (helium), Li (lithi-um), and Na (sodium)

Note that the center has anucleus of neutrons (neutral parti-cles shown in blue) and protons

(positive particles shown in red)surrounded by electrons (negativecharge shown in yellow).

The number of protons (andelectrons) determines the atomand the number of neutronsdetermines the isotope of theatom. In the example above H1has 1 proton and no neutrons(and 1 electron); and He4 has 2protons, 2 neutrons (and two elec-trons).

If we had H2 or H3 –deuteri-um or tritium, we have justincreased the number of neutronsto make different isotopes ofhydrogen.

December 2011

Doors open at 6:45 p.m.Concord Police Association Facility

5060 Avila Road, Concord

GENERAL MEETING

Mount Diablo Astronomical SocietyDiablo MoonWatch

Mount Diablo Astronomical SocietyDiablo MoonWatch

MDAS at the MoviesTuesday December 20, 2011

By Chris Ford

Stellar Alchemyby Steve Jacobs

(Continued on page 8)

Come and vote in the end-of-year elections, the annual State of the Society review.

Here is the slate of candidates for the Board ofDirectors (all currently unopposed, all incumbents):

1

President: Chris FordVice President: Rick LindenSecretary: Moon TraskTreasurer: Wil RobergeMembership Coordinator, Mtg Room:

Marni BerendsenMeeting Program Chair: Dick Flasck Outreach Coordinator, AANC Rep:

Jim Head

Publicity Board Member: Steve JacobsObserving Committee Chair, Board

Member: Richard Ozer Whats Up Coordinator, Board

Member: Kent RichardsonNewsletter Editor: VianneyWebmaster: Glenn SpiegelmanNew Member Steward: Nick Tsakoyias

December is MDAS at the Moviesmonth chosen by popular vote onthe evening. This years selectionis one of:IMAX documentaries:• Space Station (47 minutes)• Roving Mars (40 minutes)Classic 1950's movies:• Forbidden Planet (89 minutes)• When Worlds Collide

(82 minutes)Archival NASA footage:• Exploding rockets (Part 2)• In the Shadow of the Moon

(100 minutes)

This Thanksgiving hol-iday I was very fortu-nate to receive aninvitation to attendthe liftoff of the MarsScience Laboratoryrover "Curiosity" fromCape Canaveral.

Never having wit-nessed a live rocketlaunch before, theinvitation presented arare opportunity to bepresent at the com-mencement of a major

science mission and to also visitparts of the cape that are rarelyaccessible to the public. It waswith little hesitation that onFriday November 25th 2011, mytwo sons and I flew to Florida andjoined our party for a two daytour of the facilities associatedwith the Curiosity mission fol-lowed by the launch itself onSaturday 26th.

Our day started early onFriday November 25th with a visitto building AE for the launch teambriefing.This building is where"classic layout" mission controlrooms are located to monitor andcontrol the launch.As we were ona tight travel schedule, I had beenregularly checking on the statusof the launch vehicle onlinethroughout the week, as any delaywould mean us missing the liftoffif it was postponed a day or more.While sitting in the launch opera-tions briefing room, I uncon-sciously took out my iPhone tocheck for updates on the launch,and suddenly realized the absurdi-

ty of sitting at a desk with theactual vehicle and mission data infront of my eyes at the very placefrom which it will be launched!

Before visiting Curiosity at theactual launch pad, we stopped offto visit the historic VehicleAssembly Building where theSaturn V and Space Shuttles wereprepared for launch before rolloutto the pad.This is one of thoseplaces where pictures cannot con-vey the stupendous size of theplace, one of the largest enclosedvolumes in the world.The SpaceShuttle Endeavour was in resi-dence in one of the side bays, asight I found somewhat bitter-sweet seeing this supreme exam-ple of technical achievement, nowin a state of deactivation and des-tined for a museum. In general the

huge building felt somewhat"empty" as it marks time beforethe proposed Space LaunchSystem (SLS) is prepared for itsfirst flight in 2017.The historicresonance of the building, cov-ered in banners wishing successto various past missions, was over-powering however.

Next to the launch itself, thehighlight of the visit was undoubt-edly a visit to Space LaunchComplex 41 to get up close andpersonal with the Atlas V launchvehicle with the Mars RoverCuriosity already encapsulatedunder its payload shroud andready for launch.A few hoursbefore our visit, the booster hadbeen rolled out of the nearbyVertical Integration Building (VIB)on a mobile platform in a similarmanner to the Space Shuttle padrollout procedure.After passingthrough several security barrierswe managed to approach within afew hundred feet of the Atlas, thatthough not yet fueled withkerosene, liquid oxygen and liquidhydrogen, definitely was surround-ed with live solid propellantmotors and armed with variouspyrotechnic and self destructdevices! It was actually fairly quiet

Mount Diablo Astronomical Society Diablo MoonWatchMount Diablo Astronomical Society Diablo MoonWatch

PRES

IDEN

T’SCORNER The Launch of Curiosity

by Chris Ford

2

December 2011

Launch Operations Briefing

Looking up in the vast central aisle of the VAB

Space Shuttle Endeavour in a VAB side bay being deactivatedfor the museum

around the base of the launchvehicle itself, as all the essentialwork is performed indoors in theVIB, after which vehicle opera-tions are automated in the final 24hours after rollout to the launchpad. Launch was scheduled forSaturday morning with the 1.5hour window to Mars opening upat 10.02 am.As it turned out,Curiosity is a very punctual Marsrover.

After leav-ing theLaunchComplex 41,we returnedvia the coastalroad thatleads rightpast the his-toric launchpad 39A fromwhich Apollo

11 departed for the Moon. Likethe VAB, when you are close tothe actual launchpad itself, pic-tures do not convey how vast ittruly is. Sadly there were alreadysigns of rust and decay on theservice structure (which will soonbe demolished) and tufts of grassin the concrete here and there.We drove back along the crawlerway along the road that the astro-

nauts travelled to the pad, endingwhat was a remarkable first dayvisit.

On Saturday we were pickedup early by NASA bus and takento the viewing location for thelaunch on the 5th floor of theNASA Administrators building(OSB II) next door to the VAB.Theview from the balcony was amaz-ing, the famous Saturn and Shuttlelaunch complex's 39A and 39Bwere only just over 3 miles awayand launch complex 41 where theAtlas V stood ready for launchabout 4 miles away. Before oureyes extended the whole panora-ma of the Kennedy Space Centerwith the famous countdown clockright in front of us.

We were served an astronautworthy NASA breakfast, thenattended a comprehensive brief-ing from the NASA AdministratorCharles Bolden himself and the

principal mission scientists. It wasa pretty select and eclectic groupincluding families with specialguests, 5 years olds and teenagers,foreign dignitaries, engineers,politicians, ex and current astro-nauts, all coming together in oneroom just for this occasion.Thiswas the VIP launch viewing partyand I was pretty fortunate to bethere.

After the briefing, everyonewalked out to the 5th floor bal-cony to view the launch itself at10.02 am as the countdown con-tinued to proceed without ahitch.We had been forewarnedthat the view of the liftoff from 4miles away would not be as goodas television, but that the experi-ence, especially the sound, wouldbe spectacular.We were alsoadvised by launch veterans thatthe experience would be as muchabout the excitement shared witheveryone else, especially the oddtime-dilation effect as the appar-ent passage of time changesspeeds several times, movingslowly for the first hours, thenspeeding up until the terminalcount, followed by 4 incrediblyslow minutes leading up to igni-tion, then the fastest 90 secondsthat we would ever experience.


The Launch of Curiosity (Continued from the previous page )

3

December 2011

Close enough? The payloadshroud encapsulating Curiosity

The Atlas V ready for launch. Note the high speed cameras inthe foreground The now obsolete service structure on launch pad 39A that

will be demolished soon

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden briefing us on the morn-ing of the launch


The Launch of Curiosity (Continued from the previous page )

December 2011

Well that is exactly what theexperience was like... with theexception that it was a lot betterthan television! As liftoffapproached, the atmosphere sud-denly became electric as every-one on the balcony counteddown the last 10 seconds aloudand cheered and waved as therocket rose off the launchpad, lit-erally willing it heavenwards.Thebrightness and deep orange colorof the Atlas V's exhaust flame can-not be captured in pictures andfor the first 8 seconds or so itrose in complete silence as thesound travelled the 3-4 milestowards us.Then the sound sud-denly hit as a deep penetratingroar that grew louder and louderthen slowly faded in intensity asthe Atlas V arched over into thesky on its way to Mars.After welost sight of the Atlas among thehigher clouds, we moved backindoors to the auditorium whereon-board cameras mounted on thelaunch vehicle followed itthrough the 11 minutes of pow-ered ascent.After short refresh-ments, it was a little unreal to con-sider that the rocket that we hadjust been looking at 4 miles awaywas now passing over Africa.Afterfurther refreshments, Curiositywas approaching Australia where

the Centaur upper stage ignitedagain to power Curiosity into anescape trajectory towards Mars - itwas fast!

The launch was precisely ontime at 10.02 am and perfect inevery way.We now have an 8.5month wait until Curiosity arrivesat Mars for the Entry, Descent, andLanding (EDL) phase in whatappears one of the most hair rais-

ing planetary landing techniquesever.All being well this is whenthe real excitement starts.Theonly downside was that we couldnot go with it!

Having now experienced amajor space mission launch liveand from as close as it is possibleto be, I am impressed that pic-tures and video do not capturethe sheer drama and majesty ofthe event. If you ever have theopportunity to see a majorlaunch, seize it.

Happy holidays to all MDAS members!

Chris Ford

4

The most amazing location from which to see a major launch.

On our way to Mars! The sound started arriving about now

Liftoff!

Mount Diablo Astronomical Society Diablo MoonWatchMount Diablo Astronomical Society Diablo MoonWatchDecember 2011

Greetings. Or, maybe hello. I amnot quite sure how best toaddress your planet.

I do not want to sound likethe stereotypical “alien” from yourtelevision or movie. In actuality,we do not speak amongst our-selves like the caricatured aliensof some kind ofscience fictionnarrative. In ourlanguage, wespeak simply. Oursentences are notlong.They tend tobe terse, withclicks and whis-tles. Our languageevolved to be tothe point.However, we dopossess strongmusical and poet-ic skills that allowus to communi-cate in complexsentences when we are convey-ing deep feelings. It is with deepfeelings that I send you this mes-sage, if indeed you are capable ofreceiving it.

Understand that we do not knowif you are going to be able toreceive this message because ofthe distances involved.

We are 2.55 million light yearsfrom you. Here is where thingsget complicated.We are 2.55 mil-lion years in to the future fromDecember of 2011.We decided torespond to a series of radio broad-casts from you with a light beampulse of our own beamed back toyou.We have been studying your

language for a long time, but wehave finally decided to respond. Itwill take 2.55 million years for themessage to come to you. Now,what is interesting is the wholeconcept of time involved here.Your Albert Einstein called time a“persistent illusion.”The wholeconcept of “now” became relative

when Relativity became known toyour planet. For a light beam, timeas you and I understand it neverpasses, since the speed of lightbends space and time to such anextent that no time passes at thatspeed.The light beam never expe-riences the passage of time as ittravels through space.

From the standpoint of light, the2.55 million years is experiencedas a single instant.

The “now” moment is definedby the passage of light so in a waywe are experiencing the same“now” that you are. Indeed, evenslight variations in motion candefine the passage of time in dif-

ferent ways. Once we return thismessage, you will be 2.55 millionyears in the future but the trans-fer of information will be com-plete such that whoever receivesthis on your planet will experi-ence December 2011 as a rele-vant time. No bones about it----thiswill happen 5.1 million years

from your time becausethe speed of light is con-stant. But, the light beamitself will experience nopassage of time and insome sense will bear solidwitness to your time andplace to your descendentsin the far future. How iron-ic, in that you will bereminded of your past by alight beam that never expe-rienced any time from itsown standpoint.

Whether you still exist,or whether you are extinctby then, is not known to

us. Really, it is up to you. By thenyou will have made your deci-sions, gone in the directions ofyour choice.As it is, your specieshas polluted its environment. Ithas gotten enmeshed in wars. Ithas called dictatorships “people’sdemocracies” and wars of destruc-tion “spreading freedom.” Most ofyour political discourse is at thelowest intellectual level as evi-denced by your recentPresidential debates.The power ofwealth and influence has over-come what little democracy youhave left. Finally, you are stilldependent on fossil fuels that areliterally killing your planet.Youare even denying that you arekilling your own planet.

A Message from Andromedaby Nathaniel Bates

5


A Message from Andromeda (Continued from the previous page )

December 2011

6

You say you are the mostadvanced species on your planetbut understand that the bacterianever destroyed their environ-ment.At least they did not do soconsciously, continuing to destroywhile possessing the ability tostop themselves.The humanspecies may or may not be themost intelligent.Your dolphins arepretty high upthere. But, weconcede thatyou are greattool makers.You are betterthan we are attool making.We did nothave what ittook to bespace faringdue to our less-er tool makingabilities, as wellas our inabilityto communicate in complex sen-tences unless we are conveyingdeep emotions, while it appearsthat you do possess these abilitiesthat have helped you to becomespace fearing (again, you arereceiving this light beam 2.55 mil-lion years in the future so wespeak of ourselves in the pasttense).We admire your courage inexploring your Solar System. Didyou make it to the stars? We hopeso, as much for the sake of yourpoor burdened planet as anythingelse. Indeed, we admire yourspecies’ tenacity in exploringspace, your individuality, and yourcreativity. It is for this reason thatwe have merited you worthy of aresponse. Please hear us with theemotion that allows us to commu-

nicate in complex sentences.

As of December 2011, a numberof your major religions celebratedthe winter season as a time oflight in the midst of darkness.

The winter season denoted atime of renewal and hope forhumans of that time, and we can

only hope it still does so let usspeak about it in the presenttense. Indeed, many of you seethis season as a time of compas-sion.While your culture’s expres-sion of these holidays has oftendegenerated in to materialism andconsumerism, we respect theideals of compassion that marks“the holiday spirit.”There is some-thing that humans need to know.Light is the cosmic speed limit.The light cone that Einstein dis-covered defines time.There is nogetting around that fact, no waythat you are going to escape it.However, love is the one forcethat our own philosophies consid-er might be able to transcend thatlimit. If there is a “now” definedby love, it is one that can take

under its wings all living crea-tures, everywhere in the Universe.This “now” is seen by our philoso-phers are transcending time andspace, of including every momentwithin itself.We do not expectyou to understand this, becauseour spiritual philosophies aresomewhat different than yours.What we would instead share is aquote from your own AlbertEinstein that roughly encapsulatesour beliefs:

“A human being is a part of awhole, called by us 'universe', apart limited in time and space. Heexperiences himself, his thoughtsand feelings as something separat-ed from the rest... a kind of opti-cal delusion of his consciousness.This delusion is a kind of prisonfor us, restricting us to our per-sonal desires and to affection for afew persons nearest to us. Ourtask must be to free ourselvesfrom this prison by widening ourcircle of compassion to embraceall living creatures and the wholeof nature in its beauty.”

We are disappointed that youhave not widened your circle ofcompassion, but we are disap-pointed because we know thatyou are capable of it. In thatrespect, our species are very simi-lar and in this way we have hopebut, our friends, you must decide!

We are in your future.Whether you have broadenedyour circle of compassiondepends on a lot of factors. Didyou practice the virtues yourspecies preaches about doing theright thing? Did you reach outbeyond yourselves to embraceother humans, other animals? Did


A Message from Andromeda (Continued from the previous page )

December 2011

7

you decide to stand with thosewho decided to stand for thehighest virtues of your society?We wish we knew the answers tothese questions, but they are notup to us.The stars and galaxieswill not solve your problems.Youwill.At least we hope you do.Yourspecies is a great light.You havedone much toadvance sci-ence, the artsand philoso-phy.Whetherthat light sur-vives dependson you. Onething is forsure.Yourspecies risesand fallstogether.Thatis the hiddenmeaning of realdemocracy, andwhy it is thatyou desperately do need to “occu-py” your country once again.

We are glad for those of youwho appreciate your planet, andthe vast Universe in which youlive.We are glad for this because amature species can feel its smallplace in the Universe withoutfeeling that it is a diminishedplace.As you look up at the win-ter sky, the Andromeda Galaxy notbeing as prominent as duringyour summer months but stillbeing somewhere in your memo-ry, you will not see us because wedo not yet exist.That is the limita-tion of time, defined by the speedof light.That we cannot change.What can be changed is your ownperspective on your own planet,and one another. Of course, not

existing yet we have no influenceon you because your time isalready passed. Somehow, someway, we believe that you mayhave made the right choices bynow. It is that hope that motivatesus to speak to you now.We hopethat by millions of years in thefuture we will be heard by some-

one. Since we can only conveyholiday greetings in our own reli-gions and from the standpoints ofour own cultures, we pray thatthe Cosmic Now defined by loveembraces all of you.We now endthis transmission and hope it isreceived by your descendents.

Not all isotopes of atoms arestable; some will radioactivelydecay into other atoms plus otherparticles usually alpha particles(ionized He atom i.e. no elec-trons) and free neutrons.

We will ignore electrons forthe remainder of this article,because at the temperatures ofstar cores the atoms are ionized(stripped of electrons).Where didthe electrons go – they are therejust not attached to the atoms.

Elements:

The periodic table above is alisting of all of the atoms.Thereare 90 or 91 naturally occurringelements (and about 23 manmadeelements).

This is the all the elementsthere are – everything is made ofthese atoms in some combination.Elements are ordered from left toright and top to bottom by theiratomic number (the number ofprotons in their nucleus).Elements on left are metals, ele-ments on right are non-metals andon the far right column are nobleelements (which are non-reactive).

Types of Nucleosynthesis:• Big bang –

created hydro-gen (75% bymass), helium(25%) and traceof lithium andberyllium (thenext two light-est atoms).During the first3-20 minutes.

• Stars creat-ed most of the rest – through

Stellar orExplosive NS.

• CosmicRay Spallation –where highenergy ionsoccasionallyimpact largeratoms andbreak them upinto smalleratoms (sourceof most of theLi, Be and B)

• Real manmade alchemy made the 23 syn-thetic elements (in particle labora-tories).

Stellar Nucleosynthesis :

Divided into small stars (<8solar masses (“SM”)) and largestars. SM is the mass of our sunand is a handy unit of measure(cosmic ounce).

Small Star Nucleosynthesis:Small stars “burn” hydrogen to

helium, helium to carbon and oxy-gen.

Burning – is the fusing ofnuclei which creates new ele-ments (as the number of protonschanges) and in process releaseshuge amounts of energy (theresultant atom is lighter than theatoms we start with and usingEinstein’s famous equationE=MC2 we get energy).This is asimilar process to that whichoccurs in an H-Bomb. Fusing isdone in the core of stars attremendous pressure and temper-atures (excess of 4 x 106 K, 4 mil-lion deg).

There are two primary routesfor stars to burn hydrogen – pro-ton to proton or P2P (whichaccounts for the majority of ourSun’s energy) applicable for starsless than 1.3Solar Mass (the massof our sun SM).


8

Stellar Alchemy (Continued from page 1 )


Stellar Alchemy (Continued from the previous page )

December 2011

9

P+P=H2+e+ H2 +P= He3He3+ He3=He4+2H or He to Beto Li to 2 He e+ is positron.

The second route for starsgreater than 1.3SM is CarbonNitrogen Oxygen cycle. CNOcycle is where Hydrogen nucleiare bonded to Carbon creatingvarious isotopes of Carbon,Nitrogen and Oxygen.This resultsin Carbon with helium as an endproduct.There are several steps inthis process; with each step pro-ducing energy. CNO remains a cat-alyst in the process and is generalnot used up. However some of C,N, & O are dispersed because ofstellar convection.

The next step is when a starstarts to burn helium – 3 He to C.This process is known as thetriple alpha process (He ion akaalpha particle) He + He= Be +He= C. Some oxygen is also pro-duced C + He = O.

At the end of the life of thestar it may blow off stellar materi-al and end up with a planetarynebula and white dwarf (such asM57, the Ring Nebula).Thus seed-ing the universe with heavier ele-ments (up to C).

Big Star Nucleosynthesis:Big stars (> 8 SM) continue

and burn carbon creating heavieratoms until iron.

As in smaller stars; big starsproceed through the CNO cycleand Triple Alpha cycle.Then thestar begins burning heavier ele-ments by adding one or more Henucleolus.This occurs at highertemperatures and pressures thancan occur insmall stars(5x108 K, 500mil deg).Carbon, Neon,Oxygen andSilicon burning:

• Carbon toNeon,Sodium,Magnesium,and Oxygen

• Neon to Oxygen andMagnesium

• Oxygen to Silicon, Phosphorous,and Sulfur

• Silicon to Sulfur,Argon, Calcium,Titanium, Chromium, and Iron

Simultaneously the S (slow)Process makes heavier elements

from free neu-trons.Thisprocess is veryslow and pro-duces smallquantities ofelements up toLead. In theslow processneutrons areadded to atomsnucleus result-ing in an unsta-

ble isotope which decays into adifferent atom; producing heavieratoms up to Lead.

Fusing (burning) elementspast iron uses energy and if all theother lighter elements have beenused up then the star collapsesdue to lack of sufficient energyproduction to keep gravity at bay.

This sudden collapse is asupernova

Explosive Nucleosynthesis:The core collapse creates

atoms heavier than iron (such aslead, silver, gold up to uranium).

Explosive Oxygen & Siliconburning – produces atoms up toIron, Cobalt and Nickel.

The R (rapid) process, whichtakes place in matter of seconds,occurs because the high concen-tration of neutrons in the corecreates many heavy unstable iso-topes which quickly decay intostable atoms.

There are other processeswhich have been proposed (Rp –rapid proton process) but are notas accepted.

The explosion not only cre-ates heavier elements in a matterof seconds but also disperses bothlighter and heavier elements into

the universe.The results of thesuper nova is either a neutron staror a black hole such as CrabNebula.

Abundance of Elements:

Relative abundance of ele-ments in Universe are shown inthis chart :

The Atomic number (ele-ments) are along the x (horizontalaxis) and the abundance is locat-ed on the y (vertical axis; notethat it is logarithmic (i.e. 3 is tentimes as much as 2)).There is ageneral trend of fewer heavier ele-ments than lighter elements.Alsonote that even atomic numberelements are more abundant thanodd (because many elements arebuilt from He (atomic #2).Lithium Beryllium, and Boron arerelatively rare (since they are real-ly the result of gamma ray spalla-tion of heavier elements).

Take a new look at the Periodic Table:

Colors point to the origin ofthe elements:

• Orange – Big Bang

• Red & Yellow Stellar NS

! Red- small stars,

! Yellow – large stars

• Blue – Explosive NS

• White – man made

Conclusion:Carl Sagan, Cornell professor

of astronomy and champion ofpopular TV Science, was fond ofsaying “We are all made of StarStuff.” What he meant was mostof the material, atoms heavierthan H & He, in our daily exis-tence is distributed from super-novae or from the formation of awhite dwarf


Stellar Alchemy (Continued from the previous page )

December 2011

10


11

December 2011

Mount Diablo Astronomical Society Event Calendar—December 2011

I have just purchased a new imaging telescope and mount, and will be selling my current Telescope, mount, and some accessories.Includes:• Meade LX 200 – 8” F10 Telescope and mount; • Meade 1207 Electric Focuser; • Meade balancing weight set; • JMI hard carrying case for the LX200; • Heavy-duty Milburn Wedge;

$1500 OBO • Glenn Spiegelman • (925) 736-4263

FOR SALE: MEADE LX200 (8”) ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY SETUP.

• LX90 OTA and Guide Star Mount; Meade • Dew shield for the LX200; LX90 Dew Shield.• Mount has blinking red-lights on the legs• 25mm Meade Series 4000 Super Plossel eyepiece and 90-degree

Diagonal eyepiece holder• LX90 OTA has Meade Flip-Mirror for ease in finding guide stars

PresidentChris Ford - [email protected]

Vice PresidentRick Linden - [email protected]

Membership Coordinator, Mtg RoomMarni Berendsen - [email protected]

Meeting Program ChairDick Flasck - [email protected]

Outreach Coordinator, AANC RepJim Head - [email protected]

Publicity Board MemberSteve Jacobs - [email protected]

Observing Committee Chair, Board MemberRichard Ozer - [email protected]

Whats Up Coordinator, Board MemberKent Richardson - [email protected]

TreasurerWill Roberge - [email protected] EditorVianney - [email protected]

WebmasterGlenn Spiegelman - [email protected]

Secretary and RefreshmentsMoon Trask - [email protected]

New Member StewardNick Tsakoyias - [email protected]

Mailing address:MDASP.O. Box 4889Walnut Creek, CA 94596-General Meetings:Fourth Tuesday every month,except on the third TuesdayRefreshments and conversationsMeetings begin at 7:15pm.Where:Concord Police Association5060 Avila Road, top of theTake Avila Road from WillowDirections to facility:


Board Members & Address

Your Help Would Be Greatly AppreciatedOur association needs a few members to come at

6:30 p.m. before our monthly meeting which starts at7:15 p.m. to help in seting up the chairs and otherelements needed to conduct the general meeting.

Similarly at the end of each meeting the chairsand tables have to be removed, the room has to becleaned and the garbage emptied.

Thank you for your help.

12

Documents

Mount Diablo Astronomical Society Diablo MoonWatch · "classic layout" mission control rooms are located to monitor and ... appears one of the most hair rais-ing planetary landing