Mission to the Universe: Stars and Stripes Family Fest

The NH National Guard Child and Youth Program and NHNG Military Education Outreach Committee were proud to present a pilot science event with the Chandra Education & Outreach Group on October 14, 2012 in Concord, New Hampshire. The Mission to the Universe – Stars and Stripes Family Fest provided family friendly science activities from Chandra such as the "Here, There, and Everywhere" project, "STOP for Science" and the "Universe in a Jelly Bean Jar". Chandra science imager Joe DePasquale was on hand to demonstrate the concept of lensing to visitors and talk about how Chandra images are made. Chandra educator Donna Young discussed the life and death of stars.

Dr. Kevin Hainline, a post-doc at Dartmouth College, volunteered his Sunday to talk about the Dark Universe. New Hampshire's local McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center was also at the event, enticing visitors with fun dry ice experiments. David McDonald, Director of Education from the Discovery Center, discussed the night sky with an interactive Stellarium presentation. The event, hosted by Jennifer Hollidge, Lead Child and Youth Program Coordinator at the New Hampshire National Guard, also included dislays from the University of New Hampshire and additional local partners.

-Kim Arcand, Chandra EPO