On Tuesday, April 13, 2010, Senator Garn will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his historic space flight aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Jake’s presentation will begin in Clark Planetarium ATK IMAX Theatre at 7 p.m. and will be followed immediately afterward by Hubble 3D.

“Jake Garn is a tireless and tremendously effective advocate for space science education. Jake has been an invaluable member of our Board of Directors since we opened seven years ago, and his perspective on the U.S. space program and its role in our society are both thought-provoking and definitely worth paying attention to,” says Seth Jarvis, Clark Planetarium’s director.

A Utah resident, Garn served in the U.S. Navy as a pilot and is a retired Brigadier General in the Utah Air National Guard. He has logged over 12,000 hours of flight time in a wide variety of jet aircraft.  In November of 1984, Senator Garn was invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to fly as a payload specialist on flight 51-D of the space shuttle Discovery.  During the seven-day mission he performed a variety of medical tests for NASA.  Discovery Flight 51-D landed at Cape Canaveral on April 19, 1985 after orbiting the earth 109 times.  In December of 1992, Senator Garn was the recipient of the National Aeronautics Association prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy.

Hubble 3D is the newest IMAX documentary and explores both the significance of the Hubble Space Telescope to astronomer’s understanding of the universe and the extraordinary work performed by shuttle astronauts to maintain and improve the orbiting telescope, regarded by most scientists as the most productive research instrument in the history of science. Narrated by three-time Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, the film is a production of IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures and was created in cooperation with NASA.

The event will take place from 7 – 9 p.m. and tickets are available at the window for $8 each or $9 on the planetarium’s website.

Clark Planetarium’s mission is to create and present stimulating educational programs that effectively share astronomy and space exploration information with Salt Lake County residents, Utah Students, educators and families, and visitors from around the country and the world.

Kepler was launched on March 7, 2009 to monitor over 145,000 stars in the constellation Cygnus. Analysis of fluctuations the brightness of these stars will help identify extrasolar planets and determine how many Earth-sized planets are in or near the habitable zone of their star.

Dr. Steffen will discuss the technology and science of the Kepler mission and explain how the mission helps to address questions about how our Earth fits among the population of planets in our galaxy. He will also explain how Kepler’s findings will pave the way for future research missions to look for signs of life on other planets. Following his presentation, audiences will see Extreme Planets, an original Clark Planetarium production, featuring the composition and significance of extrasolar planets to the field of astronomy.

Dr. Steffen currently resides in Illinois, but has lived in Utah. He graduated from Weber State University in 2000 and returns to the area for visits. “Since I have a connection to the Wasatch Front, I’m glad to have the 
opportunity to present this information to the residents of Salt Lake 
City. Most of the scientific community that studies exoplanets is located 
on the coasts and near major observatories.  This will be an 
opportunity for residents to hear what is happening in an important field that has fewer direct ties to Utah,” he said.

“The discovery of other Earth-like planets in our galaxy is a fascinating topic of discussion,” said Clark Planetarium Director, Seth Jarvis. “We’re delighted to offer the public an opportunity to learn about Kepler’s findings first-hand from someone who is directly involved at the cutting edge of this research.”

Clark Planetarium’s mission is to create and present stimulating educational programs that effectively share astronomy and space exploration information with Salt Lake County residents, Utah students, educators and families and visitors from around the country and the world. Additional information on this event can be found on the Clark Planetarium website.

Tickets are $1 at the planetarium’s ticket desk or $2 online.

Due to the technical nature of this presentation, it is not recommended that children under 8 years of age attend.

Date: Feb. 8, 2010

Time: 7 – 9 p.m.

Location: Hansen Dome Theatre

On Oct. 9, 2009, the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket impacted the moon in the permanently shadowed region of the Cabeus crater near the south pole region. The crater was selected after an extensive review of the most likely places at the lunar South Pole to excavate water ice through the use of a high-energy impact. After impact, LCROSS flew through the impact plume collecting data for analysis.

In a press release issued today, NASA confirmed preliminary data from LCROSS indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impact.

Exactly what does this discovery mean for the future of space exploration? Water means more than the proposition of human sustainability on the lunar surface. H2O, can be broken down into Hydrogen and Oxygen, which are elements for rocket fuel that could be used for other trips throughout the solar system.

Because the gravity on the moon is 1/6^th of what it is on Earth, rockets leaving from the moon to other planets in our solar system could be launched without having to carry the massive fuel load needed to power out of Earth’s powerful gravity well.  The possibility of developing fuel on the moon is hugely important to the future of space travel.

While the discovery is exciting, there are, as always, special challenges arising from NASA’s announcement.  According to Clark Planetarium Director, Seth Jarvis, “The water LCROSS found exists in a polar crater where the angle of sunlight is so shallow that the bottom of the crater is perpetually in shadow.  That means that processing lunar water using solar power makes the location of the shaded crater bottom relative to a place where you can also collect sunlight for energy is going to be tricky.  As the real estate agents like to say, it’s all about location… location… location.”

Much more detailed surveys of the moon’s terrain needs to be performed to find out just how much water is present. Jarvis continued, “The LCROSS discovery offers a tantalizing and important bit of news that there are significant amounts of water on the moon. Knowing precisely where the water is and learning how it to get at and use the water will require a lot more exploration. But what’s really important here is that we now know that our nearest neighbor in space is very likely a lot more habitable that we’d ever previously thought, and that’s exciting.”

Visit  the Clark Planetarium’s YouTube Channel, for a more detailed look at the LRO/LCROSS mission. The mission video, titled Flight to the Moon was a joint project between Clark Planetarium and NASA to explain in high visual detail the LRO/LCROSS missions and the importance of searching for water on the moon.

As further details become available on the LCROSS findings, they will be published on our blog and featured in the Night Vision show in the Hansen Dome Theatre. For a complete schedule and ticket pricing, visit Clark Planetarium’s website.

Clark Planetarium’s mission is to create and present stimulating educational programs that effectively share astronomy and space exploration information with Salt Lake County residents, Utah students, educators and families, and visitors from around the country and the world.

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Contact: Dani Weigand
801-386-0251, dweigand-at-slco-dot-org

SALT LAKE CITY (October 6, 2009) – Tomorrow evening, President Obama will host a “Star Party” on the White House lawn. Clark Planetarium is excited to participate in this unique event, providing local residents a chance to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy.

On Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, beginning at 6 p.m. MDT, President Obama will host an event at the White House including more than 20 telescopes set up on the White House lawn focused on Jupiter, the moon and select stars, giving 150 middle school students a special view of the nighttime skies.

An official statement from the White House Office of the Press Secretary explains that the event is being held to, “…highlight the President’s commitment to science, engineering and math education as the foundation of this nation’s global technological and economic leadership and to express his support for astronomy in particular – for its capacity to promote a greater awareness of our place in the universe, expand human knowledge and inspire the next generation by showing them the beauty and mysteries of
the night sky.”

In Salt Lake City, Clark Planetarium will host a free public event in conjunction with the White House Star Party to share the event with the community and to promote a greater public appreciation for the wonders
of the night sky. The event is one of many being held in 2009 as part of the International Year of Astronomy, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope as an astronomical instrument.
In addition to hosting a live feed of the President’s address in the Hansen Star Theatre, the planetarium will use its state-of-the-art technology to show audience members high-resolution images of the planets and stars that White House Star Party attendees will be seeing.

Clark Planetarium will open the Hansen Dome Theatre beginning at 5:30 p.m. to begin showing images and descriptions of planets that can be seen in our skies. At approximately 6 p.m., the theatre will use a live feed from NASA-TV to project the Presidential address onto the dome. Following President Obama’s
remarks, audiences will be invited to learn about different types of telescopes and observing techniques. When the skies become dark (at approximately 7:30 p.m.), planetarium staff will set up high-power telescopes on the corner of 100 South and 400 West for public viewing of Jupiter and its moons.

“We are proud and excited to take part in this event on a local level,” explained Programs Manager Mike Murray. “To have the President share in our enthusiasm for astronomy as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo using a telescope to explore the night sky gives us another chance to reach our community with a message of how important science is in our everyday lives.”

Clark Planetarium’s mission is to create and present stimulating educational programs that effectively share astronomy and space exploration information with Salt Lake County residents, Utah students, educators and families and visitors from around the country and the world. Additional information on this event can be found on the Clark Planetarium website, www.clarkplanetarium.org.

Download the official White House star party PDF