Just a few extra notes for today:
NASA has made a Mars Explorer tracking page available on its website. Every few minutes or so, a series of images are updated that show how far along the spacecraft has gotten on its journey; the view of Mars; view of Earth, etc. Pretty cool. Check it out here.. I guess they’ll do another for “Opportunity” when it launches.
A big congratulations to Abbotsford and Calgary for winning Canada’s light pollution abatement awards. Both cities have made huge advances towards reducing obnoxious glare in the night sky (and reduced their pollution and energy use). Nice going.
Finally, there’s a free lecture at 7:00 pm PDT tonight at NASA/JPL about the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. If you’re interested in the “last of the great observatories”, you can stop by and listen in. Here’s more information. They’ll also be webcasting the presentation live on the Internet.