General Meetings
ASKC General Meetings are usually held at the UMKC Volker Campus in Royall Hall, Room 111, on the fourth Saturday of each month — except:
- September: Members-only picnic (no regular meeting)
- November: Saturday prior to Thanksgiving
- December: Annual holiday party (no regular meeting)
The night begins with 30-Minute Astronomy (a short program on an introductory topic), followed by a meet and greet with light refreshments. ASKC's library will be open for browsing and material checkout. The meeting format typically includes welcome and introductions, guest speaker presentation, Q&A, and then general announcements and business items.
Meetings are free and open to the public.
This Month's Program
January 2026 is the 22nd anniversary of NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landing on Mars.
Join the Astronomical Society of Kansas City in Royall Hall on the UMKC campus for the January 24 ASKC General Meeting at 7:00 p.m. featuring Keri Bean, a former systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She will be beaming to us via Zoom. As one of the final engineers for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and a Rover Planner (aka Mars Rover driver and robotic arm operator!) on the Curiosity Mars Rover, her expertise runs deep. She was a training lead for the new Mars Perseverance Rover, launched to Mars in 2020, as well as working on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Dawn mission. Keri is an incredibly engaging speaker and will share from her deep knowledge of space, engineering, and exploration.
She is currently a senior systems engineer at Sierra Space.
In her spare time, she spends her energy on Star Wars fandom, cosplaying as Rey and has built a robotic R2-D2.
If the skies are clear and the temperature is not too cold, we will open Warko Observatory following the GM. Warko Observatory is located on the roof of Royall Hall on the UMKC campus.
Bean
Schedule
Saturday, January 24, 2026
- 6:00 PM: Thirty-Minute Astronomy
- 6:30 PM: Refreshments / Meet-and-greet
- 7:00 PM: General Meeting and Speaker
- 8:15 PM: Warko Observatory open (subject to weather)
Location
Royall Hall, UMKC, 800 East 52nd Street, Kansas City, Missouri
Free parking is available in the garage south of 52nd Street.
Enter Royall Hall via the east doors under the pedestrian bridge.
Virtual option: ASKC members will receive an invitation to participate via Zoom.
Upcoming Meetings
The next General Meetings will be February 28 and March 28, 2026, at UMKC.
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