Put Your Name on A Comet!NASA has announced a plan to send hundreds of thousands of names to comet Tempel 1. The names will be carried on board NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft, the first deep-space mission designed to really reach out and touch a comet. Deep Impact's larger flyby spacecraft will carry a smaller spacecraft to Tempel 1 for a planned collision. The impact on July 4th 2005 is expected to make a spectacular, football field-sized crater, seven to 15 storeys deep, in the speeding comet. Carried aboard the impactor will be a standard mini-CD containing the names of comet, space and other enthusiasts from around the world. Launched in December 2004, names of thousands of ordinary people could be a part of what NASA calls, "the best space fireworks show in history." People may submit their names for this historic one-way mission by visiting NASA's Deep Impact Web site, from now until February 2004, at deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/. Humble editors at "Spaced Out" suggest that this could be a way for gays and lesbians to ensure that their names reach beyond the Earth! More information about the Deep Impact mission is available on the Internet at deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/ or deepimpact.umd.edu/.
10,000 Congratulations to Multiverse!The Australian Bullsheet has reported that the Victorian "Multiverse" SF team raised $10,822.81 as their contribution to the 2003 Good Friday appeal for the Royal Children's Hospital. This was the highest amount collected by a single team on a single intersection. Further information on current Australian science fiction news can be found at: members.optushome.com.au/aussff/bullsheet.html |
Klingons Not NeededSciFi.com has reported from Associated Press that officials in Multnomah County, Oregon, USA, have cancelled their appeal for Klingon language experts after news reports revealed a plan to hire interpreters for county mental health patients. The office that treats county mental health patients had included Klingon on a list of 55 languages that might be spoken by incoming patients.
Further information can be found on the 12 May 2003 edition: www.scifi.com/sfw/current/news.html/
NASA reports that scientific instruments on board their Voyagers, Galileo, Cassini and more than two dozen other spacecraft, have inspired outer space music.
University of Iowa physicist Dr. Don Gurnett converted plasma waves into sounds, much as a receiver turns radio waves into sound waves.
Composer Terry Riley listened carefully to some of these tapes, and felt inspired by the crackling and squealing patterns from the magnetic field the Galileo spacecraft discovered surrounding Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede.
He used it to compose some music, which has been included in a larger, 10-movement musical composition called "Sun Rings".
Spaced Out readers will recall an earlier article discussing the gay history of Jupiter's moon, Ganymede. According to myth, Ganymede was a young man who was seduced by Zeus, king of the gods.
For more info: www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_196.cfm
Australian science fiction fan John Foyster recently passed away. The Aussie SF community will be lesser for his departure.
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