Third Thursday Telecons

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DanZ
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Special Third Thursday Telecon March 23, 2017 (meaning it's the 4th!)

Post by DanZ »

Hi Everyone,

Our Third Thursday Telecon for March will actually be on the FOURTH Thursday this month, so that means Thursday March 23rd rather than the 16th. A couple of our scientists will be reporting live from the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference being held at The Woodlands, Texas.

We'll connect in the usual way:

Time: 11:00am US Pacific Time [You can check your corresponding time here].

To Join: The call-in number is 1-866-740-1260. When prompted, please enter the passcode 6422969 followed by the # (pound) key. If you need a number from outside the US, please enter 6422969 at the website here to retrieve the correct international toll-free phone number to dial.

Please join us if you can!

Dan
SmithES
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by SmithES »

Plans to be there....hopefully, Thanks, Evelyn
caprarom
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Location: Riverview, MI

Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by caprarom »

Sound good, Evelyn. I'll try to join you as well. Mike
SmithES
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by SmithES »

Oh, dear friends, I will miss future telecoms.... I've really fallen upon some difficult times, physically. My 88th year has brought some difficult loss of cooridnation with typing and/or hand-wiiting along with other slowing-down- physical problems. Have had to give up secretarial jobs in committees here at Edgewood Summit, as well. Golly---getting old came fast! :) Will therefore, pass this one up, as a participant. You guys have played a major part in my life for decades! Will never forget you. Much love and appreciation for all the joy and education Stardust@home has brought into my life. Evelyn
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Oh Evelyn! How sad I was to read this. The entire Stardust@home team here at Berkeley sends you our utmost sympathy as well as deep appreciation for all you've done for us over the years! But we're going to hold out hope that we'll still hear from you from time-to-time, and that your current condition can actually improve. Stay strong, and if possible, stay in touch - we will! Dan - on behalf of the entire Stardust@home team.
DanZ
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April's Third Thursday Telecon

Post by DanZ »

Hi Everyone,

For April's Third Thursday Telecon (this coming Thursday, April 20th), Dr. Westphal will report on our involvement in the wonderful PBS Documentary Series The Cloud & The Crowd. Hopefully you caught episode 1 and saw Dr. Westphal and our own Robert Lettieri meeting with the EyesOnAlz team. As usual, he'll also provide an update on the Stardust@home project.

We'll connect in the usual way:

Time: 11:00am US Pacific Time [You can check your corresponding time here].

To Join: The call-in number is 1-866-740-1260. When prompted, please enter the passcode 6422969 followed by the # (pound) key. If you need a number from outside the US, please enter 6422969 at the website here to retrieve the correct international toll-free phone number to dial.

We hope you can join us!

Dan
caprarom
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Location: Riverview, MI

Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by caprarom »

I plan to be "there," Dan. Mike
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Hi Everyone!

Dr. Westphal provided a brief update as usual this month. Topics include:
  • Recent news on ten interstellar dust candidates that are being extracted and sent to us from NASA’s Johnson Space Center for synchrotron beamline analysis here at UC Berkeley;
  • Why we’d like you to concentrate on the Foils effort for now;
  • How we might design the next mission for capturing interstellar dust, including making use of NASA’s proposed Deep Space HAB – a space station in lunar orbit; and
  • Updates on the EyesOnALZ project – including a different approach using team competitions.
Enjoy the recording here now!

Note: There were some audio problems with last month’s recording, but we are working to fix them and will post the recording in some form eventually.
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

jsmaje wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2017 12:15 pm Thanks Dr. Westphal for confirming my suspicion that the aerogel/foil frequency disparity is most likely due to there actually having been many more of the really small ISPs than predicted (~ 0.01 microns or less). What in fact was the predicted size/speed range of particles that the aerogel tiles as manufactured would be able to trap? And did the Heidelberg simulations actually cover more than that predicted range?

Would you suggest that any future ISP collector now be constructed entirely of foil and to forget aerogel?
How about a sandwich of graded-density foils, or use of some other variable-density material (increasing by depth), so as to trap all types of particle at different depths depending on their momentum, at the same time preserving directional information?

Meanwhile, are there in fact any current plans for further ISP collection missions by any world space agency, or is what you have all we’re likely to get for the foreseeable future?

John
Hi John,

So sorry for the long delay here! But I did manage to get Dr. Westphal to address your more recent questions during this month's Telecon. Have a listen here. If you want to skip to the part where he addresses your questions in particular, start at 05:40.

Thanks so much for your patience!

Dan
jsmaje
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by jsmaje »

Thanks Dan and particularly Dr. Westphal for those extensive and fascinating answers to my questions. It's good to know that, even aged 70, my intuition isn't yet wandering too far off the mark!

John
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

I don't think anyone has had that impression yet John!

Dan
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Third Thursday recordings for July and September 2017 are now (finally) posted! Please note that we did not have a Third Thursday for August. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

Dan
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ... july-2017/
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ... mber-2017/
Puddock
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by Puddock »

Are you still doing these third Thursday telecons? I've been away for a while but it sounds interesting!
SmithES
Posts: 186
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 5:25 am

Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by SmithES »

I'm interested, too----are you still doing the 3rd Thursday telecoms? Would like to participate in next one. Thanks, Evelyn ERSTRS, (Jan. 29, 2018)
caprarom
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Location: Riverview, MI

Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by caprarom »

Yes, Puddock & Evelynn, Dr. Andrew Westphal & Dan Zevin have been hosting the Third Thursday telecons pretty regularly. The last one was January 18th, but it's not been posted as yet. You can find December's teleconference and earlier installments by clicking on "From the Desk of - " from the Home page. Tom Yahnke Sr. joined us for the January conference, I believe that was his first time.
Aside from updates on where we stand with aerogel testing and searching the foils and planned site upgrades/modifications, Andrew keeps us apprised of other interesting developments in space exploration and the progress/fate of proposed new projects under consideration by NASA. One such you would hear about in the December or November telecon I believe was "Dragonfly." Basically, instead of a rover, it would entail sending a helicopter-like vehicle to Titan which, taking advantage of the 1.2 Bar atmosphere, would be able to fly from point to point on the surface. Neat stuff!The next teleconference will likely be on the 18th, but that's not confirmed yet. You certainly would be welcome to join/rejoin us.
Mike C.
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