Vesta Fiesta: August 5th – 7th, 2011
http://www.dearastronomer.com/
To help celebrate the start of the Dawn mission to Vesta, NASA is organizing a “Vesta Fiesta”!
After travelling the solar system for nearly four years, the Dawn spacecraft is now entering the “science” phase of its mission. After studying the asteroid Vesta, Dawn will continue on to study dwarf planet Ceres, also in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Given the fact that Dawn is the first spacecraft to orbit an object in the asteroid belt, a fiesta is in order! (Here in Arizona we relish ANY excuse to fiesta.)
Between August 5th and August 7th Vesta Fiestas will be held to help celebrate Dawn’s arrival at Vesta. If you’d like to participate by hosting your own party, or to find a party in your area, visit: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/vesta_fiesta_attend_an_event.asp , or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225252850843508
You can also follow the Dawn mission on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/NASA_Dawn.
NASA is encouraging fans of the Dawn mission to join the celebration by hosting events at local clubs, schools, museums or societies. You can stay up-to-date with the latest updates on Vesta Fiestas by visiting the Vesta Fiesta link listed above.
NASA has also provided numerous resources that are free to use for Vesta Fiestas, including games and activities, media resources (invitations, audio files, observing info, etc.) and live video on August 6th from the “Flagship” celebration at JPL in Pasedena, California.
To help encourage participation, I humbly offer my Spicy Fiesta Cheese Dip:
Ingredients: (1lb sausage (breakfast or Italian) , 1 block of Velveeta (cut into ~1 inch square cubes) , 1 jar of your favorite salsa and (Optional) 1 small can (4oz?) of diced green chile peppers – Not Red Hot Chili Peppers! Flea, Chad and Anthony hate being diced.)
Procedure: Place 1/2 of the cubed velveeta in a crock pot, set to “high”. Cook sausage and diced peppers completely in a skillet, add cooked sausage and peppers to the crock pot along with the salsa and remaining velveeta. Leave crock pot on “high” until all the Velveeta is melted, then set to “low” – stir often! Serve with tortilla chips and some ice cold Dos Equis ( Or Fanta if you don’t drink beer. Dont’cha wanta wanta Fanta? )
If you’d like to learn more about the Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres, you can visit: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/
Source:Vesta Fiesta Event Page
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:06:28
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/08/03/vesta-fiesta-august-5th-7th-2011/
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