SEDS stands for Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, which means we support events and activities related to any area of space exploration, utilization or commercialization. Currently, Caltech SEDS organizes primarily astronomy and astrophotography events; in addition, we participate in several off-campus lecture series, trips, and conferences related to both the national and the private space industry. Since SEDS is a national organization, there are frequent events and networking opportunities for members. Whether you’re looking for a new hobby or for a stepping-stone to a space-related career, Caltech SEDS has something to offer!
Caltech SEDS is open to all members of the Caltech community. There are three ways to join:
Being on the email list is not prerequisite for participating in Caltech SEDS events; but we strongly encourage it. Event announcements, including those for which the number of participants is limited, are typically sent to the seds-list first.
Our current activities emphasize observing and astrophotography. But please let the club officers know if you have an event idea, big or small! Whether it is building instrumentation to fly in space, or hosting a space-themed movie night, we want to know about it.
Earnest C. Watson Lecture: "The Phoenix Mission"
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 8pm in the Beckman Auditorium on Caltech campus
JPL project scientist Leslie Tamppari will discuss Phoenix's mission to Mars at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12, in Beckman Auditorium. The Phoenix spacecraft launched in August 2007, carrying instruments to Mars to conduct atmospheric, mineralogical, chemical, and microscopy experiments to understand the history of water in the environment and the potential for the landing location to be a good habitat for microbes. Tamppari will provide an overview of the mission, describe its history, and explain its latest results. Note this lecture is not organized by Caltech SEDS; but we encourage members to attend. Details: http://events.caltech.edu/events/event-5521.html
Meeting to vote upon the SEDS-USA Executive Board
Thursday, Nov. 13, 12-1pm
The SEDS National Conference (aka SpaceVision) is occurring this week. The SEDS-USA Executive Board elections will occur on Saturday; since there are no representatives from Caltech SEDS at the conference, we will be submitting an absentee ballot. Anyone interested in giving their input should attend a lunch meeting this Thursday in Chandler, 12-1pm; we will be sitting in the smaller dining room on the west side of the building (i.e. you could walk through it to go outside) ... and I'll put a small sign on the table that says SEDS. The candidate platforms can be found at http://seds.org/elections.php. Though several positions are uncontested, we can abstain from voting for the one person running; sometimes participants will present a platform during the SpaceVision Conference, in which case, they would have difficulty beating the person that every voted for because there was no other choice on the absentee ballot. Also I strongly encourage you to read about the candidate's plans for the upcoming year. SEDS-USA has recently been revived; so there are several new ideas on the table.
Planning committee for Spring Break Observing Trip
We are looking for volunteers to help plan the Spring Break Observing Trip. The trip dates are Thursday, March 26 - Sunday, March 29 (last weekend of Spring Break). We have some funding for the trip; but would like to obtain more from the Alumni Association or Caltech Y. In addition, we need to work out the logistics of transportation. For example, should we take a bus load full of people for the entire trip duration? Or would organizing a couple car pools for people who only want to spend one night camping make sense? Can we borrow some additional telescopes from departments? How about day time activities? Joshua Tree is a great place for rock climbing... perhaps we could combine the trip with people from the Alpine Club who could lead some climbing activities. Or simply organize some daytime hikes.... there are tons of possibilities. And we would like your input in planning the largest Caltech SEDS trip so far! Please contact seds-officers@caltech if you are interested in helping out; we'll have a planning meeting in the next week or two.
von Karman lecture series: New Worlds: Exoplanet Discoveries from the Spitzer Space Telescope
Thursday, Nov. 13 and Friday, Nov. 14 at 7pm
The JPL von Karman lecture "New Worlds: Exoplanet Discoveries from the Spitzer Space Telescope" will be this week. On Thursday at 7pm, the lecture will be at the von Kármán Auditorium, JPL. On Friday at 7pm the lecture will be at the Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College. It will also be webcast at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.cfm?year=2008&month=11. Please email seds-officers@caltech if you would be interested in attending with a group from Caltech; if there is enough interest, we will try to coordinate such a group.
American Astronautical Society National Conference
November 17-19, 2008 in Pasadena Hilton
The AAS will have their annual conference at the Pasadena Hilton Nov 17-19. And student registration is only $30!!! The conference website is http://www.astronautical.org/conference/ ... go to it and register! Seriously. There aren't many opportunities when a conference like this "lands on your doorstep." You don't need to find funding for travel or a hotel. Plus, you can arrange your schedule to attend both conference events and classes. Conferences are good for the presentations, and great for the networking. Check out this article to see how the AAS Conference can further your career: http://www.astronautical.org/2008/10/13/aas-national-conference-students/. I am in the process of organizing special networking opportunities for Caltech SEDS students. Even if I can't arrange something special for Caltech SEDS, there are opportunities built into the conference. Please email johannap@caltech if you plan to attend and would like to be informed of special Caltech SEDS events.
Future Leaders Networking Reception
Monday, Nov. 17, 5pm at the Pasadena Hilton
The premier networking event of the AAS Conference is free and open to everyone, regardless of whether or not they attend the conference! You still need to register at http://www.astronautical.org/conference/networking/ As stated in the event poster: "The Future Leaders Networking Reception highlights the students and young professionals in the space industry for an evening of free food, drinks, and shared experiences. Meet leaders from NASA and commercial space, and discover how they made it where they are now. For the experienced, we invite you to come and share your wealth of knowledge in this informal setting. Bring your business cards to be eligible for door prizes." The Future Leaders Networking Reception will start at 5pm on November 17 in the Pasadena Hilton. Please email johannap@caltech if you would like to coordinate with other Caltech students attending; please make sure to email JoHanna if you need transportation.
Coming soon!
President: Julie Huang, julie@caltech
Vice-President: JoHanna Przybylowski, johannap@caltech
Equipment Manager: Michael Silva, michaels@caltech
Webmaster: Open! If your web skills are better than mine, please consider applying for this position. Currently JoHanna maintains the website.
Chapter Representative: Open! This is a new position created to facilitate communication with SEDS-USA. The primary duties are to attend a monthly online meeting with Chapter Representatives from across the country and the SEDS-USA Director of Chapter Affairs; then to pass on what’s happening in SEDS chapters and SEDS-USA to the other officers.
The Caltech SEDS officer email list is SEDS-officers@caltech. Please send us comments and questions!
Our telescope is a 10in Meade LX200R, which was purchased with the generous contributions from the Moore-Hufstedler Fund and the Student Investment Fund. Additional details and specifications will be posted eventually.
Add yourself to the Caltech SEDS email list at https://utils.its.caltech.edu/mailman/listinfo/seds-list
SEDS-USA http://seds.org/
SpaceVision 2008 (the SEDS National Conference) http://spacevision.seds.org/index.php
More coming soon!