Last Saturday evening, “To the Moon” was hosted by the South Texas Astronomical Society (STARS) in Brownsville’s Market Square to celebrate “International Observe the Moon Night 2022” and the Artemis program with live music and activities for the community.
The international event where people around the globe observe and appreciate the moon was appointed and funded in part by NASA in collaboration with the Generation Artemis Project in order to educate and involve the community with their ongoing projects.
Programs involved at the event were the Revival of Cultural Arts, STARS, Maker SpaceX (MSX), Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts art exhibits and Porter High School’s Technology Student Association, who was doing a rover demonstration.
The available activities for attendees were related to the scientific and human exploration of the moon, which included looking at the moon with the provided telescopes, painting and 3D printing.
One of the tables at the event taught the phases of the moon and was monitored by local volunteers from Pace High School, seniors Natalia Valdes and Salma Russel.
Valdes said the importance of people coming to these events is learning and having a good time.
“It’s fun, you get to learn. It’s kind of a two-in-one, you get to learn about space, and we don’t really know much about space.”
The event showcased tables manned by volunteers from various backgrounds, ranging from high school seniors to MSX Boca Chica founder, Jack Yuen.
Yuen volunteered and showcased 3D printing to foreshadow the building that will someday happen on the moon, with moondust according to STARS Executive Director Victor De Los Santos.
“What we do is try to increase the level of 21st century skills for everybody,” said Yuen about the goal of the MSX program.
The Artemis program’s initiative is to establish a long term human presence on the moon, in partnership with SpaceX, according to De Los Santos.
“Showcase Brownsville as a space city, but I don’t think that there’s a lot of people actually going out in the community and showing people everything that is possible through space and science,” said De Los Santos about the importance of including the community in the journey Brownsville is making towards space.
STARS is a non profit organization based in Brownsville that educates the Rio Grande Valley community by providing space science education through public outreach events and programs.
The starship is being built in Brownsville Tx, which will be used as the human landing system for astronauts to land on during the Artemis program.
De los Santos said astronomy gives a cosmic perspective that when people really think about how large the universe is, “it really shows you how close together we all are, even despite all our differences.”
