Rick Heschmeyer, left, president of the Astronomical Associates of Lawrence, will be heading to St. Joseph, Mo., with his son, Michael, to experience the eclipse within the path of totality. Heschmeyer has been an amateur astronomer for about 30 years, he says.

It’s estimated that 7 million Americans will travel some distance to see Monday’s solar eclipse in its path of totality. Rick Heschmeyer is one of them, but the longtime amateur astronomer isn’t trekking too far, all things considered.

Heschmeyer, representing the Astronomical Associates of Lawrence, expects he’ll share the experience with anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 people Monday at Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, Mo.

The city is one of many sites along the eclipse’s path of totality, which stretches from Oregon to South Carolina. Heschmeyer, along with his son, Michael, planned to leave Lawrence for St. Joseph two days in advance.

Heschmeyer, 60, says he didn’t need to convince the 20-year-old to join him in the excursion.

“I think he would’ve been mad at me if I hadn’t invited him to participate with me,” says Heschmeyer, who has served as president of his beloved AAL for about a decade now. “That was always something we planned on doing together.”

Unlike some in the astronomy community, Heschmeyer doesn’t consider himself an eclipse chaser — a term for people who traipse around the country and sometimes the globe in search of total eclipses, often planning years in advance for the perfect viewing experience.

Heschmeyer didn’t need to put in quite as much work to plan his viewing. As soon as campsites at Rosecrans Memorial Airport became available, Heschmeyer reserved one. That was about six months ago, he says.

“I booked it right away because I knew that waiting until the last minute would either make it much more expensive or that there just wouldn’t be anything left,” says Heschmeyer, who says he volunteered as the AAL president to sponsor the public viewing event along with several others in astronomy clubs and science organizations from across the country.

He’s the sole member of his group to make the pilgrimage to St. Joseph, he says, though several will travel to Nebraska for the eclipse. Another member of the group, Heschmeyer says, plans to rent an RV and park it “wherever the skies are the clearest.” But most of the club will remain in Lawrence, where eclipse viewers will experience 99.3 percent coverage of the sun.

Heschmeyer, a marketing professional by day, has seen a few annular and partial eclipses in his 30 years as an amateur astronomer. But Monday, he said, will mark his first total solar eclipse — and his son’s first, too. Michael is often helping his dad during AAL education presentations, the elder Heschmeyer says.

Like father, like son. Rick Heschmeyer, who grew up in the thick of the Space Race, had always been interested in space exploration — major events that he followed in his youth included NASA’s Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs.

It wasn’t until years later, while attending a Halley’s Comet viewing party on the University of Kansas campus after already taking an astronomy class there as a student, that he officially became “hooked” on the science behind NASA’s missions.

Now, on the verge of watching his first-ever total solar eclipse, Heschmeyer says he’s ready to finally see “what all the hubbub is about.” By the time this story is published, the two Heschmeyer men will have already made their way to St. Joseph. Thanks to Heschmeyer’s own meticulous planning, the only thing he’s worried about now is the weather.

“We’re only a few days away and I haven’t seen the sun much today, and that’s not a good sign. That’s my biggest concern at this point,” he said Wednesday. “If we have to scramble at the last minute to find someplace where it’s not cloudy, we’re prepared to do that.”

The media attention and public frenzy surrounding the eclipse (no frantic last-minute search for safety glasses on his end, thankfully) is becoming a bit “over-hyped,” Heschmeyer says, “but for good reason.”

For many, Monday’s eclipse will be a “once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Heschmeyer, though he hopes he’ll be able to see a few more before his time on Earth runs out.

“I’ve talked to people who have been to total eclipses before, and they say things like, ‘I can’t really describe it to you because words don’t do it justice.’ That doesn’t help me, guys,” Heschmeyer says with a laugh. “But everyone tells me that once you see one, the first thing you’re going to do once it’s over is ask, ‘When’s the next one?'”

Apparently, he says, “It’s so amazing that you just want to do it all over again.”