Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Upcoming Events
Dark Site Astronomy Group schedule for Members Only
Wednesday August 26th, 2026, 7:00 PM. Monthly Zoom Meeting – Members Only:
Mark Pond
Senior Director, NASA Programs
Northrop Grumman Space Systems
As Director of NASA Programs, Mark Pond is responsible for the execution and financial performance of Northrop Grumman’s critical NASA programs, including the largest solid rocket motors in the world for use on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the propulsion for the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS).
Mark has been with Northrop Grumman for over 25 years and has held various leadership positions in rocket motor nozzle manufacturing, project and design engineering; space shuttle and Ares nozzle program management. He has also served as team lead for nozzle, mix/cast and final assembly value stream, as manager of the non-destructive testing group, and SLS booster integration program manager. Most of his career has been working on NASA programs, but he also served in the RS-68 nozzle program. His background in several areas and functional roles has given him a broad knowledge of solid rocket design and processing. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Utah State University.
Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance, and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 95,000 employees define possible every day.
Saturday September 19th, 2026, Robinson Preserve. Evening Stargazing. Time 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM:
10299 9th Avenue Northwest, Bradenton
Wednesday September 23rd, 2026, 7:00 PM. Monthly Zoom Meeting – Members Only:
Robert Reeves has been exploring the cosmos since 1958 and took his first lunar photograph in 1959. He began telescopic astronomy with a four-inch Criterion Dynascope, his Christmas present in 1960. Robert began photographically exploring the Moon while in high school and his Moon photography entry in the 1965 Alamo Regional Science Fair won him a trip to the Johnson Space Center during the groundbreaking 8-day flight of Gemini 5 in the summer of 1965. In 1975 he acquired a Celestron 8
telescope, which he still uses today. In 1977, Robert acquired a Celestron 8-inch Schmidt camera that he used for a quarter century for deep sky photography. Today, Reeves uses a Celestron 11 Edge HD and a Sky-Watcher 180mm Maksutov for lunar photography from his Perspective Observatory located in central Texas. Robert also uses a Sky-Watcher 20 inch Stargate telescope for visual observation and a Celestron Origin and Celestron 14 with a HyperStar for deep-sky photography.
In 1984 Reeves began publishing articles about astrophotography in Astronomy magazine. Since then, Robert has published over 250 magazine articles and 300 newspaper columns about astronomy. His articles have appeared in Sky and Telescope, Astronomy, Deep Sky, Deep Sky Journal, Amateur Astronomy, and The Astrograph. In 1994 Reeves published his first book, The Superpower Space Race, followed by The Conquest of Space, co-authored with Fritz Bronner. In 2000, Robert published
Wide-Field Astrophotography, followed by Introduction to Digital Astrophophotography in 2005 and Introduction to Webcam Astrophotography in 2006. In the 21 st century,
Robert has pivoted into popularizing the Moon and his book, Exploring the Moon with Robert Reeves, was released in August of 2023. This was followed by Photographic Lunar Atlas, a lavishly illustrated volume released in September of 2024. His next book, A History of Lunar Exploration, is in production at Firefly Books for release in September, 2026. Robert’s forth book about the Moon, The Moon Lover’s telescope
Companion, is also under production for release by Firefly Books in 2027.
Although Robert Reeves is an accomplished deep sky astrophotographer, his current passion is re- popularizing the Moon within the amateur astronomy community by explaining the origin of the Moon, the evolution of its face, and introducing its geology to Moon lovers everywhere. Robert has perfected image processing techniques that allow the amateur astronomer, using modest equipment, to exceed the quality of Earth-based professional lunar photographs taken during the Apollo era.
Robert Reeves enjoys speaking about astronomy and spreading his passion for the Moon and photographing the heavens. In addition to appearances and Zoom presentations to interested groups, Reeves has been a keynote speaker at the Winter Star Party, Apollo Rendezvous , the Advanced Imaging Conference, the Okie-Tex Star Party, the Southwest Astrophoto Seminar, AstroImage, ALCON, NEAF, NEAIC, and the Texas Star Party. Robert has also been the Master of Ceremonies for both ALCON and the Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo. His recent activities include a five-city speaking tour in China where Reeves was the first westerner to address the Chinese astronomy community about the Moon. Reeves also represents the Celestron telescope company at national
astronomical conventions. For many years Robert published a different lunar photograph with a descriptive text in his daily posting called 365 Days of the Moon. Today, Robert Reeves continues this tradition with his Postcards from the Moon, highlighting different lunar features.
Asteroid 26591 Robert Reeves is named in his honor and asteroid 26592 Maryrenfro bears his wife's name. Robert and Mary Reeves are the only husband and wife team to have sequentially numbered asteroids.
.
.