Overnight at the Chabot Space & Science Center

9 responses to “Overnight at the Chabot Space & Science Center”

1. 

   jurvetson

   May 8, 2012 at 4:44 pm

   Supermoon rising behind the string of observatories…
   

   Looking through Nellie (the big 36" reflecting telescope) at Saturn’s rings, and then a binary star and a nebula 3,000 light years away:
   

   Landing on the moon… with a LM simulator
   

   This was pretty fun – a green screen studio that superimposes you on the moon:
   
   By taking a photo of the green with an iPad, it became a see-through portal, punching a tunnel through the body.

   Weightless in the ISS… DId I mention it was uplifting for kids of all ages? =)
   

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2. 

   bike-R

   May 8, 2012 at 5:11 pm

   Any SUPERMOON PICS? We got clouded out and now I gotta wait till 2029…..

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3. 

   jurvetson

   May 8, 2012 at 5:31 pm

   heh… you noticed… a fisheye for the straight guy

   [http://www.flickr.com/photos/63152855@N03] – I left my tripod and rig in the car. It felt diminutive in the shadow of these giants… But I have taken some moon shots before…

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4. 

   solerena

   May 8, 2012 at 8:46 pm

   Fun event:) uplifting…

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5. 

   Astrocatou

   May 9, 2012 at 1:54 am

   🙂
   Interesting…thanks.

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6. 

   seatonsnet

   May 9, 2012 at 7:15 am

   I like the idea that something made in 1883 is still a valid instrument. I think it might be useful to study and comb through the masses of "out of date" technology, to see if something valuable may have been left behind in the rush to create new things.

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7. 

   seatonsnet

   May 9, 2012 at 9:45 am

   Expanding on this, I think the people who made the telescope back in 1883 would be happy and proud if they knew that what they had made would still be in use so many years later; and one of the problems that we face in our era is that most people making stuff today couldn’t care less. In fact many would be horrified if what they produced didn’t break down soon, so they could sell something new. This lack of seriousness in the most basic things we use every day, is part of the malaise of the period we live in.

   One of the few exceptions to this, where people are still committed to the highest standards of craftsmanship and respect for the users of what they make, where there is still dharma, is in aerospace and rocketry, which (lapsing into psychobabble) is probably why you love it so much.

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8. 

   jurvetson

   May 9, 2012 at 4:05 pm

   Do keep in mind the sample selection bias….. The artifacts from the past that we have with us today are those that survived. An alternative hypothesis is that there is a similar range of low to high quality products produced in each era, and that as you move forward, the past becomes progressively filtered so that only the best remains. The shoddy telescopes, and cameras, and bikes from the past are long gone.

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9. 

   seatonsnet

   May 9, 2012 at 5:05 pm

   You are probably on the right track there, that is surely true in works of art, but certainly "planned obsolescence" is a fairly new concept. The idea of making things that are designed to break down, probably does more harm to the people who design them than the people who buy them. I get the feeling that in 1883 people tried to do a good job and some succeeded and some fell short, but without cynicism… but you are right, time sorts people, things and ideas out.

   Where we can really see an improvement is in affordable clothing that fits and looks good. The great mass of people are better clothed and better shod than ever before… After seeing "Food Inc", I’m not sure if they are better fed.

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