David E. Falkner

David Falkner first became interested in astronomy as a pre-teen when his father
took him to a show at the Holcolm Planetarium in Indianapolis, IN. He became
hooked and has loved astronomy ever since. When he was a teenager he inherited
a homemade Newtonian telescope that needed the primary mirror. He ground a 6
mirror and completed his first telescope, which gave him years of pleasure observing
the heavens. In 1973 he joined the US Navy and became an officer in 1980. In 1986
as a Naval Officer stationed in Monterey, California, he became involved with the
Friends of MIRA (Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy) where he conducted
outreach to local schools associated with the return of Halley’s Comet. He
retired from the navy in 1993 and settled in Minnesota, where he continues his love
of astronomy and serves as president of the Minnesota Astronomical Society.