Martians Read English?

A chance to go to space!

Even better: a chance to go to space without leaving your computer.

No, not on Richard Branson’s £200,000 ticket to the atmosphere with your laptop as carry-on luggage, but through a request from NASA (via Sky News):

Nasa Wants Three-Line Poems For Mars Mission

The space agency is inviting the public to send in poems to go on a DVD that will be carried on a new Mars mission.

Nasa is inviting the public to send in their name and a poem to be put on a DVD that will be carried aboard a Martian-bound spacecraft.

The disc will be in the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, scheduled to launch in November.

Every name submitted will go on the disc but the space agency also wants people to write a short haiku poem.

A haiku is a form of writing that originated in Japan and is usually made up of three lines and around 17 syllables.

The three best poems, as voted for online by the public, will end up heading to the Red Planet.

People who send in their names for the DVD will be able to print off a ‘certificate of appreciation’ to record their involvement and the deadline for entries is July 1.

The voting for the three best messages begins on July 15, with the winners announced on August 8. The MAVEN mission itself is expected to blast off in late 2013.

See here for details (there’s something I never expected to Google: Nasa poetry competition…).  

And remember, if you win, to link back to this blog.  Martians read Laughing Housewives, I’m sure.

 

Joke 771

Amusing Sign (Photo credit: njhdiver)

Signs of the Times

• In a nonsmoking area: If we see you smoking, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action.
• On a maternity room door: Push, Push, Push.
• On a front door: Everyone on the premises is a vegetarian except the dog.
• At an optometrist’s office: If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.
• On a taxidermist’s window: We really know our stuff.
• On a butcher’s window: Let me meat your needs.
• On a fence: Salesmen welcome. Dog food is expensive.
• At a car dealership: The best way to get back on your feet — miss a car payment.