Posts: 202
From: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-25-2002 08:44 PM               

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Aloha All ....
According to "Sightings" here on Collect Space it looks as though "Space Adventures" is going to have a Terrestrial Tour here on the Big Island of Hawaii in January 2003. Included are trips to the Volcano, and Mauna Kea. These two places are about as close, in terrain, to another planet(or moon) as most of us are ever going to get.
Looks like as a special treat astronaut Guy Gardner will be coming along as a guide.
For about the cost of a "Neil" autograph, you can come see some great sights and rub elbows with at least one astronaut. I can highly recomend the sights, tours, and hotels that are planed in this adventure
Robert are you involved with this group? Anyone coming? Paul, here's you're chance to come to Hawaii with your wife as an aniversary present. She might start enjoying this Space Stuff.
Aloha,
BigArmsWideOpenDave

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Posts: 201
From: Duluth,Ga.
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 08-25-2002 11:15 PM               

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Hey Dave,

Can't make it in January, but I'll get the
wife to come over there with me some day! I
think she'd enjoy watching me make a fool of
myself with those hula-girls!!

BTW, my wife could never get as excited
over astro autographs as I do! I really believe that if she literally bumped into
Neil Armstrong, she'd have no idea who he is!
Later, Paul

Posts: 42985
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-26-2002 12:45 AM               

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Yes Dave, this tour is being run by my parent company (and no I didn't pay Dave anything to write the positive review ).

If a group of cS readers go, than I can better justify why I should run the tour with Guy. At the present, the "official" Space Adventures rep (other than Guy) has yet to be decided.

Posts: 202
From: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-26-2002 01:54 AM               

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I can't speak enough of the wonderful natural sights here on The Big Island.

The Ellison Onizuka Space Center is also a "don't miss" attraction. Fred Haise's space suit, moon rocks, many other great items, and of course Ellison's memoribila. All here at The Kona Airport.

The Volcano is in rare form right now with lots of Lava pouring into the ocean, an incredible sight. Yes you can get close, if you want. Mauna Kea might have snow on it in January,bring warm clothes and your telescope.

Robert, try this angle ...The South Point of the Big Island was seriously considered as a launch site by NASA. Lots of ocean around, close to the Equator, save some money on launches ....maybe Space Adventures could launch from....well you'll have to make a personal visit and see.

Aloha for now,
BigPlansDave

Posts: 594
From: Orting, WA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-26-2002 07:44 AM               

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Hi Dave,
Are you sure about the Fred Haise Space Suit? In April I went to the Stennis Space Center where Fred Haise was donating his recently refurbished space suit to the museum there.

Charles

Posts: 202
From: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

Posts: 594
From: Orting, WA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-27-2002 03:19 PM               

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Hi Dave,

Are you talking about a flight suit or the white space suit?

Charles

Posts: 202
From: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 08-28-2002 04:16 AM            

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Hey Charles - it's the white space suit, which Big Dave will confirm shortly.

Frank

Posts: 202
From: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

Posts: 594
From: Orting, WA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-29-2002 05:57 AM               

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He must have had more than one white space suit. Becuase in April I went to the Stennis Space Center and watched him dedicate his White Space Suit to there museum there. He stated at the ceremony that the suit was the one he had worn on the Apollo 13 mission. I will be seeing Fred Haise in Florida next month and I will ask him about it.

Charles

Posts: 809
From: Cortlandt Manor, NY
Registered: May 2000

posted 09-04-2002 11:50 AM               

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Having just returned from a vacation, I would add support to hitting the Big Island. Missing from the notes above (beyond a brief mention) is an evening/night visit to the observatories on Mauna Kea. The Onizuka Visitors Center holds stargazing events (every Saturday and Sunday night, I belive) and the view of the stars is outstanding. The location is high enough that one can even see the Southern Cross during a few months in the year (unfortunately, we could not). At the center, they pulled out three different telescopes for people to use (16", 14" and 4", if memory serves) until approximately 10 pm. If you have a 4-wheel vehicle, you can drive to the summit to visit two of the large telescopes at the summit.

The one downside of the visit to the site is the reminder about how little most people know about space and the universe. One blonde from LA was looking through a 14" scope and then commenting to her friend about how much bigger the Moon usually looks at home. After a minute of the two of them discussing the variations of the Moon's size, my step-daughter and I had to step in and let them know it was Venus, not the Moon, that they were looking at. Later in the evening, the blonde's 10 yr. old son asks one of the students operating the telescope whether anyone has ever touched a star. Mom then chimes in with, "of course, you are standing on one." The grad student had sufficient restraint not to laugh and simply reminder her that, no, we are standing on a planet. Seems the family is filled with just the right genes to produce local politicans.

Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002

Posts: 836
From: Lafayette, CA
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 09-04-2002 01:41 PM            

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Yes - local politicians, the tyrants of the 21st century.

If you go to Hawaii, and if you are on (other than) the northern shore, you can see almost all of the Southern hemisphere's constellations given time. Recall that Hawai'i's southern tip is at about 20.5 degrees N, which means the field of view extends to about 69.5 degrees South (and 20.5 degrees beyond the North Pole (i.e., Polaris is 20.5 degrees above the horizon).

Interestingly, Arcturus (Houkule'a in Hawaiian) is the Hawai'ians most important navigation star because it is - about 71 degrees offset from Polaris so as you sailed north from the rest of Polynesia, you would be at the right latitude when Houkule'a was just about circumpolar (i.e., when it never quite sets)

Bring your starwheel and you can see the Southern Cross even from Kauai at sea level (altitude helps very little, actually), which is (I think) about 1.5 degrees further north than the Big Island. It's often blocked by clouds, but when I was in Poipu, Kauai last January, I went outside at about 4 am and there was Crux and, off the left, Alpha Centauri.

Posts: 202
From: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 09-06-2002 01:25 AM            

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Hey now, lets not forget the ooozing lava.

BigLavaDaves' island is flowing with terrestrial activity.

You can actually get right up to the lava flows.

It is one of the most awesome earthly experiences available.

Those of you coming to Hawaii are in for a very rare treat.

It'll melt the glue in your sneakers !

Aloha & bring lots of film (or digital media).

[This message has been edited by Rizz (edited September 06, 2002).]

Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002

Posts: 594
From: Orting, WA
Registered: May 2000

posted 10-30-2002 07:22 PM               

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Hi Dave,
I spoke to Fred Haise last month in Titusville and he told me the space suit that he wore during the Apollo 13 mission is on display at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. He said that the suit in Hawaii was one of his training suits.

Charles