Branched Oak Observatory (branchedoakobservatory.com) is making progress on their Earth-Moon-Earth communication system. Early in December, Doug Buhrman, Matthew Anderson, David Dickinson, and Paul Spieker took to the skies aboard a JLG lift and completed a major portion of the exciting new Earth-Moon-Earth communication system. Doug, the mastermind behind the project, hopes to be ready for Branched Oak’s first “Moon Bounce” by early this year.

Thanks to generous funding from the NASA Nebraska Space Grant and the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center at UNL, Branched Oak Observatory is developing educational programming to promote student and public engagement in radio spectrum science, amateur radio, and telecommunication mechanics. The capstone experience of this programming will be an Earth-Moon-Earth, aka “Moon Bounce” communication, where the participants will have the opportunity to send their voice, via a powerful modulated radio signal, to the Moon and back. Branched Oak hopes that this unique experience will spark a lifelong interest in astronomy within their participants, and encourage career paths in telecommunications and space science.

Branched Oak Observatory is open to the general public and students of astronomy. With the help of local astronomers and amazing volunteers, they setup a variety of telescopes and explored the night sky. Learn more by visit the website at branchedoakobservatory.com or keep up with new events and opportunities on the Facebook page (@branchedoakobservatory).