Part of the 75-foot vessel's mission is to remind us of that vastness. Going the distance, yet staying in touch By being able to connect to someone half a world away using e-mail, we tend to lose perspective on global vastness. The ship's Internet connection provides access to scientific and research information, and an additional satellite connection is dedicated solely to monitoring weather conditions. The trip is sponsored in part by Microsoft, with major funding from Stern , a large news magazine in Poliza's native Germany. Web integration makes maintaining the site simple, and device support features come in handy for digital imaging and other peripheral tasks.
Photos come right from the underwater, digital camera to the Web site in minutes.
Honored guests are wired as well Along the way, several world-renowned scientists and photographers will join the Starship crew to research and document some of the remote places and rare wildlife they will encounter. No laptops needed on this trip, though. Each stateroom on the Starship has a Windows 98 workstation, and anyone who comes aboard for an extended stay can get an e-mail address right there on the ship. Because all the software is familiar, standard Microsoft products, guests can be as comfortable on board as they are in their offices on land. When ichthyologist Dr. John E. McCosker joined the voyage to study the multitude of fish species around Cocos Island, he even did a guest spot in the daily journal .