Robert A. Black, Mathematical Storyteller

It's official! The Indiana Historical Society has invited me to participate in their sixth annual Holiday Author Fair, which will be held December 6 from noon to 4:00pm at the Indiana History Center in Indianapolis. Full event details haven't been released yet, but you can get some information here: http://www.indianahistory.org/calendar/event_display.asp?date=12-06-2008 I went there two years ago with Liberty Girl . This time, I'll have both my Windstorm books at least, and possibly all three. I still need to discuss it with Royal Fireworks. Meanwhile, Lunar Pioneers is the latest entry at Ken's Lunar Library . I've been told to expect a review there soon.

I was still in high school when I first read about the idea of getting solar power from space. Up above the atmosphere, you can collect a lot more solar radiation, and since there's no wind or gravity, you can make the solar panels really big. Loads of energy, right there for the taking. All you have to do is figure out how to get it back down to Earth. Well, according to SPACE.com , we're getting closer to reaching that goal. A former NASA scientist has set up an experiment in Hawaii, and has converted solar power to radio waves and beamed them 92 miles between two of the islands. It wasn't a complete success, but it shows that the idea works in principle. Now we just have to figure out how to make it work. The experiment will be featured on tonight's episode of the Discovery Channel program, Discovery Project Earth . Be sure to check it out! I know I will.

I'm working on lining up a guest appearance on The Space Show , and I seem to be making some progress. They read an email of mine the other night, and it sounds like they were interested in what I said: Audio Clip from The Space Show Meanwhile, this week I've also learned that junior high and high school students can now sign up for this year's Team America Rocketry Challenge . The goal is to design a model rocket that will lift an egg to 750 feet and keep it in the air for 45 seconds - and the egg has to be lying on its side, like an astronaut sits. Winners get to go to next year's international air show in Paris, among other prizes. I had a great time with model rocketry as a kid, and even won a regional tournament once. It's definitely something all young space enthusiasts should look into.