Earthlings in Space

Astronaut Ed Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko boarded the International Space Station (ISS) on April 25, 2003. They are scheduled to remain there until sometime in October — the exact arrival date of their relief crew on a Russian Soyouz has not yet been announced. NASAexplores LIFTOFF (a website created for youngsters that makes an interesting read for adults, too) recently published a feature about the two spacefarers. Have a look if you want to know more about veteran astronaut Lu and the seasoned Colonel Malenchenko. You can also subscribe to non-intrusive E-mail alerts from the LIFTOFF webmasters by clicking the Join Explores link at the top left of the page.  LIFTOFF!

"In a galaxy far, far away…"

August 21, 2003

This is how the original Star Wars movie begins, and we find that the galaxy far, far away is much like our own, except for many unusual beings, and a much higher level of technology. Movies like Star Wars stretch our imaginations, and while we don't know whether there are other highly evolved life forms out there, we do know that there are galaxies far, far away, and we have learned much about them.

In Descriptive Astronomy, we will start closer to home and look first at what we view around us without the aid of any kind of technology. In other words, we're going to look at the sky! We will then start to discover what additional information may be obtained using many kinds of telescopes and other instrumentation. Eventually we will venture out into our solar system, and finally to the stars beyond.

To borrow from Buzz Lightyear, we will be attempting to travel "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!"  (By the way, do you know that Buzz's ship is #42? Bonus Points to you if you know why this is significant and e-mail the answer.)

Now in case you need all the nitty-gritty information for Descriptive Astronomy, you can find it in the syllabus. You can print the syllabus from the website if you lose your handout. During the course of the semester, visit Planet Psi often to find a printable copy of class handouts.