A great space adventure in the Science Park (Parque de las Ciencias) in Bayamón, Puerto Rico

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Nov 18

2016

by Fernando Roquel Torres

The adventure begins on the morning of November 17, 2016. Our destination is the Science Park (Parque de las Ciencias) in the town of Bayamón, Puerto Rico as part of a school tour. The first and second grade students of Cipriano Manrique's Elementary School of Caguas, PR are eager to see the planetarium. The resources in astronomy are the amateur astrophotographer and the communicator in astronomy Fernando Roquel Torres and the professor Érica Correa Félix, (both members of Astrofotografia y Ciencia and Astronomers without Borders). Students identified the planet Saturn and its striking rings, asteroids, comets and a galaxy painted on the colorful walls of the planetarium explained and directed by Fernando Roquel Torres.

Already inside the planetarium, the students took a documentary on the lunar exploration and the impact that caused the Centaur rocket against the crater Cabeus in the south pole of the Moon. The result of this was a big cloud of dust that came out of the crater and the space probe LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) which was operated by NASA, could capture information demonstrating that There is water in our natural satellite.

Then we went to the Aerospace Pavilion where our students were able to see the terrain of the moon with the craters and portrayed with a Puerto Rican astronaut (This for reasons of Puerto Rican Week) with professor Érica Correa Félix

Spacecraft staff explained to our students about different simulators and equipment used by pilots from the early days of space programs to be candidates to make dangerous journeys out of our atmosphere

Then, the students explained the different spaceships that astronauts have used for their space missions such as rockets and Shuttle.

This great adventure of space exploration for students of first and second grade of  Cipriano Manrique's elementary School of Caguas, PR is part of astronomical disclosure provides Astrofotografia y Ciencia and Astronomers without Borders Astronomers to our small amateur astronomers.