The View From Missive Control

I’ll chalk it up to tax preparation time that our regular contributors were short on time to prepare articles for this month’s issue. It’s been awhile since excerpted the NASA and other source space news for your reading pleasure – hopefully we can continue to include it in future issues – any volunteers to take on scanning the publication and net-worlds?

You’re also going to be subject to another of my book reviews. This time, the weighty (physically, not intellectually) tome, “Pale Blue Dot” by Carl Sagan.

Our Hayden Planetarium watchers, David Millman, Frances Crane and Don Fowler provided us with detailed information on an April 25th special presentation, “Public Forum on Near Earth Objects.” The tagline for the program is ‘How should society respond if a comet were found on a collision course with earth?” The panel will focus on the potential threat to human survival after a major comet or asteroid collision with the earth. Neil de Grasse Tyson of the Planetarium and Princeton University will moderate. Panelists will be Freeman Dyson, David Morrison, Richard Gott and Nicholas Wade. Cost is $12 ($10 for members). The program will begin at 8:00 p.m. Call (212) 769-5900 for more information.

Welcome to new member Bill Engfer, and thanks for your renewal memberships: Greg Zsidisin (saved us from having to find a new president…), Richard Nadler, Edward Finch, and Susan Thau.

The next Programming Committee meeting will be Monday, May 22, at 6:30 p.m. It will be held at Lucy Schmeidler’s home, 470 West End Avenue, at 83rd Street, Manhattan. Anyone interested in attending should call Lucy at (212) 580-0207.