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Detailed Calendar Page
June 2017

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles®

June 1, 2017 -

Ladies Night Dr. Rosaly Lopes, JPL - JPL and NASA’s Cassini Project, Honoring Two of JPL’s finest Scientists.

This night is a celebration of JPL and its supporting members who have participated in ACLA’s meetings for many years. Tonight’s meeting will feature Dr. Rosaly Lopes discussion of the Cassini Project and presentations of awards in appreciation to JPL’s Dr. Rosaly Lopes and Dr. Andra Donnellan and for their continuing support of the Adventurers Club of Los Angeles.

The Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. It is a Flagship-class NASA–ESA–ASIrobotic spacecraft. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit. It has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004.

Development of Cassini began in the 1980s. Its design includes a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) and a lander (Huygens) for the moon Titan. The two spacecraft are named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens. The spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997, aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur and entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004, after an interplanetary voyage that included flybys of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter. On December 25, 2004, Huygens separated from the orbiter, and it landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. It successfully returned data to Earth, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System.

Cassini continued to study the Saturn system in the following years, and continues to operate as of now, May 2017. Due to a dwindling fuel supply, however, the spacecraft has entered the Grand Finale phase of its mission. A number of risky passes through the gap between Saturn and its inner ring are planned in order to maximize Cassini's science returns before the orbiter is intentionally destroyed by diving into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017. This planned deorbit is necessary to mitigate the risk of the spacecraft eventually colliding with and contaminating one of Saturn's moons.

Cassini has several objectives, including:

  • Determine the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of Saturn.
  • Determine the composition of the satellite surfaces and the geological history of each object.
  • Determine the nature and origin of the dark material on Iapetus's leading hemisphere.
  • Measure the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the magnetosphere.
  • Study the dynamic behavior of Saturn's atmosphere at cloud level.
  • Study the time variability of Titan's clouds and hazes.
  • Characterize Titan's surface on a regional scale.

Cassini–Huygens was launched on October 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 using a U.S. Air Force Titan IVB/Centaur rocket. The complete launcher was made up of a two-stage Titan IV booster rocket, two strap-on solid rocket motors, the Centaur upper stage, and a payload enclosure, or fairing.

The total cost of this scientific exploration mission is about US$3.26 billion, including $1.4 billion for pre-launch development, $704 million for mission operations, $54 million for tracking and $422 million for the launch vehicle. The United States contributed $2.6 billion (80%), the ESA $500 million (15%), and the ASI $160 million (5%).

The primary mission for Cassini was completed on July 30, 2008. The mission was extended to June 2010 (Cassini Equinox Mission). This studied the Saturn system in detail during the planet's equinox, which happened in August 2009.

On February 3, 2010, NASA announced another extension for Cassini, lasting 6½ years until 2017, ending at the time of summer solstice in Saturn's northern hemisphere (Cassini Solstice Mission). The extension enables another 155 revolutions around the planet, 54 flybys of Titan and 11 flybys of Enceladus.

In 2017, an encounter with Titan will change its orbit in such a way that, at closest approach to Saturn, it will be only 3,000 km above the planet's cloud tops, below the inner edge of the D ring. This sequence of "proximal orbits" will end when another encounter with Titan sends the probe into Saturn's atmosphere.

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/


 
© 1921 - 2024 All Rights Reserved
The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles ®
2433 North Broadway, P.O. Box 31226, Los Angeles, CA USA 90031-0226
(323) 223-3948
 

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles®

June 8, 2017 -

Ladies Night Dameon Mander - Anti-Poaching in Africa - Referred by Alan Feldstein

Damien Mander born 11 December 1979 , in Mornington, Australia is a former Australian Royal Navy Clearance Diver and Special Operations military sniper turned anti-poaching crusader.

While deployed in Iraq he Project Managed the Iraq Special Police Training Academy, overseeing training of up to 700 cadets at one time. Following 3 years on the frontlines of the Iraq war he departed in 2008 with no new direction in life.

A trip to Africa left him face-to-face with the horrors that the worlds wildlife is facing. Liquidating his personal assets from his time in the military, he founded the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. The IAPF focuses on ranger training, operations and integrating modern technology such as drones into conservation.

The IAPF’s work has featured in National Geographic Magazine, twice on 60 Minutes, Voice of America, Discovery Network, TED, Animal Planet, Good Weekend Magazine, The Project, Australia and Africa Geographic Magazines, Carte Blanch, Al Jazeera, ABC, Forbes, The Sunday Times, Christian Science Monitor and the UK Daily Telegraph.

In 2009 Mander decided he wanted to escape the death and destruction he had seen in the Middle East. So he travelled South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Upon learning about the Poaching scourge sweeping Southern Africa and the sophisticated criminal networks that used military equipment to poach for large profits, Mander was convinced that his specialized military skills, personal finances, and experience could contribute significantly to wildlife protection and conservation.

Working as a volunteer with an anti-poaching unit in the Zambezi National Park (Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe), Mander gained first-hand experience of the struggles associated with anti-poaching work, as well as an up-close look at poaching's decimating effect on wildlife. He began writing training packages that would later form the basis of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation's Anti-Poaching Ranger Training Course and the qualification of Anti-Poaching Ranger.

Mander used his life savings and liquidated his investments and assets to fund the start-up and running costs of International Anti-Poaching Foundation – an organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wildlife in some of the world's most volatile regions.

Mander’s personal evolution has seen him recognize the need for protection of all animals, not just from an ethical standpoint, but also from a global environmental perspective. A public speaker, Mander is a vegan who actively encourages his audience to hold back the tide of human encroachment and correct the imbalance between dwindling wilderness areas and rapidly increasing human populations.

Mander is also a director of the Conservation Guardians and resides in Southern Africa with his wife Maria.


 
© 1921 - 2024 All Rights Reserved
The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles ®
2433 North Broadway, P.O. Box 31226, Los Angeles, CA USA 90031-0226
(323) 223-3948
 

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles®

June 15, 2017 -

Ladies Night Tania Aibe - A Solo Circumnavigation of the Globe

What begins as the sheer desire for adventure turns into a spiritual quest as a young woman comes to terms with her family, her dreams, and her first love.

Tania Aebi was an unambitious eighteen-year-old, a bicycle messenger in New York City by day, a Lower East Side barfly at night. In short, she was going nowhere until her father offered her a challenge: Tania could choose either a college education or a twenty-six-foot sloop. The only catch was that if she chose the sailboat, she’d have to sail around the world… alone.

She chose the boat, and for the next two and a half years and 27,000 miles, it was her home. With only her cat as companion, she discovered the wondrous beauties of the Great Barrier Reef and the death-dealing horrors of the Red Sea. She suffered through a terrifying collision with a tanker in the Mediterranean and a lightning storm off the coast of Gibraltar. And, ultimately, what began with the sheer desire for adventure turned into a spiritual quest as Tania came to terms with her troubled family life, fell in love for the first time, and most of all confronted her own needs, desires, dreams, and goals.

She completed her solo circumnavigation of the globe making her the first American woman and the youngest person (at the time) to sail around the world. Despite many challenges, she accomplished her goal and proved to her father that she could complete something

Aebi recounts the story of her voyage in her book Maiden Voyage. The book is a story of teenage angst, self-discovery and adventure. Aebi's story is unusual because she was by many standards, poorly prepared for her voyage, but prevailed through common sense, skills she both learned and honed underway as well as a strong sense of determination.

Aebi had practically no sailing or navigation experience when she departed on her journey, on 28 May 1985. Aebi did not have a GPS receiver because civilian GPS receivers were unavailable. Instead, Aebi had a sextant for celestial navigation and a radio direction finder. She used the first leg of her trip from New Jersey to Bermuda as a sea trial of her boat and was plagued by factory defects that may easily have been corrected before departure had they been exposed.

She completed the circumnavigation in Varuna, a Contessa 26. Her arrival back in New York City on November 6, 1987, after a cold November transit across the Atlantic was heralded nationally by the news media.

Tarzoon, the cat who traveled more than half the world around with her survived for more than 20 years and died peacefully in its sleep just before she was to undertake a new voyage with her two teenage sons. She and her sons sailed a newly acquired steel monohull across the Caribbean and South Pacific during 2008. She traded off with the boys' father, her ex-husband Olivier Berner, in Papeete, Tahiti. Olivier and his sons continued their cruising passage from there.

In 2005 Tania Aebi published her second book, "I've Been Around" She completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26-foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21, making her the first American woman and the youngest person (at the time) to sail around the world. Despite many challenges, she accomplished her goal and proved to her father that she could complete something.

Aebi recounts the story of her voyage in her book Maiden Voyage. The book is a story of teenage angst, self-discovery and adventure. Aebi's story is unusual because she was by many standards, poorly prepared for her voyage, but prevailed through common sense, skills she both learned and honed underway as well as a strong sense of determination.

In 2005 Tania Aebi published her second book, "I've Been Around" and writes columns for several sailing and cruising magazines. She lives in Corinth, Vermont.

Referred by Steve Bein #1057


 
© 1921 - 2024 All Rights Reserved
The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles ®
2433 North Broadway, P.O. Box 31226, Los Angeles, CA USA 90031-0226
(323) 223-3948
 

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles®

June 22, 2017 -

Anything Can Happen Thursday


 
© 1921 - 2024 All Rights Reserved
The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles ®
2433 North Broadway, P.O. Box 31226, Los Angeles, CA USA 90031-0226
(323) 223-3948
 

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles®

June 29, 2017 -

Jimmy Stewart #1164 - Armor in Vietnam

1st Battalion 69th Armor

Join us as Adventures Club member Jimmy Stewart speaks to us firsthand about the battles and his actions as a tank commander in the venerable M48 Battle Tank that saw extensive action during the Vietnam War.




Jimmy Stewart (aka “Tanker”) arrived in country (Vietnam) in May of 1968 and spent his time with Bravo 2-1 B Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment (Black Berets) in an M48A3 tank. He patrolled II Corps from Bong Son to Duc Co and from Dak To to Plei Djereng.

Jimmy was the tank commander of an M-48A3 Main Battle Tank which was capable of a top speed of 40 mph on road. It weighed 52 tons with a full load of main gun and automatic weapon ammo. This fully tracked vehicle mounted a 90mm gun-cannon, a co-axially mounted 7.62mm M-73 machine gun, and a cupola-mounted M2HB (the HB stood for Heavy Barrel, but was modified to mean Heavy Bastard) caliber .50 (12.7mm) machine gun. The tank contained two M3A1 caliber .45 sub-machine guns (aka grease guns) for individual use. Each crewman carried an M-1911A1 caliber .45 semi-automatic pistol designed by John M. Browning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM03s_Ln0Rg

Jimmy’s tank carried five types of ammunition for the 90mm gun: HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) for use against armor and other hardened targets; HEP (High Explosive Plastic) for use against soft (unarmored) vehicles and troops; Canister, a big shotgun shell really, for use against troops at close range; Flechette, or "Beehive" rounds, for use against troops at close range (The round got its name from the buzzing sound the thousands of tiny darts, or flechetts made as they flew through the air); and White Phosphorous, or "Willie Pete". The Willie Pete was a dangerous round to have around. Its primary purpose was to mark targets since it made copious amounts of smoke. But because the phosphorous burned at about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and because it would burn under water, it caused serious burns. Their normal procedure was to fire these things at a hillside as soon as possible in order to get them out of the fighting compartment.

Combat operations proved the value of armor in Vietnam reducing friendly casualties while significantly increasing losses to the enemy. 69th Armor tankers learned on-the-job the importance of rear and flank security, the effect of canister in dense jungle, the exaggerated needs for constant maintenance halts and the value and down-sides of assorted OVM and equipment.

Tank battalions and “tankers” like Jimmy fought savage battles against Main Force Viet Cong, supported troops in fierce combat operations, were instrumental in keeping vital roads open for re-supply of units heavily engaged with the North Vietnamese during heavy battles, decimated enemy units thus preserving U.S. forces in theatre, conducted numerous reconnaissance-in-force operations. The 69th Armor and its component line companies were highly honored and were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the Valorous Unit Award, the Meritorious Award, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm and the Vietnam Civic Action Award First Class.

Today Jimmy lives on One Horse Ranch in Mudhole, Oklahoma and likes to spend his time reading, gardening, and spending his evenings on his front porch sipping a little white lightening, singing country songs, and playing his guitar.

Ctrl click below to hear Jimmy as an Army Drill Instructor chewing out his troops and then listen to his poignant reflections in song of his time over there.

Like many of us who were there, All Gave Some…Some Gave All.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvvGokOoLLA

http://www.memorialdaywritersproject.com/MDWPAudio/Stewart/Shadows%20on%20a%20Wall.mp3
Note: Copy and paste the link in your browser's address bar to listen the audio file.

To All my fellow Vietnam Vets – “Welcome Home.”

-Jimmy.


 
© 1921 - 2024 All Rights Reserved
The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles ®
2433 North Broadway, P.O. Box 31226, Los Angeles, CA USA 90031-0226
(323) 223-3948
 
© 1921 - 2024 All Rights Reserved
The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles ®
2433 North Broadway, P.O. Box 31226, Los Angeles, CA USA 90031-0226
(323) 223-3948
 
Web site administration - Stewart Deats