USNO

$030826-N-9593R-043 Washington, D.C. (August 26, 2003) -- Personnel at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., prepare the facilities historic 26-inch refractor telescope for optical viewing of Mars. The telescope is the same one that discovered Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars, in 1877. The telescope, which still uses the original optics, normally has a camera known as a speckle interferometer mounted in the viewing position for deep space studies. The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) performs an essential scientific role for the U.S. Navy, and Department of Defense (DOD). Its mission includes determining the positions and motions of the Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, stars, and other celestial objects; providing astronomical reference data; measuring the Earths rotation and orientation; determining precise time; and maintaining the Master Clock for the United States. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Seth Rossman (RELEASED)$

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Important Tour Info

Important Information for those folks participating in our field trips For the Smithsonian Natural History Meteorite tours and those to the National Air & Space Museum, the bus departs 30 minutes before the actual tour start time; Udvar-Hazy and U. S. Naval Observatory, 45 minutes before the tour start time; and NASA Goddard Space Flight [...]

By DC ALCon|July 7th, 2016|Home, Registration|0 Comments