We were so over the moon this week about the prospect of life on Mars that we decided to dedicate this selection of picks to some kind of interstellar mission that will, simply stated (deep breath here): "penetrate the heliopause boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar medium, allowing measurements to be made of interstellar fields, particles, and waves unaffected by the solar plasma." Oh, and search for signs of life out there. That kind of thing. This week's picks would be to our mission what the Golden Record, a collection of human artifacts and expressions, is to the Voyager Project. Then it dawned on us that it's already been done. Rather well, in fact. You can read all about the mission (refresh your memory is probably closer to the truth) at the Voyager Interstellar Mission site.
If we had gone with Plan A, we certainly would've visited Letters Magazine, because their March 1996 issue includes the two letters sent aboard the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Letters Magazine is a fantastic read. Each issue presents a massive collection of missives (cornucopia of correspondence, you might say) in a particular theme, or themes. The current issue focuses on Russia and includes Maxim Gorky in the U.S., Anton Chekhov from Sakhalin Island, Leo Tolstoy to George Bernard Shaw, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky to Pat Buchanan, amongst others. Past themes have covered letters from prison, from war, between parents and children and more.
We're curious as to when Voyager 1 is going to send back images of minor planet 4442 Garcia. Furthermore, we're not entirely convinced that anyone in charge knows that Voyager 2 is actually headed straight for 4148 McCartney, another of those pesky planets that tend to get in the way. Don't know what we're talking about? Try Rock & Roll Minor Planets, a listing of minor planets named in honor of contemporary musicians. Besides Garcia and McCartney, you'll see space salutations to the likes of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Ringo Starr (seems right) and a handful of others. Part of the IAU Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the site also explains how minor planets are identified and named. You no longer need to moon over your favorite star, you can planet over them instead. Or something like that.
It is a little known fact that the actual objective of Voyagers 1 and 2 (like so many of us setting out on weekend mornings) is to find for NASA the Ultimate Universal Flea Market. That's what the scientists are really looking for in all those photos beamed back to Earth. Strange indeed, but true. And also terribly unfortunate, because if the folks at National Air and Space had waited a decade or two they could've used Openair-Market Net, the online guide to "Farmers' Markets, Street Markets, Flea Markets and Street Vendors." If you're in the market for, well, for markets this site has it all. Period.
As an aside, we'd like to point out that rhubarb just doesn't fit into any discussion about interstellar travel. You could make some kind of leap from farmers' markets to the tasty vegetable (a favorite in pies and desserts, no less!), but we couldn't possibly do that. So instead we're not going to say anything about the Rhubarb Compendium, a site that speaks the truth when it says, "More than you ever wanted to know." We certainly won't mention that you'll find everything from John Cleese's Rhubarb Tart Song to a recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote. Nor will we say something about the vast amounts of rhubarb-related information stored here. No. Never. Did you know that the blade and green leaf part of the rhubarb plant are poisonous? Nope. We don't either. Nothing. Not-a-mention.
Although it's not official, we have heard that the Voyager mission includes amongst its human artifacts (those gifts for galactical life-on-Mars-types) a small collection of Poopets. As if you needed reminding, Poopets are "handmade, self-fertilizing, 100% cow manure plant sculptures." Bringing a whole new meaning to the term "Stool Toads" and "Turdles", we're told that this is the Amish Way of gardening: sustained release cow manure in the form of bunnies, frogs, ducks, polecats, snails and ponies. Okay. We're comfortable with that. Let's go on.
Comfortable is certainly not how Patrick Combs felt this time last year. For a while there Patrick's life, well maybe not his life, but at least his immediate well being, was in the balance, so to speak, and his story seemed to be everywhere. If you don't know the incredible tale, something you have to read in its entirety to get its full impact, go directly to his site, do not not pass "Go", do not collect $200. And the moral of the tale is: the next time you get a $95,093.35 junk mail check, don't deposit it into your ATM account. Patrick did. Find out what happened.
Finally, in totally, completely and utterly unrelated news: from the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, we offer the informative 1997 Countdown to History. Here, you can peruse an in-depth analysis of all matters relating to the transition next year of the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Whew. There's more to this than a longer name, and the site simplifies the historic hand-off for anyone interested. Follow a detailed timeline of events leading up to next July 1, or read more about what will actually change in the new HKSAR. You'll also find basic laws of the HKSAR and listings of joint declarations by China and the United Kingdom. A worthwhile visit. While you still can, you'd better take your pick(s).