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S. I. AND OUTER SPACE
   The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has been assigned the task of initiating an observation program for the earth satellite which will be launched next year.
   "After all the planning, trouble, and expense of placing a man-made satellite in the sky, we cannot afford to let it get lost," said Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director of the Observatory.  "Our carefully selected sites throughout the world for the precise observation of the satellite could come to naught if a preliminary orbit calculated from the observations of volunteer observers around the world were not made available as quickly as possible after launching."
   Dr. J. Allen Hynek, secretary of the American Astronomical Society, recently was appointed associate director of the Smithsonian's satellite tracking program.  Mr. Armand Spitz, director of the Spitz Laboratories, has been selected to coordinate the observations.
   Although the visual satellite observer corps will be operated on a volunteer basis, the selection of members will be based on the observer's skill and willingness to accept the responsibility for training his instrument skyward at specified times while the satellites are aloft.  The principal reward of these observers will be the knowledge that their work will have unquestioned scientific value.  Appropriate recognition to observers who have successfully taken part in the program will be made by the officers of the Satellite Program so that there will be a permanent record of their contribution to this unique undertaking.
   According to Mr. Spitz, observers who wish to be part of the program should contact their local amateur astronomy organizations, which will have received full instructions from central organizations.

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MAKES APPEARANCE
   Frank A. Haentschke, Jr., came into the world on March 12.  His father works at the Freer Gallery.

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BOTANIST RETURNS FROM CUBA
   Conrad Morton, curator of the division of ferns, returned early in March from a 10-week collecting trip in Cuba.  He managed to wangle the loan of a "munitions carrier" from the U. S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, a perfect truck for negotiating the difficult mountainous roads of eastern Cuba.
   Mr. Morton reports that the Cuban forests are being rapidly destroyed by indiscriminate cutting and that many of the interesting endemic plants are in imminent danger of extinction.

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WE'VE GOT TERMITES
   A collection of 230,000 specimens of termites, including 1,286 distinct species of the approximately 2,000 known in the world, has been presented to the Smithsonian Institution