OASIS' 26th Anniversary Picnic:
Mars Comes to Manhattan Beach
By Steve Bartlett
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| Cylinder of liquid nitrogen used for making ice cream. Photo courtesy Craig Ward. |
Amidst billowing clouds of liquid nitrogen, inflatable spacemen, and radio-controlled models of Mars rovers, OASIS celebrated its 26th anniversary with a potluck picnic on July 17. The gathering was held at a Manhattan Beach park near the site of the chapter's first meeting. Members got a chance to play while telling the public about the excitement of space travel.
Space enthusiasts and children from around the neighborhood ran the rovers around OASIS' eight foot square miniature Marscape of sandy dunes and simulated Mars rocks while talking about missions to the Red Planet, how the real rovers work, and the problems of controlling a robot millions of miles away. The Marscape featured the chapter mascot, Marvin the Martian; our quarter-scale model of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER); a radio-controlled Mars Pathfinder rover; and two radio-controlled models of the MER. Members gave out copies of the Odyssey and space stickers and patches to the interested public.
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| Demonstrating the Pathfinder model in the Marscape. Photo courtesy Robert Gounley. |
Adding a futuristic feel to the event, OASIS members made several flavors of ice cream with liquid nitrogen. The super-cold liquid fast-froze the ice cream to a rich, smooth consistency and flavor while clouds of evaporating nitrogen swirled in the air. The hissing, gurgling cylinder of liquid nitrogen attracted the attention of other park users as well as the park staff.
For more photographs of the picnic, see the Gallery.
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