Hot Promotions - Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii, is offering guests a 'Date with a Comet'

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 6/1/2005

The $1,325 package includes accommodations for three nights (July 2 - July 4), a Saturday night stargazing event at the hotel's beach, transportation between the hotel and the observatory on July 3, reserved seating at the observatory, and a Keck Telescope Space Craft Model Assembly Kit.

The purpose of NASA's "Deep Impact" mission is to reveal secrets about the creation of the solar system. The collision is expected to create a crater the size of a football field in the 3.7-mile wide comet, but will not affect its orbit. Scientists want to study the exposed inner gases and other material for clues about how the universe was formed.

In addition to the live broadcast, telescopes will be set up outside the observatory to view the celestial impact, and Hawaii is considered the world's best location for celestial observation. But if the comet fails to produce a brightening in the sky, the hotel will offer a "constellation prize" of a Mauna Kea stargazing trip on July 4. For more information, visit www.fairmont.com/orchid.