As NASA prepares for the launch of its Double Asteroid Impact mission later this month from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Allan Hancock College will host fun and educational events.
Hancock’s Asteroid Days event will run from Nov. 22-23 and feature workshops, lectures and a special NASA expo. The celebration, which is free and open to the public, will culminate with a viewing of the DART spacecraft launch at Hancock’s Lompoc Valley Center on the night of Nov. 23.
The two-day NASA expo will take place from 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Nov. 22 and from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Nov. 23 at the Mechanics Bank Student Center (bldg. G) on Hancock’s Santa Maria campus. The expo will include exhibits on the DART mission, the Kennedy Space Center Launch Services program, the NASA Night Sky Network and more.
Faculty, students and the community are also invited to participate in lectures and workshops Nov. 22-23 on the Santa Maria campus as part of Asteroid Days. NASA representatives will conduct workshops on topics such as “Protecting Earth from Asteroids” and “Conducting Your Own Explorations with NASA’s Solar System Treks.”
All lectures and workshops will be held both in-person and streamed live online on Hancock’s YouTube page. In addition, NASA Director of Planetary Science Lori Glaze will present a public lecture on Nov. 22 from 6-7 p.m.
NASA’s DART mission is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the early morning hours of Nov. 24. Asteroid Days will culminate with a free public viewing of the launch on Nov. 23 from 9 p.m.-12 a.m. at Hancock’s Lompoc Valley Center located at One Hancock Drive, in Lompoc. NASA representatives, as well as students and faculty from Hancock’s MESA/STEM program, will be on-hand during the launch viewing.
For more information, go to www.hancockcollege.edu/nasa.
— Dave Mason
