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| Help Bush Decide the Future of American Spaceflight |
Dec 11, 2003 - If you're an American, you've got a brief opportunity to make an impact on your country's space exploration efforts. As you probably know, President Bush and team are considering some new directions for the country's future in space. It could be business as usual - complete the space station, build the orbital space plane, etc - but I'd prefer to see something more exciting: maybe send humans back to the Moon... or if they have the courage, on to Mars. Some say he'll announce the new direction December 17th (100th anniversary of the Wright Bros. first flight) while it could also happen during the State of the Union address in January. Or it might not happen at all. :-(
As a Canadian, I have no sway over George Bush, but I have a lot of American friends. So, please take a few moments of your time and write an impassioned letter to your President explaining how you want the US to get serious about the exploration of space. This could be one of the most important things you do for the success of space exploration in a long time.
You can send an email to president@whitehouse.gov, but if you really want to make an impact, write a good, old fashioned paper letter. Hand write it to show you're really serious: President George W. Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500. Nag your friends, family and neighbours to write letters too.
Once you've written a letter, could you quickly visit the forum and post notes on what you sent? This could help give other people some ideas of what to write. Click here to make a note in the forum when you've sent your letter so we can keep track of how many have gone out.
Please?
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
P.S. If you aren't an American but you know one, forward them this email. More letters = better. |
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| Image credit: NASA/JPL |
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| Cassini Collects Particles Accelerated by the Sun |
| Dec 11, 2003 - NASA's Saturn-bound spacecraft, Cassini, has made the first observation of interstellar pickup ions beyond the orbit of Jupiter. These are neutral particles in the solar system that get ionized when they get too close to the Sun, and then travel outwards with the solar wind. These ions have been seen near the Earth, but never out past the orbit of Jupiter. By measuring these particles, astronomers will have a better understanding of the low-density gas and dust that exists between the stars. |
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| Image credit: NASA |
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| Best Ultraviolet Image of Andromeda Galaxy |
| Dec 11, 2003 - NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) has captured the most sensitive and comprehensive ultraviolet images ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy, M31. By studying the galaxy in the ultraviolet spectrum, astronomers can study some of the fundamental processes that lead the formation of new stars. A new collection of images included Andromeda, as well as the globular cluster M2, and the sky in the constellation of Bootes. GALEX was launched in April, 2003, and will map the sky in the ultraviolet spectrum, looking back to 10 billion years ago. |
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