The recent NASA lunar probes took three months to reach the Moon from the Earth. I understand escape velocity to be 7 miles per second, and it took the Apollo astronauts three days to get to the Moon. If the NASA probes used the same escape velocity as the Apollo Moon Missions; why did it take three months for the NASA probes to get there, and only three days for the Apollo spacecraft to get there? ----- Original Message ----- From: utah-astronomy-request@mailman.xmission.com To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:24:51 -0500 (EST) Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 107, Issue 1 Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to utah-astronomy-request@mailman.xmission.com You can reach the person managing the list at utah-astronomy-owner@mailman.xmission.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: club growth (Joe Bauman) 2. Re: Club growth (Brent Watson) 3. Re: Club growth (Joe Bauman) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 00:20:24 -0800 (PST) From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] club growth Message-ID: <1325406024.17605.YahooMailNeo@web38905.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thanks for the explanation, Patrick.Now I understand Daniel's comment. Sorry for my response, Daniel -- I thought you were dissing my guru! In fact, we're on the same side here, I'm very happy to say. -- Joe ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 12:04:00 -0800 (PST) From: Brent Watson <brentjwatson@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Club growth Message-ID: <1325448240.62191.YahooMailNeo@web39402.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I believe that SLAS, or OAS, is first, a social organization and second, a layman's science organization. ?If people don't return I would postulate it is because they don't find SLAS or OAS socialization to their liking - they don't find a friend. ?If there is friendship, there will be continuing attendance at club meetings and functions. I learned long ago that clubs, organizations, societies, etc. exist to fulfill the basic need of human beings to associate with one another. ?It is written in the preamble to the club's constitution. ?Here it is. ? "We the undersigned, desiring to secure the pleasures and benefits of an association of? persons interested in astronomy; to promote the science of astronomy and its associated? sciences; to encourage and coordinate activities with professional research, do hereby? organize and constitute ourselves as the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, a non-profit? organization." The purpose is first to "...secure the pleasures and benefits of an association of persons...", and then second ?to do the science stuff. ?Anyone who has been an officer of the club will probably acknowledge that it is much harder to get the membership to engage in science than it is to get the members to socialize. ?Outreach, by the way, is a form of socialization. ?Star parties are socialization. ?How many postings do we see here about an observing session - come along. ?They are parties after all. So, my response is the following. ?If you want the club to grow, smile, introduce yourself to the new folks (NOT newbies. ?I believe there are many less offensive monikers.), and take a genuine interest in them. ?Make them your friend. ?Include them in your activities - your private star parties. ?Give them a ride. ?They are people looking for the pleasures and benefits of association who also have an interest in astronomy. ?That commonality will launch club growth. ?People make time for whatever satiates their basic needs. These are rules that are generally true. ?They follow Pareto's rule, i.e., 80 percent of the new folks will want socializing, and 20 percent will want the science. ?So, give them both, but realize where the priority is. $.02 ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 13:24:37 -0800 (PST) From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Club growth Message-ID: <1325453077.86952.YahooMailNeo@web38905.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 A wise comment, Brent. And that's why I think a little verbal horseplay is OK sometimes on the UtahAstronomy list. We are not professional astronomers and we don't need to restrict our notes to only scientific matters. -- Thanks, Joe ________________________________ From: Brent Watson <brentjwatson@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, January 1, 2012 1:04 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Club growth I believe that SLAS, or OAS, is first, a social organization and second, a layman's science organization. ?If people don't return I would postulate it is because they don't find SLAS or OAS socialization to their liking - they don't find a friend. ?If there is friendship, there will be continuing attendance at club meetings and functions. I learned long ago that clubs, organizations, societies, etc. exist to fulfill the basic need of human beings to associate with one another. ?It is written in the preamble to the club's constitution. ?Here it is. ? "We the undersigned, desiring to secure the pleasures and benefits of an association of? persons interested in astronomy; to promote the science of astronomy and its associated? sciences; to encourage and coordinate activities with professional research, do hereby? organize and constitute ourselves as the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, a non-profit? organization." The purpose is first to "...secure the pleasures and benefits of an association of persons...", and then second ?to do the science stuff. ?Anyone who has been an officer of the club will probably acknowledge that it is much harder to get the membership to engage in science than it is to get the members to socialize. ?Outreach, by the way, is a form of socialization. ?Star parties are socialization. ?How many postings do we see here about an observing session - come along. ?They are parties after all. So, my response is the following. ?If you want the club to grow, smile, introduce yourself to the new folks (NOT newbies. ?I believe there are many less offensive monikers.), and take a genuine interest in them. ?Make them your friend. ?Include them in your activities - your private star parties. ?Give them a ride. ?They are people looking for the pleasures and benefits of association who also have an interest in astronomy. ?That commonality will launch club growth. ?People make time for whatever satiates their basic needs. These are rules that are generally true. ?They follow Pareto's rule, i.e., 80 percent of the new folks will want socializing, and 20 percent will want the science. ?So, give them both, but realize where the priority is. $.02 _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 107, Issue 1 **********************************************