Volume 5 – January 14, 2009

StarPeace Project

Just in time for the opening ceremony of IYA2009 (the International Year of Astronomy 2009), there is a new project, the StarPeace Project.  StarPeace is an international  Project which intends to hold common and public star parties near the border lines in cooperation with astronomy groups from different countries with shared land border, in IYA 2009.

The goal is to provide a chance for all the people of the world to look at the sky again free of all political, religious, national and racial tendencies and without any differences.

To learn more or join this project please refer to:  http://starpeace.org/En/Default.aspx 

Electrified Moon!

As NASA plans to return to the moon for the year 2020, astrophysicists discover that our moon becomes electrified on a regular basis. Around each full moon (for 6 days), the moon passes through the Earth's magnetotail. The Earth's magnetotail is a cone of highly -charged particles. On the moon's dayside, ultraviolet particles in the sunlight counteract this effect to a degree, thus keeping the voltage at low levels, but on the nightside, the surface voltages can climb to hundreds or thousands of volts.

To learn what NASA will do to eliminate problems in future Moon visits and for more information on this phenomena please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/magnetotail_080416.html

What If Competition Update

To date, we have 58 teams registered. To see the complete list , please see the official website. 

If you are planning to participate, register soon! The deadline for registration is: February 1st, 2009.

For more information go to: www.whatifprize.org

Progressive Automotive X PRIZE

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is the latest effort from the X PRIZE Foundation. This is a multi-million dollar competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles. More than 100 additional teams have signed Letters of Intent to compete for their share of the prize purse and actively considering entry. 

Registered teams have been officially accepted into the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. These competitors come from a variety of backgrounds that range from large auto manufacturers to independent backyard inventors. 

You can even find the name of Neil Young, the rocker and activist in the entries.  He is entering his 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV  in the competition. His car that has been converted to electrical power, has been renamed Linc Volt and is the subject for "Repowering the American Dream", a documentary. made by Young.

Another team about to enter the competition is the Research Club at Fountain Hills High School. The Research Club has been designing a car that could get 100 miles per gallon. 

  For more information on the competition, to read about the teams, their blogs and their progress  please go to:  http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/ 

Kepler Mission

Kepler, a NASA Discovery mission, is a spaceborne telescope designed to survey distant stars to determine the prevalence of Earthlike planets.
"The Kepler Mission will, for the first time, enable humans to search our galaxy for Earth-size or even smaller planets," said principal investigator William Borucki of NASA's Ames research Center, Moffett Field, California. With this cutting-edge capability, Kepler may help us answer one of the most enduring questions humans have asked throughout history. Are there others like us in the universe?" To find out how Kepler will detect the planets and to see an animation of the mission please visit: 

For more information visit:

http://kepler.nasa.gov/  and  http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/Kepler/kepler_index.cfm 

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