·PLANETARIAN Journal of the International Planetarium Society Vol. 30, No.4, December 2001 Articles 4 Cosmic Spaceflight 101 .......................................... James Sweitzer 9 How Tycho Brahe Really Died .. Aase Jacobsen & Lars Petersen 11 Special Effect Control Using PC Printer Port ................................ Piyush Pandey and Avijit Biswas 13 Abstracts from 2001 Planetariums ................... Jean-Michel Faidit Features 17 Mobile News Network ............................................. Susan Button 22 President's Message .............................................. Martin Ratcliffe 24 Focus on Education ............ Kathy Michaels & Francine Jackson 27 Reviews ...................................................................... April S. Whitt 32 What's New ................................................................ Jim Manning 38 Gibbous Gazette ....................................................... James Hughes 41 International News ..................................................... Lars Broman 46 NASA Space Science News ........................................ Anita Sohus 48 Last Light ....................................................................... April Whitt This is lNhat counts: ZKP 3 5 51 Decatur, USA Fle xi bility ZMP -TO 552 Glasgow, UK Brilliance ZKf" 3 5 5 3 Muscat , OM Quality MIX 554 St . loui s, USA Pre c i si on MIX 555 los Angeles, USA Re liabi l ity ZKP 3 556 Schwaz, A K now - Ho w M IX 5 5 7 Vima, A Ergonomics MIX 558 Stuttga,t, D Service ZKP 3 5 5 9 Cleveland. USA T r u s t ZKP 3 560 "'"gos, " Seeing is Believing! ZMP-TO Kenner, USA In the U.S. & Canada 561 contact Pearl Reilly ,r,' ; ( • " ,"A, N, Phone: 800-726- 8805 ZKP 3 Ta oj oo, SK fax 985-76j-~396 562 {-Mdll: plle,fi, ",am.com ZKP 3 563 Kreuzllngen. CH Carl Zeiss Planetarium Division 564 07745 lend, Germany Phone: -t-49· 3641·642406 Fax +49-3641-643023 £ Mall: piane!dllum(:: zel~~.de W\VI'V zel~s.delplan('taf1ums The Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by the International Planetarium Society. ©200 1, International Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights reserved. Opinions expressed Planetarian by authors are personal opinions and are not necessarily the opinions of the International Plan­ etarium Society, its officers, or agents. Acceptance of advertisements, announcements, or other Vol. 30, No.4 material does not imply endorsement by the International Planetarium Society, its officers or agents. The Editor welcomes items for consideration for publication. Please consult "Guidelines December 2001 for Contributors" at http://www.GriffithObs.org/IPSGuidelines.html (or request a copy by mail). The Editor reserves the right to edit any manuscript to suit this publication's needs. Executive Editor John Mosley INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Griffith Observatory 2800 E. Observatory Road Adler Planetarium ........................................................... Los Angeles, California 90027 USA (1) 323-664-1181 daytime phone Astro Copy Service ......................................................... 23 (1) 323-663-4323 fax Audio Visuallmagineering .......................................... .. [email protected] Calgary Science Centre .............................................. .. Advertising Coordinator Conceptron Associates ............................................... Robert]. Bonadurer East Coast Control Systems ........................................ 26 Director, Minneapolis Planetarium 300 Nicollet Mall Evans &: Sutherland .......................... outside back cover Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 USA Goto Optical Manufacturing Co ................................ (1) 612-630-6151 (1) 612-630-6180 fax Learning Technologies, Inc. ......................................... 30 [email protected] Minneapolis Planetarium .............................................. 36 Membership Minolta ............................................................................... 16 Indi vidual: $50 one year; $90 two years R. S. Automation ................................. inside back cover Institutional: $200 first year; $100 annual renewal Library Subscriptions: $36 one year Seiler Instruments ............................. inside front cover Direct membership requests and changes ofaddress Show Doctor .'................................................................... 23 to the TreasurerlMembership Chairman; see next Sky-Skan, Inc ..................................................................... page for address and contact information. Spitz, Inc ........................................................................... 40 L P. S. Job Information Service Walrecht, Rob ........................................... ~ ...................... 47 The IPS Job Information Service has moved to the World Wide Web. Please check the !Jobs" page on the IPS web site: http://www.ips-planetari um.org. Back Issues of the Planetarian Avail able from: Focus on Education Last Light Charlene Oukes Kathy Michaels April Whitt Francine Jackson IPS Back Publications Repository Mobile News Network Strasenburgh Planetarium Susan Button Rochester Museum & Science Center 657 East Avenue NASA Space Science News Rochester, New York 14607 USA Anita Sohus Index A cumulative index of major articles that have appeared in the Planetarian from the first issue through the current issue is available on paper ($12 ppd) or disk ($5 ppd) from the Exec. Editor. A shortened copy is at the Planetarian web site. Final Deadlines International Planetarium Society WWW home page: March: January 21 June: April21 http://www.i ps-planetari um.org September: July 21 December: October 21 Planetarian journal WWW home page: http://www.GriffithObs.org/IPSPlanetarian.html Vol. 30, No.4, December 2001 Planetarian 1 I .. P .. President jelvert({lllane.k )2.or.us 6560 Braddock Road Martin Ratcliffe Alexandria. Virginia 22312 USA Director. Theaters & Media Services Past President (I) 703-750-8380 Exploration Place Dr. Dale W. Smith ( I) 703-750-5010 fax 300 N McLean Blvd BGSU Planetarium, 104 Overman Hall [email protected] Wichita, KS 67203 USA Physics &Astronomy Dept. [email protected] (I) 316-263-3373 Bowling Green State University (I) 316-263-4545 fax Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA Treasurer and Membership Chair mratcl i [email protected] (I) 419-372-8666 Shawn Laatsch, Director (1)419-372-9938 fax Gheens Science Hall & Rauch Planetarium President Elect [email protected] University of Louisville Jon Elvert 108 West Brandeis Avenue Lane ESD Planetarium Executive Secretary Louisville, K Y 40292 USA 2300 Leo Harris Pkwy Lee Ann Hennig (I) 502-852-5855 Eugene, Oregon 9740) USA Planetarium (I) 502-852-0831 fax (1) 541-461-8227 Thomas Jefferson High School 102424.1032.compuserve.com (I) 541-687-6459 fax for Science and Technology I .. P. S. Affiliate Representatives Association of French-Speaking Council of German Planetariums Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society Southwestern Association of Plane- Planetariums Dr. Wolfgang Wacker Peter Connors . tariums Agnes Acker Planetarium Mannheim gGmbH [email protected] Mark S Sonntag Observatoire de Strasbourg Wilhelm-Vamholt-Allee I Professor & Planetarium Director 11, rue de l'universite (Europaplatz) Nordic Planetarium Association Department of Physics 67000 Strasbourg France 68165 Mannheim Germany Lars Broman Angelo State University 0390242467 49621419420 Broman Planetarium San Angelo, Texas 76909 USA 03 90 24 24 17 fax 49 621 41 24 11 fax Ostra Hamngatan I ( 1) 915-942-2136 [email protected] [email protected] S-791 71 Falun Sweden (1) 915-942-2188 fax [email protected] (46)2310177 [email protected] European/Mediterranean (46) 2310 137 fax [email protected] Association of Mexican Planetariums Planetarium Association [email protected] Ignacio Castro Pinal Dennis Simopoulos http://www.nnn.se/om/xtra/tc- llkranian Planetariums Association Museo Tecno16gico CF.E Eugenides Planetarium wnpa.html Ivan Kriachkow Apdo. Postal 18-816 Syngrou A venue-Amfithea Kiev Republican Planetarium CP 11870. Mexico City. Mexico. Athens Greece . Pacific Planetarium Association 57/3 Krasnoarmeiskaia Street (52)55161357 (30) I 941 1181 Jon Elvert 252005 Kiev, Ukraine (52)55 165520 Fax (30) I 941 7372 fax Lane ESD Planetarium 744227 2781 [email protected] [email protected] 2300 Leo Harris Pkwy. 74422751 66 Eugene. Oregon 97401 USA 7 44 227 51 43 fax Association of Spanish Planetariums Great Lakes Planetarium Association (1 ) 541-461-8227 [email protected] Antonio Camarasa Susan Reynolds Button (I) 541-687-6459 fax L'Hemisferic Onondaga-Cortland-Madison [email protected] Avenida Institutio Obrero de Valencia B.O.CE.S. Planetarium http://www.efn.org/-esd-.J)lt Esquina Autovia de EI Saler P.O. Box 4754 46013 Valencia Spain Syracuse, New York 13221 USA Planetarium Society of India 34 96 33 55 330 (I) 315-433-2671 Prof S Gopinath 34963355331 fax ( 1 ) 315-433-1530 fax Director, Astronomer [email protected] [email protected] Innovative Learning Technologies and Open Skies Australasian Planetarium Society Great Plains Planetarium Association No.3, 9th Lane. Indiranager Glen Moore Jack Dunll Adyar, Chennai 600020 India Planetarium. Science Centre Ralph Mueller Planetarium 91 444418487 University ofWollongong University of Nebraska- Lincoln [email protected] Northfields Ave, 210 Morrill Hall Wollongong, NSW 2522 Australia Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0375 USA Rocky Mountain Planetarium 61 2 42865000 ( I ) 402-472-2641 Association 61 2 42 836665 fax (I) 402-475-8899 fax Christine Shupla gkm+AEA-uow.edu.au