Join us for the December Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Sudbury Centre at 7:00PM Friday December 4th, online via Zoom. This special meeting will feature guest-speaker Dr Raymond Francis of NASA’s JPL. Notes about the speaker below.
- Welcome: Sudbury RASC President – Alan Ward
- Preparing the Mars 2020 Rover Mission – Dr Raymond Francis: The Perseverance Mars Rover is en-route to Mars with landing scheduled for February 18 2021. This presentation will describe the Rover, its science instruments, and the principal goals of the mission, as well as the development process that led to its launch earlier this year.
- Break (10min) – Live Demo from Peter Pekurar
- Mars Rovers Planetary Drives – Peter Pekurar: A Made in Canada Story
- Show & Tell: Members show off their great images of Mars.
- What’s Up, Doc? – Once in a lifetime events will be emphasized
- Closing Comments/News Etc – An Open Forum for what you’d like to discuss.
Special Note: If any of our members would like to order a 2021 calendar, please go to www.RASC.ca and place an order in the e-Store. The 2021 Calendar is priced at $17.95 Cdn. With taxes and shipping, the price will be $28.48
A big THANK YOU to all of the members who have renewed their membership and a reminder to those who have not yet done so. We really appreciate your support.
To all NEW MEMBERS, welcome to our club. We hope that you enjoy your participa-tion with us.
About the Guest Speaker:
Dr Raymond Francis is an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He has worked in Mars rover operations since the Curiosity rover landing in 2012, and is part of the mission science and operation teams for both the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. He is also the lead system engineer for the AEGIS autonomous instrument targeting software used on the rovers, and has previous experience in ISS payload development, stratospheric balloon experiments, and air-borne science operations. Originally from Sudbury, Ontario, he holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Western Ontario, an MSc in Physics from the Royal Military College of Canada, and a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. He is also a licenced pilot and gliding instructor.
Note: To anyone who isn’t already subscribed to our newsletter and would like to receive it, please use our contact form on our website (www.sudburyastronomyclub.com) with the subject ‘Newsletter Subscription’ and we will add you to the list. You will receive your invitation to the meeting separately via email. Or alternatively, PM Patrick on Facebook for a link. Remember, even if we are in isolation does not mean we still can’t share the wonders of the universe together.