A new space friend

         On the night of the supermoon---March 19-2011--when ``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM) was at the Nehru Planetarium,Worli, observing the moon and talking to those who were present, it received a call from Pradeep Mohandas, a good friend and also secretary of the India Chapter of the Moon Society, saying that he had received info about a new book called ``Fly Me To The Moon,'' written by an eminent mathematician and space expert, Edward Belbruno. Pradeep also said that the book can be ordered through Flipkart. BMM is interested in the book because it propounds certain revolutionary ideas about space travel.

        Once BMM hears about any new book about space exploration or related areas, it becomes restless and goes out of its way to somehow grab it, troubling Strand Book Stall. But, this particular book BMM guessed would be beyond the orbit of Strand, though it is perhaps one of the best bookstores in India.

        On Saturday night itself after returning from the planetarium, BMM accessed Flipkart on the net, got details of the book, prepared the cheque on Sunday and dispatched it to Flipkart on Monday, hoping that the book would `fly to Mumbai' at the earliest and land on its table !

        It does not stop here. BMM went on to Belbruno's personal homepage and got more details about him. A fantastic guy. Thank you Pradeep for introducing me to him.

        BMM managed to get his e mail and sent him a message saying that it was waiting to read his book. BMM thought that Belbruno will not reply since he must be receiving hundreds of letters each day. But to the surprise of BMM, he promptly replied saying that he was happy that I was looking forward to reading his book ``Fly Me To The Moon,'' which has attracted super reviews.

        As though this was not enough, Belbruno on Tuesday morning also invited BMM for his paintings of the cosmos and stellar visions which opens in New York on March 31 and goes on till April 7. It printed the poster and will be laminating it.

        BMM has also downloaded two youtube videos about Edward Belbruno. In one of them he is interviewed by NBC after the Columbia disaster on February 1,2003. A very informative interview.

        BMM hopes to meet Edward Belbruno someday.

        Thank you Pradeep.