The NCSF has regular monthly meetings, where the membership can get together and discuss all things astronomical. We also feature guest speakers and many of these events, and the public is welcome to attend. Our meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month at the Jackson Community Center in Jackson, WI.

Our public viewing nights are specifically designed to enable guests to look through telescopes. Everyone is welcome! We hold events in various locations – check the schedule below, and then click on a location to get a map and directions. 

Because the sky has to be clear and dark in order to be able to observe, please take note of the sky conditions before you leave. If it is completely overcast, the event will be cancelled automatically. If it’s partly cloudy or better, we will still hold the event, and make due with what nature throws at us.

NEXT NCSF MEETING

Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 6:00pm

Main Program: Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew with Jonathan H. Ward

On February 1, 2003 the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over the skies of East Texas. NASA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and more than 200 other organizations, plus thousands of volunteers, leapt into action to find the remains of Columbia’s crew. The recovery effort became the largest land search-and-recovery operation in US history, as 25,000 people walked every square foot of Columbia’s 250- by 10-mile debris field to search for pieces of wreckage that would identify the cause of the accident, so that NASA could return the Shuttle fleet to flight. Jonathan Ward spent several years interviewing people ranging from the NASA Administrator, to astronauts who led the search for their comrades, to the everyday people of Deep East Texas who volunteered selflessly of their time and talents, to the engineers who reconstructed Columbia’s debris and definitively proved how the accident happened. Written with Space Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach, “Bringing Colombia Home” has become the definitive account of the Columbia accident, and is in development as a major motion picture.

Jonathan H. Ward is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a NASA Solar System Ambassador. He has written four books about the US space program, most recently collaborating with Col. Eileen Collins on her memoirs, “Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission.” Jonathan serves as a Resident Astronomer and guest lecturer on Viking, Cunard, and Silversea ocean cruises. Jonathan is president of the astronomy club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

2023 PUBLIC EVENTS CALENDAR

SAFARI BROWSER USERS: You might have to turn off “Prevent cross-site tracking” in your Preferences for Safari desktop or mobile in order for the Google calendar to come up. The Captcha won’t work. It’s an Apple privacy vs Google tracking thing, unfortunately.

You can soon also download a PDF flyer containing our schedule for 2023.