Free and Open to the Public

Presentation –


The Planets - The Facts from the Jet Propulsion Lab - A Blueray Video
Provided by Steve Grimley
   

The Houston Symphony, in 2010, produced a special performance of Holst's Planet Suite which included a visual ensemble of the high definition images captured by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab team. The themes used by Holst for his now 100 year old music composition were from the astrological representations of the eight planets. As a counterpoise to the unscientific mindset behind the music a separate technical presentation from the scientists and engineers at JPL was included with the recording of the concert. This planet by planet tour includes the latest high definition images from the satellite flybys, orbiting satellites, and from the rovers on the ground at Mars. The technical story of what has been discovered about the planets is every bit as entertaining and informative as the music and includes spectacular views of the solar system. Running time is about 50 minutes.

Free and Open to the Public

2 Presentations

Project Gemini
By Steve Quigley

The December presentation will cover Project Gemini. Gemini, in its own historical context, was perhaps as important as Apollo because without Gemini there could have been no Apollo. Gemini was the teacher, and thanks to its lessons we were able to reach the Moon in 1969. During the Gemini program we learned to rendezvous, dock, perform "space walks", practice long duration flights, and built a cohesive and technically competent management and contractor team. This presentation will follow Project Gemini from its beginnings to its successful conclusion in 1966, and set the stage for a presentation on Project Apollo in July, 2019.


 **** And ****

Using a Planisphere
By Paul Walker

Planispheres are practically indispensable. They are used by beginner and advanced amateurs alike. They are computers but . Planispheres are analog computers that require no power cords or batteries.
They can answers the questions: “What is in the sky tonight?” and “When is the best time to observe a particular object?”. And so much more.

You input a date and time and they output the location of the stars. Or input the part of the sky that holds a particular object you want to observe and the planisphere will output a list of suitable dates and times.