Greetings!
The past week has been filled with a lot of Astronomy and Space interactions. I got the pleasure of spending the day with our Celestron NexStar Telescope and its solar filter Saturday at Sky Island Homestead Harvest fest. There were a lot of eyeballs trying to find sun spots and lots of great connections. Was fun to see a few of you out there!
We were able to spend a few nights with the telescope looking for comet tsuchinshan-atlas. A few guests were able to come and see it too! Phillip captured one more photo. We are going to try and see it again TONIGHT, 10/29. Come over around 6. Will only be visible for an hour or so after sunset.
I got the opportunity to participate in the Maine Space Conference Wednesday-Friday. Three days crammed with panel conversations, presentations, and keynote speakers. Most of the topics had to do with engineering and science concepts that quite frankly went over my head. I still made a point to listen and take in as much as I could. There were also talks about k-12 education, women in STEM, Space law, and conservation/sustainability. I sat on a panel for Astro Tourism and Dark Skies.
I am being encouraged and making strides to be on the Board of Directors for the Maine Space Corporations. I’ve honestly been so unsure as to why I would be on this board or why anyone would want me there. The final panel conversation I attended was Maine Space Corporation’s Workforce Roadmap: Goals and Strategies for Growing a Space Workforce. I figured I had to go to this one.
In this talk they discussed how to bring more jobs to Maine that pertain to the Space Industry. What are actions that need to be taken? They talked about manufacturing and improving higher education. The conversation took a turn to k-12 education importance. It all begins with how we treat our children in their education in the beginning.
Sascha Deri, a board member, made a point that really stuck with me. He brought up that in Maine the school system sort of segregates the exceptional students and the average students. The honors students are encouraged to be further book smart but aren’t shown how to use a tool. The average and below average students are pushed into trade but aren’t encouraged academically.
It became clear to me at that moment why I was there, why I’m going to be a board member. It is to mend the complicated with the simple. Rocket science and astronomy can become tangible to every person. I feel passionate about encouraging more people in Maine to want to be a part of the space industry in a meaningful way. Whether it is to protect our dark skies or to build things that will go to space.
Rooms filled with people who are all so different in their skills and opinions working for the same mission made me reflect on the election. No matter the outcome, I hope we as a community aren’t overly divided. I’ve voted, I hope you do too and I hope it’s a vote that you thought long and hard about. More importantly, let's focus on what is important after it is all done. It’s our peaceful relationships with our neighbors. I hope we can set aside our politics, be there to meet each other’s needs, and be understanding of one another.
Phillip photographed the Heart and Soul Nebula this week. Or IC 1805 and IC 1848. I thought it was rather fitting with the way I am feeling about the election and the space industry. Lets focus on the heart and soul of our community, not the parade of politics.
Hope you have a great week. Soak in the last of the leaves and see the comet!
P.S. I'll be planting 1,000 plus garlic cloves this week and harvesting carrots/yams. Let me know if you'd like to help!
-Gwendolyn