Apollo Moon Missions
Schedule: Tuesdays, October 13-November 3, 2009; 12:00-2:00 p.m.
Location: UW Campus, Seattle (see maps)
Reg. # 105363

Course Description
Lost in all of the recent celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the Moon was the science. For missions that were never really about science, they fundamentally changed our understanding of the solar system. 840 pounds of rocks were returned from the Moon by six Apollo missions. This short series of lectures is about the story that six samples from the six missions tell about the Moon. The story they tell covers 4.6 billion years of history. It covers a time that is all but lost to us on the Earth due to the ever changing nature of the Earth's crust. Most importantly it is a history that is shared by the worlds around us, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars and with some important caveats, shared with all the worlds in our solar system.

Instructor

Toby Smith
Toby Smith received his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Washington in 1995. He also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and a B.S. in Astrophysics and Physics. He is the Associate Editor of The Publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He has written and edited publications in numerous scientific journals. He has received grants from the National Geographic Society and from the University of Washington. He currently teaches Astronomical Computing, The Solar System and the Discovery Seminar Lunar Science from Apollo courses at the University of Washington. He is affiliated with many local and national astronomical societies.