Star Gazing at Wineries!
CCAS is busy this month! We have two different star gazing events at local wineries: Venteux Winery in Templeton and also Riverstar Winery in San Miguel. If you’d like to help out, just let CCAS President Joseph...
Slooh to Livestream Total Solar Eclipse from South America
On July 2nd, starting at 12:15 PM PDT | 3:15 PM EDT | 19:15UTC, Slooh will livestream a Total Solar Eclipse from observatory locations in Chile and Argentina, as it celebrates the launch of its new website, two years in the making with funding support from the...
Apollo 10 special event Wednesday May 22 at Cal Poly
Prof. Bob Field has a cosmic evolution project that is sponsoring this event as a 50th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 10 mission, which was the dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing by Apollo 11. On this date 50 years ago, two astronauts in the lunar...
Celebrating 20 years of the Chandra X-ray telescope
Next week Cal Poly will be hosting Dr. Rodolfo Montez from CfA to give a talk celebrating 20 years of the Chandra X-ray telescope. It’s a free public talk Tuesday night and you’re invited! It will be a broad talk on X-ray astronomy accessible to the...
100th Anniversary of the Hooker Telescope
You are cordially invited to attend a gala event celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Hooker Telescope on May 4th from 1 PM – 11:30 PM at Mt. Wilson Observatory. The 100-Inch Hooker Telescope The 100-inch (2.5 m) Hooker telescope located at Mount Wilson...
Fly Me To The Moon: from JS Bach to Mr. Spock
Take flight throughout time and space with this musical delight of sight and sound. Don’t miss this multimedia, interactive family affair. Join Michael Nowak, Orchestra Novo, Inga Swearingen, Ken Hustad, and breathtaking images from our solar system and beyond. Travel...
Los Flores Ranch Star Party
We need local amateur astronomers to help inspire public support for dark skies in our local communities. Join Los Flores Ranch Park in Santa Maria for some, or all, of their stargazing parties for the many diverse and curious people who show up to be dazzled. The...
Save the Stars – Jan 19 Cambria
For slightly over a year now, the Beautify Cambria Association has been spearheading an effort to update outdoor lighting ordinances and promote dark-sky friendly lighting to protect the nocturnal environment and our heritage of star filled skies over Cambria and...
Save the Stars – Jan 19 Cambria
For slightly over a year now, the Beautify Cambria Association has been spearheading an effort to update outdoor lighting ordinances and promote dark-sky friendly lighting to protect the nocturnal environment and our heritage of star filled skies over Cambria and...
Oct 10th Exo Planet Lecture
On October 10th (Wed), you are invited to the exoplanet lecture in the Spanos Theatre that is open to the public! Amherst College astronomy professor Kate Follette is talking about her work as a planet hunter. She is also giving the physics colloquium the next day and...
JPL guest talk about the Mars InSight Mission
I wanted to alert you and the CCAS to an upcoming event at Cal Poly. On April 28, we will have a speaker from JPL to talk about the Mars InSight mission that (hopefully) launches in early May. Since Cal Poly built some of the hardware that is flying to Mars, we will...Cal Poly Week of Welcome and CCAS Members’ Telescopes
On Sep 17, 2017 Cal Poly held their annual Showcase event to finish off WOW week. Ron Setina and Dave Majors helped the Cal Poly Astronomy Club with their booth with our Solar Scopes. Since their scopes were looking at the Sun, Dave powered his with solar panels. Here...Sept 16: Meet a Cassini Scientist at the Cal Poly Spanos Theater
I am excited to announce that we have recently been able to secure a Cassini scientist to give our 2nd Ross and Sue Benitez Space Exploration Forum on Saturday, September 16. This is the day after the end of the Cassini mission as the spacecraft plunges into...
Solar Eclipse on Aug 21, 2017
There is a major eclipse over much of North America this month. The sun will go dark during the day right in the middle of a cloudless day. An eclipse is when one object completely blocks another. If you’re big on vocabulary words, the word that describes this as a...
International Asteroid Day at the Las Cumbres Observatory Open House
Having recently visited UCSB’s Sedgewick Reserve at the foothills of Figueroa Mountain in the Santa Ynez Valley, I was eager to learn more about the organization, people, and equipment comprising the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, commonly...
Field Trip to SLAC 2017
Our CCAS Members went on a road trip to SLAC on January 26, 2017! SLAC is the world’s longest particle accelerator and has done incredible science over the past 65 years of operation. Six scientist have won Nobel prizes for their work done at SLAC, and each year...
Mt Wilson Trip on Nov 5
Mt. Wilson Observatory Trip November 5-6, 2016 Trip summary and observation by Glen Smeltzer After meeting in the San Luis Obispo Home Depot parking lot, we boarded the bus and a car for the trip south. We stopped in Santa Barbara for a quick lunch and a...
THIRD ANNUAL C.C.A.S. MENTORING PROGRAM
For C.C.A.S. members who own a telescope or plan to use or purchase one in the near future! WHAT:Â Discussions and examples will include: Types of telescopes w/advantages and disadvantages of each. Telescope mountings and how they are used. Types of eyepieces and how...
2nd Annual “How to Use a Telescope” Workshop
WHO: For C.C.A.S. members who own a telescope or plan to use or purchase one in the near future. WHAT: Discussions and examples will include, Types of telescopes w/advantages and disadvantages of each. Telescope mountings and how they are used. Types of eyepieces and...
Solar Astronomy at Georgia Brown school
Georgia Brown school. A little background: My daughter teaches first grade at the school, so last year she arranged for me to present to the third graders as part of their unit on the solar system. That went so well that one of the teachers who was moved up to 5th...
Epsilon Aurigae
Here are the links I promised you all about the Epsilon Aurigae debris cloud imaged by the CHARA Array. This is the star I was discussing with the Docent at Mt. Wilson when he was explaining the CHARA Array. This is the star in that triangle I pointed out to some of...
CCAS Members Trip to Mt Wilson Observatory!
Here are several different member’s report on the Mt Wilson trip! Click here to download Dave Major’s account of the trip. The following is by Steve: Looking back, the trip was a great success. Even the mountain drive going up to the Observatory was very...
Report: Star Gazing on May 24th
We had TWO locations for star gazing in May, and here’s the report for both of them: Talley Vineyards: “I arrived at Talley about 7PM to hazy skies with wind. I waited until 7:30 and then decided to set up. The winds died down and by 9:30 we had pretty...
May 9th Mentoring Program
Mentoring Program with Lee Coombs is coming up on May 9th! This group meets in the evening at Lee’s private observatory. This program is specifically for new members with little to no experience in astronomy. It’s designed to provide basic instruction about...Earth Day Excellence
Our happy club of friendly astronomers were busy at the Earth Day astounding folks with different views of the sun through a variety of different solar scopes, including optical and h-alpha filters, including a special guest appearance by David Gibb’s Lunt...
Lunar Eclipse
The total lunar eclipse of April 15 lasted about 3.5 hours between late Monday and early Tuesday, with the Earth’s shadow slowing darkening the face of the so-called “Blood Moon” in a jaw-dropping sight for stargazers willing to stay up extra late or...
Successful Talk with Dr. Dave Mitchell
Very full meeting last night! Dr. Dave Mitchell spoke to about 85 people, including a bunch of youngsters who asked as many questions as the adults! It was so nice to see the interest from the community about astronomy. Dave had a hard time getting speaking about the...
Solar Presentation at Atascadero School
Last week, Glen Smeltzer (that’s me) gave a Solar Presentation at Dennis Eaton’s 3rd grade class, San Gabriel Road Elementary School, Atascadero. Mr.Eaton’s had been studying the solar system, so I offered to let the students view the sun through my...
Latest Newsletter!
Monthly club newsletters are available for members to download. If you’re a member of CCAS, you’ll be able to download these newsletters to your computer.
John Dobson
We lost one of the true giants of the amateur community on January 15, 2014. John Lowry Dobson was a popularizer of amateur astronomy. He is most notable for being the promoter of a design for a large, portable, low-cost Newtonian reflector telescope that bears his...
Solar X-Class Flare
January 7, 2014: Major group of Sunspots yesterday that originated a huge x-class flare today! There wasn’t a flare yesterday through the H-Alpha. Photo by Dave Majors Read more about this...
Took these tonight from Morro Bay of Venus, Jupiter and M42
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101 Astronomical Events During 2014
Here is a nice collection of upcoming astronomical events during 2014 from Universe Today.
Star Gazing at Georgia Brown Elementary School
On Friday 6 December, Joseph Carro conducted a star party for students of Georgia Brown Elementary School of Paso Robles. Three adults and eleven children enjoyed viewing the Moon, and the planet Venus. The night was clear, and several constellations were visible from...
Gravity Takes a Starring Role — But It May Not Be What You Think
In this edition of The Universe in the Classroom, learn about the starring role of gravity in the real life of astronauts and their work in space. In the fall of 2013, peoples’ imagination was captured by the movie Gravity. Though many of the plot elements were...
What’s Up for the December Sky
Key Stars For observers at mid-northern latitudes, the Pleiades star cluster is due south around 10 P.M. local time. Above it is Perseus, flanked by Auriga and Cassiopeia. Orion can be found above the southeastern horizon, and between it and the celestial pole...
Star Party
On November 1 Joseph Carro, Tom Frey, Dave Majors (aka Galileo), Gus Nelson, and one parent with an SCT were at Branch Elementary School outside Arroyo Grande.  The school had a very good turnout and we estimated at least 100 people. At one point all 5 telescopes...
Black Holes, Solar Flares and Jupiter’s Lasers
On Saturday Oct 5th, 2013 at 10am Aurora Lipper gave an astronomical presentation at the SLO library to the general public entitled “Black Holes, Solar Flares, and Jupiter’s Lasersâ€. We had over 80 people join us on this bright sunny morning, Dave Majors, Joseph...
Annular Eclipse on May 10th
Here are a couple of beautiful images from the annular solar eclipse on May 9 / 10th. More info and images are available from NASA and...
Constellation Photography by Lee Coombs
One of my earliest projects when I first started doing astrophotography was photographing all the Northern Hemisphere constellations. These early photos are still some of my most used photographs whenever I give talks yet were the easiest to take. With today’s...
Photographing the Sun by Lee Coombs
With an abundance of light, photographing the sun may seem like an extremely easy thing to do. It is this abundance of light, which includes harmful infrared and ultraviolet radiation, that presents the problems associated with solar photography. As kids, many of us...
Reflections of an Obsession by Tom Frey
Some of you probably don’t know me but I’m called Obsession #860, a truss tube Dobonian telelscope. My credentials include an18 inch f/4.5 Galaxy objective mirror with an enhanced coating and a JMI NGC MAX set of digital setting circles. I’m constructed of maple...
My and My Scope by Ryan Koch
Greetings, after having attended a few of the wonderful star parties put on by CCAS I’ve just recently decided to become a member and was given this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Ryan, or perhaps more commonly known as “that guy over there with the...
Me and My Telescopes by Jim Carlisle
I started out in amateur astronomer as a kid interested in building my own telescope. At that time, that was the way most amateurs got their scopes, especially if you were too poor to buy one. My first telescope came from the advertisement pages of Popular Mechanics...
Me and My Telescope by Dr. Russ Genet
Since I couldn’t make up my mind which of the many telescopes I’ve been involved with over the last half-century was my favorite, Aurora agreed that I could write two articles: one on my past telescopes, and the other on my current telescope. Here is number one. I...
Easy One-Step Online Renewal or New Member Registration for CCAS
You can renew your registration in less than two minutes with our safe & secure online registration link here. New to astronomy? Get started on the right foot with educational astronomy talks, opportunities to meet and connect with others who love astronomy, and...
Me and My Telescope by Lee Coombs
I have always had an interest in astronomy and, while in junior high school, fabricated a variety of telescopes from old eyeglass lenses or any other optics I could get my hands on. My first real astronomical telescope was one I built using a 6-inch f/8 mirror that...
Me and My Telescope by Aurora Lipper
My telescope was given to me as a Christmas present by my husband. The telescope was the “treasure†of a Treasure Hunt I was sent on, picking up parts and pieces of the telescope along the way (the motor drive was found in the clothes dryer). I had never owned a...
Curiosity Lands on Mars August 5th
Curiosity has successfully landed on the surface of Mars! Here are some of the first images: More images are being posted by NASA here:Â Mars Science Laboratory Image Gallery Live coverage starts at 8:00pm on NASA TV and 2:00pm at The Planetary Society’s...Woo-hoo! Awesome job!
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Special Event: July 26th – Summer Astronomical Research Presentations
Talk Title: Special Event – Summer Astronomical Research Presentations Time & Location: Thursday, July 26th, 2012, 7:00 PM – 8:40 PM, Room 2402 at Cuesta College (the observatory building) A special joint meeting of the CCAS and Cuesta College will...
Radio Astronomy by Tom Smith
It all started back in late 2001 when I became interested in obtaining an Amateur Radio License so that if I moved to some remote place without phones I would still be able to get hold of help. Well, I have always had a fascination with electronics and theory so once...Downloads
Exploring Black Holes Chandra Favorites Celetial Fireworks: Supernova Remnants “Downtown” in the Milky Way The Solar System Through Chandra’s Eyes Collimation And The Newtonian...Scale of the Universe
Copyright 2012. Magnifying the Universe by Number...
My Brief Astronomy Adventure by Robin White
In 1980 I decided to do something that was very unusual for me at the time….read a book! The book I chose to read was “Cosmos†by Carl Sagan. I know most of you reading this now have read Cosmos at some point in your life and therefor understand the impact it...
Me and My Scope by Dave Majors
Although I am still fairly new to the club I have been interested in astronomy for many years. Born in 1958 I grew up alongside the space program. In the early 1960’s I lived in El Paso,Tx where my mom worked at White Sands Missile Range-apparently on classified...
Transit of Venus: June 5
This event is over… thank you to everyone who participated. Together, CCAS reached over 1,000 people! Here are some if the pictures from the transit: Credit: Dave Majors Credit: Dave Majors Credit: Dave Majors Credit: Joe Richards Credit: Glenn Bolivar...
Solar Eclipse on May 20
On May 20, 2012, an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible within a narrow corridor that will traverse the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring the image of the...
Fun with the Sun by Michael Spingler
When I was 12 years old I had my first view of the sun with my homebuilt 8†Newtonian. Ever since that day I have been hooked on solar astronomy. My first solar filter incorporated a Hershel wedge design. This system used a non-aluminized diagonal which was inserted...
Moments in my Professional Astronomical Career I Would Just as Soon Forget
by Dr. Ray Weymann I have done both theoretical and observational research and there have been some awkward moments in both. Early in my career I was a coauthor on a paper which involved computing the interior structure of the sun throughout its life. Standard...
Download August 2012 Newsletter
Monthly club newsletters are available for members to download. If you’re a member of CCAS, you’ll be able to download these newsletters to your computer.
Los Osos Star Party on March 1
Join the CCAS for a star gazing event, rain or shine at the Los Osos public library! Here’s the information you need to...
Great Moments in Astronomy by Walt Reil
As many astronomers can tell you, holding star parties and heading into unknown territory to perform your stargazing can sometimes throw you a curve ball and present rather interesting and challenging situations. Aurora asked that I relate any events that might make...
Paso Robles Elementary schools have a winner with their Math and Science Nights.
Kermit King Elementary held theirs on the evening of Thursday, January 26. These events are held in the schools’s gym and feature various science exhibits- some by the school ‘s students ,Van de Graaff Generators by High School students, and of course our own CCAS...
Next Star Party: Oct 26 at CAMBRIA
Our next star gazing event is on October 26, 2019 from 7p.m. – 10 p.m. at Santa Lucia Middle School located at 2850 Schoolhouse Lane in Cambria. This event will replace our October star party at Santa Margarita Lake. The CCAS and Beautify Cambria will be...
Next Meeting: No Meeting in Oct / Nov / Dec
Our next meeting is in January! Our meetings start at 7pm Meeting Location: United Methodist Church 1515 Fredericks Ave, San Luis Obispo. General Information on our Meetings and Public Talks: Our meetings include time for show-and-tell, telescope setup questions,...
Missed Tartar’s Talk?
Jill Tarter is Director, Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. On October 8th, she gave an amazing presentation to over 300 people at Cal Poly State University. Tarter’s work has brought her wide recognition in the scientific...
Remember Jodi Foster in the movie CONTACT? We’ve got the REAL THING!
PUBLIC ASTRONOMY TALK: Are We Alone? Dr. Jill Tarter Director, Center for SETI Research SETI Institute (This event is over.) Aliens abound on the movie screens, but in reality we are still trying to find out if we share our universe with other sentient creatures....
Me and “My†Scopes by Dr. Ray Weymann
Please notice the quotation marks around the title, because none of the telescopes that have been a part of my life have been “mine”–I have never owned one! Lets begin in 1946, when I was a 6th grader in Miss Weber’s class. She was an...
Los Osos Library Success!
At the invitation of Joe Laurenzi of the Los Osos Public Library, CCAS astronomers held a very successful star party featuring the first quarter Moon and Jupiter. Attending for CCAS were myself with my 12 “ Orion Intelliscope, Joe Carro with his 11†Celestron,...Feb 17, 2011: “Math and Science” night at Virginia Peterson Elementary School
As part of “Math and Science” night at Virginia Peterson Elementary School – Principal Brad Yee requested a couple of telescopes from CCAS. In response Joe Carro arranged for us to have our telescopes at their school. The packed auditorium was set up...
Star Gazing at Los Osos Public Library
We’re bringing telescopes to view the moon and Jupiter on Feb 10th! Here’s how you can join...
Trinity School Star Party
On Jan 7 Joe Carro and I attended a star party at Trinity Lutheran Church School in Paso Robles at the invitation of Jackie Loper- one of the teachers at this school. This event was a wild success with 50 or so students and parents in attendance. To start with- this...
Star Party at the Nipomo Native Gardens
December 1, 2010 Visitors: Administrators, Adults and students from the Guadalupe-Nipomo, Dunes Center Chris Estrada, Dave Majors, and I (Tom Frey) held a star party on 12/1/10 at the Nipomo Native Gardens (NNG) in Nipomo, CA. This was at the request made to Cindy...
Lunar Eclipse
There’s a full lunar eclipse on Dec 21st at 3:17am Eastern Time (12:17am Pacific) which is visible from all of North America! If you have no idea what a lunar (as opposed to solar) eclipse is, check out this new JPL information video:...
West Templeton Star Gazing
On the night of 28 November 2010, a star party was held at a residence in West Templeton. Astronomer Joseph Carro met with Mary Gardner and members of her family. There were five adults and six children at the house on Claassen Road. Upon his arrival, the skies were...
Shooting Holes at the Boy Scout Convention
From Dave Majors: I was at the Boy Scout event on 10/29-30 with over 500 scouts and possibly rainy weather, and it turned out better than I thought it would (given the weather forecast). It clouded over as the sun was going down but I did get the chance to shoot holes...
New Planet around Gliese 581
I figure we will be asked about the planet discovery that was in the paper so here are the stats: Star Name: Gliese 581 – also listed as variable star HO Lib Spect: M3V Mass: .031 Suns Luminosity: .013 Suns Apparent Mag: 10.55 Surface Temp: 3500 K Distance: 20...
1 Meter Telescope: Assembled
After being worked on at Reed and Chris Estrada’s place in Lancaster, California, the 1 meter photometric telescope has been moved back to the Orion Observatory (near Santa Margarita Lake not far from San Luis Obispo, California). Below are some photographs (taken...
“Einstein for Everyone” with Guest Speaker Dr. Robert Piccioni
Our next CCAS meeting is Thursday, October 28th, 2010 from 7-9 PM. Guest Speaker Dr. Robert Piccioni, who is an expert on Einstein and cosmology. Speaker: Dr. Robert Piccioni (pronounced “Pitch-O-knee”) Talk Title: “Einstein for Everyone†Click here to...
Star Party on Sept 4th Success!
Wow… what a beautiful night! We had such a great time with the clear night as tons of folks trekked up the hill. Many thanks extend out to Kent Wallace, Pete Roebber, Chris and Reed Estrada for their time, telescopes, and talent! We had mostly ‘big...
Stary Party at the KOA
The August 7, 2010 KOA star party was a success even though there were only 4 telescopes. Dave was there with his 12†Intelliscope, Kent with his 20†Starsplitter and Reed with his and Chris’s homebuilt 22â€. A 6†Newt on a German equatorial arrived after...
Thunder at a Star Party!
From VP Chris Estrada: The last Star Party on July 10, 2010 at the Santa Margarita KOA had mixed results… Only 4 scopes turned up… Reed Estrada and I, Tom Frey, Pete Roebbers and David Majors… There was a modest public turn out… The afternoon...
Large Alt-Az Telescope at Big Bear
One Meter Photometric Telescope at RTMC (Riverside Telescope Maker’s Conference) on May 15, Big Bear Lake, California Report from: Russ Genet, Reed Estrada, and VP Chris Estrada The one meter wooden prototype photometric telescope made it to RTMC this year. First...Talk at Cambria Rotary Club
The CCAS was invited to be the guest speaker for the Cambria Rotary Club on Friday, June 18th, 2010, who meets weekly at the Cambria Pines Lodge. Member Joseph Carro was the presenter: “The meeting of the Cambria Rotary went very well. I had a presentation...Star Gazing and Wine!
The CCAS was invited to co-host a wine-tasting event under the stars on June 19, 2010 at sunset. This is the fifth year in a row that we’ve had this wonderful opportunity to share with the public, and we hope to continue this event in the future. “Cass...
Star Party Success!
The June 12th, 2010 public star party at the KOA campground was a HUGE success. It was well attended by both astronomers and the general public. The Night started off a little breezy but it rapidly calmed at dusk. The conditions where clear and cool, which made for a...
Star Party for the American Cancer Society
The CCAS was invited to host a star-gazing event on Saturday, June 5, 2010 with the American Cancer Society. The event was called Camp Reach for the Stars “Creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays…” According to one of the organizers...
Omega Centauri Visible at Dancing Deer!
We were at the new star site, Dancing Deer Ranch in Templeton on Saturday, June 5th, 2010. Although we weren’t sure what to expect to see with the scopes (it was really our first time out there), we were quite impressed! Here’s the scoop on the scopes:...Report from June 5th Star Gazing…
On June 5, CCAS members were finally able to give the Dancing Deer Ranch site a good workout. Attending with their scopes were the dobs: Aurora’s 8 year old son Benji with his 3†scope. Kent with his 20†Tom with his 17†Dave and Andy with their 12â€...
New Star Site for CCAS Members
Saturday, June 5, 2010 at Sunset CCAS Members are invited to a private star party just for CCAS members at an 80-acre ranch in Templeton, owned by retired professor Peter Huber (who is also an amateur astronomer). The ranch is an eco-friendly retreat center available...Boy Scout Star Party
The CCAS provided a star gazing event on May 15th, 2010 to Boy Scout Pack 91 at Lopez Lake – here are the highlights! From Member Joseph Carro: We met at Camp Mabel French at 8pm to find about 20 Boy and Girl Scouts and about 15 adults who accompanied them....
Sidewalk Astronomy Day Success!
We had lots of sun at the Earth Day event in Mission Plaza, SLO on Sat. April 24th, 2010. Representing CCAS were members Dave and President Aurora, who found they were the only booth that didn’t bring a tent for shade, as their exhibit included five...1-Meter Telescope – BIG Hit!
Report from VP Chris Estrada on the monthly CCAS meeting for April 2010: The meeting went great – we had lots of people both young and “seasoned” alike. The power point, though a little mistimed was full of interesting information ( I should know I...
CHANGE OF LOCATION! National Astronomy Day Celebration
Looking for fun ways to celebrate National Astronomy Day on April 24th? CCAS Members are invited to hit the streets with us on Saturday, April 24th at 11am at the Earth Day celebration event in the plaza at the SLO Mission. We’ll be showing the public the sun...Star Party Report from Dave M.
Dancing Deer Ranch 17 Apr 2010: We had a small group of 7 people and 2 telescopes. Just a nice small informal group. We had a retired physicist who is a new member to the club along with one of Peter’s staff who live on the grounds. Along with Aurora we had a...Citizen Sky Blog
Here’s a website with the Epsilon Aurigae IR images: http://www.citizensky.org/content/big-announcementSpace and Astronomy News
YouTube: KSBY TV News Report of Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg in December 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upq6bsvjLS0&feature=youtube_gdata Santa Maria Times Article: VAFB Gets Ready for Heavy Duty (Delta IV Heavy)...