Dr. Andrew Fraknoi, celebrated professor of astronomy at Foothill College, took Los Altos Rotarians on a photographic cruise through our solar system.   In one of the most audacious tourist trips ever planned, Dr. Fraknoi took us aboard his spaceship first to Venus, the "twisted sister" of our planetary neighbors.  Venus is shrouded in a dense cloudy atmosphere that traps greenhouse gases and retains heat. The surface of Venus is 900 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Interesting features can be seen by radar”, said our tour guide. One such stunning vista would be a canyon with a mile-wide river of lava flowing more than 4,000 miles long. 

But, on to Mars we went; Home to the impossibly wonder-roving robot "Curiosity" which recently began its voyage across the arid terrain, zapping rocks with lasers and sniffing the results to determine the composition of the strata.  All the while, taking high definition photographs and beaming them back to NASA.

What a site for a new Grand Canyon overlook: The Mariner Valley.  Longer than the continental U.S., this valley looks like a big gash across Mars.  With cliffs two miles high, it makes Earth's Grand Canyon look like a ditch. 

Dr. Fraknoi 's favorite tourist destination is Mt. Olympus.  It is more than 15 miles high and the single mountain would cover the entire state of Arizona. The atmosphere on Mars is mostly carbon dioxide with extremely low air pressure. Your blood would soon boil without a space suit.

We flew on to Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.  What is new is, for the first time in the history of man, we have actual photographic records of all the planets and many of their moons in our solar system.

Jupiter is not made of rock, but gas and liquids spinning in a 10 hour day.  This creates massive turbulence in the planet that appears as enormous storms like our familiar hurricanes.  One, called the red spot is three times larger than Earth.  Jupiter was discovered 400 years ago by Gallileo.

Perhaps the most fascinating tourist overlook would be a view of Jupitor's moon Lo.  This moon is in a constant state of volcanic activity with plumes of volcanic spew 150 miles high.

But Dr, Fraknoi said the real treat may be Saturn.  Another gas and liquid planet made of very light materials, Saturn would float if you had a bath tub big enough to put it in.  "It would leave quite a ring," he said.

Saturn's rings are made of water ice and 60 moons have been discovered orbiting this striking orb.  One such moon is Enceladus.  This moon spouts super heated steam geysers into space.  NASA flew a spacecraft through the cloud and determined it to be water vapor.

Moving on to an odd shaped moon orbiting Uranus, Miranda is a unique feature.  It is made up of material that broke apart then reformed into a new planet leaving what looks like a re-shaped snowball.   It is highlighted by cliffs 12 miles high.  If you jumped off the cliff, it would take you 12 minutes to hit bottom.  With weak gravity, you would be safe if you landed on an air bag.

One of the most famous tourist sites on Dr. Fraknoi's whirlwind tour of the solar system is our own moon where the footprints imprinted by the first astronauts will lie untouched for millennia. 

The message we should learn from our tour of our neighboring planets is that there is no environment on another planet where humans could survive. Only Earth. We best not screw it up! 

Thanks  Dr. Fraknoi, for a great thrill ride where no one has gone before.

The Meeting News

President JOHN SYLVESTER chimed the meeting to order at precisely 12:15 p.m.  He invited Past President MARY PROCHNOW to open the meeting with the pledge of allegiance.  Past President SAM PESNER asked everyone to observe a moment of silence in honor of the victims of September 11, 2001.  Past President TRACIE MURRAY led us through a snappy Woody Guthrie tune.

President Elect JACK KELLY introduced Visitarians (I have coined a new word) from other clubs including Past District Governor Carolyn Schuetz, and Hawaiians, Jim and Nancy Varner.

Next week:

Los Altos City Council Candidate Forum:  All six candidates will be introduced and made to walk over glowing coals. Not really.  But we will get to know each one a bit.  They will have a chance to explain themselves and why they deserve our votes.  Even if you don't vote in Los Altos, this should interest you as a Rotarian for networking and community knowledge.

Our annual support of the Coaniquem Burned Children Foundation and the clinic we support in Chile is underway announced Past District Governor Carolyn Schuetz.  We have helped three children each year for the past several years with ongoing treatment for the burns they sustained in their homes from cooking fires. 

Azulejo is now 10 years old.  She has severely burned hands and wears compressive gloves to control scar tissue as she grows.  She is scheduled for reconstructive surgery which will be paid for by our club.  We have been supporting Azul in her recovery.

Paola is 11.  She has been receiving psychological care for the emotional trauma of her burns in addition to compressive garments and reconstructive surgery.

Eliset is now seven.  She had reconstructive surgery on her left ear with good results. 

Our club has the goal of supporting these three children again this year.  We need to raise at least $3,000 for them.  With your help we can do it.  Give your contributions to KAILAS CHIDAMBARAM.  Plan to attend the party for the clinic on October 13 for an evening of classical guitar, dinner and entertainment.  Clipboard is circulating. Sign up!

Club Bike Ride

Our Iron Woman BEVERLY TUCKER invited fellow Rotarians on a fun ride Sept. 22, 2012.  Meet at Hillview Community Center at 8:45 a.m. and be ready to roll by 9. There are options for 20 easy miles or 40 with a climb. You can choose the length of your ride! Join us.

Another Candidate Forum

JULIE ROSE announced that all six candidates will be at the Library on Monday, Sept. 7th at 7 p.m.  Join them for more politicking!

KAREN GESSERT reminded everyone of the wine and cheese fellowship event planned for September 21 at 6 pm at Rotarian COETA CHAMBER’s home.  Check your new handbook for her contact info.

KENDRA GJERSETH announced the Avenues of Service District event.  The club is sponsoring 25 members in attendance.  Sign up soon to get one of the sponsored spots! 

DAVID SMITH reached out to everyone in the club about the following issue:  Several of our elder states persons are reaching the point of giving up driving.  They want to continue to attend Rotary meetings.  David asked us to form a team to do the driving from home to meeting and back.  Contact David if you want a ride or want to drive. We plan to start by helping BILL PALMER, our recent veteran speaker and long-time Rotarian. If anyone can drive Bill one way or the other, contact David.  Thanks to David and his Partners for Elder Generations Committee.

PHIL ROSE, President of LAREF, advised that the LAFEF board has dollar for dollar matching grants fund to match donations (Maximum $100 per member)  you may make to your favorite charity.

JERRY MOISON said the April and October grant cycles are underway and LAREF is seeking applicants for grants. If you know of a project that you would like to see funded, contact JERRY ASAP. Also, the grants committee would request the pleasure of your company. See PHIL ROSE or JERRY-- especially Red Badgers!

RICH CASEY and the RAPers

Rich gave us all an overview of where our Liberia Child Aids Prevention program has progressed from Monrovia.  Next season, the gem is planning expansion into the eastern and northeastern provinces of Liberia to begin to spread the techniques of protecting birthing mothers from transmitting HIV to their babies.  This is our effort to save 300,000 babies each year in Africa.

Rich is enticing other clubs to join our project.  There are 15 so far, with unique funding approaches and brilliant grant writing.  He is targeting two more clubs. On the horizon is a possible combined effort with Save the Children to open 20 to 25 new clinics in the next two years.  Teaming With the Sinkor Rotary Club, the long term objective is a massive $250,000 effort.  We will need to raise $150,000 which will be matched with a RI grant.

Los Altos Hills Mayor Rich Larson presented an enormous check for the sum of $4,800 to support both Partners for Elder Generations and the RAPers.  Thanks to the LAH Town Council!

Finally, JERRY MOISON had just a few minutes to raise funds for the kitty, but he did a pretty good job in the time allotted.

All in all, it was one memorable September 13, 2012, Rotary meeting.

President John closed out the meeting with his trademark farewell, "Have a good day, unless you have other plans."

 

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM:

Candidates Forum

Our candidates for local elections present their platform. To review the candidate's bios in advance, download the candidate overview PDF.