TSP 2002 was a pretty good year.  Two nights were really good, two nights were totally socked in by clouds, and the rest were manageable.  The biggest problem was a high pressure cell sitting up over New Mexico, funneling clouds up from the Pacific through Mexico over Fort Davis too much of the time.  On the "manageable" nights I was able to keep my scope gainfully employed by working around the cloud cells that would generally hug the horizons, and sometimes make a pass through Ursa Major. 

On one of the socked in nights, bored amateur astronomers conducted a balloon launch, with helium balloons containing little flashing red battery-powered LEDs--really pretty entertaining to watch as they drifted off toward Ft Davis, forming random patterns that the crowd declared to be various constellations.  I think there was a reported increase in sightings of the Marfa Lights that night….

There were about 600 registered attendees this year, down a bit from last year, making it a little roomier on the fields.  FWAS was well-represented by:
   Richard Brown   
   Steve Gray
   Don Hopkins
   Barry Lieb
   Don McFarlan
   George Parker
   Tom Wideman
Additionally, our own Ron DiIulio gave a talk one afternoon on robotic observatories, based on his experience with UNT's new facility.

Consider attending next year!