Astronomy on Tap Los Angeles meetup

Astronomy on Tap Los Angeles met Monday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. on the outdoor patio of Dog Haus Biergarten in Old Town Pasadena. (caltech.edu) (welikela.com) The April program was billed as “NASA Artemis” and “Lunar Landers,” with two roughly 20-minute talks followed by audience questions. (caltech.edu) Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, a navigation engineer for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Artemis II mission, gave the first talk: “Moonbound Again: Artemis II and the Return of Humans to Deep Space.” (caltech.edu) (sciencenearme.org) Roshan Misra, lead mechanical engineer at Honeybee Robotics, followed with “LISTER: Why a lunar lander payload put a hole in the Moon.” (caltech.edu) (welikela.com) Astronomy on Tap is built to make space science feel less like a lecture hall and more like a neighborhood night out. The Los Angeles chapter pairs research talks with pub trivia, informal Q&A, and, when weather allows, guided stargazing through telescopes. (astro.caltech.edu) In Los Angeles, the series is organized by Caltech astronomers and draws speakers from Caltech, Carnegie Observatories, The Planetary Society, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UCLA, and Griffith Observatory. (astro.caltech.edu) (astronomyontap.org) The Pasadena meetup is free, open to all ages, and does not require reservations, though seating is first-come, first-served. Food and drinks are sold at the venue during the event. (welikela.com) (astro.caltech.edu) Caltech says the Los Angeles chapter has hosted more than 140 events since 2016, making it one of the most active Astronomy on Tap chapters worldwide. The group’s in-person sessions now run one Monday a month at 7:30 p.m. in Pasadena. (astronomyontap.org) (astro.caltech.edu) That format is the point: a monthly science night where a navigation engineer, a lunar hardware designer, and a crowd in Pasadena can spend two hours talking about the Moon over beer and trivia. (caltech.edu) (astro.caltech.edu)