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Pleasantville's Jacob Burns Welcomes NASA Astronaut To Space Event

YONKERS, N.Y. — Ron Garan, a NASA astronaut, SUNY grad, and Yonkers native, hopes to spread the message of hope and how the things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.

NASA Astronaut Ron Garan, a Yonkers native, has a new book called The Orbital Perspective.

NASA Astronaut Ron Garan, a Yonkers native, has a new book called The Orbital Perspective.

Photo Credit: Contributed

"Problems look mighty small from 250 miles up," he is often quoted as saying.

Lucky Westchesterites will get to hear Garan talk about we can better collaborate to improve life on earth. He has a new book out, The Orbital Perspective and so is speaking at a variety of local venues including Pleasantville's Jacob Burns Center on Feb. 26 as well as at The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers on Feb 27.

Garan says his most vivid childhood memory is watching the Apollo-11 Moon landing on television in 1969. "I was mesmerized by the experience and wanted to join those exploring the solar system. Even as a young boy I realized that we had just become a different species, a species no longer confined to our planet and I wanted to be a part of that," he said.

Garan grew up in Yonkers and still has many family and friends there. In fact, he credits many of his public school teachers on teaching him the value of hard work and education. A firm believer in the STEM program (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) his advice to youngsters is: "Find something you truly love to do and do it. If you naturally love it then you will excel at it, you must pursue your passion."

He said his goal in writing this book is to spark change. "I returned from that mission with a compelling need to share the profound sense of hope that was seared into my awareness from the experience," he said.

"Seeing the earth from space filled me with the certainty that this rock is all we have. Not only do we need to take care of it but also we need to take care of each other," he said.

The Jacob Burns event starts at 7:30 p.m. and features an encore screening of the movie, Overview as well as clips from Planetary, along with a Q&A with the director. Tickets are $7 for members; $12 for nonmembers. Go to www.burnsfilmcenter.org/ for more information.

The Hudson River Museum event is at 6 p.m. Tickets are free but must be secured in advance online at the Museum’s web site: www.hrm.org.   

 

 

 

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