posted 12-22-2003 04:53 PM               

Below you will find a list of the events that occurred over the past year. Please choose 10 (or suggest your own), rank them (with #1 being the most important) and submit them to top2003@collectspace.com no later than midnight (Eastern) on Friday, December 26.

Do not post your votes here. You are welcome to suggest additions to the list as replies to this message, but for your vote to count, it must be received via e-mail. Votes that qualify will be tallied and the resulting list will debut on this site on New Year's Eve day.

The events of 2003:

1. Patricia B. Carey, founder of the Kansas Cosmosphere, dies at 81
   
2. Thomas Stafford continues touring for "We Have Capture"
   
3. Franz Strambach threatens to crash his plane in tribute to Judith Resnik
   
4. Scott Carpenter tours the country to sign copies of "For Spacious Skies"
   
5. Novaspace Galleries reintroduces its online auction site, Astro-Auction
   
6. James Hansen selected to write Neil Armstrong's authorized biography
   
7. Space Shuttle Columbia and the STS-107 crew lost during reentry
   
8. eBay's space categories overtaken by listings for STS-107 souvenirs
   
9. Six individuals plead guilty to the theft of debris from Columbia
   
10. Pioneer 10 sends its last signal as it coasts into interstellar space
    
11. Sanford & Son Antiques and Auctions sells Foton 6 for $31,000
    
12. Florida selects a design for its state quarter featuring the Space Shuttle
    
13. Clint Eastwood acquires the film rights to Neil Armstrong's biography
    
14. The US returns Honduras' piece of the goodwill moon rock
    
15. Danbury Mint debuts their "Milestones in Space Exploration" models
    
16. Swann Galleries hosts its first annual space memorabilia auction
    
17. Rosaviakosmos offers mail delivery to the ISS for $20,000 per stamp
    
18. FOX begins distribution of Spacecraft Films' DVDs
    
19. Sims & Hankow Enterprises hosts the UACC with 15 space guests in DC
    
20. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation hosts its first charity auction
    
21. Oleg Makarov, four time Soyuz cosmonaut, dies at age 70
    
22. Rosaviakosmos expands its cosmonaut corps, adding nine candidates
    
23. Marvin The Martian and Daffy Duck appear on patches for MER-A & B
    
24. Spirit and Opportunity launch for Mars
    
25. Sy Liebergot publishes "Apollo EECOM: Journey of a Lifetime"
    
26. Astronaut Hall of Fame inducts Musgrave, Ride, Brandenstein, and Gibson
    
27. Walt Cunningham re-releases his biography, "The All-American Boys"
    
28. Warner Brothers releases the a two-disc DVD set of "The Right Stuff"
    
29. The Space Walk of Fame Museum moves to Searstown Mall
    
30. Richard Cooper displays his cover collection at NASA HQ
    
31. Takara and Kaiyodo introduce StarTales mini space models in Japan
    
32. Yuri Malenchenko weds Ekaterina Dmitriev from the Space Station
    
33. "Failure Is Not An Option" airs on the the History Channel
    
34. Disney debuts "Mission: SPACE" at Walt Disney World's Epcot in Florida
    
35. "SPACE: A Journey To Our Future" traveling exhibit debuts in Seattle
    
36. SETP conference brings together Mercury-Shuttle astronauts
    
37. The Kansas Cosmosphere begins restoration of Gemini 6 and Gemini 10
    
38. NASA marks 45 years since it was founded in 1958.
    
39. Canada Post issues eight stamps honoring Canadian astronauts
    
40. NASA announces Dr. Steven J. Dick as their new Chief Historian
    
41. Stephen Morely files a lawsuit claiming Aldrin's watch worn on the Moon
    
42. Four students are convicted of stealing Moon and Mars rocks from JSC
    
43. China launches its first taikonaut, Yang Liwei onboard Shenzhou-5
    
44. After 30 years, Missile, Space, and Rockets Used Books closes
    
45. Astronaut Scholarship Foundation debuts the Astronaut Autograph Club
    
46. Voyager 1 reaches 90 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun
    
47. The Kansas Cosmosphere discovers missing artifacts that were sold
    
48. The International Space Station receives its official branded insignia
    
49. The National Air and Space Museum opens the Udvar-Hazy Center
    
50. The nation celebrates 100 years of powered flight by the Wright Brothers
    
51. Beagle 2 lands on Mars (forecasted)

posted 12-23-2003 10:59 AM               

• Michael Foale becomes the first NASA astronaut to begin a second long-duration mission.
  
• Scaled Composites successfully makes a supersonic flight with a new hybrid engine with SpaceShipOne.
  
• Space Adventures sells tourist seats on two upcoming Soyuz missions.
  
• The last of the Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope, is launched.
  
• NASA announces the beginning of the Educator Astronaut program.
  
• Plans are announced for the creation of NASA's first new manned launch vehicle in over 20 years, the Orbital Space Plane.