People, Get Ready
First, I am stunned to realize how long it’s been since I posted a blog entry—nearly three years. (Well, that was early pandemic, so…) In another existence, I might use this entry to contemplate the passage of time (and various song titles or lyrics on that them). However, today is being marked by a series of meetings to discuss, coordinate, strategize… for the total solar eclipse (TSE) of April 8, 2024. This eclipse will have a path of totality visible throughout Indiana, which will create a uniquely distinct experience through much of the “Crossroads of America”. How do we prepare, educate, engage, inspire, mentor, support, and protect the students, general public, and communities of the state (these are, of course, part of the mission of the NASA Indiana Space Grant Consortium, or INSGC) to have the safest, best, transformative life experience in one’s own figurative backyard (and in many cases, literal backyards) that millions of people consider a lifetime bucket list item to travel and see?
So, here we go. After years of anticipation, the “things just got real” phase is starting up. For some reason, it’s more challenging to start fielding lots of different questions from people with different backgrounds and a “fresh” (i.e., not obsessive or single-minded) level of awareness about this bucket-list opportunity. Where’s the best place to be? (A frequent question, and IMHO, one that’s virtually impossible to give a single answer. Whether you’d rather be in an iconic facility with state-of-the-art technology, or a piece of isolated parkland to more fully immerse yourself in the spiritual experience many who witness TSEs report, that’s up to you. But, the best simple answer is: Where there’s a significant time in totality. Nothing less is even close.). When should people start ordering glasses, and who needs them? (Last year is better, but now is the second best time. Everyone needs them to observe partial coverage of the sun safely. Those in the path of totality get to take them off during totality to observe it fully and safely.). What about xyz…? (Well, it’s good that I’m an industrial engineering faculty member: planning, logistics, scheduling, estimation, human-systems integration, and project management are what we do.).
As of this writing, the TSE is under 297 days away (thanks to the University of Southern Indiana for this reminder!), with a great deal to do in preparation. I feel like the host of a very large party, who has a long list of tasks: supplies, party favors (eclipse viewing glasses), locations, entertainment, etc. An important element for the statewide engagement via INSGC is that this is a potluck, pop-up distributed event. Even if I wanted to, there would be no way to control or direct all of the activities from Evansville to Montpelier and everything in between (both size and spread of community experiences across the state). Engagement is about reaching people when, where, and how they are, and sharing with them in the ways that inspire and excite them the most. Education is also about learning what you need to know to have the best experience, not necessarily what my favorite thing might be regarding spherical trigonometry or upper atmospheric dynamics or isochron maps of eclipse duration based on distance from perigee. The best experience is the one that leaves you eager for, and enjoying, the opportunities available at the party. So, how do we do that?
In essence, I feel like that is my primary role as a “distributed supervisory coordinator” whose job it is to know who’s doing what, connect the right people to the right activities using the right communication channels, and to ensure that the teams of folks enabling the various events have the most reliable and robust access to the resources they need to complete their tasks. (If that sounds pretty formal, it is based on some formal study of how NASA Mission Control works.). Aviation and space people talk about the importance of effective training and simulation in preparation for the mission. We can’t completely practice for several hundred thousand people moving into place and communicating prior to and during the TSE… although Indiana’s previous experiences with the Indianapolis 500, college football and basketball championships, and Apollo 11 50th Anniversary events all give us important learning foundations. We can, and will, build on that.
I’ll spare you too much more of the song lyrics, but I do like this little bit echoing in my head:
People, get ready,
There’s an eclipse comin’…
Don’t need no ticket,
just careful views.
December 30, 2023
Priority Push Notifications
“New notification available. Open?”
Engaging in family connection and conversation on the Saturday morning between Christmas and New Years, it is easy to lose some track of the general passage of time. Discussions of gameplay and gender dynamics, considerations of varieties of microbreweries and their recent offerings, as the hours pass and wake-up times become more of a suggestion than a workday requirement. So, it was really a bit of a surprise to notice that my weather app was trying to give me a bit of new information about the meteorological world.
“100 days until the eclipse!”
Urp. That is a bit of an alert about what is waiting for me next week when I return to work mode. All remaining conceits of “but that is so far away… it isn’t even this year” drop away as the calendar shifts over to January, 2024. The local business community news outlets are starting to highlight the upcoming events and tourist projections. For Indiana, the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) could be a really big deal. If the community is ready. If the planning continues to make progress. If the weather is good. If we coordinate the media center activities. If the invitees actually are available and show up.
How much of that is within any one individual’s control, or scope? I will confess to having had a long history of feeling a strong sense of responsibility to make everything work, to keep track of and use my own force of will to bring the best imagined scenario into being. Much to my surprise (and potential relief), the experience of the TSE planning is starting to take me away from that stance. Make no mistake; I am feeling the “terribly, terribly aware” intensity of ensuring that the invitation letters are sent and the corporate executives are informed, in “BLUF” terminology and 10-second sound bites, why they need to commit resources and time and self to this thing as this priority, now.
However, I also remember a very valuable lesson from the last statewide preparation event for which I felt an important obligation as Indiana Space Grant Consortium (INSGC) Director, the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary event back in July 2019. Lots of people wanted to celebrate this historic event in their own way, in their own place, with the resources and connections that were meaningful for them. The TSE is a bit more localized and focused – not every community in Indiana will experience totality, but the communities with which INSGC and I are engaged literally span the state from southwest to northeast. We can help out a lot regarding eclipse viewing safety and the timing and direction of where to look… but otherwise, it’s kind of like putting together a really huge potluck picnic. In some ways, it feels like the planners of the National Road Garage / Yard Sale, spanning hundreds of miles of old U.S. 40. We know the date. We know the locations. (Oh, if you’re interested, the 2024 dates for the National Road Sale are May 29 – June 2.). But what’s for sale? Which bands will be playing, where? What’s going to be on the menu? I don’t really know all of what people will be bringing, and the more I try to control that part, the less enthusiasm there will be. We just welcome as many people to participate in as many ways as engages their excitement and interest to tell a very special story about a very special experience.
Perhaps it is a good thing that I take a few more quiet days here at the end of the calendar year. I appreciate the rest and the restoration that will help me prepare for the coming weeks. The long-term advanced planning is very much coming to an end. As is often said, it’s go time. Lay out the viewing location access paths and traffic flow plans. Test the equipment. Confirm the portable cellular and toilet orders. (No. Really. Do it this coming week.). Have you got safety videos? School release information? General public notices? In several languages? In accessible formats? What about…
Ah, yes. Use the rest while it’s available. Take advantage of the holiday weekend. Celebrate safely, everyone. Happy New Year. I hope to see some of you at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the TSE viewing, and you enjoying your souvenir pair of “The Greatest Spectacles”. I will be there in spirit in Evansville, and Terre Haute, and Bloomington, and Jasper, and Lebanon, and Brownsburg, and Muncie, and Winchester, and all the other places along the path. Bring your friends. Take lots of pictures. Remember the day, because it will be something to be shared and recalled and stories to be told. “Hey, back in ’24? What did you do for the Eclipse? Was it special for you, too?”
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