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| | | :: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 :: |
Space Day
Lain sent me this article: "So much left to discover, so few ready to do it "
Get You Free Comics
Lest I forget, Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. Don't miss out (like I'm going to).
Survivors
Searching through the debris from Columbia, it was discovered that worms from one of the science experiments were still alive.
Homeward Bound
Don Pettit has written his farewell to ISS entry in his Space Chronicles series. A good read.
I Think That I Shall Never See
Bad news, Richie: Poetry is dead.
About danged time, if you ask me.
Daily Hatbag
I just bought some t-shirts from the Hatbag store, and let me tell you, they're very nice. Buy yours today. All the cool people are wearing them.
Fly Me To The Moon
Since establishing a long-term presence on the Moon won the recent Dave poll, I'm including a link to this Wired article about the future of lunar exploration.
Among the things it talks about is whether there is accessible water on the surface of the Moon, which many now believe there may be in the shadowy bottom of deep craters or around the poles. If it's discovered that there are ice deposits on the surface, then the Moon might be considered a much more attractive place to establish a colony.
I would add, though, that I'm not necessarily sold on the idea of needing a "compelling reason" for manned exploration of other worlds. Such reasons are frequently brought up--what if they find water on the Moon, what if the find proof life existed on Mars, etc.
But here's the catch--what if they don't? But what if they find that life has existed, or does exist, on Europa or Titan, or any of the places in our Solar System less dry and barren than the Moon or Mars? How practical would it be to begin manned exploration by attempting a first expedition to a Saturnian or Jovian moon?
Rather than ending up in a position where we have a compelling but overly-challenging goal, we should begin making preparations today. There are any number of practical reasons to establish a lunar colony, among them enough resources to power civilization on Earth for 1,000 years cleanly and safely. But even if there weren't, we need the practice. We have the opportunity, without even leaving our own planetary system, to establish a colony on another world. If we encounter unanticipated challenges, home is just days away. We have the luxury of people able to get it right. And then, when we get ready to push onward, we have a new base that could be a potential resource for future exploration.
The same is true for Mars--when we need to push on to the outer solar system, a hydrogen mining operation on the red planet could make things a lot easier, not to mention the benefits of experience in interplanetary travel.
The Sky Is Falling
The NASA News Briefing site had this report from ABC news about the only proven case of a person who was hit by an object from outer space, Lani Williams of Tulsa, Oklohama, in 1997:
Williams: "I felt the tap on the back of my shoulder. As it rolled off my shoulder, I realized at that point that it wasn't somebody but it was something. And I heard it hit. It sounded metallic. So, I said, hmm. I kind of looked back like this."
Krulwich: "And she saw a lump. But of what?"
Williams: "Then, I kicked it."
Krulwich: "She told ABC News a few years ago, when she picked it up and asked around, it turned out this was a piece of a US rocket, that had dropped, gently, apparently, to earth. Unlike this 500 pound rocket tank that landed the same day in Texas."
Williams: "That would have been a pretty big tap on the shoulder, don't you think?"
Krulwich: "So Lani was grateful but a little disappointed not to be hit by something really cool like a meteor or a star."
Williams: "I was thinking I had celestial, you know?"
Krulwich: "But still, she is unique. Of six billion human beings on the planet, how many people have taken a direct hit?"
Williams: "I think I'm the only one. You know, I'm probably the only one."
Krulwich: "She is, so far."
Man, TV people are a breed apart. She was sorry she wasn't hit by a STAR?!?!!? Um, that could have been kind of unpleasant.
Iostar
While the idea of the space tug is certainly nothing new, it sounds like this is a pretty serious possibility for making it come about. It's an interesting concept, and they're right that there probably is a market for it.
Divining Mars
I hope that if water is discovered in the Martian Underground, it also has cheap tie vendors like the Atlanta Underground.
Return To Flight
Almost-contrary to reports referenced here a little while ago, Sean O'Keefe has said he believes it will be possible to resume Shuttle flights by the end of 2003 (The Space.com article that link goes to also includes some comments by O'Keefe about the Project Prometheus nuclear spaceflight initiative).
Mach My Day
To me, the neatest part of the guy who wants to set the sky-diving altitude record is that during his free-fall, he'll actually be travelling at supersonic speeds without any sort of vehicle. That's just kind of cool.
Dio mio!
JoCasta sent me this handy guide, useful to the world traveller with frequent mortal cranial wounds.
| | | :: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 :: |
Sizing 'Em Up
This page is an interesting chart showing the relative sizes of spacecraft from different movies and TV shows, along with some real world guides for comparison. Kinda cool.
Earthquake Update
If you felt the earthquake, report it here.
I Come From Alabama
Man, don't you hate that you've missed your chance to buy this?!
Daily Hatbag
The recently-reported revelation from Entertainment Weekly that The A-Team is "5 Minutes Ago" made me realize I should probably use this strip as the Daily Hatbag soon, before it became any less hip.
My Feeling, As Usual, Is That The Mountain Will Come To Mohammed
Man, I hope something like this works out.
Awaiting Her Time To Fly
While this Washington Post article is not a great piece about Barbara Morgan, it's the first one I've seen since Columbia.
Columbia Update
More debris has been found, more questions have been raised.
If You Believe They Put A Man On The Moon
One of the things I do look forward to with the coming transitions involving the two NASA sites I'm babysitting is not having to deal with Moon hoax questions. Most of the time, I just refer people to check out one of these two sites, and that's the end of it. Today, though, I had some guy write me back with follow-up questions, some of which were easy (If NASA went to the Moon, why do they keep the Apollo craft locked up at NASA? Why isn't it at the Smithsonian? Um... it is.), but one, and I hear this one frequently, is a little tougher, and that is why no one has been back to the Moon.
Here's my reply. What else needs to be said?
"The last question is a little more difficult, since there's no simple cut and dry answer. But you ask why no other country around the world has sent anyone to the Moon. First off, you have to define your terms. While there are many, many countries on Earth, only two actually have manned spaceflight capability. (And China, which is on its way to becoming the third country with manned launch-vehicles, has announced that it does intend to send a man to the Moon, which it wouldn't do if it weren't pretty confident it were possible.)
To a large extent, the motivations for the Moon race were political, to see which side of the Cold War could achieve it first. When the goal was reached, a lot of the incentive for continuing the program was gone. The Soviet Union was actually still a pretty good ways from being able to achieve a Moon landing, due to the way they were going about it.
Rather than performing a lunar docking manuever, as with the Apollo program, the Soviets were attempting to build a phenomenally powerful super-rocket that would have been able to fly to the Moon, land there, take off, and fly back, without the Apollo CM's advantage of returning to Earth from lunar orbit rather than the surface. Such a rocket was not developed prior to the American landing, and the incentive to continue such an expensive program was not there.
With the Moon landing accomplished, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. decided that it was time to move on to other goals, and began working on establishing space stations. You have to consider, also, that during this phase of the Cold War, there were military considerations also. While the Moon held little strategic value, there was fear by both sides that if the other dominated Earth orbit, they would be able to drop bombs from space.
Further, for many, there was the belief that rather than wasting resources going to the Moon, man should instead press ahead to Mars. While the Soviets/Russians have done research toward a Mars trip, they have never committed the funding to make it a reality. The U.S., on the other hand, has essentially been working since the early 1970s on a project that is just now becoming a reality. The Apollo program was cancelled in favor of the Space Shuttle, and one of the Space Shuttle's main goals was the creation of the Space Station. And now, 30 years, later, that goal is finally being realized."
Indian Moon
Lain asked in a feedback recently about India's space program, so here's a story about where they're heading.
iLove iTunes
Fortune has a really good article about the new iTunes Music Service.
The one question I haven't seen answered is that this really seems like if violates Apple Computer's agreement with Apple Records.
Little Earthquakes
So I'm in bed with my wife last night and felt the Earth move.
For those too far away to experience it, we had an earthquake last night, the first I've ever experienced.
It was a 4.9 magnitude, close to the Alabama-Georgia state line.
It was enough to wake us up and make us wonder what was going on (my best theory--testing at the arsenal [which apparently was not the case, unless they're working on that project from "The Core"]), but it didn't knock over anything.
I didn't even realize we could have earthquakes in this area ... Nicole thought that it might be one, but I figured that would require there being something big going on at the New Madrid Fault, I guess 'cause of all the scenarious they talked about when we were supposed to have that big New Madrid earthquake in '89 or '90.
And So It Begins...
Well, I've just had my first spoiler ruined for Episode III. I refused to read the information when it was on Aint It Cool News, lucked out of seeing it on CNN, but, this morning, it was on the Yahoo homepage, with the complete spoiler in the headline of the article. Oh well. Man, I hate that. Anyway, if you think you can avoid knowing, stay out of the feedback for this post, 'cause we may discuss it there. Man, I hate that, and there's still 2 years left to wait.
| | | :: Monday, April 28, 2003 :: |
Dude, You're Getting A Dell
And the most amazing part is, PC users are actually smug about it.
We Have The Con
We're having a sci-fi con in Huntsville in October. Just not a very good one.
A New Day Has Come
Alright, far be it from me to be overly dramatic about Apple, but I really do feel like I've just watched the beginning of the future of the music industry--from here on out, everything changes. Not that it wasn't changing already, from as of this afternoon, rather than the inevitable being brought about with much kicking and screaming, all of the parties involved are actually working together for mutual benefit--now, Hilary Rosen wants me to download music.
It will be interesting to see what effects this has. Eventually, I imagine it could have a huge effect on conventional music sales, but given how long it's taken cassettes to fade away, it could be a little while. People will want to have their music in a portable format, and not everybody has iPods and CD burners right now. But certainly the winds of change have begun in that area.
What I'm far more interested in is the eventual paradigm shift this will entail in the way music is made. As of today, the album, the cornerstone of the music industry, is obsolete. People will buy songs they want, and not songs they don't. It's obvious what that will mean for acts like the Baja Men and Los Del Rio. No more buying complete albums just for Who Let The Dogs Out or Macarena. Don't even bother recording more songs, guys. To their advantage, a lot more people would pay a buck for those songs than $15, so the return on a one-hit-wonder could be even greater.
For other artists, it won't make as big a difference. There are plenty of artists whose albums I would just download in their entirety when they come out.
But then, there are those artists that I buy an album for a handful of songs, only to find more I like the more I play the album. How will that work? Will people be as likely to buy "the other songs" on an album? Or will this end up meaning artists are less likely to come up with as many new songs when their bread and butter comes from a few hits?
Of course, that whole question may prove to be silly as the incentive for artists to release an "album's worth" of materials disappears. Rather than working for however long to put together enough songs for a CD, artists can just release individual songs as soon as they're finished. This could have the effect of letting songs that otherwise would be lost on an album have their day in the Sun. Theoretically, that could really improve radio. It could put an end to the pattern of an artist releasing an album, a handful of singles coming out, and then radio stations playing those singles repeatedly until the next album comes out. Instead, new songs could be played continuously as they are released.
Oh, man
Have I mentioned lately that Apple rocks!
So far: new iPods, iTunes 4, and we're just now getting to the good part.
Addendum: 12:32 p.m.: Again--Oh, man!
Addendum: 12:40 p.m.: O Brave New World, that has such iTunes in it!
Addendum: 12:45 p.m.: BTW, you can get the latest info at MacRumors.
Addendum: 12:48 p.m.: Steve Jobs just bought some good Cranberries online.
Addendum: 12:56 p.m.: The cool thing about doing a big announcement about a new music service, is that it's made all the more dramatic by the fact that it has a built in soundtrack.
Addendum: 1:06 p.m.: Alanis and Bono say it's great!
Addendum: 1:10 p.m.: Don't wait for the homepage to update--use the backdoor now! Applemusic.com I'm downloading iTunes 4 as I type, and I'm about to visit the store.
Addendum: 1:20 p.m. OK, there's only one of the two Garrison Starr albums (just the new one... and Eighteen Over Me is "out of print"), but that's still better than Gnutella. And there is some non-album Tori stuff, though not as much as Gnutella. Of course, I guess if something's not for sale, it's not stealing to download it, right?
Addendum: 1:28 p.m. When I went on, a lot of the stuff listed as most popular was the stuff Steve Jobs used in his demo and had talked about buying, so apparently he personally was still a large portion of the system rankings... meaning that apparently, based on checking out the Tori listings, Steve Jobs likes the song, "Leather."
Whoops
I had intended to mention Saturday, but forgot, that it was the 17th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.
Striving For Accuarcy
OK, I take real exception to Reuters' headline "Soyuz Relieves Stranded U.S.-Russian Space Crew". At no time were the members of Expedition Six "stranded" on ISS. Anytime they wanted to, they could have come on. I find it irresponsible for them to lead people to believe that the crew was somehow stuck on Station if anything bad had happened.
This story is also an example of some interesting semantics this spaceflight has brought up--it reports, as have several others, that the Expedition 6 crew will include the first "U.S. astronauts" (or "American astronauts" in other stories) to come home on a Russian vessel. Well, that depends on what an astronaut is. The Webster's definition is "a person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere." By that definition, Dennis Tito, the California businessman who bought a Soyuz ticket to ISS, would qualify as both American and an astronaut. NASA's definition is a little more technical (according to the JSC Web site, Christa McAuliffe was not an astronaut, but rather a payload specialist), and would preclude Tito. It's really no big deal at the moment, but it IS a semantic issue that will have to be worked out when people start seriously trying to win the X Prize--will the first person to fly into space in their own private spacecraft be an astronaut?
Happy Anniversary
Web browser Mosaic was created 10 years ago this month.
Amazons In Space!
I read an interesting article about the fact that China's upcoming manned spaceflight was such a big deal because it was the first new manned space program in over 4 decades, since the U.S. and Soviet Union stepped up their space race in 1961. Which is true to an extent, but not completely accurate. While China will be the first country since the U.S. and Russia to start a manned space program, that doesn't mean that it's the only one. Forty-two years ago, it was a race to see whether the USA or USSR would reach space first. Today, the space race is between China and the guy that created Quake (who formed Armadillo Aerospace, mentioned in here a while back), among others--though I doubt either of them sees is that way.
So, anyway, it turns out that also working to start a manned space program is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who likely actually has the resources to do it.
Suspicious Minds
I have to say, Lisa Marie Presley's new singing career makes me have more and more of a hard time believing she's a fake, which rumor was actually of some comfort when Elvis' daughter married Michael Jackson.
Daily Hatbag
Well, with X2: X-Men United opening this weekend, Summer Movie Season is well and truly here.
Hey, Mr. Steve Jobs, Put A Record On...
MacMinute will offer ongoing coverage of the Apple announcement at noon CDT today. In The NYT, RIAA chair Hilary Rosen said that Apple's music service "has compatibility with a hardware product that is elegant and easy to use. The Apple system has the potential to do for music sales what the Walkman did for the cassette."
17 Days And Counting
I finally got around to watching the CG Animatrix short "Final Flight Of The Osiris" last night. Not bad. Made me that much more ready for the coming Matrix-y goodness.
But that said, with sequels to the movie that brought you "bullet time" and to the movie that brought you "liquid metal" both coming out during the same summer, I propose the following bill for the Hollywood legislature: When making a movie during the next year and a half or so, you can either steal a cool effect from T3 OR from the Matrix sequels, but not both. I think that's more than fair.
At Home In Space
The Expedition Seven crew entered the ISS this morning at 2:27 a.m. CDT, arriving at what is scheduled to be their home for the next six months. A news conference with Exp. 6 & 7 will be held today on NASA TV (available, as always, online) at 10:30 a.m. CDT.
| | | :: Sunday, April 27, 2003 :: |
Little Orphan Annie
Turns out that, according to The Associated Press, Death Row at Parchman is an unpleasant place to be, and the people there don't like it. Stop the presses! Could it be true?!
Sheesh.
Daily Hatbag
Remember back when everybody on the face of the Earth was reading Grisham? Those were heady times for Oxford.
Who's house? Grisham's house!
A Painted House, which I consider to be one of Grisham's better works in recent years, will be aired as a Hallmark movie tonight. Check local listings (in other words, I'm too lazy to go find out when it comes on right now [though I do plan to watch it]).
| | | :: Saturday, April 26, 2003 :: |
Turbo Boost
According to Entertainment Weekly, Knight Rider nostalgia is "in." Unfortunately, this means that The A-Team is bumped down to "Five Minutes Ago," which, really, when you consider how long ago it went off the air, it not actually that bad.
Daily Hatbag
Someday, I want to grow a full beard, but Nicole won't let me. That barely has anything to do with this strip, but it's true. And honesty is the most important thing we have.
Our Loving Public
If you're like most people, you probably at least vaguely remember that a while back a Space Shuttle, like, blew up or something and killed a bunch of people. Sound familar? It was a huge national tragedy, and for a period of at least a day, maybe two, people actually cared about spaceflight again. People who previouly had forgotten about what we were doing because it had become routine were reminded of the dangers of exploration, and were going to start paying attention again.
So I get up this morning, visit several of the sites I go to that list headlines, and a total of one of them actually mentioned that an American astronaut had been launched into space for the first time since STS-107, and that a new crew was on its way to the International Space Station. To be sure, this "return to flight" isn't and shouldn't be the big deal that the launch of STS-114 will be, but still... (Google news gets partial credit. They had a headline this morning mentioning that a Russian rocket was PREPARING to launch--about 11 hours after it had already done so--particularly interesting considering that the last update to the story about the rocket preparing to launch was 10 hours after it took off).
And I've been involved long enough in the media to be savvy enough to know that there's a huge difference, but I can't help but think about what the coverage would have been like this morning if the launch had been unsuccesful versus the actual coverage. And it just makes me sick. Sorry, I'm done. </ranting>
Return To Flight
The STS-114 crew has been officially named as the crew of STS-114.
Commander Eileen Collins, pilot James Kelly, the mission's pilot; mission specialist Stephen Robinson, and Japanese NASDA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, were named as the four members of the crew of the next Shuttle flight. Those four had been previously named as the prime Shuttle crew of 114 when it was supposed to launch March 1 to exchange Expeditions 6 & 7. O'Keefe said that the four-person prime crew was being preserved in anticipation of STS-114 being used as a crew rotation flight when it takes place. No word was given when that would be.
| | | :: Friday, April 25, 2003 :: |
The World Is Safe For Another 8 Days
Well, you'll be able to know that you can now sleep better at night.
"You've Got To Fight For The Right Party"
I'm increasingly tempted to get a Blogger Pro account once I learned you can enter draft entries, so that you can enter notes that won't be posted until you finish them later.
For instance, I know there's a joke here, but I just can't quite find it:
" ... I don't think it would be wise for us to hold back on speaking out about oppression just so we could go there and entertain."
-- Beastie Boy ADAM YAUCH, a.k.a. MCA, on the possibility of playing in China one day.
Apple Says: Don't Steal Thunder
Surprisingly, Steve Jobs has declined to reveal what the surprise announcement Monday will be--but says it'll be big.
Robot Soccer
Oh, sure, robot soccer sounds harmless and cute at first, but then think about how serious (and violent) people in other parts of the world get about their soccer. Now picture a World Cup riot--by robots. Not so cute now, is it?
(What is this on-going anti-robot sentiment in my blog? When the robot holocaust comes, let no one say this blog didn't do its part to stop it--unless, of course, you're testifying before our new robot masters)
Freedom
I'm glad one person understands the way the First Amendment works:
"The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. They shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out. You know, freedom is a two-way street."
Perhaps, some legal scholar could explain this to Springsteen. Richie?
Got You Covered
The very first post office aboard the International Space Station will soon be open. But if you thought stamps were expensive at your post office, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Hug Your Genes Today
Today is National DNA Today.
X Prize--Don't Fight The Future
FOXNews has an interesting article about the X Prize and the status of commercial passenger spaceflight. Check it out. I do find interesting the article's claim that Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne announcement last week made people take the X Prize more seriously. I question how much difference it really made--those who follow such things were already familar with the Prize, and with accomplishments of other groups trying for it, and I question how many people that weren't already familar with the Prize really heard enough about SpaceShipOne for it to make any real difference. But maybe so. I'm fairly out-of-touch with mainstream media, so FOX probably has a much better idea than I do.
We Come With Peas For All Mankind
If all goes according to plan, second-generation plants will be grown in space for the first time in history this year.
Expedition 7 Update
In the first manned launch since STS-107, the Yuri Malenchenko and Ed Lu, the next ISS crew, will be launching aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-2 capsule tonight at 10:54 p.m. CDT from the Baikonaur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Not sure if the launch will be televised. More information about their mission is at Spaceflight Now.
Addendum: The launch will apparently be shown on NASA TV (which streams on the internet for those of you who don't get it on cable). I've never seen an actual Soyuz launch, so I, for one, plan to stay up and watch it.
Sad Mac
Per MacNN.com: Larry Wheeler of Memphis, TN writes: "WHBQ, Channel 13 Memphis, reported that Apple Store, Saddle Creek was broken into, early this morning. They showed surveillance video of a vehicle smashing through the glass doors, and the "bandits" made off with several laptops and digital cameras. The store was closed for repairs today. They mentioned no arrests."
Daily Garfunkel Update
During the first week or so I was keeping this blog, I had a "Daily Garfunkel Update," which lasted for exactly one day. Since I've totally neglected that feature, I thought I should mention that the Simon & Garfunkel Concert In Central Park will be released on DVD in August. So now you know.
| | | :: Thursday, April 24, 2003 :: |
Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!
Lost the template again. Fortunately, I had a back-up this time, but I hadn't updated it for the new feedback system. Plus, for some reason, it won't let me edit the template. So I'm back up, for the time being, but not at 100 percent . Sorry.
And the old feedback system, which I reported earlier was showing the numbers again, no longer is. Aarrgghh!!
Addendum: I can't even find the code for the last system I was using, and it won't give it to me again. Unfortunately, that means all that feedback for the last several days is apparently just lost. Trust me, I'm very sorry. Since I lost the template again, I'm assuming that it must not have been a problem with that feedback system I really liked, so I've implemented it again. Sorry for all the problems.
Press-ing Issues
There was very brief discussion on the Ole Miss journalism listserv about this article today, which I thought was kind of interesting. On the one hand, I've read the column in question, and feel that it's kind of silly, not too well done, and not particularly great journalism. I would note that several other college papers have a similar column, but Ole Miss can't always get away with things other colleges can. Perhaps most intriguing to me was Ralph Braseth's comment that it was "a mistake for students to print the column. It jeopardizes the credibility of the newspaper. It offends too many people." Frankly, I tend to agree, but it's interesting seeing the head of the student media center (sorry, The S. Gale Denley Student Media Center [well, actually I guess not until Friday]) criticizing The DM publicly. Particularly coming so soon after the press controversy, in which The DM's editor took issue with the j-school just as publically (and even more harshly semi-publicly). While I commend The DM staff for the courage of their convictions, of course, I would also note that sometimes you have to pick your battles carefully. Yeah, certainly I believe The DM has the right to print this column, but I do kind of have to question whether it's worth it.
And, having to add an adult content disclaimer for the how-many-th time in the last couple of days, the link to the article in question is here. I'm including it solely for the purpose of background for discussion. Don't go if you don't want to read it. And here's another one, in which the feedback is less dominated by comments made since The Clarion-Ledger's article (If you want more, you know how to use a search engine).
The Real Saddam
'Cause it'd feel so empty without him.
Sweet Home Alabama
And I thought Mississippi politics were messed up.
Whoa!
OK, under the laws of nature, Matrix on Imax would have to be pretty cool.
Don't Miss Archer
The Enterprise Project is a new site where you can go to help make sure that Enterprise is picked up again for a third season. From everything I've read, their fears are probably groundless, but that just makes it more likely they'll be succesful.
Let Slip The Dogs Of Terrorism!
The U.S. government met with Trekkers in hopes to fight against Klingon terrorism. Seriously.
(Thanks, Lain)
One last time
Alright, I just found out that the feedback counts from the first system I used are working again, so, theoretically, I could go back to that one if there was interest in me doing so. Advantages included the smaller box, and that it would solve the problem of fixing the archive, since all of the old comments would still be in the system. Disadvantages included the reverse-order posts.Let me know what you think.
BTW, since I'm on site maintainance, during the weird outages last week, somebody voted for going to Mars on the poll, and that vote was lost when I had to rebuild the poll. If you still want to go to Mars, vote again (I really need to change the poll soon... any ideas?)
Why We Do What You Do
Let no one doubt that the bears must be fought.
And The Market Responded
Did you hear about Alan Greenspan being hospitalized from an enlarged prostitute?
Naked Opposition
To answer backlash against their protest of the Iraq war, the Dixie Chicks have decided to pose naked with some of the insults that have been used against them painted on their bodies for the cover of Entertainment Weekly. I'm not entirely sure what exactly it proves, but I have a feeling it may work anyway.
(Sheesh, Lain, this blog just gets smuttier by the day).
First Contact
Alright, it's been a real point of pride that thus far, I have not used a particular word in this blog, or even acknowledged its existance. It's been all over the news, and has dominated the science section of Yahoo, where I occassionally get links, but I've intentionally and adamantely refused to jump on the bandwagon. I hate pop news, and I hate empty news scares. But, I just came across a story that was just too interesting to pass up. But before we start, let's just get it out of our system, shall we?
SARS SARS SARS SARS SARS SARS SARS SARS SARS SARS
OK, we can move on now.
Alan Boyle's Cosmic Log had a story today about a theory that has been proposed that SARS is actually from outer space. The idea of microbial life coming to Earth from space is not new, but is still not taken all that seriously. Still, it's an interesting idea, and has other historical incidents which follow the pattern.
And, of course, if it were proven to be true, then that would certainly answer the question of whether life exists "out there"--without leaving "down here"--which could easily provide a nice boost for NASA.
Columbia Update
Remember how, a few weeks ago, investigators believed that the breach in the left wing occurred in Carrier Panel 6, until they found in the debris, Carrier Panel 6, relatively intact. And so then they decided that the breach occured in a heat-shield T-seal, which they believed was the object that was spotted floating away in orbit early in the mission. Well, guess that they've found now in the debris. To be fair, though, they only found a part of the seal, meaning that it's possible that it was the problem, and that only part of it came off of Columbia in orbit.
Dextre, the Space Robot
 The Canadian Space Agency has announced that the official name of its new ISS Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator robot will be "Dextre."
Dextre is the third and last component of the Mobile Servicing System, Canada's contribution to the International Space Station, along with the Canadarm2 robot arm and the mobile base which currently transports the arm around the station (both the arm and base will also be used to transport Dextre).
Scheduled for launch in 2005, Dextre is a highly advanced, relocatable two-armed robot designed to be placed either on the end of Canadarm2, on the Mobile Base, or on the Station to perform external maintenance on the International Space Station.
Return To Flight
According to numerous reports today, a NASA official has said that the Shuttles could return to flight within a year, and possibly within a year of the Feb. 1 loss of Columbia. What is not stated implicitly, but certainly appears to be the subtext, is that this is backing away from earlier discussions of a return to flight this fall. What can I say? As a NASA contractor, I fully support the agency's decision. And, personally, if that's what it takes to reach the appropriate level of safety for the Shuttle program, then, of course, that's what needs to be done. The one interesting item in the articles, is that the official, Michael Kostelnik, who heads the shuttle and space station programs, noted that while ISS will be OK as far as food, water, and spare parts into the fall, supplies will get low in November and December. If it were determined that ISS would have to be de-manned without return to flight this year, I wonder if that would affect the decision-making process. Also, and this is just pure speculation on my part, when they were talking about return to flight in the fall, I was guessing that would mean a likely ISS crew rotation at that time, with Atlantis bringing down the two-man Expedition 7 crew, which will have been there for a good 6-month stay at the end of October, and taking up a three-man Expedition 8 crew, restroring a "full" crew complement to the Station. Delaying until next year will mean crew rotation will have to be performed with the Russian Soyuz TMA-3 capsule, which would have to fly to the Station in the Oct.-Dec. time frame anyway to replace the TMA-2 that launches Saturday, and that, particularly given the supply situation, Expedition 8 will likely be a two-man crew as well, meaning that only minimal science will be supported for a full year of ISS operation. On an interesting side note, it will mean that Expeditions 7 and 8 will both consist of two-person crews who, unlike previous expedition crews who received occassional visits from Shuttle and Soyuz crews, will spend their entire time on ISS alone. More, as always, as it develops.
Today In History
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery 13 years ago today. Celebrate the occassion by checking out NASA's Hubble homepage.
Also, 36 years ago today, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed with Soyuz 1 crashed on reentry due to a failure to deploy parachutes.
Daily Hatbag
Remember, kids--Apple says, "Don't Steal Music!"
Music Makes The Apple People Come Together
Apple has announced that, in addition to a Webcast, it will offer a satellite broadcast of the special event coming up at noon CDT on Monday, so that major news networks can use the video in newscasts, which makes it sound like Apple, at least, thinks that whatever they've got planned will be a pretty big deal. Apple has reportedly promised that the announcements will be "music to your ears," supporting earlier speculation.
For a little bit more information, check out this USA Today article.
| | | :: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 :: |
Hello, McFly
What sort of world do we live in when profiteering by time-travel is illegal?
This Time For Sure
Alright, as you'll notice, I've decided on a comment system, and eliminated the other two. Hopefully, this will improve the overall speed of the main blog page as well, since the multiple feedback systems were slowing loading. Before eliminating the other two systems, I went back manually and copied the comments from them into the remaining system (except for the ones that were about selecting a feedback system).
BTW, here is some information about the feedback system I've implemented. Lain said he would be willing to chip in towards the cost of a pro account, which I may be interested in doing after a while if this system works out OK. Going pro costs 14 pounds, and I'm just not sure if I've got 14 pounds to spare (ha).
Daily Hatbag
In response to Lain's comments the other day about Hippie's travels, here's a rare reference to Black Guy going somewhere.
More Offensive Web Humor
Alright, I'm sounding the Lain-alarm again--If this post is going to offend you, don't read it.
Yahoo today has an article titled, "Kitten Wins Rear Of Year Award,", about the fact that a member of the pop trio Atomic Kitten was honored for 2003 by an annual award recognizing well-shaped bottoms.
"Kitten Wins Rear Of Year Award"? If you ask me, it's a catastrophe!
People for the Evil Tarantula Armageddon
As tempting as it may be to mock PETA for offering to pay towns to change their names, I think their actions show what a serious organization they are.
In fact, I think other non-profit agencies, as well as businesses, should pay some Mississippi town to change their names.
For instance, we could have "OxChevrolet" "NativeAmericanola" and, thanks to NOW, "JillDaughter."
Just south of the capital, you could have "Proletariatland," a much less elitist name than the current suburb of Richland.
Columbia Update
The CAIB held a press conference yesterday. Here's what they had to say about the current state of the investigation (Texas).
| | | :: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 :: |
WMD
Modern chemical weapons were first used 88 years ago today.
Bad Knight Rider Movie News
It turns out that even if the Knight Rider movie gets made, we may not can watch it in good conscience.
The Perils Of Dating, Lewinsky-style
Due to concerns about the family-friendliness of the following post, I've grayed it out. Readers mature enough for mild innuendo can drag over the text to read it.
Monica Lewsinky on her past in USA Today:
"Some men are uncomfortable, just tabling the subject, and some are very quiet about it. You never know which way to go. Is it easier to just bring it up and get it out of the way, or is that not the right thing to do with someone else, since that's going to freak them out?"
So, basically, she just starts each date waiting to see how it's gonna go down...
Nuclear Shield
Chernobyl's sarcophagus needs its own sarcophagus.
War Update
Rumsfield has announced that the U.S. will not establish a long-term base in Iraq.
Frankly, I think we should just tell them, "All Your Base Are Belong To U.S.".
In fact, the message needs to go out to Saddam, whereever you are: "You are on the way to destruction. You have no chance to survive make your time."
We should make it clear that the U.S. will take off every zig. For great justice.
Daily Hatbag
I certainly hope that this doesn't speak to any of my readers.
No Need For Concern
Interesting trivia, also from MSNBC, but by the far-more-talented James Oberg:
Veteran Cosmonaut Nikolia Budarin, the sole Russian member of the Expedition 6 crew, will command the Soyuz TMA-1 capsule when he and his stationmates return to Earth early next month.
" Only twice before in the history of the Russian human space program has a non-pilot cosmonaut commanded a Soyuz vehicle. Both missions, in 1979 and 1980, turned out to be very unlucky. On one, a maneuvering engine exploded, and the men had to make an emergency landing. On the other, a seemingly routine landing suddenly turned hazardous when the soft-landing engine failed and the capsule smashed into the ground with bone-jarring force.
These failures were only coincidentally associated with who was in charge of the mission. So unless Budarin is overly superstitious, he and his shipmates should have nothing to worry about. If there is any reason for concern, it rests with the novelty of their new-model Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft, which had never been flight-tested before its current mission — and with any possible quality repercussions on its manufacture due to the near-bankrupt state of the Russian space industry."
On an interesting side note, and American astronaut will have to be waiting for Pettit and Bowersox upon their landing with visas and passports, since they weren't planning on travelling abroad when they left in November.
Columbia Update
It comes as no real surprise at this point, but NASA is expected to officially endorse the foam-impact theory regarding loss of Columbia during a joint conference with the CAIB Thursday.
SpaceShipOne
Continuing the topic of private spaceflight, Aviation Week has an article with more technical details of Scaled Composites' recently-unveiled SpaceShipOne spacecraft, while MSNBC has an article that paints a broader picture of the private space race (flavored with dabs of inaccuracy and ignorance--"rockets like the Mercury and Redstone," for example).
Ticket to Mars? Pay For It With PayPal!
I had heard of SpaceX, a new entrant in the launch vehicle business, but didn't realize that it was started by the former brains behind PayPal. Now, he's taken the money from the sale of PayPal to eBay and started his own rocket company. The commercial launch business is not the necessarily the best one somebody could get into right now, having run into a huge slump, but Elon Musk believes he can be competitive by offering launch costs at a third of what's available now. His dream, however, is to leverage commercial launch profits into the creation of a more-powerful launch vehicle to be used for a robotic mission to Mars, aimed at stirring up public interest in manned exploration of the Red Planet. A nice idea, to be sure, but what exactly he would do to stir up more interest than the three Mars rovers launching this year, I have not heard.
Wired has an article with more info.
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