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According to RELEASE 14-017, NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016.
The "Messages to Bennu!" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard the agency's Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the 1,760-foot (500-meter)-wide asteroid. The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and return it to Earth in a sample return capsule.
Those wishing to participate in "Messages to Bennu!" should submit their name online no later than Sept. 30 at.
Submit HERE
After a person submits their name, they will be able to download and print a certificate documenting their participation in the OSIRIS-REx mission.
I did so.
My Certificate
(certificate number redacted)
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A couple days ago, as I was approaching the mailbox area before my morning walk, an older fellow was taking a picture with his camera-phone so I stopped so as not to ruin his shot. When he had finished he pointed toward the decorative fountain between the Toscana Cove Office and Laundry Room and said, "Did you see the hawk perched up there?"
I swung my gaze to the object he'd mentioned; lo and behold he was right. There was a large wild hawk standing up there. So I dug my camera from my pants pocket and took a couple of quick shots.
Full Area View Of Hawk Atop Fountain
Toscana Cove Apartments in Tucson, Arizona
Charles Gene Chambers - January 16, 2014
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Cropped Close-up of The Hawk
Toscana Cove Apartments in Tucson, Arizona
Charles Gene Chambers - January 16, 2014
The guy who had called my attention to the bird told me that one of the maintenance men said that the hawk was a parttime resident and had previously killed a stray cat in the north parking lot and then calmly stood over the body and ate it. Even though I know how that particular maintenance man is prone to telling some tall tales, I believed him... this time.
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Did You Know . . .?
After the extinction of the dinosaurs, there existed a turtle that was the size of a car and could eat full-grown crocodiles.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
At the time of the auto auction, GM was facing enormous financial difficulties. In June of that same year, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time, the automaker reported liabilities of $172.8 billion and assets of $82.3 billion, making it the fourth-biggest U.S. bankruptcy in history.
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WORD FOR TODAY
sophist [sah-fuhst]
noun
1. One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece.
2. A teacher who uses plausible but fallacious reasoning.
3. One who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument.
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born January 18, 1955)
Kevin Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, and director. Costner's notable roles include Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, Crash Davis in Bull Durham, Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams, Lt. John J. Dunbar in Dances with Wolves, Jim Garrison in JFK, Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Frank Farmer in The Bodyguard, and Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel.
(Jan 18, 1904 - Nov 29, 1986)
Cary Grant was an English stage and Hollywood film actor who became an American citizen in 1942. He was known for both comedic and dramatic roles; his best-known films include The Awful Truth (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gunga Din (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), His Girl Friday (1940), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Notorious (1946), The Bishop's Wife (1947), To Catch a Thief (1955), An Affair to Remember (1957), North by Northwest (1959), and Charade (1963).
(born January 18, 1941)
Bobby Goldsboro is an American pop and country singer-songwriter. He had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature No. 1 hit "Honey", which sold over one million copies in the United States.
(Jan 18, 1892 - Aug 7, 1957)
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted 25 years, from 1927 to 1951. He was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad in 1914.
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He who makes himself a dove is eaten by the hawk.
--Old proverb
NASA TV
