A number of Web sites are following the current shuttle mission. The NASA Shuttle Web has revamped the design of their site and unveiled it just in time for the STS-81 mission. The type of information has stayed the same, but the new layout looks great. SpaceZone, a commercial service, advertises live video and audio as well as mission, information, but most of their information comes directly from NASA, often taken verbatim from NASA Web sites. Mungo Park, an online adventure magazine produces by the Microsoft Network, features dispatches from the launch site by Tom Clancy and on-orbit reports from Atlantis astronaut John Grunsfeld. However, the Web site is terribly designed, making it hard to find the information and hard to read the information once you find it, at least with Netscape 3.0. (Fortunately, Grunsfeld's reports are also available from the NASA Shuttle Web.) Finally, don't forget the Utterly Unofficial STS-81 Home Page, with lots of information and links to other online resources.

NASA Shuttle Web

http://shuttle.nasa.gov/

SpaceZone

http://www.spacezone.com/

Mungo Park

http://www.mungopark.com/

Utterly Unofficial STS-81 Home Page

http://www.reston.com/sts-81/sts-81.guide.html

January 27 marks the 30th anniversary of the pad fire that killed the three-man crew of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, training for what was to be the first Apollo mission. To commemorate the anniversary, the NASA History Office has created a Web site with information about the tragedy, including detailed biographies of the crew and a copy of the final report on the accident. (For more information on a memorial service on the anniversary of the accident, see the "Space Capsules" section below.)

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/

The National Space Society's "Ask An Astronaut" section of the Web site offers users the opportunity to ask questions of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell. Biographical information on Captain Lovell, multimedia files, and Web links are also available. You can also peruse the questions and answers of previous astronauts featured here, including John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, and Story Musgrave.

http://www.nss.org/askastro/

Last Year you may have taken up an opportunity by NASA and The Planetary Society to send your signature to Saturn on a CD-ROM on the Cassini spacecraft. If you missed this opportunity, or want to double your posterity, the European Space Agency is offering a similar program for Huygens, the Titan probe built by ESA for Cassini. Unlike last year's program, you don't need to mail a postcard; everything can be done electronically at this multilingual Web site.

http://www.huygens.com/