AstroNews Mar-Apr 2002

SPRING SPECIAL

• SECOND SPACE TOURIST LAUNCHED
• FREQUENT FLYER SPACE TRIP
• SKY AND TELESCOPE FREEBIES
• LIFT OFF!
• DISCOVER A COMET ON THE WEB
• I'M NUTS

JUPITER remains the brightest object high in the sky in the constellation GEMINI. SATURN follows a bit lower in TAURUS near the orange star Aldebaran. And then come MARS and VENUS respectively. 

Stay tuned for a spectacular grouping of planets and stars early in May.

The MOON reaches fullness on April 26 at 8:02 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. This moon is known as the Grass Moon.
 

SECOND SPACE TOURIST LAUNCHED

After eight days on ISS Gidzenko and his "taxi" crew will return to Earth aboard the lab's older Soyuz.

American millionaire Dennis Tito became the first space tourist in 2001. NASA protested, saying the station's partners had not yet agreed on training requirements for civilian visitors. But NASA lost the PR battle and gave in.

Since then, protocols governing training and medical requirements for visitors, including space tourists, were signed and Shuttleworth was welcomed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for training on U.S. systems.

Shuttleworth is a self described "computer geek from Cape Town, an internet entrepreneur and sci-fi fan who paid around $20 million to fulfill a lifelong dream of flying in space. Unlike Tito, Shuttleworth is not merely a tourist. The South African enlisted scientists to design a trio of experiments that he will carry out aboard the station, including one project devoted to AIDS.

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SETI@home: ET ON MY PC

How? SETI@home is a scientific analytical screen saver. It performs mathematical operations on data you download from the SETI program.

SETI@home uses the largest telescope in the world, the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, to scan the sky for signals. So far no signs of life. If you want to help, maybe you can be the lucky one who finds ET!

Get SETI@home version 3.03:
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu

ASTROTIP

SKY AND TELESCOPE FREEBIES

Two new FREE features are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Observing Almanac
Select your location - by zip, city, or latitude/longitude - and you'll know what splendors the sky offers at any given time. Find out what the Sun, Moon and Planets are up to. It even shows you when the International Space Station is visible. Everything is customizable with your own profile:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/almanac/

The Sky Chart
Just like the great Sky Charts in the magazine, this shows the view of the night sky. Here you can customize it to show the sky from any location, any time of day or night, on any date from 1600 to 2400. Or print an all-sky map. Constellations are even mouse sensitive - hover over them and their shape is shown in a close up frame that can be maximized.
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/
 
 

KC WEB SERVICES

* World Class hosting with personal service: $60 per quarter or $220 per year (one month free).
* Online Marketing Plans
* Website Traffic Analysis

All this and more can be found here:
www.kahl.net
 
 

FREQUENT FLYER SPACE TRIP

Flights start in 2004. And it could take a while to earn the 10 MILLION Miles required.

US Airways teamed up with Space Adventures Ltd., the space tourism firm that helped arrange the space flights of Dennis Tito Mark Shuttleworth to the International Space Station (see article above).

Participants will be climb aboard a sub-orbital spacecraft and fly to an altitude of 65 miles, experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the planet from space. Without using frequent flier miles, the flight will cost $100,000.

Other space related awards for US Airways' frequent fliers:

* 30,000 miles plus $650 gets you a tour of Kennedy Space Center in Florida including a presentation by former astronauts

* 250,000 miles plus $2,000 gets a flight in zero gravity.

* 275,000 miles plus $8,000 earns you a flight on a MiG-25 jet fighter

US Airways
www.usairways.com

Space Adventures
www.spaceadventures.com
 
 

LIFT OFF!

Then go straight to the horses mouth - namely to the KENNEDY SPACE CENTER website.

Here are three links that will come in handy:

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/

KSC MEDIA RESOURCES
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/

SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/

WEB-ENABLED CALLING CARD

Check out the neat features. And these prices:

SAMPLE RATES from any US phone:
* 5.5¢ per minute USA and Canada
* 6¢ per minute to Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, UK
* 16.5¢ per minute to Philippines
* 7¢ Connect fee per call
* Works worldwide (via web enabled CALLBACK)!
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Get Click4Prepaid from GLOBALCOM:
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DISTANT DISCOVERIES

DISCOVER A COMET ON THE WEB

XingMing Zhou discovered the comet while watching SOHO real-time images of the Sun.

SOHO, launched six years ago by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, has discovered more than 420 comets. This makes it the most prolific comet finder.

Most of the comets were first spotted by amateurs who downloaded SOHO's real-time images to their computers. Anyone with Internet access can take part in the hunt for new comets and be a comet discoverer!

All the SOHO images are freely available on the SOHO web site:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
 

BARGAINS IN THE AMAZON

• Up to 50% off toys and electronics and up to 60% off kitchen essentials
• Books under 5 bucks, CDs under $7, and videos under $10

FAR OUT FACTS

I'M NUTS

Intergalactic visitors visited Salt Lake City according to a woman who claims to have had "multiple visitations" by the aliens.

"The Brotherhood of Light will make their presence known on Thursday, February 21 over the Olympic city," said Victoria Liljenquist of Phoenix, Arizona.

Liljenquist, 46, claims she was first "contacted" by these visitors when she was 13 years old living in northern Utah. Since then she's had many visits from them.

She said during one of the appearances by these other-world beings she was told she was going to do something major for humanity when she was in her 40's.

"They want to make contact and to be in unity and peace with us," said Liljenquist.

Unidentified flying objects flying overhead during the Games is her destiny and a "wake-up call" for everyone she said.

"They're benevolent beings, a peaceful entrance of making their presence known. They want the world to unite together," she said.

Anyone who wants to know more can visit:
http://www.victoriaslight.com/oly.html

AstroNews is an electronic newsletter by Kahl Consultants. Stay abreast of astronomy and extraterrestrial news. 

Subscribe to AstroNews
http://www.kahl.net/astro
My god! It's full of stars!