ASTRO-GAIA NEWS OF NYC -- JUNE 2009

400 PEOPLE TURN OUT FOR MOONWALKER BUZZ ALDRIN "MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION" BOOK-SIGNING JUNE 23 IN MANHATTAN

NYC-June 23, 2009 -- Over 400 people turned out for a book-signing talk by history-making Apollo 11 astronaut BUZZ ALDRIN, who landed on the Moon with Neil Armstrong in July 1969, at the Barnes & Noble Upper East Side store - 150 East 86th Street at Lexington Avenue this evening. The overflow crowd for Aldrin's new book "MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: The Long Journey Home From the Moon" surprized the bookstore, which expected 70. He was also in the city a few weeks ago to donate the watch he wore on his spaceflght to the Omega watch store on Fifth Avenue. Aldrin serves on the National Space Society Board of Governors chaired by broadcast journalist Hugh Downs. His aides were given a copy by NYSkies Astronomy founder John Pazmino, a NSS member, of the NYS Senate Resolution recognizing "Space Exploration Day" [July 20] in the state.

"MOON" ABOUT FUTURE LUNAR BASE NOW PLAYING!

"MOON" by Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie, was released by Sony Pictures Classic (UK) in NYC and LA on June 12 and nationwide on June 19. Sam Rockwell plays astronaut Sam Bell ready to return home from a years-long stint at a farside Moon base where Helium-3 is mined. Then, as his return ship heads for the Moon, Bell's younger self suddenly appears to take his place, opening up a mystery. Kevin Spacey is the voice of the lunar base's computer.

Jones, in a feature in the NY Daily News called his movie "a love letter to the sci-fi films of the 1970s and 1980s." [5/24/09 - page 16 in "Sunday NOW"] His father Bowie is well-known for his space music and movies, such as the "Space Oddity" and "Ziggy Stardust" albums, and the 1976 movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth." "Moon" details and trailer on link below.

It is playing in three Manhattan theaters: Lincoln Square 13 (Broadway at W. 68th St.), Landmark Sunshine Cinema (142 East Houston Street atecond Ave.), and AMC on 42nd St. near 8th Ave.

"BLAST!" - MOVIE ABOUT NASA HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON RESEARCH TO STUDY GALAXY FORMATIONS IN NYC at CINEMA VILLAGE JUNE 12-18

INDIANA JONES IN THE STRATOSPHERE!

Spacefolk had an astro-blast in Greenwich Villlage this June by celebrating the International Year of Astronomy 2009 here with "BLAST!"

It is a suspenseful amd spectacuilar award-winning documentary movie about a NASA research team learning about the formations of galaxies by using cutting-edge high altitude stratospheric balloons carrying revolutionary new telescopes. It wa shown in Manhattan's Greenwich Village at the at the Cinema Village at 22 East 12 Street bet. 5th Ave. & University Place June 12-18 with Q&A on Fri., Sat., Sn. with folmmakers and BLAST scientists.

Five time Emmy winning Director Paul Devlin, famed for his previous outstanding movies, follows the research adventues of his brother Mark Devlin - "the astrophysics Indiana Jones" - and his telescope balloon team to places like Arctic Sweden and Canada as they pursue their adventurous and fascinating research.

The revolutionary new telescope carried aloft to the edge of space is called BLAST for Balloon-borne Large Aperature Sub-millimetre Telescope, developed to study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) to determine galactic origins. Such arisotropyic scientific study composes the field of balloon-borne astrophysics and observational cosmology.

The movie, produced by Claire Missanelli with Louise Rosen, has been shown at various film festivals and television networks around the world and won the Vedere Science Film Festival Award in Milan, among other honors elsewhere. "BLAST!" is an official project the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Director Paul Devlin and his brother Mark Devlin, BLAST Principal Investigator, led a Q&A with other project scientists at the theatrical debut at the IFC Center on June 11 after the movie.

Film producers and "BLAST!" scientists did a Q&A after the 7 p.m. showings at the Cinema Village, followed by a social at The Stand at nearby 24 University Place, on Friday through Sunday evenings (June 12-13-14).

To learn much more about "BLAST!" visit its web site at www.blastthemovie.com and join the space adventure here in NYC June 11-18!

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SPECIAL "BLAST!" MOVIE NYSKIES-NSS/NY ASTRO-SOCIAL OUTING JUNE 13 NYSkies Astronomy and the N.Y. Space Society (NSS-NY) held a "BLAST!" MOVIE OUTING on June 13 with a dinner at the University Restaurant, 4:15, followed by a post-dinner visit to Strand Books, and seeing the movie at the Cinema Village theater which was followed by a Q&A with "BLAST!" filmmakers and scientists. A "BLAST!" Social followed at The Stand on University Place.

FOX-TV MOVIE ON SEARCH FOR A NEW EARTH JUNE 26

A team of 12 astronauts aboard the starship Phaeton on a mission to search for a habitable "new Earth" with the Earth's life-support system in danger is the theme of "VIRTUALITY," a made-for-TV movie on FOX Network TV, shown on Friday, June 26 from 8 to 10 p.m., Channel 5 in NYC. To make their long trip comfortable, the astronauts are given virtual reality modules. The trouble is, the system is infected with a computer virus.

NYSKIES ASTRONOMER PAZMINO ON TV

Amateur astronomer John Pazmino appeared on Manhattan Neighborhood Network cable TV on Tuesday, June 23 at 11:30 p.m. giving a walk-through tour of astronomy features at Grand Central Station. Watch on MNN at Time-Warner 57, RCN 84, Verizon 35 or www.mnn.org to see Pazmino guide host Abe Mazui on this astronomical GCS tour! It was taped May 27, a result of the host meeting Pazmino at the Earth Day Fair booths at the terminal in April.

NYC JUNE '09 SPACE NEWS BRIEFS..... NYSkies Astronomy had a booth, staffed by John Pazmino, at the huge 2009 World Science Festival outdoor fair in Washington Square Park on June 14. The fabulous informative and entertaining second annual festival happened from June 10 through June 14 with 40 events, including many related to space and the environment, at several venues throughout the city. www.worldsciencefestival.com/2009/festival As part of the International Year of Astronomy, colorful displays of space images in ultraviolet, X-ray and radio waves were placed in a circle in the center of the square, provided by the travel "From Earth to the Universe" traveling exhibit. DAILY NEWS FEATURES HAYDEN ASTROPHYSICIST Astrophysicist Mordecal-Mark Mac Low, an American Museum of Natural History curator of the Hayden Planetarium, was featured in an article in the NY "Daily News" on June 15. The City Beat article by Clem Richardson (page 35) headlined "Seeing Over Planetarium Film" was about the new 22-minute show "Journey to the Stars" 18 months in preparation narrated by Whoppi Goldberg, a "Star Trek Voyager" star. SPACEFLIGHT REVIEW PANEL LAUNCHES PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS Appointed by President Barack Obama, the 10-member Augustine Spaceflight Review Panel convened in Washington, DC on June 17. An article in "The New York Times" on June 18 told of its studies on how to proceed with human spaceflight and possibly close the gap between the end of the space shuttle program in 2010 and the new Orion lunar craft start-up in 2015, possibly by using alternate rocket systems and spacecraft. ["Review Panel Hears Rival PLans for New Spaceflights" by Kenneth Chang, 6/18/09 page A26. -- Also see the BBC News artcle on the panel on the link below. COLUMBIA GRAD STUDENT TALKS RADIO ASTRONOMY A Columbia University graduate student gave a fascinating illustrated presentation on the beginnings and progress of radio astronomy with vintage photos at the combined NYSkies Astronomy-N.Y. Space Society (NSS-NY) meeting in Chelsea on the evening of June 17. "Astro-Gaia News of NYC" Editor Harold Egeln gave a brief report on the Space Exploration Day Resolution just passed by the NYS Senate. NY TIMES: RAY BRADBURY'S CAMPAIGN TO SAVE CALIFORNIA LIBRARIES "The New York Times" of Staurday, June 20 has a feature front page article about Ray Bradbury's campaign to save California's recession-wracked public libraries. Headlined "At 88, a Writer Fights for Libraries and Tells a Few Life's Tales" by Jennifer Steinhauer, this marvelous piece with a front-page photo of Bradbury ("Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles" and so many many great novels and stories) tells the story of Bradbury's passion for libraries and the curent campaign. There's an audio interview with the great writer at nytimes/national. ********************************************************

"IMPACT" ABC TV SCI-FI MOVIE: THE MOON COLLIDES WITH EARTH?

It's "When Worlds Collide" 58 years after the classic 1951 sci-fi movie on June 21 and 28 when the two-part made-for-TV science fiction movie "Impact" imagines the Moon on a collision course with the Earth after a brown dwarf star strikes Luna and throws it out of orbit and earthward. Earth's governments cast aside their differences to prevent the home planet's demise within 38 days in this German-made movie broadcast on the evenings of Sunday, June 21 and June 28 - 9 p.m. EDT - on the ABC-TV network.

"OUTER SPACE 2.0" EXHIBIT @ ART GALLERY IN PARK SLOPE MAY 29-JUNE 28

"Celebrate our fascination with the infinite!" Rockets away spacefarers and travel on an adventurous canvas of space-theme artworks and posters at the new "OUTER SPACE 2.0" exhibition in Park Slope!

It is NOW at the BROOKLYN FRAME WORKS GALLERY, 142 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope May 29-June 28. The opening reception was on Friday evening, May 29.

A front page article about the new exhibit by reporter Harold Egeln appears in the June 4, 2009 edition of the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" newspaper on news stands and online under the headline:

'Outer Space 2' Exhibit Blasts Off at Slope Gallery - Astronomy Prints, Sci-Fi Posters And Space Program Artwork Are Featured

A link to the full article appears below. The article includes a front page photo by Egeln of gallery owner George Winter among the gallery's space memorabilia.

The exhibition marks the second such show after the highly popular first "Outer Space" art show in Autumn 2007 - on the 50th anniversary of Sputnik I - left people wanting more, said the gallery collective founder George Winter, who opening the framing works in 1997.

Here are the cosmic wonders you will see: Original USA and USSR space program posters. -- Vintage astronomical prints. -- Antique astronomical prints. -- And lots of other amazing outer space ephemera!

The gallery is within a few blocks of the R subway station at Union Street (on Fourth Avenue) and the B63 Fifth Avenue bus stops nearby. For more information visit www.brooklynframeworks.com