News & Notes

Two MiraCostans get four months on Mars



By: TOM MORROW - Staff Writer

Instructional Associate Kathy Bywaters and former MiraCosta Chemistry Department Instructional Associate Shannon Rupert have been selected to participate in a four-month simulation of a mission to Mars from May 1 to Aug. 31 in Canada.

The simulation will be conducted at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on remote Devon Island in the polar desert of the far north of Canada, just 900 miles from the North Pole.

According to the Mars Society, Kathy is one of nine selected team members chosen from a pool of more than 50 highly qualified applicants from all over the world.

Shannon says Kathy will serve as a crew biologist on the simulated mission. Shannon will be the co-principal investigator for the group.

The Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station crew will attempt to conduct a sustained and highly productive field exploration while operating under many of the same constraints astronauts might face if they were actually on Mars. During the four-month period, the team will engage in telescience collaboration with a remote science team centered in the continental United States.

By conducting this extended mission simulation, the Mars Society hopes to gain advanced knowledge that could be of value in planning for future human missions to the Red Planet.

For information about the Mars Society, visit its Web site, www.marssociety.org, or e-mail info@marssociety.org. E-mail Kathy at: kbywaters@miracosta.edu or contact her at (760) 757-2121, ext. 6536.

BIG PARTY: -- For the third consecutive year, the Carlsbad High School Teens for Tomorrow organized a holiday party for some 500 pediatric patients at North County Health Services' Carlsbad Family Medicine Health Center.

"Not only did the teens spend weeks collecting gifts from Carlsbad merchants, but they baked cookies, donned Santa and elf costumes to distribute the packages and took pictures as well," says Michelle Davis of NCHS. "For many of the boys and girls who come to our clinic, this gathering was the only celebration they had during the special season. How refreshing it was to see these Carlsbad students giving of their time and caring to make this event happen."

Thanks, kids, for caring!

'ALOHA SPIRIT": -- Encinitas seniors can enjoy the gentle but physical movements of hula dancing with a new program all this month at the Encinitas Senior Center. "Aloha Spirit" is a primarily a Level 1 class held from 1 to 2:30 p.m. each Tuesday through Jan. 30 at the center.

Cost: a $25 registration fee. A Level 2 class also is offered. The Encinitas Senior Center is located at 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive. Call (760) 943-2250.

-- Notes for Tom Morrow can be sent to tmorrow@nctimes.com or quotetaker@msn.com. Find his previous columns on the Internet at http://www.nctimes.com.

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