July 17-20 drew many happy people to the Discovery Green in downtown Houston to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lunar Landing. Thanks to Greg Marshall and his volunteers! Visitors enjoyed space activities and space-related shows in the Discovery Dome and on the big screen. A fullsized cutout photo of JFK giving his famous "to the moon" speech on the Rice campus Sept 12, 1962, behind the actual podium (left) was a big hit. Two "Discovery Domes" (right) were on hand to wow the crowd. One showed "Future Moon" from HMNS (narrated by Walter Cronkite) and one showed "Dawn of the Space Age" by Mirage 3D, both in fulldome (filling the interior of the inflatable dome). Discovery Dome (www.discoverydome.com) is an outreach of the Rice Space Institute in partnership with HMNS.

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Weatherford, Oklahoma is the home of the Stafford Air and Space museum. On May 19, 2009 it hosted eleven Apollo astronauts and VIPs to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo X mission. RSI Director Patricia Reiff was onhand to present gifts to Gen. Stafford, here shown in front of the his Discovery Dome. Here she is presenting a copy of the JFK "to the Moon" speech, given in the Rice stadium September 12, 1962. She also presented to the Museum three full-dome planetarium shows to be shown in his Discovery Dome: "Earth's Wild Ride" (produced by Rice University); "Future Moon", (produced by HMNS), and "The Nature of Science", produced by Ott Planetarium. The Stafford museum is one of more than 90 Discovery Domes worldwide, an outreach of the Rice Space Institute (http://www.discoverydome.com).

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Dr. Patricia Hofer Reiff received the Athelstan Spilhaus Award for Enhancement of the Public Understanding of Earth and Space Science at the Joint Assembly, held 26 May 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The award honors “individuals who have devoted portions of their lives to expressing the excitement, significance, and beauty of the Earth and space sciences to the general public.”

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A partnership of the Rice Space Institute with the Houston Museum of Natural Science brings a new planetarium show about major impacts to the fulldome screen. Members of the Rice Space Institute and community members of the RSI-Associates are invited to special screenings. See the RSI home page (rsi.rice.edu) to sign up! The show opens at HMNS on May 1 and will be available worldwide both for big domes and portable Discovery Domes.

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Thirteen Rice students pass their "Technician"-level ham exam as part of their PHYS 401 class. This test, administered by the FCC by local volunteers, grants the students the right to transmit on all amateur radio bands 50 MHz and up. The next level test, for "General", allows longer-range transmissions. Jim Doty passed that exam as well. Top left to right: Greg Adragna, Candace Flowers, Eastman Landry, "General Jim" Doty, Brian Jacoby, Ilsedore Cleeves, Noah Tian, Jon Stanley; bottom left to right: 10-year old auditor Adam Atanas; Molly Nipper; Mike Slovich; Ian Feldman; Nancy Fiegel and Mausami Patel.

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The Sally Ride Festival, held October 18 for the 3rd year on the Rice campus, was again a super-sellout with 1400 middle school girls plus over 300 adults. The day began with a street fair with exhibits, activities, a solar telescope and a Discovery Dome. Then Rice alumna and former ISS Commander Peggy Whitson gave a stimulating talk to the assembled girls. The girls then went to their choice of two of the 38 women-led workshops. One of the highlights was the launch of a ozone-measuring weather balloon at the end of the event.

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The Rice Space Institute was the recipient of a recent bequest by the family of Chancey and Evelyn Juday, parents of Richard Juday, a former student of the Space Science Department (now part of the Physics and Astronomy Department). The $100,000 endowment will benefit research and outreach.

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SPAC Reunion Tentative Schedule:
Friday evening (Nov 7, 6-9 pm): Reception and Planetarium Shows at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (drinks, hors d'oeurves, light supper)
Saturday (Nov 8) 9-12:30 pm): Research update talks, HBH 227
12:30-01:30 pm: Picnic Lunch
02:00-05:00 pm: Homecoming football game (Army) - buy your own ticket!
06:30-09:00 pm: Banquet with keynote speaker Jeff Hester, Hilton)
09:00-midnight: talking and dancing
Reunion program: We will have both research update talks in the morning and a keynote address at the banquet.

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The festival features:
An inspiring talk by a featured speaker (usually an Astronaut)
Discovery Workshops for students, given by local scientists and engineers
(examples include chemists, veterinarians, microbiologists, and others)
Workshops for parents and teachers on ways to support students' interests in science and math
A Street Fair with booths, hands-on activities, food, and music
Advance registration is required and is $20 (includes the featured talk, workshops, lunch, and the Street Fair).
SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE: Contact Umbe@rice.edu
Festival Schedule:
11:00am - 1:00 pm Check-in, Lunch, Street Fair
1:00pm - 4:15pm Featured Talk, Discovery Workshops, Street Fair

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The William F and Frieda Marlar Foundation just gave the Rice Space Institute a $10,000 grant for 2008. These funds are used to support the popular-level "Marlar Lecture Series", now in its 21st year, and funds fellowships for graduate students. Last year Ed Stone of JPL gave a talk on Voyager's discoveries at the edge of the solar system. The Marlar Committee is fielding suggestions for the next speaker for 2008-2009.

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Ethiopia became only the fourth country in Africa to have a digital planetarium, thanks to a donation from Rice University, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and e-Planetarium. Taken to Ethiopia by Patricia Reiff and Carolyn Sumners as part of the IHY science and education conference.

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Over 1400 middle school students and 300 adults came to Rice on October 27, 2007 for an action-packed street fair with experiments, food, music, and fun; a chance to meet and listen to the first woman pilot of a Space Shuttle and the first woman Shuttle commander, Eileen Collins; and exciting workshops given by women ranging from veterinarians to aerospace engineers. Major sponsors included Deloitte and the Rice Space Institute. Other sponsors included the Wiess School of Natural Science and Brown School of Engineering (both headed by women); the energy forum of the Baker Institute; the Physics and Astronomy Department; Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston ¿ Downtown. Over 400 of the students were sponsored by Rice, and another 100 by Deloitte. The fest was the second annual Sally Ride Science Festival held at Rice, to encourage middle school girls towards careers in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and is their largest Festival ever. Last year Sally Ride was the featured speaker.

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Peggy Whitson, Rice alumna (PhD in Biochemistry), and the first woman commander of the ISS, sent a special video greeting to the girls who are participating in the Sally Ride Science Festival on the Rice campus October 27. Click the link to see the video!

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Once again the Rice Space Institute will host the Sally Ride Science Festival. One thousand middle school girls will converge on the Engineering Quadrangle for a fun day of workshops, exhibits, street fair, and an inspiring talk by Astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a Space Shuttle.
Volunteers are requested to help with guiding students around campus and to give talks for the workshops. Contact umbe@rice.edu if you want to participate in this exciting and inspiring event.

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The Rice Space Institute has a new web page! News, events, and activities will all show up automatically. Please let us know of items we should list!

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After 20 wonderful years of excellent service to the former Space Physics & Astronomy Department and almost seven years with the new Physics and Astronomy Department, Mrs. Cowley is retiring effective April 1, 2007.
She will be greatly missed! We love you Normita!! Please stay tuned for dates of her retirement party!

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After almost 27 years, Norma Cowley is retiring from Rice. She started in the then-Space Physics & Astronomy Department, and has been with the Physics & Astronomy Department since the merger. She will get a dedicated tree. She has been part of the heart of the space group at Rice, and will be sorely missed.
Also, Tony Elam, a member of the RSI Council, will be leaving Rice to take a position as Director for Visualization and Virtual Environments at the University of Kentucky. We wish him well, but will miss him!

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