This poem was sent to me for the TWT by "2001" fan Scott P. Holman, which was written around the time that "2001" was released:

CHRISTMAS EVEl

Moonlight, glinting off of virgin fields of snow.
The cold, crisp air, carrying the scent of woodsmoke.
The stars, cold and hard, yet soft and beautiful.

The sounds of children, playing gleefully in the snow,
Passing time, waiting for the morrow.
The soft, beautiful strings of colored lights,
Reflecting the warmth and joy of the season.

Finally, the children are silent, asleep,
The lights cold, lifeless.
The stars and Moon obscured by clouds laden with snow.
Softly, the snow begins to fall, covering the tracks of yesterday.
Silence reigns, setting the scene for Christmas Day.

Welcome to our 49th edition of the World Tonight newsletter dedicated to '2001: A Space Odyssey', space exploration and the unknown. This marks a very successful year in aviation and space history as we expect the British Beagle 2, to land on Mars Christmas Day, and that same day, Europe's Mars Express should enter orbit around the planet. And we just celebrated 100 years of flight with the Wright Brothers first flight using a controllable self-propelled, heavier-than-air machine on December 17, 1903. It's hard to understand how flight changed the world for better or worse in a 100 years. I just realized that fact when taking my daily walk on a quiet lunch break last Monday afternoon at Moffett Field, when suddenly, an F-16 flew over my head and turned a sharp angle towards Silicon Valley. The progress of man's flight has quickly advanced in 100 years and we'll soon be on Mars to mark an incredible achievement.
Britain's Beagle 2 lander is designed to seek out organic material in the Martian soil, which could suggest the presence of forms of life. Sir Arthur Clarke has stated to the TWT on December 23, "Hard to believe Beagle almost exactly at Wright Centennial (feels like mine...) Best to all JPL/AMES/NASA types..."
This achievement reminds us that risks are involved in the advancement of man as we are reminded of the remarkable legacy of the Columbia astronauts and flight STS-107. As we begin the next hundred years of manned flight, come along with us, as we celebrate "2001" as a continuing blueprint for space programs to come.

"The Great Bird will take its flight on the back of the great bird,
bringing glory to the nest where it was born" - Arthur C Clarke, 2001: A
Space Odyssey

Visit the following websites on 100 years of flight and ESA Mars
mission:

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/Related_Multimedia_Collection_archive_1.html

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/index.htm

http://www.firstflightcentennial.org/

http://wright.nasa.gov/index.htm

http://www.esa.int/

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/ (Beagle update tonight)

Space News:
Spirit, the first of NASA's identical robot explorers, is expected to land Jan. 3. Opportunity is scheduled to settle on the opposite side of the planet Jan. 24. Two other NASA spacecraft, the Mars Global Surveyor and the '2001' Mars Odyssey, are already at the planet. From high orbit, they continue to pile on the discoveries. The rovers will look for minerals in the rocks on Mars that could suggest the past presence of water and the possibility that it allowed the planet to harbor life.

Visit the following websites about these missions:
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/m2k4/frameset.html (FLASH Plug-In Required)

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/mars_joint-effort.html

http://ic.arc.nasa.gov/

On Monday, December 29, I'll be attending the grand opening of the new NASA Ames Mars Center. Look for the next TWT newsletter about this event and updates on the Opportunity's mission.

"2001" fan Derek Heatly from Ireland got to see Neil Armstrong speak in Dublin, November 17 which was a nice birthday present for him. He reported to the TWT, "Someone asked if he watched Science Fiction and if he could relate to it. He replied he did, but Star Wars was unrealistic, BUT one movie portrayed space flight very well I knew what was coming. Not the first time he's endorsed the movie." If you like to know more about the talk, contact Derek at derekheatly@ntlworld.co.uk.

"2001" News Update:

"2001" Fan Dana Lubich Discovers the 2010 Concept Car:

"For 2001, Stanley chose GM. For 2010, Peter Hyams picked Ford. What are we talking about? The concept cars seen in both movies.

The in-flight movie Floyd watches (in 2001) sees the GM Runabout (and possible the Firebird IV, and another unidentified car). And a Ford Probe IV passes him while he's jogging (in 2010).

The above results are from the combined efforts of Dennis Gonzales, Ian Walsh and myself, using screen captures and concept car reference books.

While the disposition of the Probe is unknown, sadly the GM cars have long since been destroyed. (It's interesting to note the lack of education there is on the part of GM's employees. The PR person I corresponded with said their concept car manager stated that none of their cars had ever been in a movie! You'd think they would take more interest in their own company's history [he probably was born after the movie came out... and probably wouldn't understand the meaning of it either].)

I've contacted one of the main makers of diecast scale cars (before we identified the Probe) to alert them that 2004 marks the 40th anniversary of the World's Fair, which saw the introduction of the GM cars. I suggested that they could mark the occasion with the manufacture of these in diecast. They said they'd pass the idea on to marketing. We'll see..."

To see the car, go to:
http://www.geocities.com/conceptcarcentralusa/probe4.html

Contact Dana about the concept cars at prime_orbit@yahoo.com

From Germany, Netzeitung has an article about HAL 9000 and link to us about Kirk's HAL eye lens: http://www.netzeitung.de/entertainment/movie/263739.html

"2001" fan Dana Lubich discovers some 2001/2010 fact sites:
http://www.moviemistakes.com/film8 (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - 18 mistakes)
http://www.spiritone.com/~brucem/triv2010.htm (2010 trivia)
http://www.sciflicks.com/fr/2010/facts.html (2010 SciFlicks)
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~tatarewi/2001/2001_odysseys.htm (This is a brilliant website!)

"2001" fan Wally Fields from www.wallys.com discovered '2001 like' lighted floors! He reports to the TWT, "They're not perfect. you can see the fluorescent tubes through the glass. But they're great because it looks like you can probably buy them one by one. Ironically, they had a sofa sitting on it that was a similar style to the Djinn. And yet NOT the Djinn!" For further information, e-mail Wally at weird@wallys.com.

Larry Evans, President of Orange County Space Society was the first "2001" fan to contact me about the LA Times newspaper article we reported in the making in the October newsletter:
http://www.2001exhibit.org/press/2003news_oct.html

Larry reported to TWT, "Wanted to pass along that there was a great story concerning 2001 in the Thanksgiving edition (November 27, 2003) of the Los Angeles Times. Page one had an article entitled: "Tracking HAL's Odyssey." It was mainly concerned with 2001 collectibles and memorabilia. The two primary people the article concentrated on were Kirk Wooster and his possible acquisition of the original HAL "eye," and Dennis Gilliam and his space suit collection. Page one had a small photo of Wooster at the bottom of the page…"
You can read the on-line version at, written by Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writer: http://www.latimes.com/la-et-hal27nov27,1,1845976.story

"2001" fan Robert Cary discovered some "2001" related items to share with us. I don't like linking to eBay for the newsletter but this toy is strange, Space Odyssey MARBLE RUN:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3159812977&category=2570

Robert also remind us once again on the latest the Space Station and Leonov Xmas ornaments from 4ourth Axis folks: http://www.thefourthaxis.com/projects_ornaments.htm

I just received a copy of "Dixieme Planete's" "2001" model issue from Robert Carey and its beautiful! To get your copy, go to: http://www.arapress.com/space_products.html

"2001" websites Update:
The Video/DVD category has been updated thanks to "2001" fan Terry Boblet: http://www.2001exhibit.org/arts/collectibles.html

We've expanded the Timeline section with a new feature by Dana Lubich, "2001: An Alternate History (or, How I Learned to Stop Time and Love Bridging Reality to Fiction in a Parallel Universe):
http://www.2001exhibit.org/science/timeline_alternative.html

We'll continue to add more information for this new feature next month.

I like to thank "2001" fans Terry Boblet and Dana Lubich for helping me put this month’s newsletter together. We're still working on the website for a new design and our service provider are going through some upgrades throughout December and January, affecting our domain name. If you cannot access the site, please use our alternative URL, http://www.infinex.com/~exhibit/index.html.

I also like to thank the fans who support the "2001" Exhibit website. Without your support I couldn't possibly create the most unique resource dedicated to a science fiction film. In January we'll be celebrating our 50th issue of The World Tonight which will begin the new era of space exploration and technology. Mike Jackson from mental-pictures.com, and Wally Fields from wallys.com combined their talents to present you our Holiday Card of 2003: http://www.2001exhibits.org/cards/2001_xmas_card.html

(Note: If the card doesn't start, for Netscape 7 Mac users, press
Control button and click on the screen and choose play.)

If you have anything about "2001/2010" or space news, report it to the World Tonight and I’ll give you special credit. Until then…

See you next Wednesday (Frank).