StarFest 2015 Registration Form.pages

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StarFest 2015
Attend our 32nd annual event on October 23-25 at Bays Mountain Park!
Greetings Everyone!
The 32nd StarFest at Bays Mountain Park is soon
upon us. Expect beautiful fall colors, cooler
weather, and lots of astronomy fun for this
astronomical convention/star party. The event is
hosted by the Bays Mountain Astronomy Club
(BMAC) and the staff of Bays Mountain Park. It is
being held on October 23-25, 2015. It is run as a
non-profit event, so registration is as
low as possible.
The theme
of this year’s
event is
“What Does
Human Space
Exploration
Mean?” At first
thought, one
conjures
fantastic voyages
with humans in space; gaining a first-hand
experience of lands unknown. It can also mean
humans using space probes, whether in Earth orbit
or on a journey of their own, to let us humans
explore with great safety. This theme can also
represent what most of us do, explore the outer
reaches. We use our telescopes though, from
research class to home-made, to be our means of
transportation.
Our fantastic keynote speakers have been handpicked to represent these many facets of human
space exploration. Please read the keynote speaker
notes for an insight into what StarFest 2015 will
provide.
This year includes four distinctive keynote
speakers; five great meals; door prizes; the ever
popular swap shop (no extra fee, but let us know to
reserve a table); solar viewing; night-time observing
(both private on Fri. and with the public on Sat., so
bring your favorite scope); and the exceptional
planetarium will be open.
In addition to all the StarFest activities, there are
public programs and activities available at the park,
such as the wildlife
exhibits,
planetarium shows,
barge ride, and
plenty of trails to
explore.
A unique facet of
StarFest is a
commemorative
T-shirt with
one-of-a-kind
artwork that is included with each
registration. Deborah Mann from the Park’s
exhibits staff has created a special, nostalgic design
to represent this year’s theme. I know you’ll be
pleased with the art.
This three-day long gathering is
filled with great activities, but also
makes sure there’s quality free
time for you to explore the Park
and enjoy the camaraderie of your
fellow StarFesters. Attendance will
be limited and registration must be
received prior to the deadline, Oct. 2, 2015. To be
fair to our registered delegates, there are no
walk-ins nor “visits.” Please complete the
registration sheet for each person and mail, fax, or
e-mail it in so we can see you in October. If you use
a credit card, you can write it on the sheet or call
me or Jason Dorfman and we can process it for you.
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StarFest 2015 Registration
Adam Thanz - StarFest 2015 Chair
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Keynote Speakers/Activities
We’ve gone the extra mile to arrange for presenters
that will surely be a hit. Here they are in
chronological order:
Friday Night:
Carrie Nugent
Scientist
NEOWISE Team
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asteroids and comets, and has discovered more than
34,000 asteroids.
Near-Earth asteroids are attractive targets for
human or robotic missions. NEOWISE has
discovered and characterized asteroids that meet
the qualifications for being human-accessible, as
defined by the Near-Earth Object Human Space
Flight Accessible Targets Study. Additionally,
NEOWISE discovered the only known object to
share Earth’s orbit around the sun, 2010 TK7.
Bio:
Dr. Nugent received her Ph.D. in Geophysics and
Space Physics from UCLA. She’s currently a
scientist at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and
Analysis Center. As a member of the NEOWISE
team, she spends her days doing science and
hunting for asteroids. Asteroid 8801 Nugent is
named in her honor.
------------------------------------
Saturday Morning:
John B. Charles
NASA Johnson Space Center
Title:
“Near-Earth Asteroids: Exploring Our Extraterrestrial
Neighbors”
Abstract:
Near-Earth asteroids, our extraterrestrial neighbors,
often capture the public’s imagination. I will talk
about what asteroids are made of, cover both recent
and long-ago impacts, and describe how unknown
asteroids are discovered by the NEOWISE
mission.
NEOWISE is an infrared asteroid-hunting
telescope in a sun-synchronous orbit around the
Earth. Every eleven seconds, it takes an image;
every six months, it covers the entire sky. Using a
supercomputer and old-fashioned by-eye checks,
the NEOWISE team searches those images to
discover new asteroids. Over the course of its
mission, NEOWISE has observed over 158,000
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Title:
“So You Want to Go to Mars? - Biomedical Aspects of
Early Interplanetary Expeditions and How NASA is
Preparing Today”
Abstract:
Long-range planning for exploration-class missions
emphasizes the need for anticipating the medical
and human factors aspects of such expeditions.
Details of mission architecture are still under study,
but a typical Mars design reference mission
comprises a six-month transit from Earth to Mars,
eighteen months in residence on Mars, and a sixmonth transit back to Earth. Physiological stresses
will come from environmental factors such as
prolonged exposure to radiation, weightlessness en
route to Mars and then back to Earth, and low
gravity and a toxic atmosphere while on Mars.
Psychological stressors will include remoteness
from Earth, confinement, and potential
interpersonal conflicts, all complicated by circadian
alterations. Medical risks including trauma must be
considered. The role of such risk-modifying
influences as artificial gravity and improved
propulsion technologies to shorten round-trip time
will also be reviewed. NASA’s on-going efforts to
reduce the risks to humans on exploration-class
missions, including the year-long ISS expedition
and its Twins Study, will be presented.
Bio:
John B. Charles, Ph.D., earned his B.S. in
biophysics at The Ohio State University and his
doctorate in physiology and biophysics at the
University of Kentucky. He has been at the Johnson
Space Center since 1983, first as a postdoctoral
fellow and then as a civil servant. He investigated
the cardiovascular effects of space flight on Space
Shuttle astronauts and on crew members of the
Russian space station Mir. He was Mission Scientist
for the NASA research on American astronauts on
Mir, on John Glenn’s Shuttle flight and on STS-107,
Columbia’s last mission in January 2003. He cochaired the 18th “Humans in Space Symposium” of
the International Academy of Astronautics in
Houston in 2011. Dr. Charles is now the Associate
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Manager for International Science of NASA’s
Human Research Program and leads NASA’s space
life sciences planning for the joint US/Russian oneyear mission on ISS. He is a Fellow of the
Aerospace Medical Association and a Full Member
of the International Academy of Astronautics, has
published over 60 scientific articles, and has
received several professional awards.
------------------------------------
Saturday Morning Planetarium Show:
Bays Mountain Productions
Title:
“Exploring New Horizons”
We are proud to present our latest in-house
planetarium production to all of you.
“Exploring New Horizons” looks at Pluto, the New
Horizons mission, planetary discovery, and most
importantly, the scientific method. We travel
through time to witness the forward progression of
discovery in our Solar System and find out how
important the scientific method really is. We see
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how Pluto was discovered and how we understand
Title:
it today as the most popular of dwarf planets. We
“Mars: The Ultimate Destination?”
also ride along the New Horizons spacecraft and
experience Pluto first hand. A live activity
highlights Pluto’s discovery and the show ends with Abstract:
When President Kennedy announced his intention
a live update of the New Horizons mission.
to land men on the Moon more than a half-century
ago, the National Aeronautics & Space
-----------------------------------Administration (NASA) changed… overnight.
NASA became a one-issue agency, and, like many
single-issue groups, once it accomplished its
Saturday Afternoon:
mission it wasn’t sure what to do next. Once the
Panel Discussion
United States met its self-imposed deadline, the
momentum that enabled this accomplishment
This presentation will be a guided discussion on
quickly evaporated. No human being has left low“human exploration” with our keynote speakers. It
Earth orbit (LEO) since Apollo 17 in 1972. Earlier
will be very interesting to see how each sees this
that same year, the U.S. decided to press ahead with
topic and what their viewpoints will be.
the Space Shuttle, and in 1984 it decided to build a
space station (now known as the International
Space Station or ISS). The United States had
——————————————————
restarted its human spaceflight program — by
limiting itself to the cul-de-sac of low-Earth orbit.
Saturday Evening:
Due to several recent developments – including a
Presidential directive in 2010, the return of an
Rob Landis, NASA Headquarters
asteroid sample via Hayabusa that same year, the
Science Mission Directorate
high-visibility Chelyabinsk asteroid impact event in
Planetary Science Division
2013, and the pending launch of OSIRIS-REx in
2016 to the asteroid Bennu — interest in robotic
and human exploration of near-Earth asteroids
(NEAs) has never been greater. Before
contemplating piloted missions to these small
‘nearby’ worlds, however, it is essential to complete
a survey of the NEA population in order to find
suitable targets to explore.
The challenges of sending humans to Mars are
daunting and formidable. And NASA has yet to
emerge from a nearly half-century-long identity
crisis. Is Mars the ‘ultimate destination’ for human
exploration? If so, what does that mean? Should
there be an ultimate destination? Would declaring
Mars as the ultimate destination re-make NASA,
once again, into a one-issue agency? Perhaps the
ultimate destination is… The Solar System.
Bio:
Rob Landis is currently assigned to NASA
Headquarters in Washington, DC and is the NEO
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program officer in the Planetary Science Division.
history. We have climbed to the highest points on
He has an eclectic set of science and mission
this planet to see better and farther. Getting
operations leadership and hands-on experience
beyond the ocean of air that dulls our vision has
ranging from space-based observatories (the
brought us closer to the farthest reaches of the
Hubble Space Telescope and the Rossi X-ray
Universe. The merger of rockets and astronomy has
Timing Explorer); deep space missions (Cassinia long and storied history that we will spend a little
Huygens and the Mars Exploration Rovers [MER]); time on Sunday morning. Our knowledge of
planetary surface operations (MER - Spirit and
astronomy owes much to those who lifted our
Opportunity); and, in piloted spaceflight
vision from Earth into space. From Tsiolkovsky to
(International Space Station and Shuttle). Both as
SpaceX and in between, we will wander around
an ISS flight controller and operations lead, he has
space history a bit.
lived abroad for extensive periods to support ISS
mission operations in Russia and Germany. Rob has Bio:
a passion for advancing humanity’s presence across
the Solar System. He earned his B.S. in astrophysics Paul Lewis is the outreach astronomer in residence
at UT Knoxville and NASA/JPL Solar System
from Michigan State University and an M.S. in
space studies from the University of North Dakota. Ambassador. He's been the astronomy go-to guy
for UT Knoxville for over 20 years.
After nearly 7 years in the planetarium field, he
began his NASA odyssey at Space Telescope
Science Institute (STScI) implementing moving
target [planetary] observations on the Hubble
Space Telescope (HST), perhaps the most notable
being the Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts on
Jupiter in 1994.
------------------------------------
Sunday Morning:
Paul Lewis
Director, Space Science Outreach
UT Knoxville
Title:
“Bacon, Eggs & Bottle Rockets”
Abstract:
Ah yes! Nothing says wake up like breakfast with
100 of your friends new and old and a short history
of rockets and astronomy. I think most people
think of astronomy in terms of what we see
through the eyepiece of a telescope. True enough
that we spend some of our time sharing ourselves
and our equipment with those who have a passing
interest in our passion. Some are content to spend
time immersed in a good book on astronomy
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Meals
What’s StarFest without great food? We think
you’ll be excited about our menu. Please pay
attention if you want the vegetarian option for any
specific meal in case you don’t want the main dish.
Friday Dinner
Pulled Pork Barbecue
Vegetarian: Spinach Ravioli w/ Marinara Sauce
Jonathan's Smokehouse Beans
Tossed Spring Mix Salad
Banana Pudding
Sweet & Unsweet Iced Tea
Saturday Breakfast
Large Homemade Muffins
Fresh Fruit
Coffee, Milk, OJ
Saturday Lunch
Delicious deli sandwiches on freshly baked
authentic New York sesame, whole wheat and plain
bagels with Boars Head brand roast beef and black
forest ham or homemade chicken salad. All with
tomatoes and lettuce
Vegetarian: vegetable cream cheese spread on a bagel,
topped with thinly sliced cucumbers lettuce and tomato
Cucumber and Corn Salads.
Sweet & Unsweet Iced Tea
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Saturday Dinner
Sliced Smoked Turkey
Vegetarian: Grilled Portobello Mushroom
Corn Muffins
Baked Potato w/ Fixins
Steamed Mixed Vegetables
Strawberry Shortcake
Vanilla Ice Cream
Sweet & Unsweet Iced Tea
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Sunday Breakfast
Pratt’s Tennessee Breakfast:
Eggs
Vegetarian: Egg, Cheese & Spinach Casserole
Fresh Fruit
Bacon
Hash Browns
Grits
Biscuit
Gravy (no meat)
Coffee, Milk, OJ
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Important Information:
Welcome
The fun starts in the Farmstead each day. That’s the
large log structure at the top of the parking lots.
But, we will be in other areas of the Park during the
event, so pay attention to the tentative schedule.
Check-in will start at 5 p.m., and no earlier. For
those setting up for the swap shop, there will be
tables on the main level of the Farmstead. There is
no additional fee for the swap shop, but let us know
so we can reserve a table for you. You will be able to
leave your content out for the full event as the
building will be locked when we are not inside. But,
access will NOT be available UNTIL 5 p.m. on
Friday.
Please park in the main lots and NOT in the staff
lot by the lower back door of the Nature Center.
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The Park does not have showers and camp fires are
This will be out of the way of the general public
not allowed in the Park.
and more secluded. Please, do not pitch a tent
anywhere near the parking lots nor
observatory. You can also sleep in your
T-shirt
car or bring a small camper/popup.
Included with each
Please don’t park your camper near
registration is
the Farmstead, but the side lots
the unique Tnear the Amphitheater is a
shirt
great place. StarFest is the
designed
only event in which we
and made for
allow non-primitive
this StarFest.
camping.
The shirt is a
For those wanting a little more
stonewashed blue
comfiness in the evening, we have
with a stunning retroarranged
for a special rate of $99+tax/night
distressed design on the
at the Marriott MeadowView Resort. This
front. There is a 32nd
is
the closest and the most luxurious
Anniversary StarFest logo
amenity in the region. A four+ star facility.
on the left sleeve. The
Call
the MeadowView (423-578-6600) and
shirt is 100% cotton, so
ask for the StarFest rate or see the website
consider shrinkage after
to
use the link to get the special rate. This
washing when choosing
rate is guaranteed up to Oct. 2, 2015. Here’s
size. The shirt is available from S - 3X. Additional
the
link:
shirts can be pre-ordered and are $16 each. They
http://www.marriott.com/meeting-event-hotels/
are available through pre-payment with
group-corporate-travel/groupCorp.mi?
registration.
resLinkData=Starfest%5Etricc%60stastaa
%6099.00%60USD%60false
Observing
%6010/23/15%6010/25/15%6010/2/15&app=resvlink
Observing is easy at Bays Mountain. Both day and
&stop_mobi=yes
night viewing is at our observatory area. We have a
There are other hotels and motels in the region for
number of scopes, but they will not be available all
additional sleeping options.
night. If you want to observe more, please bring
your own equipment. Some rules: do not park at
the observatory area and definitely not on the
access road. You can leave your scope out all day
unattended, but it is not recommended. The
grounds are open to the public during the day and
for the Saturday night StarWatch.
Sleeping Arrangements
If you want to sleep within the Park grounds (at
no additional charge), you can bring your
sleeping gear and find a space in the Nature
Center, but it must be put away before the
building opens to the public at 8:30 a.m. Pitching a
tent is fine and a great area is back behind the
Farmstead up towards the Maintenance Building.
StarFest 2015 Registration
Marriott MeadowView
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Pets
If you have a dog, we are puppyfriendly, but they must be on a
leash at all times, cleaned up
after, and not allowed near any
of the animal habitats.
Public Park Activities
As always, there are many
other opportunities for other
park programming. Note,
with your StarFest badge, you
and your family can receive
free, on Oct. 23-25, entrance
to the Park and passes to
planetarium shows, nature
programs and barge rides.
Yes, you need your stinkin’
badge! On Sat. and Sun. at 2
p.m., “Appalachian Skies Fall” is offered in the
planetarium theater. It is a live
presentation about our current night sky.
Barge rides are a 45 min. tour of the lake and its
natural habitats. They are at 3 p.m. on Fri. and 1, 2,
& 5 p.m. on Sat. & Sun. Nature programs are
offered at 3 p.m. on the weekend and the topic
varies with each offering.
Note: the zip line is not
included with registration.
Please note that if your
family attends, they must be
fully registered if they also
want to partake of any of
the meals or attend any of
the StarFest talks.
The Bays Mountain
Astronomy Club and Bays
Mountain Park staff look
forward to seeing you for
StarFest 2015! Please contact
me if you have any questions.
Adam Thanz; StarFest Chair;
423-224-2532
thanz@kingsporttn.gov
StarFest 2015 Registration
above
Bays Mountain from
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Map to Bays Mountain
to scale
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Tentative Schedule:
Ba ys Mo un tai n Sta rFe st - 32 nd An niv ers
ary
Ki ng sp ort , TN - Oc tob er 23- 25, 201 5
5 p.m.
6 p.m.
7:15 p.m.
8:15 p.m.
F r i d a y, O c t . 2 3 , 2 0 1 5
Farmstead
Check-in and Swap Setup (no earlier!)
Farmstead
Dinner
Farmstead
Carrie Nugent - “Near-Earth Asteroids”
Observatories Observing on your own.
S a t u r d a y, O c t . 2 4 , 2 0 1 5
7:30 a.m. Farmstead
Check-in Con’t & Continental B’fast (no earlier!
)
8:45 a.m. Planetarium
Welcome [Note: No Food nor Drink!]
9 a.m.
Planetarium
John Charles - “So You Want to Go to Mars?”
10:15 a.m. Planetarium
Show - “Exploring New Horizons”
Noon
Farmstead
Lunch (no earlier!)
12:45 p.m. Farmstead
Panel Discussion
2 - 4 p.m. Farmstead
Swap Shop-Please do not start until 2!
3-3:30 p.m. Observatory
SunWatch
4:55 p.m. Amphitheater Group Photo
5:05 p.m. Farmstead
Dinner (no earlier!)
5:35 p.m. Farmstead
Rob Landis - “Mars: The Ultimate Destination?”
6:30 p.m. Observatory
StarWatch Set-Up
7 p.m.
Observatory
Public StarWatch
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
StarFest 2015 Registration
S u n d a y, O c t . 2 5 , 2 0 1 5
Farmstead
Breakfast (no earlier!)
Farmstead
Paul Lewis - “Bacon, Eggs & Bottle Rockets”
Farmstead
Door Prizes
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∞ StarFest 2015 Registration ∞ October 23-25, 2015 ∞
• P leas e sen d in s ep arate reg i s tra tio n s h e e ts fo r each p e rs on a tte n d ing .
• Registration deadline: October 2, 2015. Please send in your registration as soon as possible.
• Full refunds will be granted until October 2, 2015.
Name ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________________________________________________
City ________________________________________________________State ____________Zip__________________
Phone __________________________e-mail ____________________________________________________________
Club Affiliation ____________________________________________________________________________________
Preferred name on badge ___________________________________________________________________________
T-shirt choice
S
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XL
2XL
3XL
one shirt is included with registration - additional shirts are available with pre-registration (see below)
Vegetarian Meal Options: Please circle the vegetarian dish for any of the meals you wish. If you do not want
vegetarian, leave empty. See the meal details in the above document.
Friday Dinner:
Spinach Ravioli
Saturday Lunch:
Veggie Bagel
Saturday Dinner:
Grilled Portobello
Sunday Breakfast:
Egg, Cheese Spinach Casserole
Do you need table space for the swap shop? .......................................................................................yes
Registration includes access to the many astronomical
events of StarFest, four speakers, five meals, plenty of
observing, free passes to the Park’s programming on
Fri., Sat. & Sun. (except the zipline), a custom T-shirt,
and the choice to sleep in our Park! All at NO extra
cost.
You can pre-order additional T-shirts up to October 2,
2015. Prepayment is necessary.
no
Registration ($105 per person) [Full-time students
w/ID or those ≤21 years $90 ea.]:
$_________
Extra T-shirt ($16 ea.)
#______x$16 = $_________
Total cost of registration
including additional T-shirts:
$_________
Make your check payable to: Bays Mountain Park Association
Send to:
StarFest 2015
Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium
853 Bays Mountain Park Road
Kingsport, TN 37660
StarFest 2015 Registration
Or, you can pay with a credit card. Sorry, but we don’t accept
American Express.
Card type & # ___________________________________
Expiration Date __________________________________
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Bays Mountain Astronomy Club
StarFest 2015
853 Bays Mountain Park Road
Kingsport, TN 37660
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