From: ken.edgett@asu.edu (Ken Edgett)
Subject: MPF Hotwheels & Other Updates
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 18:16:14 -0700 (MST)
Dear Mars Educators,
I am back from my meeting in Honduras. Did you know that, unlike
the Greeks and Romans, the ancient Mayans *knew* that Venus was
one object instead of two (evening and morning stars)?
I have more info on Mars Pathfinder Hot Wheels. According to Howard
Eisen, one of the main guys who built Sojourner at JPL, the gold-plated
version of the Hot Wheels Sojourner model is expected to be available
via Spiegel's catalog ("probably early Christmas edition in October") and
the Service Merchandise catalog ("in mid-August"). The cost for this
special, unique item is around $60-$70 !!!
Regarding the 3-pacs of MPF HotWheels that sell for about $5.00, I still
have not found them anywhere (but I also haven't been looking the past
2 weeks). The JPL Employee Recreation Club (ERC) store e-mailed to me
and said they don't expect to have them in stock until September....
and they indicated that they would not be taking orders for them
from people outside JPL... in other words, you would have to be
at JPL and physically walk into the store and buy them. Not easy
to do if you do not work there and/or have no business purpose there
(the store is not open to public).
In other news-- this if you live in Arizona and/or have a friend (other
than me) that can get these for you, it is useful to be aware of the
following upcoming things:
Sunday, June 29-- big spread of articles about Mars in the ARIZONA REPUBLIC.
Monday, June 30-- Ch. 3 ("The Place with More Stuff" channel)-- 10:30 p.m.
they will air a 1/2-hour special about Arizona's Mars
connections. (All of the connections, including Meteor
Crater, Pathfinder IMP, etc.). This should be a good
show-- I have been working with them for over a year
on this.
Tuesday, July 1-- Ch. 8 (local PBS from ASU Campus)-- 8 p.m. Mars special,
I think it is a 1/2-hr updated version of the show they
ran in November, about ASU's connections to Pathfinder
and Global Surveyor.
(Note that both Ch. 3 and Ch. 8 broadcast in some Arizona cities outside
Phoenix, such as Flagstaff).
Wednesday, July 2-- Mars Day at the Arizona Science Center, Phoenix.
Afternoon hands-on activities for kids. Evening lecture
in the Planetarium by Ken Edgett ($7 for nonmembers,
$5 for members).
An exciting week lies ahead, with the Mathilde/NEAR encounter this friday,
a Shuttle launch next week, and the Mars landing. Plus of course the MIR
news that's been unfolding all-day today (how awful).
Fingers Crossed! 9 days to MPF landing, 79 days to MGS arrival!
Ken Edgett
Arizona Mars K-12 Education Program