Tag: NASA

Total Solar Eclipse A Hit At Nashville Ballpark

Wendy Wilson

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The total solar eclipse on Monday amazed a sold-out crowd at First Tennessee Park north of downtown. The park is home to the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team. It was one of many venues where people from near and far came to watch the solar eclipse in Nashville, the largest U.S. city in the path of totality, when the moon completely blocks the sun. “Nashville knows how to throw a party, and we’re doing that here,” Mayor Megan Barry told reporters by the third-base dugout before the eclipse. She was joined by Booster the Hot Chicken, the Nashville Sounds mascot. Though a chicken, Booster was a ham in front of the cameras, posing playfully and wearing what appeared to be gigantic eclipse glasses. Barry said that the 8,000 people at the ballpark came from 35 states and 10 countries. More than one million visitors were in town for the eclipse, she said. Adam Nuse, general manager for the Sounds, said players were happy to be in Nashville for the eclipse and not on the road. The Sounds were set to play a home game later Monday against the Iowa Cubs. “It’s an incredible opportunity,” said Sounds…

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No Road Closures Planned For Monday’s Eclipse, Nashville Authorities Say

Wendy Wilson

No eclipse-related road closures are planned for Monday, according to a Metro Nashville Police Department press release issued this week. Authorities are cautioning people to be aware of moving traffic and not get distracted by viewing the eclipse. “Nashville has a number of places to safely watch and enjoy next Monday’s total solar eclipse. Interstates and the travel lanes of busy city streets ARE NOT among them,” the press release said. “Citizens are strongly cautioned against walking into streets or stopping on an interstate to view the eclipse.” Nashvillians and visitors are encouraged to plan where they intend to watch the eclipse and head there early. Among the local places for eclipse viewing are: Adventure Science Center, 800 Fort Negley Boulevard Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, 3777 Nolensville Pike First Tennessee Park, 19 Jr Gilliam Way Centennial Park, 2500 West End Avenue Radnor Lake, 1160 Otter Creek Road Edwin & Percy Warner Parks, located off Highway 100 Cedar Hill Park, 860 Old Hickory Boulevard in Madison Beaman Park, 5911 Old Hickory Boulevard Shelby Bottoms, 1900 Davidson Street Shelby Park, Shelby Avenue at S. 20th Street Peeler Park, off Neelys Bend Road in Madison Bells Bend Outdoor Center, 4187 Old Hickory Boulevard Bicentennial…

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West Tennessee Company Busy Making Solar Eclipse Glasses

Wendy Wilson

  A West Tennessee company is busily producing special glasses to view the solar eclipse Aug. 21. American Paper Optics, located in Bartlett, a Memphis suburb, will be shipping out orders until Aug. 18, reports WSMV Channel 4. The company, whose products include 3-D glasses for DVD releases, has never seen such demand. “We’re going to hit over 40 million glasses,” company president John Jerit told WSMV. One challenge is “knock-offs from Asia that are exact copies of mine,” he said. “We noticed some of our designs showing up on Amazon sites that were not legitimate,” Jerit said. “The counterfeiters are copying our designs as well as putting our name and information on the back side.” To avoid fakes, Jerit recommends buying from the company’s site and Amazon resellers. He said his company’s glasses have silver lenses on the outside that are black on the inside. The glasses produced by American Paper Optics are on NASA’s approved list. NASA recommends using special glasses while viewing the solar eclipse. NASA-approved glasses are available from various retailers. “Looking directly at the sun is unsafe except during the brief total phase of a solar eclipse (“totality”), when the moon entirely blocks the sun’s bright face,…

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Is NASA’s Mars Rover Getting Close To Artificial Intelligence?

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover uses extremely advanced software that allows it to independently locate individual rocks for study without human intervention, scientists working on the project told Space.com Wednesday. A software update called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) gave the Curiosity rover a degree of artificial intelligence, and is the first time artificial intelligence…

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NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams Shares Photos From Space At Brentwood Baptist Vacation Bible School Event

Wendy Wilson

Children participating in Vacation Bible School at Brentwood Baptist Church spent this past week learning about outer space and on Friday evening got the chance to meet a real, live astronaut. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams talked about his exciting career and shared his photos from space during an event to close the week. After his presentation, families lined up to have their photo taken with him. The VBS theme was “Galactic Starveyors: Discovering the God of the Universe.” A committed Christian, Williams spoke of seeing “God’s creative work” from outer space. The photos he has taken capture how famous landmarks and terrains appear from the vantage point of space. Photos he shared Friday featured the Grand Canyon, Mt. Everest, glaciers, coral reefs and sand dunes. He also displayed a photo of the Middle East, which he said he is one of the most meaningful to him because it shows the place of the history of the entire Bible, from Old Testament times through the life of Christ. Williams said Christians can only know God through the revelation of the Bible, but that that being an astronaut has helped him appreciate God’s creation. Asked what children interested in becoming an astronaut…

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NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams To Speak at Brentwood Baptist on Friday

Wendy Wilson

  NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams will speak Friday evening at Brentwood Baptist Church to close a week of Vacation Bible School featuring a galactic theme. The event is open to the public and there is no cost to attend his presentation. Williams, a native of Wisconsin, has spent 534 days in space on four separate missions, including nearly 32 hours in five spacewalks. After returning from the International Space Station in September, Williams briefly held the record for most days in space, a record he also held earlier in his career. But Williams’ most recent record was broken in April by astronaut Peggy Whitson, a biochemist currently on a mission. She is expected to have more than 650 days in space at the end of her mission this fall. Williams is a committed Christian who chronicled his adventures in space and his faith in his 2010 book, The Work of His Hands: A View of God’s Creation from Space. The book features photos he took while on board the International Space Station. Williams said that he came to know God through Scripture, but that being an astronaut helped him reflect on God in a new way. “The experience did have an…

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