Mike Simmons of Astronomers Without Borders on The Space Show

Mike Simmons, founder and president of Astronomers Without Borders, was interviewed on the Space Show last Friday: Mike Simmons, Friday, 8-29-14 – Thespaceshow’s Blog

 During our 61 minute discussion, Mr. Simmons started out by introducing us to Astronomers Without Borders and visits to Iran and Iraq.  He talked about astronomy as a cultural connection among nations and peoples, especially with young and well educated people around the world.  We discussed the organization and total eclipse tours, trips, and other astro tourism projects.  He mentioned the organization’s Monthly Hangout which is a Google Plus monthly meeting with guests which you can find on YouTube. 

Our guest talked about the Mt. Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles and several listeners asked him about visiting the famous observatory.  The same for Mt. Palomar which is still in use and also in S. California.  Joe asked about the best age to introduce children to astronomy.  Mike then told us about telescopes and pointed us to basic telescopes his organization sells for those interested.  Seehttp://store.astronomerswithoutborders.org

Listeners asked Mike about their participation in Uwingu programs, specifically the Beam Me to Mars program.  We learned that the organization has been a beneficiary of Uwingu grants.  Listeners asked about night viewing, light pollution and dark skies programs.  Paul sent in a question inquiring about astronomy and the connection to space exploration & development which are major themes for The Space Show. This provoked an interesting discussion with our guest. 

Near the end of our discussion, Mike talked about astronomy in the arts including astro crafts, astro poetry, space artists, and more.

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Here is a recent announcement about one of their projects, for which they are raising funding on Indiegogo:

Telescopes to Tanzania

The future of children’s science education in Tanzania is
looking brighter than ever.

Telescopes to Tanzania’s campaign to bring quality science education to the children of the East African nation is off to a fantastic start by raising $11,000 and successfully completing its first phase of building The Center for Science Education and Observatory.

To build on this momentum and share our project with the world we are launching our next phase on Indiegogo – the web’s largest crowd-funding platform.

Your generous support has already been put to work by funding a pioneering Curriculum Development Workshop,  just completed in June 2014 in Tanzania. Attended by all the regional stakeholders – science teachers, school administrators, scientists and government officials – the conference laid the foundation for the development of a national science curriculum integrated with astronomy concepts and applications.  Those gathered at the four-day meeting in Usa River, near Arusha, were able to create the core structure of a space science model for advancing the development of inquiry-based science education in Tanzania.

Once completed, The Center for Science Education and Observatory will become a Tanzanian hub that will have a long-lasting impact nationwide by training teachers, offering hands-on laboratories (including  an astronomical observatory), and providing quality educational resources.

The gateway to the development of Tanzania’s own STEM curriculum has been opened, and the groundwork has been laid to begin the next critical phase of our campaign.

We invite you to visit our official fundraising campaign website on Indiegogo. And in exchange for your support we are offering a wonderful line-up of rewards that will surely remain a lasting keepsake.

To thank all of our donors who are helping make this project possible we have created a Thank You Wall.

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A Standard 6 student looks through a telescope for the first
time during a science workshop at Kalinga Primary School
in northern Tanzania

TMRO/Spacevidcast 7.27 – Community Chat: Expedite New Space

The latest TMRO/Spacevidcast show is now available on line: Community Chat: Expedite New Space – 7.27

Caption:

TMRO is a crowd funded show. We rely on you, the citizens of TMRO to help us produce more content. If you like the show, consider contributing. Even as little as $1.00/ep will go a long way!http://www.patreon.com/tmro

In our second community chat we ask the question, “How can we expedite the new space gold rush?” Segment starts at 16:09

In Space News:
2:27 – NASA completes key review of SLS
4:58 – Sea Launch cuts back staff
6:30 – International Launch Services (ILS) cuts back staff
7:28 – Kodiak Launch Complex has a test rocket explode
8:57 – Dragon V2 will rely on parachutes
13:26 – Plans to overhaul the Mojave Space Port

TMRO is a weekly show all about space and the comsos. Covering major events from NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, SpaceX and more, TMRO is your weekly news and views show for every space geek! Featuring monthly live shows and weekly cosmic updates, get your Space Geek on right here! Don’t forget to subscribe.

National Geographic’s history of the Voyager missions

Check out the National Geographic’s elaborate and beautifully illustrated history of the two Voyager spacecraft, which toured the outer planets and then headed out towards interstellar space. It’s all on a single web page and as you scroll down you go through the various phases of their missions and different audio clips play for each.

NatGeoVoyager

Like the ancient mariners, they would navigate a vast ocean, the solar system …

It was 1977. Jimmy Carter was president, Elvis Presley gave his last performance, and Saturday Night Fever blasted into theaters. Above the Earth, twin spacecraft called Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 sailed into space on a trailblazing expedition to go where no man had gone before.

They would reveal that the moons orbiting Jupiter were worlds in their own right, that Saturn’s fabled rings boasted intricate weaves, and that Earth was but a pale blue dot set in the vastness of space. No other spacecraft have divulged the secrets of so many worlds, roamed so far, or so profoundly reshaped our view of our home in the cosmos.

Their journey was an idea centuries in the making and their success far from predetermined. It was a risk but a serendipitous one. As Captain Kirk said, “Sometimes a feeling is all we humans have to go on.”

READ

Sci-Tech: Malloy Aeronautics hoverbike project lifts off with 1/3 scale drone

The company Malloy Aeronautics has designed a one-person ducted-fan vehicle, i.e a hoverbike, and hopes to pay for its development with sales of a 1/3 scale-model drone version. They have more than doubled their £30,000 goal in a Kickstarter campaign to cover marketing the drone : Hoverbike by Chris Malloy — Kickstarter

The objective of this campaign is to kick-start sales of our beautiful 1/3rd scale Hoverbike drone and accessories via your pledges, and to help create a long term income stream that we can use to continue development of the manned Hoverbike. 

Here is their Kickstarter video:

More about the project: Watch A Robot Ride A Hovercycle – Popular Science –