NOTE: This meeting will be in person at FURMAN UNIVERSITY, not at the Science Center. Location and Map are listed below:

John Hodge, Solar System Ambassador and a Member of the Midlands Astronomy Club will join us in person for our monthly meeting.

NOTE: We have moved our Strategic Planning working session to September. The time and location will be sent to our members via email as soon as possible

ABSTRACT:

John Adams Hodge of Columbia is a NASA volunteer in the Solar System Ambassador Program. At the August meeting of the Roper Mountain Astronomers, he will conduct a presentation, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Science and Practice of Planetary Defense.”  The talk will address surveys of Near-Earth Objects (NEO) and Potentially Hazardous Objects as well as emergency planning strategies should Earth be at risk of an extraterrestrial impact. The presentation will survey crater morphology, and the geological record of Earth impacts. He will also discuss exploration of the small bodies in the Solar System such as NASA’s OSIRIS REX asteroid sample return mission, the DART asteroid impact mission, and NASA’s NEO programs.

BIO:

As a NASA volunteer in the Solar System Ambassador Program, John is a frequent speaker on astronomy and planetary science topics. He is a dedicated observer and contributor of photometric data to the American Association of Variable Star Observers and the Center for Backyard Astrophysics. His primary interest is cataclysmic variable stars. Last year he was an invited co-author of two astrophysical papers that relied in part on his data. John is a partner in The Bethune Observers Group, a private observatory complex in Kershaw County, and he is a member of the Midlands Astronomy Club.

John has diverse professional qualifications as an environmental and aviation attorney and a Registered Professional Geologist P.G.). He also holds an FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with several Airbus and Boeing type ratings and has Flight Engineer and Flight Instructor Certificates. He has logged over 22,000 flight hours in over 60 different kinds of aircraft.

John was awarded the Order of the Palmetto for his role in recovering a World War II vintage B25 bomber that ditched in Lake Murray in 1943, and the endeavor was featured on the History Channel. He is a Fellow in the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society.

John is a graduate of Duke (BS), USC (MS & JD), and the University of London (Cert.) with degrees in Geology, Marine Science (Geology), Law, and Planetary Geology.

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/ambassadors/613/

LOCATION:

We will meet in a  classroom in Plyler Hall 222 in the Townes Science Center.  Visitors can park in the South Chapel Lot, which is the parking lot between the Daniel Chapel and the football stadium (park closer to the chapel side – see attached map, follow the red arrow).  The building is across the Mall from the parking lot.  The classroom is on the second floor; there is stair and elevator access near the classroom.