Category Archives: Events

DIY space, Events, Space participation

Citizen Science and Space Exploration at MakerCon

A message from Citizens in space:

Citizen Science and Space Exploration at MakerCon

Redwood City, California – Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy, has joined the lineup for MakerCon, which takes place at the Oracle Conference Center in Redwood City on May 13-14, 2014.

MakerCon is a premiere event organized by Maker Media, publisher of Make magazine and producer of Maker Faire. MakerCon brings together the leaders at the forefront of the maker movement. The conference provides new insights into local and global manufacturing, design, marketing and distribution, and diverse funding options to help makers bring their products to market.

Edward Wright, founder of the United States Rocket Academy and program manager for Citizens in Space, will speak on “Citizen Science and Citizen Space Exploration.” Citizens in Space has acquired a contract for 10 flights on the Lynx spacecraft, which is currently under construction by XCOR Aerospace in Mojave, California. Wright will discuss opportunities for makers to fly experiments through Citizens in Space and opportunities for citizen astronauts to fly as payload operators.

“New vehicles like the XCOR Lynx will dramatically reduce the cost of access to space,” Wright said. “and low-cost access will revolutionize the way people use space. Everyone in the professional maker community needs to think about how space fits into their business plans.”

Other featured speakers at MakerCon include Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk; Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino; Brook Drumm, co-founder and CEO at Printrbot; Eric Klein, partner at Lemnos Labs; Peter Hirshberg, CEO of The Re:imagine Group; Connie Hu, CEO of ArcBotics; Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired and founder of Cool Tools; Jason Kessler, Asteroid Grand Challenge Program Executive at NASA; Eric Pan, founder and CEO of Seeed Studios; Jose Gomez-Marquez, principal medical device designer at MIT’s Little Devices Lab; Brian David Johnson, futurist at Intel; Mickey McManus, CEO of MAYA Design; Edward Screven, chief corporate architect at Oracle; Yancey Strickler, co-founder and CEO of Kickstarter; and Leon Wong, director of market strategy at Xerox PARC.

MakerCon is presented by Intel and hosted by Oracle Corporation.

More information, including a complete list of speakers, is available at www.makercon.com. Registration is available at www.makercon.com/attend. Early-bird registration rates expire on April 27.

Additional information about Citizens in Space can be found at www.citizensinspace.org.

Astronomy, Events, The Moon

Blood Moon eclipse tonight

Tonight there will be an eclipse visible in North America (at least where the clouds part). It will

start a few minutes before 1 a.m. EDT and slowly continue over the next two hours until it peaks (reaches totality) about 3 a.m. Tuesday. On the West Coast, it starts about 10 p.m. Monday night and reaches totality just after midnight.

A bonus: This eclipse will be a “blood moon,” in which our nearest celestial neighbor will look the color of a desert sunset. The reason? Because “even when the Earth moves directly between the moon and the sun, filtered sunlight still shines through Earth’s atmosphere, making the moon appear red.”

If you miss this one, there will be three more in the coming year and half.

Skunk Bear‘s Adam Cole welcomes the eclipse with a song:

More about the eclipse and four other sky highlights this month: 5 Sky Events This Week: Full Lunar Eclipse and Lord of the Rings – National Geographic

Education, Events, Science and Technology

USA Science & Engineering Festival – Washington D.C., April 26-27, 2014

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The USA Science and Engineering Festival “America’s Largest STEM Education Event” will take place in Washington D.C. April 26-27, 2014.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a national grassroots effort to advance STEM education and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.  Our exhibitors, performers, speakers, partners, sponsors and advisors are a who-is-who of science and engineering in the United States: from major academic centers and leading research institutes and government agencies to cutting-edge high tech companies, museums and community organizations. 

Here’s one of several videos about the event:

Activism, Events, Space participation

33rd Int. Space Development Conference – May 14-18, 2014 – Los Angeles, CA

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Time to sign up for the National Space Society‘s their annual space extravaganza – ISDC 2014: A Space Renaissance — May 14-18, 2014 — Los Angeles, California –

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Events, History, Rocketry

Model rocketry history + Northwest Xtreme Rocket Show

Here’s an overview of the history of model rocketry: The Dangerous Origins of Model Rocketry – i09.com.

Find many resources about rocketry and its history in the HobbySpace Rocketry section.

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Here’s an announcement in my email about a rocket event this June:

Northwest Xtreme Rocket Show – Oregon Rocketry

OregonRocketry is proud to announce the 4th annual national rocketry event Northwest Xtreme Rocket Show or NXRS. This event attracts those involved in extreme and research rocketry from across the United States of America. This year’s event will be held June 27th, 28th, and 29th 2014 at our premier site located in Brothers Oregon. Join us for NXRS and Get Your Xtreme On!

NXRS is a research rocketry event founded by your host Robert Krausert and director Fred Azinger. NXRS is sanctioned under Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA), and affiliated through our member club OregonRocketry. Attended by some of the most talented and extreme high-power rocketeers from more than 12 states. This national event is so attractive because of having the third highest FAA waiver for altitude, which is 42.280 feet Above Ground Level (AGL).

With the new rules introduced last year National Association of Rocketry (NAR) members in good standing are allowed to fly up to and including your certification level at this TRA sanctioned event. NXRS encourages use of both research and commercial motors. Spectators are allowed at this launch, but are not permitted in preparation areas or past the flight line. All spectators must sign a liability waiver and pay the event fee of $20. We encourage all who attend this event to have experience with high power rocketry and be familiar with safety risks. Children and pets are strongly discouraged. Please see the “Research Launch” page for full details of current rules for research launches.

Our NXRS goal this year is to exceed 1,000,000 Newton Seconds (Ns) of rocket fuel burned over the three day event. You are expected to experience people flying rockets where the motor fuel alone can weigh more than yourself. And that is for one flight. Attendance at NXRS can easily exceed 250 people with hundreds of absolutely life memorable flights from rocket ships of all shapes, sizes, and capabilities. Sooo… Whether you walk, bike, drive, fly or break out of jail – do not miss NXRS 2014.

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