Starship Asterisk*

Spotty wrote:
I fail to see the connection to astronomy,

• • If you're missing pictures of moons, stars, galaxies, other planets, eclipses, etc., please take a look at some of the recent submissions to APOD, and if you'd like the latest news on missions and other astronomy-related events, please visit the Communications Center. You can even vote for the Astronomy Picture of the Week, search for your favorite APOD (and discuss it), or simply browse APODs by date.
    
    (Me? I'm going to watch Matt dance again!)

Redbone wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nowak wrote:
<<Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo) (born May 10, 1963) is a U.S. naval officer and a former NASA astronaut. Born in Washington, DC, she was selected by NASA in 1996 and qualified as a mission specialist in robotics. Nowak flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-121 in July 2006 where she was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station. Nowak gained international attention on February 5, 2007, when she was arrested in Orlando, Florida, and subsequently charged with the attempted kidnapping of U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of astronaut William Oefelein.

Nowak drove from Houston, Texas USA to Orlando, Florida, USA on 4–5 February 2007. She packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, $585 in cash, an 8-inch (20 cm) Gerber folding knife, her computer, and a floppy disk contained two photographs of Nowak riding in a bicycle race, and fifteen images depicting an unidentified woman in different stages of undress/bondage.

On February 5, 2007, Nowak went to the Orlando International Airport, waited for about an hour in the baggage claim, and then proceeded to the parking lot, where she confronted Colleen Shipman, who had just arrived from Houston by plane. Shipman said that she was aware of someone following her to a satellite parking area. When she got into her car, she heard running steps and quickly locked the door. Nowak slapped the window and tried to open the car door, asked for a ride, then started crying. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches after which Nowak sprayed the pepper spray into the car. Shipman drove off to the parking lot booth where police were summoned. Several Orlando Police officers arrived minutes later, to observe Nowak throwing a bag into the trash at a parking shuttle bus stop. Nowak was arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence. In a handwritten request for a protective order against Nowak after her arrest, Shipman claimed Nowak had been stalking her for two months. Nowak admitted to being involved in a relationship with fellow astronaut Oefelein which she described as being "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."

Nowak's assignment to the space agency as an astronaut was terminated by NASA effective March 8, 2007. Policies at NASA were changed in a variety of ways: Flight surgeons would receive additional training in psychiatric evaluation, and although there was an unofficial code of conduct in place, an official "Code of Conduct" would be written up for employees. On November 10, 2009, she agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to charges of felony burglary of a car and misdemeanor battery.>>

neufer wrote:CELESTIAL, n. A native of China.

bystander wrote:

neufer wrote:CELESTIAL, n. A native of China.

I thought it pertained to my sister, Celeste.

neufer wrote:A native of Africa?

bystander wrote:

neufer wrote:A native of Africa?

No, a place even more exotic, Oklahoma.

http://oklahoma.hometownlocator.com/ok/cherokee/barber.cfm wrote:
<<Barber is a community located in Cherokee County at 35.757N / 94.868W and an elevation of 656 feet.>>

neufer wrote:

[url]http://www.universetoday.com/2010/07/24/astronomy-without-a-telescope-our-ageing-universe/[/url] wrote:
Astronomy Without A Telescope – Our Ageing Universe
Written by Steve Nerlich July 24th, 2010

It all started so full of promise. All at once, our universe [and Matt Harding dancing] burst upon the scene, but much of that initial burst quickly dissipated into background neutrinos and photons [and Asteriskian comments] – and ever since, pretty much everything our universe [and Matt Harding dancing] has ever done has just dissipated more energy. So, despite the occasional enthusiastic outburst of supernovae and other celestial extravagances [and Asteriskian comments], it's becoming increasingly apparent that our universe [and Matt Harding dancing] is getting on a bit.

biddie67 wrote:
Good thing that all these happy dancers aren't in cadence -
this ol' earth might start vibrating in some kind of harmonic rhythms.

• _____ Love's Labour's Lost Act 4, Scene 2
  
  HOLOFERNES: Here are only numbers ratified;
  . but, for the elegancy, facility,
  . and golden cadence of poesy, caret.
  . Ovidius Naso was the man: and why, indeed,
  . Naso, but for smelling out the odouriferous
  . flowers of fancy, the jerks of invention?