Good Morning All,

News and Comments....

It's starting to get busy in the skies!  This month sees a Mars landing,
launch of the largest single module of ISS.  Let's start with the
following was sent in by Maureen Martin:

"From: SpaceWeather.com [mailto:swlist@spaceweather.com] 
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 2:23 PM
To: SpaceWeather.com
Subject: Spaceship Spotting Marathon

Space Weather News for May 1, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

FLYBY ALERT: This is a good month for spaceship spotting.  On May 1st,
the International Space Station (ISS) begins a 4-week series of bright
flybys over North America and Europe.  In early May, the ISS joins
Jupiter and the stars of the Summer Triangle in a glittering pre-dawn
sky. Later in the month, increasingly-frequent flybys shift to evening
hours and the ISS will be crossing paths with Saturn, the Moon and Mars.
US and Canadian readers, check our Simple Satellite Flybys tool to find
out when to look: http://spaceweather.com/flybys .  (European readers,
an international version of the flybys tool will be available in the
near future. Stay tuned.)

EXPLORE THE IONOSPHERE: The ionosphere is our planet's "final frontier."
A realm of dancing auroras, radio-bending plasma bubbles and dangerous
ultraviolet rays, it is the last wisp of Earth's atmosphere that
astronauts leave behind when they enter space. Now you can explore the
ionosphere from the safety of your own home.  Yesterday, NASA-supported
researchers unveiled a "4D" computer model for the general public.
Download a few files and presto--you're flying through the ionosphere.
The model shows the ionosphere as it is right now; it's a real-time
display based on current solar activity and atmospheric conditions.
Visit http://spaceweather.com to get started."

Thanks Maureen.
 

The following came in from both Gordon Garb and Rhonda Tesch:

"Well, not me, precisely, just my name. And I won't be going to the Moon
so much as circling around it in the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. But,
still....

NASA has a clever public relations activity -- they're collecting names,
putting them in a database on a microchip, and including it on the lunar
orbiter that will be launched later this year.

Send Your Name to the Moon.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html

Beside sending your name to the moon, you can print and/or download a
pdf of a spiffy participation certificate. I have certificate #449905.
What's your's?

(There's a deadline of June 27, 2008, so sign up before then if you're
going to, okay?)"

Thanks to Rhonda and Gordon.  (Personally, I have #1, but then I'm
always #1 no where I'm and or what I do.....)
 

The Light Thought of The Day...

THE AD I'D LIKE TO SEE-

A field of beautiful people, men and women, on a white background. All
of them are attractive, petulant. All of them are teen models who are so
thin and shallow they barely reflect light. All of them you hated in
high school. You recognize the one you helped in that final math exam
because you thought it would make him/her finally pay some attention,
but minutes later in recess she doesn't even recognize you. All of their
mouths are covered in duct tape.

[VOICEOVER: During our February madness sale, every time you purchase an
article of clothing from The Gap, we'll add another piece of tape!]

[SFX: Cash register: KA-CHING! Duct tape ripping.]

All of the beautiful people's eyes open wide in terror. Muffled screams.
FADE TO BLACK
 

Closing Thoughts...

I am thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug because it
means I have enough to eat.
 

That's it for today, remember tomorrow starts the weekend, and be
careful out there,

Roger

Copyright 2008 by Roger M. Tener, with individual rights reverting back
to contributors after this one time use.  All opinions and versions of
events expressed by contributors are their own.