I am looking to recruit additional volunteers from the AMSAT community in North Texas, Central Texas or elsewhere, to help promote "Amateur Radio in Space" to a large public STEM event. "Moon Day" at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas Texas on July 21, 2018 is the largest space themed STEM event in Texas. Last year saw 1500 people attend the 6 hour event. https://www.flightmuseum.com/moon-day/
Again this year, I am heading an exhibit and satellite demos for AMSAT. We have a table inside the Museum, (Alongside the Dallas Amateur Radio Club Table), and a demonstration area outside. I will be setting up the outside activities and hope to work as many satellite passes as possible during the 10A-4P run of the show.
I am looking for AMSAT people to both help with the inside table and also with the outside demonstrations. Joe Spier has promised me that he will send me the FOX "Engineering Model" but I am looking for additional demonstration aids to illustrate satellite orbits and other aspects of space communications like various types of antennas.
Being a STEM event, there will be many young people in attendance, (General public as well as Boy and Girl Scouts), and they get a chance to earn a STEM patch by answering questions from exhibitors like US. Each year I do this, I am also surprised by ho many Hams I talk to at the event who are either inactive or have never experienced Amateur Satellites.
We really need people and content for Moon Day so please consider spending Saturday, July 21 with us. Contact me off list for more information. [email protected]
Oh by the way, next year, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The Moon Day event is planning a big splash then and it would be really interesting to see a portable EME station as part of the mix. That would generate a lot of interest I would suspect. My looking at moon phase predictions for next year showed that I think they would be favorable. Keep that in the back of your mind and I will bring it up next year.
Hope to see you at Moon Day, 2018.
Tom Schuessler, N5HYP EM12ms