Saturday Night Space Talks

Let's chat about space!

Have you ever had a conversation with a really knowledgeable friend who has a way of sharing complex, high-level information? Faride Khalaf is just that guy. Get your fix of recent advancements and factoids from history in space and science in these informal conversations.

Speaker Bio

Faride Khalaf began his aviation career as a skydiver in 1980's and went on to earn his Airframe and Power plant licenses (A&P) from the College of Alameda in California. Faride is an FAA Certified Aircraft Inspector, was an Aircraft Mechanic Instructor at the late Sierra Academy in Oakland, and was a General Aircraft Mechanic at United Airlines for a decade. While at United, Faride spent two years teaching structural repairs and for two years was a Fuel Systems Specialist. He is the sole owner of a 1947 Cessna 120 airplane and is an amateur astronomer who works with Chabot's astronomy program as a volunteer. His presentations are in high demand at Chabot and around the Bay Area.

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Upcoming Dates

• Stacking the Space Shuttle
  Saturday, September 28 (7:30pm - 8:15pm)
  On our quest to land astronauts on Earth’s moon we built the most massive and most powerful rockets to reach our goal. Assembling such vehicles require a specialized building where it all comes together. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) was built for this purpose. The architects and engineers of the Apollo Program designed the VAB with plenty of built-in adaptability to fit the bill for America's three decade long Space Shuttle program, as well. To the aerospace industry, the term "stacking a rocket" is used to describe the indoor process of final assembly of all the stages, payload and components that make up a launch vehicle. In this presentation, we will see the various steps taken to stack a typical Space Shuttle prior to its launch.
• A Monkey on Your Back!
  Saturday, October 5 (7:30pm - 8:15pm)
  To date, there is no airplane or helicopter that can carry NASA's Space shuttle as freight inside its cargo bay; enter the Boeing 747 to do the trick. We'll discuss the exceptional skills needed by the crew and the aerodynamic, stability, and vibration challenges that raise the stakes when performing a Shuttle ferry flight. This iconic airplane and the Space Shuttle were meant for each other. 
  
• Saturn V Countdown
  Saturday, October 19 (7:30pm - 8:15pm)
  Take a closer look at this magnificent flying machine that took man farther and faster than ever before. The story of the complex and powerful Saturn V moon rocket is anything by short and sweet. Nearly half a million dedicated people toiled for the better part of a decade to get the most powerful machine ever built to rise from the wetlands of Florida and send the spacecraft and its crew to the moon. Join the discussion as we examine some of the subtleties of their creation, and reveal the genius in their logic and rationale. Learn what it took to build stages, test, transport, assemble and launch this marvel of engineering.
• To the Moon
  Saturday, November 2 (7:30pm - 8:15pm)
  From imagination to realization, NASA’s Apollo program is packed with bold vision, engineering elegance, and tales of courage and shear human toil. We'll take a trip down memory lane and visit the Moon. With colorful images we will look back at the physics and challenges of landing astronauts on the lunar surface. How did we do it? In a play-by-play review, find out the necessary steps we took that put us on the Moon!
• The Dusty Dozen
  Saturday, November 16 (7:30pm - 8:15pm)
  America and NASA the impossible. We met JFK’s challenge to explore Earth's moon in an up-close and personal way. A dozen American astronauts would become humanity's first ambassadors to visit our companion world, Luna. In this presentation, we will be introduced to the "Dusty Dozen,"  lucky men who risked so much for the reward of skipping along the surface of, and working on, an extraterrestrial world. We will look at the six Apollo lunar missions and meet the gallant astronauts and Command Module Pilots that brought their insights of what may be the most awesome adventure and accomplishment of humankind.