From the July 2009 AstroNotes

A new program night has been added, we hope you will come out on July 17th for an exceptional speaker. Start time, 8:00pm.

Ross grew up "in the shadow of the NJAA Observatory" and went to Hampton Public School and then Voorhees High School where he graduated in 1997. He has always had a passion for things astronomical and was the person that selected the images for the NJAA Solar System Scale Model Walk. Ross attended the University of Maryland at College Park, originally planning a major in engineering which ultimately changed to Astronomy and Physics. The close proximity of UMD to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center allowed Ross the opportunity to intern with NASA in 2000. In 2002 he graduated UMD and began working full time in the Optics Branch testing infrared filters.

Ross was the lead optical engineer for a shuttle payload project called the Relative Navigation Sensors (RNS) that was part of the last Atlantis mission. RNS flew aboard the orbiter during that final Hubble Servicing Mission (SM4). In addition to his engineer roles he was also assigned a seat on the Mission Control team for RNS. His presentation will include not only the path he took to get where he is, but also an inside view of the HST servicing mission and a detailed look at the RNS project.

Ross was last in front of a crowd at the NJAA in May of 2008 where he described the mission that - at the time - was scheduled to launch only 5 months later. The mission was subject to multiple setbacks, finally launching on May 11, 2009. Come and hear how this historic final visit to Hubble went from a firsthand participant! Bring your children to see a role model they can relate to and bring yourselves to what is promising to be a truly enjoyable astronomical weekend. The next night, Saturday July 18th, is the NJAA special tribute to the Apollo program in celebration of its 40th anniversary. We will be offering 4 short programs: Early NASA Rocketry, Apollo 17: Was There a Point?, The Great Moon Hoax Conspiracy, and NASA's White Knuckler. We have arranged to be in possession of actual Moon rocks for the night as well. We hope you will join us in celebrating this giant step for mankind.