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Adopt-A-Telescope Program

Adopt-A-Telescope Program Outline

What is this program?

Adopt-A-Telescope (or AAS for short) is a program in which the Mt. SAC Astronomy Department makes available telescopes that have been donated that are not entirely functional and/or are missing components. Through the efforts of students that sign up for this program with the support of Mt. SAC faculty, MakerSpace staff, the Mt. SAC Astronomical Society, and community mentors, the telescopes will be restored to functionality and placed in homes where they will be used and cared for.

Who can participate?

To participate in this program, you must be a registered Mt. SAC student (including a noncredit student) or employee with an A#, a member in good standing of the Mountie MakerSpace, and registered for the MakerSpace’ free noncredit lab CRN. You must also sign the AAS rules agreement (a separate document).

To be eligible to adopt a telescope, you must also have a MakerSpace RFID card, be registered in 6 or more credits of Mt. SAC courses in the current semester, and have paid your Associated Students Activities Fee for the current semester.

What kind of work is needed?

That depends on the telescope in question. Some telescopes need new motors, tripod components, or need existing components rebuilt. Some replacement components may need to be built from scratch - you are welcome of course to use the MakerSpace for this purpose. Where possible and funding is available, new components may be purchased.

How do I get a telescope?

The telescopes are kept at the MakerSpace, and signed in and out for work on a separate laptop from the ‘Space’s normal login computers. When you do work on a scope, you use your RFID to sign the scope out on that laptop, which tracks the hours you spend working on telescopes.

At the end of the current semester, the program supervisor will check progress on all telescopes to see if any have been fully repaired; only those telescopes may be adopted that semester.

Among eligible participants, priority first goes to the person who put in the most time working on the scope. They will get first pick of the adoptable scopes. If more than one scope is available for adoption then the second person who logged the most hours will get second pick…etc until all of the available scopes have been adopted.

If an eligible participant wishes to adopt a telescope and has the opportunity to do so, they must then come to the next open observatory night hosted by the Astronomy Dept and Astronomical Society and demonstrate confidence and competence in setup, operation, and takedown of the scope. If they fail to arrive, or fail to demonstrate confidence and competence to the satisfaction of the program supervisor, priority shifts to the next eligible potential adopter, who must then pass the same test at the next open observatory night.

If the eligible participant passes their demonstration, only then may they take possession of the scope.

If a telescope is repaired without an eligible adopter wanting to adopt that scope, or without any eligible adopter satisfactorily participating in the observatory night(s), it is the program supervisor’s discretion as to what happens with that telescope.

Adopt-A-Telescope Program Rules 

  1. I understand that participation in this program does not guarantee my receipt of a telescope
  2. Choose and mark one:
    1. ___ I am a registered Mt. SAC student currently enrolled in 6 or more credits who has paid and will continue to pay my semesterly Student Activities Fee through my Mt. SAC portal
    2. ___ I waive any and all claim to all of the telescopes I do work on through this program
  3. I am a registered Mountie MakerSpace member in good standing who has signed the most current membership agreement and registered in the current semester’s lab CRN
  4. I agree to sign into the Telescope Sign-In Computer only when I am present at the MakerSpace and actively working on the telescope I sign into;
    1. If I fail to sign in, or sign in to a telescope I am not doing work on, my hours will not count towards any telescope;
    2. If I sign in to work on a telescope but do not actively work on that telescope, all hours from that day will be forfeit;
    3. If I fail to sign out, all hours from that day may be forfeit or modified at the discretion of the MakerSpace tech and faculty on duty
  5. I understand that I may only log hours on telescopes during the Fall and Spring semester, though they may be worked on during Winter at MakerSpace staff discretion
  6. I understand that telescopes are only available for adoption once their adoption plan is complete. I understand adoption plans may be changed at any time at the supervisor’s discretion.
  7. If I am offered a telescope, that offer is contingent upon demonstrating my confidence and competence in setting up, using, and taking down that telescope at the next Astronomy Telescope Night, as judged by the supervisor of this program and:
    1. Failure to attend Telescope Night will forfeit any claim I have to a telescope, subject to a decision by the AAS supervisor.
    2. Failure to satisfactorily demonstrate confidence and competence at any stage of using the telescope will forfeit any claim I have to it;
    3. That I may not take home or otherwise transport the telescope until I have completed this demonstration
  8. If at any point any supervising faculty or MakerSpace staff feel that I have violated the word or spirit of these rules, I will be removed from this program and barred from participating in the future