While we move toward encounter day, things are going at a somewhat frenzied pace. On top of the coordination of Deep Impact Hawaii outreach programs, we continue our engagement with communities in presentations (Koa and Na Pua No`eau), assisting MKAEC Astro-Vaganza teacher conference, Girl Scouts Observational Excursion and AstroTalks. Tonight, we feature Todd May, NASA Discovery Mission Program Manager, followed by an observing session on the Faulkes Telescope with Kamehameha School educator Tom Chun and his students as they prepare themselves for Deep Impact. But before the evening comes...(insert Led Zeppelin tune here), we've a lot to do. First, pick up the Deep Impact Hawaii outreach T-Shirts from Creative Arts Hawaii, who did a wonderful job with the imprinting. These shirts then need to be folded and sorted for shipment to their respective locations on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. More posters and banners to print for our Maui, Hilo and VIS locations. Obtain confirmations from Na Leo for carrying the NASA TV signal that will be on the HITS network feed, pick up the classroom keys for all of our sites. We need to finalize the copy for our advertisements to Hilo and Maui newspapers. Jump to some radio stations to voice a last pitch for our events. Make media contacts for establishing image distribution on the event night... and a thousand other things that I cannot begin to think about just yet. Jeez, I just spent 2 hours updating this website with information about streaming video archives of our last 2 speakers and this column. Okay, back to work now ....
Late news: we took delivery of the CGE 11" Celestron OTA late today, and Mike Connelley was like a kid at Christmas feverishly unwrapping and mounting the scope. We hope to get it tested over the weekend.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - Tempel jet, Gary Maui Bound
While the Hubble Space Telescope captured images of a dramatic new jet streaming from Comet Tempel 1, Gary readies himself for a trip to Maui. Last night, I had a chance to meet some NASA people who have come out in support of a Girl Scout exploration & observation expedition, before heading over to UCB 100 for an AstroTalk featuring Maura Rountree-Brown, Deep Impact Outreach Coordinator. This happens to be the beginning of an AstroTalk Marathon week, and Maura's talk was attended by 60 people - not bad of a crowd for the middle of summer. Most were probably very interested in the upcoming Deep Impact mission, which Maura covered quite well. So, I'll be gone to Maui in the morning, but I'm afraid it won't be as wonderful as it sounds, as I'll be tasked to get a lot of coordinating work done in a very short period of time. Besides working out a location for the outreach program at the Maui Community College, we have to figure on a place to feature the amateur astronomers and their telescopes, work with the staff to make sure that campus lighting in that area are turned off during the event night. We also need to figure out how to get the NASA TV signal into the venue, and do some preliminary testing on the video conferencing. If there is any time left, I would like to be able to drop by the Maui News building and go over a few details on an advertisement we are taking out, and to see if there are possibilities in working on a feature story on Deep Impact with an angle on the Faulkes Telescope. Then, its back to Hilo in support of Alex Filippenko's return engagement AstroTalk at the UCB100. This is shaping up to be a very cool week!
Monday, June27, 2005 - Another busy day
The start of a new work week will have us busy today. First, a visit to B97 radio station to talk story with DC in the Morning about our AstroTalks this week. Then, a quick sprint back to the office to meet up with tonight's AstroTalk presenter Maura Rountree-Brown. A quick bite to eat before running over to UCB100 with my audio mixer, microphones and cables, computers and iSight cameras for a full technology test. This major test will bring all the technologies together to see how they integrate with each other. The audio from Powerpoint presentations, video conferencing and the live speakers all need to be piped through the house PA system. There will be a number of video feeds into the projection system, including the NASA TV, video conferencing, images from various telescopes and powerpoint presentations, and a secret, yet to be revealed special feature. We will employ a program director, who will have a bank of monitors to look at, and have the responsibility to queue up and switch video feeds from one source to another in a seamless segue. That's the plan, anyway. After the tests, I may have an hour to relax before heading over for dinner at the UHH Campus Center with some NASA folks and Girl Scouts of America coordinators to go over details on some of the programming for their group throughout the week. After dinner, a quick sprint over to the University to set up for the AstroTalk that begins at 7:00 pm. After closing shop, zip back home to grab a short observing session on the Faulkes Telescope via remote (weather permitting). I am hoping to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep before boarding a plane to fly out to Maui Tuesday morning at 8:00 to work on program coordination at Maui Community College.
Sunday, June 26, 2005 - Hokualaka`i news
On the KGMB 10:00 evening news, Stacy Loe reported that the crews of Hokualaka`i and Hokule`a celebrated after making landfall on Mokumanamana and Nihoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands. Video clips showed the two crews congratulating each other on board the Hokualaka`i, followed by an interview with her captain Kalepa Baybayan, who mentioned that it was a great statement for what the Hokule`a and `Aha Punana Leo have accomplished in terms of being a leader in revitalizing and preserving the Hawaiian culture through the Hawaiian language. It was good to see my friends and fellow crewmates in good spirits and health, and I send a wish for safe passage back home.
Friday, June 24, 2005 - Hawaii mention in a National Story?
We're going to have a lot of fun at the University of Hawaii at Hilo UCB room 100 with the support and participation of all of the observatories on Mauna Kea. Deep Impact is an event that demonstrates that the observatories are working together in pursuit of science and to provide a substantive outreach program for our community here on Hawaii Island. Today, we'll be finalizing the preparations for delivery of the NASA TV live feed from Olelo Community Television in Mapunapuna on Oahu, to all of the islands. We will also check on the infrastructure at each of our venues to ensure that we can offer the best services to their respective communities. It seems like a lot to do, but what I like to focus on is the fact that we are meeting and dealing with committed, supportive folks willing to go the extra mile to help us facilitate this momentous event. Like Al Honda, Media Specialist with the University of Hawaii at Hilo, who has really been instrumental in helping me understand the HITS network, and its video feed technology with respect to the NASA TV service. Okay, 'nuff for now, and as one of partners, Bishop Museum has coined, this is a "Comet Collision Countdown", and its T minus 10 days and counting...
Thursday, June 23, 2005 - It just keeps getting better ...
Yes, it does! We will now be able to receive and display a live NASA TV feed to our event in Hilo, after talking with a few cable engineers on Oahu and Hilo. We should be able to display it on a huge HD plasma display that Gemini Observatory has generously offered for our event. Peter Michaud will be at their summit facility with the science team as a liaison to our program in Hilo. We are proud and happy to include our friends at Gemini Observatory in our Deep Impact Hawaii outreach program! We are also in discussion with Subaru Telescope to welcome their participation in our program with Cathy Ishida on our panel. They have a unique observing plan that could allow a very special feature that I am not at liberty to discuss. But suffice it to say if things go according to plan, we should be able to offer a very rare opportunity for the public to experience the Deep Impact event - stay tuned for more details as they become available...
Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - Yet More Deep Impact Preparations
Just when you thought it may be safe to visit this website again, we post another entry about our (seemingly) never-ending preparations for our Deep Impact Hawaii outreach programs (or at least that is what the title would have you believe). Amidst all of the minutia of details one must attend to, it is refreshing to step back and enjoy the moment. Yesterday, while trying to conduct our network load tests (and having some difficulty), we ran into some friends old and new. While at the University of Hawaii at Hilo UCB100, we met a member of the Haleakala Amateur Astronomers (HA`A), Thomas Ingalls of Maui. I recently got to know of Thomas through my interaction with some other HA`A members in the context of coordinating the Deep Impact Maui outreach program). Thomas stopped by with a friend of his, Stan who lives on the Big Island. After updating them about my plight in not being able to access our event venue for tests, they offered to come back to my office and help move equipment. Back at the office, while trying to establish video conferences with the summit, UH88 T/O Dan stopped by, along with Koa, our new Community Outreach Assistant. Following not far behind was recent UH Hilo Astronomy grad, Alex who stopped by to say that he was leaving Hawaii in a week to attend graduate school in Toronto, Canada. Although it was with some sadness that I realize he was leaving us, it comes with the happiness in knowing that Alex is beginning a new chapter in his life while he pursues a doctorate degree in astronomy. It really is cool that a love of the celestial heavens have brought so many wonderful people into my life ... if for only it seems, a brief moment.
Monday, June 20, 2005 - Deeply Impacted
Do you ever tell yourself or others that you're just too busy? I used to think I was busy until I decided to undertake the coordination of four Deep Impact outreach events on three islands. I like to think that I thrive on challenges, but this project seems to indicate I possess masochistic tendencies. The idea is sound, but the implementation can be a bugger. Booking speakers and recruiting volunteers for different venues, arranging transportation for some of the staff, convincing astronomers to participate in video conferences, working with other event coordinators, creating artwork, ad copy for promotions, printing posters, collecting giveaway materials, shipping them out, conducting video conferencing tests... It's all I can do to keep up with myself ... and then there are the day-to-day responsibilities of running an outreach office in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. Yes, aside from this major project, I am also coordinating the activities of the Office of Science Education and Public Outreach for the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. But you know what? Its not that bad, it certainly is not as bad as it sounds because I have surrounded myself with people who are as committed as I am to what they do. And so, even though it may outwardly appear as though I am busting my hump trying to do twenty million things, it really isn't. Monday, we conduct a major network site simulation test, where we test our network capabilities by establishing multiple Polycom video conference connections between Mauna Kea observatory summit and base facilities and Manoa, and transferring large files with Computer Section Head Pui-Hin Rhoades and Network Systems Engineer Miranda Hawarden-Ogata. These two exceptional women are going through great lengths to make sure our Mauna Kea Observatories Communication Network will be up to the task of supporting all of the observers at all of the telescopes on the mountain, and the whims of a certain outreach officer in Hilo. Thanks guys, there is no way the Deep Impact Hawaii Outreach Program can be possible without your concerted efforts.
Thursday, June 16, 2005 - Deep Impact Hilo
Our Deep Impact Hawaii - Hilo Outreach Program will be a showcase of the collaborative efforts of all of the observatories on Mauna Kea toward science and outreach objectives. In an unprecedented event, all of the telescopes on the summit of the highest mountain in the Pacific will be watching the NASA Deep Impact mission and all will be participating in outreach in several locations throughout the state. While Keck Observatory holds their public event in Waimea, the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station will have extra staff and volunteers manning telescopes for their regular program at the 9200 foot elevation of Mauna Kea. But Hilo will be the place to be, where NASA Discovery Program Manager and Outreach Manager Todd May and Shari Asplund, will be joined by Subaru Telescope astronomer Cathy Ishida and UH Hilo astronomy professor Richard Crowe. Images from telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea and Haleakala will be shared in near real-time with the crowd. But perhaps the most interesting feature of the Hilo outreach program will be the video conferences with astronomers studying the event at the observatories. For the first time, the public will be given the opportunity to see what astronomers do, how they do it, and why. So don't forget to come by the University of Hawaii at Hilo UCB Room 100 on Sunday, July 3rd from 6:00 pm until ...
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - Deep Impact Maui
Our Deep Impact Hawaii - Maui Outreach Program is coming together very nicely. First of all, we will have the event in the Ka Lama Building on the Maui Community College Campus in Kahului. We'll have Sharon Price, Kalaheo High School science teacher as our MC, a UH IfA astronomer or two, videoconferences with teachers and students using the Faulkes Telescope, images of the comet throughout the evening, and telescopes on the campus hosted by amateur astronomers on Maui. Rob Ratkowski and Robert Christensen and several of their friends on Maui have agreed to participate in our Deep Impact Maui outreach program. They will set up their telescopes up near the Ka Lama Building and provide views of the comet to the general public on the event night. Some of the telescopes they will bring range from 10" dobsonians, and a 9.25" Schmitt Cassegrain. Robert has also generously offered the use of some equipment from a company he runs called Pacific Rim Productions. We are looking at utilzing a pair of 42" plasma displays for our video conferencing and to show images of the comet. We hope to make the Maui event very special for their community, and to share some of the work that students and teachers are doing with the Faulkes Telescope on Haleakala.
Friday, June 10, 2005 - Deep Impact Outreach Program
Aloha kakou. We have begun the official countdown to our Deep Impact Hawaii Outreach Program, that will take place on Sunday, July 3rd HST. There will be public events located throughout the state, including Waikiki Beach, Bishop Museum, Maui Community College, Hilo and Waimea. For our Hilo, Maui and Bishop Museum programs, we should have available near real-time images of the comet from the Faulkes Telescope on Haleakala and a Celestron CGE 1100 telescope on Mauna Kea - we want to acknowledge and thank Celestron for their support of our outreach programs, which will be ongoing! Last night, intrepid IfA graduate student and ardent amateur astronomer Mike Connelley and Hilo Astronomy Club president Dave Brennen braved the brisk winds at the VIS last night for a flight test of a Meade DSI imager coupled to an old Celestron orange tube telescope, mounted on an old but sturdy Takahashi equatorial mount owned by IfA graduate student and astrophotographer Wei-Hao Wang. Mike said that although the winds were very strong, the Takahashi provided rock-steady performance. As a matter of fact, he tried to test the vibration damping time by tapping on the tube, and discovered that while tracking on Jupiter at around 300x, there were no vibrations at all. Given how windy the summit of Mauna Kea can be, this test at the mid-level facility shows that the mount may be our salvation for the Deep Impact imaging campaign for our outreach programs. Mike and Dave will have their work cut out for themselves on encounter night, as the timing of the collision occurs while the sky is still bright. We are hoping that by doing several summit runs on location on the target, we can pre-polar align and mark the ground, to reduce setup time and get on-target as quickly as possible. We hope to receive the Celestron CGE 1100 soon to continue refining our program.
Thursday, June 9, 2005 - Deep Impact - Encounter with Comet Tempel 1
Well, we finally got the Deep Impact Hawaii press packet finalized earlier today. The arduous task of getting information collected from several sources, and compiled into a package that can be provided to media was more difficult than anticipated, but I think the final product turned out fairly good. We will be issuing the press packet to coincide with NASA's Briefing on June 9, we were just in time for sure. We received some great news from Torrence, California today. Celestron will be providing a CGE 1100 OTA for our outreach program! We will have the scope up on Mauna Kea providing near real-time images of the comet during the event on July 3rd (HST). We will be imaging Comet Tempel 1 before, during and after the impact, and sharing the images with the public attending the outreach events we'll be holding on several islands. We also hope to post images on this website for anyone in the world to access on encounter night. I just want to take the time to thank Rick Hedrick, Senior Vice-President of Celestron for supporting our Deep Impact Hawaii program by providing us the CGE 1100 telescope.
Thursday, June 2, 2005 - Back from Sea Trials
Just returned from Keauhou for the first leg of sea trials for Hokualaka`i, Hilo's Polynesian voyaging canoe. The trip began last Sunday, leaving Hilo Pier and traveling around south, past Kumukahi Point, Kalae Point, then mooring overnight at Puuhonua o Honaunau bay on Monday night. We departed the following day for Kealakekua Bay to pick up some students of the University of Hawaii College of Hawaiian Studies for a cruise to the Captain Cook Memorial, and some snorkeling in the bay before a short sail back to drop them off. We then headed for Keauhou Harbor to dock Hokualaka`i, where she was greeted by several crew members and her sister canoe the Ke a`eloa, which was towed there on a trailer. It was bittersweet to return, as we all missed our families for our brief time at sea, but on the other hand, were all somewhat reluctant to leave Hokualaka`i and return to our regular mundane lives. As I headed to Radio Bay to pick up my vehicle the next morning, there was a sudden realization that it was over, and the cruel reality of phone calls, traffic, deadlines and commitments had returned to my consciousness, from where it had been banished for all too brief a period of time. Out at sea, one was concerned only for the craft and crew and in times of leisure, the sharing of a story or two. I arrived at my vehicle, and looked out at the dock. Hokualaka`i was not there, and would not return for quite some time. I miss her already. [Read the front page story on Hokualaka`i from the June 1st edition of the West Hawaii Today newspaper article]
