filkertom | Entries tagged with space

Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you*).
Free Comic Book Day.
Huge opening weekend for Iron Man 3.
Fantastic image of the Horsehead Nebula that's gone semi-viral this week.
The Kickstarter for the Dr. Demento documentary went nuts the last two days, and funded easily.
And I got a book I did not know existed last week: the Nexus Omnibus Volume 1 by Mike Baron and Steve Rude.

All in all, definitely a Week In Geek. And this weekend especially.

I'm going to get a few comics, come home and clean a bit, and then work on music. All while enjoying a gorgeous Southeast Michigan spring day. You?

* I accept that this has become popular, and I really don't mind going with it, but I'm old school: In my heart of hearts, Star Wars Day will always be May 25.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1699349.html

( Where's the KA-BOOM? Video 3, actually.... )

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1671434.html

NASA about to launch Sunjammer, the world's largest solar sail.

Of course, we've been ridin' it for years. Check out Track 21 on Dream of a Far Light by our good friends Wild Mercy.

Any good music, or space stories, or nifty tech advances we need to see? Link 'em up.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1666559.html

Gonna be a slow week for posting, I think. I have stuff to work on, stuff to do. And I'm kinda subdued in my heart. Hugs to all of you.

Meantime, this is very cool: a time-lapse video made from radar images of that asteroid, Toutatis, that came within 4.4 million miles of the Earth this past week.

And today is the anniversary of the baptism of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Any lovely, awe-inspiring, mellowing, or just cool videos or music to share? Link 'em up.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1646673.html

Go play.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1639345.html

No, really. Coolest comment for me:

... It isn't just numbers on a whiteboard or in a computer model - practical experiments are being planned by the scientists involved in the new research to see if warp bubbles can be created on a microscopic level using lasers. The fact that such experiments can even be designed, let alone whether or not they succeed, is a giant leap for mankind....

Cue "Uplift" and "Fire In The Sky".

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1608965.html

The first man to walk on the moon has died.

Neil Armstrong has passed away at the age of 82.

I saw on TV when they landed. I watched when Armstrong took that one small step. The universe changed that day.

Condolences to his friends, family, and NASA colleagues. Beyond that, I have no words.

Except:

Ad Astra.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1595406.html

He would've been 92 today. In his honor, NASA officially designated the Curiosity Rover landing site Bradbury Landing.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1593769.html

Otherwise known as "NASA's Mohawk guy".

So, what do you want next from the space program? I think it's time to seriously start looking at a permanent moonbase with a civilian population, within fifteen years. (Newt Gingrich did it as an applause line, and to fool people into thinking he's a futurist. I'm doing it because we need to start expanding off-planet, create jobs on this planet, and enhance our technology.)

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1588708.html

( Several videos behind the cut.... )

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1586396.html

Ooooooh.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1585391.html

Last week, we lost a couple of fine actors with many memories for us. First, of course, was Sherman Helmsley, who played George Jefferson on All In The Family and The Jeffersons (and B.P. Richfield on Dinosaurs).
Also passing away was Mary Tamm, who played the first incarnation we saw of Romana on Doctor Who.
Our good friend jimhines has a book reading August 8th in Ann Arbor's best independent bookstore, Nicola's Books.
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye team up to Fight For Space.
The US didn't see quite a bit of video from the Olympics opening ceremonies. Here's a cool one narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Pixar's 22 rules of storytelling...
... illustrated in Lego.

Tomorrow, I take care of good ol' Garnet in Columbus, then spend most of the rest of the week working on music and Tom Smith Online, which has been sadly neglected for a couple of months now. There will also be watchings of episodes of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which is a pretty damn fine show.

And what's your week look like?

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1582001.html

Great sadness. Sally Ride, the first woman from the U.S. to reach space, has passed away at the age of 61.

Ms. Ride was a hero to little girls everywhere, and to little boys, too, and she was everything you could want in a spokesperson for the space program, and she spent her life promoting science and breaking down walls, and she will be missed. Condolences and songs (many, many songs) go out to her family and friends, especially her lifelong friend and partner, Dr. Tam E. O'Shaughnessy.

You might want to check out her web site, Sally Ride Science.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1577753.html

So frickin' cool. More info at the official JPL site.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1570728.html

Voyager 1 has left the system. I would say amazing cool things about it, but the article actually handles that juuuuuuust fine.

(h/t

ladystarblade)

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1557759.html

There are a bunch of videos out there, showing 39-44 seconds of Venus traveling past Sol the other night. Here, however, is the official NASA vid, just over three minutes:

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1552950.html

Awesome sauce.

(h/t

siliconshaman)

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1516990.html

A really cool moon photograph.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1516593.html

Sadness. Engineer and astronaut Janice Voss, a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions, has passed away at the age of 55.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1499232.html

Today marks two very distinct events: the 256th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, and the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 1 disaster. Roger Chaffee, Virgil Grissom, Edward White -- rest well, gentlemen.

Two questions today -- answer either or both:

What's your favorite Mozart piece? I admit it, I'm a plebian, but I think Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is one of the most perfect pieces of music ever written. It was the first I ever entered into MIDI, about twenty years ago, and it's amazing how... streamlined that piece is. Remember the exchange in Amadeus where the Emperor says, "... Too many notes" and Mozart replies, "Yes, Sire, but not one more note than necessary"? Yeah.
Are you in favor of a moon base? Would you live there? And, if so, what would you take with you? Assume all basic clothing and entertainment needs, exercise equipment, basic stuff to create music or craft, any eBooks/movies/TV/games/Legos/etc. I'm talkin' the personal artifacts. First on my list, of course, is Da Bear. A few artworks I've acquired over the years, including a sketch or two by Seanan. My Sigma guitar. Family photos, including one of my uncle Gary and Garboo next to Gary's horse, Chicory Puff, just after a harness race victory. Grandpa's harmonica.

Crossposts: http://filkertom.livejournal.com/1492799.html

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Dreams Of Noise

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Entries tagged with space

Geek Weekend

Various Videos of the Russian Meteor

Tomorrow Morning, Tomorrow Morning... When The Sky Is Clear

Music From The Rocks In Space

One Hundred Thousand Stars

Holy Frijoles -- They're Actually Working On Warp Drive

Farewell, Neil Armstrong

Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury

Ladies And Gents, Your New Geek Icon... Bobak Ferdowsi

A Monday Panoply

View From the International Space Station at Night

I'm Taking The Time For A Number Of Things

Farewell, Sally Ride

360° Panorama of Mars

... But Where Is Persis Khambatta?

Transit of Venus

The Stars, Viewed From The International Space Station

In Particular, For Peter Alway and Leslie

Ad Astra, Janice Voss

Apollo 1 and Mozart