RMA Meeting: Friday, DECEMBER 12, 2025 10:00 AM;
SPEAKER INTRODUCTION BY: TBA
TOPIC: “How to Live on Mars (and not die)”
Have you ever wondered what it would take for humans to live on Mars? What would this effort take? Whether we’re dreaming about terraforming to make a new Earth or just scraping out the most meager of subsistence farms, let’s be honest that living away from our home world wouldn’t be easy. The climate is frigidly cold, the atmosphere is toxic and thin, the surface is covered in dust and bathed in radiation. If there was ever life, we’ve found no evidence for it. And if that’s not enough, there’s little to no water. Yet, Mars is still our most promising celestial neighbor and is the one place where we think humans could live with the technology we have today. Let’s talk about the Red Planet: its risks and dangers, what living on the surface might look like, and the promise we would find in settling a new world.
SPEAKER: Dr. Nicholas Castle
SPEAKER BIO:
Dr. Nicholas Castle is a research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, AZ, a not-for-profit research institution that specializes in coordinating remote work and multi-institute collaborations. A graduate of Lehigh, the University of Washington, and the University of Alberta, he has 25 years of experience studying geology, planetary science, and the how-to of space exploration. He’s worked with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the past 8 years as a mission operator with the Curiosity rover, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission.
Starts 9:45 for coffee/socializing at the First Baptist Church of Sudbury, 162 Landham Rd, Sudbury, MA
Invite a Guest to this meeting.
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CHRISTMAS DAY DECEMBER 25, 2025
December 25th – Christmas Day, commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Although the exact date of his birth is not known, it has been celebrated on December 25th by the Western (Roman Catholic) Church since 336 A.D.
December 25, 1066 – William the Conqueror was crowned King of England after he had invaded England from France, defeated and killed King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, then marched on London.
December 25, 1776 – During the American Revolution, George Washington took 2,400 of his men across the Delaware River. Washington then conducted a surprise raid on 1,500 British-Hessians (German mercenaries) at Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessians surrendered after an hour with nearly 1,000 taken prisoner by Washington who suffered only six wounded (including future president Lt. James Monroe). The victory provided a much needed boost to American morale.
December 25, 1868 – President Andrew Johnson granted general amnesty to all those involved in the Civil War.
December 25, 1926 – Hirohito became Emperor of Japan.
December 25, 1989 – In Romania, a television broadcast of a Christmas symphony was interrupted with the announcement that Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife had been executed following a popular uprising. A pro-democracy coalition then took control. Ceausescu, a hard-line Communist, had been ousted from power after ordering his black-shirted state police to suppress a disturbance in the town of Timisorara, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 4,500 persons.
Birthday – Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He was a mathematician, scientist and author, best known for his work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica on the theory of gravitation. He died in London and was the first scientist to be honored with burial in Westminster Abbey.
Birthday – American nurse and philanthropist Clara Barton (1821-1912) was born in Oxford, Massachusetts. She served as a nurse during the Civil War and in 1881 founded the American Red Cross.
Birthday – The founder of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) was born in Karachi.
Birthday – Film actor Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) was born in New York City. Best known for The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and To Have and Have Not.
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NEW YEARS EVE DECEMBER 31, 2025
December 31st – New Year’s Eve, the final evening of the Gregorian calendar year, traditionally a night for merry-making to welcome in the new year.
December 31, 1781 – The first bank in the U.S., the Bank of North America, received its charter from the Confederation Congress. It opened on January 7, 1782, in Philadelphia.
December 31, 1879 – Thomas Edison provided the first public demonstration of his electric incandescent lamp at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
December 31, 1971 – Austrian Kurt Waldheim became U.N. Secretary-General following the retirement of U Thant. Waldheim served until 1981 then resumed his career in Austrian politics. In 1986, he ran for the presidency. During the campaign, it was revealed he had likely given false information concerning his military service in the German Army during World War II. He claimed he left the army in 1942 after being wounded on the Russian Front, but allegations arose that he was actually lieutenant in 1943-44 stationed in the Balkans when Greek Jews were rounded up and sent to Nazi death camps and when atrocities were committed against Yugoslav resistance fighters.
Birthday – George C. Marshall (1880-1959) was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He had genius for organization and served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army throughout World War II, expanding the Army from 130,000 to 8,300,000 men. He then served as Secretary of State under President Truman and designed the Marshall Plan for the relief of war torn Europe and to halt the spread of Communism.