{"id":5339,"date":"2018-04-20T09:50:26","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T13:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5339"},"modified":"2025-08-13T18:56:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T22:56:31","slug":"the-next-vacation-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2018\/04\/20\/the-next-vacation-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Next Vacation Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>All of this cold weather has me thinking about taking a vacation.\u00a0 <\/span>I really want to head to some place warm and with no snow outside the window.\u00a0 <\/span>A place were all my worries would be hundreds of miles away.\u00a0 <\/span>If you feel like this too, I know where we can go.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s start making our plans to go to the Aurora Station.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Orion Span founder and CEO Frank Bunger unveiled the Aurora Station concept on April 5 at the Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, Calif.\u00a0 <\/span>What is the Aurora Station?\u00a0 <\/span>It is a new hotel that is expected to be the premier destination for space tourists.\u00a0 <\/span>The Aurora Station will be launched into low Earth orbit in late 2021.\u00a0 <\/span>The reservation counter is now open for rooms beginning in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The Aurora Station will be about the size of a large private jet\u2019s cabin.\u00a0 <\/span>It will measure 43.5 feet long by 14.1 feet wide.\u00a0 <\/span>You will share this space with three other guests and two crewmembers.\u00a0 <\/span>This is the equivalent of about 2 to 3 rooms in an average sized home.\u00a0 <\/span>The Aurora Station will orbit the Earth at a height of about 200 miles.\u00a0 <\/span>A 12-day stay at the Aurora Station will start at $9.5 million.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>What will you get for your money?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Shuttle transportation to and from your hotel (no extra charge).<\/p>\n

\u2022 All meals are provided (they are cooked and served in rehydrated cooking pouches).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Forget about queen-sided beds.\u00a0 <\/span>You get to sleep in a bag suspended from the wall.\u00a0 <\/span>Your bed will be very comfortable: it floats.<\/p>\n

\u2022 You can\u2019t go outside\u2013there is no air and space walks are not offered.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The ability to speed faster than you ever thought possible, about 19,000 miles per hour.\u00a0 <\/span>There is no speed limit and the police don\u2019t have a car fast enough to catch you.<\/p>\n

\u2022 No room service\u2013the kitchen is never more than 40 feet away.<\/p>\n

\u2022 A great view of the Earth and sky.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Orion Span isn\u2019t the only company launching commercial space tourist ventures.\u00a0 <\/span>Other groups include Axiom Space (https:\/\/www.space.com\/37079-axiom-commercial-space-station-manufacturing.html) and Bigelow Aerospace (https:\/\/www.space.com\/35978-private-moon-refueling-station-by-2020.html).\u00a0 <\/span>Other private players, including Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, are developing vehicles to take paying customers to and from suborbital space.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>To learn more, go to www.orionspan.com or https:\/\/www.space.com\/40207-space-hotel-launch-2021-aurora-station.html.<\/p>\n

THE NIGHT SKY<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>To get more information on astronomy in northern Maine, check out the Aroostook County Astronomy Club\u2019s web page at http:\/\/aroostookastronomy.strikingly.com\/ or join our Facebook page at the \u201cAroostook County Astronomy Club\u201d page.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The International Space Station is visible as follows:<\/p>\n

Mornings\u2013May 2 through May 28.<\/p>\n

Evenings\u2013March 23 through April 12.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>For the times of other events, go to www.calsky.com.\u00a0 <\/span>You will need to register at this site and load your location to be able to get exact times.\u00a0 <\/span>The University of Maine at Presque Isle is located at 68d00m7.8s west longitude and 46d40m45.6s north latitude.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>To get a free sky chart, go to www.skymaps.com.<\/p>\n

Sun and Planet Visibility<\/p>\n

05\/01\/2018<\/p>\n

05:17 Sunrise.<\/p>\n

19:41 Sunset.<\/p>\n

Not visible Mercury.<\/p>\n

19:42\u201322:06 Venus.<\/p>\n

01:24\u201305:06 Mars.<\/p>\n

20:12\u201305:00 Jupiter.<\/p>\n

00:18\u201304:42 Saturn.<\/p>\n

05\/10\/2018<\/p>\n

05:04 Sunrise.<\/p>\n

19:54 Sunset.<\/p>\n

Not visible Mercury.<\/p>\n

19:54\u201322:24 Venus .<\/p>\n

01:00\u201304:48 Mars.<\/p>\n

20:06\u201304:48 Jupiter.<\/p>\n

23:42\u201304:30 Saturn.<\/p>\n

04\/20 02:00 Mars\u2019 apparent diameter grows to 10 arcseconds.<\/p>\n

04\/20 10:33 Moon at perigee\u2013closest to the Earth.<\/p>\n

04\/22 Earth Day.<\/p>\n

04\/22 04:00 April Lyrid Meteor Shower (6.6 meteors per hour).<\/p>\n

04\/22 15:02 ISS crosses the face of the sun.\u00a0 <\/span>DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.\u00a0 <\/span>You will need a solar filter and binoculars or a small telescope to see this event.<\/p>\n

04\/22 16:00 April Lyrid Meteor Shower Peak.<\/p>\n

04\/22 17:45 First Quarter Moon.<\/p>\n

04\/23 04:00 April Lyrid Meteor Shower (6.6 meteors per hour).<\/p>\n

04\/23 06:36 Mercury at aphelion\u2013farthest from the sun.<\/p>\n

04\/28 06:38 ISS crosses the face of the sun.\u00a0 <\/span>DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.\u00a0 <\/span>You will need a solar filter and binoculars or a small telescope to see this event.<\/p>\n

04\/29 14:24 Mercury at greatest western elongation (27 degrees) visible in the morning sky.<\/p>\n

04\/29 20:58 Full Moon.<\/p>\n

04\/30 20:54 Moon 4.9 degrees from Jupiter.<\/p>\n

05\/03 12:54 Mercury at half phase.<\/p>\n

05\/05 00:42 Moon 48 degrees from Saturn.<\/p>\n

05\/05 03:41 ISS passes 0.28 degrees from Saturn.<\/p>\n

05\/05 20:31 Moon at apogee\u2013farthest from the Earth.<\/p>\n

05\/06 02:24 Moon 1.7 degrees from Mars.<\/p>\n

05\/07 22:08 Last Quarter Moon.<\/p>\n

05\/08 20:39 Jupiter in opposition\u2013directly behind the Earth.<\/p>\n

05\/13 08:36 Mercury 2.2 degrees from Uranus.<\/p>\n

05\/15 07:47 New Moon.<\/p>\n

05\/17 16:57 Moon at perigee\u2013closest to the Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 All of this cold weather has me thinking about taking a vacation.\u00a0 I really want to head to some place warm and with no snow outside the window.\u00a0 A place were all my worries would be hundreds of miles away.\u00a0 If you feel like this too, I know where we can go.\u00a0 Let\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8664,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5339\/revisions\/8664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}