Mackintosh Academy is excited to announce its partnership with Ball Aerospace to celebrate 25 years of the Hubble Space Telescope through public lectures, stargazing and hands-on student learning experiences.
For 25 years the Hubble Space Telescope has been transmitting pictures that have transformed our understanding of the universe. These images are easy to take for granted as they have become commonplace across pop culture – from T-shirts to TV to the web. But, far from commonplace when Hubble launched, these images from space represent a massive breakthrough in our understanding of the universe as we know it.
Allison Barto, Ball Aerospace’s program manager for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the next great space observatory, speaks to this understanding, “This is an excellent moment to pause and reflect on how our understanding of the universe has changed over the last twenty-five years and at the same time look forward to discoveries from the Webb telescope in the next decade. The story of NASA’s great observatories is a fascinating combination of human ingenuity and cutting-edge design coming together to create amazing science.”
On April 13 and 14, 2015 Mackintosh Academy will be hosting a 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope, with events including two evening public lectures, stargazing with telescopes and hands-on science experiences for students. The evening lectures and stargazing are open to the general public and are geared toward adults and motivated students. Stargazing is open to everyone. Please RSVP to jenny@mackintoshacademy.com.
Mackintosh Head of School JJ Morrow says, “We are excited to celebrate Hubble as it reflects the best of what our educational model is designed to encourage: discovery, inquiry and imagination, engineering and tinkering. The achievements of Hubble have been accomplished through science and engineering that is global, collaborative, creative and driven by deep curiosity. Boulder is such an amazing place for the field of space exploration, other sciences, and engineering; our Hubble Day experience will be an amazing learning opportunity, yes, but I’m also hoping it will provide inspiration for our students.”
During the two-day 25th Anniversary celebration, specific events at Mackintosh will be open to the public:
Monday, April 13 from 6:00-7:30 pm
PUBLIC LECTURE: Engineering Discovery: The Story of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Making of the Next Great Observatory Speaker: Allison Barto of Ball Aerospace
6:00-7:30 pm
Tuesday, April 14 from 6:00-7:30 pm
PUBLIC LECTURE: Astronomy with Hubble: 25 Years of Discovery Speaker: Dennis Ebbets
Tuesday, April 14 from 7:45 pm – onwards
STARGAZING on the Mackintosh Academy fields led by the Boulder Astronomy & Space Club (BASS)
During the day Tuesday, students will be invited to participate in Hubble inspired workshops and hands-on science experiences led by Ball Aerospace and Mackintosh Teachers including: exploring how telescopes work, building Hubble models and small telescopes, exploring astronomy, space exploration, rocketry, and the science of light, and trying their hand at what it takes to fix a giant telescope in space.