Look Up's calendar is bursting with space events through the rest of July, including star parties on the Mall, a celebration of Mars, and visits from astronauts. Astronomy Night on the Mall: Gaze through telescopes set up on the National Mall this Thursday night from 6 to 11 p.m. during this free astronomy event held just northeast of the Washington Monument.
View the Moon, Saturn, and even some deep sky objects with the help of volunteers from The National Capital Astronomers and the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. The evening is sponsored by the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy and Hofstra University. It's a Star Party for the People!
Mars Day! at the National Air and Space Museum: We know most of you aren't really working that hard on Fridays in the summer, so head down to NASM this week for Mars Day! from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Events, lectures and demonstrations will teach you all about the red planet.
Jim Green, Director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, will tell visitors about ongoing and upcoming Mars missions. Be sure to check out the incredible images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or try your hand at maneuvering a robot rover. Plus, there's tons of storytelling events, hands-on demos, and quiz games for the kids.
NASA Tweetup: Today is the last day to sign up for a "Tweetup" at NASA Headquarters with astronaut T.J. Creamer, who spent over five months living on the International Space Station, returning early last month. Participants will be selected by lottery for the event on July 29 at 3 p.m.
Meet the STS-132 Crew: The six-astronaut crew who manned the very last mission for the space shuttle Atlantis this past May will be at Georgetown University to discuss their mission to the International Space Station. July 26 at 6:30 p.m., free -- but you must register.
Night at the Planetarium: Join the folks at the David M. Brown Planetarium in Arlington for an entire evening of planetarium shows, telescope gazing, and discussions about what's up there in the night sky. We'll talk more about the planetarium next week, but the short story is that they're struggling, and hoping folks will come out to learn some science and support their efforts to keep the venue open. July 31, 4 to 9:30 p.m., $5 admission (additional donations welcome).