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# Midwest Astronomy and Space Society

“It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.  - Carl Sagan

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://masscosmos.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [MASS Meeting August 7, 2026](https://masscosmos.org/2026/08/mass-meeting-august-7-2026/) - What a great meeting for our 15th anniversary! We set an in-person attendance record of 12 with Dean, Laura, Keith, Hank, Dave, Phil, Harry, Don, Beth, Chad (late arriver), Carol and myself. This was our 93rd meeting. Our first one was on July 21, 2011 and its main topic was "Commercial Crew". It's funny that
- [May 1, 2026 MASS Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2026/05/may-1-2026-mass-meeting/) - This was our 92nd meeting. and we had a good turn out with Keith, Hank, Don, Harry and myself. There was a full moon rising as we started the meeting and May will be one of those unusual months with 2 full moons. The second will be a "blue" moon. Just so that this link
- [Girl Scout Star-Gazer Badges](https://masscosmos.org/2025/12/girl-scout-star-gazer-badges/) - This last Monday, December 15, 2025, I was able to help the 10 third grade girls of Troop 56655 of Villa Park/Lombard, IL get their sky-gazer badges. My grand-daughter, Emily, is in the troop and she was to make a presentation about the Moon but unfortunately she had a bad bout with flu and couldn't
- [November 14, 2025 MASS Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2025/11/november-14-2025-mass-meeting/) - This was our 91st meeting and we had a tremendous turn-out with Dean, Laura, Don, Dave, Keith, Hank, Harry, Phil, Beth and myself. We could give Chad a pass because he was in Arizona playing guitar with Alice Cooper. That sounds like an acceptable excuse. Pluto Trivia Since it was Beth's birthday and our last
- [July 11, 2025 MASS Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2025/07/july-11-2025-mass-meeting/) - This was our 14th annual meeting, the first meeting was July 21, 2011. Our first meeting had the main topic of Commercial Crew. It is amazing after all these years, we still talk about crew Dragon and Boeing's Starliner capsules. For tonight, we had Dean, Keith, Hank and Don in attendance. Beth. Chad and Harry
- [Meeting Notes from March 14, 2025](https://masscosmos.org/2025/03/meeting-notes-from-march-14-2025/) - This was our 89th meeting. Keith, Hank, Phil, Harry, Beth, Don and I were in attendance. It has been a long 4 months since our last meeting and we had a lot of catching up to do on people's activities. Don shared that he had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. My notes are a
- [Meeting Notes from November 8, 2024](https://masscosmos.org/2024/11/meeting-notes-from-november-8-2024/) - This was our 88th meeting and it couldn't have come at a better time. The down feeling from the recent election was over-shadowed by the great turn out of friends. Dean, Laura, Keith, Hank, Phil, Dave, Harry and Beth all joined in for over 3 hours of great conversation about ourselves and all the great
- [Notes from August 9, 2024 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2024/08/notes-from-august-9-2024-meeting/) - This was our 87th meeting. We were able to celebrate the 13th anniversary of MASS meetings, our first meeting was on July 20, 2011. Some things never change, I think we talked about the Dragon and Starliner capsules that night too. Dean, Laura, Keith, Hank, Don, Harry and myself were in attendance. There are also
- [My Experience with the April 8, 2024 Total  Solar Eclipse](https://masscosmos.org/2024/04/my-experience-with-the-april-8-2024-total-solar-eclipse/) - Monday April 8th was a long day but completely worth it. I had spent the previous week before the eclipse pouring over cloud sky cover percentages and researching sites from Arkansas to Indiana that had viewing areas. Historically, Texas and Arkansas had the best probability of clear skies, but that would be a long drive.
- [Notes from Our March 22, 2024 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2024/03/notes-from-our-march-22-2024-meeting/) - This was our 86th meeting and the last meeting was a long 21 weeks ago. Our meetings are becoming a little sparce with only 3 of them in 2023. But it was great to get the band back together. Dean, Laura, Phil, Don, Dave, Beth, Chad and myself were in attendance. The theme for tonight
- [Notes from Oct 27, 2023 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2023/11/notes-from-oct-27-2023-meeting/) - Here was our background picture for tonight's meeting. But with the meeting so close to Halloween, I saw this picture from the Planetary Society and thought it might has been more appropriate. It was a cool night for our 85th meeting and Keith, Hank, Don, Beth, Harry and I were in attendance. I started with
- [Notes from July 7, 2023 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2023/07/notes-from-july-7-2023-meeting/) - It was our 84th meeting and our 12th anniversary meeting. I still remember our original group getting together at Triton College in July 2011 and deciding rather than getting to listen to Dean talk once a month at Triton or a couple of times at the Villa Park Library, why don't we form a club
- [Notes from Our April 21, 2023 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2023/04/notes-from-our-april-21-2023-meeting/) - After a long 25 week hiatus, we had a great turnout for our 83rd meeting. Dean, Keith, Hank, Don, Phil, Beth, Chad, Laura, Carol and I attended. The long interval was not intentional, we tried for a meeting on March 31 but the threat of tornadoes and hail made me call it off and not
- [Notes from our October 28, 2022 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2022/10/notes-from-our-october-28-2022-meeting/) - We had a good turn out with Keith, Hank, Harry, Don, Dave and myself present for our 82nd meeting. Before we got into our introductory items we had to oh and ah at the success of the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission. DART launched around Thanksgiving of last year, November 24, and impacted the
- [Notes from our August 12, 2022 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2022/08/notes-from-our-august-12-2022-meeting/) - We had a good turn out with Dean, Keith, Hank, Harry, Phil, I, and new member Don present for our 81st meeting and our 11th anniversary get-together. We started by introducing ourselves to our new member, Don. Don and I connected through our mutual health club. It pays to wear, astronomy themed t-shirts. Don's profession
- [Notes from our May 13, 2022 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2022/05/notes-from-our-may-13-2022-meeting/) - We had most of the "hard-liners" turn out for the meeting. Dean, Keith, Hank, Harry and I were present for our 80th meeting. It was only a short 8 weeks since our previous meeting but the weather has gone from snow shovels to salt tablets for the heat and humidity. The Chicago area always provides
- [Notes from Our March 18, 2022 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2022/03/notes-from-our-march-18-2022-meeting/) - It was a good turn out on a damp and cold night. Dean, Keith, Hank, Phil, Harry and I were present for our 79th meeting. I had plenty of topics to discuss after 4 months since our last meeting. The fact that I had read one and a half years of back issues of "Astronomy"
- [James Webb Space Telescope has launched & is on it's way to L2](https://masscosmos.org/2021/12/james-webb-space-telescope-is-launched-on-its-way-to-l2/) - At 6:20 AM CST on Christmas Day JWST launched from French Guiana on its million mile trip to the L2 LaGrange point. It was a smooth and flawless countdown. Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA Associate Administrator for Science, said the launch is only 20-30% of the risk factor for the mission which has 344 single-point failure items
- [Dec 21, 2021 Update: NASA says JWST will launch on Dec 25, 2021 at 6:20 AM CST](https://masscosmos.org/2021/12/dec-21-2021-update-nasa-says-jwst-will-launch-on-dec-25-2021-at-620-am-cst/) - At a 2 PM CST Dec 21 press conference, NASA says JWST is ready to launch on Dec 24 but then hours later said due to high-altitude winds the launch is delayed one more day to Saturday, December 25. The communication issue where there are some data drop-outs between the telescope and the ground support
- [JWST Update for December 17, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/12/jwst-update-for-december-17-2021/) - The communication problem between the telescope and the rocket has been corrected. Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, says December 24, 2021 at 6:20 AM CST is still the launch time. Less than one week!!Now they will encapsulate the telescope within the Ariane 5 fairing. Next milestone will be the roll-out to the launch pad on December
- [One Week+ to go until the JWST launch](https://masscosmos.org/2021/12/one-week-to-go-until-the-jwst-launch/) - This was to be the one week update, but trouble with a cable between the rocket and the telescope has caused a least a two day delay for the launch. It is now scheduled for Friday, December 24, 2021 at 6:20 AM CST. The JWST has been placed on the rocket which was when the
- [Notes From Our November 19, 2021 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2021/11/notes-from-our-november-19-2021-meeting/) - This was our 78th meeting and we had a great turn-out for our end of 2021 get-together. Dean, Keith, Phil, Harry, Hank, Dave and I were in attendance. We had sad news to share with the death of one of our inaugural members, Silvio. He will be greatly missed. His enthusiasm for all things involving
- [Notes from Our Oct. 1, 2021 Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2021/10/notes-from-our-oct-1-2021-meeting/) - It was great to be back in the groove with an in-person meeting. Dean, Phil, Hank, Silivio and I were in attendance. Hank was very stylish with his SpaceX Falcon 9 shirt. Preliminaries After exchanging pleasantries, we plunged into "Preliminary topics". I told the group that Dean had shared his Great Courses program "Introduction to
- [Status of manned space in 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/09/status-of-manned-space-in-2021/) - Since it has been a while since our last meeting, I'd thought I would post a status of manned space for 2021. I'm recovering from a 4 day Internet and Uverse TV outage and glad to be connected to the information torrent again.The Inspiration 4 crew of 4 returned to an Atlantic splashdown off the
- [Notes from Our 10th Anniversary Party/Meeting on July 30, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/08/notes-from-our-10th-anniversary-party-meeting-on-july-30-2021/) - It was great to get back to an in-person event after a long 17 months of Zooming. Dean, Keith, Phil, Hank and I were present. This was our 76th meeting. We were celebrating our 10th anniversary of meetings. The first one was on July 21, 2011. I started off by displaying the pile of notes
- [Notes from the MASS Zoom meeting on June 4, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/06/notes-from-the-mass-zoom-meeting-on-june-4-2021/) - We had a quorum with Keith, Hank, Harry, Silvio, Phil and myself there for our 75 meeting and 11th one using Zoom. A missed communication kept Dean away and Beth was meeting at the same time with her analog space mission team that will be getting together in Poland this July. Keith did the honor
- [Notes from MASS Zoom meeting on April 23, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/04/notes-from-mass-zoom-meeting-on-april-23-2021/) - Another good group participated for our 74th meeting. Dean, Keith, Hank, Harry, Silvio and I were there for our 10th meeting using Zoom. We again recorded our meeting and I'm proud to announce that with the aid of Keith's expert video editing our first meeting on YouTube already has more than 100 views. Watch out
- [Notes from MASS Zoom meeting on March 26, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/03/notes-from-mass-zoom-meeting-on-march-26-2021/) - We had a good turnout for our 73rd meeting. Dean, Keith, Phil, Hank, Harry and I were there for our 9th get-together on Zoom. We were now comfortable enough with Zoom to have Keith record the meeting. We'll see how well our meeting translates into video format after Keith gives it a once over.To lead
- [Notes from MASS Zoom Meeting on February 26, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/03/notes-from-mass-zoom-meeting-on-february-26-2021/) - We had a good group with Keith, Silvio, Phil, Hank, Jim P., Dean and myself present. With our new start time of 7:30 PM, I was proud that we finished up at 9:30. I think monthly Zoom meetings are helping me keep the get-together to a 2 hour limit. Our first order of business was
- [Notes for MASS Zoom Meeting on January 29, 2021](https://masscosmos.org/2021/02/notes-for-mass-zoom-meeting-on-january-29-2021/) - We had a record turnout for our 71st meeting and the 7th on Zoom. Keith, Dean, Beth, Chad, Silvio, Hank, Harry, Dennis, Beth's mom, Bonnie, and Beth's friend from Green Bay, WI, Lisa, and myself, set a record of 11 people on the call. We started a little later at 7:30 PM to accommodate Dean's
- [Notes for MASS Zoom Meeting on December 11, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/12/notes-for-mass-zoom-meeting-on-december-11-2020/) - We had another good turnout for our 70th meeting and the 6th one using Zoom. Keith, Phil, Silvio, Hank, Beth and Chad joined me in a 2 hour 15 minute summary of events happening in space and astronomy. First order of business was to announce the entries for our next MASS Prize, this time it
- [Notes for MASS Zoom Meeting on November 13, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/11/notes-for-mass-zoom-meeting-on-november-13-2020/) - We had great participation. Dean, Keith, Silvio, Phil, Hank, Jim Plaxco, Harry and I were all on the zoom meeting for 2 1/2 hours. This was our 69th meeting and the 5th one usingBeth on her Mars simulation At meeting start, I quickly covered a few miscellaneous items. First I commented on the first episode
- [Notes for MASS Zoom Meeting Oct. 9, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/10/notes-for-mass-zoom-meeting-oct-9-2020/) - We zoomed again and this time I had some new technology, a new webcam that enabled me to host the meeting from my desktop rather than my overwhelmed laptop. Dean, Harry( by phone), Hank, and surprise participant, Keith, joined me in the discussion. We kept the meeting to 2 1/4 hours but covered a vast
- [MASS Meeting Notes from the Zoom Meeting on August 28, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/08/mass-meeting-notes-from-the-zoom-meeting-on-august-28-2020/) - We zoomed again. Keith helped as co-host and Beth, Chad, Dave and Harry participated. We also had a special participant, Jim Plaxco, President of the Chicago Society for Space Studies, who added his knowledge on the topics we were discussing. First topic was concern about the Space Camp organization going bankrupt. Beth is a two
- [MASS Meeting Notes from Zoom meeting on July 31, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/08/mass-meeting-notes-from-zoom-meeting-on-july-31-2020/) - The pandemic continues but our comfort with Zoom seems to be improving. Co-hosting by Keith improved performance and we were able to play video clips without any problems. I mentioned that July 21st was our 9th anniversary of holding meetings and tonight was our 66th get-together. It was a smaller group of meeting stalwarts with
- [MASS Watch Party for 2nd Launch Attempt of DM2 on May 30, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/06/mass-watch-party-for-2nd-launch-attempt-of-dm2-on-may-30-2020/) - We did it! The US launched 2 astronauts from Florida on a SpaceX Dragon2 capsule! Weather was iffy but it seemed like the clouds opened up and provided an opportunity at the 2:22 PM launch time. Dean, Keith, Hank, Phil and I were all "zoomed" in to share the event. The 1 minute discrepancy among
- [MASS Watch Party for DM2 launch attempt on May 27, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/05/mass-watch-party-for-dm2-launch-attempt-on-may-27-2020/) - Keith, Hank, Harry and I checked into the Zoom meeting to share our experiences for the launch. Unfortunately, the countdown reached T-17 minutes and it was scrubbed for weather criteria. Electrical potential and cumulus clouds plus another factor were all out of bounds for a successful launch. Ironically, 25 minutes later all the weather criteria
- [Bonus Topics Not Discussed during the Zoom MASS Meeting on May 1, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/05/bonus-topics-not-discussed-during-the-zoom-mass-meeting-on-may-1-2020/) - Because of the limitations of Zoom we weren't able to discuss a few miscellaneous topics, I thought I'd share my notes on them before they become too stale. NASA has been having yearly contests of short amateur films made from their archival footage. Here are some recent winners in Cinespace 2019. Particular moving is this
- [MASS Meeting Notes for Zoom meeting on May 1, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/05/mass-meeting-notes-for-zoom-meeting-on-may-1-2020/) - With us all locked down for the coronavirus pandemic, we tried Zoom for a digital meeting. We had good participation with, Keith, Phil, Harry (ending work at Ohare), Hank, Dave (mostly only audio), Beth & Chad, Dean (with a slight delay from technical problems) and myself. I was a little disappointed that when I shared
- [MASS Meeting Notes for February 21, 2020](https://masscosmos.org/2020/02/mass-meeting-notes-for-february-21-2020/) - We had a good turn out after an 18 week hiatus. Dean, Beth, Chad, Harry, Dave, Keith and his friend, Hank and I. The background for my presentation had this interesting photo showing men on horseback riding up to check on the Soyuz capsule with one of the Russian helicopters in the shot. I thought
- [MASS Meeting Notes for October 18, 2019](https://masscosmos.org/2019/10/mass-meeting-notes-for-october-18-2019/) - Silvio, Dave, Harry and I were in attendance for our 63rd meeting.It was ironic that after 8 years we are still waiting for the first manned launch of the Commercial Crew program. A person could have gone through high-school and college in that time. 9 people on ISS for 8 days - from upper left,
- [MASS notes from ApolloPalooza Party,          July 19, 2019](https://masscosmos.org/2019/07/mass-notes-from-apollopalooza-party-july-19-2019/) - This was our 62nd get-together and our 8th anniversary. It was our second meeting as an "eating" event, following our PlutoPalooza 4 years ago. Dean and his wife, Laura, Phil and his wife, Lin, Keith, Dave, Silvio, my wife Carol and I were in attendance. We enjoyed Portillo's beef sandwiches, chopped and fruit salads, a
- [MASS Meeting Notes for June 14, 2019](https://masscosmos.org/2019/06/mass-meeting-notes-for-june-14-2019/) - Dean, Phil, Keith, Phil and I were in attendance for our 61st meeting. I started the event with a series of questions. The first question was who knew what this picture was? Only a couple of people knew that it was the recent picture of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy
- [MASS Meeting Notes for March 29, 2019](https://masscosmos.org/2019/04/mass-meeting-notes-for-march-29-2019/) - We had a good turnout for our 60th meeting with Dean, Phil, Harry, Keith, Silvio, Dave and myself. With so many of the old-timers present, we had to pose for a quick photo in front of the TV with my new presentation software Google Slides showing Starman heading out to an orbit beyond Mars in
- [MASS Meeting Notes for November 16, 2018](https://masscosmos.org/2018/12/mass-meeting-notes-for-november-16-2018/) - I started the meeting with a cool picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. The smile is the distorted image of a galaxy behind the two eyes which has had its light bent by the gravity of the foreground galaxies. The photo was taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 which astronauts installed during the last
- [Casual Space - Podcasting](https://masscosmos.org/2018/11/casual-space-podcasting/) - Join Beth Mund, on her new Space Podcast: Casual Space Podcast !!! She's bringing stories that inspire, and the topic of technical space sciences down to Earth for us all, to help us embrace her experiences, science topics impacting us all, insights, and great interviews on this new and innovative Space Podcast! Make sure to
- [MASS Meeting Notes for July 20, 2018](https://masscosmos.org/2018/08/mass-meeting-notes-for-july-20-2018/) - We had a good turnout with Dean, Keith, Dave, Jim A. and myself in attendance. We started our 7th anniversary meeting with some of our recent experiences. I had finished COD astronomer Joe DalSanto's two astronomy courses each consisting of 12 well produced videos available on YouTube. The course titles are "Stars and Galaxies" and
- [MASS Meeting Notes for April 13, 2018](https://masscosmos.org/2018/04/mass-meeting-notes-for-april-13-2018/) - We were a small group with only Silvio, Dean and myself in attendance. I started the night by sharing my neutrino knowledge that I acquired from a recent COD talk. Neutrinos were first proposed in the 1930s but not detected until the 1960s. About 65 billion neutrinos pass through each area of your body the
- [MASS Meeting Notes for March 9, 2018](https://masscosmos.org/2018/03/mass-meeting-notes-for-march-9-2018/) - Dean, Silvio, Dave, Beth, Chad and I were in attendance for the first meeting of 2018. Last minute work issues prevented Keith and Phil from attending. This meeting turned into a SpaceX Falcon Heavy and Falcon9 fest. I apologize to Dean for delaying our kickoff of the Carl Sagan Cosmos revisit. I promise to minimize my
- [MASS Meeting Notes for December 1, 2017](https://masscosmos.org/2017/12/mass-meeting-notes-for-december-1-2017/) - Dean, Keith, Silvio, Harry, Phil and I were in attendance for our last meeting of 2017. I kicked the meeting off by describing how Carol and I had watched the ISS flyover the previous night around 5:15 PM while we were walking the Prairie Path. Just as the ISS pasted the zenith, we saw another
- [MASS Meeting Notes for October 20, 2017](https://masscosmos.org/2017/10/mass-meeting-notes-for-october-20-2017/) - Who would of thought that we would have a new record for MASS attendance with 10 people. It was almost a "standing room only" situation. There was Dean, Silvio, Jim A., Dave, Harry, Dennis, Beth, Chad, myself and Dave's friend Calvin. One thing I noticed is that when we have that big a group our
- [MASS Meeting Notes for February 19, 2016](https://masscosmos.org/2016/02/mass-meeting-notes-for-february-19-2016/) - Dave, Silvio, Keith, Dean and I were in attendance for the 44th meeting. It was great to see everyone for the first time in 2016. Since Pluto was discovered the day before on Feb. 18th, 1930 and my discovery was on the same day-of-year but in 1949, we celebrated with a bottle of Rogue "Mango
- [MASS Meeting Notes for September 8, 2017](https://masscosmos.org/2017/09/mass-meeting-notes-for-september-8-2017/) - What a delightful meeting we had! Even though I was a little under the weather with a UI, everyone's feedback on the eclipse and the attendance of Beth and her husband Chad added some great discussion to the topics. With Dean, Silvio, Phil, Jim A., Keith and I in attendance, it was a great turnout.
- [MASS Meeting Notes for August 4, 2017](https://masscosmos.org/2017/08/mass-meeting-notes-for-august-4-2017/) - It was a long 9 weeks since the last meeting but we pressed ahead and got our get-together in before the eclipse. Dean, Silvio, Harry, Harry's friend Denny and myself were in attendance. There was no main topic tonight but we all looked forward to Harry briefing us on his multiple-day stay at the Oshkosh
- [MASS Meeting Notes for June 2, 2017](https://masscosmos.org/2017/06/mass-meeting-notes-for-june-2-2017/) - This was our 51st meeting! Again a long 14 weeks between get-togethers. Keith, Silvio, Harry, Dave, Phil, Jim A. and I were in attendance, so it was a great turnout. We were going to shoot for a new Guiness Record for "Number of Topics Discussed" because I had notes for 38 defined topics and 8
- [MASS Meeting Notes for February 24, 2017](https://masscosmos.org/2017/02/mass-meeting-notes-for-february-24-2017/) - This was our 50th meeting! Boy, time sure flies when you're having a good time! Keith, Silvio, Harry, Dave, Phil, Dean and I were in attendance. Since it had been 15 long weeks since our last meeting, we spent quite a bit of time catching up on what people had been up to. Dean made a
- [Looks like 2017 will be a very good year for rocket launches](https://masscosmos.org/2017/01/looks-like-2017-will-be-a-very-good-year-for-rocket-launches/) - I never realized that Trump's picture would be emblazoned at the top of our website for over 3 months because my meeting notes from November 11th were the last update and we did a short story on what his election might mean for the space industry and NASA. So this short article is to help
- [MASS Meeting Notes for November, 11, 2016](https://masscosmos.org/2016/11/mass-meeting-notes-for-november-11-2016/) - This was our 49th meeting. Dean, Harry, Dave and his friend Liz, Keith and I were in attendance. As the first order of business, we all suggested that Keith credit himself on the website. It would not exist without his support and technical expertise. There are quite a few interesting programs coming on this November.
- [MASS Meeting Notes for August 26, 2016](https://masscosmos.org/2016/11/mass-meeting-notes-for-august-26-2016/) - This was our 48th meeting. Jim A., Keith, Phil, Silvio, Dean and I were in attendance. We suggested that Keith add a spot on the web site assigning himself credit as the designer of the site. But so far I don't see a picture or any text related to him. 6/19/16 I went to the CSSS meeting
- [MASS Meeting Notes for June 17, 2016](https://masscosmos.org/2016/07/mass-meeting-notes-for-june-17-2016/) - This was our 47th meeting. Phil, Silvio, Dave, Dean and I were in attendance. Silvio and I related our presence at the Cernan Space Center relaunch on May 24, 2016. There were quite a few dignitaries present, including a couple of mayors and the Triton College President. The last SkyWatch had good news, Dan Troiani
- [MASS Meeting Notes for May 6, 2016](https://masscosmos.org/2016/05/mass-meeting-notes-for-may-6-2016/) - Keith, Phil, Dave, Dean and I were in attendance for our 46th meeting. We started the meeting with a quick review of a couple of Internet astronomy resources. One resource is from an astronomer, Chris Impey, of the University of Arizona. His site TeachAstronomy has a good mix of short text and video clips. Chris
- [MASS Meeting Notes for April 1, 2016](https://masscosmos.org/2016/04/mass-meeting-notes-for-april-1-2016/) - Dave, Jim A., Phil, Silvio and I were in attendance for the 45th meeting. Both Dean and Keith were not able to come due to work commitments. We went with Plan B and hopefully Keith can present his space colonization paper at a future meeting. I did show everyone his article "Space Colonization, What Are
- [MASS Meeting Notes Dec 11, 2015](https://masscosmos.org/2015/12/mass-meeting-notes-dec-11-2015/) - Harry, Keith and I were in attendance for the 43rd meeting. Unfortunately it was a new low in attendance. MassCosmos.org web site comments: the site looks fantastic, with sections “about us” and “deans blog” we can drop the “under construction” tag, Keith should add himself to “about us” as designer with his picture News from
- [MASSCosmos.org](https://masscosmos.org/2015/07/site-construction-is-underway-welcome/) - Hello, my name is James Mueller, co-founder with Dean Mikolajczyk of the "Midwest Astronomy and Space Society" (MASS). You have reached our website! This site is currently being updated at this time. Please come by later in the week as we update the system. Thanks again, for stopping by! - Jim
- [MASS Plutopalooza & 4th Anniversary Meeting](https://masscosmos.org/2015/07/mass-plutopalooza-4th-anniversary-meeting/) - Last Friday the meeting started a half hour early, so that we could dine with plenty of time for subsequent Pluto discussion. The evening started with crackers and a cheese ball imprinted with a heart of cheese. We could call that our version of Tombaugh Regio. Some partook in a "Pluto" beer. Actual Uranus (full
- [MASS Meeting Notes Sept 25, 2015](https://masscosmos.org/2015/10/notes-from-september-25-2015-meeting/) - MASS Meeting Sept 25, 2015 Previous meeting was 8/14/15, in attendance Dean, Phil, Harry, Jim A. & I (5); our 41st meeting; Library with Dean “Shine on Harvest Moon” Monday 9/28/15 7-8 PM I'm taking 4 courses online: Calculus of Ohio State Univ., Geology from Univ. of Illinois, 2 astronomy courses - "The Evolving Universe" from CalTech &
- [MASS Meeting Notes Nov 6, 2015](https://masscosmos.org/2015/11/mass-meeting-notes-nov-6-2015/) - MASS Meeting Nov 6, 2015 Last meeting was 9/25/15, 6 weeks ago, attendees Dean, Phil, Harry, Dave, Sylvio & I (6); Today is our 42nd meeting, in attendance special guest Kevin (our 2nd professional astronomer), Keith, Phil, Sylvio, Ed, Jim A. and Sophia and I (9) Started Meeting with music video “Over the Horizon” produced

## Pages

- [Midwest Stats](https://masscosmos.org/midwest-astronomy-stats/)
- [Links](https://masscosmos.org/links/) - NASA Learning Resources Love the Night Sky Chicago Society for Space Studies Northwest Suburban Astronomers Karl G. Henize Observatory - Harper College New Space Chicago Fox Valley Astronomical Society HubbleCast - Videos National Solar Observatory National Space Society Sky Maps - Free evening sky map downloads The Planetary Society Cernan Space Center Night Sky Network
- [MASS on Commercial Crew](https://masscosmos.org/about-us/commercial-crew/) - MASS Prize for 2021 The new MASS Prize for 2021, is to guess the number of people that will go into space during the calendar year 2021. Flights can be orbital or sub-orbital and may include the Russian Soyuz capsule, the US Dragon, Starliner and Orion capsules, commercial flights from Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin,
- [Space Lectures](https://masscosmos.org/space-lectures/) - Dean Mikolajczyk MS MASS co-founder STEM Educational Coordinator Space Science/Astronomy Lecturer Astrophysicist Rochville University BS U of C Berkeley MS Accomplished NASA Engineer,, Astronomer, and Science Professor Dean Mikolajczyk has provided captivating educational presentations and lectures to space exploration organizations, planetariums, schools, libraries, and special interest groups throughout the Chicagoland area. To schedule a lecture,
- [YOUTUBE](https://masscosmos.org/youtube/)
- [About us](https://masscosmos.org/about-us/) - Jim Mueller PEMASS co-founderAstronomy & Space EnthusiastBS Applied Science and Engineering University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee "I’ve always had a lifelong interest in astronomy and space. I vividly remember my dad pointing out one of the early Sputnik satellites moving across the sky. I still have the 8” Newtonian telescope that my parents purchased for
- [Jim's Blogsite](https://masscosmos.org/jims-blogsite/) - http://masscosmos.blogspot.com/

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://masscosmos.org/category/uncategorized/)
- [Meetings](https://masscosmos.org/category/meetings/)

## Tags

- [meeting](https://masscosmos.org/tag/meeting/)