The February Membership Meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will take place Monday, February 8, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. via the Zoom online meeting service.

The evening’s speaker will be Jeff Woytach, retired NASA Scientist whose talk is entitled, “OSIRIS-REx: Mission to Bennu!” OSIRIS-REx is a U.S. mission to return samples from the Near Earth Asteroid Bennu to Earth, and to measure theoretical effects on the asteroid to see how its orbit is perturbed. Bennu is an Earth-crossing asteroid that has the potential to impact our planet. The presentation will talk about the accomplishments of the mission, as well as other sample return missions that have been accomplished or are on the books for the future.

Woytach, originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in May 1983. He joined the staff of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s John H. Glenn Research Center (GRC) in June 1983.

Woytach has worked on space missions launched on the Space Shuttle and the Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle, and on flight hardware for the International Space Station. He is currently the Systems Engineer for the Fission Surface Power System, which will place a nuclear fission reactor on the lunar surface. Mr. Woytach also provides systems engineering support to the Psyche mission.

Led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Psyche will visit an asteroid believed to be composed entirely of metal. In addition, Jeff is the systems engineer for a small spacecraft being developed to perform ocean research for the National Oceanic Partnership Program. He is also the lead for two university student design competitions sponsored by NASA, involving teams from five U.S. universities In his spare time, Mr. Woytach enjoys space exploration history, collecting space exploration memorabilia, astronomy, and “Star Trek”. He is also the founder of the “Glenn Band,” a concert band comprised of NASA Glenn employees and retirees, their family members and students from the North Olmsted School District. Mr. Woytach and his family are residents of North Ridgeville, Ohio.

Attendees may join the Zoom meeting beginning at 7:20 p.m. the nights of CAA scheduled meetings and meetings begin at 7:30.

The evening will begin with introductions and the featured speaker followed by the monthly membership business meeting, typically concluding at about 9 p.m.. Guest attendees are welcome.

To attend:

You can either “Phone in” or watch and participate via “Zoom Video”.

Phone In:  Just dial:  1-312-626-6799  (Chicago number)

You will be required to enter our meeting number:  954 8268 6049

Zoom Video with video and audio, on your web browser. (No camera required)
https://zoom.us/j/95482686049

Or download the desktop application from: https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting