july
97--------------------------------nov98
Greetings once again to all my fellow space fans and hello from launch pad 69A (not anywhere near KSC in fact I don't know where the hell it is!).
So you've been wondering what's been going on in outer space these days..??....well you've come to the right place to find out since I have updates on the latest missions and a whole lot more including info on how to win a trip to Johnson Space Center in Houston. (asking yourself why the 3D moon images above?..read on to find out and don't forget your 3D glasses 'cause this one is really cool!)....... NASA missions?...........past present and future to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Deep Space and beyond......it's all here in this months issue of
Before we get too far away from Earth though, I must warn all of you that you won't be seeing a typical issue this month as we've gone to a simpler format where what you read is what you get.......plain and simple.....sure there'll be lots of graphics like always but this issue won't be broken up like previous issues have been....
You'll find the same ole, same ole only without the organization like before........so let's get on with this mission already.......10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.....LIFTOFF
< P>
When I first read a few months ago that John
Glenn would be participating in a shuttle mission, I
knew that the mission would not only be a high
profile one but also would bring a lot of media
attention to the space program in general.
It seems that after so many successful missions,
month after month, launch after launch, the whole
country had grown bored with Americas shuttle
missions and space exploration in general. This
mission, however, would change all that. History
repeating itself?...not really. Other than Glenn
being old, there wasn't anything going on that was
terribly new or exciting. (he's not even the first
senator to go up...Jake Garn(sp?) was.
In a time when the world is advancing so fast and
true heroes were far and few between, America wanted
a chance to relive an era when space exploration was
new and dangerous and exciting. John Glenn was a part
of that and the timing was a welcome distraction from
the political scandals of late.
When my family and I arrived at Daytona ( about 50
minutes north of KSC; the space coast hotels were all
booked up) it seemed that everyone around was there
to witness the launch and many had come from a lot
further than Myrtle Beach.
Without question, anticipation was high and everyone
we talked to said they felt they were witnessing
history.
We chose to avoid the crowded areas around KSC and
instead decided to view the launch from Edgewater
(the first public beach north of Cape Canaveral)
because knowing this launch was going up and out due
east, the view from there would be
spectacular......and indeed it was! Arriving 20
minutes before scheduled liftoff, we were surprised
to see the beaches filled with beach chairs and
thousands of excited onlookers. We picked our spot
right where the waves lapped onto the sand and
eagerly looked southward, listening to an older mans
portable radio. At T-minus 10 there was a delay.
Many people wondered aloud that on such a perfect
day, " how could there be any delays at all?"
Anxiety levels began to rise after a second delay and
talk began between some that maybe this launch
wouldn't be happening today at all, but that talk
disappeared soon after the countdown resumed and several
of the beachgoers counted the last few seconds in
unison....3, 2, 1... As the now airborne Discovery
came into view, there was silence for a moment....a
long moment and then people began cheering and
clapping and someone even said aloud, "Godspeed, John
Glenn". The crowd whistled and cheered as the shuttle
climbed higher and higher into the clear blue sky.
It was happening again, and we were there to see
it. We were also there to feel it, to live it because
this was not just a launch. it was an event, a
defining moment. An event that we would reflect on in
a few years as one of the last great moments of the
20th century in America. Nobody said it better than
NASA's launch commentator.."...six astronaut
heroes and an american legend."
So the question still remains whether this was all
just a publicity getting maneuver by NASA or whether
the mission has any real scientific merit and
justification and the answer was very clear to me
when my three and a half year old daughter asked me a
question yesterday, after seeing some news footage of
Glenn floating around the shuttle. She asked, "Daddy,
when I grow up to be a big girl, can I be an
astronaut and go up to space where he is, too?"
My
daughter an astronaut? Why not?
How can we not love the red planet?? Looking up
to a dark sky at night, nothing is more inspiring
than seeing the red dot (especially when it's at it's
closest). NASA is spending a lot of time and money on
Mars these days and so are a lot of other people.
Here's what's going on these days...
NASA will soon be launching two more spacecraft to
Mars (Mars
Surveyor 98 LINK HERE)...Mars Climate Orbiter on
Dec 10th of this year and then the Mars Polar Lander
three weeks later on Jan 3rd of '99. (I wrote in a
past issue on how to get your name put on a CDROM to
be put onboard this spacecraft and land on Mars but
if you didn't it's too late now).Also if you want to
stay up to date on how this mission s going then you
can join JPL's Mars
Surveyor 98 mailing list too. There won't be a
rover on this mission but there will be on the next
one in two years for the Mars Surveyor
2001 mission and here's a high res images of the
possible landing site for this mission
There is a place on the web where people like to gather and talk about Mars and all the issues concerning the Red Planet and it's called The Red Planet Round Table Discussion Board. I must warn you though that this is a high traffic site with lots of controversy and the intelligence level there is high so beware if you visit this excellent site. kksamurai is the host and he's really done an excellent job with the whole thing.
As I stated earlier, there is currently a contest happening where the winner (and 6 friends!!) will receive a trip to Johnson Space Center in Houston for a full week! Man, what a trip that would be..!!...they are promising all sorts of stuff like riding in the shuttle simulator etc. I've entered it and you should too. The contest is basically a plug for SpeciesII (now on video) and is being hosted at the Sci-Fi channel's website but who cares, it's worth a shot.
...and while we're on the topic of scifi....also out on video now is
Is space exploration interesting to you?? Then this should be too... LINK
Well, as promised, there's a whle lot of other missions going on right now involving planetary science and solar system exploration and here's the links to a few of them:
Ok so I know you've all been looking forward to this month's
"..And somewhere out there in the stars
A keen-eyed look-out
Spied a flickering light
Our last hurrah
Our last hurrah
And when they found our shadows
Grouped around the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists And then the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the explanation left
This species has amused itself to death
No tears to cry, no feelings left
This species has amused itself to death"
Links to other sites on the Web
Links to Space Sites on the web
Sign our Guestbook
Our own Spacely Discussion Board
Mars/Red Planet Round Table Discussion Board
Well folks...thanx once again for joining me in yet another orbit aboard The ß~Hive Cafe. As always, we try to be fun and educational and forever interesting......and we hope to see you here again for another round of spaceflight (and you never know what else) so stop on by in another month or two for the next issue and we'll see you here...at
LINK HERE TO THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE ß~Hive Caƒe/Eyes on Space
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