Events
Roger That! A Celebration of Space Exploration in Honor of Roger B. Chaffee
Date and Time
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Description
Roger B. Chaffee was born February 15, 1935 in Greenville, Michigan and moved to Grand Rapids to become one of the city’s favorite sons. An engineer, pilot and astronaut, Chaffee lost his life during a tragic fire during what seemed to be a routine test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft on January 27, 1967.
FEBRUARY 10-11, 2017
Roger B. Chaffee was born in 1935 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and
became one of the city’s favorite sons. An engineer, pilot and
astronaut, Chaffee lost his life during a tragic fire during what
seemed to be a routine test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft on January 27, 1967.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 accident, Grand Valley State University, the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the Roger B. Chaffee Scholarship Fund seek to honor Chaffee during a two-day celebration of space exploration.
“Roger That!” is a series of concurrent events to be held in downtown Grand Rapids on Friday February 10 and Saturday February 11, 2017.
Field trips involving area schools will also be scheduled, allowing local students the opportunity to learn about space exploration through a series of programs held at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, including hands-on activities and a presentation at the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium. The following day, Saturday, family events focusing on space will continue at the GRPM.
Visit the celebration website at www.gvsu.edu/rogerthat for more information. For questions, contact [email protected].
EVENT DETAILS
On Friday February 10, The L.V. Eberhard Center and Kennedy Hall
of Engineering will hold an Academic Conference from 8 am to 5 pm.
Fifteen academics from a number of different fields will present
papers during five breakout sessions that cover the themes “Space and
Science,” “Space and Society” and “Space and the Arts.”
The afternoon Keynote Address, “Why Do We Look Up At the Heavens?” will be presented by Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Director of the Vatican Observatory and a renowned expert in the field of planetary science. His books include Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist and Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? Brother Consolmagno received the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society in 2014.
A Student Design Challenge will be held that allows local students in grades 6 -12 to show off their innovative solutions to a choice of three challenge topics: Humans in Space, Communities in Space and Robots in Space. Solutions will be presented and displayed on posters in Kennedy Hall on Friday. Both juried and public voting will take place with the winners announced at the Grand Rapids Public Museum on Saturday. Design Challenge guidelines and instructions for educators can be found on our website.
A Friday evening catered dinner at the Eberhard Center will be held, followed by a keynote address entitled “A Conversation with Martha and Sheryl Chaffee.” Martha Chaffee is the widow of Roger B. Chaffee, and Sheryl is their daughter. Sheryl has spent over thirty years working for NASA. Both women are supporters of the Astronaut Memorial Foundation. We are delighted to have them attend our event in Roger’s honor. The dinner and keynote together form a single ticketed event with proceeds going to the Roger B. Chaffee Scholarship Fund. Space is limited so those planning to attend the dinner event are encouraged to register early on our website.
Following the Friday keynote, the Grand Rapids Pubic Museum will present “Dark Side: The Light Show” at the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium beginning at 9 pm.
On Saturday, February 11, “Roger That!” will continue at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, with educational exhibitions and activities scheduled to take place throughout the day. The general public, families in particular, are encouraged to attend. Events will include a public talk by Brother Guy Consolmagno entitled "Discarded Worlds: Astronomical ideas that were almost correct."
In addition to all of the above, samples from the Moon and beyond will also be coming to the Grand Rapids area as part of the “Roger That!” event. GVSU will be receiving two clear acrylic discs from NASA’s Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation (ARES) Office in Houston. One disc contains lunar material (three soils and three rocks) gathered from the various manned Apollo lunar landing sites, while the second disc contains assorted meteorite samples. These rare materials will be accessible for viewing by the public during scheduled display times on both days of the event.
Finally, in advance of the February event, a special “Roger That!” photo exhibition will be on display from January 1 through March 31 at the West Hall Gallery in the Eberhard Center. The exhibition, produced by the GVSU Art Gallery in conjunction with the Chaffee family and the Grand Rapids Public Museum, will display images depicting the life of Roger B. Chaffee.
Contact
Visit the celebration website at www.gvsu.edu/rogerthat for more information. For questions, contact [email protected].