ITHACA, N.Y. -- Bill Nye, the television writer and host of the popular public television children's science program, "Bill Nye, the Science Guy," will unveil the first extraterrestrial sundial at a press conference at Cornell University on Wednesday, April 21.
The event will be held at 10 a.m. in Room 317, Third Floor, Space Sciences Building.
The sundial will travel to Mars aboard NASA's Mars Surveyor 2001 lander. Pictures of the sundial taken by the lander's panoramic camera after its arrival at Mars in January 2002 could make the simple device one of the most photographed objects ever sent to another world. The images will show the passage of the hours and seasons as the sun moves across the Martian sky.
At the press conference, Nye will use models of the sundial to explain its design, and Cornell astronomer Jim Bell will describe its purpose and scientific uses. The conference will be linked by telephone to Sheri Klug at Arizona State University and Woodruff Sullivan at the University of Washington.
The sundial design evolved through suggestions and drawings from children across the United States, solicited by Klug, director of Arizona State University's Mars Education and Outreach Program. The design team included sundial expert Sullivan, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington. Others involved included Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society; Cornell astronomers Steven Squyres and Bell; Jon Lomberg, an artist and creative consultant to the Mauna Kea Center for Astronomy Education, Hawaii; and Tyler Nordgren, an artist and astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.
NOTE FOR MEDIA: THE EVENT CAN BE HEARD OVER A CONFERENCE TELEPHONE LINE BY CALLING (888) 550-5969 (ACCESS CODE 985888) AT 9:50 A.M. EDT ON APRIL 21.
NOTE FOR TV STATIONS: VIDEOTAPES OF THE EVENT IN 90-SECOND AND 13.5-MINUTE VERSIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SATELLITE UPLINK AT 1:30 P.M., EDT. USING THE FOLLOWING COORDINATES: SATELLITE: SBS 6 TRANSPONDER; 02 DOWNLINK FREQUENCY: 11749 mHz VERTICAL AUDIO FREQUENCY: 6.2/6.8
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