Night with a Nerd: The ring of fire eclipse

Special Oct. 12 event features

NASA's Chuck Tatro

Los Alamos and the surrounding region will be a prime location for viewing the eclipse. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is near the part of its orbit that is most distant from Earth. Since the moon is farther from Earth than it is during a total solar eclipse, the moon doesn't block out the entire sun. Instead, it leaves a bright “ring of fire” visible at the peak of the eclipse. Cue up Johnny Cash, put on your safe solar viewing glasses and get ready for an amazing spectacle in the sky.

A special meet-and-greet with Tatro will be available for BSMA members at 5 p.m. Members will also receive a complimentary drink ticket. Doors open for the general public at 5:30 p.m., and the presentation will begin at 6 p.m. Eclipse viewing glasses and other cool giveaways will be available while supplies last.

BSMA membership provides free admission to Night with a Nerd programs, free entry to science centers in the ASTC Travel Passport Program and a 10% discount at the Bradbury’s Gadgets gift shop. Plus, your membership supports STEM education in Northern New Mexico. To learn more, get tickets and become a member, visit the BSMA website.

Thursday, Oct. 12
5:00 -5:30 p.m. BSMA members reception
5:30-7:00 p.m. Presentation with NASA’s Chuck Tatro
Fuller Lodge
2132 Central Ave.
Los Alamos, NM

Admission is $10; free for BSMA members

Charles “Chuck” Tatro

Senior Mission Manager, Launch Services Program

About the speaker: Charles (Chuck) Tatro is a senior mission manager with the Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He is responsible for commercial launch vehicle advisory to the Artemis III Human Landing System and Gateway Deep Space Logistics, as well as the mission manager for TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) and other NASA missions. Tatro began his NASA career at Glen Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1986. Prior to joining NASA, he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Test Center.

CONTENTS

Charles (Chuck) Tatro is a senior mission manager with the NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He is responsible for commercial launch vehicle advisory to Artemis III Human Landing System (HLS) and Gateway Deep Space Logistics (DSL), as well as the mission manager for TRACERS and other NASA missions, including: Pressurized Lunar Rover, ESPRIT, and Large Cryo Fluid Management Demo.

Experience

Tatro was Launch Site Integration Branch chief from 2015 to 2019. He was responsible for supervising personnel and managing facilities and spacecraft processing activities at Kennedy and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.

Before becoming a Branch Chief, he served as mission manager for: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), MAVEN, LRO-LCROSS, GRACE-Follow-On, InSight, and Mars 2020 missions.

He also served as Launch Site Integration Manager for Mars’98 Orbiter and Lander, Stardust, Kodiak Star, Spitzer (SIRTF), Pluto-New Horizons, and assisted in launch site planning and processing for the Deep Impact and Dawn missions. Before coming to the unmanned rocket world, he was lead engineer for space shuttle orbiter thermal protection systems.

Tatro began his NASA career at Glenn (Lewis) Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1986. Prior to joining NASA, he worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Test Center.

Education

Tatro has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Arizona and engineering management from the University of Central Florida.

Biography last updated February 2023