Ground Control To Major Tom
Posted By: Liz Goodrich
Date Posted: 7/27/2004
Deschutes Public Library is pleased to welcome Rick Kang to the Redmond Public Library on August 13, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. for an overview of the Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn.
Sent to explore the details of the famous ringed planet, the Casini-Huygens craft is the most complicated ever launched. Managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the two unmanned robotic explores will spend several years retrieving and relaying information back to scientists on Earth. Kang, the Public Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory says such missions are important. “All the planets give us more clues about the nature of the Earth and our origins and future.” Of special interest during the Cassini-Huygens mission is the data that will be collected from Saturn’s large moon, Titan. Kang will present the goals of the mission, the intricate details of the two explorers and the plan for their extended visit on Saturn.
The Pine Mountain Observatory site was selected for its suitable climate and relatively dark skies, free from urban light pollution. The Observatory is part of the University of Oregon and although, no classes are held there, students in Eugene have access to the digital images captured at Pine Mountain and Graduate students regularly conduct projects at the observatory. For the past fourteen years, Kang, on behalf of the Pine Mountain Observatory (PMO), has created and presented programs about astrophysics to students in over 300 classrooms each year.
For more information about this or other library programs, please call 312-1032.
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