Your Moon, My Moon, Our Moon

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Apr 22

2011

by GAMBlog

International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) was inspired by you. You, and people just like you, who are curious about the Moon and would like to find out more about Earth's nearest neighbor. On August 1, 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Education and Public Outreach (EPO) team celebrated LRO's successful journey to and orbital insertion around the Moon by hosting a public outreach event called "We're at the Moon!" at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD.

 That same night, the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) EPO teams hosted a similar event at Ames Research Center (ARC) in Moffett Field, CA called "National Observe the Moon Night" as part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). The goal of both of these events was similar: engage the local public and amateur astronomer communities in an event to raise awareness of NASA's involvement in lunar research and exploration. The events were so successful, we've decided to do it annually. Only better. And much, much bigger.

What started at two NASA institutions has expanded to events at four partner institutions: GSFC (hosted by the LRO EPO team), ARC (hosted by the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) and the NLSI EPO teams), the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI, Houston TX), and the Lunar Quest EPO Office at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC, Huntsville AL). But it's not stopping there. We would like to encourage everyone who is interested in the Moon and sharing the excitement of lunar science and exploration to host their own InOMN event, and bring it to communities around the world. And we would like to help you do it. The InOMN website will provide you with the information, materials, and activities you need, accompanied by a step-by-step guide, to host your own InOMN event. With this, we invite you to be a part of something bigger. Something inspirational. A part of International Observe the Moon Night.

Join InOMN on October 8, 2011.

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Blogger:
Doris Daou, is an astronomer now working as an Director of Communications and EPO at NASA Lunar Science Institute.