space odyssey
06.06.14 volunteer update
Click below for quick access to:
Storytelling with Uniview
Space Odyssey News
Trainings and Meetings
Space Science Lectures & Events
Museum News and Lectures
Volunteer Enrichment Committee (VEC) Events
storytelling with uniview
by Dr. Ka Chun Yu, PhD Curator of Space Science DMNS
Click the links below to read Ka Chun's latest helpful articles on astronomical insights which are helpful at the Orbits Table as well as other stations in Space Odyssey.
Ka Chun was unable to send in a new column for this week, so we're rerunning his previous column:
Lucky 13: Cosmology Misconceptions II
To read all of Ka Chun's previous columns, you can find them on the Portal Training page under Storytelling with Uniview:
NOTE: If you're having issues viewing this column in Firefox, try using Safari or Explorer as those seem to show the column in the best quality. I'm not sure about Chrome.
space odyssey news
FREE DAY KUDOS
Thanks to all those who helped out on the Free Day, nice work! I don't have a count of attendance for the day, but it was very steady and pretty busy.
MY SCHEDULE
From the afternoon of Monday June 9, thru Thursday June 12, I'll be out of the office attending a Science On a Sphere User Group meeting in St. Paul, MN with folks from the DMNS SOS Core Team. I'll be back at work on Friday June 13.
PLANETARIUM STAGE BACK IN ACTION
For those that like to do the Barany Chair on the Planetarium Stage, that AMX control panel has been fixed. You can now plug-in a computer and show those images on the screens above. Note that while "Return Space To Normal" disconnects the laptop from the screens, you do need to manually switch off the lights, we're working on that detail. Thanks to Tech for the help!
INTERESTING WEBSITES
Thanks to Earl Elia for passing these along...these sites demonstrate the varying size of the Sun as viewed from other planets in the solar system...
MORE WEBSITES OF INTEREST
Quizs about Earth science knowledge:
Why are Earth and Uranus tilted?
How big is the core of Jupiter?
FALCON 9 "SOFT LANDING" VIDEO
On the last launch of a Falcon 9, Space X demonstrated their "soft landing" technique for the reusable first stage. The resulting camera footage was pretty garbled, which resulted in Space X asking the internet community for help in finding decent frames of footage. Video geeks everywhere united and created the following footage. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to watch the video of the rocket "landing" in the Atlantic in stormy seas:
GRAVITY WELL WORKAROUND
This computer is still out of commission. No eta on it's arrival. You're definitely welcome to continue using the G-well sans computer by using the "Street Theater" lighting in the Galaxy Stage area. If you have questions about how to do so, let us know. Also, Starry Night on the Galaxy Stage laptop can be used to simulate planetary orbits on the stage screens. Open Starry Night by clicking on the "observatory-like" icon on the dock, click on "Favorites>Solar System>Inner Planets." Let us (Dave C or myself) know if you'd like help setting that up as well.
SOS UPDATEThanks to Tom Kimball (Wed PM) for contributing to this SOS update (Tom is the head of the SOS Users Group):
NOAA SOS User Conference in St Paul, MN 6/10-6/12
- Most of the DMNS SOS Core Team will attend
- Workshop topics include: docent facilitation, SOS presentation methods, user apps in development (including ours), NESO app (we have this on our system), evaluation methodologies and more.
- The conference will take place at the Science Museum of Minnesota
- Spear-headed by Eddie G, members of the SOS Core Team, consulting with NOAA staff and scientists, have been working on creating these modules which answer questions about specific topics, such as "Where does pollution come from?"
- The goal is for volunteers and guests to explore the answers to these questions using just 2-3 datasets.
- Some of these questions are already on the iPad app.
- We're working on supporting documents to accompany these datasets for training purposes
- New, hierarchical iPad layout testing off-line, estimated re-release this month
- Last Wednesday, Matt Brownell and Tom Kimball tested the proposed new iPad layout hierarchy and corrected errors in SOS syntax in datasets that were crashing the SOS computer.
- The plan is to continue to test the new layout before going live.
- They expect re-release in a few weeks or a month.
Dave C ordered more spectroscopy tubes this past week. No updates on a possible resurrection ofour favorite spectroscopy site.
SCFD COMMUNITY FREE DAYS
As part of the Museum's agreement to receive funds from SCFD, which account for a significant portion of the Museum's operating budget, the Museum offers "community free days" throughout the year to allow those who can't afford admission the privilege to visit DMNS. Below are the dates for the 2014 free days.
The Museum is offering 12 Community Free Days in 2014, made possible by the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District. For more information, click here.
- Monday, June 30
- Sunday, July 20
- Monday, September 8
- Sunday, September 28
- Monday, October 27
- Monday, December 1
trainings and meetings
SOS USER GROUP MEETING
Tuesday June 17th
5:30 to 8:30
Galaxy Stage/SOS
RSVP to Dave Blumenstock
Food and Drink provided
Here's the proposed agenda:
- Big news is that DMNS will be attending the annual SoS Workshop in MinnesotaJune 10.
- Bob Raynolds will present See The Seas and See The People.
- Matt Brownell will demonstrate the new iPad controller app with search capability. Stay tuned for the release of this app here at DMNS, after testing is completed.
- Dave B. will report on the meeting at the June SSUG meeting,
- NESO software and app.
- The new NESO ipad app is more useful than the older NEO software.
- Dave B. will be going to a NESO training session at the meeting in Minnesota.
- Here's a teaser from Maurice Henderson from Goddard who created NESO:
- NESO provides a richer library of high resolution earth and space data
- We can handle this higher resolution by using a pan/zoom function.
- The data sets cover extensive time horizons, and NESO allow you to create and measure time series. These time series can be animated to create SOS playable clips including zoomed pips.
- For more info about NESO, Click Here
space science lectures & events
RESERVATION INFO
Volunteers have the opportunity to attend most After Hours programs priced at the $8 member/ $10 nonmember rate for free on a space-available basis! Volunteers always receive the member rate for all other Adult Programs. As of May 12, please call Guest Services at 303.370.6000 to make a reservation. Guest Services is open daily, 9:00 - 5:00 p.m. Admission to 60 Minutes in Space is free and is on a first come, first seated basis.
On the evening of the program, please enter through the same entrance as our guests and pick up your ticket from the will-call cashier. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm for Adult Programs!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Digital Earth: Explore the World from Space
Where have we come from and where are we going? Using immersive global satellite images, geologist Bob Raynolds and space scientist Ka Chun Yu take you to the Rift Valley in East Africa. Our ancestors grew up here in lush lands, then left Africa and wandered widely, ending up concentrated by rivers, where major civilizations developed along the Nile, the Tigris, and the Indus rivers. We will discuss how today we are once again concentrating, now along the "energy rivers," where we are urbanizing and developing into digital natives.
Location:
Gates Planetarium
Date/Time:
Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m.
Tickets:
$8 member, $10 nonmember
museum news
SOUTH ROAD CLOSURE JUNE 3rd
Starting onTuesday, June 3rd the south road from the Traffic Circle down to the turn around on the south side of the park will be closed. Our contractor will be removing the last sections of asphalt from the old asphalt road and installing new curb/gutter and asphalt to make one continuous road. The road will be closed to all traffic (bikes included). The work is expected to last for 2 weeks, pending any weather delays.
LEGO CITY DISPLAY AT DMNS JUNE 9-12
A short-term community display of a youth-created Lego city will be installed on-site next week.
- It will be placed in the NE Atrium in front of the annual donors wall (same location that has hosted the Mythbusters backward-driving Porsche and several spacecraft models recently).
- It will be installed 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. on Monday, June 9.
- It will be de-installed starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, with an option to start early if crowds are very low late afternoon.
- Please contact Todd Norlin in Exhibits if you have any questions or concerns.
MILLER MOTHS ARE BACK
Wow, it's that time of year again. 'Miller moth' time that is. Bring your Miller, White Rascal, Fat Tire, Hop Savant...Pour a cool one, sit back and...swat 'em!
The 'miller moth' population is predicted to be 'well above average' this summer. Here are some tips to help to reduce their numbers in the Museum and lessen their impact on our visitors.
Turn off any lights that are not in use, especially at the end of the day.
Briefly open any doors in the morning where live moths have gathered to release the moths back to the outdoors.
Please dispose of deceased 'miller moths' in trash receptacles. Disposing of the moths will keep them from becoming food for beetles of the Dermestidae family. These beetles will first eat the moths and then eat/damage the Museum's collections.
This article by Whitney Cranshaw ( discusses 'miller moth' habits and offers tips for control around your homes. The article also contains an image of a 'miller moth', in the rare event that you have not already experienced that creepy 'miller moth' dive-bomb at your head.
RESERVATION INFO
Volunteers have the opportunity to attend most After Hours programs priced at the $8 member/ $10 nonmember rate for free on a space-available basis! Volunteers always receive the member rate for all other Adult Programs. As of May 12, please call Guest Services at 303.370.6000 to make a reservation. Guest Services is open daily, 9:00 - 5:00 p.m. Admission to 60 Minutes in Space is free and is on a first come, first seated basis.
On the evening of the program, please enter through the same entrance as our guests and pick up your ticket from the will-call cashier. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm for Adult Programs!
Click here for Evening Lectures
Click here for Museum IMAX information
Click here for Museum Planetarium Information
Click here to learn about the new Discovery Zone opening June 2014
volunteer enrichment committee
Click here for more information about VEC events:
Or see the bulletin board in the Volunteer Lounge for more info.
DaveBlumenstock
Coordinator of Volunteers for Space Science
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Phone 303.370.8344
Fax 303.370.6005
Join the Museum's Online Community