WASP
WASP
The Warren Astronomical Society Paper
 WAS
Volume 31, Number 9September, 1999

astro chatter Astro Chatter
by Larry Kalinowski

Eugene Shoemaker, the geologist-astronaut, codiscoverer of that famous, Jupiter crashing comet, has finally come to rest on the Lunar surface. Gene, as many came to know him, dreamed of visiting the Moon with one [continued]

The WASP 25 Years Later
by LoriAnn Skonieczny

For this month's WASP 25 Years Later I have reprinted an article from the November 1974 issue. It is called the Stargate Report. I thought it was kind of appropriate considering the renewed interest in Stargate [continued]

New Members
by Joe Van Poucker


icon Minutes of Meetings
by LoriAnn Skonieczny


Did You Know?

 Letter From Cranbrook
17 June, 1999

Dear Warren Astronomical Society,

I would like to thank Rick Kovari, Frank Spisak, Marty Kunz, Doug Bock, Riyad Matti, and Clay Kessler for donating their time, telescopes, and expertise during Astronomy Day at CIS. As always, the event would not have been as educational and fun without their presence.

Whenever WAS is involved in events at CIS, the outcome is always positive.

Again, thank you very much for your participation.

Sincerely,

Michael Narlock

Planetarium Operations Manager

The Swap Shop
This is a new column for those who are interested in buying or trading items. Call 810-776-9720 if you want to put an item for sale or trade in this section of the WASP. The ad will run for six months. The month and year the ad will be removed is also shown.
  • FOR SALE: JASON Astronomical Telescope. 60mm objective. 910mm focal length. Tripod. Equatorial Mount. $175 firm. 810-731-4706 (2-00)
  • [continued, for more ads]


astro chatter Astro Chatter, continued

of NASA's astronauts and began training for that geologist's dream when it was discovered he had a physical problem and doctors abruptly cut off his dream trip. A year after the Jupiter crash, he lost his life in an automobile accident on an Australian road. However, his dream never died. A small amount of his ashes were on board the lunar Prospector probe that was purposely crashed on the lunar surface, July 31. My hats off to Gene, for so much that he contributed to geology and astronomy.

Comets are becoming the astro-geologist's latest space toys. The European Space Agency wants to land a probe named Rosetta, on the Comet Wirtanen in the year 2012. Astronomers believe that comets are the left over remains of the solar system. Each one a veritable laboratory of unchanged chemicals that will give us a closer look at how our solar system developed. They're not alone though. The U.S. wants some of that lab material and has a probe named Stardust on its way now, hoping to capture some space dust from Comet Wild-2 in 2004. The sampled dust is to be recovered from the craft in 2006. However, the U.S. is still hoping to make the first space probe landing on another comet, Temple 1, on December 2, 2005, with the proposed Deep Space 4 mission, launched in 2003. The computer meeting for July turned out mighty interesting because of John Herrgott and Bob Watt. They merged their Questar and video camera to show some very good closeups of the lunar surface, on a monitor, all in the comfort of a warm summer evening with donuts and liquid refreshment, around the backyard picnic table.

Iridium, the company that launched those seventy-three satellites for round-the-world cell phone communication, is having problems getting subscribers. As a result, their stock has dropped from $70 to less than $5 per share. They've reduced the price of their cell phones from $3,000 to $1,000 and are looking for someone to buy them out.

Thirty years have passed since man has set foot on the Moon. It seems like only yesterday. It sure feels strange to read about a historical event in the history books and be a witness to that event too.

With the Moon only one day past new on the twelfth of August, the SMURFS star party should get quite an eyeful of meteors. The Perseids are one of the best showers of the year.

That Diamond Stealth II, G460, 2X AGP video card that I had for sale in last month's WASP is still available. It has eight megabytes of video memory and comes with a CD for installation. The price has been reduced to $45. Dial 810-776-9720 for more information.

The August computer meeting will be held at Gary Gathen's home on Thursday, the 24th. His address is 21 Elm Park. Three blocks south of the I-696 expressway and about half a block west of Woodward in Pleasant Ridge. You can reach him at 248-543-3366 for further information.

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The WASP 25 Years Later, continued

and our current revival of a regular lecture schedule.

STARGATE REPORT


The purpose of this report is to make the W.A.S. membership aware of the club's observatory at Camp Rotary. Our 12 1/2: cassegrain telescope, with clock drive, declination control, and variable frequency oscillator is made available to the boy and girl scouts camping at Camp Rotary. We have lectures given by our lecturers and assistant lecturers there every Friday evening, this being part of our obligation to the Rotarians since 1970 when they built the observatory at no cost to the W.A.S.

Any member of the W.A.S. can make use of the telescope any evening; contact Stargate director of any lecturer to make arrangements. At the present time we are in need of assistant lecturers. Anyone interested please contact any of the following Stargate personel:

Pete Kwentus*** Director

Lecturers: Assistant Lecturers: We also want to mention some of the many people who have helped us during the summer months; Kim Dyer and Ken Wilson

****THANKS A LOT****

A special thank you is also extended to Garry Boyd who has donated a 60mm Kelner eyepiece for use at the observatory. THANK YOU!!

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New Members

The thing that makes the Warren Astronomical Society a great are its members. We are very happy to announce the following new members who joined during July of 1999. Please extend them a warm welcome. WAS Anniversaries for September (If you see any mistakes in these entries, please report them to Joe Van Poucker)
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icon Minutes of Meetings

Cranbrook, July 12, 1999

Macomb, July 15, 1999

(These minutes were submitted by Bob Watt)

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Did You Know?

(excerpted by LoriAnn from the 1974 Nov. issue of the WASP)
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The Swap Shop, continued

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This page was created by Jeff Bondono, and last changed on August 3, 1999.