NASA, other eclipse partners to visit SIU in May

SIU News

April 21, 2017NASA, other eclipse partners to visit SIU in May
by Tim Crosby
CARBONALE, Ill. – With the total solar eclipse only a few months away, the planning group at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is nailing down details on how the university and its partners will handle one of the highest-profile celestial events in the country in years.
To that end, officials from NASA, the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and a solar instrumentation company are planning a two-day visit to SIU in early May to prepare for the event, which may draw as many as 50,000 people to the campus and city.
Details about SIU’s plans for the Aug. 21 eclipse are available here.
The visiting contingent, which will include officials from the NASA EDGE webcast program, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Lunt Solar Systems, is set for May 1-2. During the visit, officials will review plans and logistics for the eclipse education program, which will have great implications for sky watchers not only in Carbondale that day, but those all over the world.
NASA EDGE is a video podcast discussing the latest technology and research going on at NASA centers across the country. New episodes appear monthly and are transmitted to the public through several websites, including NASA TV, iTunes, YouTube, USTREAM and other podcast sites.
The show, which combines humor and education, provides an insider's view of NASA and updates the public on the most innovative and groundbreaking research. On eclipse day, NASA EDGE is planning a four-hour broadcast that will include live interviews and video of the eclipse as it crosses the country.
Blair Allen, the irreverent co-host and “professional outsider” of NASA EDGE, said the trip is an important planning event for the show.
“During our trip there we will be confirming many of the logistics for our broadcast,” Allen said.  “For example, we will finalize the ...

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