40 Years of Space Age & Beyond - Concludes successfully

40 Years of Space Age & Beyond 2009 - IYA2009-Sri Lanka

Under the International Year of Astronomy 2009 programs, the Royal College Astronomical Society (RCAS) organized an innovative program called “40 Years of Space Age & Beyond” (FYOSA 09). The program which held from 8th to 9th of December 2009, consist of a workshop, Science Fiction Competition and Exhibition of Apollo 11 moon rocks.

The program gathered more than 6000 visitors which included students, teachers, parents and general public. The workshop and the SF competition had a participation of 30 schools around the country. It was two days filled with astronomical experience.

-FYOSA09 Trailer-



1) FYOSA workshop
2) Science Fiction Competition
3) Apollo 11 moon rocks exhibition


FYOSA workshop
8th December 2009

For the 9th consecutive year the RCAS workshop was held this year under the theme of “40years of Space Age & Beyond” - a look back at the 40years of space programs and future view of missions to space and colonization. The workshop is the long running annual project of RCAS and a much waited event in the local astronomy community.

The workshop kicked off at 10:30am with speeches by College Principle, Teacher in Charge and other guests which followed by an interesting lecture – “Moon Colonization” by Dr. Rohan Munasingha of Moratuwa University. The lecture covered all the aspects of moon colonization including scientific background and ongoing colonization ideas. The lecture was followed by a series of video clips on various important space missions since Apollo 11 and some future ones as well.

One of the highlights of the FYOSA 09 program is the Apollo 11 Moon Rock Display which was set up at the other side of the Workshop hall. The exhibition was officially opened by Dr Rohan Munasingha and Prof Kavan Ratnatunga. All the participated students and teachers were given an opportunity to witness the historical moon rocks.

The workshop also didn’t fail to add some entertainment with few songs by RCAS members. The first phase of the workshop concluded with lunch.
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The second phase was more exciting. The workshop had a participation of about 150 students and teachers, who were divided into 10 groups for the hands-on-activity – moon colonization. The activity held as a competition.
Advisor of RCAS, Mr. Thilina Heenatigala gave instructions to all the students regarding the activity. The students were given various materials and told to make a model of moon colonization. The lecture done by Dr. Rohan Munasingha was very helpful for all the students to understand the crucial issues when designing a moon colony.

Each of the group was given two hours and was judged for the best designed. It was an intense two hours filled with lots of brainstorming, and exchanging ideas, being active and interacting with each other. The groups were judged from the time activity kicked off and judging was done by Mr. Yohan Ferreira and Mr. Wajira Heenatigala. The activity was monitored by Mr. Thilina Heenatigala. It was coordinated by Mr. Abhiruchika Sriyarathna, Mr. Charith Siriwardana and Mr. Udara Chathuranga.

After two hours all the models were displayed in front of the stage and the groups waited for the announcement of the winner. After a while the final decision was made and one team walked away with NASA materials.

Each of the participated schools were given donation package of NASA materials containing CDs, DVDs, posters, Bookmarks, lithographs, etc… which is another initiative RCAS has been active for the past 5 years, which followed by the award ceremony of SF competition.

The program concluded with a promise by RCAS officials to bring more excitement in next year workshop.

Chief Guest: Dr. Rohan Munasinga
Guest of Honor: Prof. Kavan Ratnatunga
Workshop Advisor: Mr. Thilina Heenatigala

Coordinators:
Abhiruchika Sriyarathna
Charith Siriwardana
Udara Chathuranga.

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Science Fiction Competition

The Science Fiction competition is another annual project of the RCAS, which has been running since 1999 and was only open to RCAS members. But this year as a tribute to IYA2009, it was open to all the students around the country. The purpose of the competition is to give an opportunity to explore the vivid imagination of young minds.

There were entries from more than 20 schools around the country, both in Sinahala and English language and in three categories – Junior, Intermediate and Senior. The entries were reviewed by officials from Sri Lanka Astronomical Association and Astronomy & Space Study Center.

The award ceremony was held during the FYOSA 09 workshop. All the entries were given certificates and 3 winners selected in each category, were given special IYA2009 – RCAS medals, a gift pack of NASA materials and certificates.

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Apollo 11 moon rocks exhibition
8th & 9th December 2009

When Neil Armstrong and crew touched the Moon for the first time 40 years ago, they brought back lunar soil with them to Earth. Small potions of these moonstones were donated to various countries by former US President Richard Nixon. Sri Lanka was lucky enough to be one of the countries to receive these stones.

These moonstones were kept at the National Museum of Sri Lanka, but were not available for public display. With special arrangement via Sri Lanka Astronomical Association, RCAS was able to get the National Museum Apollo 11 exhibition set up for public display for two days.

The feedback was immense; the exhibition reached record of more than 6000 visitors for two days. It was a rare opportunity to witness the history as these moonstones are rarely on public display. Also, there were some unforgettable photographs from Apollo 11 mission displayed at the exhibition along with the moonstones.

The second day of the exhibition included Solar viewing through the RCAS telescope (Helen) and screening of various future mission videos.

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Thilina Heenatigala
National Node Secretary
IYA2009 – Sri Lanka


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Sri Lanka IYA2009 National Node

Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

International Year of Astronomy 2009
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Some unforgettable moments:

Opening Ceremony

Moon Colonization Activity

students brainstorming

some of the groups

judges examining models

one group with their model

few of the groups

waiting to hear the winning team

groups with their models

one of the SF competition winners

junior category SF competition winner

the winning group from the Moon Colonization activity

Apollo 11 Moonstones exhibition

Opening Ceremony of the exhibition

part of the exhibition set up

students viewing the moon rocks

students at the exhibition

more students at the exhibition

students gathering up to witness the historical rocks

solar viewing

screening future mission videos at the exhibition

Read More

Moon Rocks from the Apollo 11 Mission

It’s been 40 years since the historical event that change the whole view of the mankind. Scientists says that there are still many answers to be gleaned from the moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago July 20.

Apollo 11 carried the first geologic samples from the Moon back to Earth. In all, astronauts collected 22 kilograms of material, including 50 rocks, samples of the fine-grained lunar "soil," and two core tubes that included material from up to 13 centimeters below the Moon's surface. These samples contain no water and provide no evidence for living organisms at any time in the Moon's history. Two main types of rocks, basalts and breccias, were found at the Apollo 11 landing site.

The Apollo 11 samples and samples from almost every Apollo mission until the last one in December 1972 have been securely housed on the 4th floor of the physics department's Compton Laboratory. Today, the remaining lunar samples in Compton Hall that arrived in 1969 from the Apollo 11 mission and from subsequent Apollo missions in the 1970s are being painstakingly prepared for a return trip to Houston to NASA's moon rocks repository, the Lunar Sample Building at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

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Distribution of the lunar sample displays

In November 1969, then-U.S. President Richard Nixon requested that NASA create approximately 250 displays containing lunar surface material and the flags of 135 nations, U.S. possessions and states.

Each presentation included 0.05 grams of Apollo 11 moon dust, in the form of four small pieces encased in an acrylic button, as well as the flag of the recipient nation or state, also flown on the first manned lunar landing mission.

The displays that were presented to foreign heads of state included the inscription:
Presented to the People of ____________ by Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America.

This Flag of Your Nation was carried to the Moon and Back by Apollo 11 and This Fragment of the Moon's Surface was brought to Earth by the Crew of That First Manned Lunar Landing.

Once gifted, each of the lunar sample displays became the property of the recipient entity and therefore was no longer subject to being tracked by NASA. All other lunar samples' locations are well documented by the U.S. space agency to this day (with exception to similarly gifted Apollo 17 goodwill moon rocks).

As property of the nation or state, the Apollo 11 lunar samples are now subject to the laws for public gifts as set by that country. In most cases, as in the United States, public gifts cannot be legally transferred to individual ownership without the passage of additional legislation.


Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin setting their feet on the moon on July 21, 1969 is a historical achievement. They brought 25 kg of moonstones collected from there recording as a first consignment which brought from a sub planet to the Earth by man are considered to be the most precious scientific specimens of all the time. Portions of the sample have been distributed to 106 “principle investigators” in the United States and 36 in eight other countries. The investigators, all eminent in their specialties included Sri Lankan – late Dr. Cyril Ponnamperuma were selected for this work.

Preliminary examination team at the spacecraft center at Houston was first to scrutinize the samples. Preliminary examination team member’s performed time critical tests considered necessary before prolonged absence from the moon and exposure to Earth’s atmosphere might cause changes in the samples. They also exposed 30 species of animals and plants to lunar samples to test whether “moon germs” caused disease.

A surprising discovery emerged from test for determining approximate age of the moon rocks are about 4billion years.

A part of these stones were gifted to Sri Lanka by former US President Richard Nixon in 1973 and at present kept in the Geological Unit of the National Museums Department.

Sri Lanka National Museum

Display of Moon Rocks

The National Museum of Natural History was established on September 23, 1986, now completes 23 years. A special exhibition titled "Moonstones and mineral resources in Sri Lanka” was held to coincide with the 23rd anniversary.

A poster of the exhibition

The exhibition hall

At this exhibition these moonstones and related important photographs were on display. Exhibiting of Sri Lanka Ministerial Resources is the other part of this exhibition. The schoolchildren and the public got a wide understanding about our resources through those gems, graphite, mineral sands, mica, silica, sand sulphur, clay and limestones found in Sri Lanka.

This exhibition held through 23.09.2009 to 07.10.2009 many schools students and public came to witness the historical moonstones.

Sri Lanka Astronomical Association hopes to collaborate with the National Museum of Natural History to hold more public viewing exhibition of the Moonstones.

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Thilina Heenatigala
General Secretary
Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

w: http://thilinaheenatigala.blogspot.com
e: thilina.heenatigala(AT)yahoo.com


Thanks to Mr. Wajith Abeysinghe – curator at National Museum of Natural History.
Data Sources: NASA archives, National Museum of Natural History, collectSPACE

All photographs are copyrighted by Thilina Heenatigala.


Images:

The four pieces of historical moonstones from the Apollo 11 mission

Apollo 11 lunar sample display

Wording at the bottom of the display

Another view of the display

A poster with the information related to Moonstones

Set of photographs – memories from Apollo 11

Other exhibits

Another set of photographs

Entrance of The National Museum of Natural History

Read More

One small step changed the human perspective

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” were the words of President John F. Kennedy in 1961, as he announced the dramatic and ambitious goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

Few years from that announcement, on 16 July 1969, half a million people gathered near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Their attention was focused on three astronauts—Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins—who lay in the couches of an Apollo spacecraft bolted atop a Saturn V launch vehicle, awaiting ignition of five clustered rocket engines to boost them toward the first lunar landing.

On July 20, 1969, the human race accomplished its single greatest technological achievement of all time when a human first set foot on another celestial body.

Six hours after landing at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining), Neil A. Armstrong took the “Small Step” into our greater future when he stepped off the Lunar Module, named “Eagle,” onto the surface of the Moon, from which he could look up and see Earth in the heavens as no one had done before him.

He was shortly joined by “Buzz” Aldrin, and the two astronauts spent 21 hours on the lunar surface and returned 46 pounds of lunar rocks. After their historic walks on the Moon, they successfully docked with the Command Module “Columbia,” in which Michael Collins was patiently orbiting the cold but no longer lifeless Moon.

The landing on the Moon is unquestionably the greatest technological achievement of the twentieth and possibly any other century.

Lunar Plaque

After more than 2½ hours on the lunar surface, the Apollo 11 crew left behind scientific instruments and a plaque (mounted on the LM Descent Stage ladder) bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and Richard Nixon. The inscription read Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind. They also left behind a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace and a silicon message disk.

Other plaques from Apollo missions.

Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages

The Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages are statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a 50-cent piece made of silicon that was left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
Even though Sri Lanka was invited to submit a Goodwill message, recently I learned that we did not!
Read more on this at “No Moon, please – we’re Ceylonese: How Sri Lanka lost the Moon…

Apollo Landing Sites Imaged by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The picture above shows the the Lunar Module, the part that stayed behind on the Moon when Armstrong and Aldrin blasted back up off the surface. It was essentially dead weight, so the LM was designed to split in half, with the top half (the aptly-named Ascent Module) going back up into orbit to meet with Michael Collins in the Command Module. From there they returned to Earth.

The Descent Module is about 4 meters or so across, and the image, above taken when the Sun was low on the horizon, clearly shows the DM and its shadow cast across the lunar surface. The region where they landed was fairly smooth, so the module is the only thing large enough in the image to cast an appreciable shadow.


LRC took images of the other Apollo sites as well.

All images credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University

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