f becoming an astronaut is the cherished dream of many an SF fan, it is also one that few can hope to achieve. But—for those of us who won't be on the first manned ship to Mars—the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., provides a taste of the outer space experience with its Spacecamp programs. Offering astronaut training and spaceflight simulations to both children and adults, Spacecamp can take a visitor through everything from a mission briefing to the sensation of weightlessness that comes with being in zero-gravity conditions.
Spacecamp's various learning streams are available to would-be mission specialists, aviators and robotics experts. A robotics track trainee might learn to build a rover designed to rescue a stranded astronaut, for example, while campers interested in piloting a spacecraft study the basics of flight dynamics. Spacecamp Online details on every training regime offered by the center—its general features and goals, its target age group and even the possibility of tie-in college credit.
Though anyone interested in manned spaceflight will find this site well worth browsing, Spacecamp Online is—like many museum sites—largely focused on attracting flesh-and-blood visitors to its facility and programs. Its Current Exhibits section is disappointing, with only a few photographs to tie in to the V2 Rocket and MIR Space Station exhibits currently being shown at the Center. The links available on the site are primarily for referring international visitors to other Spacecamp programs around the world. Rather than providing hard but distant facts about the space sciences, this site invites Web surfers to once again consider personally exploring the unknown, while giving a glimpse into what the reality of an astronaut's life is like.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—January 18, 2005
cience Fiction and Fantasy for Women" reads the banner at the Yo-Da Sisterhood, a discussion community where female fans can talk about written, televised and filmed SF as well as sharing fanfic, art and favorite links.
Keeping discussion of its members' favorite SF and fantasy topics as its main priority, this site has little flash and few frills. All of its content is built around the forums. The main page offers a handy list of the most recent Yo-Da posts, along with recommended links and a poll. Web surfers who want to catch up on older discussions can browse through posts without joining the Sisterhood, but only members can access certain features, like posting art to the galleries. Within the forums, visitors will find book reviews, news on franchises from Star
Wars to Harry Potter, discussions about writing, video-game chatter and tips, DVD reviews and just about everything else imaginable.
A potential new member of the Yo-Da Sisterhood need have no fear of getting lost among an established in-crowd on this site. The Sisterhood is, in fact, one of the smaller SF fan forums on the Web, low-traffic enough that participation is far from overwhelming. Discussions tend to be low-key and friendly, posters stay on topic, and the staff is open to member input on issues such as site design. (According to the staff page, they are also looking for more active volunteers.) Female fans looking to bring fresh insights to a warm community of people who truly
love SF and fantasy would do well to give Yo-Da a serious look.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—January 10, 2005
he mad scientists and megalomaniacs of planet Earth are probably already well aware of World Domination Toys, a site tailored to the unique needs of anyone seeking to conquer and enslave us all. For those humans who dream on a smaller scale, however, this Web page may be just the place for helping to fund a world coup without having to do all the dirty work.
"Taking over the world, one toy at a time," is the motto of this e-commerce site, which offers high-end products like a remote anti-gravity flying saucer (for $625,000.99 U.S.) as well as smaller items such as a line of Rabies Babies plush toys—they foam at the mouth when squeezed—and world domination video games. The unfortunate catch, of course, is that the site's fictional mastermind, one Doctor Steel, doesn't currently have the funds to build many of the products he is advertising. (Being an up-and-coming world dominator is an expensive prospect, after all.)
In creating a store filled with fictional products, Doctor Steel has tapped into a fundamental truth about shopping: Often, looking is as enjoyable as actually buying. The fun in this Web page is all in the surfing. The product photographs and descriptions are witty, and many an SF fan will wish these items were for real. (Though not every product is simply a gag—the site's best-sellers section includes postcards, a Doctor Steel Propaganda Journal and bumper stickers, among other souvenirs.) What World Domination Toys really offers is a perfect Internet getaway for SF fans, a quick and frivolous source of laughs that provides a spirit-lifting break from the mundane world.
—A.M. Dellamonica
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