Launched in January 2006, NASA's Pluto New Horizon Mission is the first mission to visit the ninth planet and to explore the Kuiper Belt beyond. This talk will cover the New Horizons spacecraft, its instruments, and its detailed exploration plan.

      New Horizons will make science measurements and receive a gravity assist at Jupiter in early 2007, enroute to its July 2015 encounter with Pluto and its satellite system (consisting of its large moon Charon and recently discovered new satellites dubbed P1 and P2). A propulsion maneuver after Pluto will enable encounters with one or more Kuiper Belt Objects around the year 2020.

     Richard P. Binzel began his career as an amateur astronomer in central Ohio, publishing his first scientific paper at the age of 15. After completing a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Texas, he has been a Professor of Planetary Science at MIT for nearly two decades, specializing in the study of asteroids and the planet Pluto. He continues to publish frequently on both topics, including articles for Science, Nature, Scientific American, and Sky & Telescope.

 

      Dr. Binzel has received research and teaching awards from the American Physical Society, the American Astronomical Society, and the President of the United States George Herbert Walker Bush. He has been recognized by the International Astronomical Union with the naming of asteroid "2873 Binzel" in his honor. He is a past Chairman of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. As a Science Team member for the New Horizons mission, Dr. Binzel will focus on the nature of Pluto's polar ice caps and surface features as indicators for possible seasonal changes.

 

Professor Binzel and the Pluto New Horizons spacecraft under construction, ten months prior to launch.

Pluto New Horizons Mission

Dr. Richard P. Binzel, Professor of Planetary Science, MIT

New Horizons spacecraft being

enclosed by the protective fairing

   

 

    Discover some new targets for your nocturnal activities.

    On a nice clear night, you take your telescope out beneath the stars and wonder what to look at. You've gazed upon the Andromeda Galaxy, the Ring Nebula, the Great Cluster in Hercules and the Pleiades a hundred times. What else can you see? Avid observer Sue French will introduce you to some of the lesser known wonders of the deep sky, including treats to enjoy with any size scope.

 

  We all know Sue French as a contributing editor for Sky & Telescope magazine and contributing writer for Night Sky. Other literary credits include Celestial Sampler and freelance work for a number of astronomy publications.

  Ms. French has been an avid astronomer for over 25 years including 18 years as a Planetarium Educator for the Schenectady Museum Planetarium. She has run the gamut of offices from president to treasurer for several astronomy organizations such as the Dudley Observatory and the Astronomical League.

 

 

 As an engineer for Hamilton Sunstrand since the early 60’s Mr. Rethke has been involved with NASA’s manned spaceflight program for over 37 years. Specializing in life support technologies his work has been integral to the success of NASA efforts from Apollo to the ISS.

  His “Dr. Flush” persona has sparked an interest in science in countless young minds as has his work with the FIRST Buzz Robotics program.

  Further research and development includes evaluation of Russian life support technologies and regenerative life support systems for future Mars exploration.

 

     Have you ever wanted your own observatory? We all have. Phil realized his dream in 2004, and discusses the planning that went into building Star Watcher Observatory in this illustrated presentation. This talk also discusses strategies for planning a backyard observatory and reviews some other amateur creations.

    A lifelong amateur astronomer Phil Harrington has authored numerous astronomy titles. He was bitten by the "astronomical bug" when he was assigned to watch the total lunar eclipse of April 1968 as a homework assignment. Since then, Phil has spent countless hours touring the universe through telescopes and binoculars. His monthly Binocular Universe column in Astronomy magazine makes our 15 minute backyard observing sessions worthwhile. He is a former staff member of New York City's Hayden Planetarium and instructor at the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Centerport, New York. Phil is an adjunct professor at both Dowling College in Oakdale New York and Suffolk County Community College's Eastern Campus in Riverhead New York where he teaches courses in stellar and planetary astronomy. He is a member of Custer Institute, a founding member of the Westport (CT) Astronomical Society, and is also one of the coordinators of the annual Astronomer's Conjunction, held ever summer in Northfield, MA.

 

 This talk will discuss the wealth of lunar geologic data and its interpretation.

 Beyond the Earth, the Moon is the only planetary body for which we have samples from known locations. The analysis of these samples gives us "ground-truth" for numerous remote sensing studies of the physical and chemical properties of the Moon and they are invaluable for our fundamental understanding of lunar origin and evolution.

   The Moon represents a keystone in the understanding of the terrestrial planets. It recorded and preserved evidence for geologic processes that were active over the last 4 - 4.5 billion years and offers us the unique opportunity to look back into geologic times for which evidence on Earth has long been erased. For the Moon we have a data set for geology, geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology, chronology, and internal structure that is unequaled for any planetary body other than the Earth. These data are fundamental to understanding planetary surface processes and the geologic evolution of a planet, and are essential to linking these processes with the internal and thermal evolution. The Moon thus provides a planetary process and evolutionary perspective.

 

Dr. Harald Hiesinger was born in Munich, Germany on May 26, 1964. In 1986, he received a bachelors degree and in 1990, a masters degree in geology from the Ludwigs-Maximilians University in Munich. While a full-time employee at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), he pursued a doctoral degree in geology with a specialty in planetology, which he received from the Free University of Berlin in 1999. For his doctoral work, Dr. Hiesinger investigated geochemical and stratigraphic characteristics of lunar mare basalts. Meanwhile, in 1997 he began a position as visiting scientist at Brown University, where he later became a senior research scientist. In 2004, Dr. Hiesinger became an assistant professor position in planetary sciences at Central Connecticut State University. Recently, Dr Hiesinger accepted a position as a full professor at the Institute of Planetology at the Westfälische Wilhelms University in Münster, Germany. As a co-investigator, Dr Hiesinger is involved in two current international space missions, the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LROC camera) and the European Mars Express mission (HRSC camera). Dr. Hiesinger has published many scientific papers on the Moon, Mars and Ganymede and has written and/or contributed to two book chapters. Dr. Hiesinger is married to planetary geologist Dr. Carolyn van der Bogert and currently lives with his wife and an adopted greyhound, Spacedog Spiff, in New Haven, Connecticut.