OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF WINNING. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

2. Eligibility. Contest open to U.S. residents (excluding Puerto Rico), 18 years or older at the time of entry, except employees of Discovery Communications, Inc., USA Weekend, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., and each of their respective affiliated companies, subsidiaries, and advertising or promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, and any persons domiciled with, such employees.

3. Entry. The Ask the Astronauts Contest (the “Contest”) will begin at 12:01 a.m. (E.S.T.) on November 9, 2000 and all entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (E.S.T.) on November 27, 2000 (the “Contest Period”). Enter by visiting the Inside the Space Station area on Discovery.com website and completing all of the required information on the official registration page and following all instructions. Submit your entry by clicking on the “SEND” button. One (1) entry per person. Discovery Communications, Inc. (“Sponsor”) will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected or illegible entries or for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or sponsor. In the event of a dispute, all email entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the email account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an email account holder shall mean the natural person assigned to such email account by the Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such email account. Any questions regarding the number of entries submitted or the owner of an email account shall be determined by Sponsor in its sole, reasonable discretion, and Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entries by persons determined to be tampering with or abusing any aspect of the Contest.

4. Prizes and Odds. Entries will be judged by panel of Discovery Channel staff on or about November 28, 2000 based on originality of question (60%), and interest of topic to viewing audience (40%). If same or substantially similar winning question is submitted by multiple entrants, Discovery staff will break the tie based upon creativity and clarity of expression of the written question. Contest may be presented in other media, and odds of winning will depend on the number of eligible participants who enter the contest through such multiple presentations. Prize consists of opportunity to have winning question posed to the Space program astronauts. Prize has no monetary value. In its sole discretion, Sponsor may feature Winner as a part of Discovery Channel’s Inside the Space Station -related programming. Such feature may include, in Sponsor’s sole discretion: (1) filmed footage of Winner posing winning question; (2) airing a photograph and/or an audio recording of Winner; or (3) otherwise using name, hometown, state of residence, image, and voice of Winner as a part of Inside the Space Station –related programming. In such event, Winner must be available to participate at designated time and in designated manner and otherwise cooperate with Discovery staff, including but not limited to providing a photograph of himself or herself upon request. However, on camera personal appearance and/or use of Winner’s photograph and audio recording are not guaranteed features of prize. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to reject inappropriate photographs or request alternate photographs. Should Sponsor determine, in its sole discretion, that such featuring the Winner in Discovery Channel Inside the Space Station -related programming would be impossible or impractical, Sponsor shall not be responsible for failure to provide such feature. Due to circumstances beyond its control, Sponsor also cannot guarantee that particular astronaut(s) will be featured in the Discovery Channel Inside the Space Station -related programming or the Contest.
5. Winner Notification and Acceptance. Winner will be notified by telephone on or about November 30, 2000. Inability to notify within twenty-four (24) hour time period (due to failure to return calls, non-working or consistently busy telephone line) may result in disqualification and an alternate winner may be selected. Winners may waive their right to receive a prize. Prizes are nonassignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed, except that prizes and individual components of prize packages are subject to availability and Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes. Winners may be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility, and a liability and publicity release (except where prohibited by law) which must be received by Discovery staff within five (5) days of date of postmark. Failure to sign and return the affidavit or release within five (5) days, or to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may, at the sole discretion of Sponsor, result in a winner’s disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of prize to an alternate winner. Except where prohibited, participation in the contest constitutes entrant’s consent to the publication of his or her name, hometown, state of residence, and image in any media for any commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation or further compensation. Winning question and any audio tape, video footage, or other recording of question becomes property of Discovery Communications, Inc. and may be reproduced and distributed by Discovery Communications, Inc. at will in any medium. For prize winners list (available after January 1, 2001), send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Ask Astronaut Contest, Discovery Channel, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. 6. Participation. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Contest Rules and the decisions of the judges. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this Contest as solely determined by Sponsor. In the event the Contest is compromised by a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest. Should the Contest be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor reserves the right to award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date.

6. Limitations of Liability. By entering the Contest, entrant agrees that (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with the Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action; (2) any claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Contest, but in no event attorney’s fees; and (3) under no circumstances will any entrant be permitted to obtain any award for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased and any other damages, other than damages for actual out-of-pocket expenses.

7. Construction. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Contest Rules, or the rights and obligations of any contestant and Sponsor, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Maryland, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of Maryland, or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than Maryland. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.

8. General Release. By entering the Contest, contestants release Discovery Communications, Inc., USA Weekend, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., any other promotional sponsors, and each of their respective affiliated companies, directors, officers, employees, representatives, partners and agents from any liability whatsoever for any claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Contest or with the acceptance, possession or use of any prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to, loss or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light).

9. Sponsor. The Ask the Astronauts Contest is sponsored by Discovery Communications, Inc., whose decisions regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the Contest shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Contest Rules or in other materials relating to the Contest. If you have any questions regarding this Contest, please contact [insert name and address].