At Astronomical Society of the Ozarks, we beleive tha everyone should have access to aerospace education and astronomy experience. We offer a telescope loan program to local schools, libraries, church groups, scouts, clubs, or any other group that wants to have an educational program based on aerospace technology and astronomical science. We will loan a telescope and materials to teachers, instructors, librarians, or any trainer wanting to lecture on aerospace and astronomy topics at their meetings or events. We will train the responsible party how to set up and operate the telescope, and how to conduct lectures and take courses on our ASO Academy website. Any groups wishing to borrow a telescope can apply to the ASO administration by email for a temporary or permanent loan.
We offer a variety of educational outreach services to help you achieve your educational goals. From our telescope loan program to our educational courses offered on our site. We have the expertise to deliver aerospace education solutions that are tailored to meet your unique needs.
At the Astronomical Society of the Ozarks, we're passionate about the intersection of science and technology. So we are seeking a telescope manufactorer to assemble a telescope kit for student members to assemble and learn how to repair and collimate there own scopes. We plan on at least 2 sizes (4 and 8-inch) to start with, and eventually add 2 other sizes (12 and/or 16-inch) for serious scientific work. The 4-inch will be for beginner citizen astronomers, and able to be taken apart and stored in a backpack for travel or camping, and the 8-inch will be the premere scope, and the required telescope for normal citizen science projects like the ones on Zooniverse. The 12 inch will be either a standard manual model, or an an automated model that will support the use of astronomical cameras and star guiders. Unfortunately Orion Telescopes are now out of business, and their other company Meade Telescopes in in bankruptcy procedings at this posting. So that only leaves a handful of larger companies who charge premium prices for their scopes. We are currently looking overseas for a more economical quality telescope maker that can supply us with kit style telescopes for use in our telescope builder courses. We will make an announce in our news if we find a solution to our needs, and when further courses will be added to the ASO Academy.
We will offer a "Telescope Builders Course" to learn about the assembly, repair, and collimation, and proper use so that they can easily keep their new telescopes in top performing condition. We hope that by getting the kits made to assemble instead of already assembled, we can save our members the cost of a new assembled and comparable telescope, and also reduce the cost by at least half, enabing members to afford to purchase a higher grade telescope at reduced cost. This will allow members who otherwise could not afford to by an upgraded telescope, the chance of ownership within the reach of their budgets.
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