An unseasonably chilly but at least sunny Thu. will be followed by another cold night with some light inland frost -- west of I-95 -- early Fri. We're then in for a stretch of beautiful weather Fri. through the weekend with temps. near 70 Fri. then into the mid to upper 70s Sat. & near 80 degrees Sunday! While there may be a few showers Tue., there will not likely be any significant rain anytime soon. So we'll see high oak pollen counts the next few days & an ever increasing fire danger especially as dry west winds pick up over the weekend.
The lack of much cold through the winter has made this month seem especially cool. Check out these numbers(!):
-- No 80 degree days so far this month
-- 2 mornings below 32 degrees
-- consider there were 5 80 degree days in Feb. & only 4 days at or below 32
-- even more incredible are the Jan. numbers: 7 80 degree days & only 1 morning below 32.
Moon rocks are headed to Jax!.........
Jacksonville, Fla.; March 11, 2013 – Through special arrangements made by 121 Financial Credit Union, this year’s Space Night event at Durbin Creek Elementary School in northern St. Johns County, will feature a display of rocks brought back from the moon by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The credit union made arrangements for Diedre Adams, an Einstein Fellow with NASA and currently a teacher with Vigo County School Corporation in Indiana, to bring the NASA display to the St. Johns school event on March 15 from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. Ms. Adams is part of a specially trained team that handles and transports the moon rocks for the purpose of education at schools and museums.
While the Durbin Creek event is designed for the school’s students and parents, the public is allowed to attend. A $5 donation per person is requested for admission to help support the school’s academic expenses. Last year over 1,200 people attended.
“This is the third year we have participated in the event,” explained Cindy Breslin, Vice President of Marketing for 121 Financial. “Our credit union tries to take every opportunity possible to support youth education. And even though youth financial education is our primary focus, we frequently participate in many aspects of education that will help develop our young people. We are just fortunate that we have the connections to be able to bring something as extraordinary as the moon rocks to Jacksonville, and to enhance the Durbin Creek Space Night’s experience.”
Other activities at the Space Night event will include telescopes for viewing the stars, a laser light show, a NASA presentation and other fun activities for the entire family.
“We are extremely excited and grateful that 121 Financial could bring in the moon rocks for our event,” said Angie Conlan, Durbin Creek Partners in Education Coordinator. “It’s the support of corporate sponsors like 121 Financial that really adds to the learning experience for our kids.”
The last time the moon rocks made an appearance in Jacksonville, was in November 2010, when 121 Financial Credit Union brought in Ms. Adams and her display for the re-opening of the Bryan-Gooding Planetarium at the Museum of Science and History (MOSH).
Between 1969 and 1972 six Apollo missions brought back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand and dust from the lunar surface. In addition, three automated Soviet spacecrafts returned with samples totaling approximately three quarters of a pound from three other lunar sites. With the cutback in the U.S. space program, no future lunar samples are expected to be collected.
The lunar material is considered a national treasure, and with the exception of two sets of goodwill gifts presented to 135 nations, the 50 states and the U.S. provinces, NASA maintains it has never gifted or otherwise provided any individual with a piece of the moon. Even the astronauts were not permitted to keep a rock for themselves. Instead, the space agency has recently been presenting moon rocks in name only to the early Mercury, Gemini and Apollo crewmembers to be put on permanent public display.
Durbin Creek Elementary is located at 4100 Race Track Road, just south of Jacksonville, Florida. Phone is 904-547-3880.
