Chris Bakley is the space guy in Cape May.

Folks look forward to seeing him when the weather gets warm. He’ll have his tripod, cameras, a ginormous 1600mm lens. To the novice, it probably looks like a powerful telescope zooming in on the planets above. With other cameras that have longer exposures, Bakley has star gazers seeing things that they can’t with their eyes.

“Everybody grows up loving the stars and the fascination of it," he said.

For the past six years, Bakley, an astrophotographer, has been taking Cape May vacationers and locals past the earth’s surface on his own time. And with help from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Bakley says he can launch himself further into the public’s imagination.

He is now one of NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors (SSA), having completed the online program that works with volunteers across the country to share NASA science and missions through events.

Since the NASA program was recognized in 2000, its website says 900 volunteers have held 40,000 events reaching 9 million people.

Bakley, 27, is psyched to be among the ranks. Beyond the boardwalk, he’s thinking about presentations with schools, the scouts, organizations with whom he can share his love of space, astronomy and NASA events.

The ambassador designation allows him to talk to scientists about upcoming missions, giving him access to information and training that he believes will make him legitimate at his outreach events.

“I always felt that there were people out there who felt I was just a guy who loved space."

Over the years, Bakley has built up quite a following, educating children, their families, and adults who stop by, wondering what he’s looking at through the lens.

Shirley Bayer of North Wales, Pennsylvania, has checked him out twice while visiting a girlfriend who has a Shore home in Cape May. She said he’s engaging, and his smile exudes happiness as people ask questions.

“He knows the planets and where they are. I hope he gets to do things this summer, because I’ll definitely go down and check him out again."

Listening to Bayer, sounds like he already has space cred.

Photo of the LADEE rocket launch on September 7th, 2013. The rocket was launched from Wallops, Virginia. The picture was taken from Cape May,. NJChris Bakley

Hundreds have come out to the beach for his gatherings. The largest was two years ago during the total solar eclipse that passed from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. No one was doing anything in the area until Bakley, with his own money, purchased 400 pairs of glasses for the public to see the eclipse. He set up a television screen on the boardwalk, hooking up a live stream through his camera.

“It was awesome," he said.

Bakley, who has always been curious about space, said he didn’t have a way to explore it through photography until 10 years.

He was 17, rising at 4 a.m. For two weeks straight, he stood outside at Sea Isle City in frigid temperatures to train his $40 camera toward Virginia. Five rockets were set to launch at the same time. Capturing that sight reeled him in forever, especially when the rockets released a chemical to study the ionosphere, a layer of the earth’s atmosphere.

The clouds glowed in the dark, an experience that turned Bakley into a space disciple. His finger has never left the shutter release button.

He’s photographed numerous launches and meteor showers lighting up the sky. He’d share them and weather-related pictures with news outlets and on social media.

The images piqued interest, he said, from people who found him and wanted to learn more. Bakley wasn’t a teacher, but he decided that it couldn’t hurt to inspire others.

“Everything just started snowballing from there and it’s turned into something that the community absolutely loves," he said.

Look at him now. He’s on the NASA website, listed with 17 other ambassadors from New Jersey. When the program started, many of the first ambassadors were teachers but now a lot of them are just like Bakley, motivated volunteers who are into space.

He doesn’t fool around, either. Two Halloweens ago, he fixed up his vehicle, a Landrover Discovery, to resemble a spaceship. There were homemade rockets and a star background in the hatchback. Bakley was dressed as an astronaut handing out – what else – Starburst candy and other treats.

Now, he has NASA ambassador credentials and flyers that he’ll distribute at his next event. Bakley is gearing up for the Mars 2020 launch in July. Before then, he’ll be outside somewhere with his cameras.

Clear skies – his signature on emails - is what he’ll be looking for when the weather breaks. He wants people to get out there, too, and look up.

“There’s nothing better than that," he said.

Photo of the ATREX mission, where the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia launched five sounding rockets to study the ionosphere. Photo was taken around about 10 years from Sea Isle City, NJChris Bakley

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Barry Carter may be reached at bcarter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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