Date: November 2022
Amount: $14,321

The Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) currently welcomes more than 5,000 visitors of all ages to its planetarium programs, observatories, and public outreach programs each year. The society has a planetarium and multiple observatories on a 13.5 acre site within the Monte Sano State Park. The VBAS determined recently that they could increase their educational impact by expanding their astronomy-related programs to include amateur radio astronomy.

This grant from ARDC will fund a project to establish an amateur radio astronomy program at the planetarium and observatories of the VBAS. The program will include a comprehensive meteor detection and interpretation set up, as well as additional tools for amateur radio astronomy and geophysics exploration. Funds will allow VBAS to purchase necessary hardware, set up an outreach program, and asses the program regularly. VBAS expects to expand their membership and increase the articles published by their citizen science researchers.

Learn more at https://vbas.org/.